Unspoken Bundle - Box Set Books 1-6

by Danes, Ellie

  “I won’t let that happen, Jen. Just because we both work hard doesn’t mean that’s all there is to life. My father worked hard, but not for the same reasons I do.”

  “But I see myself becoming more and more like my father. I hate that. I’m beginning to hate him for allowing his work to push my mother away. I blame him for all of that.” Tears streamed down my face and onto Cain’s chest as I sniffled.

  “Jen, just because they say the apple doesn’t far from the tree doesn’t mean it has to be true. You have a choice. We all have choices, we don’t have to take the same paths our parents did. We get the choice to create our own lives, our own future. Together.”

  Cain always seemed to be able to pull something positive out of any situation. It was a quality I loved in him and wished I had more in myself. I always seemed to be more analytical. “You know, we’ve made a lot of promises this weekend. Cain, promise me we will always be honest with each other? That we won’t have secrets.” I thought about the early morning when I woke up, haunted by the thoughts of my first love, Christopher. That relationship ruined me. It broke me and now I was finally back together, possibly stronger than I had ever been before. But I wanted—no, needed—something honest and truthful.

  “I promise. Always.” Cain brushed my long, dark hair behind my ear and wiped the tears from cheek. “This is new for the both of us. It’s been a while since either of us has truly felt this way. This is right. Nothing is going to come between us, ever. Not secrets, not people, not money. Nothing.”

  I took a deep breath and felt the tension begin leave my body again. A gentle buzzing vibrated the table beside the bed and Cain reached over and grabbed his phone, which displayed a local San Deigo number. He laughed. “Here we go…” Cain tapped the phone. “Cain Parker…Good morning, Mr. Pedersen…Yes, we’ve had a great time here. We are actually just getting ready to walk out the door to catch our flight.”

  I poked Cain in the stomach, tickling him, and whispered. “You fibber!”

  “Yes, it was nice to meet you and your group as well.”

  I could hear Kristoff’s deep voice rumbling through the phone, but it wasn’t loud enough to make out the conversation as he and Cain continued to talk.

  “I agree… I know if it wasn’t for that things could have gone differently.” Cain’s eyes met mine as he continued. “Like I said in the meeting, I like to surround myself with smart people, just as you do.” Kristoff continued to speak and Cain nodded throughout the conversation, even though Kristoff obviously couldn’t see him. “I see. Well thank you, I appreciate that. I’ll look forward to that. Bye.”

  I sat up in bed as I waited for Cain’s synopsis of the call. “Well? Tell me! What did he say?”

  “He said he really liked meeting us, as did his staff. He said that he felt the meeting may have gone very differently had you not been there.”

  I felt my shoulders slump and mouth fall open as I fumbled for the right words. “Cain, I’m so sorry, I thought—”

  “He said if it wasn’t for you somehow knowing his exact thoughts he would have tried to drive up the price and haggle with me, but in the end decided that this was the best deal he was going to get. He’s signing the paperwork, minus the penalty for the delay, and faxing it to the office today.”

  Instinctively I punched Cain in the arm for playing with me. “You! I thought I blew it for you! Congratulations! That’s amazing, you did a great job!”

  “Thank you, but we did a great job. Even Kristoff said it. It was because of you this deal was made.” Cain jumped up and grabbed the bottle of champagne from the room service cart. “Mimosas or straight up?”

  “Straight up, please, we’re celebrating.”

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  The flight back to the east coast seemed much longer than the flight out to paradise. When we landed, I decided to have the driver drop me off at home. I was going to need every minute of sleep I could get before the long Monday I had planned at the office. It was nearly 2 a.m. before I finally climbed into bed.

  The alarm screamed just four hours later and I was tempted to hit snooze a few more times but resisted the urge. My body and mind needed sleep but I found the strength and motivation to pull myself out of bed and crawl into the shower. This morning I took my time and conserved my energy. I was already working on my third cup of coffee and I wasn’t even dressed yet. I spent extra time on my makeup, using additional concealer to hide the dark circles, from lack of sleep, under my eyes.

  I dressed, grabbed a protein shake from the fridge, and headed out the door to the garage, tripping over the stacks of boxes still piled in my apartment. I was looking forward to moving now more than ever; I couldn’t live like this any longer. It was time to take control of my life again and settle into that gorgeous apartment located right between work and Cain’s house; the perfect location.

  The heated seats of my car quickly warmed me from the bottom up. I already missed the warm San Diego sun, but there was no looking back, at least for now. I knew that there would be plenty more trips planned in the future now that Cain owned a company out west. The thought of traveling with him excited me. The thought of being anywhere with him excited me. This weekend had moved our relationship to another level and I felt the high that realization brought begin to wake me up. I dreamed of the weekend, our stay, the winery and I remembered my initial feeling when Cain pulled out the box to give me the bracelet. For a brief moment I had thought it was going to be the day, even though I knew I wasn’t ready. I smiled to myself as I walked into my office, the last fifteen minutes a blur, and I barely remembered the drive, let alone coming into the building. Cain had that effect on me.

  “So, how was it?” Aimee’s jubilant voice startled me from behind.

  “A-ma-zing.” I stressed every part of the word.

  “I could tell. You’re glowing, like someone in L-O-V-E.”

  I couldn’t do anything but smile, even though I felt as if I had been run over by a truck from lack of sleep. “Aimee, you’re too sweet… Let’s catch up this afternoon. I have a meeting with Reese right now, and I need another two cups of coffee to wake me up, but I so want to tell you about everything.”

  “You had better!”

  I continued into my office hoping for just a few minutes to regroup and close my eyes, but Reese was already a few steps ahead of me, ready to hit the road. I had no other choice but to grab my coffee to go. “You’re driving, Reese. I need to take a quick nap.”

  * * * * *

  Reese drove up the long driveway lined with large oak trees and pulled up around the circular driveway. The house was an enormous brick palace with a sprawling entranceway. In a way, it looked more like a museum than a place someone would live. The lawn, flowers and bushes were perfectly manicured and nothing was out of place.

  “Now you’re sure about this, Jennifer? We can still turn back.”

  “No. We’re here.” I felt the nervousness wrestling inside of my body. A dull ache in my lower back almost paralyzed me as we walked to the front door. I wasn’t sure what I was going to say or how I we were going to handle this. Deep down I wasn’t even sure what I was hoping to find. I just wanted to see them. I wanted to know more about the person that ruined my family and life, and the people that my parents at one time considered friends. Finding out information about my case was secondary.

  “Hello, may I help you?” An older Hispanic woman opened the door and greeted us. I stood still, frozen.

  “Yes, we have an appointment to see Louise Harritan.” Reese looked at me with wide eyes.

  “Mrs. Harritan is in the greenhouse. Please follow me.”

  We followed the housekeeper through the foyer of the large mansion, down the hallway toward the back entrance which opened onto the large pool and patio area. The large glass greenhouse sat adjacent to the pool house in the back corner. Condensation beaded on the inside of the windows, making it appear as though it had rained only on the inside. The housekeeper entered
first and announced our presence.

  “Oh, come in. I’m in the back, here. Please come in, don’t be shy.” A thin woman with platinum blonde hair emerged from the thick rows of foliage at the back of the greenhouse. She stood at the end of the long cement pathway, dressed in a pink, flashy pant suit, covered by a green rubber apron. Her green matching gloves reached up to her elbows. She was the best-dressed gardener I had ever seen.

  Reese took the lead and walked down the long pathway to shake Louise’s hand, but she declined as she held a pot in one hand and sharp pruning sheers in the other. I stood mesmerized by both the woman in front of me and the sheer beauty and enormity of the greenhouse and everything inside. This was the woman who had known my parents so well, who had spent countless weekends with them drinking and socializing until my mother died. The woman who, at the drop of a hat, was tossed to the side—along with her husband—by my father. I wondered if she knew why, or if she even cared.

  I tried to block the thoughts out of my head and focused on the hundreds of flowers of every color that sprawled throughout the huge greenhouse. Tall trees of different types grew toward the ceiling and provided shade to some of smaller plants growing below. A huge section of spices and vegetables lined one entire side of the greenhouse.

  “Jennifer!” Reese turned and beckoned for me to join him and I quickly caught up. “Mrs. Harritan, thank you for seeing us. I’m Reese and this is Jennifer, we were hoping you may be able to help us with something we are working on.”

  “Well, I’ll do what I can, but I do need to apologize. I have a schedule to keep and I need to tend to some of these plants before the irrigation turns on. Please, move with me. You can walk and talk, can’t you?” Louise cackled as she moved down a row of flowers and plants.

  “Mrs. Harritan, we certainly appreciate that your meeting with us. Is there any chance that your husband may be joining us today?” Reese followed behind Louise as she carefully pruned some of the plants, removing dead leaves and stems.

  “Oh, Dean is busy at the office. Besides, he really doesn’t know much that goes on around here. I believe you said you wanted to talk to me about one of the landscapers that worked here a while back?”

  “Yes, ma’am. John Doll.”

  Louise looked back at Reese and shook her head before returning to pruning the plants. “That name doesn’t sound familiar. I really don’t make it my business to personally know any of the hired help, except for Lydia, my housekeeper…but that’s just so I can keep an eye on her.”

  “Well, Mr. Doll apparently knows your son and a girl he dated, Macie Hicks.”

  Without missing a beat, Louise’s demeanor changed. “What does that gold-digging whore have to do with this?” Louise stood up and faced Reese, shaking her pruning shears at him with each word. “Don’t tell me she’s coming back after my Jacob. I’ve already had a few words with her. That lousy—”

  Reese chuckled. “So I guess you two don’t get along.”

  “Absolutely not! I caught her in the pool house with that young man…wait, is that the boy you’re talking about, this John Doll? He put her up to this, didn’t he? Knocked her up and now they’re trying to come after Jacob to get some money.”

  I stood back and pretended to not be affected by the shouting and name-calling. I admired the beauty of the flowers and plants on the row where we stood as Louise continued her rant. Her passion, love and frustration stormed through out the greenhouse as she continued to drop expletives that made my ears burn.

  “No, ma’am. Not to our knowledge. We are just trying to piece together your son’s relationship with John, that’s all.” I reached up and casually admired a pair of flowers that contrasted each other; a snow white flower paired with a dark black flower.

  “Careful!” Louise yelled as she watched me reach for the flowers. “I’d appreciate you not touching things.”

  “I’m sorry, they are just so beautiful.” I pulled my hand away, careful not to touch anything else.

  “Beautiful, rare and poisonous. It’s called the Christmas Rose. We brought those seeds back from a trip we took almost twenty years ago.” Louise seemed proud of her accomplishment. “Most of these plants and flowers are rare, and we’ve grown them from seeds or little saplings.” Louise waved her shears in a large circle, encompassing everything in the greenhouse.

  Reese and I exchanged glances as Louise continued to move down the row, pruning the flowers more viciously than before. “I’m running behind. You two are slowing me down. What is it you need to know? I’ve already told you I really didn’t know this John boy from anyone else that cut my grass, and I can tell you that Jacob certainly wouldn’t hang around with anyone like that. Now that Macie girl, she’s a different story. That’s why I told Jacob he needed to cut his ties with her, and that’s exactly what I told her too.” Louise continued to prune and move, occasionally turning to shake her shears at Reese. “She would come around here and just take advantage of us.”

  “You know, Reese, I think Mrs. Harritan has really given us enough information.” I nudged Reese in the back. “Thank you again for your time. We can show ourselves out.” I turned to move back down the row toward the main door as Louise kept pruning. Reese followed behind.

  “You know, you look just like her.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Samantha. You look just like your mother…such a sweet woman. We always got along so well.” Numbness swept through me and suddenly my feet felt as if I were standing in quicksand. I was speechless. “We missed her so much. It’s truly awful, what happened. Please, give our best to your father. I know he and Dean aren’t that close any longer, but your dad needed to grieve in his own way.”

  I swallowed hard as Reese grabbed my arm to help me along. “Thank you, Mrs. Harritan. I’ll pass along your message to my father. I’m sure he will appreciate it.”

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  I sat on the sofa in my office, my head still spinning. I had always heard from family just how much mom and I looked alike, but Dad never said it. I think he was scared to. I think he was afraid of how I would react. It felt different coming from a complete stranger who had known both her and my father. It felt surreal. I never imagined my parents having a life before me, and unfortunately I knew all of the intricate details that I wished I didn’t.

  Reese brought in a glass of water and sat next to me on the couch. “I asked if you were sure about doing that. I don’t know what’s going on in that head of yours sometimes, Jennifer. You’ve been sending me on some goose chases lately, and I haven’t asked any questions. I’m trusting you.” Reese handed me the glass of water. “Was it worth whatever you’re after?”

  I looked at Reese and thought about his question. I wasn’t really sure what I was after, other than the truth. I wanted to meet Louise, to know what kind of person she was. I wanted to meet Dean, to see what kind of person could possibly almost break up a marriage. I wondered if Louise knew the truth about my mother. I looked over at Reese as I contemplated my answer. “We got the answers we needed for the case. I believe Jacob had more to do with this than he’s letting on.” I took a small sip of water and wished it were something a little stronger.

  The half-closed door swung open and my father entered my office. His timing was always impeccable. Neither Reese nor I had told him we planned on visiting the Harritans, and I was sure it was news he wouldn’t appreciate after the fact. I decided there was no reason to delay it as I spat it out as quickly as I could. “We talked to Louise Harritan this morning.”

  Dad stood in silence, closed the door and took a seat in the guest chair next to my desk. Reese teetered on the edge of the couch and then broke the silence. “Well, I’ll let you two talk. This seems like a family matter.”

  “No, Reese. Stay. You and I have been friends for over twenty-five years. We have no secrets.”

  Reese chuckled in his matter of fact way. “That’s because we don’t share them and I’d like to keep it that way. If I don’t sh
are a secret, you don’t know it exists. Why start now?” Reese begrudgingly took his seat back on the couch next to me.

  “So, Jennifer, did you get the answers you were looking for?”

  Reese smiled at Dad’s question and nodded at me. “I asked her the same thing, but I haven’t the slightest clue what this is all about.”

  “It’s about Samantha. She and Dean had an affair and I knew about it. Jennifer has it in her head that she needs answers, or closure, or something like that. She keeps digging and drudging up these old, painful memories.”

  Reese leaned back on the couch. Normally news rolled off of his back, but this revelation seemed to have blind-sided him. He rubbed the back of his neck and ran his fingers through his thinning gray hair. “Jack, I’m sorry. I had no idea. Damn.” He looked at me and shook his head. “Why would you want to know all of this? I told you the other day that some things are better left unknown.”

  “It’s Ok, Reese. I understand. She’s curious.” Dad looked at me. He eyes appeared droopy and tired. He looked beaten down. “Jennifer, I need you to get past this, and soon. Cynthia and I have decided to…take a break. She doesn’t want to be involved in all of this, and I don’t blame her. I’ve finally made it to a place in my life that I can move forward and I owe it to her to give her this without the baggage.”

  I sat and stared at him. I understood how this could be unfair to him, and I wanted him to understand why I needed to move ahead. It wasn’t just for me. It was for John Doll, and Macie, and him. I knew that Dad really needed this for closure as well. “She’s manipulative and brash and arrogant. How could you have stood to be around her? Around them?” I stared at Dad, waiting for his answer.

  “She’s always been like that. You get used to it, and it gets better when she’s drinking. It’s the only time she seemed relaxed and fun. She controls that family. She controls Dean.”