House of Payne: Ice

by Stacy Gail

  “Of course I would have.”

  “Yeah, exactly. There was no way I was going to allow that to happen.”

  She looked to the ceiling and prayed for patience. “Allow. Did you hear yourself just now?”

  “Yeah, and I meant every damn word.”

  God, this man… “Ice, what you didn’t allow was for me to make my own choice in the matter.”

  “No, I protected you.”

  “And believe me, I’m grateful for it.”

  “Doesn’t seem like it.”

  Arrrgh. “Because your actions worry me.”

  “How could they possibly worry you?” he demanded, his voice rising along with his obvious irritation. “I protected you from a monster, Sunny.”

  “I’m worried you’ll cut me loose again the moment something goes wrong and you feel like I’m somehow threatened and better off without you.”

  “Damien’s not going to get near you again.” His hands came to grip her shoulders, as if he was ready to wrap himself around her like living body armor. “I swear you don’t have to worry about him ever again.”

  “I’m not talking about him specifically. I’m talking about other things, life-altering things. Financial trouble, illness, some other out-of-the-blue event that neither one of us can imagine or prepare for. I need to know you’re not going to cut and run. I need to know I can count on you to allow me to make the choice of facing whatever trouble there is with you. Together.”

  “I can’t fucking believe this,” he muttered, looking hunted. “Damien was a danger to anyone near me, don’t you get that? Ethan fucking died because of it. For your own safety I had to clear you out. Firing you was a slick ploy—”

  “Sweetheart, no,” she sighed, shaking her head. “I’m sorry, but your moves are never as slick or smooth as you seem to think they are. They’re just not.”

  “And,” he plowed on, talking over her, “there was the added bonus that when I fired you, I showed the world—and Damien—that I wasn’t emotionally invested in you.”

  “Are you, though? Emotionally invested, I mean.”

  He stared at her. “Are you serious?”

  “You know I love you,” she said, moving away from him so she could pace around the room. “Even if I hadn’t blurted it out like a blubbering, hysterical idiot earlier this evening, I think you pretty much knew that I love you. But I said it. I made it official. It’s out there, so it’s done.”

  “Sunny—”

  “And you’re right. I would absolutely stay the course with you, whatever that course is, because I love you. I’m incapable of cutting you loose the way you did with me. And there’s my answer,” she interrupted herself with a broken gasp, and she came to a dead halt as that inescapable truth hit her like a punch to the solar plexus. “Of course that’s the answer. There’s no way you could love me like I love you.”

  Out of the corner of her eye she saw him rub both hands over his face. “Jesus.”

  “It’s okay,” she tried to say calmly, when the truth of it seeped into her soul. She knew he cared about her—he even said so. But maybe she could love him enough for the both of them. “I mean, it’s never been a secret, the way things are between us. I’ve always known we have a lopsided relationship, with more feeling coming from my side than yours. We both know that.”

  “Have you forgotten that I proposed to you in front of the whole world?”

  “Of course I remember that.” Desperately she tried to hide her desolation as she turned to him. It wasn’t his fault he wasn’t living up to her pie-in-the-sky expectations, after all. “It was very sweet of you to do that, too. As a ruse to distract from the revelations about my father, it worked wonders. You don’t have to worry, though. I’m not going to hold you to it.”

  “A ruse. Right.” He moved so suddenly he startled her, reaching out to grab up her hand before he steamed his way out of the parlor. “Where’s your dad’s room? I need to grab my coat before we see him, though.”

  “My dad’s room?” She had to skip to keep up as he swung by the guest closet and snagged up his coat. “Why on earth do you need your coat to see my father? We actually have heating throughout the house, you know, along with electricity and indoor plumbing. We’re very modern here.”

  “His room. Where is it?’

  She had no choice to go along with him as he moved back into the foyer. “My dad’s bedroom is down the small hall past the kitchen. But why—”

  “Your mom told you to say goodnight to your father before heading to bed, so we’re doing that.”

  “You don’t have to walk me to his room. I know where it is.”

  “I need to speak with him. Is this it?”

  Confused, she nodded a scant second before Ice opened the heavy paneled door and pulled her inside. The stillness of the room settled over them, the ticking of the carriage clock on the mantle over the unlit fireplace adding to the peaceful serenity. The golden glow of a low-wattage table lamp in the corner was the only light in the room, but it was still easy to see her father lying in the adjustable bed, the head slightly raised and the guardrails up. She thought he was asleep and was just about to suggest they leave him in peace when he stirred, his head moving against the pillow.

  “Who’s there? Matt?”

  “It’s me, Dad. Sunny. Your daughter.” With a reassuring smile, she moved over to the side of the bed and kissed his forehead. “I’ve come to say goodnight.”

  “Oh. Sunny bunny.” His warm hand came to curl around hers. “You’re such a good girl. You know that?”

  “Thank you, Daddy. You’re a good guy. The very best.” Ice’s hand rested on her back, rubbing gently in a touch that soothed her in ways she didn’t know she needed. “I brought a friend who wanted to say hello, Dad. You’ve met him before, but that was a long time ago, so I’ll introduce you to him again. The man with me…well, I call him Ice.”

  “Ice.” For a moment her father looked blank before his brows drew together. “Hello, Ice.”

  “Hello, Archie. I’m glad I’ve got this chance to meet with you again.” Ice came to stand beside her, curling an arm around her shoulders and pulling her close. “While we have this time together, I wanted you to know that you don’t ever have to worry about your daughter. I swear that to you now, man to man. I’m going to take care of Sunny for the rest of her life, if she’ll let me. I’ve loved her for as long as I can remember, so it’s an honor to make that promise to you now.”

  “What?” Sunny whispered, shocked, but he ignored her as he kept talking, his eyes locked on her father’s face, whose expression was one of deep concentration, as if trying to hang on to every word Ice said.

  “I know what you’re thinking—that I don’t know what I’m letting myself in for by making that promise to you,” he went on, his voice soft. And all the while, every syllable he uttered managed to steal the air out of her lungs. “I get why you’d think that. Your daughter is high-maintenance, yeah? As men, we both know that.”

  Still reeling from his words, she found herself blinking, even as her father chuckled. “Excuse me?”

  “High maintenance,” Archie murmured, still chuckling. “Yes, yes. Claire and Sunny both. My girls are high maintenance.”

  For heaven’s sake.

  “I knew you’d understand, sir.” Ice grinned along with her father. “You and I both know Sunny thinks she’s smarter than everyone else, and she was taught to not share what’s really going on inside her. Maybe that’s why she believes no one can feel as deeply and devotedly as she does,” he added with a thoughtful tilt to his head. “She never talks about her own feelings, so it’s hard for her to understand she’s not alone in how she feels. But that’s the thing. She’s not alone.”

  She looked up at him, searching his face through the gloom as hope began to take wing. “I’m not?”

  “No, you’re not.” He took a moment to kiss her brow before returning his attention to her father. “The way I love Sunny… It grows deeper and s
tronger not just by the day, but by the hour. The only way I can be whole is when I’m with her. Not for a week or a month, or a year. I want to spend the rest of my life with her, because I love her more than I knew I could love anyone or anything. That’s why I bought this present for Sunny when we went shopping the other day.” He let her go long enough to rummage around in his coat pocket before he came up with a Tiffany blue box, a sight that stopped her heart. “I want to marry your daughter, sir. I want to marry Sunny and take care of her for the rest of her days. I hope you can rest easy knowing your daughter, your Sunny bunny, will always be safe and loved as my wife, my best friend, the mother of my children and my other half.”

  “You really meant it.” A happy sob escaped her as she flung her arms around him and held on tight. “My God, you really meant it when you proposed, didn’t you? You even have a ring and everything.”

  “I had originally thought Christmas would be a good time to pop the question. I had it in my head that it’d be like the ultimate Christmas present for you to find in that stocking I got for you. But the curveball my old man threw at us changed my mind. I’m not giving fate another chance to yank you away from me, Sunny. We’re tying the knot just as soon as the official paperwork gets done.”

  “I’ll get on it first thing in the morning.” Still crying, she looked down as he opened the box. A huge round diamond set in what looked like platinum with beveled diamonds all along the band winked up at her. “Wow. Just…wow.”

  “Good reaction, but it’s not just supposed to be looked at.” Pulling the ring from its velvet nest, he slid it onto the correct finger, then brought it to his lips for a lingering kiss. “You’re mine now.”

  “I always have been.” She went up on tiptoe for a kiss, but before she could her father spoke.

  “Sunny? Do you like your Christmas present?”

  “I do, Dad.” With a laugh, she bent and gave his temple another kiss before turning to hug Ice. “I love it. I love him.”

  “Good. Love is everything, Sunny bunny. Never forget that.” With a peaceful sigh, her father settled back against the pillows and closed his eyes.

  Epilogue

  (Months later)

  “Darling, I know you’ve got a million things to do, what with the tattoo expo House Of Payne is hosting, the premiere subscription box going live this week and Hannah’s upcoming baby shower this Saturday, but I really need your input on properties. If I have to choose between waterfront or high-rise, which one do you think sounds more me?”

  Kill me now, Sunny thought as she slammed the car door with her foot and headed for the back entrance to House Of Payne, all the while juggling a heavy portfolio, purse and phone. “Mom, I thought you’d settled on that renovated Victorian to be the home base for the Archibald Fairfax Foundation.”

  “Come to find out, I don’t like the drive.”

  You’ve got to be kidding me. “What’s wrong with the drive?”

  “It’s a tangle of surface streets with red lights approximately every eight feet. My blood pressure rises just thinking about it. No, my darling, I’m sad to say the search continues.”

  “Oh, boy.” One of the burly security guards opened the back door for her, and she smiled her thanks as she powered through, making a beeline for her office upstairs. “Ice and I were talking the other night about how you can’t seem to decide on where to settle. For a woman who takes pride in knowing her own mind, this dithering about location seems to be out of character for you, don’t you think?”

  “Aren’t I allowed to take a little time in making this decision?”

  “It’s been months, Mom. You first talked about the foundation last Christmas. We’re now heading into Labor Day weekend.” Dropping her purse into a drawer and the portfolio onto her desk’s neat surface, she grabbed up a remote with her now-free hand. A push of a button rolled up the blinds, letting the sun pour into her office and making the delicate yellow of the walls glow. The dreary storage room her office had once been was a distant memory now that she’d decorated the space in shades of yellow and white, with the contemporary furnishings in a contrasting charcoal gray. “Have you considered the possibility that you’re not yet ready to do this? Not only is it the first big project you’re doing all on your own, it’s also a memorial foundation. Maybe there’s a part of you that’s not yet ready to face that fact, so you’re avoiding putting down roots for it.”

  “Since when did you become a psychologist?” her mother huffed. “I simply didn’t like the last couple of places, that’s all.”

  “Eleven. Eleven places.”

  “Have you forgotten how I immediately fell in love with my new condo? I didn’t have any trouble deciding to set down new roots there, now did I?”

  “I think moving into Ice’s and my complex had something to do with that. Not to mention Hannah and Matt were happy to move into the empty condo next door to yours, thanks to your not-so-gentle persuasion.”

  “All young couples need help starting out. And considering all they’ve done for the family, the least I could do was help them out with the down payment. Not to mention I’m a soon-to-be built-in babysitter.”

  “You are a sweetheart.”

  “What I am is frustrated. I know what I don’t want for the foundation, if that helps. I don’t want it located where no one can get to it. And I don’t want it to feel like a cold and unfeeling office with no soul. For over a hundred years the Fairfax family has been known in this town as a source of compassion and social conscience. Remember how we would open the house twice a year to the public to make sure the people of Chicago felt we were accessible? I need a property that says welcome.”

  “Opening the house…? Oh, I just had a crazy thought.” It was such a flash of brilliance she actually snapped her fingers. “The house.”

  “The house?”

  “Yes, Mom, the house. It’s been sitting empty since you moved, right? Why not have the brownstone renovated and have the foundation’s HQ there?”

  “At the old house?” Claire’s usually self-assured voice was oddly hesitant, something Sunny understood all too well. Wonderful memories—including her quiet, private wedding ceremony in the grand parlor on Christmas Eve with her parents, Hannah and Matt in attendance—filled her mind, though she knew it was different for her mother. To Claire, the ghost of Archie haunted every room after he’d passed away a month or so after Sunny and Ice married, so it had been an easy decision for Claire to move out. The old family home had sat empty ever since, with Claire refusing to either put it up for sale or rent it out “to strangers.” A caretaker checked in on the property every other week, but beyond that the beautiful and historic brownstone sat empty and alone.

  “Think about it, Mom. You could have the entire interior revamped to the point where you wouldn’t even recognize it, but it would still be a shining representative of what Archibald Fairfax III stood for—dependability and stability, grace and compassion. Every Fairfax throughout this city’s history has stood for all these things and more, so you can bet they would approve of this move. Dad certainly would.”

  “He would, wouldn’t he?” Claire said musingly. “Renovating it would be a big job, though. I’d have to get in a fleet of interior designers.”

  “True. And you’d have to be the commander of that fleet to make sure you get it exactly right.”

  “I never told your father this, but I’ve always wanted to knock out a few walls to give the interior space more of a chance to breathe.”

  “Breathing’s good.”

  “And I was never completely happy with that house’s layout from the first day I moved in as a newlywed. So many Victorian-era houses are like rabbit warrens—tiny little rooms that interrupt the flow. Feng shui was clearly not a thing during that era.”

  “Clearly.”

  “And the color palette simply must be updated. Heavy mahogany is so last century.”

  “I couldn’t agree more.”

  “This could work,” her mo
ther murmured. “This could really work. Darling, I’m going to have to call you back, all right? I have so much to do to get this project underway. Hannah introduced me to something called Pinterest, have you ever heard of it? I can’t get enough of it. So many ideas when it comes to home and office décor, you should see it. Give my love to Ice. See you tonight.”

  “See you,” Sunny said, but the line was already dead.

  Pinterest.

  Good grief, she might never see her mother again.

  Smiling, she thumbed at the screen of her phone, then called up a keyboard.

  “Back in my office. Did you save me any food?”

  It only took a few seconds for Ice to reply.

  Maybe. Come to my booth and see.

  “You rebel, you.” Smiling to herself, Sunny set a course for her husband’s tattooing booth. Not only was she sure Ice had grabbed some food for her during one of the many last-minute lunch meetings Payne had called to make sure the inaugural House Of Payne Ink Expo went off without a hitch, but she was just as sure her man was willing to break the rule of no food in the tattooing booths just so he could eat with her.

  Her hero.

  The light over the booth’s closed door wasn’t on, so as soon as she knocked and stepped inside, she flicked that switch on for a little added privacy. “I got back as fast as I could, but traffic is brutal out there. I think everyone’s taking the day off to start the Labor Day weekend a little…early…” She trailed off as she turned around and saw…