Aidan kissed her thankfully. “You don’t know how happy that makes me, Vivienne. I was so afraid you wouldn’t want to come with me. That you would never want to live anywhere but here.”
“I don’t want to be anywhere that you’re not. I don’t like the idea of leaving Aggie, but she would be the first one to tell us to go. And we can always come back to visit. Can’t we?”
He gave her a grin of pure delight that reached up to his eyes and said, “Any time you want, my love.”
Vivienne loved when he looked at her that way. “Then there is no problem.”
He sighed in relief as if a heavy weight just lifted from his shoulders. “My mother said you would fight me on this, that you were stubborn and would never agree to marry me if we had to live in England and—”
Vivienne interrupted him, pulling away from his embrace and sitting up straight. “Your mother does not know me well enough to predict my reactions to anything, Aidan. In fact, she hates me. Please don’t ever listen to her where I am concerned.”
He began to sit up as well, “Yes, but she was just—”
“She was just meddling and trying to turn you away from me is what she was doing,” Vivienne contested vehemently.
“That’s not true.” He placed his hand on her shoulder. “And she doesn’t hate you.”
“Aidan, don’t be daft! You’re mother has hated me from the minute she met me!”
“Don’t say that!” he protested.
“I’m not from a wealthy and titled family. She looks down upon Aggie and me. She thinks my father is in the worst sort of profession. Although I’m half English, I might as well be all Irish in her eyes. I’m not good enough for you by her standards. Although I doubt anyone would be.”
He just couldn’t see his mother for the bitter woman she was. Susana Kavanaugh was trying to cause trouble, just as Aggie said she would. Vivienne supposed she couldn’t fault Aidan for loving his mother, but it stung a little that he would have believed his mother over her.
“She’s just upset at losing her husband,” Aidan explained.
Vivienne laughed aloud. “Aidan, you cannot honestly believe that! Your parents despised each other and your mother has hated me long before your father died. And will for a long time after to be sure.”
Aidan stood up and walked to the small window, looking out pensively. “I don’t want her to hate you, Vivienne.”
All the anger went out of her. “I know…” she said sympathetically.
She did not want to let Susana Kavanaugh come between them this way. She would not allow her to have that victory. Vivienne would simply have to get used to dealing with his mother, because she was certainly going to be a part of their lives, like it or not. Besides, she couldn’t bear to be angry with Aidan.
Feeling contrite, she went to him and apologized. “I’m sorry for overreacting. I know it’s not your fault that your mother is the way she is.”
“I’m sorry too.” He kissed her cheek tenderly, looking at her with an earnest expression. “Things are going to be all right, Vivienne. Trust me, please. I love you too much to let anything come between us.”
“I love you too, Aidan. And I will come to England with you.” She couldn’t help but add with a mischievous grin, “I love you so much I’m willing to put up with your mother.”
Aidan laughed ruefully at her remark and gave her a playful swat on the bottom.
She kissed him, pulling her to him. They began to kiss intensely, their passions rising, as they always did when they were together. He slowly began to unbutton the front of her dress, tracing a path with his fingers between her breasts. Once again they made love in their little cottage.
Less than a week later Vivienne received a note from Aidan asking her to meet him at their cottage. She told Aggie she was going for a picnic with Aidan, and she raced across the green fields of grazing sheep to the cottage. She arrived before he did, bringing a little picnic lunch for them, and she laid it out on the small round table that stood next to a pair of chairs in the corner. Then she filled the vase on the mantel with fresh pink roses she had brought from her garden.
She loved their little afternoon trysts. It was the only time they were ever completely alone together and she cherished these moments.
Impatient for Aidan to arrive, she plumped the pillows on their makeshift pallet and straightened up their little one-room cottage. Recalling how thrilled they were when they discovered it, she smiled dreamily. A typical white-washed dwelling with a thatched roof and a green door, the secluded cottage had been abandoned on the Kavanaugh property, and Aidan had claimed it as their private retreat. Secretly they made it more habitable and Vivienne had swept and scrubbed the floors and brought in little touches to make it more comfortable and romantic.
Daydreaming about being Aidan’s wife, she longed for the time when she could sleep in his arms all night long and wake up to his sweet kisses at dawn. One day she would hold their baby in her arms. She loved Aidan completely and without reservation and he filled her with joy and happiness. Soon, very soon, he would be her husband and they could spend every day and night together and wouldn’t have to meet in secret at the little cottage.
Or maybe they would, just for the fun of it…This long summer in their cottage had been incredibly magical and beautiful, and in many ways she would miss it.
She anxiously wondered what was keeping Aidan and grew bored. In anticipation of his arrival, she undid the top two buttons on the front of her dress and giggled thinking of his delight when he saw her. Getting into the spirit of her little game, she unpinned her hair, shaking the long dark locks loose, knowing that Aidan loved it when she wore it down. She removed her shoes and rolled down her stockings, setting them neatly in the corner. Bravely she unfastened a few more buttons down the front of her dress.
For a fleeting instant she toyed with the idea of removing her clothes completely and greeting him naked. Modesty won out. Instead Vivienne quickly removed her dress, recklessly slipped off all her underclothes, and put the dress back on. The deep blue dress had a demure neckline and she knew the color emphasized her eyes dramatically. Keeping the dress unbuttoned and open to the waist created an impressive view, exposing her ample breasts just to tempt him. She reclined on the pallet, in what she believed to be an inviting pose. She smiled thinking of Aidan’s reaction when he saw her.
Suddenly the door opened, and she was momentarily blinded by the sunlight streaming through the entrance. The door closed, but it was not Aidan standing there.
Horrified, she clutched the front of her dress together and jumped to her feet.
“Nicky Foster! What in the world are you doing here?” she exclaimed breathlessly.
He smiled lazily at her. “Coming to see you, darling.”
Vivienne burst out laughing at his remark. “Get on home, Nicky.”
She had known Nicky Foster her whole life. In fact when they were children he used to tease her and called her a witch, but she had been aware for some time that he was sweet on her. Being a few years older than her, he had never paid much attention to Vivienne until last year. Tall and handsome with fair skin, auburn hair, and clear blue eyes, he was a decent, hard-working, and straightforward man. All the girls she knew from town were mad for him and competing with each other to be his wife. Nicky had escorted her to a few local dances and socials and they had a nice enough time together. She even allowed him to kiss her on the lips once or twice.
Of course, that was before Aidan came home from school, and her whole life changed that day on the beach when out of nowhere Aidan kissed her. Now that was a kiss…a kiss that left her senses reeling and left her without a doubt that she loved Aidan. Since then her heart had belonged exclusively to Aidan and she had not given Nicky Foster another thought. But now, here was Nicky in their secret little cottage. With her half-dressed.
“Did you follow me here?” she asked him somewhat irritably, wondering how he knew she was there. She had always been very disc
reet, and so had Aidan.
He grinned at her, his lazy smile wide and full. “I’d follow you anywhere, Vivienne. You know that, don’t you?”
She shook her head ruefully. “Oh, Nicky, I haven’t been very fair to you, have I?”
“I can make you happier than Kavanaugh can,” he said, taking a step toward her. He possessed a beefy build with powerful muscles beneath his dusty work shirt. “We’re the same kind of people, you and me.”
“I love Aidan,” she stated simply for that explained it all.
“You just love his money and fancy title. But he’s not one of us. He’s a gentleman. You don’t belong with him and his kind. Besides, I know how it was when I kissed you. You’re the girl for me, Vivienne.”
She laughed at him again. “Oh, and I suppose you’ve said the same things to Bridget McDermott and Eileen Judge, for I saw you out walking with them just last week.”
He reached out a hand to her, his voice serious and intent. “They don’t mean anything to me. I’ve had to save face since you’ve been with Kavanaugh all summer, but it’s you I love.”
She took his hand and squeezed it gently, feeling a little guilty for how she had brushed him off. “Oh, Nicky. I’m sorry. But I love Aidan, and he loves me. You must know we’re getting married.”
Before she realized what he was doing, he pulled her to him so that she was pressed against his solid chest, his thick arms locked around her. “So I’ve heard. But you’re not married. Not yet, anyway.”
His mouth lowered over hers and he kissed her hard, in spite of her pushing against him. Vivienne could not believe this was happening, and if not for the insistent bruising force of his mouth on hers she would have laughed at the absurdity of Nicky thinking he could take her away from Aidan. Aidan, who would be there any minute and would set Nicky straight once and for all.
Nicky continued kissing her, his tongue forcefully entering her mouth. She kept trying to push him away, but he was a big fellow and Vivienne was no match for him in physical strength. She did not realize that, as she struggled against him, she had lost the grip on the front of her dress. Nicky, however, noticing her bare breasts, became even more aroused, and lowered her roughly to the pallet in one swift movement.
Apprehension engulfed her, for she had been waiting to seduce Aidan and ended up with Nicky Foster on top of her with his tongue in her mouth and his big hands on her breasts. That would teach her to play the temptress. Torn between screaming and laughing, for she couldn’t for one minute think that Nicky actually meant to hurt her, she pushed at him with her hands.
“Nicky, please,” she implored, out of breath.
“Vivienne!” Aidan’s outraged voice echoed through the cottage.
Nicky turned his head slowly in the direction of the doorway, but did not let go of her. Vivienne twisted beneath him to see Aidan’s shocked expression as he stared at her. Until the day she died she would never forget the look on his face as he saw her half-naked with Nicky Foster on top of her. His green eyes were wounded, hurt, angry. He stared at her accusingly, disbelievingly. His face was a portrait in absolute devastation.
With a sickening sense of dread, she realized what Aidan perceived was happening. Before she could blink, he whispered her name, turned, and left the cottage.
She called to him frantically while Nicky finally had the good sense to let her go. With trembling hands she pulled her dress together. The look on Aidan’s face scared her more than she had ever been scared of anything in her life. She needed to talk to Aidan and explain, make him see that it wasn’t what it looked like. Maybe he just needed some time to cool down, and then he would see how silly the whole thing had been.
“I’m sorry, Vivienne,” Nicky said haltingly. “I had no idea…”
She looked at him blankly, her mind reeling with the implications of what just happened. Surely Aidan didn’t believe she was really with Nicky Foster. “Go home, Nicky.”
He turned toward the door but looked back at Vivienne and apologized again.
“Just go,” she whispered.
“If you need anything, I’m here for you.” He looked at her regretfully, then went out the door.
For a split second, she thought that was an odd statement to make, but it barely registered. As she dressed with shaking hands and a knot in her stomach, she reproached herself for trying to act the temptress for Aidan. If she had been properly attired and had been more forceful against Nicky’s overtures instead of laughing at him, Aidan would not have jumped to the conclusions he obviously had. After she had fixed her hair and was dressed completely once more, she slowly and carefully gathered up the remnants of their forgotten picnic lunch. She followed the meandering path to Cashelwood Manor deep in thought.
The way Aidan reacted had frightened her.
The liveried servant who answered the door when she knocked confirmed her worst suspicions when he informed her that Lord Kavanaugh did not wish to see her. On the verge of tears, she pleaded with the man to please tell Aidan that she needed to see him desperately. He shook his head imperiously and closed the door.
For the first time in her life, Vivienne did not know what to do. She needed to explain to him, but it seemed Aidan did not want to listen to her. Hiding behind his servants to turn her away, he wouldn’t even face her. He had dismissed her and that angered her. How could he believe such an awful thing of her? That she would cast aside his love for another so easily? Her sadness then turned to anger as she marched home. Let him be stubborn then! If he was so quick to doubt her love for him, well, then…Maybe he didn’t deserve her love!
By the time she arrived at her doorstep she had worked herself into a fine state of rage. Slamming the door shut, she startled poor Aggie, who jumped up from the sofa where she’d been sewing.
“Good Lord, child, you gave me a fright!” the older woman asked edgily, her sharp eyes taking in the stormy look on her granddaughter’s face. “What’s gotten into you?”
“Aidan Kavanaugh’s gotten into me, that’s what! He’s impossible! That high and mighty—” Vivienne suddenly stopped, burst into tears, and ran to her grandmother. She cried as she had never cried before in her life. All the fear, hurt, and confusion of the last hour poured from her without restraint.
Aggie wrapped her arms around Vivienne and the two of them sank to the flower-print sofa. Vivienne sobbed into her grandmother’s chest, taking comfort in her loving and reassuring arms, arms that had held her since she was a baby. Her gentle, care-worn hands stroked Vivienne’s back in long, soothing motions.
“There, there,” Aggie crooned softly. “I’m sure it’s not as bad as all that.”
“He won’t talk to me,” Vivienne cried, barely getting the words out between wrenching sobs. “How can I explain anything to him if he won’t even see me?”
“Explain what?”
At that Vivienne sobbed louder. How could she possibly describe to Aggie what took place in the cottage when she wasn’t even sure herself? It all happened too quickly. Waiting for Aidan. Nicky Foster appearing out of nowhere and relentlessly making advances on her. The sheer ridiculousness of the thought of her and Nicky together. Her protests against him. And Aidan standing before her, a mixed expression of complete revulsion and utter devastation. Her own panic and horror. That afternoon would haunt her forever.
Aidan hadn’t come to her rescue. He’d believed her to be with Nicky Foster willingly.
The fact that Aidan wouldn’t see her terrified her. His action seemed final. The signal of the end of everything between them. Cold fear clenched her stomach with the dreadful certainty that she had lost Aidan forever. Aidan whom she loved more than life. Aidan who was supposed to marry her.
Aggie rocked her back and forth, but Vivienne continued to sob, incapable of speaking and unable to explain to her what had gone so terribly wrong.
Vivienne attempted to see Aidan the following day and was once again coldly turned away from Cashelwood Manor. She raced to their cottage, hoping ag
ainst hope that he might come to look for her there. When she saw that the windows had been boarded up and the door padlocked, her heart broke. Their little cottage was not theirs any longer. He had completely shut her out, without even giving her a chance to explain.
By the third day she went to Cashelwood determined to see him even if she had to break down the front door. Instead, she received devastating news from the skeleton staff left to tend the manor.
Aidan and his mother were gone. They had left for England that morning. The house was packed up and they were gone for good. After everything that happened between the two of them, Aidan left without so much as a word of goodbye to her.
For days Vivienne cried inconsolably, torn between fits of outrageous anger and heartbreaking grief that he could so easily walk away from her, from what they had, from their plans for their life together without a backward glance. Without even letting her explain. She took to her bed, not leaving her room, and cried. She could not eat a thing for the heartbreak left her physically incapacitated, and she slept fitfully, waking in the middle of the night to cry, and aching with longing for Aidan to hold her in his strong arms again.
After a week Aggie finally could take no more and dragged Vivienne out of bed, made her bathe, and forced her to sit at the kitchen table.
“That’s enough now,” Aggie declared firmly. “I’ll not abide any more of this self-pity. You must get up and face the world again. It’s not doing anyone any good to behave this way.”
“I just want to die,” Vivienne whimpered, wiping her red and swollen eyes with a handkerchief.
“Be careful what you wish for. You might just get it.” Aggie quipped as she set a bowl of hot stew in front of her.
“Then I wish Aidan dies.”
Aggie laughed heartily at that. “There’s a bit of your spirit back!”
“I just miss him,” Vivienne began plaintively. “I just don’t understand—”
“Enough.” Aggie interrupted in an authoritative tone that brooked no argument. “You’re not hurting him with these histrionics. He’s not here to care if you cry your eyes out or if you starve yourself to death. You’re only hurting yourself. We’ve been over and around and under all of this a thousand times this week and we may never know what prompted our Aidan to take the steps he did. He was definitely wounded by seeing you with Nicky Foster. But he’s gone now and he may never be back. So get used to it. Get on with your life.”
One Sinful Night Page 19
