by Rena Manse
“It’s not permanent and it won’t damage you.”
“In a few weeks I’ll be back home.”
“The marriage will last for a year.”
“I am not staying here with you for a year.”
Doing a double take on her, the pure energy from his eyes stopped her rant. He strode around his desk and sat. “I have no intention of allowing you to stay here longer than necessary, and I’m pretty sure immigration will keep you on your side of the border for the first little while.”
Relieved and upset, she collapsed onto the sofa on the far side of the room. “I can’t believe you’re doing this.”
“Not one more word out of you.”
“You put me in this mess.”
“I’m sorry, was I the one who barreled outside to take our business to the whole house?” he snarked.
Nothing to say to defend her action, she tightened her jaw while his sarcasm continued to drip on her pity parade.
“I hired you to do a job. Pull yourself from your high horse, Miss McKenny. Finding out what really killed her nephew broke my grandmother’s heart until events landed her in your hospital. And I’m sure you’ve noticed her frequent illnesses aren’t all physically related. I can give you back your name, but if I lose my grandfather’s company you’re welcome to attend her funeral.”
Her brain shut down. No use fighting with their tempers flared. But Valerie was throwing a party. People would know. Her life was over. She stared at the ceiling, thinking of her family.
In a couple of months she’d never see Aaron again, an annulment would take place, and she could forget everything that happened here. God, forgive her. She needed to stop thinking like a martyr.
Reluctant, she opened her mouth to speak. Aaron’s bowed head revealed all the bricks of his dead grandfather’s company plummeted down on him. She couldn’t imagine the responsibility. The pressure.
“I apologize. You’re right.” After a moment of seeing him meet her gaze and blink in her apology she motioned her chin toward the door. “What about this party?”
He grunted, stood, and strode around the room, rekindling her agitation. “That’s an obstacle I can’t remove.” His eyes cast his own apology, acknowledging something they couldn’t stop even if they wanted to.
“You’re going to keep her away from my family, right?”
“I’ll do my best.”
“Will you tell Jade about the arrangement?”
“Prying into my personal life?”
“It’s mine, too.”
He came to stand before her. “This arrangement doesn’t give you privilege to my personal life. This is business.”
“Is just that,” she said in accolade of him, and he chuckled. “Don’t paint me the fool, Aaron. How will I know you’re not keeping a mistress on the side?”
His face grew stern. “All the better for a shaky marriage, wouldn’t you say?”
Ashley shivered with cold invading her bones as she caught on to the premise of their breakup. She rose up to help level the staring match, but he turned and headed for the door.
“I’ll talk to Val. But just so you can clear your calendar, the wedding is a week Saturday.”
“A week?”
“As soon as the ink’s dried. I’ll catch up with you later.”
“Aaron.” When he turned, looking rather reluctant about it, she held his dull gaze and walked over to where he stood leaning against the closed door. “Does Nice-Aaron really exist?”
Twisting the handle and pulling the door, he shoved them both out of the way, but leaned over so she had nowhere to go but into the V’d corner of the hinge. “Somewhere.”
Aaron leaned on the front of his office desk and concluded his phone call. Too much to complete before a wedding he wasn’t sure would even take place.
What a task it had been convincing his grandmother to allow them a small ceremony. Her look of horror when he said they wanted the marriage kept secret broke his heart. With all his power and influence, he remained near-helpless protecting her from Uncle Trent’s truth, never mind his own.
She’d bent him over a barrel about mending his ways though. “You can’t expect an equal union with Ashley if you don’t share the foundation she stands on,” Val had admonished. She’d passed the crumpled paper into his palm as if sneaking him candy.
St. Matthew, 1 Corinthians, 1 Timothy. He remembered them. Just one of many things haunting his head.
He closed his eyes and tipped his face to the ceiling. Some things drew a fine line on whether or not they were worth it. He should call the whole thing off.
Shaking himself, he focused. Foremost, he needed to keep a cap on things. An engagement party was bad, real bad, but he’d give her this, only stressed the privacy issue. God forbid the press got wind of it as anything more than a rumor.
The mental checklist reminded him to inform the lawyers after he landed in Toronto. His trip should take three days tops. He could tackle some wedding arrangements there and the rest when he returned.
He loosened his tie, tugged his shirttail from his hips, and looked around for his coffee mug. His eye caught a draft of the vows, attempts to satisfy Ashley. “No one will think it’s strange if our vows are arranged as a partnership,” he’d assured. “Especially coming from me.”
She hadn’t looked convinced.
Aaron shook his head. Since Ashley’s arrival, the minister had gotten a kick out of seeing him after so many years. Wonder what he’d say about this.
He tipped the empty cup, glanced at the clock. Minutes to one? He set down the mug and freed his jaw in an unrestricted yawn as he headed upstairs. Outside his bedroom, he paused, and the door adjacent got a cursory glance. Janet couldn’t see two sets of sleeping arrangements after the wedding. Leave-Me-Alone-Ashley had to stay in his bed.
The tired grin took long to leave his face. He shoved open his door, shuffled in, and elbowed it closed as he undressed. Ashley would have to move in, share his closet, keep up… Heaving a heavy sigh, he shuffled back out, took the diagonal path to her door, and knocked. Silence. He raised his knuckles to rap again when her sleepy call came from the other side.
“Who is it?”
He flattened his palm on the dark wood. “Who else are you expecting this time of night?” he groused. If he found out she’d snuck Jonathan in here during his absences, there’d be a heavy price to pay.
The entry opened a crack into darkness. Without thought, his palm pressed, and he swung the door until he could see her fully in the hall light. Bare legs, boxer shorts, tank top, a messy mop with stray strands on top. For a split second he forgot why he stood there.
“What do you want?”
He liked her sleepy voice laced with suspicion and irritation. Aaron flexed the toes on his own bare feet, watching her face tighten at his open shirt and unbuckled belt. Shaking his head, he grinned at her stiffening when he reached into his back pocket and extracted his wallet. She stared as if he were there to eddy up for her services.
He tamped down what he really wanted to say and pulled out a credit card. “You’re cute when you’re confused, but don’t let your imagination run away with you. How much clothes do you have?”
She peered at her attire and quickly crossed an arm over her chest.
“No. I mean, you packed enough to stay here for—what—two, three months? Which means you’ll take over my chest of drawers and armoire.” His gaze slid. “Closet space.” Shelves and shelves of her clothes. A sense of delight took him in handing over his card like she had a right to it. I might even show you where the safe is. “Val can take you to the designers, but I don’t want her paying for something that’s ours.”
Her face melted, even as her eyes grew wide.
That’s right. Welcome to my boudoir.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Ashley listened to Val joke about pre-wedding jitters for a bride-to-be. Anything about pre-wedding earthquakes? Picking over breakfast fruit, she heard Janet inform t
hem that Aaron would return by the weekend.
“That doesn’t leave much time for wedding preparations,” Val protested. “Are you sure I can’t convince you to push back the date?”
Ashley shook her head.
“All right, then. Your party is this coming Saturday night. I don’t know why you kids insist on such a rush. You have your whole lives ahead of you.”
No, she had four whole days without his presence. “Why don’t we concentrate on you? Your casts will be off tomorrow. We can surprise Aaron with your progress.”
The older woman beamed. “I’ll get to walk down the aisle at my grandson’s wedding. How are your arrangements coming along?”
Not wanting a planner getting behind the scenes of the ceremony, why did Aaron think they could handle this alone? Unless there were a team of assistants holding up his end. She had her own arrangements to make. She pictured the credit card sitting on her vanity.
Pure old-fashioned Aaron kept him from enlisting an interior designer to dictate his bedroom’s personality. Val was only too happy to take her to the furniture designers who had created his last two sets, but promised not to butt in. Wait. Ashley had never been inside his room. Now she had to go to the inner sanctuary and study his style.
“Off in the land of dreams, Ashley?”
“Not far from it.” She looked at Val, then the plate of hot food in front of her. “But they don’t serve food like this in Dreamland. I’m starving.”
Val laughed. “Usually the bride-to-be can’t eat.”
“This one can. I have no worries about my wedding day, none that involve food anyway.” Scooping a mouthful of bright, fluffy scrambled eggs, she savored the warm texture and taste.
“Ah. Losing one’s virginity on a wedding night can be a traumatizing experience.”
Food spit out involuntarily. She covered her mouth, but Val moved on as though she’d done nothing more than tell the time.
“We must get you a gown today. Do you have a particular style in mind?”
“Oh, I never thought of it.” Fitted and gorgeous.
“It’s my gift to you. The guests will bring a donation for a charity, unless there’s something specific you’d like. Aaron did want me to cut the list in half, but nonsense, my friends have to be there as well. Some have known him since he was a child. And you mustn’t worry about your parents.”
“Parents?”
“Invite them to stay for as long as you want. We’ll fly them in since it’s such short notice. What about Christine, you two are close. You have brothers as well, isn’t that right?” She smiled. “Your father should be so proud to give you away. I...”
The slow blink blocked out everything. Ashley suffocated. No way would Valerie not have her relatives attend. Think. Think. Think. Where was Aaron when she needed him? You’re not taking care of this.
The smell of breakfast turned her stomach. She pushed the plate away as Val ran on about the ceremony preparations, the cake, Aaron’s suit, the minister, honeymoon arrangements, her color theme. Everything jamming inside her head.
Stop. It’s a week Saturday. Groom’s cake? What honeymoon?
“Val, this is way too much work for you to take on.”
“I was all set to redecorate. This will be much more fulfilling. I don’t intend to deprive you of anything, just ensure you have it all at your disposal. We have only days, this is no time for you to stress over where to find what you need.”
Ashley had her own billion-dollar beck-and-call girl.
Janet’s voice sang from the hallway. “I have them all here, Miss Val.”
“See, the invitations have arrived. Richard can take them to the courier after we’ve looked them over.”
Ashley stretched her lips into a smile. It wasn’t good having her own beck-and-call girl.
“My Aaron is getting married. I’m happy for you, Ashley. You’re so right together. I knew something would come of your sneaking around.”
She startled.
“Don’t worry, dear, I know it was quality time. If you couldn’t bring yourself to get serious about Jonathan, I know you couldn’t compromise yourself for Aaron. He’ll do right by you, you know. He wants to get back to the life he once had. I’m sure that’s why he pursued you. You put color back in his cheeks.”
Ashley crinkled her eyebrows. Aaron’s only colors were anger and stress.
“I also saw how he would touch you if you were walking together.”
Maybe it was just to guide her to a chair.
“You gave each other glances.”
Unavoidable. His presence demanded it.
“And he’s never taken an interest in going back to church until you showed up.”
Now that was just to keep close guard on his grandmother’s welfare. Ashley never denied chemistry, but it wasn’t a budding love. “I didn’t mean to disrespect you in any way.”
Val reached out and covered a hand. “My one concern is that you’re sure he’s on right footing before he takes on a godly woman.” She leaned back. “Other than that, I certainly can pick ‘em.”
Ashley turned her head to view her askew. “Are you saying you set us up?”
“Aside from you being the best person to take care of me, I brought you here because I believed you’d be a good influence on him. He needed to see what a good woman is like. I imagined you’d be friends, share. I never dreamt he’d fall in love.” Val grinned like a satisfied lioness. “I’m impressed at your strength to pacify him.”
“I don’t think what I do is pacify.”
Val’s blush colored deep around her shy smile and lowered lashes. “You keep him on edge, and I think he likes it. To him, that’s pacifying.”
Miles away, his hard stare bore into her.
“My Henry was the same.”
“And Aaron’s father?”
Val looked confused. “Oh, no. Aaron’s mother is the Gilyard. His uncle, Blake, and his father, Winston, were best friends before Winston died. You’re probably thinking of the photographs.” She pointed a finger in the direction of her bedroom where countless portraits on her walls and chest of drawers told her life story.
“I don’t believe I told you, but Henry didn’t look like a colored man. No, sir. Well, he was half black, but my daddy—if he’d been alive—never would have approved of me marrying any bit of colored. I think that’s why some never suspected. His complexion helped him get ahead in business.”
“Oh.”
“He started Revealing in honor of his half-sister and mother. Both were very dark brown. Kavin is from my side of the family. He and Aaron spent every summer and Christmas together, and I suppose most mistook them for brothers. But Blake’s children are all dark. Does that strike you as odd?”
It didn’t sound like Val sought affirmation. Ashley leaned her elbows far on the table, trying to grab Val’s wedding photo in her mind. Her memory ran over the image. Aaron’s great-grandmother was black? That’s why Aaron thought it strange when she talked about his grandfather starting a business for ethnic women.
She hadn’t paid any mind to Revealing’s owners until the media buzz many years ago about the fresh, young successor barely cresting the age of twenty-six. Even then she didn’t do much than watch a brief news caption. With a Caucasian ancestor somewhere in her own mix, she hadn’t let Aaron’s race or family business affect her world. She had quite a history to catch up on.
“Where are your children? Blake and Aaron’s mother?”
“Blake is married with three children. He lives in New Orleans as a lawyer. And Victoria?” Valerie made a small noise in her throat. “She’s somewhere in Paris, living with friends, I believe. She’d rather stay away. After Winston’s death she announced she wanted no ties to family. I could never understand it.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No, no. It’s a long time ago. I know Aaron speaks with her every so often. She inherited the shares Winston purchased when they married, but distanced herself. Couldn’t take t
he strain of being the young, heiress widow any longer. She disappeared with Aaron when he was seven, but he returned to live with me two years later. Victoria came for a couple of months during Henry’s funeral six years ago, but that was her only visit.”
“And Aaron took the family name.”
Val nodded. “Yes. When he came to live with us. He and his grandfather had always been close. There’s nothing they wouldn’t have done for each other.”
“Val, I don’t want to dig up the past.”
“It’s all right.” She soothed her wrinkled hand over Ashley’s. “I’m not ashamed by any of it, too many events have filled my years. At times the regret and the anger come back, and I do miss Henry, but I can’t change the past. My husband is gone to a better place than where I am. I should be jealous.”
Ashley listened to the silent mourn of the house in the few seconds that followed. This wasn’t Aaron’s childhood home, but it carried his hurts and memories all the same.
“No, dear, don’t look so sad. You’re a part of a rich family heritage. I’ve enjoyed the highs and the lows. My one sorrow has been Aaron turning his life from God. His father and grandfather always knew he’d do them proud. He’s succeeded in so many ways, but…” the wistful smile looked young. “The boys went through some stiff life lessons. But, do you know? Before that, Aaron used to be happy. I mean really happy, Ashley. I know he wants to get back there. He must miss God.”
Aaron miss God? He’d attended church regularly when he was younger, and she knew about Bible College. But that didn’t mean he missed the life. What had ripped him apart?
She stared down at her cold food.
“Take care of him, Ashley.” She patted Ashley’s wrist. “He needs a good wife, and I bless your union.”
Ashley fought the intense emotions swirling in her chest. She didn’t deserve Val’s kindness. “Thank you.” She couldn’t stand him, but had always wanted to help him. He wasn’t as tough as he pretended to be.
