“Did you and Melanie enjoy your evening?” Destiny asked without preamble. The glint of anticipation in her eyes suggested she was hoping for some very juicy details.
“Very much,” he said neutrally.
“Did you do anything special?”
Richard gave her a sharp look. “You know about dinner, don’t you?”
His aunt grinned. “That you flew it in from her favorite teen hangout in Ohio? Yes, I did hear about that. I must commend you, Richard. It was a nice touch, something I might have dreamed up had you asked for my input.”
“Is everybody in my company on your payroll, too?”
“If you’re asking if they all spy for me, the answer is no. I just make it my business to stay well-informed where my nephews are concerned. It’s amazing how cooperative some people are willing to be when you’re pleasant to them.”
He heard the implied criticism, but he was in no mood for it. “You need to get your own life and stay out of mine.”
She shrugged. “Maybe one of these days, when I’m satisfied that you, Mack and Ben are happy.”
“We’d be a lot happier without you poking around in our personal lives.”
“Really?” she asked doubtfully. “You’d never have met Melanie if not for me. Can you honestly say you were happier before she came along?”
“I was at peace,” he said, trying to recall what that had felt like. Probably lonely, if he were to be totally honest about it. Melanie hadn’t been around all that long, but he was already having difficulty imagining his life without her.
“Darling, that’s not the same thing at all,” Destiny said. “In fact, it seems to me you had a little too much peace in your life.”
“I was content with that,” he said, even though he knew he was not only lying but wasting his breath.
“Well, Melanie’s in your life now,” Destiny said breezily. “I hope you won’t do anything foolish to ruin it.”
“I doubt you’ll give me a chance,” he muttered.
She chuckled. “Not if I can help it. Christmas is coming, you know. Will Melanie be joining us next week?”
“You mean for the traditional Carlton excess?”
She frowned at the edge in his voice. “I love the holidays. Sue me. And despite your sour mood this morning, you usually do, as well.”
She was right, though Richard had no intention of giving her the satisfaction of admitting it. “I assume if I don’t invite Melanie myself, you’ll do it behind my back,” he grumbled, even though he’d already planned to include Melanie in their Christmas Eve and Christmas Day celebrations. Let Destiny believe he was making a huge concession just for her benefit.
“I’m hoping that it won’t be necessary for me to go behind your back,” she said mildly. “Remember dinner’s at eight on Christmas Eve. Then I expect you all back for brunch at eleven on Christmas Day. We’ll open our gifts then. Be sure to get something special for Melanie. Do it yourself. Don’t leave it to Winifred.”
“I think I can remember the schedule,” he said, ignoring the barb about assigning his shopping to his secretary. “We’ve been doing the same thing for twenty years.”
“Tradition is important. Someday you’ll appreciate that.”
Richard supposed that was possible. He’d never given it much thought before. For a moment his imagination took flight and he pictured years of family traditions created with Melanie for their family. As soon as the thought crept in, he stamped it out. He was getting carried away. If he wasn’t careful, this whole charade thing was going to get out of hand. Maybe that’s what Melanie had been trying to tell him last night, that it was already out of hand. If so, he was very much afraid she’d gotten it exactly right.
“Richard’s on line one,” Becky announced with surprisingly good cheer when Melanie walked into her house after a meeting with a client she’d been putting off ever since Richard’s business had taken over most of the minutes of her day.
Becky held out the phone. “You want to take it here?” she asked, her expression hopeful.
Melanie shook her head. “I’ll get it in a sec,” she said, wanting to figuratively catch her breath before speaking to the man who’d literally taken it away the night before with his wildly impulsive gesture.
“Once you two have talked, you can tell me all about dinner last night,” Becky added. “I can’t wait to hear every little detail. I’ve asked, but Richard doesn’t seem inclined to spill the beans on whether he got lucky.”
“Good God, please tell me you didn’t ask him that,” Melanie said.
“Not in those exact words,” Becky said, grinning.
At last, some evidence of discretion and good sense, Melanie thought. Avoiding Becky’s probing questions was also a rather powerful incentive for keeping Richard on hold indefinitely. She did not want to engage in a postmortem with a woman who knew her as well as Becky did. Becky would see straight through any attempts to deny that she was falling for Richard.
“I think I’ll take the call in my office,” Melanie said, walking into the room and firmly closing the door behind her.
She heard Becky’s indignant gasp as the door clicked shut.
When Melanie felt reasonably composed, she picked up the receiver. “Good morning,” she said briskly, determined to keep things cool and professional this morning, the exact opposite of the way they’d been the night before. “Sorry to keep you waiting. I’m just back from a meeting.”
“No problem. How are you?”
“Doing great. You?”
“Fine,” he said, sounding amused. “Is Becky standing over your shoulder listening to every word? She seems awfully curious about last night.”
“I think that’s to be expected under the circumstances, since you saw fit to take her into your confidence.”
“You have a point,” he conceded. “I won’t make that mistake again. You didn’t say, though. Is she there?”
“No, as a matter of fact, I shut the door to my office. I don’t think she can hear me, though I imagine her ear’s pressed against the door,” she said a bit more loudly.
The comment was greeted by an indignant huff from the outer office.
“Now, then what can I do for you?” she asked Richard.
“We need to talk about Christmas,” he said. “It’s next week.”
Melanie bit back a smile. “So I’ve heard. I’m surprised you remember. Winifred must have made a note on your calendar.”
“Actually Destiny was here this morning,” he said.
“So that explains your sudden recollection of the holiday,” she teased. “Family prompting. Did she ask you to pass it on to all the other workaholics you know?”
“No, but she is expecting you to join us for Christmas Eve dinner and brunch on Christmas Day,” he said. “I promised to invite you.”
Melanie was completely caught off guard. Spend the holiday with his family? She wasn’t sure she could pull that off. It seemed way too…intimate. “Isn’t that carrying things a bit too far?”
“Not if we expect to convince Destiny we have a real relationship. You’re not going home to visit your family, are you?”
“No, but—”
“Then there’s no reason you can’t join us. I’ll give my aunt credit for one thing—she does do the holidays up right. You’ll have a good time and, goodness knows, you’ll get plenty to eat.”
“It’s not being entertained or fed that I’m worried about.”
“Then what is it?”
“It’s a lie, Richard. On Christmas,” she added, as if that were somehow worse than all the other lying going on.
“I see your point.”
“Do you really?”
“Believe it or not, I’m not in the habit of lying to people myself,” he said. “These are extraordinary times.”
“Not that extraordinary,” she insisted. “How can we keep this up? I’m getting more uncomfortable all the time.”
She waited through a long silence.
<
br /> “Maybe we need to speed up the timetable a bit,” he suggested finally.
Melanie wasn’t reassured by his cautious tone. “Meaning?”
“Let me give this some more thought,” he said. “Just promise you’ll be there.”
“I don’t suppose these will be huge gatherings where I can get lost in the crowd,” she asked, hopeful.
“Afraid not. The bashes come between Christmas and New Year’s. These two occasions are just for family.”
“Oh, God,” Melanie murmured. “Richard, are you really sure about this?”
“I don’t see an alternative,” he told her, not sounding nearly as dismayed as he should have. “It would be highly unusual if you weren’t there. In fact, it would be tantamount to an admission that we’re not serious.”
“You aren’t beginning to enjoy this predicament we’re in, are you?” she asked suspiciously.
“It’s a necessary evil,” he claimed, though he didn’t sound very sincere. “Trust me.”
“Trust you?” she echoed doubtfully.
“I haven’t been wrong about Destiny so far, have I? She’s behaving totally predictably.”
“I suppose.”
“Relax, Melanie, this won’t be so bad. You know Destiny and Mack. The only person you haven’t met is Ben, and he’ll probably study you appreciatively with his artist’s eye and never say two words.”
“Are you telling me there’s a member of the Carlton clan who isn’t glib?”
Richard fell silent for so long, Melanie was afraid she’d said something dreadfully wrong. “Richard?”
“Ben used to be as chatty as the rest of us,” he said slowly. “He’s had a tough time the last couple of years.”
“What happened?”
“He doesn’t discuss it, so we don’t, either. I’m sorry I can’t prepare you any better than that. If it’ll ease your mind any, you should know that he’s the handsomest one of us all.”
“Quiet, rich and gorgeous. I could be in love,” Melanie joked.
“Don’t get any ideas,” Richard said. “You’re wildly in love with me, remember?”
“Oh, right,” she said. “Sometimes I lose track of the details in our arrangement.”
“Very amusing,” he said without the faintest hint of humor in his voice. “I guess Christmas would be a good time to put a spin on this you won’t be able to forget.”
Something in his tone alerted her that he was dead serious. “Richard, what is that supposed to mean?”
“Christmas is coming,” he said. “It’s not the time to ask a lot of questions.”
Her heart took a sudden stutter-step. “Richard, don’t you dare do anything foolish.”
“Of course not. I’m stodgy, remember?”
He hung up abruptly before she could remind him that there had been nothing stodgy about his grand gesture the night before, nor about any of the kisses they’d shared. She had a sudden sinking sensation that he was about to top himself. The thought scared her to death.
Melanie was wearing a simply cut emerald velvet suit she’d found at Chez Deux when Richard picked her up on Christmas Eve. She looked amazing. She also looked a little as if she were being carted off to the guillotine. He regretted that he was the cause of that.
“There’s no reason to look so terrified,” he reassured her. “It’s just dinner.”
She gave him a skeptical look. “How many courses?”
“I have no idea. I never counted. What does that have to do with anything?”
“Just dinner is meat, potatoes, vegetables and maybe a pumpkin pie for dessert. Is that what we’re likely to have tonight?”
He grinned. “Doubtful. Okay, I see your point.” She’d been making quite a lot of good ones lately.
“Do you really? Something tells me that this meal is also going to be accompanied by a lot of expectant stares,” she told him.
“Could be.”
“And that doesn’t scare you?”
“This is my family. They don’t scare me,” he insisted.
“Not even Destiny?”
He laughed. “Oh, well, if we’re talking about Destiny specifically, she has put the fear of God into me from time to time.”
“Especially lately, I imagine.”
“Actually I’ve been warming to her mission,” he said mildly, just as he pulled his car into the garage.
Melanie stared at him, obviously convinced she couldn’t possibly have heard him correctly. He took some satisfaction in having caught her off guard.
“What did you just say?” she demanded.
He pretended not to hear her as he exited the car and went around to hold her door. She didn’t budge.
“I asked you a question,” she said, frowning up at him.
“We’ll discuss it later,” he promised. “We don’t want to keep everyone waiting.”
“Something tells me it would be smarter if we did,” she grumbled, but she did get out of the car.
Inside, they found the rest of the family already gathered. Even Ben had put on a tux for the occasion, but he still wore his usual dour expression. Richard worried about the fact that Ben still hadn’t snapped out of his dark, brooding mood, but Destiny insisted that people recovered from tragedy at their own pace.
At least Ben made an effort to smile when Destiny introduced him to Melanie.
“I’ve heard a lot about you,” Ben said.
Melanie glanced at Richard, then back at Ben. “Really?”
“Actually, it’s my aunt who’s been singing your praises. Mack is entirely too absorbed with his own women to mention that Richard is involved with someone, and Richard only calls to see if I’ve remembered to come out of my studio long enough to eat.”
Melanie grinned. “I’ve heard you’re a talented artist. I’d love to see your work.”
To Richard’s astonishment, Ben nodded.
“Come out to the farm sometime,” he told her. “I’m sure Destiny will bring you.”
“If anyone brings her, it’ll be me,” Richard grumbled, oddly disconcerted by the fact that Ben seemed to have taken an instant liking to Melanie. He studied his brother, trying to pinpoint whether his overall outlook had changed or whether this was purely a reaction to Melanie. He couldn’t tell. He hadn’t expected both of his brothers to be thoroughly besotted by her within minutes. Good thing he’d made his own plans to stake his claim.
“I thought you didn’t let strangers poke around in your studio,” Richard said.
Ben smiled with more animation than Richard had seen in months.
“But Melanie’s not a stranger, is she? From what I gather she’s practically family,” he said in a tone that sounded almost like the Ben of old, full of life and mischief.
Destiny had filled him in, all right, Richard thought grimly. Or Mack. Either way, Ben seemed to be enjoying it, and that counted for a lot these days.
Melanie linked her arm through Ben’s. “Don’t believe everything you hear,” she confided. “Some people are more confident than they should be. Now, would you mind pouring me a glass of wine, since your brother hasn’t seen fit to do it yet?”
“It would be my pleasure,” Ben said, crossing the room with her.
Richard stared after them in amazement. Even Mack looked astonished.
“Stop gaping,” Destiny scolded. “Richard, you of all people should know what an amazing woman Melanie is.”
“I had no idea she was a miracle worker,” he mumbled, his gaze still following her as she chatted with his brother. Seeing her work her magic on Ben reassured him that his plan for tomorrow’s family gathering was a wise one. It was time to raise the stakes. He simply wasn’t sure anymore whether it had anything at all to do with Destiny.
Melanie felt like the worst sort of fraud. She was beginning to hate this stupid agreement she’d made with Richard to deceive Destiny into thinking they were getting serious about each other. Half a dozen times the night before, she’d been tempted to spill the truth a
nd let the chips fall where they may, but she hadn’t been able to bring herself to utter the words. She had a feeling her reticence was just the tiniest bit self-serving. She liked Richard. She liked his family. And some part of her that was doomed to heartbreak didn’t want the charade to end.
She suspected that Richard knew that, too, and was using it to keep her in the game. He was sneaky like that, not in a mean way, but to protect his own interests. Whatever those interests were. She was no longer sure about that, not after some of the hints he’d been dropping lately. And not after he’d kissed her for so long the night before, church bells had been chiming the end of midnight services when he’d stopped. At least, she hoped those were the bells she’d heard ringing. Otherwise, she was in more trouble than she’d imagined.
“I should not be doing this,” she told herself even as she showered and began dressing to return to Destiny’s for Christmas brunch. “Nothing good can come from it.” She stared at her reflection in the steamy bathroom mirror and nodded agreement, then sighed. “But I’m going anyway.” Her tone was more resigned than defiant.
Once she was dressed, she made calls to her family to wish them a happy holiday.
“We miss you,” her mother said. “When are you coming home?”
“Soon, I hope,” Melanie promised, feeling instantly homesick.
“Stop pestering the girl,” her father said. “She’s busy. She’ll come when she can.”
“Thanks, Dad. I love you guys.”
“What are you doing today?” her mother asked.
Now there was a quagmire if ever she’d seen one, Melanie thought. “Having brunch with friends,” she said neutrally.
“Anyone we know?” her mother wanted to know.
“No.”
“You’re pestering again, Adele.”
Her mother chuckled. “How am I supposed to find out anything, if I don’t ask? Melanie never volunteers anything. She’s exactly like you.”
Isn't It Rich? Page 14
