Mountain Man's Secret Baby

by Lauren Wood

  I was starting to think that my father was crazy and Keenan sounded like a silly name. It was one of those times that I actually hoped all of this madness was just a dream. How could this be real?

  Chapter 4

  Keenan

  The offer ran through my head, as did Ronald, the man that made it. I wanted to think that he was joking or had had a little too much to drink, but neither one was the case. He knew exactly what he was doing and I had a feeling that Ronald knew that I was desperate enough to work with him that I might.

  Love and marriage were never on my radar. As far as I was concerned, women were a dime a dozen and I got bored easily. That had made it so that through the years, I never stayed with a girl long, most of the time it was for just one night and then I moved on. Very few women would I see again and only Ashlyn had been one that I had stayed friends with. She was the exception.

  Then there was the idea that the girl had to have her father bribe another guy to marry her. Sure I was rich, but it wasn’t like they were desperate for money. He was desperate to get her off of his hands and that didn’t sit well with me at all. What was she like?

  I did an internet search to see if I could come up with any kind of picture or likeness and although I found thousands of the rest of the family, the girl seemed to be mainly out of the limelight. It was just another mystery and I felt like I should at least get to see what she looks like before I go ahead and say yes.

  I was going to say yes though. Marriage wasn’t this sacred thing that everyone made it out to be. It was just a piece of paper and if that is what Ronald wanted to get him to be my mentor, then so be it. I would give it to him and the peace of mind that came with it. It wasn’t going to mean anything and even the old man had to realize that he couldn’t guarantee the heir that he seemed so bent on having.

  Still wanting to have some idea of what Gemma looked like, I called in Mike, a guy that found out everything that I wanted him to. I was going to have him do a little investigating and see what he could come up with. If nothing else, I would get Mike to get me a picture of her now. I just wanted some inkling of what I was getting myself into. I wondered if she was hideous. Would that even matter?

  I decided that it wouldn’t and when Ronald called me for an answer, I still didn’t have a picture.

  “Well, have you thought about it Keenan?”

  He didn’t say straight out what he was talking about, but there was no sense in pretending that I didn’t know what it was that he was talking about.

  “I have thought about it a little bit, but I have to admit that it feels like I am the one with no guarantees in this arrangement. You will have your daughter taken care of and peace of mind, what are my assurances?”

  There was silence on the phone and then Ronald asked me what kind of assurances that I wanted. I wasn’t sure, should have thought about it before I opened my mouth.

  “What kind of mentoring will I get from you?”

  “You want to know if I will make you richer?”

  “I was going to word it a little differently, but that is the gist of it. You get what you want, so how will I know that I will get what I want?”

  This was a strange way to talk to my future father in law about his daughter that he wanted me to marry. It was just so strange that it was almost surreal and any minute I was going to wake up from this dream and the chance of a lifetime. Be as rich as God, to marry one girl. Right then I realized nothing about her mattered. All that mattered was the position her father could put me in.

  “If I back you Keenan, your net worth will do nothing but go up, just knowing me publically will help you out and I think you know that. If you didn’t already know what you could get out of such an arrangement, we wouldn’t be talking right now. We are both busy men, so bullshit aside, have you came to a decision?”

  “I just have one question to ask you Ronald.”

  “Okay, go ahead. I will answer if I can.”

  “Why me?”

  Ronald wasn’t expecting that question and for a moment I had to wonder if he knew why. Maybe it had been something that just popped into his head and he blurted it out, but I didn’t think that was it. It was like he knew I was going to be there at the charity event. Did he know that I was going to be the one that he would propose this all to? It just didn’t make sense to me and I wasn’t comfortable in a situation where I couldn’t see all of the angles. Everyone wanted something and I couldn’t clearly see why I had been chosen to marry his daughter.

  “Many reasons. You have been trying to get to me for years. The shenanigans at the charity event told me that you were desperate enough to entertain such an idea. You are accomplished, very accomplished in your own rights and that alleviates anxiety that you are in it to get my money. You want to make more of your own and there is nothing wrong with that. Darryl Jameson took me under his wing a little before I turned forty. That’s when everything started to happen for me. So, you have a good family line, your own money and a brain in your head. What more could I ask for in a son in law?”

  It was a lot to process, but it was clear that he had read up on me and at least thought it through to some degree. Though I had to wonder why if so much thought was put into this idea of his, why he hadn’t come up with something better than an arranged marriage.

  “But why would you do it this way?”

  Ronald scoffed. “Why not? Parents have been picking their children’s partners a lot longer than marriage for love. Love is fleeting, but money, obligations and family ties last a life time.”

  I felt a shiver run up my spine with his words. How could I have not known that this was going to be more than a marriage? It wasn’t just a piece of paper. It was going to be more, so much more. Insane as it sounds, I was just now starting to realize that this was going to be a lifetime thing that I needed to really think about. Didn’t I have enough money? Did I really need to do all of this just to make more and pick up some prestige?

  “You are right. This is a big commitment.”

  Ronald chuckled. “You need to make the decision. Are you jumping in or backing off?”

  It was a now or never type of situation. I could tell that right from the bat and I wanted to tell him that I couldn’t, there was no way that I would go with such a crazy scheme, but Ronald had been right on all accounts. I was just a little bit desperate. Desperate enough to reach another height that I couldn’t on my own, just to get off of the plateau I was on.

  “Yes Ronald. I will marry your daughter. You have a deal.”

  The older man exclaimed and I pulled my ear back. I had a bad feeling in my stomach. Most people listened to theirs and let it guide them through their life. I ignored mine every chance I got. The larger the leap, the more uncertainty there was, the more yelling from my gut to stop. This was one of those times and I was just going to see where it took me. Out of all of the deals I had made though, this one seemed to be the biggest.

  “Hot damn son. Well good. I have my wife putting something together for this weekend. That will suit you, won’t it?”

  “This weekend?” My voice was hoarse and the last bit came out as a croak. This was happening far faster than I would have liked. How was I going to explain this to my own parents? I sighed when I really thought about it. My father would be happy because it was Ronald’s daughter. He wouldn’t care how we met or anything other than attaching ourselves to his family.

  My mother on the other hand would want to know everything else. I didn’t have an answer for her and I was already trying to formulate something in my head. Giving me just a few days to figure it out was pushing it in my mind. Why did it have to be so suddenly?”

  “Yes, do you have plans? Because if you do, you might want to cancel them.”

  “No, no plans that can’t be rescheduled. That is just rather soon. Isn’t a lengthy engagement period considered the right way?”

  Ronald told me that he didn’t care. “It doesn’t matter how it looks. Not in this century an
yways. I just want it done and everything moving in the right direction.”

  There was an urgency I didn’t understand, but I was just going to chalk it up to a hidden health scare or something like that to make him want to put his affairs in order. I tried to remember if I had seen any signs of sickness when I had seen him last. I didn’t remember thinking of anything more than he was sharp and healthy for his age.

  I agreed to his mad scheme and got off of the phone not really sure how to feel about it all. I wanted to think of this as the changing point. I was already rich beyond all means, but I was still hungry for more. Now it was power and respect, the kind that I had seen first-hand when I was around Ronald. That is what I wanted and I was on the way to getting it.

  The idea that I was going to be married and it all hinged on that was just a thought way off in the back of my mind. It didn’t matter to me anything about her. I would marry his daughter in a few days and I hadn’t even asked to see her first because it was the power and money that I wanted. I had enough women on the side that none of my needs were unsatisfied. Why would any of that change?

  I sat back and closed my eyes, trying to imagine what this change was going to be like. I tried to imagine myself as a husband and I just couldn’t. It had never crossed my mind before, but here it was, about to happen. All I had to do was meet my new bride and convince the world that we were happily married and in love.

  That didn’t sound that hard. I made a call to the investigator Mike to keep looking. There was no rush on it now, but I wanted to know all that I could about my wife to be.

  Chapter 5

  Gemma

  I couldn’t believe this was happening. I didn’t have a choice though. I kept telling myself that. Well I did have a choice, sort of. I could be poor or get a job. Neither one of those things sounded very good to me, so I was here, standing in a dress that I was going to have to wear tomorrow for my wedding. The final alterations were done and while my mom blubbered in the corner, I was fuming inside. I wasn’t afraid, I was mad that it had come to this. I was mad at my father for it all.

  I had done what he said. I hadn’t told mom the horrible ultimatum I was given. I believed him when he said that he would still not give me a dime. So I wouldn’t have done anything but break up a marriage that was stronger than most. It wasn’t worth it. He had won and I was going through with this.

  Turning to the full lengths mirrors that were hanging up from every direction, I frowned at my reflection. The dress was beautiful, but not like this. It seemed almost a waste to use such a pretty thing for a ruse.

  “You look amazing Gemma. Don’t you like it?”

  Caroline was behind me, gushing and I knew that she wished it was her that was standing here. I wish it was her as well, instead of me expected to get married and be the doting wife that I never said I would be.

  “Yes, I suppose I do.”

  She shook her head and told me that I was the frowningest bride that she had ever seen.

  “I don’t even think that is a word Caroline.”

  “Barbara, don’t you agree?”

  My mother looked at me and just waved it off. “Gemma never has been a smiley kind of person, even when she was little. I think she is just overwhelmed. The wedding is so close.”

  I loved her for thinking that, but my cousin knew me better than that and she was narrowing her gaze to me, telling me that she wasn’t sure if that was it.

  “I don’t know Aunt Barbara, if I didn’t know any better, I would think that she was being dragged to the altar. Who is this guy anyways? I have never met him. Have you?”

  “Once, very briefly but I didn’t know that they were dating.”

  This was the conversation that I was afraid of and I looked away, pretending that I was fixing something on the side of the dress. I already knew that there would be consequences if mom found out about it. This was a secret I was going to have to take to my grave.

  “Oh stop Caroline. You will meet him tomorrow like everyone else.”

  “Why such a secret? I didn’t even know you are dating anyone and now you are getting married? You have to admit that it is kind of strange and not like you at all.”

  I was staring into the mirror, fixing the makeup on my face to see if I would get them off of the subject. I should have known that my nosy cousin wasn’t going to. I can’t say that if the roles were reversed, that I wouldn’t be acting the same way. I was going to have to convince them or it was all going to blow up in my face. I just wasn’t a very good liar, never really had been.

  “I just want this to be perfect. You know how my life is, how intense dad is. I wanted to know how I felt before he started to put in his two sense. It was better this way and I am glad I did it this way instead of taking him over to the house from the get go. Dad has met him and mom.”

  Mom knew that and it was just recently. I didn’t know what dad had told her and I didn’t want to be the one to reveal something that I wasn’t supposed to. I just wasn’t a good liar. I never had been.

  “Your father should have told me. I have been worried to death about all of this. He doesn’t have piercings and tattoos, does he? It didn’t look like it in his suit. And he was with the most charming woman, Ashlyn.”

  I shook my head and laughed. I told Caroline to take out my phone, so that they could be assured that he wasn’t a hoodlum. It was strange because she knew more about him than I did, meeting him before me, but it was just something else that I had to keep in.

  “Okay, now what?”

  “Do a search on Keenan Hall.”

  It wasn’t the first time that I had said his name, but I wanted mom to see that the man was a billionaire and a very respected business man. I had spent hours poring over everything that I could find on him. He was handsome and rich, the perfect mate, although I wondered why he would agree to this. What was he getting out of marrying me, a girl he has never even met before? What kind of man does that?

  When Caroline started to read some of the articles, it quickly got them off of me and back onto him. They were getting excited to really meet him and it was strange to realize that they were more excited about meeting him than I was. I knew what he was or rather what he was willing to do, but for what I didn’t know. I wasn’t so ready to meet the man that I was going to have to marry. There was no reason to be happy about it.

  “Oh Gemma, he is gorgeous. No wonder you kept him a secret. He is absolutely yummy!”

  I rolled my eyes at Caroline and I made it like that was the reason for all of the secrecy. It was easier for her to believe that it was all because of her. She was a little vain, but I did love her. We had been best friends since I could remember.

  “That’s what it is Caroline. I knew I couldn’t trust you around him.”

  That made her pout and I was thankful for the distraction. We were able to leave the dress shop and get home without having to talk about my mystery guy. They had seen enough to slacken their curiosity and I was just happy for a breath. All of their comments played in my head as I made my way upstairs. This was going to be my last night as a single woman and all I could think about was what that was going to mean for me. Tomorrow was going to be a long day and I wasn’t sure if I was ready for it or not.

  ***

  The morning arrived and I was bothered by the dreams that I had the night before. I knew that I had a lot on my mind, but I was more than a little surprised that all I could think about was Keenan. Mom and Caroline had talked about him so much that I had thoughts of him in my head that I couldn’t get out. They were going on and on about the wedding night, something that wouldn’t be a problem for us. I didn’t think so anyways. My father could expect me to marry him, but there was no way that it was going to be a real marriage like that.

  But my dreams played out a lot differently than my mind let me imagine. His arms had been around me, his hands all over me and his tongue flicked and licked down my body. It was hard to think of anything else even now when I thought of h
ow hot and bothered I was. If Keenan was anything like he was in my dreams, I was sure that I was going to have a hard time keeping up with the idea of not going all the way in the marriage. I was more than a little afraid of how I was going to have to face him after thinking about and fantasizing about all of the dirty things that my mind could think of.

  “Good morning Gemma. Are you decent?”

  I looked down at the night gown that I wore. I told her that I was decent and mom flitted into the room. She was glowing and I knew that it was because she was excited about today. “It’s not every day that my little girl gets married!”

  Mom gushed and I just shook my head. How was I supposed to deal with her today when I was so nervous? She was just too happy and I felt like my head was going to explode. This wasn’t the time for this.

  “Come on sleepyhead. Do you have any idea what time it is?”

  I shrugged and told her that I didn’t. The fact that I was still in bed underneath the covers would have been a good indication that I hadn’t gotten that far yet.

  “It’s ten o’ clock Gemma! You are going to be married in a couple of hours and you are still in bed.”

  “It will be fine mom, trust me.”

  “Why are you not worried about how you look?”

  I just smiled at her and told her that Keenan didn’t care what I looked like. Since her was just marrying for some plan of my father’s, it didn’t make sense to worry about it. I was just a name and relationship to my father to Keenan, I was sure of it.

  “Because he loves me for who I am, not just what I look like.”

  Mom asked me and acted like I was being silly. “A man always wants a beautiful woman on his arm. You have always been a very beautiful girl and now you are a woman. You have to learn to flaunt it a little bit.”

  I wanted her to just stop talking, but she kept on and I was left to take in all of her advice. After she had gotten me to the vanity and got me in the dress, she started to do my hair and makeup. It was something that I had wanted to do myself, turning down the offer of a makeup artist. I wanted this to be simple, but everyone was fighting me on it.