Second Chance Girl--A Modern Fairy Tale Romance

by Susan Mallery

  “Did the perimeter alarms alert you to company?” she asked, only half joking.

  “In a manner of speaking.” He held open the door. “Come on in.”

  “Thanks.”

  Once they were in the foyer, he put his hands in his jeans front pockets. “Is this a long visit or a short visit?”

  Was he asking if they could talk while standing here? She wasn’t sure and while sitting down was probably a good idea; she kind of liked the idea of being able to bolt if he got mad.

  “This is fine. I’ll be quick.”

  “If you’re going to ask my permission to marry my brother, I’m happy to agree. He has some quirks and a few annoying habits, but basically he’s a good guy.”

  Carol felt herself flush. Considering her mouth also dropped open, she couldn’t begin to imagine how pretty that made her look.

  “I... We...”

  Ronan’s eyes brightened with amusement. “Not that, then. Okay, I’m intrigued. Go ahead.”

  She couldn’t get past the marriage thing. “Why would you think I’m here about Mathias?”

  “Aren’t you?”

  “Yes, but not because I want to marry him.”

  No way. They were friends. Sure, she liked him and all but that wasn’t anything like being in love with him. Loving someone was different. It was big and loud and flashy. It was like a roller coaster and she’d never been a roller-coaster kind of girl. She’d never liked big parties or fancy events. She liked—

  Her mind whipped all those thoughts around five or six times before settling on something that might be truth. Love wouldn’t be flashy for her. It would be like her regular life. Steady, ordinary, happy. It would be kindness and affection and laughter and holy, holy crap, was she in love with Mathias? Was she?

  “Carol?”

  She liked being with him and talking to him. She knew she desperately wanted to make love with him, but only because it was what he wanted, too, and not out of duty. She wanted him smiling at her and teasing her about her cows and holding her tight. She wanted to be there for him, too, to be his partner and his support and what if she was in love with him?

  “Carol?”

  “This is all your fault!”

  Ronan looked at her. “What is?”

  “All of it.”

  All right, maybe her being in love with Mathias wasn’t technically Ronan’s fault, but he’d been the one to make her see it.

  “I didn’t want to know,” she added, hoping she didn’t sound as desperate as she felt. “This is a disaster. Why would you say that? Why?”

  He took a step back and held up both his hands. “I was kidding, trying to be friendly. I thought you and Mathias were just friends and that you’d laugh.”

  She glared at him. “This is not a good time to develop a sense of humor!”

  “It won’t happen again.”

  “It’s too late now. How could you? I don’t want to be in love with him. Do you know what’s going to happen now? Do you?”

  The last two words came out louder than she’d wanted and Ronan flinched.

  “Something that isn’t good and is also my fault?” he ventured.

  “You got that right. Now we both have to pretend this never happened. You are not going to say a word, do you hear me?”

  “The last person I want to talk to about this is my brother.”

  “Not good enough. No. One. Am I clear?”

  “Crystal.”

  She narrowed her gaze. “You’ve really upset me. I have to deal with this now. The auction is in two days. I don’t have time to worry about being in love with your brother.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “That’s not good enough. Make it go away.”

  “I can’t. Once you know something, you can’t forget it. Trust me, I know.”

  Her terror and wonder and worry evaporated as she got his point. Of course Ronan would know about not being able to let something emotionally significant go. It was how he lived his life.

  “It’s okay,” she told him, not sure if she was talking about him or herself.

  “It’s not, but dealing isn’t an option.”

  Only with him, it kind of was, she thought with a sigh, which brought her right back to why she was here in the first place.

  “We should go sit down,” she said.

  “Sure.”

  They went into the living room. There were two couches covered in a dark plaid. Club chairs picked up the deep green from the pattern. She sat on a sofa while he took a chair. There was a moment of uneasy silence.

  “I wouldn’t have picked you as a plaid man,” she admitted.

  “They were the floor models. It was faster to just take them than to order something.”

  “You’re such a guy.”

  Humor replaced wariness. “Thanks.”

  “What makes you think I meant it as a compliment?”

  “We both know you did. Now what’s going on?”

  He could work on his small-talk skills, she thought, but then she’d been the one to show up unannounced. He’d probably thought polite chitchat wasn’t required.

  “Your dad’s in town,” she began.

  “That I know.”

  “He’s having a piece shipped for the event on Thursday.”

  “I’ve heard.”

  “And while I appreciate the extra income and Atsuko’s thrilled about it because she’d already said she wouldn’t take a commission off your piece but now she’ll get one from Ceallach’s, it doesn’t feel right.”

  “Do you need money for the herd?”

  “You know I do. That’s the whole point of this.”

  “Now you’ll get an extra three or four hundred thousand dollars. Go buy a hippo.”

  She opened her mouth to explain that they were in no way equipped to house a hippo. The water requirements alone were impractical. They lived in a desert and while there was an aquifer, she still tried to conserve wherever possible. Besides, hippos weren’t the fun, dancing creatures from the movies. Hippos could be aggressive and she had no training when it came to...

  Her brain kicked in. Ronan wasn’t talking about hippos, he was talking about taking the money and being grateful.

  “I am grateful,” she murmured. “This isn’t about me or even Millie. It’s about how it makes you feel.” She looked at him. “You specifically.”

  Nothing about his expression changed, yet in less than a heartbeat he went from semi-friendly and engaged to disconnected.

  “Don’t worry about me.”

  “I can’t help it. You’re Mathias’s brother and you’re my friend.” Sort of. She thought of him as a friend, but she had no idea how he saw her. “You’re being so generous. I don’t want to see that repaid with something unpleasant.”

  “My father stealing the spotlight and making the night about him?” Ronan sounded bored. “Trust me, I’ve seen that one before. It’s how he lives his life. I don’t give a damn.”

  “You do give a damn. If you didn’t care, you wouldn’t have left Fool’s Gold.”

  His gaze settled on her face, but he didn’t speak.

  “You know I’m right,” she continued. “Ronan, I know it’s confusing to have your family here. You love them and want to be with them and your dad is really difficult. Plus your mom is—”

  “She’s not my mother.”

  Carol decided not to argue that point. Whatever his lack of biological connection with Elaine, the woman was still his mother in every sense of the word. She thought about pointing out that his being unable to accept that might be the heart of whatever problem he was having but doubted he would listen. Worse, he might dismiss everything she had to say and she couldn’t let him do that. There was too much on the li
ne.

  “Why are you here?” Ronan asked. “It’s not to talk about Elaine.”

  “No, it’s not.”

  She’d hoped to come up with something really compelling and inspiring, but now that the moment had arrived, all she had was the truth.

  “Please don’t leave. I know this visit is hard for you, but the wedding is Saturday, then everyone will be gone and you can get back to normal.”

  “Why would you think I would leave?”

  She twisted her hands together. “I don’t know. I have a gut feeling you might and that is not going to go well. Mathias needs you. You’re his twin.”

  He started to speak, but she cut him off with another glare. “Don’t say you’re not. You spent the first twenty-plus years of your life believing you were a unit. Nothing is ever going to change that. It’s who each of you are. He doesn’t want to leave and if you go, I’m not sure he’ll follow you again. And then what? You’ll both be alone. You’ll lose each other and I know you don’t want that.”

  “You don’t know anything about me.”

  “I know enough.”

  “Why are you doing this? What do you get out of it?”

  Finally a question she could answer without having to plan what she was going to say. “There’s nothing in it for me. This is about Mathias and you. Please don’t leave.”

  Ronan rose. She had no choice but to stand and follow him to the front door. He waited until she was on the porch to speak.

  “I’ll think about what you said,” he told her. “But no promises.”

  “Thank you.”

  It wasn’t much but at this point, she would take whatever she could get.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CAROL AND VIOLET sat on a blanket in the shade of a tree. The afternoon was warm and sunny, the air still. The zebras grazed in the distance. Millie was a little closer, foraging for the occasional leaf.

  “How does she get what she needs to eat?” Violet asked. “Are there enough trees for her to nibble on?”

  “No. In the wild, giraffe territories can be as large as a hundred square miles, which means there’s time for trees to grow back leaves before the giraffes return.” She pointed to a tall pole by the grove of trees. “I hoist up branches every morning for her. We’re having three more poles installed for the new giraffes. They can feed together but have their own space.”

  Construction would take a couple of days. The poles would be mounted in concrete to make sure they were secure enough to endure wildlife butts and brushes.

  Her sister smiled at her. “Buttons are much easier.”

  “Yes,” Carol said with a laugh. “And there’s no poop to clean up.”

  Violet wrinkled her nose. “How often do you have to do that?”

  “If we had more land, we could let it decompose into the soil, but we’re all at closer quarters here. I send one of the interns out every couple of weeks.” She smiled. “One of the perks of being the boss. Not that I haven’t collected my share of animal poop in my day.”

  Violet laughed. “I swear, if I had a blog, I would so put this conversation on it. Even though it has nothing to do with anything.” She flopped back on the blanket and stared at the sky. “I want to freeze this moment forever.”

  “Because I’m such good company?”

  Her sister’s mouth twisted. “You are, of course, but there’s more to it than that.”

  “Ulrich?”

  Violet sat up and seemed to be fighting tears. “I’m a mess. Everything is wonderful and he’s so great and I’m happy and it’s all going to end and I don’t know how I’m supposed to survive that.”

  Carol had the brief thought that she was grateful for having to think about her sister’s dilemma because it allowed her to forget her own.

  “Are you in love with him?” she asked bluntly.

  Violet sniffed, then nodded. “I know part of the reason is he’s safe to love. If he’s leaving, then he can’t hurt me. Outside of his going home, of course, but that was always a given.”

  Carol thought about the irony of them both falling for men who were totally out of reach, but for very different reasons.

  “What does he think about you?” she asked.

  “I’m not sure. He likes me. I’m clear on that. We get along. I know he’ll miss me. He’s asked me to visit him in England.”

  “There you go. That’s good.”

  “It is, but it’s not love.” She bit her lower lip. “I want him to be wildly and madly in love with me. I want him to sweep me off my feet.”

  “Didn’t he break his leg?”

  Violet rolled her eyes. “Figuratively, not literally, and his leg isn’t broken. I want him to...”

  “You want him to propose.”

  Violet shrieked, causing the zebras to stare at them before returning to their foraging. She covered her face and rocked back and forth, then dropped her arms to her sides.

  “I do want that. How pathetic, right? What is it about women that we all want to get married?”

  “The need to pair bond is biological,” Carol said gently. “We want to be part of a community and that includes having a romantic partner and then having children. You want to belong just as much as Millie wants a herd.”

  “But Millie’s herd isn’t going to break her heart. They’re going to love her back and be friends and they’ll all be happy together.”

  “How do you know Ulrich doesn’t want what you want?”

  “Because there are complications. He has to live in England and I live here.”

  “You don’t have to live here,” Carol pointed out, ignoring the fierce ache in her chest at the thought of her sister moving so far away. There were airplanes, she told herself. They would still see each other. There was email and texting and Skype. Carol and Violet stayed in touch with their mother that way.

  Funny how she was willing to urge her sister to follow her dream not three hours after begging Ronan to stay put. She supposed the difference was Violet was running to something, she was going to be happy, while Ronan would simply be running away.

  “Your button business can be located anywhere. You do most of your work through the mail and online. It’s not as if you have a button store people flock to.”

  “You’re right,” Violet said slowly. “I have my store, but that’s mostly for the alterations and I only do that because it’s fun.” She shook her head. “No, it would never work. He’s a duke.”

  “Dukes have to get married and have kids.”

  “To appropriate women. I’m not titled. We don’t have any lineage. That kind of thing is important.”

  “Not to Ulrich.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because you love him and if that was important to him, he would be a jerk and you couldn’t love a jerk.”

  Violet’s eyes filled with tears. “I do love him, but I’m so scared.”

  “Have you told him how you feel?”

  “No. I don’t want to pressure him. I want him to...” She wiped her cheeks. “Oh, I hate to repeat myself, but yes, I do want him to sweep me off my feet. I hate being a cliché.”

  “You’re not. You want the man you love to love you back. How is that wrong or bad? As for being swept away...that’s more about him demonstrating how he feels than the grand gesture. There are birds who—”

  “If you give me a bird analogy, I’ll scream and that will scare Millie.”

  “It’s a good analogy.”

  “I’m sure it’s riveting, but no.”

  Carol smiled. “Fine. How about a hug?”

  “That would be better.”

  She held on to her sister as hard as she could. “No matter what, we’ll have each other,” she promised.

  “Thank y
ou.”

  “Love sucks. It’s supposed to be amazing, but it’s not.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  At least Violet had a shot with Ulrich. Carol had a feeling the English duke was just as crazy about Violet as she was about him. For Carol, it was different. Mathias might not be leaving any time soon, but having him around only made things worse. If he was gone, she could pretend that it all could have worked out. As it was, she was stuck with nothing but the unvarnished truth. Mathias didn’t want to love anyone...not even her.

  * * *

  THURSDAY MORNING CAROL walked into the gallery and came to a stop in the middle of the main room. She couldn’t believe how the space had been transformed. Every piece of the gallery’s artwork had been removed, as had most of the display cases. A bar had been set up in one corner. There were small bistro tables scattered around the edges of the room. She knew that catering staff would circulate trays of appetizers all evening.

  But that was all background noise for what was front and center: Millie. Huge pictures of the leggy giraffe hung on the walls. Some were in color and others were black and white. They were all stunning and completely new to Carol. She crossed to the closest one and saw a tag on the wall offering the photograph for five thousand dollars. Maya Farlow was the photographer.

  “What do you think?”

  Carol turned and saw her friend Natalie walking toward her. Natalie pushed up her red glasses and grinned.

  “The pictures came out nice.”

  “Nice?” Carol shook her head. “No. They’re incredible. When did Maya do this? She’s supposed to be preparing for her wedding.”

  “She went out a couple of mornings ago and took the pictures. Wynn blew them up and voilà. Art.” Natalie laughed. “Not to mention more money for you.” Natalie linked arms with her. “Come on. I’ll give you the grand tour.”

  They walked over to the two center displays.

  “Ceallach’s donation arrived late last night,” Natalie said. “It’s beautiful.”

  Carol stared at the six-foot-tall, abstract, angled glass. It was all sharp edges and needlelike points, each done in different shades of red, orange and yellow. Looking at it made her want to shiver. There was a coldness. No, she thought. It wasn’t cold, it was angry.