by Noelle Adams
If he were going to make another list today, Harrison knew what he would write.
Marietta.
Over and over again.
Maybe he couldn’t fix the world, but there was one thing he could fix.
“Your uncle’s conference call has concluded,” Gordon said. “I’m sure he would like to see you.”
“Yeah.” Harrison swallowed the coffee and rubbed his temples. Maybe he could call Marietta tonight to explain what happened. See if there was any hope.
“Should I have someone make flight arrangements for you?” Gordon asked in the same placid tone, his inflection rising like Harrison’s affirmative response was a given.
Harrison stared at the butler. He’d just gotten back from a transatlantic flight and wasn’t about to travel for more Damon business. Not this week, anyway.
“To France,” Gordon prompted. “Shall I have someone make the arrangements? Or would you prefer to take the train?”
It took a moment for Harrison to process the question. Once he did, there was only one answer. “Yes.” His mind whirled with all that the decision implied.
“Yes,” he said again, a rush of excitement and determination driving him to his feet. He couldn’t call her. He needed to go get her. She’d cared about him. He was sure of that. She might still forgive him and take him back. He didn’t deserve her, but he’d never put things right if he didn’t try.
Gordon’s face relaxed enough to be noticeable. “For tonight?”
“Yes.” Harrison gulped a few more swallows of coffee that was so hot it burned his throat. “Wait—no,” he added, and put the cup on his desk so fast the liquid slopped on his hand. “I need to talk to my uncle. It might be…hard. Better make it tomorrow.”
“Very good, sir.”
And with that, Gordon left the room.
Chapter Twelve
“Am I to understand you’re reconsidering your decision?” Damon asked in the tone he usually reserved for the most insufferable business associates.
“It was your decision, not mine. And it’s not the right one.” Harrison had known his uncle would be surprised and disappointed by his abrupt reversal, but he hadn’t known how to break the news. So he’d walked into his uncle’s office and blurted that he needed time off to apologize to Marietta and see if he could get her back.
Damon stiffened.
“I’m sorry this is sudden,” Harrison continued. “But I changed my mind. I know you might not approve, but I love her. I’m not going to let her go.”
Damon just stared at him.
“I really am sorry if it disappoints you.” It hurt more than he’d expected. Harrison had worked so hard for so long to meet every standard, do every job, offer absolute loyalty. And now he was letting his uncle down.
But he had no choice.
“I’ll try to work things out so that—”
“There is nothing to work out. You make your own decisions.” His uncle turned away, the rigid posture, tight line of his mouth, and cold hauteur of his voice dismissing him.
Being with Marietta might cost Harrison his uncle and his place in the family. The idea pained him so much he couldn’t breathe.
“I’m going to see Marietta. Then I’ll be back and we can talk. I’m not leaving you like Benjamin. I promise. The family and my job will always be important, but I can’t sacrifice everything else at their altar. And I don’t think I should have to. I can be a Damon and still be with Marietta Edwards. I’ll do whatever I can to make things easier for you, anything except give her up.”
He waited, but Damon didn’t answer. Didn’t even look at him.
So Harrison turned to leave.
He was almost at the door when he glanced back. His uncle’s head and shoulders drooped. He looked old. Defeated. Harrison took a step toward him. “Uncle—”
“Go. Just go.”
Harrison froze. Then he silently left the office.
…
“I don’t want his money, you know,” Vern Edwards said, holding a glass of red wine but not drinking it.
“I know.” Marietta dabbed her mouth with her napkin. Anne had come to visit that weekend, and she, Marietta, and her grandfather were having dinner at Marietta’s apartment. Marietta had baked chicken and roasted vegetables, and the conversation was comfortable and relaxed. So much so that Marietta had dared to ease into a discussion of the Damon lawsuit. She was relieved her grandfather was resigned rather than angry now.
“I wanted justice for you. The truth.”
“The truth has come out. It’s finally over. When you meet with Mr. Damon, you’ll see.”
“Are they going to make it public?”
“They won’t, of course. But Mr. Damon said he would understand if we wanted to. They won’t dispute the facts.”
Her grandfather was silent for a long time and Marietta held her breath, waiting.
Finally he said, “I don’t see any reason to raise a public stir. We could just resolve it privately, if that’s all right with you.”
Marietta exhaled in relief. “That’s exactly what I would like to do. Thank you, Grandpapa.”
“For what?” He cocked his head at her.
She kissed him on both cheeks. “For everything.”
He leaned back and gazed at her, his expression saddening. “I wish you were happier.”
“I’m fine,” she insisted. “Really. I mean, I’m not feeling all that great right now. But I’ll be all right.”
To her relief, he didn’t press for details about what had happened with Harrison and her. No one but Anne had inquired. Everyone else had tiptoed around the subject with sensitivity.
Anne had been putting dishes into the sink, giving them privacy, but at this she turned around. “What will you do now, Etta?”
Marietta started to answer, but her grandfather interrupted, “What do you mean? She’ll do as she’s always done.”
“I don’t know,” Marietta said slowly. She’d thought a lot about her future this week. “I’m not sure I want to work at the restaurant all my life. I applied for a few jobs, just to see what happens.”
He frowned, but sipped his wine and waited for her to finish.
“I have a master’s degree. I think I can find something I’d be good at, something I’d enjoy.”
“I thought you enjoyed the restaurant.”
She swallowed, wondering if she’d insulted him. She loved him desperately, and life had hurt him too much already. “I do. I always have. But since I’ve started to walk, I’ve only done what’s easy and safe. I think I can do more.”
Harrison or not, she would no longer allow fear to paralyze her. She wasn’t going to stay stuck.
“All the jobs I’ve applied for so far are telecommuting jobs—I can live wherever I want. I figured I better not try to do everything at once.”
Her grandfather seemed more excited now.
“If you decide you want to move,” Anne suggested with a grin, “you could come to Monte Carlo and live with me. There are all kinds of possibilities. You can do anything you want.”
Marietta hoped that was true.
…
Harrison was in his room the following morning, packing for another trip, when his brother knocked and came in.
“What’s going on?” Andrew demanded. “Lord Uncle wouldn’t tell me what’s wrong, but he looks like he unearthed a traitor worse than Cassell.”
“That would be me,” Harrison murmured, trying to hide how much it bothered him. Once he saw Marietta, he would feel better. If she forgave him, his pain would be worth it.
Whether she forgave him or not he had to do this.
“You’re going to see Marietta?”
Harrison nodded and scrubbed his face. “I don’t think he’ll forgive me for this.”
“Sure he will.” Andrew sounded casual, confident, which gave Harrison a flicker of optimism.
“He was very angry.”
“That’s because there’s rebellion in the ran
ks. He’s not used to it from you. But he’ll get over it. He’d even forgive Ben if the poor bastard would make any sort of gesture. He wants us to live in some idealized world, and thinks it’s weakness when we don’t. But he eventually forgives weakness.”
Harrison hoped that was true. “Will you…” he began, clearing his throat because the words were harder to say than he expected. “Will you try to…help him?”
“Sure. With what?”
“With work. I need time off. For a lot of reasons. Assuming he doesn’t disown me, the break will be temporary. But he’ll need help in the meantime.”
Andrew clapped a hand on his chest. “Am I hearing this right? You’re giving me some of your workload?”
“Just don’t screw it up.”
His brother’s easy confidence made Harrison feel better about his decision. So while he finished packing, he focused on what he would say and do when he saw Marietta.
She might be angry with him. She should be angry with him.
But he wanted to see her anyway.
He felt even better when Gordon told him his uncle had called for his car to take Harrison to the airport.
…
That afternoon, Harrison strode to the door of the Edwards restaurant in Aix-en-Provence. He stepped aside to allow a woman and her two teenage daughters to exit first.
The girls gave him semi-discreet glances and muffled giggles with their hands. He overheard one of them say, “I bet he’s going to propose. It’s so romantic.”
Harrison felt the urge to cringe.
He wasn’t going to propose today. The woman he loved might not even be willing to see him. But here he was, dressed in a tuxedo—that was hopefully as swoon-worthy as the one he’d worn to the dinner party—and carrying a bouquet of flowers.
It wasn’t even dark outside. It was just after two o’clock in the afternoon.
The bouquet had been ridiculously expensive; the florist had been dubious about the motley assortment of flowers he’d wanted and went to extra effort to make it attractive.
Torn between excitement and an embarrassing case of nerves, Harrison forced himself forward.
How Andrew would laugh if he could see him. Marietta might laugh, too. But she deserved everything—every romantic gesture he could offer. He’d spent a long time on a plan for today to show her how much she meant to him. If there was anything else she wanted, he would do it.
He stepped inside, his gaze riveting on the hostess station. He didn’t know whether she’d be working today, but she hadn’t been at her apartment, and he didn’t know where else to look for her.
Vern Edwards stood behind the desk, not his granddaughter. An almost comical succession of emotions crossed his face when he saw Harrison—surprise, relief, anger, hope, suspicion, even momentary amusement.
The older man’s expression landed on polite wariness. “May I help you, young man?”
“Is she here?”
Edwards shook his head, causing Harrison’s heart to sink. He had his whole plan worked out, but he couldn’t go through with it until he found her. Besides, he couldn’t wait much longer to see Marietta.
“Where is she?”
“I assume, from your appearance, that you’ve come to take her home.”
Harrison liked the sound of those words. “I have.”
“For good?”
“For good.”
“Today is her day off. She decided to take a hike.”
Harrison swallowed his impatience. Just his luck to get here on her day off when she felt energetic. “Where did she go?”
“She climbed her mountain.”
Harrison remembered Marietta telling him that her favorite hike was up Mont Sainte-Victoire, to the spot near the chapel where she liked to sit and think. He looked over his shoulder through the east-facing window and caught a glimpse of the mountain in the distance, beyond the quaint sprawl of the city. “When will she be back?”
Edwards gave an expressive shrug. “Sometimes she is not back until dark.”
Harrison wanted to groan. He could hardly hang out here in his tux for hours until she got back from her hike.
He wondered if she’d gone up the mountain because she was sad. The idea made his chest ache. “How is she?”
“You may stay here and wait, if you like. Or you could find her and see.”
Harrison understood. He took a deep breath.
He wasn’t going to wait any longer.
He looked at his tuxedo, flowers, and very expensive shoes. None of that mattered.
He’d messed this up, so now he would fix it.
He had a mountain to climb.
…
Marietta stretched out on her blanket. After she’d reached her favorite spot, she’d read for a while, then got lazy and put down the book.
She missed Harrison so much.
She hoped he was all right, hoped he wasn’t letting guilt and responsibility gnaw away at him. He was probably working all the time, not eating well, not getting enough sleep. He didn’t have anyone to take care of him.
If she were with him, she’d be able to take care of him. He needed someone. He needed her. Except the idiot had pushed her away.
Deep in thought, she hardly noticed something light and feathery drop on her stomach. She brushed it away while wondering if there was any way she could convince Harrison to come to his senses. A lovely fragrance triggered a memory, and Marietta realized the object was a small spray of flowers.
She grabbed it and stared at it blankly. Lavender.
“Lavender means devotion,” a voice said from above her. A clear, cultured, masculine voice. American with a hint of British inflection. She sat up with a gasp and a kick in her heart.
Harrison stood over her, grinning down with such tenderness that joy flooded her.
“Also virginity,” he added with a twitch of his mouth.
She shook with laughter at his dry tone and everything it meant. On instinct, she raised her arms to him in invitation. He knelt beside her and gathered her close.
He smelled warm from the climb but so much like she remembered that she buried her face in his jacket and inhaled deeply. He embraced her so tightly she could barely move, barely breathe, but she didn’t care.
He’d come for her. At last.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded once his arms loosened enough for her to look up at him.
He apparently hadn’t expected that question. “I…uh…wanted to tell you I’ve stopped being an idiot.”
She thought, overall, it was a pretty good answer. Smiling, she appraised his appearance. A sheen of perspiration had broken out on his face and he looked hot, rugged, and windblown.
He was also wearing a tuxedo.
“Formal wear?”
He shifted, but there was a glint of self-deprecating amusement in his eyes when he admitted, “I had a plan. I was trying to be swoon-worthy.”
She covered her mouth with her hand. “But why did you climb the mountain in it?”
“That was where you were. In my defense, I did check your apartment and the restaurant first. So much for my plan.”
Her heart pounded wildly, and a swell of deep emotion blossomed in her chest.
“I had a lot to make up for.” His eyes were soft on her face. “I thought I better pull out all the stops.”
Her voice was hoarse when she asked, “You had a plan?”
He shrugged. “Looking like a fool wasn’t supposed to be part of it.”
She giggled, which must have broken her bubble of emotion, because she was suddenly laughing and crying at the same time.
He folded her into his arms again. She shook against him, so overcome she couldn’t pull herself together. “I can’t believe you climbed a mountain in a tuxedo for me.”
He cradled her face between his hands, wiping away tears with his thumbs. “I would do so much more than that for you.”
“You would?” She couldn’t look away from his eyes. She’d never
seen anything so deep, so tender.
“Of course. You’re Marietta Edwards.”
He spoke the words as if they explained everything.
She covered one of his hands with hers. “And you are…”
“Just Harry. From now on. If you’ll have me.”
She turned her head and kissed his palm.
He grabbed her free hand and kissed her knuckles. “I know there’s no reason for you to believe it, given the way I acted. But if there’s any way to prove it to you, I will.”
She tilted her head and raised her eyebrows. “You can start by giving me the rather strange bouquet you hauled up the mountain.”
Harrison blinked. Then the corner of his mouth lifted in a smile. He reached down and handed her the flowers.
She peered at the gorgeous blooms. “They’re beautiful. And there’s…there’s quite a variety.”
He chuckled. “That’s what the florist said.”
“I assume they all mean something.”
“Naturally.”
“So the lavender means devotion—and virginity. What do the orchids mean?”
“Beauty.”
“And what is this one? Plumeria?”
“It means new beginnings.”
There were eight other kinds of flowers in the bouquet, but she’d ask about them later. She fingered the velvet blooms of one of the roses and slanted a look at him.
“You know what the roses mean,” he murmured.
She hugged the bouquet to her chest in a burst of joy. Then she carefully placed them on the ground and tackled him in another hug. He rolled her over and kissed her.
“I love you,” he said against her lips. “Did you know that?”
“I had my suspicions, but it’s nice to have them confirmed.” She kissed him hard. “I love you, too.”
Once their lips parted, he pressed more kisses on her cheeks, her jaw, the side of her mouth. He finally rolled on his back and lay beside her on the blanket.
“It took you long enough to figure all this out,” she said.
“I know. Like I said, I had to stop being an idiot. Then I had business to take care of before I came.”
She made a face. “Business again. I guess I’ll have to get used to it.”
“You will have to get used to it. My work is not going to go away completely, you know.”
