ISABELLA WAS NERVOUS the next morning. She was glad Russ was going to be with her. He suggested they leave early to talk things over with Nick.
She needed to make some decisions. Was she willing to stand aside as her aunt had done? To be ignored, to take what he gave her? No, she wasn’t. So what options did that leave her?
She wasn’t sure.
At breakfast, Russ watched her.
“Why are you staring at me?” she asked.
“I’m worried how you feel about this morning.”
“I hate it. I don’t want to talk to him.”
Russ reached across the small breakfast table and took her hand in his. “He’s going to be difficult.”
She gave a dry laugh. “I know. I’ve seen him in action. I need to decide what to do.”
“Nick said the annual stockholders meeting is in a month. He’ll have to have a decision before then.”
“Yes.”
When they got to Nick’s office, Sarah was waiting to take Angel upstairs. But Tori was also waiting. Russ asked her why she was there.
“Nick thought I might be able to offer some suggestions to Isabella before the conversation. We both think she’ll need to know what she wants to do before she talks to him.”
“Well, I know I could give him power of attorney, like my aunt did, but I don’t want to do that,” Isabella said. “It seems wrong to reward a bully. What options do I have?”
“You could attend the stockholders meeting and unseat him. You would need to find someone to put in charge, someone powerful. If you left, your father could cause difficulties. He probably will even if you’re there.”
“Other options?”
“The best one, in my opinion, assuming you don’t want to be involved in prolonged fights or to live in New York, is to start selling the stock, a little at a time so you don’t flood the market and cause the price to drop, until it’s all sold. Staying connected to this man or this company is sure to cause difficulties for you.”
Nick added, “You would have plenty of money if you did that, and Tori can reinvest it for you.”
Isabella stared at Nick and Tori without saying anything. Then she looked at Russ. “What do you think?”
“I like the last option. You wouldn’t be intentionally trying to hurt your father, but you would remove a monopoly of power from his hands.”
“Yes. All right, that’s what I’ll do. When can you begin, Tori? The sooner, the better.”
“I can start—”
She stopped when the phone rang. Nick’s secretary answered it. “Yes, Mr. Paloni. One moment, please.”
Nick put the phone on speaker and said, “Good morning, Mr. Paloni.”
“Mr. McMillan. Is my daughter there?”
“Yes, I’m here, Dad. My husband is here with me.”
“Your what?”
“My husband, Russ Randall.”
“Are you going to give me power of attorney?” he asked gruffly, ignoring Russ.
“No, I’m not.”
“The stockholders meeting is in a month. I need it by then. What do you want for it?”
“I’m not going to give you power of attorney, Dad.”
“You want to make me sweat? You know me better than that. You’ll get hurt if you try to play that game with me.”
Russ put a hand on Isabella’s arm. “Mr. Paloni, I’m Russ Randall, Isabella’s husband. Don’t threaten her.”
“This is between me and my daughter. Stay out of it.”
“No, I won’t.”
“What? Is she offering you money? You hoping to cash in? Well, think again. I won’t let that happen.”
Nick leaned forward. “Mr. Paloni, you have no control over your daughter’s decision. I’m sure she’ll let you know her decision before the meeting.”
“She’ll damn well let me know sooner than that or I’ll—” Nick leaned forward and ended the call.
Russ put an arm around Isabella. “He can’t hurt you, honey. He’s a long way away.”
“Of course.” She looked at Tori. “How soon can you start selling off the stock?”
“Today. I don’t think your father will expect such fast action. If he doesn’t realize it’s what you will do, he won’t watch for it. So at least some of it will be bought by others before he can buy any of it.”
“Good. Please start at once. Will we be able to sell all of the shares in a month?”
“That shouldn’t be a problem.”
Isabella felt a shiver run over her. She had a feeling there would be some problems.
THAT NIGHT AFTER DINNER, Russ asked Isabella to come into the den and sit down with him. She complied, but she was worried about what he wanted. If he started trying to seduce her, they’d have a fight. She wasn’t ready yet.
She sat down beside him, but she left almost a foot between them. “What is it, Russ?”
He grimaced, apparently recognizing her standoffishness. “I want you to explain the problem between you and your father. He sounded absolutely vicious on the phone this morning. It bothered me.”
“It bothered me, too.” She sat there, but she couldn’t think what to say. It was only fair that he understand, but what if he wound up believing her father was right? Russ, and all the Randall men for that matter, seemed different from her father, but she wasn’t sure she could trust her judgment.
“Isabella? I know it must be hard for you to talk about it, but…how else can I understand?”
“But what if you don’t?” she asked, upset that her voice shook. She didn’t want him to know how weak she was.
“You think I’m stupid?”
“It’s not a question of stupidity. It’s the way some men think.”
“Tell me.”
After a deep sigh, she began. “I told you my mother died when I was very small. I think I was about two. I only have faint memories of a beautiful woman who smelled good, who was gentle. After that, I only had my father. I adored him. He took me everywhere with him, sometimes even to the office. He taught me things about the business. At night, he read to me. Sometimes it was just the newspaper, but I didn’t care because my daddy was sharing with me.”
“So far, so good,” Russ murmured.
“Yes. Then he met a woman he was attracted to. She took some of my time. I resented it, but I still was my father’s pet, so I didn’t protest too much. Then my stepmother got pregnant. She wasn’t a bad woman. She let me feel the baby kick and talked about me having a playmate. When I turned ten, she threw me a birthday party. I overheard her tell my father it was important that I feel loved right now. I thought that was a funny thing to say. Of course I felt loved. My daddy loved me.
“Then the baby was born. A little boy. Suddenly Daddy didn’t have time for me. He hung over the side of the crib. He carried the new baby around, talking to him. I never went anywhere with my daddy anymore. I begged him to take me with him, but he said women belonged at home, and I should spend time in the kitchen learning to cook. So I did. Anything to please my daddy. When I brought him a plate of misshapen cookies I’d made, he said he wasn’t hungry. I pleaded with him. I’d made them for him. He wasn’t interested.
“Things got worse, the older the baby grew. Soon he was going everywhere with Dad. I was left at home. I didn’t understand. It seemed there was something wrong with me.
“I started sitting outside his office to pretend that he was including me. One night one of his friends asked about me because he hadn’t seen me in a while. Daddy laughed. He said he didn’t need me anymore. He had a son now. I was relegated to female things such as cooking and cleaning. He didn’t have to pretend that he adored me. He said it was like when he was courting my stepmother. He had to pretend he loved her, couldn’t get enough of her. Once he’d married her and got her pregnant, he didn’t need her anymore.
“From that day on, I hated him. I tried to tell my stepmother what he’d said, but she refused to listen to me. I kept my distance from then on, but I tried to lea
rn everything I could about business. I was determined to make my father pay for his words.”
Russ scooted closer and put his arm around her. “Honey, your father is a stupid man. He gave up the sweetest things in life for his greed and his hunger for power. I don’t blame you for hating him or for running away with Angel. You can have a dozen boys, but none of them would be Angel. Every child is precious, each with different talents. I would love them all.”
“I hope so.”
“You don’t believe me?”
“I’ve learned it’s best to wait and see. Besides, we won’t have any boys. We won’t have any babies at all because we’re not going to…to, you know.”
“The words are ‘to make love,’ sweetheart. Did you love your last husband?”
“No. Once Daddy worked on him, I hated him for his weakness. He betrayed me as much as my father did.”
Russ pulled her chin around so she faced him. “I will not betray your trust, Izzy. I promise.”
She wanted to believe him. She wanted so badly to believe him. She even wanted to make more babies with him. To lie in his arms and feel surrounded with safety and love. But she didn’t have that kind of trust. “We’ll see.”
IT WAS ONLY a week until Christmas. So much had changed in the first three weeks of December that Isabella could hardly believe the holiday was approaching. She’d given up on Christmas along with everything else in her life years ago. But Janie insisted she go shopping with her. They took Angel with them and drove to Buffalo.
“Are the shops better in Buffalo?” Isabella asked.
“Some. Although the general store in Rawhide has some surprising things. And Megan’s store, where some of Maria’s things are for sale, has some nice things.”
“Would Mildred be offended if I gave her and Red that painting she liked?”
“How sweet of you, Izzy. She’d be thrilled. I heard her telling Red about it. But I think the painter is famous now. You could probably get a lot of money for it.”
Isabella rolled her eyes. “The money doesn’t matter.”
“You’re such a wonderful person. Russ really got lucky.”
“Mom, I took advantage of him.”
Janie squeezed her hand and switched the topic back to shopping.
In the days following that shopping trip, Isabella visited the stores in Rawhide, looking for special presents. At night she wrapped the gifts and hid them. One day she bought a small tree and ornaments. That night she asked Russ to help her decorate it. She figured he’d refuse, but instead, he showed a real enthusiasm and talent for decorating.
“You like doing this?” she asked in disbelief.
“Sure. At the ranch, we don’t do the tree until Christmas Eve, but it seems a shame to me to wait so late. This way we’ll get to enjoy it longer.”
“We might not next year. Angel will be able to walk by then. She’s liable to pull it over on top of her.”
“We’ll keep an eye on her. That will be fun, won’t it?” He hung a blue ball on the tree. “I noticed you bought a lot of blue. I think you favor that color.”
“Oh! I hadn’t even noticed. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t bother apologizing. Since I met you, I’m a little partial to blue, also,” he assured her, grinning.
She was embarrassed. She’d bought him a cashmere sweater as a present, and it was blue. Should she take it back and get a red one? No, she decided. She liked him in blue. She’d also bought him a new billfold. A beautiful handmade leather wallet made by a local Native American woman. She’d asked the clerk if the woman ever made little purses. The clerk promised to get a tiny one made with Angel carved on it the next day.
She’d also shopped at Megan’s store and bought several gifts for the adults out at the ranch. A family the size of the Randalls required a lot of shopping, but it was fun. Isabella was finding it a pleasure to search for the right gift for Toby and Elizabeth, Rich and Samantha, Nick and Sarah, and Gabe and Jennifer. She was going to meet some other Randalls at Christmas. They even thought Caroline, Toby’s sister, might make it home for Christmas. And the ones in university would be home.
A real family Christmas.
Two days before Christmas, Janie called Isabella. “Hon, will you and Russ and the baby spend Christmas Eve night here? Everyone else will be here. We have enough bedrooms.”
“Of course we’ll come for the evening,” Isabella replied, “but why do we need to spend the night?”
“Santa Claus comes in the morning. I’ll admit it gets a little noisy, but it’s also a lot of fun.”
“I’ll bet it is.” Isabella thought of the stiff, formal Christmases she’d had, where money was spent on one gift, usually something “suitable,” rather than something she wanted. The day had been dreary and sad for as long as she could remember. “Yes, we’ll come!”
When she told Russ that evening, he wasn’t as enthusiastic. “Are you sure? It’s a bit overwhelming.”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
He started to say something else, but then he simply nodded. “Okay, if that’s what you want.”
She found a recipe in one of her aunt’s old recipe books for an Italian pastry. Christmas Eve morning, she spent hours making the pastry, a cannoli filled with vanilla cream. Then she made some with chocolate cream, since she thought everything chocolate was wonderful.
Russ had gone into town for a little while. When he came back and saw the results of her cooking, he offered to be a taster. “We wouldn’t want to take something that hadn’t been taste-tested,” he said, his eyes round with mock innocence.
She laughed, feeling especially happy today. “I think they’re safe. But I’ll let you have one after lunch. Then it’ll be time to go to the ranch. Mom said to come as soon as we could.”
“Uh, I explained to Mom that we didn’t have time to shop, so don’t feel embarrassed if we get presents. You’ve had too many things going on in your life.”
“That’s sweet of you, Russ, but I’ve done a little shopping,” she told him. In reality, she was feeling a little guilty. The extra bedroom was so full of presents, you could hardly see the floor.
After lunch, she gathered all the things Angel would need. “These things need to go in the back of the truck,” she said. “And while you’re taking care of that, I’ll bring down the gifts I’ve bought.”
She piled a load of presents in the laundry basket. Then she brought it downstairs and turned it upside down on the rug by the door. Russ came in at the same time and stared in surprise.
“A little shopping, you said?” he asked, staring at her.
“Maybe I got a little carried away, but it was fun,” she said, faintly embarrassed.
He started gathering the packages to take outside while she returned to the bedroom. It took four trips. Russ was laughing by the time he finished loading everything. “Are you sure we’re not moving in for a month?”
“I know it’s a lot, Russ, but—”
“I’m not complaining, sweetheart. Just don’t forget those cannolis you made. Everyone’s going to call you Mrs. Claus. It’s going to be a merry Christmas.”
She agreed.
Chapter Twelve
Isabella packed two large dishes of cannolis, one for the chocolate and one for the vanilla. She was shy about bringing anything to Red’s kitchen, so she handed them to Mildred when they entered.
“What are these?” Mildred asked curiously.
“I wanted to contribute something to the festivities, so I made cannolis. They’re Italian desserts.”
Russ watched her, knowing she was nervous. But he’d tasted her contribution, so he wasn’t worried. “Maybe you should try one, Mildred, so everyone will know they’re all right.”
“Right here in front of everyone?” Mildred asked. All conversation stopped and everyone stared at her.
Isabella said, “It’s okay, Mildred. You don’t have to.”
“No, of course I will. Are there two different kinds
?”
“Chocolate and vanilla, but you may not like the chocolate. The recipe only calls for vanilla, but I like chocolate.” She reached out to take the large dish of chocolate ones.
“No, you don’t, young lady. I’ll try the chocolate ones. I feel the same way about chocolate.”
“So do I,” Elizabeth said, reaching out for one herself.
“Now, don’t you ruin your lunch,” Red complained.
Elizabeth took her bite first. She closed her eyes as if in ecstasy. Then she said, “What lunch?” And took another bite.
Mildred nodded. “You’ve got a point, Elizabeth.” She turned to Isabella. “Child, you are never to darken our door again—without a plate of…What are they called?”
“Cannolis,” Isabella said with a sigh of relief.
Russ gave her a hug. “I told you that you had nothing to worry about.”
“But Red is such a good cook.”
“I heard that!” Red shouted. Then he smiled. “And I like it!” He selected one of the vanilla cannolis, took a bite and praised Isabella’s effort.
Suddenly there was a rush, and half the cannolis were gone in no time. “No more!” Red ordered, and put the two plates on the kitchen cabinet where he could protect them. “Lunch is ready. First call to the table.”
“First call?” Isabella asked, looking at Russ. “What’s that mean?”
“Children. There are too many people to feed everyone at once. So you eat according to your age.”
She laughed. “I wondered how they would feed everyone. That makes sense.”
“Yeah. And since we’ve eaten lunch, why don’t we unload the truck? I’ll put Angel in one of those baby beds.”
“Any of them? Won’t someone mind?”
“Nope. Those are kitchen beds for whoever needs one.”
When they came back in with their first load of gifts, some of the adults asked if there were more.
“Yeah,” Russ said with a laugh. “I married a shopaholic.”
“Russ! I am not. This is a big family.”
Everyone was laughing. “We’re not complaining,” Toby said as he got up to help. “We’re hoping we might find something in here for us!”
Randall Wedding Page 11
