"Fanny mentioned you'd be hiding up here."
"I was, uh, doing work."
"No, you abandoned me."
He didn't know how to respond to that.
Reaching the top of the stairs, she folded her arms. "Is this how you treat all the girls you bring home?"
No, Edward wanted to argue, but then, she was the first he had ever bothered to bring home. Well, technically, he had been ordered to bring her. If he had had the choice, he wouldn't have brought her at all.
"How was my mother?" he decided to ask.
Jess rolled her eyes. "Luckily for you, she's not here. Some work emergency excuse which Fanny extended to include you and explain your absence to everyone as well."
He wanted to sigh in relief. Fanny had such a good knack for stuff like that. This also meant he wouldn't have to mingle with the strangers.
"Was there an emergency after all, or do you and your mother just enjoy avoiding parties?"
He was definitely the latter, but he wasn't so sure about his mother. He knew she arranged parties a lot, but he had a hunch she enjoyed them less than he did.
"Work is what we enjoy doing. Have you liked the party so far?"
Jess eyed him for a moment as if still wanting to punish him, but then relaxed and leaned against the railing. "Actually, it's been fabulous. Met so many people my parents have referenced for ages but I never had a face for them. And a whole bunch of them knew of my books. Their kids or their kids' friends have read them and all they had was praise for me."
"You must write really well."
"You're not going to ask what I write?"
"I'm not much of a reader of children's books."
"Ed, Ed, Ed—if you want a girl to like you, you need to at least pretend to like what she likes!"
"I believe it's better if you already like what she likes."
She scoffed. "Now you're living in a fantasy world. What girl is ever going to like what you like?"
Elinor did, but he wasn't going to mention that.
"You're too shy and boring, Ed. The complete opposite of your sister and brother. How did you come out of this family?"
"You met my brother?" Women usually lost interest in Edward after that. Well, except for Lucy, but that's like saying the starving lion didn't switch its interest when something juicier walked by.
"I did. Oh, if only my parents had tried to set me up with him!"
Edward seized upon a possible exit strategy. "He actually might enjoy the fake dating far more than I do." All of Robert's relationships were fake. Or a quick fling, as he would term it. Edward wasn't sure what the difference was.
"You think?" Jess walked to the window as if trying to spot him in the crowd. "But I don't know if he's as honest."
Edward paused. Was that supposed to be a compliment?
"The boy is super cute, to be sure," she continued, her back to him as she faced the window, "but I don't think I could trust him. Not like you."
"But I, uh, I abandoned you."
She turned around with a roll of her eyes. "And no one was surprised, not even me. If your brother did that, it would be plastered on every tabloid. But you, you're reliable."
He didn't know what to say.
She suddenly grinned. "Come on." She latched onto his arm. "Let's go shock everyone and get you out there."
Edward frantically tried to come up with an excuse. Thankfully, his phone rang at that precise moment. Unlatching himself from Jess, he checked his phone.
"Ah, it's Frank."
"Frank who?"
"Excuse me for a moment," was all he said as he stepped away from her.
"Frank!"
A cacophony of noise greeted Edward's ear as well as Frank's voice. "Edward! I just got off the plane and read your brief about those businesses. You were right. My aunt would love them."
At last, progress! "She's approved?"
"No, I'm heading over to her now. Can you believe it? She's in the hospital again! I swear she does that only when I'm on a trip."
"You do go on trips a lot."
"Yeah, yeah, but that Norland business, it's internet-based, right?"
"Yes, it is."
"Which means it doesn't have to be based in Manhattan, right? I could move it wherever?"
Technically, yes, but that would mean Elinor's employees would most likely get fired. "The current owner has stipulations about the buyout," were the first words out of his mouth. "The employees must be held onto for a year; then they can be offered the chance to stay or be let go with a generous compensation package."
"You can't be real, are you? That's ridiculous. Tell the owner my aunt won't go for that."
Edward didn't want to tell Elinor anything until he had the type of news that would make her smile.
"I'll see what I can negotiate, then," Edward said instead.
"Thanks, bud."
"Let me know what your aunt says about the other businesses, though, will you?"
"Yeah, of course. Gotta go; car's here."
"I understand. Thanks for calling."
Once the call ended, he faced Jess, who had one eyebrow arched.
"Frank who?"
Edward wanted to avoid answering the question mainly since that would delay any tactic of hers to drag him out to the party. "Just an old friend."
"And someone you do business with a lot, I see?"
"His aunt is similar to my mother."
She paused. "Wait, you've said that before..." She tapped her fingers on her chin for a long moment. "Ah! This is the other buyer you had in mind?"
"Yes, it is."
"It has to be the Churchills. She's the only other dragon of a lady as feared as your mother. They were just talking about her at the party, in fact."
"They were?"
"Yeah, she's in the hospital again, but the strange thing is, no one seems to know why."
"I don't think Mrs. Churchill knows, either."
"A strange disease?"
"Let me rephrase that, I don't think she cares as to why."
Jess eyed him. "You saying she's doing it on purpose?"
He shouldn't have said anything. "I have no evidence—"
"Rumor doesn't need evidence."
"And I don't want to start a rumor."
"But..." she sidled up to him, "you know I can keep a secret, right?"
"It's not that important of a secret."
"Perfect! Then spill."
He shrugged. "She has no children but a nephew that is bursting to stray from her side."
"Ah, but being sick ties him to her side. Very clever." She threaded her arm through his again. "So, why doesn't your mother try that?"
"I'm not bursting to stray."
She frowned. "That is such a sad confession. We need to change it. Come on, let's attend that party!"
Chapter 8
Edward could have kissed the limo when it finally pulled up in front of his mother's monstrosity of a house. It took every ounce of willpower to allow Jess to get in first before he could dive into the quiet sanctity of the enclosed place devoid of strangers.
"See, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Jess began before launching into a commentary about the myriad of people they had met. He barely kept up with who she referenced despite having just met most of them. Their faces had become lost in a sea of strangers. At the very least, Edward hadn't been required to speak much. Jess and everyone else seemed perfectly content with the few replies he'd handed out, hardly noticing he was even there sometimes.
Instead, he'd wondered what the party would have been like if Elinor had been by his side instead of Jess, but the scenario always ended with either his mother or Lucy showing up like some evil goddess reigning terror on the scene so Edward diligently squashed the dream. There was no point in hypothesizing something that had no chance of being a reality. Besides, the ultimate Elinor dream would include being out of his mother's grasp, free of Lucy, his siblings content and loaded with inheritance he didn't want, and he only hav
ing to worry about mingling with his neighbors in some quaint corner of suburbia.
"So," Jess announced as she ended a phone call—she'd immediately called someone the instant they had entered the limo. "I've booked us a helicopter ride to Boston."
Edward cared more about the destination than how they got there. "Why Boston?"
"Hello? To see the sights!"
He had a different hunch. "Where, exactly, is he in Boston?"
She glared at him, then flicked her eyes at the driver who was hidden behind the rolled up window partition, but Edward wasn't going to accept that as an excuse this time.
"For this business meeting," he added in a louder voice, "with this very obvious business guy we're about to meet."
Her glare deepened but he held her gaze without flinching. He knew how to mention things in a round-about way. Lucy had given him plenty of practice in that area.
Jess finally rolled her eyes. "This business guy isn't exactly in Boston, but his, uh, secretary is."
"Can we not call this secretary?"
"You don't want to go with me to Boston?"
He'd rather go with Elinor—but he shouldn't be considering that a possibility anyway. "I'm just pursuing all options at the moment."
"Well, I didn't get the secretary's number. Just the address."
"Did you get it from my mother's party?"
"First, your mother wasn't there. And second, that's the point of going to these parties, isn't it? To network?"
"Who knew about the secretary?" That might give him a hint about this mysterious guy of hers.
But she wagged her finger. "Not going to answer. You should have been with me—"
"I was."
"I meant earlier."
So, it wasn't anyone Edward had been forced to meet. That didn't narrow it down much.
"See?" Jess added with a grin. "Maybe next time you won't abandon me at a party. And maybe if we can instill enough confidence in you, we can get you bursting to stray."
Except that would mean Lucy was then free to destroy him. He'd rather be trapped with his mother. "Why is that even a priority for you?"
"Because I hate seeing you so trapped."
He glared out the window to hide the surprise he felt over her concern.
"Parents shouldn't be able to manipulate their kids like they're dogs or something," she continued. "We should be free to chase our own dreams."
He glanced at her. "Do you feel like you're free?"
She grinned. "Now you know why I write." She pulled out the worn notebook and focused on it, letting silence fill the car.
Edward stared out the window with a frown. He didn't think it could happen, but Jess was growing on him. She was still too blunt for his taste, but she had an enthused integrity about her like some modern version of Joan of Arc on a crusade to save oppressed people.
"You know what you should do?" she asked after they landed in Boston and headed for the waiting limo. "You should buy those businesses yourself instead of the Churchills."
Not wanting to explain the real reason why the businesses were being sold, he said, "My mother has no interest in them."
"No, not her." Jess stopped to jab a finger into his chest. "You."
"I'm afraid that would require more money than I have."
She arched an eyebrow. "You can ride a helicopter on a whim. Those are not cheap trips."
"They're paid for by the company—"
"Which also pays you, doesn't it? Where does all that money go?"
"It's complicated." He continued toward the valet area, but Jess called after him.
"There won't be a limo over there."
Edward turned in surprise. "You don't have it previously arranged?"
"I do, but it's going to be a bit different." She gave him a wink, then sauntered in the direction of the car rental agencies. Having no other choice, he followed after her and caught up just in time to see her sign the papers with the name of "Mary King."
He opened his mouth to inquire about it, but Jess shot him a warning look. Deciding this King charade had to do with the mysterious boyfriend, he kept his mouth shut and dutifully followed her and the worker to a red convertible.
"Here you are, Miss King," the worker said, handing Jess the keys.
"Thank you so much!" She beamed back and then promptly tossed her bag and purse into the back seat. She then indicated for Edward to do the same, but he shook his head, holding his bag like a shield to use against her.
"It can ride on my lap."
"Not this time." She advanced toward his shield. "My lovely boyfriend is going to focus on me and not his work."
He frowned. "I thought we're off to meet the boyfriend."
"No, the secretary, remember?" She yanked the bag out of his grasp and made to toss it into the back, but he snatched it from her.
"It has a laptop." And tossing the briefcase displace the carefully organized items inside. Edward placed the bag on the floor of the backseat with care.
Jess laughed. "You treat that better than you do people."
"I like numbers," was the only reply he could come up with.
"And driving, right?" She dangled the keys in front of him, and he gratefully took them.
"Have an address yet?" he asked as they situated themselves in their seats.
She pulled out her phone and connected it to the car's system. "Just follow the instructions." She tapped a few buttons on her phone and the car began doling out the route.
"Am I allowed one question?" Edward asked as they merged into the busy city's traffic. In retrospect, he wished they'd taken the subway. He enjoyed driving in the countryside, not battling it out in the packed city streets. Then again, he didn't know the final destination, so the subway route may have been useless. Nor did he think Jess would enjoy walking very far in those heels of hers.
"I guess it depends on the question," was her reply.
"Why Mary King?"
"You still haven't bothered to research me? That's my pen name. For my books, remember?"
He nodded. "Still doesn't explain why you chose King. Old family name?"
"No, I just like it because kings rule and get to do what they want."
He glanced at her. "So the whole reason you write is to get what you want?"
"No, not really. I've been writing since I was a kid, but my parents never thought it would amount to anything. They wanted to groom me to become like them. But then my books took off and I can do whatever I want now. Well, almost anything. Which reminds me, you still haven't told me why you have no money to buy those businesses."
"It's complicated."
"We're going to be stuck in traffic for a good while. Plenty of time to unravel this complicated stuff."
Edward sighed. "How well do you understand trust funds?"
She recoiled as if he'd asked her to eat a bug. "I hate them. They're only an excuse to control you."
"Your parents have one for you?"
"They threatened one for a while but gave up after I no longer needed it. Hmm, actually, they might still have it, but I doubt the stipulations will be as strict. What are your restrictions?"
"It's pretty simple. Make my mother happy."
"Why not walk away?"
"Do you have siblings?"
"No."
"Then you won't understand why I can't."
"She's threatening them as well?"
"If any of us mess up, we all lose it."
"Well, walk away anyway. You can all get new jobs. Don't let her control you like that."
"Remember the rumors about what she's like when angry?"
She stilled. "Oh. She'd never let you have a better job than flipping burgers. You are trapped." Jess squeezed his arm as if to give comfort, but he found none in it. It only reminded him of the vice he was already in.
"Hey, I know. What if I bought the businesses?"
Edward eyed her. "What for?"
"Then I'll hire you to run them. Then you won't need your mo
ther!"
"You're forgetting that she'll go after your parents' company."
"No, you're forgetting that she doesn't have to know. I'll get some manager guy to handle the public part of the business, but you can be the numbers guy doing the real stuff in the background. You can continue to fake working for your mother while developing a big nest egg of your own. After a few years or, if we're lucky, your mother dies—no offense—you can break free and take your siblings with you."
He focused on the idea, letting the scenario play out, looking for ways it could backfire. But the cons weren't as big as the pros. He might actually have a way out at last.
Except he was forgetting Lucy. Still, it was possible she might not figure out what Jess and he were doing. She might assume they were only dating and not doing business behind his mother's back. And it wasn't like Lucy had any hold over Jess. Not yet, at least.
Did he dare? Well, maybe if this plan could have Elinor in it...
"There's a, um, an employee who already manages the businesses," Edward began, making sure to not drop any hint he might have a personal interest in the employee. "Would you be willing to keep that person on?"
"If he comes with your recommendation, sure!"
Edward was glad he had to deal with traffic or else Jess might have caught the big grin that threatened to break out over his face. He could work indefinitely with Elinor—stay in that perfect office and live the life he had only dared to dream about. And no one would find out. Jess would thrive on keeping the whole thing a secret and Fanny wouldn't believe anything Elinor or her family might accidentally drop.
The rest of the hour went by in a blur. Eventually, he dropped Jess off at a law office but the wait seemed only five minutes instead of thirty. However, the foul mood Jess brought with her into the car ruined the cloud nine he'd been riding.
"No new information?" he ventured to ask.
"No, lots of it. And it's all bad. He's being sued. By Pemberley Estates!"
Edward knew that corporation. It was one of the few that didn't fear his mother. In fact, it was his mother who treaded lightly around Pemberley Estates.
"How much does he stand to lose?" It was useless to ask if he'd win the case. The Pemberley Estates was known for its stellar lawyers and insurmountable cases.
"That's the thing! He doesn't have anything! No assets. No money. Nothing! They'd only accomplish a personal vendetta to ruin him. Drive, will you? I want out of here."
Smitten With Sense: A Modern Sense And Sensibility Retelling (Pemberley Estates Book 4) Page 6
