The only way he could keep Elinor safe was to lose the ring. Trying to pretend his heart wasn't breaking, he pulled it off and let it plop into Lucy's manicured hands.
She slipped it onto her thumb and let the light play across the ruby.
"You have such great taste, Eddie. You always know exactly what I like."
Edward forced a smile and wished, for the millionth time, he had never met her.
"You know what we should do next month?"
He had no interest in the next minute with her.
"We should go to South America!"
"Why there?"
"I've always wanted to see Machu Piccu and," she twirled the ring for a second, "I hear it's a gorgeous background for a wedding."
Back to the wedding idea. Apparently, the threat of his mother wasn't as big as he had hoped.
"My mother has me busy next month."
"Yes, but your mother may no longer be in the picture next month."
The restaurant room seemed to lose twenty degrees. He had always suspected Lucy would ultimately take out his mother, but he hadn't expected it would be this soon.
"What are you talking about?"
She kept her eyes on her new ring. "About you cheating."
He wished she didn't talk in riddles so much. "I don't cheat."
She flicked her eyes up at him. "Oh, yes you do. I know all about her."
The room lost another twenty degrees. He had tried so hard to keep Elinor out of this—
"And I hear," Lucy continued with a slight pout, "your mother is planning on throwing an engagement party in a couple of months. Midwestern themed so the other woman can believe she fits in."
It took a second before he realized she was insinuating Jess, not Elinor. He wanted to laugh. Jess' plan had worked even on Lucy. Apparently Lucy wasn't as all-knowing as he feared.
"I haven't heard about this engagement party." A completely true statement, though he wouldn't be surprised if Fanny and his mother had begun to plan one. He wondered if Jess had heard the rumor yet. She'd probably die of laughter.
Lucy dropped the pout and wrapped both icy hands around his. "Oh, I knew it! I knew you still loved me!"
Edward couldn't help wondering if she was recording this conversation. She might even have someone filming it. That might be the whole reason he was here, so she could have evidence to use against Jess. Perhaps Lucy had planned to show this all to Jess to prove he was 'cheating' on her. Edward may not enjoy Jess' comments but he would definitely want to hear that one. Jess would certainly laugh in Lucy's face. Now that was something Edward would love to see.
Chapter 21
Edward didn't dare go visit Elinor's dad after that horrible breakfast with Lucy for fear she might trail him. He veered for Norland instead. With it owned by the Churchills now, there was no reason to think Lucy would associate Elinor with Norland anymore. And with Frank's aunt as vicious as his mother, Lucy shouldn't be a threat to Frank. Well, unless she managed to get him to fall in love with her as she did with Edward. But Frank, while he loved to flirt, wasn't the one to commit to just anyone. Frank believed firmly in soulmates and he was determined to hold out until he found that special someone.
Unfortunately for Edward, Frank's soulmate might be Elinor.
"This. Is. Incredible." Frank sat with one of Elinor's accounting books in his hand, leaning in the chair she used to sit in, a big grin on his face. It crinkled his nose, giving him a boyish look, making him look younger than his twenty-four years. Then again, he styled his dark, curly hair like a punk teenage kid so his grin fit the look.
"Why did she not come along with the business?" Frank asked, then gasped. "Are these footnotes? She put footnotes?"
"She was very thorough—"
"Understatement of the year! Edward, why is she not sitting in this office right now? Go find her and get her back in here!"
How Edward wished he could do that. "She had to quit. Her family moved to the West Coast."
Frank sighed. "She had to follow her husband, didn't she?"
"Uh, no, she's not married—"
"Not married?" Frank paused. "She ugly?"
"Looks do not determine a girl's—"
"I'm joking, I'm joking. Come on, Edward, you're too uptight today. You came in here like you just been assigned your death date."
Edward sighed. That would be Lucy's fault. "I'm sorry. I had a lot on my mind."
"Don't we all." Frank's eyes shifted to his phone, something he'd been doing a lot that morning. However, he never picked it up or checked for messages. Neither did it ding with any notifications.
"So," Frank began, pushing his phone further away from himself. "Why did this girl quit again?"
"Honestly? Because of my family." It wasn't completely true, but it was the easiest way to explain it.
"Ah." Frank slumped in his chair. "She had enough of your mother and gave her a piece of her mind, did she?"
"Uh, no. She's actually very good with people and knows when to state her opinion and when not to." If Fanny hadn't been so dead set against her, Elinor might have done well with his mother. In a business setting, at least. As his girlfriend, his mother wouldn't accept anyone but who she chose. And Elinor would never have made that list.
Frank eyed him. "Wait a sec. I know that look."
Edward raised his eyebrows. "What look?"
"It's the same look I've been wearing for months."
"What look?"
"The look of having found your soulmate but you can't do anything about it."
Edward froze, hoping none of the panic registered on his face.
Apparently, it did since Frank grinned. "You like this girl, don't you? Of course, you do," he continued when Edward didn't say a thing. "She's just like you. No, she's better than you. I mean, look at these footnotes! And this office! This is exactly the sort of office I'd imagine you creating if you had your way. Well, minus the white walls."
Edward had no idea he was that see-through.
Frank clapped his hands. "I can't believe it. Edward Ferrars is finally in love."
"Please don't say that out loud."
"The door is shut, Edward. No one can hear us. Unless this office is bugged?"
"Bugged?" The thought had never occurred to him. Maybe if it had been Lucy's office, sure, but Elinor would never bother to do such a thing. "Why would you think it's bugged?"
Frank sighed. "Sorry, I'm too used to my aunt."
This was new information. "She bugs your office?"
"Maybe? I don't know." He plopped a hand over his face. "I don't know anything anymore about her."
Edward held still. Frank looked as lost as Edward had felt after he realized Lucy's true character and the trap he had walked into. But, Frank's aunt couldn't be that bad, could she?
"Want to talk about it?" Edward asked.
Frank lifted the hand off his face. "Did I ever tell you about my father?"
"Yeah. When your mother died, he didn't want anything to do with you, so he sent you to live with your aunt."
Frank nodded. "And that he supposedly never tried to make contact with me?"
"Yeah, you mentioned that."
Frank reached into the inside of his suit and pulled out a stack of envelopes. A scent filled the air, a scent Edward couldn't quite place, but it mingled well with the cherry scent already in Elinor's office. Frank pulled out a postcard from the pack of envelopes and put the rest back inside his coat. Then he held out the postcard to Edward.
The instant Edward had the postcard in his hand, he realized they were several of them. He spread them apart, glimpsing the simple messages scrawled on the backs, a variety of well wishes and hopes Frank might attend some event.
Edward noted the timing of the postmarks. "These were all sent last year."
"Yeah. And those are just the ones my aunt accidentally put in a pile of papers instead of the trash."
Edward lowered the postcards. "She's been throwing them away?"
"For years!" Frank jumped to his feet and began to pace. "All my life, I thought I had this horrible father who threw me away when I was just five years old, but it turns out, my aunt has been lying the whole time. The whole time!"
Edward paused. "Is that the trip you had to go on last month? To go see him?"
"Yeah, but," he sank into the chair, "I didn't see him. I mean, I did, but he didn't see me."
"You spied on him?"
"I have no idea who this man is! I haven't seen him since I was five. That's twenty years. And he's married again."
"When?"
"Last year. All those postcards are trying to invite me to the wedding. They say he was really bummed out that I didn't come."
"They?"
Frank abruptly flushed as if he'd messed up. "His, uh, neighbors. People that know him. I was asking around, trying to get information. But that's not important. The important thing is that my father thinks I've been ignoring him. That I'm the one choosing to never see him again. My aunt has purposefully driven us apart!"
"So, what are you going to do now?"
Frank threw up his hands. "I don't know. I want to see him. Meet him. Meet his new wife. My new mother. But I...I don't know. I don't know how he'll react. I don't know how I'll react. What are we going to talk about?"
"What about your aunt? Does she know you know?"
"Yeah, I confronted her about it last month. She insists she didn't lie, that he really is a terrible guy and the postcards are just to assuage his guilty conscience and that he doesn't actually want to meet me and she's just trying to protect me."
Edward frowned. "But...she's lying?"
"I guess." Frank resumed his pacing. "I want to think she's not, but none of the evidence is pointing her way. And I know she makes up stuff like her medical issues and has convinced herself she really is sick when she's not, so it's not that far-fetched to think she's convinced herself that her sister's husband—my dad—is really a horrible person that killed her sister and is now trying to steal me away from her."
Edward couldn't believe it. His aunt was sounding like a mix of his mother and Lucy. And if Edward thought those two separate were bad, having them as the same person was far worse since he wouldn't be able to play them against each other.
"What are you going to do?"
"I don't know. She's threatened to cut me off if I dare make contact with my dad."
"Ah, hence the spying."
Frank flushed. "I wasn't spying. I was looking at my options."
"Whether your dad is worth becoming penniless? Does he not have money of his own?"
"I'm not going to make my first act upon remeeting my dad by begging for money."
"Good point."
"I'm supposed to be the CEO of the Churchill corporation. My aunt's been grooming me for that since I can remember. She can't rip that from me just because she's been lying to me this whole time!"
If his aunt was like Lucy, then Edward believed she could easily do that.
"And I can't become penniless. Not now. Not when..." Frank sighed and sank into his chair again and glared at his shoes.
"Not when what?"
Frank didn't respond for a long moment, then he leaned forward. "This girl of yours, you can't get her because of your family, right?"
Edward shifted his weight. "We're talking about you, not me."
"Yeah, but, if there was a way you could be with her, wouldn't you do it?"
A hundred times yes, but Edward couldn't see a way. "It's complicated."
"So, is there a way or not?"
"My situation is different than yours. This is about your dad—" Edward stopped, realizing suddenly dawning. "Don't tell me you're in love with a daughter of his."
Frank recoiled. "Ew, gross! Edward, come on! Cut me some slack!"
"Hey, I was working with the knowledge you gave me."
"She's not related to me. But she knows my dad. It's kind of how this all started. And if my aunt is going to cut me off because I want to speak to my father, she's going to cut me off even faster if she realizes who I'm in love with. And I can't be poor. She deserves more than that."
Edward felt the same way with Elinor. And if Frank dared try to switch jobs, his aunt would smear his name just as badly as Edward's mother would do to him. The two of them were both trapped. Unless...
He sat up straighter. "Hey, I might have a way out for you."
"Are you for real? Tell me!"
"Mind you, it won't be as great as being the CEO of your aunt's corporation—"
"If it gets me out of her control, I don't care. Give it to me."
"These businesses you just bought, someone else could buy them."
"Uh, how is that supposed to help me?"
"The new owner would be willing to let you work for her in secret. Then you could save up money until you have enough to buy them yourself and be free of your aunt."
Frank seemed to wilt. "Save money?" He looked down at his expensive suit and shoes as if he was going to have to wear rags by the end of the day. "How long will that take?"
"A few years—"
Frank groaned. "That's too long! Isn't there a faster way?"
"You convincing your aunt to do what you want?"
"She'd rather die first, I'm sure."
"Well, then?"
Frank paced the room again, a myriad of emotions flitting over his face as if he was enduring a great internal battle. Then he sank into the chair once more. "All right. Years of saving it is."
Edward clapped him on the shoulder. "You'll get your girl. She's worth it, right?"
Frank grinned. It lit up his entire face as if angelic light glowed through his skin. "Yeah, she definitely is."
* * *
The only drawback to the plan was to get Jess on board and despite the fact Edward had known her now for over two months, he still had no idea how she'd react.
Once he finished showing Frank the ropes of the new businesses, he headed to his car and dialed Jess' number.
"George!" She gushed over the phone.
"Uh—" Edward began, but she rushed on.
"Such a surprise, you naughty boy. Sorry," her voice grew distant, apparently talking to someone else on her side of the line, "I want to take this. Can we continue this later?"
Edward heard a deep voice agree, then a shuffling sound as if papers were being gathered.
"Yes, I know, George," she said to the phone even though Edward hadn't said a thing. "They were perfect. Thank you." The latter was directed at whoever was with her. A few seconds later, and the shuffling noises stopped.
"That was perfect timing, Ed," Jess said, dropping the gush in her voice. "I'm sure that sealed the deal."
"Sealed what deal? And who's George?"
"Jealous?"
"No, confused."
She laughed. "You're so matter-of-fact."
"I would think it's more protocol to know when you've been dumped."
"Not dumped. Replaced. Temporarily. It's complicated. Anyway, this is the second time you've called in a month. That's a new record."
"I, uh, wasn't aware you wanted me to call more often."
"Ed, Ed, Ed, you're supposed to want to call your fake girlfriend, not be assigned. Sheesh, you've been under your mother's thumb for too long. So, what's up these days? Missing me?"
Edward wasn't sure what all this was supposed to mean. He had a feeling there was a subtext that he wasn't getting at all. Not knowing how to decipher it all, he decided to stick to the original plan.
"I wanted to return to a former conversation we had. Specifically the one about buying certain businesses."
She gasped. "Don't tell me you're daring to escape your mother at last! What brought on this new urgency?"
"Uh, no, not for me. For a friend of mine."
"Please don't tell me it's the old guy about to die."
"No, someone else."
"Who?"
"Someone you know but he'd like his situation to be kept a secret."
"Edward Ferrars, are you calling me untrustworthy?"
"Well, you did begin this call as if I was George, lying to whoever you were with."
"Touché. But that's different. I'm not asking you to fork over a ton of money to buy a bunch of useless businesses to get someone out of a bind. So, who is this guy?"
"Who's George?"
She sighed. "You already know who he is. You just now know his first name."
"Your guy being sued? You brokered a deal?"
"Not quite. I'm enlisting the help of an old family friend."
"But wouldn't he know about your fake dating with me?"
"He always knew it was fake. But you calling at that moment made him believe that George and I are a thing."
"So you're double-lying to him."
"Will you tell me who this guy is I'm bailing out or not?"
"All right. It's Frank Churchill."
She gasped. "No, are you serious? Frank, the hottie?"
Edward had no good response to that.
"Oh, I am so doing it for him, then. But what's his deal? He's supposed to be loaded."
"His aunt is like my mother."
Her groan was audible over the phone. "Rich men and their mommas. I'm so glad George doesn't have a mother."
"He doesn't?"
"No, she died when he was young."
"I don't think that's any better."
"Maybe, but at least I don't have to worry about her trying to control him. So, what's the plan with Frank? I get to meet him, right?"
"That...wasn't a part of the plan."
"Well, it is now if I'm involved. Have him come to our fake engagement party."
"Our what?"
"Please don't tell me you haven't figured out that the big party your mother is planning in two months is to announce something big between us."
So, Lucy had been right about the party. "Your parents okay with it?"
"They haven't figured it out yet. They think it's just a big party."
He hesitated for a second. "Do you want it to be an engagement party?" She had been acting slightly weird earlier...
Smitten With Sense: A Modern Sense And Sensibility Retelling (Pemberley Estates Book 4) Page 16
