Rebecca was so tempted to tell her sister about her conversation with Chelsea, but she couldn’t or Vanessa would know what she planned to do and try to stop her. She would tell her parents, and Rebecca knew she wasn’t strong enough to stand up to their persuasions.
“Probably so.”
“MRS. WEXHAM, I NEED TO speak to Chelsea. It’s an emergency,” Jeff said.
“What kind of emergency?”
“It’s my emergency. Either you let me speak to her, or I’m coming over to talk to her in person.”
“That’s not possible. She’s in her bedroom.”
Jeff hung up the phone, then started out of the office. Then he went back to Bill’s office door. “I’m going to force my way through Mrs. Wexham’s fortress. Want to come?”
“Sure. Why are you going to do this?”
“Because something is wrong with Rebecca, and I think Chelsea knows more than she’s told me about it. The dragon lady won’t let me talk to Chelsea on the phone, so I’m going to demand to see her in person.”
“Sounds like a good idea. We can surround her.”
“I’ll take all the help I can get.”
After they got in the car, Jeff said, “I think it might help the situation if I introduce you as the senator’s son. Would you mind too much?”
“If you think it will help, I won’t hide in the bushes.”
“Thanks, Bill. You’re a good friend.”
Bill didn’t respond.
They parked in front of the house. Just as they got out of their car, Chelsea’s father pulled into the driveway in his Mercedes.
“Do you think she sent for reinforcements?”
“I find that hard to believe,” Jeff said. He’d always figured Mrs. Wexham ruled the house.
As they walked to the front door, Mr. Wexham came around to meet them. “Jeff, what are you doing here?”
“I need to speak with Chelsea, and for a week your wife has given me excuse after excuse about why Chelsea can’t come to the phone.”
“Didn’t you try her cell phone?”
“There’s been no answer on her cell phone for four days.”
“Really? Has she been sick?”
“I was told she had a cold.”
“Really? Well, come on in. We need to get to the bottom of this.”
“Sir, have you met my law partner?”
“No, I don’t think I have,” the man said as the door opened.
Jeff checked to be sure Mrs. Wexham could hear him. “This is Bill Wallace. His dad is Robert Wallace, one of our senators.”
“To the U.S. Congress? Really? Well, welcome, young man.”
Jeff saw Mrs. Wexham’s eyes widen in surprise, and then narrow in speculation.
“Mrs. Wexham, I’m sorry to interrupt your day, but I need to speak with Chelsea.”
“I’ll go get her,” Mrs. Wexham said with a smile, her gaze fixed on Bill.
Jeff felt sure he knew the conversation that would take place upstairs. Chelsea was about to get chewed out for not telling her mother what she didn’t know. She was about to be surprised.
When Mrs. Wexham and Chelsea entered the room a few minutes later, Jeff thought he saw confirmation in Chelsea’s gaze. She was furious with Bill.
“Chelsea, I wonder if I could have a few minutes in private with you?” Jeff asked.
Abruptly, Chelsea stopped glaring at Bill and stared at Jeff. “With me? Yes, I suppose so.”
As they left the room, Jeff could hear Mrs. Wexham starting the cross-examination. It wouldn’t be long before she learned about the oil wells the family owned, too. Then Bill would find the door wide open should he ever want to visit.
“Chelsea, why did you call me to ask if Rebecca was okay yesterday?”
“She talked strangely while she was here.”
“About what?”
“About leaving.”
Jeff grabbed her shoulders and shouted, “What? What did she say?”
“Jeff, don’t do that, you’re hurting me.”
Bill suddenly appeared in the doorway. “Jeff! What are you doing to Chelsea?”
“Nothing! I mean, I may have squeezed too tightly on her shoulders, but she told me Rebecca is planning on leaving.”
“Leaving? Why would she go?”
“She—she was worried about us.”
“Us who?” Bill asked.
Chelsea drew back, but bravely said, “Me and Jeff.”
“Oh, I see. I’ll wait outside, Jeff.”
As he turned to leave, Chelsea called, “Bill, don’t go.”
“Why should I stay? This is between you and your fiancé.”
“No, he’s not my fiancé anymore. At least not for long. Not in my heart, anyway. That’s why Mother was so mad and took away my cell phone, my car keys, and threatened me,” Chelsea said.
“What do you mean you’re not engaged anymore? And besides, you could have come to me. All you had to do was call,” Bill assured her lovingly.
“Oh, really? Well, all you had to do was tell me your father is a senator, and I wouldn’t have had any problems. Unless you’re lying?”
“No, I’m not lying.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because that wasn’t why I wanted you to like me.”
“You idiot! Couldn’t you tell I loved you?”
“How could I? You were engaged to my best friend!” Bill snapped.
“I didn’t need to know about the senator for me, Bill. I needed to know about the senator for my parents. I can’t help it that all they care about is high society and public image.”
Jeff was enjoying seeing someone else in trouble. “Now you want to tell her about the oil wells?”
“No!” Bill returned, glaring at Jeff.
“What oil wells?” Chelsea asked.
“On the family ranch,” Jeff said with a smile.
“My dad’s in the oil business. He’ll be thrilled.”
“Yeah, I bet he will be. So, Chelsea, is this your way of telling me that you no longer want to marry me, that you want to pursue a relationship with Bill?” Jeff asked with a smile.
“If you don’t mind, Jeff. I think you’d be better off marrying Rebecca since you love her so much. I didn’t mean to hurt you or for this to play out the way it has.”
“Chelsea, I love you and I thank you. You’ll always hold a very special place in my heart, but you’re right. I’m in love with Rebecca.”
Chelsea took the ring off her third finger. “Here’s your ring back.”
“Keep it.”
“No, she’s not keeping another man’s ring. Take it back. Maybe you can trade it in,” Bill suggested.
Jeff grinned. “Right. I’ll see what I can do. Do I need to wait for you before I go see Rebecca?”
“No, I’ll take him home in a little while. I think Mom will let me have my car keys after she hears about the oil wells.” Chelsea stepped forward and hugged Jeff.
“Hey, no hugging other men,” Bill said, teasing.
Chelsea smiled sweetly. “No rules for me, Mr. Wallace.” Then she said, “Thank you, Jeff. And I wish you all the happiness in the world.”
“I wish you the same, Chelsea. And you’ve picked a very good man.”
“I know,” Chelsea agreed, her gaze returning to Bill’s face.
Jeff shook Bill’s hand and left the room. He found the Wexhams standing in the doorway across the hall.
“Is everything all right?” Mr. Wexham asked.
“Well, Chelsea and I have dissolved our engagement,” Jeff said, “but I think Bill is going to take my place.”
“Oh, thank heavens,” Mrs. Wexham gushed. “Oh, not that I wouldn’t have been perfectly happy if she’d married you, Jeff. You know that.”
“I know. But Bill is better suited to her, and I need to keep my family together.” He waved at them and hurried out the door. He hoped he wasn’t too late. If Rebecca ran away and he couldn’t find her, he would never forgive her.
>
Betty answered the door.
“Is Rebecca here?” he asked.
“Yes, sir. She’s upstairs. If you’ll wait in the library, I’ll go tell her you’re here.”
“Is Will in the library?”
“Yes, sir. And shall I set another plate for dinner?”
“Would you mind, Betty?”
“No, of course not.”
“Thanks, Betty.”
He’d thought about telling Betty he would go tell Rebecca he was there. He didn’t want to give her a chance to run away. But he figured she’d planned to leave in the morning. He remembered how stubborn she’d been about Saturday.
Will was the only one in the library when he got there. “Will, I just invited myself to dinner.”
“Good for you. Betty gets depressed if she doesn’t have a full house.”
“Who’s missing besides Rachel?”
“Vanessa went out with some friends. So it was just going to be four of us for dinner. Rebecca, Joey, me and Vivian.”
“You know for sure Rebecca intended to be here for dinner?”
Will’s gaze fixed on Jeff’s face. “What do you mean?”
“I heard a rumor that she was planning on leaving.”
“Rebecca? And Joey?”
“Yeah. I think she thought it would be the best thing for my engagement.”
“And would it?”
“Yeah, if I wanted the engagement to last.”
“But you don’t?”
“Not once I knew Rebecca was still single, and I found out about Joey.”
“Then why—”
Jeff heard footsteps in the hall and put a finger to his lips. Rebecca entered the library.
“Hello, Jeff. I didn’t expect you this evening.”
“Well, I was suddenly free and knew Betty wouldn’t let me starve. Besides, I didn’t get to see much of Joey this week.”
“He’s with Peter out in the garage. I’ll go get him.”
“That’s not necessary. He’ll be in for dinner. Why don’t you sit down and visit a little?”
“Okay.”
“What did you do with your afternoon off?” Jeff asked.
“Vanessa and I had lunch together. It was fun. We’ve never really done that before, just the two of us.”
Will spoke up. “I think Rachel’s leaving this morning was a little hard on all the ladies.”
“Why? You know she’ll be coming back,” Jeff said.
“You never know the twists and turns life will take.” Rebecca looked away from Jeff.
“That’s true. Where’s Vivian?” Jeff asked.
“She’s resting upstairs,” Will said. “I’d better go see if she’s up, though, since Betty will be serving dinner soon.”
After Will had left the room, Jeff poked and prodded Rebecca’s temper. “Is everything all right, Rebecca?”
“Of course.”
“Have you visited with Chelsea recently?”
“You know I just saw her. You specifically asked me to call her and I told you that I went over there.”
“Oh, yes. She had a cold, you said. That’s the excuse her mother used when she wouldn’t call her to the phone.”
Rebecca looked at him sharply. “Are you saying her mother was lying?”
Before Jeff answered, Will and Vivian came into the room. They were immediately followed by Betty with a tray of hors d’oeuvres. Then Joey came in because Betty had told him his dad was there.
“Daddy! I haven’t seen you since yesterday,” he announced as he flung himself into his father’s embrace.
Jeff hugged his son tightly to him. “I know, Joey. I missed you a lot.”
“Me, too.”
“Joey, do you need to go wash up for dinner?” Rebecca asked.
“No, Betty washed my face and hands in the kitchen. And she told Peter it was his fault I got dirty,” Joey finished, happy to have it be someone else’s fault.
Rebecca looked at her son sternly. “Despite what Betty said, you are responsible for getting yourself dirty.”
Joey sent a pleading look to his father.
“I’m afraid your mother’s right on target this time, son. You have to be responsible for what you do. That’s part of growing up.”
Betty came in and called them to dinner.
Chapter Sixteen
Rebecca could hardly eat. All she could think about was her promise to Chelsea. She so wished she could take it back. She didn’t want to leave these people. Her offer had been on impulse, but she’d known at once it was what was necessary. For herself as well as Chelsea.
She loved Jeff so much. If she stayed here, she would be rooting for him to break up with Chelsea, and that would be a terrible thing to do on her part.
“No appetite?” Jeff asked.
She suddenly realized everyone was staring at her. “I—I had a big lunch with Vanessa. We had the biggest hamburgers…so I have to eat less tonight.”
“You sound like Rachel,” Vivian said. “I worry about her. I don’t think she’s eating enough.”
“I know. But it’s going to take time for Rachel to settle in. She’s never known a family like this.” Rebecca thought about the fact that she was going to give it up and dropped her gaze to the table. “You’ll need to give her time.”
Vivian smiled warmly at Rebecca. “With you and Vanessa to help her, she’ll settle soon enough. Right now she’s worrying about paying off her debts. She told me she was scheduled almost continuously until Christmas. She was so proud.”
“I don’t think modeling is easy work,” Rebecca said.
“Neither is being a mother, but you’ve managed well.”
Jeff was smiling at her and she couldn’t bear to hold his gaze. He wouldn’t be praising her tomorrow. “I try. Sometimes, as a mother, I have to do some unpopular things.” She kept a smile on her face and looked at Vivian, hoping she would understand tomorrow.
This departure was the hardest thing she’d ever had to do. Her parting with Jeff five years ago had been involuntary, but this parting was her choice. And it was even more painful.
“Rebecca? Where were you? You seemed to leave us for a minute.” Jeff was staring at her again.
“I was thinking about the past, wondering if I made the right decisions.”
Will leaned toward her. “Better to leave the past alone. It can’t be changed.”
“I know.” She looked down at Joey and noticed he’d finished his dinner and was beginning to droop with exhaustion. “Joey, are you ready to go up to bed?”
“Yes, Mommy. Can Daddy come, too?”
Jeff responded at once. “I want to. But I’ve got a phone call I have to make. Then I’ll be up.”
Rebecca stood, taking Joey’s hand, thinking if Jeff knew this would be his last time for a while, he wouldn’t linger downstairs too long.
AS SOON AS THE FAMILY HEARD Rebecca and Joey on the stairway, Jeff leaned forward. “I need to take Rebecca out for coffee to meet Bill and Chelsea. They got engaged this afternoon, and I want them to tell Rebecca. She’ll believe them when she sees their faces. Then I’m going to propose to Rebecca, which, I hope, will stop her from leaving.”
“Leaving?” Vivian questioned, panic rising in her gaze. “Why would she be leaving?”
“It’s a long story, but it was because of my engagement to Chelsea. She feels like I’ve put her and Joey above Chelsea. She’s right, of course, but Chelsea and I were always better friends than we were lovers. When I saw how Chelsea responded to Bill, I knew it wouldn’t be long before they’d be together. But I couldn’t tell Rebecca that.”
“Oh, the poor dear. No wonder she was so distracted. When was she planning to leave?” Vivian asked.
“I believe in the morning.”
Vivian gasped.
Will said, “Will you give us a call before it gets too late if everything works out? Rebecca has her own key and is certainly too old to have a curfew, but I’d rather Vivian know everything is okay so she
can get some sleep.”
“Yes, of course. And thank you. I promise I’ll take care of her.” He stood. “I’ve got to call Bill and arrange to meet for coffee, if you’ll excuse me.”
WHEN THEY LEFT JOEY’S ROOM, Jeff asked Rebecca to go out with him for coffee.
“Why? Betty’s coffee is as good as any you can buy.”
“Because I want to show you something.”
“What?”
“It’s a surprise. And once you’ve seen my surprise, I’ll bring you back at once, if that’s what you want.”
“I don’t want to be out late.”
“No, of course not.”
“I’ll have to tell Vivian and Will.”
“I’ve already done that.”
“Oh.”
“Do you need a jacket?” Jeff asked.
She frowned at him. “No, the air is mild tonight.”
“Then let’s go.”
He took her to the Starbucks near his office. Once there, he bought her a cup of coffee and a pastry.
“I don’t need the pastry.”
“You hardly ate any dinner. I don’t want you passing out on me.”
“You’re being ridiculous,” she said, sounding very grouchy. She had her back to the door, so when Bill and Chelsea came in, she didn’t see them until they reached the table, coffee in hand.
“Oh, hi, what are you two doing here?” she asked, staring at their faces. Happiness was written all over the two of them, and Bill kept his arm around Chelsea even after they sat down. Rebecca frowned.
Chelsea laid her left hand on the table. “Can you believe Bill already got me a ring? Isn’t it gorgeous?”
Jeff said with a laugh, “That ring must’ve drained one of the oil wells completely.”
“I know. Isn’t it divine?” Chelsea asked Rebecca.
Jeff read the shock on Rebecca’s face. “I hadn’t told her anything. I wanted her to see your happiness for herself. Honey,” he said gently, leaning toward Rebecca, “Bill and Chelsea have been falling in love all along. That’s why I didn’t worry about giving you and Joey all my attention. Today, she finally convinced her parents that he’d be a worthy suitor and broke off her engagement to me.”
“Oh, Rebecca, aren’t you thrilled everything turned out so well? Now you don’t have to leave.” Chelsea gave her a relieved smile. “I would’ve felt so guilty if you’d left for my sake. Now we can really be friends and go shopping together and raise our children together.”
Rebecca's Little Secret: Children Of Texas Page 17
