The only thing he feared when introduced to Viviana was that she was involved with a man. But once he discovered she was single and unencumbered, he knew he had to work fast to make her aware of his interest in her.
Washington, DC, wasn’t that far from Wickham Falls, and he’d had to call on all of his self-control not to get into his car and drive down to catch a glimpse of her with the excuse that he was coming to see Giles and his family. He’d been able to curtail his impulsiveness until the condo was completed, then had shifted his single focus to establishing a relationship with a woman who unknowingly made him rethink his lifestyle. Now he wanted what his older cousin had—a wife and a family of his own.
Viviana eased back, and Noah reached into the pocket of his jeans and took out a handkerchief and dabbed her face. His eyes caressed her face. “You’re even beautiful when you cry.” Her lids fluttered wildly before she closed her eyes. Fringes of long, black lashes lay on ridges of high cheekbones.
“I believe you,” she whispered.
He angled his head. “What do you believe?”
She opened her eyes. “I believe that you will protect me.”
Noah lowered his head and kissed her gently, and he felt that he had scaled a hurdle when she kissed him back, her lips parting slightly under his. His breathing had quickened, and he knew if he continued to kiss Viviana, it would end with him wanting to make love to her. They were the only two people in the house, and that alone made it even more tempting, but Noah did not want to take advantage of her vulnerability and be added to the string of men that had used her for their own selfish needs.
He ended the kiss. “I’m going to help you clean up before I head back to the guesthouse. When I see you tomorrow morning, I’m going to need the payroll figures on your employees so I can—”
Viviana placed her fingers over his mouth, cutting off what he was going to say. “I don’t need you to give me any money. I still have some left after the renovations and repairs. We don’t know how long it’s going to take for the zoning board to approve the conversions, so if I run short, then I’ll let you know.”
“I don’t want you to run short. Take the money as a cushion. I don’t need it.” Noah recognized indecision in her eyes.
“Are you sure?”
He smiled. What he didn’t tell Viviana was that he had enough money to take care of her and their children, grand- and great-grandchildren. “Of course I’m sure.”
“Okay. I’ll accept it.”
Noah silently sighed with relief. He knew it would take time for Viviana to trust completely that he would not take advantage of her financially or emotionally. While he often had little patience with others, he realized he had to modify his attitude because he knew she was worth the wait.
Chapter Four
Viviana sat on a wooden bench filling out the application that would reverse the Wickham Falls Bed and Breakfast from a commercial enterprise to a residential home. The clerk at the front desk informed her that the zoning board met bimonthly and there was a backlog, so she probably wouldn’t receive a letter requesting her presence until mid-January. She didn’t believe the dour woman because Viviana doubted if there were that many applications on the board’s calendar for her to wait nearly three months for a hearing. It also meant that Noah’s application was also among the backlog.
He’d come over earlier that morning, and she’d given him the payroll figures on her employees; he promised to have a check deposited in her business account before the end of the day. She completed the application and watched as the clerk stamped it with a date stamp and number and printed out a receipt for her.
“Good luck, Miss Remington. May I make a suggestion?”
Viviana stared at the woman who had been a fixture at the town hall for as long as she could remember. There was something that reminded her of an animated character, with her steel-gray hair pulled back tightly in a bun and her half-glasses resting on the end of her long, straight nose. She had never seen the woman smile, and her gray eyes were cold as ashes. “Yes, Mrs. Dobbs.”
“Get rid of your lodgers while you wait for the board to approve your converting your boardinghouse back to a private residence. It would look as if you’re not operating in good faith if you’re making money when you want to use your home for your family.”
She managed what could pass for a smile. “My only guest is leaving in two days, and I’ve arranged to meet with my employee tomorrow morning to let them know I’m closing down until the conversion has been completed.” She’d also hung a closed-for-the-season sign on the stanchion in front of the house.
A tinge of red suffused the woman’s pale cheeks. “Well, it looks as if you’re way ahead of me.”
This time Viviana did smile. “Yes, I am. Have a wonderful day, Mrs. Dobbs.”
Turning on her heel, she walked out of the building and into the warm fall sunlight and collided with a solid body. A pair of strong fingers curved around her shoulders. She glanced up and smiled. She’d bumped into Seth Collier, the sheriff of Wickham Falls. Seth, like so many young men in The Falls, had enlisted in the corps and served as military police. He’d left after twenty years and returned to The Falls. He was appointed a deputy sheriff and married Dr. Natalia Hawkins before he was eventually elected sheriff.
“I’m sorry, Sheriff Collier.”
Seth pushed back the brim of the wide felt hat and smiled. “Since when did you start using titles with me? What happened to Seth?”
He was at least ten years older than her, and Viviana rarely interacted with him because she didn’t attend Johnson County Public School.
She met a pair of light brown eyes that were almost an exact match for his complexion. “You’re in uniform, so it’s only right I address you by your title.”
Seth smiled. “I’ll give you a pass this time. By the way, how’s Leland and his family doing?”
“They’re well. Angela calls me at least once a week to give me an update on what’s been going on with them. She says she’s still attempting to adjust to her new lifestyle of getting the twins up early and out to day care before going to her classes. Leland leaves the house before her, but he does all of the cooking, and they’ve managed to share chores which allows them time to study.”
“Attending college while taking care of a couple little ones can’t be easy.”
Viviana nodded. “That’s why they’ve agreed not to add to their family until after they graduate.”
“Natalia and I are working on expanding our family, so don’t be surprised if there is a little Collier underfoot sometime next year.”
“Good for you. I’ll tell Lee you asked about him.”
“When is he coming back this way?”
“I don’t know. But I’m planning to go to North Carolina for Thanksgiving.”
“Give him and Angela my best.”
Viviana nodded. “I will. And let me know when you and your wife announce you’re going to have a baby, and I’ll begin piecing a quilt for the crib.”
“You don’t have to do that, Viviana.”
“Yes, I do. Every baby should have something handmade instead of store-bought which can be passed down to the next generation. Just don’t tell Natalia that I’m making it.”
Seth mimed zipping his lips. “I promise not to breathe a word.”
She walked around the corner to the parking at the rear of the row of stores and got into her five-year-old, off-white Honda she’d affectionately named Diamond. She rarely took it out of the garage, and despite its age there were times when she could still detect a new-car smell.
Viviana returned to the house and climbed the staircase to the attic where she had stored fabric and yarn in airtight plastic containers. Sitting on a low stool, she stared around the space. She rarely came up here anymore since her aunt and uncle had relocated to Arizona. As a child it had been her
playhouse, where she talked to her dolls as if they could understand what she was saying.
It was Aunt Barbara Wolfe-McCarthy who had taught her to cook, knit, crochet and quilt. She knew her aunt wasn’t her mother, but she realized her life was pretty good because Aunt Barbara worked hard to make sure she and Leland had a maternal figure.
Viviana did not want to have a pity party but knew she needed a good cry if only to rid herself of the mental and emotional baggage she had been carrying for much too long. Her eyes filled with tears, and she cried for her mother, who’d loved a man who had failed her and her children over and over, even when he knew she was dying. She cried for her father, who had fallen prey to a drug that had held him in its savage grip and had only let him go once he was behind bars. And she cried for the old Viviana who’d let her heart rule her head, even when it had been obvious her boyfriends were using her, while she always hoped it would get better.
She cried without making a sound, and when there were no more tears, she got up and went downstairs to her bedroom and washed her face in the en suite bath. She peered at her reflection in the vanity mirror and saw a face she did not quite recognize as her own. There was a steeliness in her eyes that hadn’t been there before, and she knew she wasn’t the same woman who’d sat in the attic crying for what was and would never be again. It was time for her to look ahead and do only what was good for Viviana Etta Remington.
An unbidden smile flitted over her features. “Damn it, girl! You had to wait until you were twenty-nine to get your act together,” she said to her reflection. Better late than never, said the silent voice. She’d closed the B and B and had enough money to pay her employees until the end of the year. All of the bills were paid, and she had nothing but time on her hands to wait and see what was coming next. She’d told Leland she was coming to Charlotte to celebrate Thanksgiving with him, and she had confirmed with her aunt and uncle that she planned to come to Arizona to spend Christmas with them.
She thought of Noah’s invitation for her to become his plus-one for a destination wedding. She still wasn’t ready to tell him she would go with him because not only did she not know him well, but that they hadn’t actually dated. And she didn’t want to fall into the same trap as she had with the other men in her past, by becoming too trusting much too soon.
This is not to say she didn’t like Noah, because she did, but it was his arrogance that he could get whatever he wanted that she found disturbing.
Yet interacting with him made her feel more in control than she had with the other men she had dated. It was as if her last relationship had taught her to say exactly what was on her mind without having to censor herself. And if she was going to go away with Noah, then it would have to be on her terms, because she had no intention of sleeping with him no matter how attractive she found him or how much money he threw at her, and she reveled in her newfound strength and resolve.
The last time she’d gone away was earlier that summer, when her friends from college had gifted her with a seven-day cruise for her birthday. Her step was light as she practically skipped down the staircase and retrieved her cell phone from her bucket bag. Viviana scrolled through the directory until she found Noah’s number, tapped it and waited for a connection.
“Talk to me, sweetheart.”
She smiled even though he couldn’t see her. “It’s yes.”
“Yes to what?”
“I’ll be your plus-one for the wedding.”
“Hot damn! I thought I was going to go solo.”
“Well, appears you’re not. When are we leaving?”
“We’ll fly out of New York a week from Thursday. I told you that I have to leave in a couple of days to go home for my dad’s birthday, but then I’ll be back. I’m going with Giles, who is driving up with Mya and Lily. They plan to stay in New York through the New Year, so I’ll leave my car at your place until I come back in January. I won’t need it in New York City.”
“Can I drive it?”
“Of course. I’m certain it’s a lot faster than your Honda.”
“How dare you talk about Diamond like that?”
“You named your car?”
“Of course. Don’t you name yours?”
“No, Viv. It’s just a car.”
If you say so, she thought. It was a car with a hundred-thousand-dollar sticker price. “I filed my application, and the clerk told me there’s a backlog, and I probably won’t get a hearing until mid-January,” she said, deftly changing the topic.
“She said the same thing to me, and I didn’t want to believe her because she kept looking at me sideways since she knew I was a stranger.”
“Folks in The Falls always keep strangers at arm’s length until they discover what they’re up to.”
“Well, I’m definitely not some snake-oil salesman looking to take their hard-earned money.”
“We’ve had enough of those to last several lifetimes. I remember my aunt talking about her grandmother going to tent revivals, where itinerant preachers would fleece people out of their money by purportedly healing someone who wasn’t really blind or disabled.”
Noah’s deep laugh came through the phone. “Shades of Elmer Gantry. Giles got a call from his Bahamian broker a couple of hours ago, saying that he should fly down to see a prospective buyer, so I’m going to stay with Mya and Lily until he comes back. I hope to see you before we leave for New York.”
“It’s okay, Noah. Take care of your family. We’ll have plenty of time to see each other.”
“Thanks for being so understanding, sweetheart.”
What did he expect her to say? That he shouldn’t look after his family? “We’ll talk later.”
Viviana ended the call without waiting for his response. What she needed to do was go through her closet to select clothes appropriate for the tropics. She’d bought a new wardrobe for her birthday cruise, but decided she needed a few outfits that were better suited for the beach. She planned to drive up to Charleston and shop until she dropped.
* * *
Edward Wainwright appeared visibly embarrassed by the display of affection as he lowered his eyes. Noah had raised his flute of champagne along with the others at the table to toast the current CEO of WDG. It had taken years for Noah to get to know his father well enough to judge his moods, which would range from affectionate to solemn and unforgiving within seconds. He’d overheard rumors that his wife had more steel in her spine than her husband and that she should’ve become CEO rather than Edward.
Noah loved and respected his father but felt Edward had tried too hard to please his own father, who’d literally pulled himself up by the bootstraps as a poor kid from the Lower East Side. He’d come to build a real estate empire, and he had run it like a tyrant and had only relinquished power to Edward once he felt his eldest was ready to take his place.
Edward smiled as he glanced around the table. Prisms of light from a chandelier reflected off a full head of expertly barbered silver hair. Although modest, he was extremely vain when it came to his appearance. He’d passed his blond hair and patrician features on to Noah, who could have been his father’s younger clone.
“I’d like to thank everyone for coming to help me celebrate another year of life. It isn’t often that I get all of my children together at the same time, but I suppose they believe this is a milestone birthday, so I thank you—Jordan, Noah, Rhett and Chanel—for thinking enough of your old man to put aside whatever you’ve been doing in your very busy lives to be here with me. And I include my cousins Fraser and Pat and nephews Giles, Patrick and Brandt and, of course, their incredibly beautiful wives.”
Chanel rolled her eyes upward. “Now, Daddy, there’s no need to get sappy.”
Christiane’s emerald green eyes gave off angry sparks as she glared at her daughter. “Please don’t ruin the evening by being sarcastic.”
Noah rested a hand on hi
s sister’s shoulder. “Let it go,” he whispered in her ear.
“It’s okay, Chris,” Edward said to his wife, who continued to glare at Chanel. “This is a night where we’re not going to get into it with one another.” He stared directly at Chanel. “I’ve earned the right to get sappy, and when you reach my age, hopefully you’ll discover that. Everyone knows I’m not one for long speeches, but starting today, I’m putting out the word that I’m giving WDG one more year, and then I’m stepping down.” He shifted and looked at his nephew. “Pat, you need to prepare yourself to take over from me.”
Patrick Wainwright III shook his head. “Everyone knows I want nothing to do with running the company. I like working with Dad in Legal.”
“What about you, Noah?” Edward asked. “I know you’re out of the office for extended periods of time overseeing your construction projects. But don’t you think your engineer is capable enough to assume that responsibility?”
Noah clamped his teeth tightly to keep from telling his father he did not want to be put on the spot about a position he’d never wanted. He knew he would go stir-crazy if he had to sit behind a desk day after day. “Dad, you’re asking people you know don’t want to run the company. I like what I’m doing, and so does Pat. What you’re not doing is looking at the ones who may have a new vision to take WDG in another direction. Look at what Giles has done with the international division.”
“What other direction is there?” Wyatt Wainwright asked.
Everyone turned to look at Wyatt, the family’s patriarch. Noah had always likened his grandfather to a hawk. The black hair was now snow-white, and his piercing blue eyes were still as clear and sharp as a raptor’s. He had prided himself on his ability to stare down and intimidate business rivals and subsequently get them to do his bidding.
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