by Leanne Banks
Carol’s lips lifted in a cynical smile. “All good, I’m sure,” she said, looking at the den again. “I don’t suppose you could tell me what has happened to this room.”
“Uh, Brock asked me to choose one room downstairs to redecorate.” Elle shrugged. “I chose the den.”
“Oh,” Carol said. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. It was bound to happen someday.” She returned her attention to Elle, studying her for a long moment. “So you’re the new Maddox bride,” Carol said, slowly strolling toward her. “I suspect you have no idea what you’re getting into, but I can help with that. My flight from Aspen just arrived an hour ago—I made an extra stop there on my way back from Europe. Let me freshen up and the two of us can do lunch.”
Uncomfortable at the prospect, Elle shook her head. “Oh, I couldn’t. You just got in. I’m sure you want to relax.”
“Nonsense,” Carol said, lifting her lips in a smile that didn’t meet her eyes. “I need to get to know my son’s new wife.” She glanced down at Elle’s abdomen again. “You didn’t answer my question. Are you pregnant?”
Elle thought about denying it because she knew what Carol would think—that the pregnancy was the only reason Brock had married her. Which, of course, was true. “Yes, I am.”
Carol gave a knowing nod. She glanced down at a diamond-encrusted watch. “Will an hour give you enough time to get ready?”
“That’s plenty of time, thank you,” Elle said. “But if you need to do something else, there’s no rush—”
Carol smiled again. “There’s nothing more important.”
An hour later, Elle joined Carol in the Bentley driven by a driver named Dirk. Carol peppered her with questions during the ride, and Elle did her best to sound as boring as possible. The car pulled in front of a posh restaurant in a pricey shopping neighborhood.
“Here we are,” Carol said and led the way into the restaurant. Although there was a lunchtime crowd, the host wasted no time finding a table for them. “Now,” she said. “Tell me all about yourself. All about your romance with my son.”
Grateful for the water the server immediately poured, Elle shrugged. “It wasn’t something either of us expected. There was just this special connection we couldn’t ignore.”
“Obviously, since you’re already pregnant. How far along are you?”
“Over three months,” Elle said, trying to ignore Carol’s tone. “But I’d rather hear more about you and the family. What was Brock like as a baby?” Elle said. “I’m sure you must have so many stories to share.”
“Not as many as you’d think. Being the wife of James Maddox was a full-time job. My husband expected me to be by his side for client dinners. I joined clubs and served on boards to keep the Maddox name visible. The company was always number one with my husband. As it will be with Brock,” she said. “But I’m sure you already know that, since you’ve worked with him.”
“But you must have some memories of Brock as a child,” Elle said.
“He was a handful. Very physically active, very curious, ambitious from the day he was born. Of course, his father loved that about him. We had a nanny before he was sent to private school. His father had very strong opinions about Brock’s upbringing. He always said he was raising the lead lion, and the word ‘average’ was never allowed in any discussions about Brock. Speaking of a nanny, I can get you in with the most exclusive agency in San Francisco.”
“Oh, I haven’t even thought about nannies yet,” Elle said, thinking her view of parenting might differ widely from that of Carol Maddox.
“Well, don’t leave it until it’s too late. I’m sure Brock will demand the cream of the crop. He’s just like his father that way,” Carol said. “Since you’re no longer working for Brock, have you decided which clubs you’d like to join? I can help you with that, too.”
Elle shrugged and smiled, trying not to feel overwhelmed. “I have to be honest. Between the marriage, the move and the pregnancy, I’m still taking it one day at a time.”
“Oh, the pregnancy,” Carol said and shook her head. “The most miserable times of my life. I was in bed half the time with both of them. Maybe you’ll get lucky and have a boy the first time and then you can talk Brock into stopping at one. Having a second child was necessary for the well-being of my marriage,” Carol added. “Never forget for a moment that women will compete for the attention of a wealthy man, whether he’s married or not. There’s always someone trying to take your husband away from you.”
When Elle returned home, she felt like crawling back into bed and hiding. Marrying Brock was clearly the biggest mistake of her life. She should have quit Maddox and fled to Mexico or Canada or Paris. Anywhere but here with Brock’s Cruella de Vil mother. Feeling suffocated, Elle snuck out of the house and drove to her mother’s. They spent the afternoon talking and baking cookies together for one of the members of Suzanne’s support group.
When the clock passed seven in the evening, her mother slid her arm around Elle. “Sweetie, shouldn’t you be with your husband?”
“He’s working. He won’t mind me spending time with you,” Elle said.
“But it’s getting late,” her mother said. “Are you sure you shouldn’t go home?”
Elle’s cell phone rang. She winced, pretty certain she knew who was calling.
“Elle?” her mother prompted, when she didn’t race to her purse.
Elle reached for her phone and answered it. “Hi,” she said.
“Where are you?” Brock asked.
“With my mom,” Elle said, forcing her lips into a smile. “Baking cookies. Where are you?”
“At home looking for my wife,” Brock said. He paused a half beat. “My mother scared the piss out of you, didn’t she?”
Elle laughed nervously. “Cannot lie. She’s a little creepy.”
“Come home,” he said. “I’ll protect you.”
“You can’t protect me during the day when you’re at work,” she said.
“I can buy her a new place,” he said. “Let her fill it up with all the stuff that’s in the house.”
“She can’t be all bad,” Elle said. “She had you.”
“Don’t remind me,” he muttered.
“I don’t know,” Elle said. “I bet you don’t know everything about what went on between her and your father.”
“You’re not defending her,” he said.
“No, but I think there may be more than meets the eye.”
“I can’t disagree. There’s Botox, face-lifts, Resty-lane—”
“Give the woman a break. Her whole life was being Mrs. James Maddox.”
“She sucked you in,” Brock said.
“I can see some of her points,” she admitted.
Silence passed. “You’re joking.”
“No. I’m not.”
“That’s it,” Brock said. “I’m sending Roger to get you.”
“I have my car,” Elle said.
“I don’t want you driving in the dark,” Brock said.
Elle rolled her eyes. “Too bad,” she said and hung up. Feeling her mother’s gaze on her, she pretended to continue her conversation. “Of course, I’ll come home darling. Right away,” she said and turned to her mother. “I guess I should go home.”
Her mother studied her suspiciously. “Are you sure everything is okay between the two of you?”
“I’m sure,” Elle fibbed, making sure not to look directly at her mother because her mother could read her like a book. “We’re newlyweds. We’re working things out. Plus, I’m pregnant. It’s complicated, but Brock is an amazing man.” Elle wasn’t shading the truth about most of what she’d said. “I’ll see you soon,” she said and gave her mother a hug.
Thirty minutes later, Brock heard the front door open. He knew it was Elle and breathed a sigh of relief. If he’d known his mother was returning today, he would have found a way to protect Elle. His mother was the most manipulative woman he’d ever met and he would have thrown her out of the hou
se earlier except he’d never had a compelling reason. Until now.
He strode toward the foyer and met Elle just as she took her first step upstairs. “Elle,” he said.
She turned around. “Hi,” she said.
“I’m sorry you had to deal with my mother by yourself today,” he said.
She made a face. “It’s not as if she’s a mass murderer,” Elle said. “Although she clearly has issues.”
“That’s an understatement,” he muttered. “I’ll be moving her out as soon as possible.” Elle frowned.
“What?” he demanded.
“I hate to displace her,” Elle said. “Something about her seems so sad.”
Seeing the compassion on her face made something inside him twist and turn. Underneath it all, Elle had a good heart, but her sympathy for Carol was misplaced. “Giving Carol her own place isn’t displacing her. It’s not as if I’m kicking her out and telling her to live in a park.”
Elle bit her lip. “Are you sure it’s the most compassionate thing to do?”
“I’m sure it’s the right thing to do, for Carol and our marriage,” he said firmly.
Two days later, Carol was ensconced in a new home just a few streets over and all her things had been hauled away by a moving company. Unfortunately, she had taken very few of the furnishings from Brock’s home, which meant that Elle would need to sort out what should be discarded and what should be kept.
Elle turned to Anna. “What if I throw away something important, something that belonged to James?”
Anna pressed her lips together in sympathy. “I’ll help as best I can, but he did pass several years ago.”
Elle groaned. “I’ll run everything past you. If there are questions about something, we’ll put it in storage.”
Going through all the junk took over twelve hours a day for the next week. Elle fell into bed every night exhausted. When Brock awakened her one morning, she wasn’t sure which day of the week it was.
“This has got to stop,” he said. “It’s bad for your health. Bad for the baby.”
“It’s almost done. It’ll probably only take a couple more days” she said, still melting into the mattress.
She felt his sigh drift over her shoulders. “I still have a lot to do with Prentice, and we’re on the brink of another big deal, but I’d like to take you away,” he said, skimming his fingers through her hair.
“Really?” she said. “Where?”
“Somewhere quiet,” he said. “Somewhere away from here.”
“I tried to exorcise the demons in this house, but I’m not sure I did,” Elle said.
“Demons?” Brock echoed.
“Bad karma?” she said. “Bad memories? I’m not sure what it is, but I don’t want it contaminating our future,” she murmured.
He took her shoulders and turned her over to face him. He looked into her sleepy blue eyes and found himself craving more. “There’s no such thing as bad karma,” he told her. “I told you I would protect you.”
She let out a long sigh. “With our histories, it’s going to take more than one warrior to make our marriage work.”
He saw the steely determination in her gaze and felt a surge of something primitive inside him. He’d never met a woman like Elle, a woman who could match his passion and his strength. “You keep surprising me.”
“Is that a good thing?” she asked, her blue eyes dark and moody.
“I’ll let you know. In the meantime, pack a bag. You and I are getting out of here,” he said, making an instant decision. If Elle was going to rest, then he needed to take her away.
Within hours, Brock was driving toward the mountains. “I have a house a few hours from town. I go there as often as I can, which hasn’t been much lately.”
She sank into her leather seat and relaxed. “I’ve never heard about this place. You never went when I worked for you.”
“When you were working for me, I was spending every spare moment I could with you,” he said, taking a turn up a mountain road.
She rolled her head toward him. “It’s nice to know that I wasn’t the only one who was half crazed,” she said.
He shot her a glance, then chuckled under his breath. “Half crazed is under estimating it by a long shot.”
“Yeah, yeah,” she said. “At least you got to stay all night in your apartment. I usually had to drive home in the middle of the night.”
“What are you talking about? My driver took you home,” he said.
“Oops,” she said.
He shot her a sideways glance, feeling his gut tighten with frustration. “Are you telling me Dirk didn’t take you home all those times?”
She paused. “I’m not telling you that.”
“Because you don’t want him fired,” Brock said. “How the hell did you talk him out of it?”
“It wasn’t easy, but how was I going to explain arriving home at my mother’s with a chauffeur, especially when I needed to drive myself to the office the next day? He followed me to make sure I arrived home safely.”
“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Dirk did the right thing by following you home,” Brock said. “I never realized what a stubborn streak you have.”
“When I worked for you, my job was to make sure I anticipated your every need to make your life as easy as possible,” she said. “Now I’m your wife.”
“You mean the job description has changed,” he said, and chuckled.
Silence stretched between them and he shot a quick glance at her. She looked pensive. “Elle, what’s wrong?”
“I worry about how we’re going to negotiate everything. I’m not like your mother,” she said.
“Thank God,” he said.
“What I mean is, I’m not the corporate super-wife type. If you married me expecting me to agree with your every thought, then we’re going to have some problems. Do you realize that you and I haven’t even discussed parenting? Based on what your mother said, your father was determined to raise you as some kind of super Maddox CEO. I can tell you now that I want our child to have a much more balanced upbringing.”
Offended by her assessment of his father, Brock tightened his hands on the steering wheel. “My father made sure I had the best of everything, the best education—”
“The best nanny,” Elle interjected. “What if I don’t want a nanny raising my child? What if I don’t want my child sent away to boarding school?”
Hearing fear and panic in Elle’s voice, Brock realized where all this was coming from and took a mind-calming breath. “Carol’s got you all worked up for nothing. You should know that she loves causing trouble. I think she was just trying to intimidate you, Elle.”
“She brought up some important issues, Brock. For one thing, I’m not going to sign on to a bunch of high-brow clubs and societies if it means our child will be getting leftovers from me. Tell the truth. When you married me, didn’t you expect me to step into a role just like your mother did?”
Brock shook his head, feeling something inside him twist and tighten, angry that his mother had made an already challenging situation more difficult. “I honestly didn’t think that far,” he said. “I just knew that I wanted us to do the right thing for the baby, and that meant getting married.”
Elle was silent again for a long moment. “Well, you can check that off your list,” she said. “But there are other things we’ll need to settle.”
He raked his hand through his hair in frustration. “She’s always causing trouble,” he muttered. “Thank God she’s out of the house now. You’ll see soon enough that everything will work out.” Brock would make sure of it. He may have had one failed engagement, but there would be no failed marriage. “Relax. It’s time for you to take a break.”
Despite the worries sprouting like weeds in her mind, Elle dozed off. As they pulled into a clearing, she got her first glimpse of the mountain chalet, and the serene setting immediately eased some of her tensions. “It’s beautiful,” she said. “So peaceful.”
/> “It was a mess when I first bought it. I redid the whole thing.” He nodded toward the chalet. “A caretaker looks after it while I’m gone and stocks the refrigerator when I tell him I’m on my way. His wife usually prepares a couple of meals for me and leaves them in the freezer for reheating, so we won’t have to cook.”
“You’ve seemed so restless and busy since I’ve met you. It’s hard for me to imagine you being able to relax enough to enjoy this. What’s the longest amount of time you’ve ever stayed here?” she asked as he pulled to a stop.
“A week in the winter. There’s a ski resort not far. I spent another week working on it during one summer. And then I came up here every weekend for a while,” he said. “But I bought it more for short breaks. Come on. I want to show you inside.”
He got out of the car and led her to the front porch, where a wooden swing hung from the roof. Two rocking chairs and a table echoed the cozy, laid-back ambience. She followed him through the front door to a foyer that was two stories high. Light spilled in through the tall windows onto the tile floors dotted with soft rugs. The natural flow of the house led her to a large room filled with brown leather couches and chairs, golden wood tables and an HDTV that bore a strong resemblance to the one she’d chosen for the den in Brock’s home.
She met his gaze and laughed. “It’s the same size as the one I got, isn’t it?”
He smiled and took her hand. “You must know my taste,” he said, lifting her hand to his mouth.
Her heart skittered at his charming maneuver. She knew he had plenty of charm, but he’d displayed little of it toward her during the last few weeks. Understandably so.
“Come outside,” he said. “The view will take your breath away.”
He led her out glass doors to a two-story deck that revealed peaks and valleys as far as the eye could see. “It’s amazing. It’s so wonderful, I’m surprised you’re not up here nearly every weekend.”
