A Fool for You (The Cochran/Deveraux Series Book 7)

by Melanie Schuster

  “I love you, Tony. I love you and Victor with all my heart and I wish things had been different, too. But the important thing is we found each other. Now we can get to know each other again and spend the rest of our lives together,” she said earnestly.

  “And that’s exactly why you shouldn’t get married right now,” Victor said as he entered the dining room.

  Nina groaned aloud and dropped her head. They really weren’t going to give up.

  Marva looked at Nina and she could see how troubled the younger woman was. And she could pretty much figure out why. “Nina, those brothers of yours are smothering you, aren’t they?”

  Nina gave Marva a rueful smile. “I can’t hide anything from you, can I? I love them to death Marva, but I’ve got to go home. We can’t make up for twenty-some-odd years in a week and I can’t put my life on hold indefinitely. I’m trying to think of a way to tell them without hurting their feelings, but I haven’t figured it out yet.”

  The women were seated in a popular restaurant in downtown Chicago, along with Patty Benrubi, who was Nina’s first foster mother. They were waiting for Susan Benrubi-Hong, Patty’s daughter, to come out of the ladies’ room, a place she visited frequently as she was quite pregnant. Patty agreed with Marva.

  “Honey, sometimes the best way is just to come out and say it. Don’t try to think of the most polite way, just tell them it’s time you were leaving and go. It’s going to take a lot of adjusting on everyone’s part before you get the family dynamic down pat, but so what? We’re just glad to be a part of your life again. And your brothers are too, deliriously so. But the sooner you get married, the sooner they’ll get used to the idea that their little Shay is all grown up now. I say get thee back to Ann Arbor, woman!”

  Nina laughed as Patty put her arm around her shoulder and gave her a big hug. It had been the last thrill of the holiday when Patty and Hamed Benrubi had come to Idlewild. Dr. Benrubi and his wife had loved Nina like a daughter during the short time she was their foster child. They were touchingly glad to see her, and Patty told her how much they’d missed her when she was taken away from them.

  “We should have fought harder, my darling. We shouldn’t have let them get away with it,” she said sadly. “We tried to get you back,” she added. “We found out you really hadn’t been adopted, but you’d been sent to the far ends of Illinois and the trail just stopped there. But we never stopped loving you. In fact, Susan’s career is a direct result of what happened to you. She’s a lawyer who specializes in children’s advocacy,” Patty had said proudly.

  Both Susan Benrubi and her brother Daniel had turned out well. Daniel had followed his father into medicine and was a pediatric surgeon. He was also married to a beautiful African-American woman who was in practice with him. Her name was Nekeia and she specialized in family medicine. The Benrubis were quite the melting pot these days as Susan was married to the very handsome Jimmie Hong, a restaurateur whose parents were both from Macao.

  When Nina had come to Chicago she got to visit not only with her brothers, but also with everyone who’d been kind to her during those tumultuous years; Morgan, Marva, and the Benrubi family. Nina looked around the table and felt full, even though she hadn’t eaten yet. There were Marva and Patty who’d been like mothers to her, and Susan, who’d been like her sister. Nina felt connected again; she felt whole in a way that almost equaled the way she felt about John, whom she missed dreadfully. Patty and Marva were right; it was time to go home. It was time to plan a wedding and start a new life.

  ***

  John glanced at his watch. He had just dismissed his class for the week and the thought of a long lonely weekend wasn’t on his agenda. He opened the door of his apartment intending to pick up an overnight bag and leave again. If Nina didn't know when to come home, he knew how to go get her. To his utter amazement the apartment was lit with candles and there were fresh flowers on the coffee table and the dining room table, which was set for two. The scent of something incredibly appetizing floated out of the kitchen and he could hear Nina singing “Inseparable” in the kitchen. Stunned, John walked toward the source of the voice just as Nina was coming into the dining room.

  “You’re home,” he said hoarsely.

  “Can’t fool you for a minute, can I?” Nina’s brilliant smile was at odds with her flippant words. In seconds she was in John’s arms, kissing him for all she was worth. He stared down at her and tried to speak sternly.

  “I was about to come and get you,” he told her.

  “What took you so long? I’ve been ready to come home for days,” she murmured. “I missed you, Papi.”

  “I missed you more. I love you, Nina. I'm afraid separate vacations are out of the question for us. I can’t let you out of my sight again.”

  Nina smiled rapturously and rubbed her face against his chest. “Dinner won’t be ready for a little while, so how about you show me instead of telling me?”

  John gave her a wickedly sexy smile as he picked her up and carried her into the bedroom. “Absolutely, baby.”

  Chapter 24

  Now it was impossible to have a small wedding, not with so many people involved, especially since they all wanted to see Nina walk down the aisle to John. John admitted that’s what he’d like, too. “I’m only doing this once and I want it to be not only beautiful and memorable but a lot of fun, like Adam and Alicia’s wedding was. Let’s go for it, chica,” he said persuasively.

  “But John, all that money,” she said hesitantly. “It’s going to cost a lot of money to have that kind of wedding.”

  They were sitting in the living room of the apartment, at least Nina was sitting on the sofa and John was stretched out with his head in her lap and his eyes closed. He smiled to himself when he heard the genuine anxiety in Nina’s voice. It was yet another thing to love about Nina, her practicality. She never spent a penny frivolously and could, in fact, stretch a dollar further than anyone he’d ever met. He loved the fact that she was trying to save his money and not spend it all like some crazed chickenhead. But he also had to share something with her.

  “Sweetie, did I ever tell you what my father did for a living?”

  Nina raised her eyebrows and frowned. “You mean he wasn’t a teacher?”

  John smiled again. “Yes, he was definitely a teacher of high school chemistry and physics, but he was also an inventor. He liked to create and he was always tinkering around with something. He came up with several modifications on the traditional exercise bike that led him to inventing and patenting a recumbent bike that is still used in gyms all over the world. And he invented a few other pieces of exercise equipment, too, as well as some ergonomically advanced equipment used in physical therapy. The bottom line is, he held a lot patents and collected quite a few royalties, some of which are still being paid to his sole survivor. And I was an only child,” he reminded her.

  He waited for the full import of his statement to sink in and then laughed out loud at her reaction. He put his feet on the floor and brought his body up to a sitting position.

  “Are you loaded?” she asked suspiciously.

  He nodded as he pulled her into his arms. “Pretty much, baby. My dad made a lot of money, most of which he put into more investments and high-interest-bearing accounts. And he never told me about it until I was in college. He didn’t want me growing up what he called spoiled and useless. He wanted to make sure I was grounded and sane and knew the value of hard work. Thanks to him and my mom, I was and still am. But if I choose not to work it’s okay, we’ve got enough to care for our needs in a very elegant fashion. So go ahead and spend whatever you want on our wedding, it’s fine. In fact I insist on it. And speaking of money,” he intoned as he pulled Nina into his lap. “I know you spent your nest egg when you moved out here to be with me.”

  Nina’s mouth fell open and she looked at John with dismay. “Who told you that?” she stammered, trying to hide her surprise.

  “My publisher, who was your employer at the time.
She blithely let the cat out of the bag when I called her to get your address in Oakland. Says she was impressed by the fact you were paying your own expenses when you came out here, and that you wouldn’t get any pay until the contract was fulfilled.” John stilled a wriggling Nina the best way he knew how, kissing her passionately until she relaxed in his arms. When he finally pulled away, John stroked her face with his long fingers and spoke to her in a voice full of the love he felt for her. “Nina, that was the most selfless, caring, loving thing anyone has ever done for me since my parents adopted me. But you know I can’t let you do that. I’m giving you every dime of that money back, and don’t even try to argue with me,” he said firmly.

  She did, of course, several times, which led to John kissing her some more in an effort to stem the protests she was making. “Nina, that’s it, no more discussion. The money is going into your account and that’s the end of it. There’s no way in the world I could let you spend that kind of money on me,” he said with finality.

  “You really are the big macho man,” Nina said fondly. She’d stopped struggling and trying to protest; now she was just looking at John with resigned affection. “You’re going to try to be my Papi whether I like it or not, aren’t you?”

  “Yeah, I guess I am,” he admitted without a hint of shame. “Are you gonna let me?”

  She looked at his handsome face and gave him the smile that always made his heart skip a beat. “Yes, I guess I am,” she said and kissed him again.

  Chapter 25

  The next few months were far more hectic than anything Nina could remember, but totally satisfying. The thought of attempting to plan a wedding was terrifying to her, but she had plenty of help. In addition to planning a wedding, she and John purchased a house and moved into it, which was in itself a massive undertaking. It was a big brick house built at the turn of the century in an area of Ann Arbor called Burns Park, which was near downtown and populated by big historic homes built in the same era. Nina and John fell in love with it at first sight.

  It was an imposing two-story structure with a cupola on top that would be a perfect study for Nina. There were five bedrooms, three baths and a study on the second floor and the first floor had a living room, dining room, butler’s pantry, a maid’s bedroom with its own bath, as well as another bathroom and a powder room, a big sunny kitchen and a shelf-lined library for John’s study. There was also a small greenhouse adjoining the kitchen and a deep wrap-around porch that encompassed three quarters of the house. Very little had to be done to the house and Nina and John were able to move in after changing the paint in the master bedroom, the kitchen and the dining room. Even the floors needed nothing but a cursory buffing; the previous owners had revered the home’s age and grace and had taken very good care of it.

  Sometimes Nina would go from room to room in the house and just stare at everything. It was like being in a dream sometimes, a dream from which she never wanted to awaken. Then the phone would ring and it would be Victor, or Tony or Marva and her heart would fill up with so much joy she didn’t think she could hold it all. For the first time, she truly understood how John felt upon finding out Big Benny was his natural father. Now she could comprehend his patient acceptance and gratitude to the man who’d given him life. She was finally able to open her heart to Benny and let his legendary charm pull her under its spell. She was even resigned to the idea that she’d be calling him Daddy, the way his other daughters-in-law did. Might as well admit it, I’m one of them now, she thought. But the thought didn’t overwhelm her; it made her happy because she still had her own identity.

  When Morgan and Marva came to Idlewild for Christmas, they were also bearing gifts. They had more pictures of Nina from childhood and Morgan even had family movies he’d had copied to DVDs Hamed and Patty also had pictures of Nina and her favorite doll, which had gotten left behind when she was taken from the Benrubi family. “Susan kept this for you, sweetie. She prayed every night you’d come back to us.”

  Now that doll held pride of place on the chaise in Nina’s new study. John had insisted she needed a place to write, although she kept trying to tell him she wasn’t a writer, she was just a conduit. “And I’m a darned good one, too. There’s nothing wrong with doing what I do, John.”

  “Nina, I read those stories you wrote in college. I’ve read the essays and the journal you kept for that class and that instructor was dead wrong. You do have imagination and your work is not technically perfect with no heart. You can really write, darling and I think you should pursue it. Starting with your own story, Nina. It would not only make a fascinating read, but a hell of a good screenplay. Trust me, baby, you’re the real thing.”

  Nina took his words to heart but she knew she wouldn’t act on them until the wedding was over. If she hadn’t had Big Benny’s wife Martha helping her, as well as Patty Benrubi and Renee and Alicia Cochran, she was pretty sure she’d had drowned in tulle and silk flowers. But these women were not only organized and wedding-savvy, they were indomitable and tireless. The kind of wedding they were planning usually took a year to pull off; they were going to do it in five months.

  Patty’s cheerful smile was like a beacon of comfort to Nina. She really believed Patty could do anything; especially after Patty presented her with Susan’s wedding gown. It was beautiful – far more exquisite than Nina could have found in a store. What Patty said was true; once you had the dress, everything else fell into place. They didn’t need to hire a photographer because Angelique’s friend A.J. volunteered. Alan Jandrewski, known to friends and family as A.J., was the brilliant photographer who’d helped teach Angelique Deveraux Cochran the art of photography. Angelique helped by taking engagement pictures of John and Nina, as well as portraits of her with her brothers and with her surrogate parents. These pictures were displayed throughout the house in Burns Park alongside John’s family pictures, and made Nina feel like a whole person for the first time in years.

  As she looked at the women gathered in her living room to pick out bridesmaid’s dresses and flowers, she felt like the wealthiest woman in the world, rich in love, not money. She sat next to Patty and sipped a glass of raspberry lemonade as she listened to the women debate the merits of various colors and fabric. They were united in their desire to have something that wasn’t shiny, but they were flexible about everything else. Renee made a daring suggestion. “For once let’s forget about the idea that the dress has to be something you can wear later. Let’s just concentrate on making them the most beautiful dresses anyone ever saw,” she said and everyone agreed.

  It was the same with the flowers, the venue for the reception, and the menu for the sit-down dinner. Everything just flowed together harmoniously, although only Alicia knew why Nina was sublimely calm and happy during the highly detailed process of planning. It was because she and John had gotten married on New Year’s Eve with only Alicia and Adam as witnesses. They’d gone to the home of a friend of Alicia’s, a judge who was more than happy to perform the simple ceremony. Nina had worn a beautiful ivory wool suit and carried a small bouquet of pink roses and freesias bound with ivory ribbons. John looked dashing in a charcoal gray suit with a pristine white shirt and a silk tie given to him that morning by Nina. They repeated their vows while holding each other’s hands and looking into each other’s eyes with complete adoration.

  Now Nina was relaxed and mellow and enjoying the days leading up to the big wedding instead of being a frazzled mess. Rushed they might be, but everything was in place, even the music. Nina had been touched when Bump assured her he was taking care of the music for the wedding, and all the other Cochran and Deveraux nuptials. “The vows aren’t official unless I play, baby. I’ll be there with the band, so get your dancing shoes ready.”

  Nina almost wept when she remembered how she had once dismissed John’s family as the sappiest people on earth. Now she saw them for what they were; warm, generous people who were lucky in love and wanted nothing less for their friends and family. That kind of love was
like a contagious condition and Nina now seemed to have a terminal case. And she wouldn’t have it any other way.

  ***

  Alan and Andre shook hands firmly as they waited in the dressing room with the rest of the groomsmen. “Okay, you won the bet,” Andre said solemnly. “I’ll deliver your winnings in the morning.”

  Andrew and Donnie immediately picked up on both the word “bet” and Andre’s glum expression. “Okay, what have you two been up to this time?” Andrew asked with amusement.

  Alan was happy to explain. “We had a little wager going on how long it would take John to land Nina and I won. A year’s supply of golf balls,” he reported with great satisfaction.

  Donnie groaned. “Aww, you two still making those lame bets? Why don’t you ever put some money on the line?”

  Both men looked horrified at the very thought of actually risking their hard-earned cash. They loved to bet on any and everything but only for things like golf balls, green fees, golf tees and the like. Donnie shook his head in despair. “My brothers the high rollers,” he said with resignation.

  “John, you really need to sit down, man. I haven’t seen a groom this jumpy since Marcus and Vera got married.” Clay’s deep voice was full of amusement. There was nothing a happily married man liked more than seeing a bachelor about to cross the line into matrimony. John was in a category all by himself, though. He was possibly the happiest groom in the history of weddings.

  “I’m not jumpy, Clay, I’m just…just…” John rubbed his chin as he tried to think of the appropriate word. His face relaxed into the smile that was never far from his face these days. “I’m just happy, man. Really, really happy.”

  Adam laughed. “You deserve it, bro. But try to relax, man. I don’t want to see you skipping down the aisle. Although I’d love to see the looks on everyone’s faces if you did,” he said with a grin. Adam was starting to look even more like John, since he’d started letting his hair grow out again. Alicia was thrilled with the return to his old look and he and John were often mistaken for twins. John had talked about cutting his hair and Nina had firmly said no. He teased her about it once, coming home and announcing that he was getting a haircut.