Who Loves Them? (Who--? Series)

by Storm, Taylor

  “She’s a nightmare. Honestly, how do you expect me to marry her? She’s an old spinster! she said so herself!”

  “She’s the same age as you!” his father exclaimed. “You will marry her and that is final.”

  Peter sighed. “Is this because of Gordon and that Christina woman? Huh? Because if it is, that is just unfair. Even I disagree with marrying off your children.”

  Peter’s father sighed. “It’s not as bad as it seems. They seem to be civil to each other.”

  “Curt and abrupt is more like it.” He shook his head in defiance. “Sure, Lillian is pretty enough, but she’ll be the laughing stock of our family. Everyone knows she’ll grow up to be an old spinster. Sure, all the boys want a piece of her…she’s attractive and speaks when she’s spoken to…but that is it. She’s not wife material. She’s artsy and flowery and has ideas! No, our marriage will be in shambles before it’s even begun. I’m not marrying a woman with ideas!”

  Peter’s father sighed and stroked his pointed beard firmly. “You will marry her and make a lady out of her. Her family needs this marriage. She’s shown no inclination of even wanting to date a man, let alone marry one, so if this doesn’t happen soon there’ll be no heirs! Arranged marriages work, Peter. Besides, I don’t expect you to stay faithful to her. Do you imagine Gordon will stay faithful to Chris? Use your head for once. You will marry this woman and that is final. And I don’t want to hear another word about it.”

  Peter groaned. “Do you really think I’m going to be as gullible as Gordon? You can’t make me marry someone I don’t want to marry. Besides, arranged marriages are a disaster. Customs have changed, father. Sure, arranged marriages usually occur as a business transaction between families trading their eligible children for financial security, but we don’t need financial security. In fact, I think we’re more than ok.”

  Peter’s father shook his head “No son, we’re not. We have large gaps in our finances that need to be filled. Sure, we will never be poor, but we seem to be losing money as soon as we make it. We need this to strengthen our family’s financial status.”

  “What? I thought we were fine.”

  “We are, for the moment. But now no one can say it will last. You will marry this girl.”

  Peter nodded. “Yes father.” No father, three bags full father…

  His father strode off, leaving him alone in the study, brooding and angry. He sighed. He would have to figure out a way to get rid of Lillian Baltimore, and soon…..

  ****

  The next day flew by in a crazy race to get everything done. Christina felt like she had hardly seen or talked to Gordon. By lunchtime, she had arranged for the minister, some flowers, and the catering. It seemed like everything was coming along nicely. The night before they had stayed up late making plans and discussing how they would tell the family, and they had ended up back in her room, but they were both so tired they both fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillows. Everything seemed to be going great. That was until she wondered what had happened to Lilly.

  Christina noticed Lilly was not bustling around in the kitchen around lunch time. She looked around the house.

  “Gordon…have you seen Lilly?”

  Gordon looked up from his paper and shook his head. “No….she’s outside hanging out the towels, isn’t she?”

  Christina shrugged. “I peeked outside ,but couldn’t see her. I’ll go and check.”

  Gordon nodded. “I’ll come with you,” and they both made their way to the clothesline outside. She looked around, but couldn’t see Lilly. Then she gasped. Lilly had fallen over the other side of the hedge, and she was lying unconscious on the ground. Christina ran to her side. Gordon pried open the girl’s mouth and found traces of mushroom lodged in her mouth. He quickly dug them out and inspected them more clearly.

  “She’s eaten some of the mushrooms….but, they are poisonous. Didn’t anyone tell her?”

  Christina began to pale. “To be honest, I had forgotten myself. Oh, it’s all my fault!”

  Lilly opened her eyes. “I’m fine. And it’s not your fault. Peter called me and said he wanted to…he wanted to become friends with me, and he suggested I make the family a mushroom pie as a peace offering….” Her voice faltered as she tried to sit up. Gordon leaned down and picked her up and carried her into the house. Christina was surprised at his urgency, and for a moment she felt a sense of pride that he was going to be her husband tomorrow. That was, if everything was okay with Lilly. How could someone try to kill her? She was a lovely, innocent young woman. She wouldn’t hurt a fly! The thought was sickening.

  Jacqueline appeared in the garden. She had been taking a shower, and still had her towel wrapped around her head. “What has happened?”

  “We need to get her to the hospital,” Gordon announced. “I’ll go, you two stay here.”

  Christina began to protest, but Gordon had already run through the front door, with Lilly’s head lolling in his arms. Christina’s bottom lip began to tremble. “What if she’s not okay?” she whispered to no one in particular. “It’s all my fault…”

  “Someone tell me what happened!” Jacqueline protested. As soon as Gordon had left, Christina told her that Lilly had been poisoned.

  “But I thought she knew about those mushrooms…” Jacqueline said, steadying herself by leaning on the kitchen bench. “Didn’t someone tell her about them?”

  Christina nodded. “Yes. Her soon-to-be husband did. Peter told her to pick them for a mushroom pie. How would he know there were mushrooms here? He’s never been here, has he?”

  Jacqueline shook her head. “Not that I know of…are you suggesting?”

  Christina frowned. “We all know how Peter treats women. I’ll admit poisoning is a little far-fetched…but when you think about it, Peter is a nightmare to women. They all look happy on his arm, but then after a few weeks they look like a train wreck. He beats them up and down till they stop attending social gatherings. I don’t know why he hasn’t been arrested before! I suppose his father paid everyone off, what with all the money he has,” she sighed. “I can not imagine him with a wife.”

  “Wow….” Jacqueline was speechless. “We’ve really got to get her out of this marriage.”

  “I can not get married now,” Christina said sadly. “This is more important. Lilly could be in real danger.” Her heart sank, but she knew she was making the right decision. How could she enjoy her happy day knowing Peter’s intentions?

  Jacqueline pursed her lips in a hard line. “Now, don’t get ahead of yourself. I’m sure Lilly will be ok. We’ve just got to inform her parents and let them know what is happening.”

  Christina frowned. “What about Peter’s parents?”

  Jacqueline sighed. “We have to tell them. Who wants to be the lucky person to let them know the truth about their son?”

  Everyone was silent for a few minutes, so Christina spoke up. “I will."

  Chapter 13

  Christina had to put the wedding off until the next day. In truth, she didn’t want to, but she knew she had to think about the health and safety of her friend. If anything bad happened to Lilly, well, anything worse, than she would never forgive herself. She knew she and Gordon had to get married as soon as possible, but while Lilly was still in the hospital, she had to put it off. So Gordon drove her to the hospital at around nine in the morning.

  St. George Hospital was stark, sterile, and intimidating. It had that unexplainable smell that was in every hospital: overly clean, yet sickly. Lilly’s room was white, and her bed sheets pale turquoise. There were two other people in the ward, one of them a teenage boy who hadn’t taken his eyes off his book for the last twenty minutes, and the other an elderly man with hair that resembled a monks’.

  Lilly was awake, although it looked like she had just woken up. Her face was pale and her eyes were droopy. Christina sat on the edge of the bed and gently took her friend’s hand in her own.

  “How are you doing?’

&
nbsp; Lilly smiled. “I’m fine, really, I am.”

  Christina nodded. “Do you know what happened?”

  Lilly shook her head. “I have no idea. I’ve only just woke up, and I’ve not seen anyone yet. This place gives me the creeps. It’s like death itself has set up residence. It gives me the heebie-jeebies.” She laughed softly.

  Christina frowned. “As long as you’re being taken care of, though.”

  Lilly nodded. “Yes, of course. I’ve had people waiting on me hand and foot.”

  Christina wanted to tell her about Peter, but she didn’t know how to broach the subject. How could she tell her friend her future husband might have poisoned her? It sounded like something out of a daytime soap, like Days of Our Lives. Nobody would believe them, surely. But she had to get Lilly out of the marriage.

  They talked for a while until Lilly fell asleep. Then they made their way back to the car and drove home. On the way, Gordon reminded her that he had seen her on her wedding day.

  “It’s not lucky to see a bride before the wedding!”

  Christina rolled her eyes. “I’m pretty sure that superstition is only about seeing the bride’s dress.”

  Gordon raised his brows. “Don’t come crying to me if you slip and rip your dress.”

  Christina laughed. “Now I know why I’m marrying you. You’re so nice to me!” She looked out the window and sighed, and Gordon drove over the bridge. “I really hope Lilly is going to be alright. In a selfish way, I wish this had happened after the wedding.”

  Gordon coughed uncomfortably. “I would have thought you’d wish it didn’t happen at all.”

  Christina smiled. ‘You know what I mean. It’s such bad luck.”

  Gordon turned the corner and smiled. “It’s not bad luck, darling, just an inconvenience. You’ll see. Lilly will be right as rain and we’ll get married and everything will be perfect.”

  Christina nodded. “You’re right. But you’ve got to admit it is kind of a coincidence. Like someone doesn’t want us to get married.”

  Gordon chuckled. “Yeah, the people who don’t know we’re getting married tomorrow.”

  He glanced at Christina, who looked absolutely horrified. “I’m not saying my mother poisoned Lilly, although I’m sure she’d love to, since they get along just famously!” He turned the corner as they drove towards the gates to the house.

  “Now that makes me doubt my own mother!”

  Christina laughed. “Relax. Let’s just get married, and we’ll sort it all out afterwards.”

  ****

  This was it. The day their lives changed forever, whether they liked it or not. So much planning had gone into this day and she could hardly believe it was finally here. All the waiting, all the anticipation and it was today. Just a few more hours, that was all. She could barely wait. Everything would be perfect, they made sure of it, nothing was left to chance, nothing at all. Even their contingency plans had contingencies. They were going to make this the best day of their lives, even if it killed them.

  She woke before the alarm went off, rolled over, smiled, and decided it was not too early to get up. She turned off the alarm and got out of bed. She could take her time, have a nice, long shower then a pleasant breakfast. Everything was ready; there was no need to rush today, no need to panic. Nothing could go wrong. She got out of bed and walked to the bathroom, running through the day’s events in her mind. As she stood under the water, she wondered what her life would be like. Today their lives would change, completely change. Nothing would ever be the same; nothing could ever be the same. She finished showering, and then dressed in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

  It was still dark outside when she entered the kitchen, so the lights needed to be turned on. It was supposed to be a nice day, but she was not relying on that. It was all indoors, outdoors had been suggested, but too much could go wrong. She made herself French toast and bacon, and then ate it slowly, savouring each bite. She could hear people getting up, getting ready. They were excited too, but for different reasons. They couldn’t know what the day meant to her, they would never know. She went upstairs to her room, holding a mug of tea between both hands.

  Everything was coming together, there had been no problems yet. It had surprised her. She expected something to go wrong, but no, everything was on track. Still, something would. It had to. It was a wedding, no one had a perfect wedding, and something always went wrong, no matter how big or small. She had prepared herself for this and whatever it was, she could handle it. She knew she could. She was with Gordon, and they were going to be together forever, like they should. The dress was surprisingly comfortable, she had tried it on before and she had thought after a little while it would start to be too restrictive, too heavy, but no. It was perfect.

  She went back into their room and looked over at Gordon, who was hogging the bed. He was sleeping in the middle with one arm thrown over the side of the bed. The knocking started again, and this time Jacqueline yelled, “Get up! We’ve got to get this party started! Get up. We have a little problem and we have to talk.”

  Adrenaline suddenly kicked in, and her heart started beating harder. She was to be married today. Today her life was about to change. She dreamt this day since her childhood. The typical “Knight-in-the-Shining-Armour-on-a-White-Horse” dream…so what could be the problem? She rolled over as best she could, all thoughts of having a little fun before the wedding forgotten. “Gordon, wake up. Wake up! Jacqueline says there’s a problem. We have to get up!”

  Gordon groaned, grabbed her, and tightened his arms around her. He nuzzled her neck. “It’s our wedding day, don’t I get what I want on my wedding day?” he mumbled against her neck.

  Her pulse sped up and she really wanted to give in, but she knew they had to get going. She kissed him and said, “After we’re married, we can both get what we want, but for now, we need to get up.”

  Grudgingly, he rolled over, sat on the edge of the bed and stood up. He raised his arms above his head to stretch. Christina watched every move of the muscles in his back and arms. Her hands itched to touch him and drag him back to the bed.

  With his back to her, he turned his head and grinned, knowing she was watching. “Do you like what you see?” he asked flirtatiously.

  Christina realized she was still sitting on the bed staring at him, and she grinned back, “Well, to tell you the truth…the show would have been a whole lot better without the boxers.”

  “I can fix that,” Gordon replied and began to take off the offending garment.

  “No, no, don’t do that. If you do that, we will never get out of this room.” She stood quickly. “You have to go back to your room until the wedding. Otherwise, we are both going to be late for it.”

  She grabbed his clothes, and pushed him out the door. “Go to your room, put your clothes on and then we will go find Jackie and Lilly and see what has happened. Lilly should be home from the hospital by now.”

  Twenty minutes later, they were both sitting at the kitchen table while Jackie fixed breakfast again. Bless her. Lilly was washing up the pan while nibbling on a piece of bacon.

  “Wow…you look fantastic!”

  Lilly turned around and frowned. Christina had lied. She looked horrible. She was pale and sickly looking. There was no color in her usually chirpy and bright face at all.

  “I was worried you would still be in the hospital.”

  Lilly smiled weakly. “Well, I should be. Thankfully I only got muscarinic poisoning. That is not very bad,” she added, to everyone’s blank stares. “The main thing is that I’m fine, but you better believe that Peter, the dirty cretin, will be far from fine when I get my hands on him!” She smiled. “But after your wedding, of course.”

  “Are you sure you’re okay? Because you can go home if you want to…or back to the hospital,” Christina suggested.

  Lilly shook her head. “No way. I’ll get my revenge.”

  Chris paused. “So the reports were conclusive, then? Peter poisoned you?” />
  Lilly nodded. “Yep. One hundred percent. I cannot believe I was going to marry that man.” She began to tear up and Christina stroked her hand comfortingly.

  “I know. But don’t worry. He’ll get what he deserves.”

  Jacqueline looked over at them. “We’ve got more pressing issues than poisoning!”

  Christina frowned. “What do you mean?’

  “Ok, here’s the thing. Somehow, Christina, your grandfather found out about our plans. It must have had something to do with getting your birth certificate. That old man is smart, and he must have put two and two together. He is on his way here right now to stop this because it is not what he wants. The only reason I know he’s on his way is because Chris’s father called and told me. Apparently he is fine with the whole thing as long as it is what Chris wants. Well, that and there’s no love lost between him and your grandfather.”

  As soon as she heard that, Christina stood up. “What are we waiting for? We should move up the ceremony. We shouldn’t be sitting here eating breakfast.”

  “Settle down, settle down. The ceremony is actually going to be in about forty-five minutes. So, now that you have finished eating, you both need to shower, change and meet in the library in exactly,” she stopped and checked her watch, “forty-two minutes from now.”

  Christina just stared at her. “I’m supposed to get ready for my wedding in forty-two minutes?” she asked incredulously.

  “Yes, that’s exactly what you are going to do. Don’t worry. I will give you fifteen minutes to get a shower and then I will be along to help with your hair and makeup,” Jacqueline responded. “And I am sure Lilly will help you as well. Don’t forget, you have two able-bodied women here who will gladly help you. This is your special day, Christina. You’ve no need to worry about anything.”