"We should go away for a few days."
"Excuse me?"
In all the time she'd known him, he'd never suggested they go away for a few days. With his high-pressure job and other lawyers nipping at his heels, he couldn't spare as much as a single night out of town. So why now just as Andi moved into full breakup mode?
"A friend told me about a little bed and breakfast in Connecticut. Perfect for a lovers' retreat."
"Gerry." Andi decided to make the cut clean and relatively painless. "I don't want to go away with you. In fact, tonight will be our last date. I'd like to remain friends, but anything else is over."
"Because of Noah Brennan?"
Andi wasn't surprised that Gerry knew about Noah's return. However, his calm, so what, shrug had her puzzled.
"Noah's only part of the reason. I knew before he came back that our relationship was over. I should have told you right away."
"Andi." Gerry smiled, shaking his head. "Don't be ridiculous. We aren't over. We're just to the good part."
Logically, Andi knew she should get up and leave. Perversely, she had to ask.
"Good part?"
"We'll marry in the spring. A few months later, I'll announce my candidacy for city council. Then, a baby or two. In five years, we'll be in the mayor's mansion. After that, the sky's the limit."
Stunned, Andi opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Taking a breath, she tried again.
"I don't love you."
"Who said anything about love?" Gerry chuckled. "We're too pragmatic to let ourselves get bogged down by unrealistic sentimentality."
Andi reached for her purse. She felt no obligation to spend another moment with a man so arrogant, he felt entitled to map out her future without consulting her.
"Obviously, we're a bad fit, Gerry. You see, I like sentimentality. And, I believe in love."
"Wait." Gerry grabbed her arm. When her gaze narrowed, he wisely turned her loose. "Hear me out. Please."
"What else is there to say?"
"I don't care if you fool around with Noah Brennan. Scratch the itch." Gerry's voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. "I keep my old girlfriend on the side. No reason you shouldn't do the same."
"Just so I understand. You had sex with another woman? After we started dating?"
"Don't act so high and mighty." Gerry's expression turned smug. "Didn't you jump on Noah the second he got off the plane?"
Andi was floored. After her kiss with Noah, she felt guilty because technically, she and Gerry were still together. To find out he'd fooled around on her and assumed she'd returned the favor? What a freaking scumbag.
"I have your father's blessing."
Her father? What the…? Any second, Andi expected her head to explode. How had a simple breakup turned into the evening from hell?
"And your mother kindly picked out the ring."
With each revelation, Andi felt her blood grow colder and colder. The mention of Billie had the opposite effect. Instantly, she saw red.
"My mother and my father? Unbelievable. You don't know me at all, do you?"
"Better than you know yourself." Gerry kept digging his grave, deeper and deeper. "When I discussed my plans with Ingo Hunter, he—"
"Enough!" Andi surged to her feet. "Never mention that man's name to me again."
"Andi." Gerry's gaze darted around the crowded restaurant. "Sit down before you cause an even bigger scene."
"You're worried about a scene? I'll give you a scene."
Using both hands, Andi upended the table. The contents, wine glasses plus a tasteful bouquet of roses, ended up in Gerry's lap. He jumped to his feet, sputtering.
"You bitch."
"Damn straight. And you're a stark-raving asshole."
Andi gave her handiwork a final glance and, still seething, exited the restaurant.
"May I get you a cab, miss?"
"Please," Andi nodded to the doorman.
As he held the door to the taxi, she handed him a tip. Every fiber of her being urged Andi to go to Noah. She wanted to fall into his arms and forget everything else.
"Where to, lady?"
Because Andi wanted Noah so much, because she wouldn't solve anything if she used him to obliterate her worries, she told the driver to take her home. Twenty minutes later, she let herself in, slipping off her shoes.
"You're home early." Bryce, a bowl of ice cream in her hand, walked from the kitchen. She took a second look at Andi's face and paused the spoon halfway to her mouth. "What happened?"
"Gerry. Our mother, my father, Ingo Hunter."
"Yikes." Bryce abandoned her snack to the nearby table. In two strides, she had Andi in her arms. "Talk about the four horsemen of the apocalypse. Want to talk?"
"Yes." Andi gave her sister a tight squeeze. "Later. First, Billie."
"I recognize the take no prisoners look in your eyes. I almost feel sorry for our dear mother. Almost." Bryce rubbed her hands together in glee. "Are you going to give her an earful?"
Andi wanted nothing more than to tell Billie exactly what she thought of her. She didn't go off on her mother often, but when she did, she pulled out her entire arsenal of explicit, colorful language. Unfortunately, due to Billie's pregnancy and recent health scare, Andi didn't want to cause mother or child any undue stress.
"I understand why you'd hesitate," Bryce sighed. "Billie allowed herself to become dehydrated, sheer stupidity on her part. According to her doctor, she's healthy as a horse."
"Better safe than sorry."
"You're right. As usual." Grabbing her ice cream, Bryce walked with Andi to the first-floor landing. Billie's suite of rooms was down the hall to the right. "I'd still like to be a fly on the wall. Sure you don't need backup?"
"Better I face Billie alone. I'll fill you and Calder in tomorrow morning."
"Why not tonight?"
"I have plans," Andi shrugged.
Bryce's lips slowly moved into a grin.
"Noah?"
"Can't fight the inevitable," Andi sighed. Then winked. "Not that I want to."
"Maybe the lace Madam Linford gave you for your wedding dress will come in handy after all."
Andi shook her head. The last thing she wanted was to get ahead of herself.
"Noah has a lot of explaining to do."
"He doesn't deserve your mercy." Thoughtfully, Bryce rubbed Andi's arm. "If I didn't think he'd be good to you and make you happy, I'd say so."
"I figured we had your blessing. How was the trip to Zach's island by the way?"
Bryce had the grace to flush.
"We cut our trip short."
"Mm." Andi only had one good fight left in her tonight, and Billie was first on the list. "I hope you and Calder are done with matchmaking."
"Once you're settled, all we have left is Destry."
"Oh, yes." Andi chuckled. "Please try and push our little sister toward a relationship. Anything I think up as punishment will pale beside Destry's retribution."
"Warning taken and heeded."
The youngest Benedict wouldn't raise a finger to her sister. However, she had other methods of payback, as Bryce knew. The last time she and Destry argued, she found chocolate pudding in her running shoes—all six pairs.
Andi's smile faded as she approached the double doors. She and her sisters had a good reason why they rarely butted heads with their mother. The satisfaction they felt after a good spleen venting was followed by weeks of petulant Billie. She moaned and groaned and made everyone's life miserable.
Billie believed she was the center of the universe. Everyone else was put on earth for one purpose. To make her life better. Servants catered to her every whim. Men lavished her with compliments, attention, and gifts. No one else mattered—including her daughters.
The Benedict sisters learned early on to give Billie a wide berth as often as humanly possible. Now and then, she gave them no choice. The last time concerned Noah. This tim
e, Andi could have held her tongue if not for Ingo Hunter. He was the catalyst that set her off, and since Billie brought the snake into their home, she was the one who would catch the flack.
"Billie?" Andi tapped when she felt like pounding. If she gave her mother a hint something was wrong, the door would stay firmly locked. "May I speak to you?"
"Come in."
Recently redecorated, Billie's bedroom was an explosion of pink, pink, and more pink. Frills, and taffeta, and enough ruffles to circle Manhattan several times over. The entire effect reminded Andi of a sugary sweet Shirley Temple movie—doused in Pepto-Bismol.
Billie lay on her bed, the curved canopy dripping in beaded fringe which swayed gently, resulting in a perpetual tinkling sound.
"What do you want, Andi?" Billie smoothed her hand over the swell of her ever-growing, satin-covered stomach. "I had a doctor's appointment this afternoon, and I'm exhausted."
"How are you and the baby doing?"
"Fine." Billie let out a long, drawn-out sigh. "At least I had Ingo by my side. Business has kept him away lately, but he's so attentive. Nothing is more important than my health and well-being. Of course, the baby matters too."
"Of course."
Why point out what everyone except Billie already knew? Ingo Hunter cared about himself first. Then the money the baby was destined to inherit. Other than her job as an incubator, Billie wasn't even in the race.
Suddenly, the only emotion Andi felt for her mother was sadness. As the years passed, the pool of available men at Billie's disposal grew smaller and smaller. She was an easy target for a man with few, if any, morals. Hunter charmed his way into her life, talked her into a pregnancy she didn't want and would leave her the second his son was born.
How could she kick Billie when the woman refused to realize she was down?
"I'll leave you to rest."
"Your boyfriend told you, didn't he?"
Andi's hand dropped from the doorknob. Turning, she met her mother's resentful gaze. She didn't ask what Billie meant. Instead, she waited, the only sound the tinkling of the fringed beads.
"We did you a favor." Billie blurted out. "He had nothing. No money. No family. If we hadn't intervened, he would have leached onto you and sucked you dry."
"We?" Andi's blood ran hot one second, cold the next. She knew if she went on the attack, Billie would shut down. Taking a deep breath, she kept her tone conversational. "You and Dad?"
"Ingo helped." Billie sounded as if her boyfriend's participation was a source of pride.
The revelation was like a punch to Andi's gut. Fearing her legs would give out, she grabbed the edge of the dresser.
"I thought you and Hunter met last spring."
"Our romance started then. However, we've known each other casually for years."
Taking a seat, Andi let Billie's words sink in. She could have walked out the door and gone to Noah for the truth. First, she wanted to hear her mother's warped version.
Billie, on a roll, poured out the story with little prompting.
"Ingo wasn't happy with the way you and your boyfriend embarrassed him in public. He wanted to take Noah down a few pegs."
"And you were happy to help."
"Noah led me on." With a careless shrug, Billie picked at the sleeve of her negligee. "And you were mean."
"You petty bitch," Andi muttered under her breath. Billie was too caught up in her narrative to notice.
Ingo Hunter, his pride bruised, did a little digging and found a way to get his revenge—Noah's ambition. The wealthy investor from California never existed except in the bastard's warped imagination.
"The set-up took little effort on Ingo's part. He rented a small computer lab for a few months. Hired an actor to play the investor. Money was funneled into an account in Noah's name."
"Brilliant," Andi said through gritted teeth.
"The actor was my idea," Billie preened. "After Noah settled in, grew complacent, the money gradually dried up. Then, your father took over."
"Dad?" Andi swallowed, afraid she might be sick. "What did he do?"
"He flew to California. He made the meeting seem very spur of the moment. Then wham!" Billie slapped her hands together. "Sterling twisted in the final screw. He reminded Noah of your success. Your money. And, of course, your name. Your boyfriend was a failure. He was broken. All he needed was a little push to see how impossible your relationship was."
"And he pushed him."
"Mm." Billie nodded. "Sterling has a flair for acting. If his father hadn't been such a hard nose, I believe your father would have pursued a career on the stage."
"Of all the selfish, immature—" Andi held her temper in check for the sake of the baby. "I always believed you were a piece of fluff. Annoying, but harmless. I was wrong. We were all wrong."
"Don't overreact, Andi." Billie's voice dripped with careless disdain. "Three years ago, Noah Brennan was an admittedly attractive young man, but one without a cent to his name."
"I didn't care."
"Easy to say now. Sexual attraction fades, Andi. Believe me, I know. Because of me, Noah pulled himself together and became a success."
"Because of you. God, your ego knows no bounds, Billie. You broke my heart."
"Wrong." Billie pounced. "Noah broke your heart. Your father didn't force him to end your relationship. He had a choice. And you weren't it."
Billie, damn her, was right. But she wouldn't let her mother know the arrow she shot with such demented glee was a direct hit.
"We were never close." Andi rose to her feet, head held high. "But you're my mother, and I cared what happened to you. Not anymore."
Unconcerned, Billie closed her eyes, one arm artfully draped over the silk pillowcase.
"Such dramatics. You really are your father's daughter."
"You're wrong. Besides a boatload of money, Noah and I have something else in common."
"What's that?" Billie asked in a languid tone.
"Noah doesn't have a mother or father. As far as I'm concerned, as of tonight, neither do I."
"You aren't serious," Billie scoffed.
Without another word, Andi turned and left the bedroom, closing the door with a quiet, but definitive click.
"Andi? Andi! Come back here, Anderson Benedict. Do you hear me?"
Not the least bit moved by Billie's screeching wail, Andi continued down the hall. She wasn't angry, or sad. She was numb.
"What happened?" Calder hurried toward her. "You're pale as a ghost."
Bryce followed her twin. She took Andi's hand and gasped.
"Your skin is like ice. Let me get you a cup of tea."
Andi shook her head.
"I'm fine. Really." She squeezed Bryce's fingers. "One of you better check on the baby."
"I'll go." Calder nodded. "Bryce, take Andi to her room."
"No." When Bryce would have argued, Andi gave her a pleading look. "Give me a little while alone. Just a little while."
"If you're sure."
"I am. Thank you."
Slowly, Andi walked up the stairs. She had a lot to think about. But first, a shower. After Billie's revelations, she desperately needed to rinse the muck and mire from her skin. She shivered, turning the taps on hot.
Stepping into the stall, Andi lay her hands flat on the tiled wall and raised her face to the stinging spray. Unbearably tired, she let her head fall back. Soap would clean her body. Too bad she couldn't wash out her brain at the same time.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
~~~~
ANDI ALMOST FELT human. Warmed by the long shower, she took the time to pamper herself. She removed her makeup then liberally moisturized her face and body. After drying her hair, she braided the tresses into a long, loose plait. She slipped on her favorite nightgown, knee length with the picture of a cuddly puppy on the front, and she was ready to crawl under her covers and shut out the world for a few blissfully silent hours.
As she walked from the bathroom, she wasn't surprised to find she wasn't alone.
"Hello, Anderson."
Andi didn't let herself think. Instead, she followed her heart, straight into Noah's waiting arms.
"Bryce called you," Andi sighed, breathing deeply. He smelled like… Noah.
"She thought you might need me." She felt him take a deep breath. "Was she right?"
"Probably." Andi crawled onto the bed. "Well? What are you waiting for?"
Noah kicked off his shoes before he joined her. Instead of a designer suit, he wore jeans and a t-shirt. More like the man she used to know. Andi didn't care. She'd take him any way she could get him. But first, he needed to talk. And she needed to listen.
"Billie told me what happened."
Noah sighed, and suddenly, he looked as tired as she felt.
"Everything?"
"Doubtful, knowing Billie." Andi shook her head. "You tell me. Start at the beginning."
"We were engaged. I went to California. And the world was my great, big, fucking oyster."
Andi knew the next part. For the first six months, she flew back and forth between New York and Los Angeles. They were happy. Until they weren't.
"I let you down." Noah stopped her when she would have protested. "Worst of all, I let your parents and Ingo Hunter get inside my head. I lost my confidence. I lost you. No. Lost is the wrong word. I threw you away. And I used your father's reasoning to justify my decision."
"You knew Hunter and my mother were involved."
Noah's laugh held little humor.
"Didn't take more than a few drinks for your father to spill his guts. He would make a lousy spy."
"What does Hunter have on my father?"
Billie and Ingo Hunter were motivated by spite and revenge. Blackmail was the only reason Andi could fathom for her father's involvement.
"He should be the one to tell you."
"Sterling is a weak man. He worries about public opinion. He—" The truth hit Andi, one more blow to her already bruised emotions. "I think I can guess. Hunter threatened to out my father."
Noah nodded.
"I know Sterling is gay. The whole world knows. He let Hunter use him to hurt us. And why? To preserve a ridiculous non-secret. So much for fatherly love."
Three Wishes_A Second Chance at Love Contemporary Romance Page 21
