“You can’t make me marry you,” she protested. “We’re not in love.”
“You should have thought of that before you hatched this cockamamie scheme of yours,” he said mildly. “Console yourself with this. At least you know the sex will be great.”
He got up and left the room.
It was only after he was in the kitchen—and Dana Sue had bolted in the direction of her office—that he realized he wasn’t nearly as upset about the idea of marriage as he’d thought he’d be. He might be shaking with rage over being duped. He might be panicky at the thought of losing yet another child. Helen was, after all, forty-three and at a high risk for carrying a baby all the way to term.
But as his temper cooled, he knew that being with Helen for the rest of his life was something he’d wanted for a long time now and been too scared to go after. It seemed fate—with a very deliberate and calculating assist from Helen—had stepped in and forced his hand.
20
“Oh, my God, what have I done?” Helen said when Dana Sue came back to check on her.
“Offhand, I’d say you’ve stirred up a hornet’s nest,” her friend said without much sympathy. “I’m a little surprised to find you in one piece. I thought I saw steam rising from Erik when he came back to the kitchen. I’ve never seen him like that before. Just how mad was he?”
“He says he’s going to marry me,” Helen said, regarding Dana Sue with bewilderment. “I don’t think he’s going to take no for an answer.”
For the first time since Helen had broken the news of her pregnancy, Dana Sue’s dire expression softened. “Well, now, that’s an interesting turn of events, though not entirely unexpected.”
“It’s not funny and it is totally unexpected,” Helen grumbled. “I didn’t want to trap him into marrying me. That was the last thing on my mind.”
“Maybe it shouldn’t have been,” Dana Sue told her. “Surely you know the kind of guy Erik is. He’s solid and dependable and protective. You’ve seen that firsthand in the way he looks out for me and Annie. Didn’t you stop for one second to think about how he’d be with a baby involved, especially his baby?”
“Okay, I get that he feels a little protective about the baby, especially with what’s happened to Caroline Holliday, but marriage? Isn’t that going too far?”
“Obviously he doesn’t think so,” Dana Sue replied.
“But what about love?” Helen asked wistfully.
Once more Dana Sue regarded her with a complete lack of sympathy. “Another of those things you should have thought about before you decided to take matters into your own hands. Besides, you two have strong feelings for each other, anyone can see that. Call it whatever you want, but it seems close enough to love to me. Even though I’m not one bit happy about the underhanded way you went about this, I still think this is the best thing that could have happened to you. Otherwise, you two might’ve danced around your feelings for years. You’re both too stubborn for your own good. Seems to me this is exactly the push you both needed to get you where you should be.”
“But none of this was about getting married,” Helen protested.
Dana Sue grinned. “Well, it is now.” She reached for the calendar on her desk. “So, let’s pick a date. If there’s going to be a wedding, I need time to plan. And I assume, given your pride in your appearance and your preference for designer clothes and fancy footwear, you won’t want to be the size of a whale when you walk down the aisle. In that case it had better be soon.”
Helen scowled at her. “There’s not going to be a wedding,” she said grimly.
Dana Sue merely smiled. “Wanna bet? I’d suggest you get with the program, or the most important day of your life will happen and you won’t have control over one single detail.”
“No wedding,” Helen repeated.
Dana Sue went on as if she hadn’t spoken. “Tell you what, we can meet Maddie at the spa tomorrow morning and start making lists. You’ll love that. We can go over all this with her at eight. I can’t wait to see her face when you tell her the news.”
“She won’t be as shocked as you might think,” Helen muttered. “She tried to warn me I was going about this all wrong, even though she couldn’t get me to acknowledge what I was doing.”
“I still hate it that she figured this out and I didn’t have a clue,” Dana Sue groused. “I must have been so wrapped up in what was going on in my own life with Ronnie that I never saw this coming. I’m going to have to watch that, especially if you’re going to get into the habit of trying to keep things from me.”
“It wasn’t like that,” Helen argued. At Dana Sue’s arched brow, she amended, “Not exactly anyway. I just knew you’d try to talk me out of it or warn Erik and ruin everything.”
“Maybe if I had found out, you wouldn’t be about to marry a man who’s furious with you,” Dana Sue suggested.
“I keep telling you that we are not getting married,” Helen countered.
“I think you need to get over that refrain,” Dana Sue said. “Nobody’s going to buy it, not once they’ve crossed paths with Erik and seen the determination in his eyes, anyway. Let’s just get together with Maddie tomorrow and put this wedding together the way you want it.” Her mood visibly improved. “This is going to be so much fun.”
“Forget the wedding,” Helen said again. “Ganging up on me is not going to work. And since when do you and Maddie side with an outsider against one of your own?”
“When it’s the right thing to do,” Dana Sue said without hesitation. “You and Erik are good for each other. You’ll be terrific parents, too.”
“You make it sound like we’ll be some happy little family holding barbecues in the backyard,” Helen grumbled. “You said it yourself, Dana Sue. He’s furious with me. That’s what this is about. Nothing good can come from a marriage that starts like that. I won’t do it. None of you can bully me into it.”
But even as she said the words, she, too, recalled the determination in Erik’s eyes—the same determination Dana Sue had obviously seen—and shuddered. Maybe she should look up the law on whether a woman could be forced to marry against her will. She was pretty sure it was on her side, but if there was some loophole she didn’t know about, there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that Erik would find it.
Barb had a stack of messages waiting for Helen when she got to her office the next morning, after skipping the little tête-à-tête that Dana Sue had planned for eight o’clock. She had a hunch she was going to pay for that act of rebellion, but she hadn’t been up to facing her two best friends and their current mission to see that she got properly married to a man who was forcing a wedding only because he was angry.
“Ten of those messages are from Erik,” Barb said, her expression filled with curiosity. “He seemed edgy. Is something going on?”
“I moved out of his place yesterday,” Helen said. “And I didn’t take any of his calls last night.”
Barb stared at her in shock. “Why on earth would you do that, especially now with Brad Holliday on some sort of rampage?”
“It was the right thing to do,” Helen said. She’d had her things out of his place by seven o’clock, long before he was likely to be home from Sullivan’s. If she hadn’t had a such a busy schedule for the next couple of weeks, she would have packed and headed for some tropical island to relax until Erik’s temper cooled down and he dropped this whole marriage insanity.
Helen had been a little surprised that Erik had gotten so upset over her departure. Surely he’d known they couldn’t go on living under the same roof. She’d said as much in the note she’d left so he wouldn’t worry that Brad had kidnapped her or something. Apparently that had only given him another reason to be angry with her, as the tenor of his messages revealed. Barb had clearly picked up on that, as well, because she was scowling at Helen.
“That man is the best thing that ever happened to you,” Barb scolded her. “Why would you want to sabotage that?”
“Look, things happen
. People change. Emotions can’t be trusted. It was time to move on.”
Barb’s eyes suddenly filled with understanding. “In other words, you got scared. He wanted more than you were prepared to offer and you panicked.”
Helen didn’t see any reason to share the whole truth with Barb, even though her secretary was more friend than employee. Right now, the fewer people who were in on the mess she’d made of things, the better.
“Something like that,” she agreed. “Now, if you’re all through digging around in my personal life, I think I’ll go in my office and get some work done.”
Barbara regarded her with a disappointed expression. “Whatever you say,” she said stiffly. “Just tell me what you want me to do when Erik—”
Helen cut her off. “I’m not taking his calls.”
“But—”
“Don’t argue with me,” she said, noting that Barb simply shrugged and gave in to Helen’s command.
Two seconds later she understood why her secretary had capitulated so easily. Erik walked in practically on her heels and slammed the door shut. Obviously Barb had been trying to tell her he was on his way over. Helen concluded she really did need to start listening to people, instead of issuing orders.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, giving him one of her haughtiest glares.
“You never used to ask dumb questions,” he said, taking a seat on the sofa and patting the space beside him.
Helen deliberately walked behind her desk and sank wearily into her chair. “Go ahead. Say whatever’s on your mind. I know you’re mad.”
“And worried,” he said. “Let’s not forget that a crazy man could be stalking you, yet you decided to take off from someplace where you might be safe. Since when did you turn into the kind of woman who would take foolish risks just to avoid a confrontation, especially one you know you can’t avoid forever anyway?”
Helen shivered. Somehow, in her haste to get away from Erik’s before things got worse than they already were, she’d discounted the danger Brad Holliday presented.
“I’m sure the police knew where I was,” she replied. “They’re supposed to be keeping an eye on me.”
“That makes me feel all warm and fuzzy, sort of the way I felt when I couldn’t reach you for hours on end.”
Even under the unmistakable edge of sarcasm, she could hear real concern in his voice. “I’m sorry you worried,” she said sincerely. “That’s why I left you a note, so you’d know where I was. I just thought it was for the best that I go home.”
“Best for whom?”
“Both of us,” she told him.
“And the baby? Is it best for the baby that you could have been putting your life at risk just so you could get away from any uncomfortable questions I might ask?”
“It’s not your questions I’m worried about,” she retorted. “It’s your demands.”
“Running away won’t change that,” he said quietly. “We will get married, Helen.”
The emphatic note in his voice left her shaken. “But why?”
“Because my child is going to have my name. It’s going to grow up with a mother and a father, no matter what kind of patchwork, nutty relationship we manage to have.”
Helen shook her head and sighed. “Who would have thought you’d be so traditional? A few days ago, all you cared about was great sex and some lively conversation from time to time.”
He gave her a wry look at her assessment of their relationship, then shrugged. “Okay, I’ll admit it. It surprises the hell out of me, too. But that’s the way it is. Get used to it. Who knows, you might turn out to be traditional, too.”
A part of Helen yearned for just that, but she didn’t see how it was possible when a marriage started off as unconventionally as this one would if Erik forced it on her. And even if it somehow lasted, she would always wonder if he loved her or if he was just making the best of a situation he hadn’t chosen, a situation she’d thrust upon him in her blind rush to get something she wanted.
He leaned forward and regarded her intently. “Let’s forget the whole marriage thing for a minute. There’s a safety issue here for you and the baby. You need to come back to my place, Helen. Now’s not the time for you to be living alone.”
“I’ll be fine,” she insisted.
“You won’t even consider it?” he asked in frustration.
“No.”
“Then let me move into your place,” he suggested.
She gave him an incredulous look. “I think you’re missing the point. I’m trying to pull off a clean break.”
He actually smiled at that. “And I’ve already told you that’s not going to happen. Right now, the only thing you’re going to accomplish is knotting my muscles up like pretzels.”
She frowned. “How am I going to do that?”
“Have you tried spending the night in the front seat of a car?”
She stared at him incredulously. “What? Are you crazy? You’re actually telling me you’re going to sleep in your car in front of my house?”
“You’re not giving me a choice. My back will have kinks in it for months after being out there last night. I’d prefer not to repeat the experience, but until Brad’s in custody or you and I are married and living together, then I have to keep an eye on you somehow.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” she complained. “You know you’re being ridiculous, don’t you?” Still, she had to admit that it was rather sweet of him to care that much.
“I don’t see it that way,” he said. “Nothing is happening to you or the baby on my watch.”
Her gaze clashed with his, but he didn’t flinch. “You’re serious, aren’t you?” she said, resigned.
“You bet.”
“Fine. I’ll come back to your place, but I’m staying in the guest room.”
He shrugged. “Up to you.”
Apparently satisfied, he stood up and headed to the door, then turned back. “By the way, the wedding’s the last Saturday of the month. Dana Sue and I’ve agreed on that much. We’ll hold the ceremony in the park and the reception at Sullivan’s. I’ve made all the arrangements.”
He was gone before she could react. She wasn’t sure which made her more furious, that he’d had the gall to make plans without her, that he’d involved one of her best friends, or that he didn’t seem to care what her reaction was. He just assumed she’d go along with them.
She was still seething with indignation over that when Dana Sue and Maddie breezed in, armed with bridal magazines, color swatches and albums of floral arrangements. Obviously they’d joined forces with Erik.
“Since you didn’t show up at the spa, we went ahead and narrowed down the choices,” Dana Sue said cheerily. “It’ll save time. We only have three weeks to pull this off if you’re going to be your fashionable, svelte self. After that, your body will start to change and your dress might require too many last-second alterations.”
“So, you chose the date based on my dress size?” she asked incredulously. “That may be even more absurd than the idea of us getting married at all.”
“Sweetie, I think that ship has sailed,” Dana Sue said. “Erik’s pretty determined.”
“Since when is this wedding all about what Erik wants?” Helen asked petulantly.
“Having a baby was all about what you wanted. Seems fair he gets a turn,” Dana Sue replied. “Besides, he seems a little more into it than you are. I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again—maybe you ought to get with the program.”
“I’m getting a little sick of all you pushy people telling me what to do!” Helen snapped. “If there’s going to be a wedding—and I haven’t yet said there will be—then I will make the decisions.”
She reached for the magazine with the most little yellow Post-its sticking out. “What have you marked in here?”
“Gowns,” Maddie said eagerly. “There’s a Vera Wang in there that would look fabulous on you.” She gave Helen a sly glance. “And the shoes pictured with it a
re to die for.”
“Show me,” Helen commanded. They were finally beginning to talk her language. There was nothing like buying an outrageously expensive pair of shoes to improve her mood, though given the week she was having, she might need to buy a few dozen pair.
Tess was hanging over Erik’s shoulder as he sketched out the wedding cake he had in mind for his own reception. It had the advantage of being something that could go from three tiers to five or more, depending on just how persuasive Dana Sue and Maddie were with Helen. If she got on board, the guest list could grow. If she didn’t, well, three tiers was as small as he intended this cake to be. Anything smaller would look as if they’d picked it up at the grocery store.
“Those will be orchids?” Tess asked of the flowers he’d drawn flowing down one side of the simple cake.
He nodded. “That’s what I was thinking. Do you like it?”
“Very elegant,” she said. “Like Helen.” She gave him a knowing look. “You don’t seem very happy for someone who’s about to get married.”
“It’s complicated,” he said, which was an understatement if ever he’d uttered one. So far, the bride was still digging in her heels and refusing to marry him at all, though Dana Sue had told him last night that Helen had found some shoes she liked.
“The wedding dress came in a close second,” she’d said. “I think with a little more coaxing we can get her over to Charleston to try it on. They’re holding it for her. Thank goodness, she’s the size of the sample, so we won’t have to wait for it to be custom-tailored.”
“Maybe we should forget about a formal wedding,” Erik had suggested. “Just do a civil ceremony.”
“Absolutely not!” Dana Sue had declared. “Helen might balk and complain about all this, but she’ll never forgive us, herself or you if she doesn’t have the wedding of her dreams, even if it is on short notice and under duress.”
“It will hardly be the wedding of her dreams if she’s fighting us every step of the way,” Erik said.
Feels Like Family Page 28
