by Belle Ami
Each evening, whether dining at home or out, they retired early to the bedroom suite, where their passion and desire for each other could be satisfied.
Miles could not get enough of her, she had become his drug of choice.
Adelia lay sprawled across the king-size bed on her stomach, spent and content, her body glistening with sweat.
“You look like the cat that ate the canary,” said Miles as he bent to leave a trail of kisses from her neck down the length of her spine.
“I feel like I don’t deserve all this happiness.”
“Really? Why is that?” Miles rolled her over and lay on top of her; he searched her eyes for an answer.
“You…we’ve happened so quickly and unexpectedly…I feel a bit scared, as if no one should be given this much.”
He chuckled. “You need to spend more time with Karolin. She believes there is no limit to what she deserves. She’s coming in this weekend, so prepare for a whirlwind of activity.”
“I love Karolin, Miles. She’s the other half of you and the one who introduced us. I want her to be the sister I never had.”
“Yes, well, when she hears about our engagement, the queen of party planners will be on a mission to plan a grand-scale affair.”
“No, Miles, I can’t…I just a want a quiet ceremony. Just Lucas, Karolin, you, and me. Please promise me no big to-do? I just couldn’t bear it without Lars and Faye.”
“Then it’s decided—something small and then a honeymoon on the yacht.”
“That would be perfect!” She reached up, her arms encircling his neck, and kissed him. “I don’t need anything more than this.” She pressed against him and the fire once more consumed them.
On Friday, Adelia was awakened by voices arguing. She reached across the bed for Miles and felt empty space. Glancing at the clock, she noted that it was three in the morning. She tried to listen more carefully to hear who was speaking and what was being said, but there was no clarity, just the unmistakable pitch of an angry, female voice. She grabbed her dressing gown and went to investigate.
Once in the hallway, she realized it was Miles and Karolin in a vehement argument. She rapped lightly on Karolin’s door, and when her knock went unanswered, she opened the door and saw Miles instantly release Karolin’s shoulders from his grip. Both of their faces were flushed with anger. She could not imagine what could precipitate such a quarrel. She searched the siblings’ faces for an answer.
Karolin gazed placidly at Adelia, her calmness regained. “I’m sorry that we woke you. Miles and I have always fought like cats and dogs. It’s unfortunate, but a throwback to our childhood.”
Miles rushed to Adelia, placing his arms about her in reassurance. “Sorry, darling. Forgive us?” Turning to glare at Karolin, he added with emphasis, “I lost my temper.”
“I never had a brother or a sister,” Adelia said softly, “so I’m without experience, but what could possibly trigger such a fight?”
“Don’t try to figure out the secrets that lie between twins. There are some things that are better not known.” Karolin’s eyes had darkened to a shade of steel. Her behavior filled Adelia with confusion.
“Adelia, look at me,” Miles insisted. “It was nothing. Karolin and I have been known to fight over anything and everything. I’m still the big brother, trying to parent and control her. I need to let go.”
“Yes, Miles, please let go!” Karolin delivered her flippant comment as she turned her back on the two of them. “Now if you two lovebirds will please leave my room, I’ll get some sleep. Good night!”
The following morning, a tired and subdued Karolin joined them at the breakfast table. Miles and Adelia were having their coffee and reading the newspaper when she joined them on the terrace.
“Good morning, brother dear, Adelia. Too much of the good life, I’m afraid. I have the most insistent headache.”
“Morning, Karolin. Did you sleep off your anxieties, I hope?” Miles barely raised his eyes from the newspaper. “I believe an apology is in order.”
“Yes, forgive me please; I apologize for my behavior.” As always, there was the slightest hint of sarcasm in Karolin’s voice. “How about you, Adelia? Are you enjoying your visit to Green Way…?” As the utterance “Green Way” left her lips, her eyes alit on the glittering diamond on Adelia’s finger. She grabbed Adelia’s hand, bringing the jewel closer. “Wow, what’s this? Would one of you like to explain, or am I to be the last to know?”
“Karolin, we should have told you before, but you’ve been in the Hamptons. Miles has asked me to marry him, and I’ve accepted. I hope you’re happy for all of us. Not only do I get the man of my dreams, but I get the sister I’ve always wanted.”
For a moment, Karolin was speechless as she stared at the two smiling faces before her. Then she regained her composure. “This is wonderful news. I’m just startled and surprised. Of course, it’s time that Miles married…and children,” she pointedly eyed Miles, “you should have lots of children. Of course, you are the perfect one for him, and to think that I somehow brought you two together. Fait accompli. Congratulations. Really, I’m very happy for you both.”
Adelia rose and threw her arms around Karolin, kissing her on both cheeks. “It’s a little early for the children part, but I’m thrilled that you’re pleased.”
Karolin responded in kind and sidled out of Adelia’s embrace. She began to pace the terrace as she gave voice to the ideas that began to take shape in her mind. “Goodness, we’d better start planning this wedding immediately. We’ll do it right here at the farm. I can see it now, an enormous tent filled with crystal chandeliers. What do you think, Adelia?”
“Uh, sis, Adelia doesn’t want a big wedding, just close family and a few friends. You understand. She recently lost her parents. We don’t need a big society extravaganza. We want to marry in the next few weeks, and then the three of us will leave for the yacht in Italy.”
Adelia took hold of Karolin’s hands. “You don’t mind, Karolin, do you? A simple ceremony and then we leave for Europe. It will be wonderful, the three of us together.”
“No worries, we’ll keep it small but elegant. I can create just as much magic with a small venue as I can with a circus.”
Seeing how much the wedding meant to Karolin, Adelia was quick to placate her future sister-in-law. “It will mean the world to me for you to plan my wedding.”
“And, don’t forget the honeymoon. September in the Mediterranean—what could be better? Capri, Ischia, Procida, Positano, and Ponza, my favorite. You’ll love it, Adelia. It’s heaven on earth. And the food? I’ll have Captain Serge start booking our ports. We’ll embark in Naples and start the trip eating the best pizza in the world. I think I’ll invite Todd to fly over for a week and join us. He can meet us in Capri. I don’t mind being the third wheel, but by then I might need a little tune-up.”
Karolin’s giggles were infectious, and Adelia’s initial apprehension over Karolin’s reaction was completely put to rest. Karolin and Miles’s relationship was a bit quirky, but considering their history and the fact that they were twins, it seemed perfectly natural. After all, for most of their lives, it had been the two of them against the world. Adelia accepted her future sister-in-law’s oddities and her unusually strong bond to her brother.
Adelia and Karolin dismounted the two horses they had been exercising in the ring. Both women were hot and sweaty and desirous of showers, but the care of their mounts took precedence over their own creature comforts. Taking the reins over the heads of the horses, they led them to the wash stalls.
“That was fun, Adelia. I really appreciate the riding lesson. You’re such an amazing rider. I wish I was half as good.”
Adelia removed the saddle and tack from the large stallion. “You are a fine rider, Karolin, and you’ll get a lot better with a little more continuity in your training. We’ll work together.”
“I’ll say one thing; having a sister is different than having a brother who always thinks he’s the expert in everything.”
Adelia giggled as she bent and clicked while squeezing the back tendon of the horse’s leg, signaling him to raise it so that she could pick his hoof clean. “My mother always said the best way to manage a man is to humor him. Let him think that he is the boss.”
“My mother died before she could pass on her lessons of wisdom; however, I think my father was pretty Germanic in his chauvinism. I’m warning you now: Miles is his father’s son. He may appear to be liberated and modern, but deep in his heart, he is old-fashioned and believes that a man must rule the roost.”
“I’ll keep it in mind.” Adelia turned on the hose and began to wet down the stallion with a high, arcing spray. He raised his head, closed his eyes, and flapped his lips, enjoying his shower. Adelia giggled as she fed into the horse’s fondness for water. When she turned and accidentally sprayed Karolin, who was busy washing the other horse in the stall next door, all hell broke loose.
The shock of cold water elicited a cry of surprise from Karolin. “Hey, watch what you’re doing!” She turned and sprayed Adelia, soaking her. Within a minute, the two women were laughing hysterically as they sprayed each other until both looked like a couple of drowned rats.
“It feels good. I was so hot.” Adelia squeezed the excess water from her braid.
“I know. Let’s get these two shampooed, groomed, and back in their stalls. Then you and I can shower and share a glass of wine before lunch.”
“Sounds like a plan. Karolin, I’m really happy that we’re spending time getting to know one another before the wedding.”
“Yeah, I’m really getting into this sister-in-law thing. Maybe I’ll even get more into the running of this place, since it looks like we’re going to be partners.”
“That would make me very happy, Karolin!”
The Labor Day weekend passed too quickly, and on Tuesday, Adelia was on her way back to San Ynez. The weekend had been spent planning a small, intimate wedding at the farm. The list had grown to a manageable thirty, and Karolin had already begun booking the caterer, florist, party planner, and justice of the peace. She was determined to go all out, even for this diminished gathering. She and Adelia had plied the pages of every bridal fashion magazine in existence and had settled on a simple, high-waisted, fitted sheath of pearl charmeuse satin with an Alecon lace bodice band and matching veil. Karolin had contacted the designer, and the dress could be rushed and ready in two weeks, just in time for the wedding. Adelia had happily relinquished all decisions for the party to the capable hands of Karolin.
She was far more concerned about the difficult task of persuading Lucas that her decision to marry Miles was a sound one. Parting from Miles had been difficult but unavoidable. The two lovers had been inseparable right up to the day of her departure. In some ways the brevity of their courtship had simplified their expectations. Instead of spending months determining whether they were compatible or not, they threw themselves wholeheartedly into their unquenchable passion and the success of their forthcoming marriage.
Their last night together was a lovemaking tour de force that had left Adelia breathless and tearful. As the plane soared toward the West Coast, she could still feel the imprint of Miles’s mouth on her body like a permanent tattoo. She was head over heels in love with a man who every day made it clear that he treasured her.
During the flight, she made up her mind to spend the next couple of weeks sorting through Faye and Lars’s files and unanswered correspondence. It was important that as she opened the door to her new life, she bring closure to the old. Perhaps something among her parents’ papers could shed some light on the unsatisfactory explanation of a freak failure of brakes being the cause of the car crash. Falling in love with Miles had eased the pain, but until she put to rest the gnawing suspicions and questions that plagued her about her parents’ deaths, she would never find peace. On her list of things to do was a follow-up call to Detective Weiss. Maybe he had come up with something.
Adelia could barely contain her excitement as the limousine pulled into the drive and she caught sight of her home through the massive oak trees. Seeing the solidity of its structure, a lasting link binding the past to the present, made her realize that she would never give it up. Bella Oaks Ranch was forever in her heart, a place of happy memories where Lars and Faye abided in spirit, if no longer in body. She would live at Green Way Farms as a married woman, but she would keep her childhood alive at Bella Oaks Ranch. One day she would have children, and this beautiful rancho would be her gift to them.
She saw Prince and Roxy grazing in two adjacent pastures and could barely keep herself from jumping out of the moving limo. Lucas, having heard the alarm, walked toward the approaching car, his lanky stride unmistakable. The sight of Lucas quickened her pulse. She had missed his gruff tenderness, even though he was probably angrier than hell with her.
The limo pulled to a halt, and Adelia jumped from the car, flinging her arms around Lucas in a bear hug. Lucas chuckled with delight at his wayward girl. It was impossible for him not to respond to her affection.
“Well, stranger, come home, have you?”
“Lucas, I have so much to tell you. I’m so happy to see you.”
“I’d be lying if I said this place didn’t miss you, Delie. The horses have rested enough. It’s time for Roxy and Prince to get back to training.”
Adelia guiltily glanced at her engagement ring, the symbol of all of the changes that were about to happen in her life. Lucas followed her gaze to the ring.
“If I’m not mistaken, that looks like an engagement ring.” He couldn’t contain the disappointment in his voice.
Adelia could feel the uncertainty of mixed feelings creeping into her. Just when she needed to sound strong, confident, and succinct, she felt unsure and hesitant. She could hear Lars’s words echoing in her mind: “The best defense is a strong offense. Make your case!”
Gathering her courage, she bravely faced her godfather with the truth. “Lucas, Miles has proposed to me, and I have accepted. We’re to be married in three weeks. I know this comes as a surprise to you, and I can’t blame you for being angry with me. I love him, Lucas, and he loves me. I can’t imagine my life without him. I remember Mom saying that meeting Dad was like being struck by lightning. That’s how it’s been for Miles and me. It would break my heart if I didn’t have your blessing. I want you to walk me down the aisle and give me away. I want you to stand in for Dad, Lucas.”
Lucas stared in disbelief at her. His eyes filled with tears as he remembered the years of watching her grow up. A vision arose of the stubborn child determined to make a recalcitrant pony jump the crossties and yield to her command. It all came back to him in a rush of memories. He knew in his heart that he wouldn’t be able to dissuade her. Hell, maybe it would all work out and Miles would turn out to be a good husband. If it didn’t, Lucas knew he would be there to pick up the pieces. Right now, it was important to show her that he was there for her. Sharing her was bearable; losing her wasn’t a possibility.
“Lucas, please say something. I need to know that I have your support,” she beseeched him.
Lucas rubbed his eyes dry and cleared his throat. “I’m here for you, Delie. It’s just a shock. You’ve known him such a short time. I don’t want you to rush into something you’re going to regret.”
Linking her arm through his, she said, “You can’t ever regret loving someone. Let’s go into the house. I’ve so much to tell you.”
Hours later, after Adelia had emptied her heart and told Lucas everything about Miles, Karolin, and the operation at Green Way Farms, she felt her confidence in her decision return. She assured Lucas that the horse business would continue and Bella Oaks would remain under both of their stewardship. In fact, it would now become a much bigger operation, with East and W
est Coast bases for sales. With the jet, she could commute regularly, and Lucas would have complete control of the West Coast operation. If one factored in the increased buying power that Miles’s wealth combined with hers represented, the quality of breeding stock could be greatly improved, and profits would grow exponentially. Together they could build one of the premier breeding, sales facilities in the country. Miles was completely supportive of her continuing her dream. Her quest to ride for the US Equestrian Team would have his full support.
Lucas had his doubts, but kept them to himself. He could see that Adelia was madly in love. Nothing he could say would deter her. Besides, his investigation into Miles Bremen hadn’t yielded much. It seemed he had appeared suddenly in the financial world, rising to the top with unprecedented speed. His ecologically minded investments, some that Lucas considered foolhardy, were predicated on a world obsessive of green companies. Lucas knew that some of those companies probably did more damage to the environment than good. Untried and untested strategies could elicit unintended consequences that could be devastating. Still, Lucas had to admit that Miles was a positive influence on the environmental movement. He put his money where his mouth was, generously supporting charitable environmental-preservationist foundations across the spectrum.
As far as Miles’s personal life was concerned, Lucas had discovered a history of romantic liaisons, mostly with heiresses and high-powered women who could advance his career. Miles was a known player on several continents who had laid waste to many a heart. He was ruthless, self-aggrandizing, and exceedingly wealthy. Adelia’s love-at-first-sight story was suspicious at best. Lucas was building a considerable file on Miles, but he would keep it under wraps for the present. If the day came and he needed it, it would be ready.
