Janet waited until they heard the door swing open and closed behind him. “He’s giving you trouble?”
“Me and every other woman here.” Sophie hurried to catch up with her lunch preparations.
“I’ll talk with Mr. Blackwell again. He’s aware of the situation but Mr. Ethan has been out so much lately we all thought the problem was over.”
“So did I. But maybe he’s having no more luck with the town girls than he did here.”
Janet huffed. “Wouldn’t surprise me. Now, what can I do to help?”
Chapter 42
Rhys couldn’t wait for his mother to go home. If he’d thought it was possible, he’d ask for the trial to be moved up, just to have her leave a little sooner.
Today he’d had to go into the office. When he got home, Raymond met him at the door as usual, but this time instead of greeting him, Raymond said, “We have a guest, sir. Your mother asked me to request that you dress for dinner.” Raymond’s face gave nothing away.
Dress for dinner? She had to be kidding. The tailored suit he’d worn to the office should be more than sufficient.
“They’re waiting in the parlor. Sophie is ready with the food as soon as you wish.”
“Can you give me any clues as to who the mystery guest is?” He didn’t want to walk in there blind if he could help it.
“A young woman. Quite young. Classically beautiful, and dressed to the nines. I don’t know her name, sir, but your mother seemed to know her.”
Of course Mother knew her. Mother had probably hand-picked her as Rhys’ new wife.
“One other thing, sir, on the matter of Stanford Montgomery. All indications are that he’s been pursuing Sophie because his head chef quit. But just yesterday someone new was hired. Hopefully this will be the end of his visits.”
He’d never thought of trying to recruit staff by seducing them. At least it was over. “Thank you, Raymond.” Rhys headed into the parlor.
As soon as he saw her, he knew he’d met the woman before, but he couldn’t remember her name. She was one of the many debutantes Mother had paraded in front of him at one time or another. What Mother didn’t understand was that the very fact that she approved of the girl made her undesirable to him. But in this case, the woman wasn’t his type anyway. She looked like a wealthy waif, undernourished with expensive clothes draped over her skin and bones.
Mother spotted him and hurried to his side. “William! Come say hello to Analise.” She took his arm then whispered, “I told Raymond to have you change for dinner. I’ll have to speak to him about that.”
“No need. He told me your suggestion, but I decided I’m dressed fine as I am.” He wanted to remind her it wasn’t her place to reprimand the staff, but this wasn’t the time. He might not be interested in Analise but that didn’t mean he wanted to be rude.
They’d reached the young woman, so Mother didn’t respond to what he’d said. Instead, she launched into an introduction, reminding Rhys that he’d met Analise at a party at Mother’s house the summer before and then letting him know all about Analise’s pedigree. In other words, her parents and family and how rich and blue-blooded they all were. As though he hadn’t already guessed that.
Just as Mother was winding down and Rhys had run out of polite but meaningless things to say, Ethan arrived wearing a tux. A tux, for God’s sake. Either Mother had browbeaten him more successfully than she had Rhys, or Ethan wanted a shot at Analise himself. Rhys would bet on the latter.
Raymond appeared at the door. “Dinner is about to be served. If you’ll follow me, I’ll take you to the dining room.”
Ethan immediately offered his arm to Analise, who reluctantly took it, gazing at Rhys. All the better. Let Ethan take some of the heat, since he seemed to want it.
Once in the dining room, Rhys could see that Janet and her people had been hard at work. Several leaves had been removed from the dining table to make a smaller yet still long table. With only four of them eating, that would make it a little less uncomfortable.
Analise broke off from Ethan and immediately approached the chair to Rhys’ right. Clearly she’d made her decision about which brother she wanted. Rhys had no choice but to help her sit and then take his own seat. Once he sat, he realized that despite the table being shorter, his mother and brother were a little too far away at the other end of the table to easily participate in conversation, which meant Rhys was in for a too-intimate dinner with a woman he had no interest in.
“Your mother tells me you’re in the middle of acquiring a new company,” Analise said.
The last thing he wanted to do was discuss business with the girl. “Yes, negotiations are coming along.” He scrambled for another topic. She surely wouldn’t dream of working, so he couldn’t ask about that. “Where do you live?”
Raymond and Billy, the chauffeur/footman, delivered the first course.
She laughed. “Oh, all over, of course. Daddy has houses in Aspen, Maui, Milan, and some other places. And of course we have a condo in New York.”
She’d doubtless expect the same from her husband. Rhys, on the other hand, liked living in one home and had no interest in moving from house to house throughout the year. “Where did you grow up?”
Mother took her first bite, and at that cue, the rest of them began to eat.
Analise’s brow crinkled. “I went to boarding school in England and visited one or another of Daddy’s houses during vacations. Doesn’t everyone?”
He flashed on Sophie, and how different she was from Analise. How much more likeable. “Not everyone. I went to a private school nearby and lived here at home.”
“Oh, did you grow up here? I thought the house looked old. That explains it.”
Old? If by ‘old’ she meant fine mahogany rather than chrome.
“Daddy only buys new houses. And when they start to get a little dated, he sells them and buys something else instead.”
“I like the style of this place. It’s a little big, but otherwise I wouldn’t change a thing. This house works for me.” He took another bite.
Analise frowned. Her frown was an artful thing, like she’d spent hours in the mirror practicing for the perfect effect. “Surely you have other houses.”
“Just this one. I have to travel enough on business. I have no desire to travel from home to home as well. It’s nice to have a place to come back to, where the staff knows what I like and where I have everything the way I want it.” He didn’t say so, but he’d seen some of the kind of houses she was talking about. They were perfect showpieces, but they weren’t homes. How could they be, when people only truly lived in them for a few weeks each year?
Raymond and Billy appeared again to clear away the dishes from the first course. Billy moved toward their end of the table while Raymond cleared Mother’s plate.
Analise waved her hand, dismissing his comments. “The servants know exactly what I like wherever I go. I see to that. And if they displease me, I can easily dismiss them and find someone else.”
Billy had just taken Analise’s plate and was now behind her. A scowl crossed his face before he quickly wiped it away.
Rhys didn’t blame him. One of the reasons Rhys had such loyal staff was because he treated them like human beings, not like disposable automatons. “That must be an uncomfortable way to live, knowing that everyone around you does what you tell them only because they’re afraid of you.”
“Isn’t that how it always is? Why else would anyone do something for you? Oh, money, I suppose. Money and fear.”
Billy placed the second course in front of each of them, his face schooled.
“I prefer loyalty,” Rhys said. “You gain loyalty by being loyal. I take good care of my staff so they’ll take good care of me in return.”
She screwed up her face. Now that look was clearly not practiced. If she’d seen it in the mirror, she’d try never to make that face again. “What antiquated ideas you have.”
“My ideas may not be fashionable, but they wor
k.”
“If your ideas work so well, why is one of your staff members suing you?” She smiled daintily before taking a bite of her food.
Rhys gritted his teeth. “Not everyone is entirely sane,” he said. How many more courses were there? This looked like a main dish. Maybe he didn’t have to sit through much more of this torture. Or maybe he could get her to talk about something where he didn’t have to participate much. That worked with Mother sometimes. “So I take it you’ve traveled quite a bit. What’s your favorite place to visit?”
As she prattled happily on about Milan, fashion, the Italians, and their impeccable taste, Rhys tuned out. Either Mother didn’t know Analise very well or she had no idea what kind of woman Rhys liked. He wouldn’t go out on a single date with Analise even if she were the last woman on earth.
At the earliest polite moment, Rhys left the table. The others unfortunately followed suit. He hung back to allow everyone else to leave the room and head for the parlor then started down the hall in the opposite direction.
“William. Where are you going?” Mother said.
Rhys stopped. “I have some work to do this evening. I’m sure Raymond can provide you and your guest with whatever you need.” He didn’t wait for her to answer. He had to get to the kitchen.
Chapter 43
“I can’t believe that woman invited a guest without letting any of us know.” Janet sat down on the kitchen stool, back stick-straight. “Would it be too much to ask for some advance notice? Does she think there are no preparations to be made?”
Sophie’d never seen Janet like this. She’d never heard Janet say one word of complaint about anything. “She probably doesn’t know about preparations. When has she ever had to prepare for anything herself?”
“You’re too kind. She’s been the lady of the house for years. She must have some idea of what’s going on behind the scenes.”
Kind? Sophie hadn’t thought she’d been very kind...she’d basically said Mrs. Blackwell was ignorant and incompetent. Then again, that was better than being willfully negligent. “Well, this isn’t so different from anything else she’s done. She doesn’t seem to have much respect for us.”
“You can say that again. If I didn’t respect Mr. Blackwell so much, I’d have a thing or two to say.”
The house door swooshed as it swung shut. Rhys appeared around the corner. “If there’s something going on I should know about, please tell me.”
Janet turned red. “I didn’t mean to speak out of turn.”
Rhys put his hand up. “You didn’t. You have every right to voice your concerns. I just wish you’d tell me, too, so I can have a chance to fix things.”
Janet pressed her lips together. “Your mother gave us no notice that she was inviting a guest and expected a formal dinner. We had to scramble to get things together. If Sophie hadn’t already planned to serve something nice, it could have been a total disaster.” She paused.
“That’s not all. She continues to give orders to the staff, bypassing me completely. If they don’t do exactly what she says or if they dare to ask me about it, she berates them. Just this afternoon, she asked poor Hannah to go to the store for her. Hannah’s a maid, not a personal assistant. Mrs. Blackwell has a personal assistant. Why didn’t she just ask her?”
Janet was clearly on a roll. She didn’t even take a breath as she continued. “And then there’s Ethan. He quieted down the last few days. Seemed to be shaping up. Then this morning I came in here to find him harassing Sophie.”
Rhys’ gaze sharpened.
“Something needs to be done,” Janet finished.
“I’ll talk to both of them,” Rhys said. “And I want to hear more about what happened with Sophie.”
Janet stood, brushing her hands down her slacks. “Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“It’s okay,” Sophie said. “I’ll tell him what happened. I would have anyway, so don’t worry that you said anything out of turn.”
Janet nodded her head once, brushed her spotless pants again then said, “I should get back to it.” She hurried out the door.
Once it swung shut, Rhys said, “Now tell me about Ethan.”
Sophie joined him at the island with the stools and put her hand on his arm. “I didn’t think he was going to hurt me or anything. He was just very insistent.”
“Did he touch you?” Rhys pulled her closer, his arms loosely around her waist.
“No.” He’d tried, but Sophie didn’t think Rhys needed to know about that.
“Then why was Janet upset about it?”
“Well...he was standing quite close when she came in. Not touching, just very close.”
Rhys stroked her back. “You don’t have to protect him. If he behaved badly, he should take responsibility for it.”
“I know. I just don’t want to come between you and your brother in any way.”
“You didn’t. He did.” He pulled her closer. “He doesn’t know we’re together, so I can forgive him that. But he shouldn’t have come near you at all. You said no, I said no. He’s like a little child who can’t believe that he can’t have exactly what he wants.”
Sophie put her arms around him and hugged him. “He’s the youngest, isn’t he? I’d imagine he really has had everything he wants his whole life.”
“Not with our mother he hasn’t.”
“What about besides her?”
Rhys was quiet a moment. “Yeah, he has. And even with her, sometimes. She dotes on him in the strangest ways, turning a blind eye to things she shouldn’t.”
Sophie rested her head against his shoulder. Now that she’d met his family, she understood a little better why Rhys was the way he was. “You’ve taken all the responsibility onto your own shoulders, haven’t you? You decided, probably early on, that you had to take care of them all. And maybe it was the right decision at the time. But now it seems like it isn’t good for any of you.”
He pressed his lips to her forehead for a long moment then touched his forehead to hers. “Not sure what else to do.”
Her eyes met his. “Take care of yourself first, instead of them.”
Rhys lowered his lips to hers. What started as a chaste kiss quickly escalated into more. He held her tight against him, his fingers tangled in her hair.
A palm slapped a counter top. “How could you? I bring you a woman who’s perfect wife material and you leave her to come dally with the help in the kitchen!”
Every inch of Rhys’ body stiffened as he raised his head. He slowly turned, keeping Sophie behind him as though he thought his mother might attack. “You pushed a snooty, entitled woman on me, someone I could never be interested in. You did it by trampling on my staff and giving no one any notice—”
”They’re my staff, too—”
”They are not your staff!” Rhys took a breath. “They’re my staff. This is my house. You are a guest, and it’s about time you started acting like one.”
Chapter 44
Mother advanced on Rhys. “I won’t have you speaking to me that way. I’m still your mother. This was my house long before it was yours—”
”You gave it up! This isn’t your house anymore. You and Dad handed it over to me. We signed a contract and everything, or don’t you remember?” He took a harsh breath.
She waved her hand dismissively. “Contracts. Papers. Those don’t mean anything. This is my house and it always will be.”
Rhys clenched his fists so hard his hands hurt.
“More important is what you’re doing with it. Sleeping with the servants? You’re no better than Ethan. At least he recognizes that he’ll have to marry a nice girl one of these days. Whereas you seem to think you’re just going to dip your pen in any inkwell—”
”Shut your mouth.” He took another loud breath. “Don’t you dare talk about Sophie like that. She’s not just any woman; she’s the woman I choose to be with. I’d take her any day over the women you parade in front of me.”
She sputtered. “Yo
u can’t mean to say you’re dating her?”
“Yes, I am.”
Sophie put her hand on Rhys’ back but continued to stay silent.
Mother turned an alarming shade of purple. “You can’t! How could you? Even you wouldn’t do something so awful to me!”
What on earth did she mean? “How does my dating Sophie have anything to do with you?”
“What will people think? You must break it off immediately.” She made a slashing motion with her arm.
Rhys couldn’t stop the choked laughter that emerged from his throat. “You’ve got to be kidding.”
She took a step forward. “Kidding? You think I’m kidding? Just think what you’re doing to your family by associating yourself with someone so far beneath us. You have to break it off with her. You have to!”
Rhys suddenly remembered all the conversations he’d had with Sophie in which he’d said he was no better than anyone else. He remembered her saying they were Americans and all Americans are equal. He remembered standing in the nighttime garden while she told him he had a right to live for himself, a right to be happy. And in that moment, he’d had enough.
“Get out.”
“What?”
“You’re not welcome here anymore. Get out of my house. And take Ethan with you.”
She stopped, as though frozen. “You don’t mean that.”
“I do.”
Her face crumpled. “How could you say such an awful thing to your mother?”
His heart squeezed. How could he? What kind of son was he? But in spite of his inclination to take it all back, he held firm.
She pulled herself together. “You’re upset. We’ll talk about this in the morning when you’re calm.”
That was Mother, taking control again. “I expect you to leave in the morning. You’d better pack your bags tonight.” Rhys reached behind him, slipped his arm around Sophie and pulled her toward the outside door.
“Where are you going?” Mother said.
Since it was pretty obvious he was going to the gardens, he didn’t bothering answering. Sophie stayed quiet as he led her through the dark paths. On the one hand, he felt exhilarated at how he’d finally stood up to his mother. On the other hand, he felt sick to his stomach. What had he done?
Crazy About Curves: 10 Luscious Reads Page 93
