His mind churning, he didn’t even see the bushes and flowers as he passed them. He didn’t see anything at all until he rounded a bend and came to a fork in the road. Two paths split, one leading to the night garden where Sophie had suggested he do what he love and become a gardener, the other winding back to the house, his family, and his duty. He stopped short.
After they’d stood there a full minute, Sophie said, “Are you okay?”
He swallowed. “I don’t know which way to go.”
She rubbed his back. “What are the choices?”
What were the choices? The idea of going back to the house and turning back into the dutiful son his mother wanted made him want to throw something. That way led to more of the same life he’d been living–except not the same, because there’d be no Sophie in it. That way led to a loveless marriage with someone just like Mother.
And the other way? Did he really have the guts to give up everything and follow his passion? What did that even look like? But that way...that way had Sophie in it. No matter what he did, she’d be beside him all the way.
And when he put it that way, it seemed easy. What kind of future did he have if Sophie wasn’t in it?
Rhys shifted in the direction of the path that led across the little bridge to the night garden but stayed still for a moment longer.
What about all of the people who depended on him?
He’d find a way to take care of his employees and his staff. His family, on the other hand, would have to fend for themselves. No, it wasn’t as bad as that. They all had trust funds and dividends from the company. But his family was convinced those dividends were higher than they might be if Rhys weren’t in charge. They’d have to accept that another CEO might not do as well. They’d have to accept the idea of a CEO from outside the family.
The bridge to the night garden glowed, lit up by a small spotlight.
The more he thought about it, the more he realized that every single reason he could come up with why he shouldn’t go forward was easily solved. And the biggest one, the fear, was easily solved too. He pulled Sophie closer. Very easy–he feared losing her more than he feared the unknown future that lay before him.
“There’s only one real choice,” he said. “I choose you.” He led her down the path to the bridge.
A few minutes later, they sat down together on the same bench where he’d first convinced her to go out with him. Night flowers bloomed all around them. Everything in his life was different from that last time, but he felt the same as he did then–hopeful.
Over the next few minutes, he told her what he’d been thinking. “You were right. I can hire a CEO to take over for me. I can make sure my replacement will take good care of my employees. And I have enough money to keep this place going. It can all work out.”
Sophie hugged him. “What about Harris?”
“Oh, I’ll still need Harris. I’ll want to do more gardening but I also have ideas for hybrids that I haven’t had time to play around with, and that’ll take part of my time. Who knows–I could come up with the next big thing.”
“Even if you don’t, the most important thing is you’ll be happy.” She squeezed him tighter.
“And you’ll be with me.” Rhys stroked her hair. “This is only worth it if you’re beside me.”
“I’ll still be staff.”
“You’ll be whatever you want to be, same as me. If you want to run the kitchen, you will. If you want me to hire someone to assist you, so you don’t have to do it all yourself, we can do that. You can have your own Harris. Whatever you want.”
“What are we talking about here?”
The moment of truth. He’d never felt more sure about anything in his life, but he didn’t know how she felt. Not yet. “I’m talking about our future. You and me. I see us being together for a long time. Married, I hope.”
“Are you asking?” Her voice shook.
“Not yet. I feel like we need a little more time before that. Time when we can date without families and court cases and other things getting in the way. But I will ask. Right now I’m just stating my intentions.” He kissed her forehead and brushed the hair back from her face, gazing into her eyes. “I want you in my life for a very long time.”
“Half an hour ago I would have asked how we possibly could do that, considering our stations in life. But it seems like you’ve figured that all out. Except–what about your family? You told your mother to leave but I have a feeling she won’t go so easily.”
He’d thought about that, too. He’d fantasized about it every time she visited. “I don’t have to physically kick her out. All I have to do is move her things out. I can have Janet send someone to Mother’s and Ethan’s rooms to pack all of their things and take them to the car. Then I can let them know their choices–they can leave quietly or they can carry their own bags back into the house. And we can do that over and over again until they leave. But I suspect it wouldn’t take more than once.”
She laughed. “You’re so devious!”
“Just remember that. In the end, I get what I want.”
Her eyes glowed. “That’s how it’s been working out with me.”
Rhys kissed her. This was the beginning of a new life for him. And he couldn’t be happier to have him beside her.
Chapter 45
The next morning while Mother and Ethan were at breakfast, Rhys had Janet send people to pack their things. Denise’s, too. Mother’s personal assistant was a constant silent shadow.
Once Janet told him their things had been loaded into the car, Rhys went to the dining room to let them know they were leaving. Mother and Ethan were still at the table while Raymond cleared their plates and got them more coffee.
“Raymond, give us a minute,” Rhys said.
Raymond hadn’t even closed the door behind him when Mother started talking. “I hope you’ve come to your senses and dumped that trollop from the kitchen.”
“Her name is Sophie.” Rhys worked to keep his tone polite. “And we’re going to be together for a long while. The sooner you learn to treat her with respect, the sooner you’ll be allowed back into this house.”
“What—” Mother said.
“As for now, your bags have been packed and are waiting for you in the car. Billy will take you to the airport.” Rhys felt a surge of power rush through him just saying the words.
Mother’s mouth hung open further than he’d ever seen it. “You can’t do that!”
“I can and I did. You, too, Ethan. You might not have known Sophie is my girlfriend, but you’re not getting a pass for continuing to hit on her after she told you to get lost.”
Ethan stood. “Hey, man–I didn’t know. If I’d known—”
”It shouldn’t matter,” Rhys said. “When a woman tells you no, you stop. No matter who her boyfriend is.”
Ethan walked over to Rhys. “You’re right. I’m sorry.” He stuck out his hand. “I’ll do better.”
Rhys hoped his brother really meant it. But based on past experience, this would all be forgotten once Ethan got on the plane and saw a pretty flight attendant. Nevertheless, Rhys shook his hand. “You’d do better if you got out of Mother and Dad’s house. Struck out on your own.”
Ethan shrugged. “Maybe. My stuff’s in the car, too?”
“It is.”
Ethan glanced over his shoulder. “I’ll be waiting for you in the car, Mother.”
“I’m not going,” she said.
Ethan shrugged again. “Have fun,” he said to Rhys, then headed for the door.
“You can stay,” Rhys said. “But your suitcases are going to the airport. So you might have some trouble come tomorrow morning. And no, Denise may not use the car to go buy you new things.”
“You can’t do this to me,” she said.
“Apparently I’ve done far worse in the past. You should be used to this from me by now.”
She stood and walked toward him, reaching her arm out to him. “Rhys. You’re a good son. Why are you
suddenly being like this? If that girl has convinced you to go against your family, you need to ask yourself if she’s really the kind of person you want to be with.”
Ah, here it was. If the critical, demanding act didn’t work, Mother would try the soothing, logical, manipulative route. Her arguments always seemed to make sense until you unpacked them.
“I could say the same to you,” Rhys said. “If my family is trying to convince me to give up the most wonderful woman I’ve ever met, I need to ask myself if I really want my family around.”
Mother put her hand on his arm. He fought not to pull away.
“Can she really be that wonderful if she’s coming between us?” she said.
Rhys’ jaw clenched. “She’s not coming between us. She’s made no demands at all. You’re the one who’s trying to get rid of her, who’s saying awful things about her and hurting her. Until you can be civil to Sophie, you’re not welcome in this house.” He took a step back, dislodging her hand. “Now, I have work to do. Raymond can show you to the door.”
As he left the dining room, he said, “Raymond, please help Mother to the car, and make sure Denise knows it’s time to leave.”
“I don’t need help to the car,” Mother snapped.
Rhys didn’t stop. As long as he stayed, she’d try to manipulate him. If he left, she might just leave without more discussion.
Which was exactly why he wasn’t going to stay in the house. He left through the front door and got in his car. He’d already put his briefcase in there before going into the dining room. Billy usually drove him to the office, but since Billy was busy driving to the airport this morning, Rhys would get to drive himself.
He enjoyed driving; he just didn’t get to do it very often. Maybe that was something else that should change.
He had a lot to do in the office this morning. He needed to put the wheels in motion to find a new CEO.
Chapter 46
His personal assistant wasn’t happy to hear he planned to leave, but she helped him lay out a plan for finding someone to take his place. After that, he had work to attend to–he had to continue doing it until he found a replacement. He’d just finished lunch when a call came through from Dan.
“Remember how we asked for a list of dates and times when Sophia says the different incidents occurred?” Dan said. “And the judge ordered her to cough them up? Well, we got ‘em. Her lawyer sent over the list this morning. Now I need to sit down with you and see if we can prove that any of these dates are impossible.”
That was the best news Rhys had heard since...well, since that morning when Raymond had called to say his family was on the plane headed home. “Can you come over now? I’ll clear my calendar.”
“Be there in thirty.” Dan hung up.
While he waited, Rhys pulled out his planner and got his personal assistant Marie to give him her version of his calendar. She not only kept track of his meetings and travel, but also of which days he worked in the office or at home, conference calls, long phone conversations and the like. This was why Skinny had been smart to withhold a list of dates for so long–Rhys’ life was recorded in excruciating detail. The chances that she’d managed to come up with a list that corresponded exactly with the dates and times when he was at home were small.
When Dan showed up, Marie showed him in. “If we can find enough inconsistencies, I’ll bet the judge would dismiss.” He pulled some papers out of his briefcase and handed one to Rhys. “Moment of truth.”
The paper had eight paragraphs, each one starting with a date and time and then listing a few details about what allegedly happened. Rhys started at the top and consulted his various calendars.
A few minutes later, Dan said, “How we doing?”
Rhys kept combing through his planner. “I’m looking at the third one now. No luck with the first two.”
“Damn.” Dan sat back in his chair. “I suppose she took notes.”
“If she took notes, why did it take her so long to come up with the list?” The third date was Christmas, one of the days he insisted on staying home.
“Maybe she didn’t take notes,” Dan said. “Maybe she and her witness Frank Holbrook conferred in order to come up with the list. There’s still hope.”
Rhys started working on the fourth date. Minutes later, when he found that he couldn’t be sure whether he had been home at that date and time, his stomach sank. “How is this possible?” Rhys said. “That’s half of them already.” He started on the fifth.
“Let’s face it, you’re a homebody. She had to get some of them just by guessing.”
Finally, Rhys found something. “Ha! I was in New York on business during this fifth one. Not just that day, but for a full week on either side.”
Dan grinned. “That’ll help. Now one or two more would really clinch it...”
The sixth one was a bust. “This is just like the first and fourth–I went into the office that day but based on the timing I might have been home by the time she has listed. Or I might not have. So it’s not conclusive.”
“And the second and third?”
“I was definitely home then. Both those are holidays–Thanksgiving and Christmas.”
“Easy for her to guess, then. Check out the last two.”
Rhys’ stomach felt tight. If only this were the answer. If only the judge would dismiss the case and then Sophie wouldn’t need to testify and all of this would go away.
As he checked the seventh one, he let out a long breath. “There’s a conflict. She says the incident happened at ten in the morning, but I was in a two-hour meeting here at the office from nine to eleven.”
“Are there people who can verify that?” Dan said.
“Marie was there and took notes. She could testify to it.”
“Good, good.”
Then the last one. Rhys checked his planner. “I was in an all-day meeting on that last date. She says the incident happened around noontime at home. No way was I there. And yes, Marie can testify to that one, too. She had to work late because of that meeting and wasn’t happy about it.”
“All right, this is good. Here’s what we’re going to do. I’ll gather all this together and get statements from Marie and from you and get it over to the judge with a motion to dismiss. And then we’ll see what happens.”
Chapter 47
Two weeks later, Sophie cleaned up after dinner. They hadn’t heard about the trial yet and she still didn’t know if she’d be testifying. Other than that, life had quieted down once Mrs. Blackwell and Ethan had left. Sophie and Rhys saw each other every night although he had yet to follow through on his promise to remove one piece of her clothing for every five minutes “late” she worked.
All of a sudden, someone spoke. “When’s your next night off?”
Sophie jumped. Rhys leaned against the counter behind her. “I didn’t even know you were there!” she said.
“I like watching you. So?”
“I have Saturday off.” She put the last of the pots away.
“Good. We’ll go to dinner. Somewhere really nice.”
“That’s what we did last time. Not that I’m complaining, mind you, but we could get a pizza and watch a movie on the couch one of these days.” With a final wipe of the counter, she was done cleaning up.
“Next time. This time, we have to celebrate.” He walked over and put his arms around her. “I just got word–the case was dismissed.”
Sophie squealed and hugged him. “Oh, that’s so great!”
Rhys squeezed her tight, lifted her in the air and swung her around. He whooped.
The door from the house opened. “Everything all right in there?” said Janet’s voice.
Rhys carried Sophie the few steps to where they could see the door.
“Put me down!” Sophie said.
He continued to hold her. “They dismissed the case!” He swung Sophie around again.
“Oh, Mr. Blackwell, I’m so pleased! I’ll just–I’ll go tell everyone.” Janet disapp
eared.
Rhys finally let Sophie slide down to her feet but still didn’t let her go. “I think this deserves a kiss,” he said.
“You think everything deserves a kiss,” she said, but she leaned up toward him.
“Everything does.” Rhys kissed her.
A couple of minutes later, he pulled back just far enough to look into her eyes. “I love you. You know that, right?”
“I suspected.” She ran her fingers down his cheek. “I love you, too.”
“Good thing. Or I was going to have to do something about that.”
What exactly he thought he could do about it she didn’t know. But it didn’t matter because he kissed her again and everything else faded away.
She’d started out liking Rhys the gardener, then fell for Rhys the billionaire. Now he’d come full circle...Rhys, her billionaire gardener. The man she loved.
About the Author: Danielle Duncan
A little bit of a foodie, Danielle Duncan enjoys cooking good meals and watching the Food Network. Amidst hours spent with Downton Abbey and other period movies, she worked her way through a Master's in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University so she could write touching stories of her own...and now she's enjoying every minute of it.
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