by Liz Ireland
“Yeah, I know. I’m not looking forward to that scene. But I think it’s best I tell them face-to-face what’s…really going on.”
“Well, I don’t envy you that. But it’s brave of you. So you think you’ll just stay there for a while, until you figure things out?”
Inside, Jayde was crying. No. I want to stay here. Please don’t let me go. But outwardly, she nodded. “Yes. They won’t mind. Oh, and thank you for having your own pilot fly me to Kentucky. Wow. I’ve never flown on a private plane before.”
He shrugged. “It’s the least I can do.”
She tried to smile, but it wouldn’t hold on her face. “And thank you for this job. It really was the best one I’ve ever had. Except for that of being a self-employed artist, I mean.”
He chuckled. “You’re welcome. And congratulations, again, on your success.”
Jayde swallowed, fighting tears. He really was going to let her leave. “Oh, yeah. I also wanted to thank you for setting up that wonderful art show for me. That went over great. I was really surprised.”
“You were? I wasn’t. I never doubted you for a minute. But all I did was make a phone call. Dirk did everything else. You ought to thank him.”
“I did. He’s been very kind. In fact, he gave me his card so I can call him when I get settled. In the meantime, he’s calling other galleries and telling them about me. He says I can pretty much own the modern art world after yesterday’s showing. It was his gallery’s best ever.”
“That’s great. I couldn’t be happier for you, Jayde. So, you’re a wealthy woman now. How does that feel?”
“Well, I wouldn’t say I was wealthy, exactly. But I can make my own way now.”
“That’s important to you, I know.”
That’s when she knew—he was giving her what she’d said she wanted…her freedom to be herself. He did love her. He did. Maybe if she talked long enough he’d cave or she would find the right words. “Yes, it is. I can spend most of my time painting now. Mr. Halliburton is even calling agents for me. And I’m grateful for that, too. So…everything should be okay.”
“Good. That’s all I ever wanted, Jayde…for you to be happy. Are you?”
She was certain her heart was in her eyes and denying everything she’d said before. “Yes?”
“That sounded more like a question.”
She blinked. “Oh. No. It’s not. I mean, yes.”
“All right. Good. Well. If leaving makes you happy…” He paused, watching her. Jayde felt as if her very breath hung on his next words. He was going to ask her to stay, she just knew it. “Then, let’s get to it. I’ll get Lyle and—what’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Stung, Jayde began gathering up her bags. Anger began to replace heartache. “I’ll meet you at the front door.”
“No. We can say goodbye right here. I won’t be going with you to the airport.”
She stopped and stared at him. “You won’t?”
“No. I don’t see much need. Do you?”
Anger fled. She wanted to die. “No. I suppose not.”
He took a deep breath and crossed his arms. “That’s what I thought. And I’ve got so much work to do here. I’ve really been putting it off for the past week. In fact, after you leave, I’ve got to pack, myself—”
“Where are you going?”
“Paris. You ever been to Paris, Jayde?”
“France? No. I’ve been to Paris, Texas, though. It’s nice.”
“I bet it is. But I meant France. You’d love it. It’s a really artsy place.”
“I’ve heard. Maybe I’ll go there one day.”
“You really ought to.”
“I will.”
“Good. Are you sure you’re okay, Jayde? You look…I don’t know…sad. Or upset.”
“I’m fine.”
“Okay. Good. Well, this is it then.” He came over to her and gave her a quick hug, then said, “I appreciate your working for me, Jayde. You did a great job. I’m glad you had a chance while you were here to make a success of yourself. I know how much that means to you—more than anything else in your life.”
She panicked. “No! Not more than anything else—”
But he was gone. It was over. He hadn’t even helped her with her bags. Jayde stood there, staring at the empty doorway and tears pricked her eyes. She couldn’t seem to make herself leave. She frowned. Was that the point—she couldn’t leave because she was supposed to stay and fight for this love she felt? After all, Brad was just giving her a dose of her own medicine. He was allowing her to see how it would feel to live without love, to have nothing to fight for.
Just then, she heard Lyle’s voice. He was speaking abnormally loudly. “Uh-oh, boss, sorry. There’s something wrong with the limo. It won’t start.”
Jayde caught her breath. Excitement beat in her heart. Fate had stepped in. She couldn’t leave if the car wouldn’t start—
“Take the Jaguar, then,” Brad answered, dashing Jayde’s hope.
“What?” Lyle said, sounding confused. “But I thought—”
“Take the Jaguar.”
She didn’t hear anything for a moment…then, “Uh-oh, boss, we can’t leave the house. The doors are all locked. That darned JOCK.”
Again Jayde grinned, biting at her bottom lip. JOCK didn’t want her to leave, either.
“Open the doors, JOCK.”
“But, Mr. Hale,” JOCK’s electronic voice sounded. “I was under the impression that we—”
“No. Open the doors. Now.”
“As you wish, sir.”
Jayde exhaled, her hopes again dashed. Just then, Lyle filled the doorway. He looked as sad as she felt. “You ready, Jayde?”
She nodded. “Yes. If you’ll just help me with my bags.”
“Sure.” He came over and grabbed them, then turned to her. “Hey, listen. I thought this would end differently.”
She shrugged. With Lyle, whom she thought of as her friend, there was no sense pretending otherwise. “Me, too. But I suppose it’s just not in the cards.”
His lips pressed together, Lyle moved aside, indicating she should precede him. “There was really nothing wrong with the limo. We’ll take it to the airport.”
Jayde frowned in confusion, then she understood. “Oh. A delaying tactic. I see. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
He sounded mad. Jayde turned to look at him. “Are you all right, Lyle?”
“I’m fine. But I know someone who isn’t.”
Jayde didn’t say anything, but she felt certain he meant Brad. On her way out the front door, Jayde paused and turned…Brad wasn’t there. Holding back her tears, she said, “See you, JOCK.”
“See you, Mrs. Hale—I mean, Ms. Greene. You’re the nicest human I know.”
She chuckled, to keep from crying. “Thanks, JOCK. You’re the nicest artificial intelligence I know.”
With that, Jayde left. Seated in the back seat of the limo, she turned and looked out the car’s back window. She couldn’t be sure, but she thought she saw Brad standing in the house’s front window. She waved, but she knew, with the car’s tinted windows, that he couldn’t see her. She kept looking over her shoulder, hoping Brad would stop them…until they turned the corner and she could no longer see the house.
SEATED IN the music room, listening to the Three Tenors, Brad was ready for Lyle when he got back from the airport.
The front door slammed. “He’s in the multimedia room,” JOCK said.
In only seconds—no doubt, Lyle had taken the stairs two at a time—the chauffeur was standing in front of Brad.
“What the hell’s going on, boss? I thought we had a plan. I thought—”
“We did.”
“Well, you sure as hell didn’t stick to it. She’s gone.”
Smiling, happy, Brad stood up. “She is? Are you sure?”
“Well, I put her on the plane myself and closed the door. And Joe was taxiing down the runway, the last I saw them.”
�
�Good.” Brad stretched his muscles, noted Lyle’s accusing stare. “What?”
Lyle suddenly sat down heavily, his head in his hands. “Man, I don’t get any of this.” He looked up. “I thought you love her.”
“I do.”
“Well, she loves you, too.”
“I know.”
“She didn’t want to leave.”
“I know that, too. But she wouldn’t say it, would she?”
“I guess not. I wasn’t actually listening…”
“Well, if you had been, you’d have heard her pride get in the way, just like mine was doing yesterday.”
“So, you love her but let her go because she’s got pride?”
“You could look at it that way.”
“That doesn’t seem right, boss. What about our plan to say the cars wouldn’t work and having JOCK lock up the house?”
Brad chuckled. “That was your plan. It was a good one as far as it went. But I guess I wasn’t willing to place so much on chance—the chance that she’d do exactly what she did. Stick to her story and leave.”
Lyle was now absolutely beside himself. “But she did leave. And you let her.”
“By all appearances, yes.”
Lyle stood still…and really stared at Brad. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying I know she loves me and that she didn’t want to leave. I’m saying she didn’t have the guts to fight for that love. She was painted in one corner. And I was painted in another. Just like in business. And like you said yesterday, I’m a risk taker.”
Lyle threw his hands up. “I don’t get it. You lost. It was that stupid idea of mine. I feel terrible.”
Brad chuckled again. “Hold on, Lyle. No, I didn’t lose. Because just like in business—and this is the secret behind my success, Lyle—I put it all on the line, but I also hedged my bet.” He couldn’t help it, he laughed happily.
“You’ve lost your mind, boss. What are you talking about?”
Brad signaled for Lyle to follow him. “Come on. I’m all packed.”
Lyle walked alongside him. “Where we going?”
“We’re not going anywhere. I’m going to Paris. I need you to drive me to the airport. And then I’d like you to stay here and be my house sitter for a while. And have Marta and Tony stay here with you, if you can get her to agree. You need some time together, you and your wife and son.”
Lyle stopped. A look of incredulity captured his broad face. “You mean that, boss? She isn’t really my wife anymore.”
“Well, maybe she will be, again, if you and I stay home a little more. Like you said, we’re getting too damn old to be chasing around the world.”
“This is great. But what about you, boss? You’re alone.”
Brad shook his head. “No, I’m not. I’m going to Paris.”
“Wait. You can’t go to Paris this evening—unless you’re going commercial.”
“I’m not going commercial.”
“But Joe’s flying Jayde back to Kentucky. I put her on the plane myself.”
Brad leaned back against the wall, smiling. “Yes, you did.”
“Then I don’t get it. You’re going to Paris and Jayde’s going to Kentuck—” Lyle’s expression went blank.
Brad grinned. “Yes? Jayde’s going where?”
“Jayde’s going to Paris with you, is she?”
Brad pushed away from the wall and gave Lyle a high five. “You got it, my man.” He headed for his bedroom. “Come on. Help me with my bags. Joe’s stalling her until I get there.”
Lyle followed along behind his boss. “She’s going to kill you.”
Brad shrugged. “Maybe. But would you like to bet on it?”
“Hell, no,” Lyle said.
But JOCK got in the last word. Over the intercom, he played an instrumental version of “April in Paris.”
No one seemed to mind that it was still only January. They were all in love. And it felt like April.
Epilogue
BY THE TIME Jayde and Brad arrived back in Florida from Paris—France—it was really April and they were more in love than ever. They were also married—really! Jayde’s happy realization of her pregnancy had necessitated that informal ceremony in mid-February. The marriage rites had taken place in a small but picturesque chapel in the South of France, with only two strangers as their witnesses. Even now the memory of it made her smile. And hopefully, the baby would be a little early, so as not to generate a bunch of questions from her mother.
Jayde couldn’t believe what her life had become in the past few months—all because she’d accepted her dream job. And she finally had a real wedding to celebrate. They were repeating their vows so her family would finally see her married. It didn’t matter that they thought she’d married Brad in Las Vegas, not in Paris. So with her mother’s excited and fluttery help, she donned a white wedding gown.
“Hold still, baby. There must be a million of these here tiny pearl buttons. Can you suck in some, Jayde? I believe you’re already putting on some baby weight. You still taking those French vitamins?”
Her mother was leery of foreign things. “The vitamins aren’t French, Mama. The doctor was. She said they’re the same ones I’d get here, and that’s what my doctor here said, too. So, yes, I’m taking them.”
“Well,” Maxine Greene muttered, yanking Jayde around as she fought the buttons, “who knows? That baby might come out speaking some crazy foreign tongue. You know, this baby is the greatest present you and Brad could give us, honey. We didn’t need a big new house back in Kentucky like the one you two bought us.”
“It was our pleasure, Mom. I’m just glad Daddy likes the new car, too. You can sure use a minivan, what with all the kids.”
“That reminds me. There. I’m done. Now I’m going to go check on your father and the boys. They’ll make the cutest ushers. Then I still have to tackle your sisters’ hair, if you want presentable bridesmaids, that is.” She stalked toward the door. “No one in this family can do a single thing without me.”
Jayde knew the truth of that. Let’s see, she pondered as she gathered up the yards of satin material of her beautiful gown and walked carefully over to the open French doors onto the balcony in their bedroom, how did all this happen?
Once outside, she gripped the balcony railing and stared out at the blue water. A string quartet was setting up and the caterer was arranging the white-clothed tables below. Flowers and satin streamers were everywhere. This wedding was for the sake of family and friends. And this time Jayde could actually wear a wedding gown. Better still, they both had wedding rings.
And this is the third wedding, right? She was losing count. The first one was in Las Vegas—the one her parents thought was the real one—which made this third one seem like only the second one and a recommitment ceremony. The second one, in France, was actually the first one, the one no one else knew about, but the one she and Brad would always celebrate privately. And now the third one was being shared with Lyle and Marta…who believed this to be Brad and Jayde’s first wedding.
Jayde chuckled. Dear God. Let’s hope our guests don’t start talking.
Lyle had been in touch over the course of their European stay and had broken the good news to them about him and Marta in early March. When Brad had suggested a double wedding in April, Jayde had agreed. So, here they were.
Obviously, getting remarried every few months was going to be a family tradition with them. So, with that settled, the plans were begun and everyone who needed to be there had been flown in, including Jayde’s entire family, Aunt Wanda and her bloat medicine, and believe it or not, Lucinda Kingston of Your Dream Job Employment Agency. Lucinda had even been asked to be Jayde’s maid of honor. Brad had called her from Paris to thank her for sending him Jayde and she had broken down and apologized for her behavior. Now they were all friends. In fact, Lucinda had flown in early to make all the arrangements for today, and she’d done such a good job, that Jayde was thinking of asking her to be her personal secr
etary. Now, wouldn’t that just be her dream job? Jayde meant that sincerely, too.
“Ah, ’tis Juliet my eyes behold upon yon balcony!”
Jayde blinked and looked down on her, well, husband-father of her baby-groom-boss—he never had terminated her employment, after all. Her heart filled with love. “I don’t think those are the bard’s exact words, my love.”
“Good.” He put his hands to his waist. “Then I’m not guilty of any copyright violations, am I?” He looked her over. “You look very beautiful in that gown.”
Jayde wadded up a handful of the expensive and luscious material. “What? This old thing?” Then she quirked a grin, a secret smile only he would understand. “It’s not good luck to see your bride before the ceremony, you know.”
He winked at her. “Which ceremony would that be?”
Jayde put a finger to her lips. “Shh! Someone might hear you.”
“Someone like me, for instance?” This was JOCK.
“Ahh, JOCK, my man,” Brad called out cheerily. “You all ready to be best man for me and Lyle?”
“Yes,” JOCK sighed. “Would you believe some obnoxious child actually taped a black satin bow tie to my control panel. I imagine I look quite spiffy. And I’ve corraled another child to be the ring bearer for me.”
Jayde chuckled. “Now, JOCK, don’t tell me you don’t like children.”
“Oh, no,” JOCK fussed. “I love children. What choice do I have? Sadly, I’ve been reprogrammed to do so.”
“I see,” Jayde said, winking down at her husband-programmer. “Just like you were reprogrammed to like me?”
Brad frowned up at her. “What are you talking about?”
“Oh, don’t play coy with me, Bradford Hale. JOCK told me how you reset him to like me.” Brad shook his head. “I did no such thing.” Jayde believed him. “You didn’t? Then how—?” Brad threw back his head and laughed. “I’ll be damned. JOCK fell in love with you, too, Jayde. All on his own.”
“I did no such thing,” JOCK huffed. “I’m not capable of such piddling human emotions. Besides, I’m much too smart. For example, even now I’m only on the speakers here by you both. So what I’m going to say next will only be heard by you two.” He then made a sound, remarkably like a throat being cleared. “My congratulations to you both. I’m honored to be your best man, although the choice was obvious. And finally…Mr. Hale, what are you doing outside and down there? Get up there on the balcony and kiss your bride-to-be…for the third time.”
