Safe in Noah's Arms

by Mary Sullivan

  “Monica!” her father barked.

  “Thanks for the offer, Marcie,” Monica said to her twin. Dad and Noah were crazy, and she wasn’t budging one inch. “But I should be just fine on my own.”

  “Monica.” Dad’s voice hit a warning note. “Don’t do this.”

  “Why am I even talking? None of you are listening. I am a capable person. I will organize the benefit just fine on my own.”

  With an uncharacteristic action, her father pointed his fork at her. “You will include your sister in this or you can forget any contribution I was going to make.”

  Monica stood slowly, trying to rein in her anger, but it didn’t work. “How dare you, Dad? You’re using blackmail to force her help down my throat?”

  “She is your sister!” he shouted.

  “And I am your daughter! The same one I was before she came to town. You go ahead and accept her, with my blessing, but do not, do not, shove her down my throat.”

  “How dare you?” he countered. “We will be a harmonious family and one of the ways in which this will happen is if we involve each other in our lives. Is that clear?”

  “I’ll say it again, do not force her down my throat. Why are you forcing this issue?”

  “Marcie asked to be involved.”

  “So now we get down to the truth. Marcie wants this so you are giving in to her. Have you been giving her everything she asks for?”

  “I did with you,” he growled. “I spoiled you.”

  That hurt. Despite all that she had inherited, Monica had never taken a speck of it for granted. She treated others kindly, never lording her father’s riches, or their standing in society, over anyone.

  “This is my project,” she said. “I will run it in whichever way I see fit.”

  “Not if I have my way about it. What if I tell the women to stop cooperating with you? What if I call the CEO and ask him to cancel your use of his facilities?”

  Her heart was a leaden object falling through her body to the floor. Who was this man? “You would do that?” she whispered.

  “I will. You involve your sister in the project, or consider it done, as of today. And another thing, I’ll pull the plug on your business, too. No money.”

  Was it possible to hear a heart shatter like the most fragile crystal tinkling into narrow shards? Where had the man she’d known all of her life gone? This stranger was not her father. “Why?” she asked, struggling to understand what had broken in him.

  “Shut up and sit down.”

  Unheard of. He’d never told her to shut up. They didn’t speak to each other this way.

  This was neither conversation nor constructive debate.

  “Easy,” Noah murmured. Monica didn’t know whether he referred to her or her dad.

  “And you, Noah? Where do you stand?”

  “I don’t agree with your dad’s methods, Monica, but I get where he’s coming from. He’s trying to make Marcie part of the family. What’s wrong with that?”

  “What’s wrong is that he’s doing it at my expense. Why don’t you see that?”

  Monica turned to her father. “I will never forgive you for this.” She glared at her sister. “And you! What have you been doing to my dad that he would behave so out of character? What have you been plotting? One day you’re going to realize what a mistake you made in tearing our lives apart.”

  “Monica!” The neighbors probably heard Dad’s shout, but Monica kept her attention on Marcie, whose mouth had gone white at the corners. She was furious. So was Monica.

  “You are manipulative and mean-spirited.”

  Her father shot to his feet. “Apologize this instant!”

  “No, Dad. You win. The charity benefit is off.” To Noah, she said, “I will show up at the farm every morning on weekdays to finish my mandated hours, but that’s it. You want help with anything else, ask her, or him.”

  She threw her napkin onto the table and stormed to the hallway. At the door, she said, “You men are a pair of fools. You’ll learn too late how stupid you’ve been in being conned by her.”

  “She’s my daughter.” Her father stood at the head of the table, red-faced, but she no longer considered him the head of the family. She had no family. “You may not talk about Marcie like that.”

  “I can. I will. I did.”

  “Then don’t bother coming back to this house until you’ve learned to behave.”

  Her heart breaking became a keening cry. Dear good God, how had it come to this? She had to leave before she broke down.

  She heard Noah suck in a breath. “Hey. This is all going too far. Everyone calm down.”

  “You and Mom made a huge mistake years ago and now I’m paying the price.” Her voice broke.

  “And why not?” Marcie shouted and Monica saw real pain in the depths of her eyes. “For years, I paid the price. Now it’s your turn. Fair is fair.”

  “You don’t want just your fair share. You want it all. You want everything I have. In fact, you want to annihilate me. We could have made this work if you had come here with different goals, but I no longer trust you. It’s too late now. Go to hell.” She met the hostile gazes of all three people at the table. “All of you go to hell.”

  She left the house, walking with long strides to put distance between herself and that ugly scene...and those people. She’d lost her life.

  Even before she heard footsteps behind her, she knew Noah would come after her.

  He grasped her elbow to spin her around. “Don’t you think you were being harsh back there?”

  He looked at her as though the whole incident had been her fault. “No, Noah, I don’t. I thought you were there to support me. How was it your business to invite Marcie to help me?”

  He spread his hands, clearly lost. “In the kitchen, she offered. I thought it was a good idea to get past everything. I thought she was sincere.”

  “Why? Did you think I’m too stupid to figure out what’s right for my family and what isn’t? What will work for me and what won’t? Do you think only you can determine how to get past everything? Do you, with your mighty brain, believe you know what’s right for everyone? Even me? Or especially me?”

  “No, but...”

  “But?”

  “I guess I did it for Marcie. She missed out on a lot in her childhood.”

  She crossed her arms hard against her body, preserving what little warmth she had left. “Since when have you become such good friends with her?”

  “I’m not, but I see the real inequity in the situation.”

  “Your prejudice is showing. You have always resented what I grew up with, Noah. You think that because Marcie grew up with less than me that she deserves more than me. Well, guess what? You’re wrong.”

  That he had sided with her sister saddened her to no end. “Here’s the thing, Noah. She’s here to take as much as she can get, but she’s also here for revenge. She wants to take me down because, in her eyes, I was the chosen sister.”

  The sun’s morning rays turned his hair to flames as they always did. She’d grown to love the color. This morning all of that beauty hurt her eyes. “I think you’re exaggerating,” he said.

  “Of course you do, because despite how much we’ve come to mean to each other, you still think I’m not as smart as you. You think you know better about everything than I do. You know what, Noah? There are all kinds of ways to be smart. There are different kinds of intelligence. I’m not exaggerating about Marcie and I’m not wrong about her. You’ll see. She wants everything that I have and she’ll get it in any way she can. She wants to destroy me.”

  “That’s outlandish. She’s not the evil stepsister from a fairy tale.”

  “No, she isn’t evil, but she is desperate. She wants too much and she will use Dad, and even you, to g
et it. She knows what’s between you and me, and it’s eating her alive. She wants it for herself. She wants everything that I have. Everything.”

  “You’re behaving like a jealous shrew.”

  All affection for him fled. She turned to walk away. “This conversation is over.”

  “Wait. Is...” He looked shell-shocked. “Is it over? Or is there something still between us?”

  “There was, Noah. There isn’t anymore.”

  “But—”

  “Goodbye, Noah. I’ll be at the farm bright and early every day to do my two hours and then I’ll be gone. I’ll pay my dues like a good repentant girl, but only the minimum. For all of the rest, you’re on your own.”

  “Monica, please. Let’s rethink the things that were said here.”

  “Goodbye.” He must have heard the finality in her voice because he let her go.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  MONICA MARCHED STRAIGHT to John Spade’s office.

  “John, I need your help. I need a friend.” She didn’t care that both his receptionist and Kayla witnessed her asking John Spade for friendship.

  After one look at her face, he said, “Come into the office.” He closed the door behind them. “Sit. Explain.”

  She told him what had just happened at her father’s house and what her dad was prepared to do to scuttle the benefit. She also shared all of her concerns about Marcie.

  “If you tell me you’re on her side, or if you tell me I’m just being jealous and should accept my sister the way she is, I will go buy a gun and shoot you, John. I’ve had it with people not trusting my intuition.”

  “I trust you, Monica.” He smiled grimly. “I trust your intuition. Your sister is needy. She wants a lot of things. Understandably so.”

  She shot out of her chair.

  “Relax,” he said. “I’m on your side.”

  Monica moved to stand in front of the window, staring unseeing into a small alley between two buildings. It connected to the alleyway that ran along the back of the shops on Main Street. Her vision blurred. She didn’t want John to see how close she was to losing control.

  What was happening to her that she couldn’t keep her emotions locked inside where they belonged? She’d never had trouble in the past. She’d done most of her grieving for Billy privately. Maybe that had been the wrong thing to do. Maybe all of the emotions she kept in close check needed to come out.

  “So you believe me that she’s pushing herself too far into my life?” she asked.

  “Yes,” he said from right behind her. She hadn’t heard him stand and approach. His hands rested on her shoulders, their weight reassuring. “For the record, I do like her, but she definitely wants what you’ve always had.”

  Curious, Monica asked, “How do you know?”

  “I’ve had a couple of conversations with her. I like both of you. I like how different you two are. You know how much I respect you, Monica, and your instincts are good here, but maybe you should consider giving her a role in the benefit.”

  She threw off his hands and paced to the other side of the room. “What’s wrong with you damned men? She tries to take everything from me and you all love her.” He raised one brow when she swore. “I’ve been the good little girl all of my life and all of you treat me like dirt.”

  “Let’s get something straight.” His voice had hardened, all traces of amusement gone. “I don’t treat you like dirt. I hold you in the highest esteem.” He sat behind his desk again. “You can come in here and criticize your sister and I will not think less of you. I appreciate your honesty. One thing I won’t accept, though, is you telling me I treat you badly.”

  She fell into the chair and covered her face with one hand, unable to stare down his disappointment in her. “True. You’ve always been wonderful to me.”

  “Also, while I might like your sister’s devious mind, would I trust her if I were you? Not by a long shot. As I said, she is needy, and that neediness will motivate her to do things she shouldn’t.”

  He twirled a pen in his fingers, lost in thought. “Okay, let’s talk about how we’re going to get your father to cooperate where the benefit is concerned.”

  “It no longer matters. I’ve washed my hands of it. Noah was there and didn’t support me, either. He was encouraging me to take help from Marcie. If you see her so clearly, you must see that would be disastrous.”

  “Difficult, yes. Disastrous, no.”

  “I wanted her to make jewelry for the auction. Dad wasn’t happy with that. He wants her to have an equal role in organizing the event. She has no background in this at all. Zero.”

  “Your father is misguided in this.” He leaned back in his chair. “As far as Noah goes, he’s being an idiot.”

  Her laugh sounded bitter. “I think so, too.” It was mean-spirited and she shouldn’t like it, but she did.

  “He has you. Why on earth would he destroy whatever it is that’s building between you?”

  “How do you know there’s anything happening between us?”

  “In this town? Everyone knows everything, Monica. You know that. Nothing can be hidden.”

  “You’re right. Of course everyone knows. But to get back to the important point, Noah is being an idiot. He’s getting what he deserves.”

  “On the other hand, Monica, he does need this benefit. The second I heard about the benefit for his charity I knew it was the right thing to do. There are families hurting in Colorado and people like Noah make a difference.”

  “I didn’t realize you were an altruist.”

  “I’m not, but neither am I blind. I see what happens to families like the Keils, and it isn’t because they aren’t hard workers. Sometimes people need a helping hand. The good ones, at any rate. Given that, the people who will really suffer from this fund-raiser not happening will be those who would have benefited by this charity, not Noah.”

  He had a point, damn him. “If I do decide to go ahead with this, what can I do? Sue my father? That seems extreme.”

  “You don’t have to do a thing. Your father brought me his business when I first opened here nearly twenty years ago. We’ve been doing business ever since. I’ll reason with him.”

  Monica wondered what form John’s reasoning would take. “Knowing how cutthroat you are, I’m sure he’ll listen.”

  “I prefer to think of myself as persuasive.” His smile, though, was pure pirate.

  “What do I do about Marcie?”

  “Give her something safe to do.”

  “I truly did want her to donate jewelry for the silent auction. I was sincere about that. Her work is fantastic.”

  “Persuade her to do that and then augment it with a job that won’t interfere with your control of the project.”

  “Okay.” A weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She stood and he followed suit. “Thank you. You’ve been wonderful. I’ve taken your valuable time. Please bill me for it, okay?”

  His quelling look chastised her. “I will not. My door is always open for you, Monica.”

  On impulse, she leaned across the desk and kissed him, sweetly, because she felt no romantic attraction to him, but she did appreciate him.

  He kissed her back, just as sweetly. “It’s too bad things couldn’t have worked out between us.”

  “It is, but I’m not your type, John.” At the door she halted with her hand on the knob, struck by a truth. “Marcie is, isn’t she?”

  He took his time responding as he stared down at the desk, before raising his intense dark gaze to hers. “She is.”

  “Another man I’ve lost to her.”

  “No. I will always be your friend.”

  “At the moment, John, that is of far more value to me than sex or romantic love.” They shared a moment of mutually reflected admiration
and then she left.

  Out in John’s waiting room, Kayla approached her.

  “I know we aren’t close friends, Monica, but if you need anything from me, will you please let me know?”

  “Do you know what I would like from you, Kayla?”

  Kayla shook her head.

  “To be close friends. Let’s go out for coffee one day soon.”

  “I would like that a lot, Monica.”

  Monica smiled and left.

  Bad timing. Noah walked down the street heading to his store.

  She tried to deke around him, but he wouldn’t let her pass.

  “Monica, I’ve been thinking.”

  “Exercising that massive brain of yours?”

  He smiled ruefully. “Yeah. It wasn’t working too well at breakfast, was it? You invited me over to lend you support and I failed you.” He shuffled his feet. “I know I let you down. I apologize.”

  “Okay. Thanks. I appreciate it.”

  He looked at her skeptically. “I’m being sincere here, Monica.”

  “So am I. I appreciate the apology. I would have appreciated support against my father and Marcie even more. The damage has already been done.”

  A brief pained expression flitted across his face. “Is it irreversible?”

  She studied him, cataloguing all of the features of his face that had become dear to her. “I don’t know,” she answered quietly. “I honestly don’t know. I thought we were developing a friendship.”

  “So did I.” He reached a tentative hand to her shoulder. “I—I don’t have the words to make it right.”

  “Let it go. I’m too tired to deal with this anymore right now. I need to go home and get dressed for work.”

  He stepped away, clearly dissatisfied, but he would just have to deal with it. She had enough of her own stuff to take care of.

  So John would get the charity back on track, but what would she do about the business? She couldn’t compel her father to give her that money. There would be no shop. She had only just found her dream and already it was over.

  She and Noah parted ways, each walking away in their own directions, and Monica had never felt so separate from the world and the people around her.