by Aubrey Dark
Was this what a normal family was like? I wondered how much of their easy manner with each other was due to their wealth. None of them had ever argued over money, I would bet. But even with that, there was something else between them, a deep love that shone through every tease and taunt across the dinner table. It was obvious that they were a family who understood each other, where everyone had a place to suit them. A happy family.
Then it happened. As the chef was clearing away the plates from dessert, the tray she was holding tipped. I watched as the whole tray crashed behind the table with a noise that echoed against the room’s walls.
“Do you need help?” I asked, going to stand up. A hoarse cry from William’s mom made me stop where I was.
“Dexter!”
I looked to where she was staring, fear washing over her.
At the head of the table, Dexter had frozen. His eyes were blank stares, and the arm holding his glass was quivering.
“What—”
“Dex? Hey Dex, it’s alright—”
Sanders put one hand on Dex’s shoulder, but Dexter jerked backwards in his chair, his eyes seeing nothing. His wine glass fell from his hand, shattering on the floor. He let out a low cry, strangled in his throat.
“Don’t touch him.”
The chef pushed Sanders’ arm back away from his brother.
“Give him some space,” she said, her voice professional and calm. “Mrs. Fawkes—”
“Let’s all go into the other room,” Bobbi said. Her voice struggled to be casual. “Shall we?”
I pushed my chair back, not understanding what was going on. William’s face was steel as he took my arm and led me back out to the living room. As we all made our way into the dim room, I leaned toward him.
“Is he alright?” I asked in a whisper.
“He’ll be fine,” William said.
“Should we call a doctor? Was it a seizure?”
“No,” William said firmly. “That woman in there is his personal doctor. He’ll be fine. Trust me.”
That woman? I’d thought she was the chef. What was happening? Was he having some kind of epileptic attack? My mind whirled with questions.
“But, I don’t—”
“We’ll talk about it later. It’s not your problem to deal with.” William put his wine glass down on the countertop and fixed me with a firm stare that shut down any more questions. “I’m going to the bathroom, and then we’re leaving.”
“Leaving? But what about Dexter?”
“Please don’t argue with me about this,” he said, his tone clearly expecting me to obey. And the strange part of it was, I did.
A cold dread gripped my chest. What had happened to his brother, and why was he so unwilling to discuss it? I wanted to ask Bobbi, but she was in the middle of a hushed conversation with Maddie. Uncertain, I wandered over to grab my coat from where I’d left it in the hallway, waving a short goodbye to William’s mother before I went through the doorway. She waved back, her eyes filled with tears, then turned away.
I didn’t know what had happened to Dexter, but something in me told me that there was a deeper pain hiding in this family.
“Sierra?”
I turned around and blinked before realizing who was in front of me.
“Sanders! Sorry, I haven’t gotten used to the idea of three of you yet,” I said, trying to keep things light. “Maybe you should dye your hair.”
“Well, there’s an easy way to tell us apart,” Sanders said, his eyes piercing. “William’s the only one with a birthmark, after all.”
“Oh, is that right?”
“Have you seen it yet?”
I flushed. Sanders had a hint of a suspicious look in his eyes, even though he was smiling.
“Not—not yet,” I said.
“Really? Even after three weeks?”
I shrugged. “We’ve been—uh— we’ve been taking things slow.”
I could have slapped myself in the face. Taking things slow! That was the opposite of what we were supposed to be doing! How would Sanders react once he found out that we were supposed to be married at the end of the month? But I couldn’t come up with another lie quickly enough. And I certainly couldn’t answer any questions about birthmarks in places I hadn’t seen yet.
“That’s surprising,” Sanders said, leaning too casually against the oak wall. “Will doesn’t usually like to dawdle.”
It was clear to me that Sanders was prying, pushing his nose in where it didn’t belong. And if he kept it up, he would get to the truth.
“I’ll be sure to let him know your thoughts on the matter,” I said, my lips drawn tight.
“Sierra.”
William was in the hallway.
“Oh, Will!” I hooked my hand through his arm. “Shall we go?”
“Yes. I’ll see you later, Sanders.”
Sanders gave me an exaggerated bow.
“It was good to meet the woman who finally caught my brother’s eye.”
“Nice to meet you, too,” I said, and forced a smile onto my face until we were through the door and out in the car.
Chapter 11
“Are you going to tell me what that was all about?”
I stiffened. Sierra was sitting next to me in the limousine, her voice tense with worry. Meanwhile, I stared out the window, studiously avoiding her stare.
“It’s nothing,” I said.
“It didn’t look like nothing. That was crazy. What happened to him?”
“He had some bad stuff happen to him in Iraq,” I said, trying to pick my way through an explanation that would satisfy her. “Sometimes he gets in a bad state.”
“A bad state? He looked nearly comatose back there!”
The dark cloud that had threatened my mood started to thunder ominously in my mind.
“That’s just what it looks like. It was the noise that did it.”
“The plates crashing?”
I nodded, looking out the window at the darkness, trying to let my nerves calm down. It worried me too, whenever Dexter went into a trance, but I didn’t want to focus on it. He would be embarrassed, but at least it had drawn some attention away from Sierra at the end of the dinner. I had been worried about things going well with all of the lies we’d told, but now whenever the family remembered meeting Sierra, there would be something else more important to take their minds off of the details. In a way, it was perfect timing.
“But will he be okay?”
I turned back to Sierra. A concerned look twisted her face into worry. And for the first time since we’d left, I realized that she was scared.
“Really, he’s alright,” I said, making my tone softer. “He’ll be fine. It takes some time for him to calm down when he gets like that. But the best thing we could do is leave him alone. Otherwise he’d just be embarrassed about it when he came out of…wherever he is during those attacks.”
“Why would he be embarrassed?”
I almost laughed at Sierra’s naive question.
“Our family—our dad never made a big deal out of anything,” I said. “We weren’t allowed to. And Dexter is big on keeping up appearances.”
“That’s insane.”
“Dex is a little insane,” I admitted. “He’s always been the most introverted of all of us. Sanders brings him out of his shell sometimes, but it’s hard to do. And now, with what happened to him…”
I trailed off.
“What happened to him?”
“I don’t think he’d want me to tell anyone,” I said firmly. “I barely know any details myself. We don’t talk about it much.”
Sierra still looked worried. I breathed out and drew my arm around her. It was strange for me to think of comforting someone else. I had never really dated anyone seriously, and it certainly wasn’t in my nature to comfort someone. But there was something about Sierra that made a protective instinct flare up inside of me. I could tell myself that I was faking it, but I wasn’t. As Sierra leaned into my chest, I felt a stirr
ing of emotion that threatened to choke me with its intensity.
“It’s alright,” I said, as much to myself as to her. “Everything will be fine. We’re almost home—”
“Home! Oh my gosh! What time is it?”
Sierra sat straight up in the seat, panic shooting across her face.
“It’s almost midnight,” I said, checking my watch.
“Kit! I told Teresa that I would call her at eleven and let her know when I was going to be able to pick her up!” Sierra scrambled for her phone.
“I’ve already taken care of it,” I said.
“Taken care of it?”
“I texted Shawna earlier tonight. She went to pick up Kit and get her settled in.” I didn’t tell Sierra that Shawna had chewed me out, saying that babysitting “was not part of the job description” and that I would have to find a new assistant if I insisted on it.
“Oh, thank God!” Sierra slumped back in relief. “Wait, settled in? What do you mean?”
We pulled into the driveway of the house.
“I decided that it would be best for you both to move in sooner rather than later.”
“She’s here? She’s in your house?”
“Don’t worry. I’ve asked Shawna to set up a makeshift nursery for tonight.”
“Why?” There was a look of anger on Sierra’s face that I didn’t understand. “Was this because you saw my place? Do you think my apartment isn’t good enough for us?”
“What? No. I only thought that it would be better for appearances if you moved in soon.”
“I already can’t answer your brothers’ questions! Why would you do this to me?”
“You signed the contract,” I said, frowning in confusion. “Moving in is one of the initial provisions—”
“Stop it. Alright. Just stop!”
Sierra nearly leapt out of the limousine and hurried inside the house without waiting for my answer.
I was taken aback by her reaction. With all of the commotion around Dexter’s attack, I hadn’t even considered that there might be any issue with moving them both in. And yes, it was true that after seeing her apartment, I couldn’t imagine why she would have problems with moving to a more spacious place.
Inside the house, I made my way back to where I’d instructed Shawna to set up the nursery.
“I can’t believe he would do this without asking me first,” I heard Sierra say. I stopped outside of the entrance to the room, listening.
“I’m sure he didn’t mean any harm by it,” Shawna’s hushed voice replied. “Will’s never been one to ask for a second opinion once his mind is made up about something.”
“Still, he could have said something.”
“He’s a good man,” Shawna said. “He probably thought you wouldn’t want to worry about it.”
“Ha. I worry about everything when it comes to Kit.”
My heart contracted. The relief in Sierra’s voice was palpable. And it hit me that I should have asked. Or if not asked, told her what I was planning at least. Her instincts toward her daughter were protective, that was all. Tonight, I’d felt my own kind of protective instincts kick in, and I understood her reaction a bit better.
“Well, I’ve got the baby monitor set up and wired into the intercom system, so you can hear her from whatever room you happen to be in.”
“Thank you. And thanks for taking care of Kit.”
“Hey, no problem. I never thought I’d be setting up a nursery as part of my to-do list. But your daughter is actually quite sweet.”
“Yeah, when she’s sleeping.”
“You’ll have to show Will how to take care of her.”
“Right. I don’t know if he’s exactly dad material, to be honest.” I heard Sierra chuckle, but her words pierced my ego. Sure, I didn’t know the last thing about kids. But that was because I’d never had any. I bristled with the insult.
“He’s the most intelligent and hardworking man I’ve ever met,” Shawna said. “If he decides he wants to be good at parenting, you can go ahead and buy the #1 Dad coffee mug, because I’ll guarantee you he’ll earn it.”
“You really like him.” Sierra’s voice was soft, and I strained to hear it from behind the doorway.
“He’s my favorite boss.”
“He doesn’t need to be a good dad, then. He can pay someone else to take care of his kids anyway, can’t he? That’s what rich people do, pay nannies to take care of their kids.”
“Spoken like someone who doesn’t care about getting laid.” Shawna’s rich laugh carried out to the hall. “I’m sure you’ll want alone time at some point.”
“Um, sure,” Sierra said. I could hear the awkward pause lengthen until she spoke again. “So will you show me how the intercom system works?”
I heard footsteps moving toward the door. Taking a few steps back into the hallway, I called out.
“Sierra?”
“Shhh!” Sierra’s head emerged from the doorway. Her face was dark, frowning. “Kit’s asleep.”
“Sorry,” I said, still upset about overhearing her insults. “Shawna, can I speak to you for a moment?”
“Sir?”
I grabbed her by her arm and pulled her away from the room.
“I’ll be back soon,” I said to Sierra’s questioning expression. I hurried Shawna out of hearing distance.
“Everything’s set up like you wanted, Will.”
“I know. I heard. Why are you poking the hornet’s nest like that?”
“Like what?”
“Talking about getting laid. I heard what you said about me—”
“I’m trying to get her on your side.”
“You don’t need to do that.”
“I didn’t want her to know that I know anything about the deal, alright? She doesn’t think I have the slightest clue about it. I’m just doing my job as your personal assistant.”
“You’re making things weird.”
“Why didn’t you tell her you were moving her kid in? That’s weird.”
“Now you’re on her side, too?”
I was trying to keep my voice down, but I couldn’t keep from getting upset.
“Of course not. But you should be nicer to her. Less controlling. She’s not just your second personal assistant, you know? She’s not your slave.”
“I never said—”
“No, but you’re making decisions without her. I know you’ve never been married before, Will, but that’s not how it works.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration.
“Alright,” I said. “Fine. I promise I won’t do it again.”
“Don’t make promises to me. Make promises to her. She’s already jealous.”
“Jealous? Of what?”
I turned to look down the hallway. Sierra’s head swiveled away from us. She’d been watching Shawna and me talk. It was odd. Not that I wanted her to be jealous, but I couldn’t help feel a certain amount of… pride? No, that wasn’t it. It made me want to go to her, put my arms around her.
“Jealous of a certain personal assistant.”
“You?”
“Don’t look so surprised, Will. I see what’s going on between you two.”
“This is a business arrangement,” I said, pushing the thought of Sierra and I out of my head.
“Right. Tell me that in another week. Also, you need to get me her last name so that I can do the background checks.”
“I’ll run them. Sorry, I haven’t asked her yet.”
“You had her sign the contract before doing the background checks?” Shawna looked at me in amazement. “Are you serious?”
“I’ll run them tonight. It’s no big deal.”
“Will, don’t let her carry you away.”
“I’m not getting carried away!” I said, flustered and trying not to show it. She was right. I needed to run all the checks as soon as I could. I didn’t know why Sierra had so much sway over my emotions. It had never been this way.
“Alright. Have a
good night with your jealous wife,” Shawna said. She leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek, winking before she turned and left. My face burned as I walked back toward Sierra, who was studiously focusing on the intercom.
“Sierra,” I said.
“What is it?” she snapped.
“We need to talk about tonight.”
“Sure,” she said, spinning on her heel and looking defiantly into my face. Even when angry, she looked utterly kissable. “I’m going to get a cup of tea from the kitchen first. Is that okay with you?”
“Of course.”
“Great,” she spat. “I’ll see you in a minute.”
I sighed as she strode angrily away from me. A jealous wife that I wasn’t even married to yet. Great. Just great.
Chapter 12
In the kitchen, I stirred a spoonful of sugar angrily into my tea. It wasn’t only that I was upset with William—it was true, I had signed the contract, and I should have talked with him about when he needed me to move in. It was his sheer arrogance that he assumed I wouldn’t mind moving in, that I would be happy to come and share his house with him.
What made me more upset than that, though, was the way he acted around Shawna. There was something going on between them, and although I didn’t want to admit it, that was what really made my heart throb with anger.
But why? I knew that I wasn’t going to be his real wife. So why was I acting so jealous? Of course he would be having flings with a bunch of pretty women. Rich men did that all the time—it was how I made a living. But seeing him deep in conversation with his personal assistant made my blood simmer with envy.
Waiting for my tea and my blood to cool off, I punched into the kitchen intercom to see if I could hear the baby monitor. With a crackle, the monitor noise snapped on.
“—are you doing, baby? Did you knock over any more statues while we were gone?”
It was William’s voice, nearly a whisper. I froze, one hand hovering above the intercom button, listening intently.
“Don’t worry if you do. I’ll try and get all of the breakables out of the way, but I’m sure you’ll find some that I hadn’t even thought of.”