True Love

by Jude Deveraux

  “He’s been seeing your mother off and on for the past twenty-two years. So why now?”

  “Is there someone different here now?”

  “Actually, there is. Jilly.”

  “Parthenia!” Alix said and turned around to look at him. “Maybe it’s not just one person who mattered, but all of them. And think how it happened, from designing the chapel to Izzy’s relatives fighting, even to finding Valentina’s journal. Maybe now that all of us have gathered together, he can leave. We’re a sort of séance of spirits from the past.”

  “I like that idea very much,” he said, thinking that if she was right, it meant that Victoria was in no danger. He kissed Alix firmly. “Thanks. You’ve made me feel better. But then you always do.” He glanced out the window to see the growing daylight. Victoria would be up soon. “I was thinking that we should turn Valentina’s journal over to your mother now, before the wedding. It might keep her occupied enough that you and I can do all the things Toby has planned.”

  “Good idea. Izzy’s guests will start arriving day after tomorrow and we have to meet planes and ferries, then we have to get them settled. How angry do you think they’re going to be when we tell them that Izzy isn’t here?”

  He caressed her cheek. “Do you care?”

  “No,” she said. “Because of the way they’ve treated Izzy, I don’t. I do feel bad about not letting Mom know, but she’d—”

  “Put you in a dress with a train so long that you’d have to attach a caboose?”

  Laughing, Alix put her arms around his neck. “I love you.”

  “Nice to finally hear it,” he said. “I thought maybe you said yes just to get near Montgomery.”

  “I would never do that,” she said. “However …” She kissed his neck. “Maybe he could give me a short course on lighting. Just a little one.”

  “Yeah, okay,” he said as he pushed her down on the sofa, “but I get a poem for each lesson. In the meantime, tell me that one about my lower lip again, especially the soft and succulent part.”

  “I rather like the to draw it in, to caress it, to feel it against my own part better.”

  “Recite the whole thing again and let me decide.” He was kissing her deeply.

  Chapter Thirty-three

  It was five A.M. and this evening Jared was to get married. He should have been the happiest man alive, but all he could think was, Was Victoria alive? Would she be alive at the end of the day?

  He was sitting on the little couch in the attic, his hands in his pockets, and sporting a never-ending frown. For one thing, the attic felt empty. The great heap of boxes was still there, but something was missing—and he knew what it was. All his life, anytime he’d entered the attic, his grandfather had appeared. It was one of the constants of his life. An hour after Jared had been told of his father’s death, he’d run up to the attic. His grandfather had sat by him while Jared stared into space, unable to comprehend what had happened.

  Today, for the first time, he didn’t feel the presence of his grandfather. The room felt hollow, empty, as barren as a sea with no wind.

  Had his grandfather already left the earth? It had been the twenty-third for five whole hours, so maybe Caleb had departed at midnight. If so, Jared hadn’t said goodbye to him. Their last time together had been too abrupt. Things were left unsaid. When they’d last spoken, Jared hadn’t thought of pleasant goodbyes. He’d only been concerned for Victoria.

  And if Caleb had left the earth, it could mean that Victoria was gone. Right now she could be lying in her bed and … and not alive, he thought.

  When he heard someone on the stairs, his heart leaped. His grandfather? Alix? Maybe even Victoria? But Alix had spent the night at Toby and Lexie’s house so she and Jared wouldn’t see each other. They’d all worried about keeping the wedding a secret from Victoria, but she was now so engrossed in Valentina’s journal that she wouldn’t have noticed an earthquake. The only person she was interested in speaking to was Dr. Huntley, as she spent hours picking his brain about Nantucket history. Last night the poor man had fallen asleep on the big couch. Jared had volunteered to drive him home but Victoria said to leave him. Poor man, Jared thought. Victoria meant to start all over again first thing in the morning.

  If she was still alive, he couldn’t help thinking.

  Saying goodnight to her last night had been difficult. When she was heading to bed, Jared kept hugging her.

  “Jared! What in the world is wrong with you?” she’d asked.

  “Nothing.” He stepped back and looked at her, noting that her hair was a darker auburn than it had been when he’d met her so many years before. He always gave credit to Ken for saving his life, but Victoria had been there too. It was Victoria who had helped Jared after his mother died. Victoria hadn’t been a bottomless well of sympathy as his relatives had been. Poor Jared, they’d said, an orphan who now bore the entire burden of the Kingsley family.

  Instead, Victoria had made Jared laugh. While she was on Nantucket she’d thrown parties and invited people he liked. When she was off-island she’d sent him funny little postcards and emails, and they’d often talked on the phone.

  “Jared?” Victoria asked. “You’re looking at me very oddly.”

  “I’m just remembering things. Are you sure the doc will be okay on the couch?”

  “He’ll be fine. I want to get up early for the wedding, so I’ll check on him then.”

  Alarms went off in Jared’s head. “Why do you have to get up early? I mean, aren’t Lexie and Toby handling everything?”

  “And Alix. She’s the maid of honor, but you’re right. Maybe I should go over there and check on them now. Is it too late now to call and talk to Izzy?”

  “Yes!” Jared said. He knew Izzy and Glenn had made it safely to Bermuda, as they had sent him a long email thanking him for flying their siblings and three friends there. Jared felt it was the least he could do since he and Alix were taking over Izzy’s beautiful wedding. “I mean it is much too late. The girls said they were going to be … uh, polishing their toenails tonight.”

  “Really, Jared!” Victoria said. “You can’t possibly be that naive. They’re going to go out to drink a lot and flirt with boys.”

  “You think so?” Jared said, sounding as naive as Victoria seemed to think he was. “But, yeah, I’m sure they are.”

  “I still don’t understand why Izzy wanted to stay with Lexie and Toby and not here. This house is larger.”

  “They don’t want to be around Tim and me.” His business partner had flown in early yesterday with a tux and a diamond tennis bracelet. “It’s for the bride. I thought it would be a better gift than a toaster.”

  Jared had stared at the bracelet in puzzlement. “It’s an expensive gift for someone you’ve never met. Izzy is—”

  “Izzy? This is for Alix. It’s you and her getting hitched, right?”

  “How did you figure that out?”

  “You wouldn’t invite me to an unknown person’s wedding, would you? Certainly not with a tux.”

  For Jared it was a relief to have another man to talk to about the coming wedding. Ken was busy during the day putting the finishing touches on the chapel and his evenings were spent with Jilly. Jared thought perhaps they were no longer in separate bedrooms.

  Jared talked with Tim, a great money person, about the arrangements for the wedding, and about how the gifts would go to Izzy and Glenn, who needed them. “Kingsley House certainly doesn’t need anything added to it.”

  Tim, who was married, had set Jared straight on that issue. “Alix may not want a new blender, but there must be something that she truly wants.”

  Jared realized what that was. “Her own office here on Nantucket.”

  The only place that made sense as an office was the two-bedroom maid’s quarters. Victoria was out for the day so they could do it.

  “You’ll need the other bedrooms for the kids,” Tim said. “In my experience they start coming about six months after the ceremony.�
�

  “Alix might like that,” Jared said.

  “You two have talked about kids?”

  “It was either that or ghosts, so we went with kids.”

  “Wise choice.”

  Jared called a couple of cousins, who called some more, so they had enough people hired to remove the old wallpaper and paint the rooms. While they worked, Tim and Jared went shopping the Nantucket way, meaning that they raided the attics of the old houses the Kingsley family owned. They found everything they needed except for a drafting table.

  Jared and Tim looked at each other and said, “Stanley.” It took only one call and Stanley said he’d fly over with the table the next day and would install it during the wedding.

  By ten that night they had it done. They’d moved Jared’s office in from the guesthouse so he and Alix would be together. They’d found some magnificent artifacts hidden in the attics, from scrimshaw to whale bones, and they hung them about the rooms. The only thing they didn’t have was the table. Stanley had managed to find an ex-client who was going to Nantucket on his private jet, and he was giving a ride to Stanley and the table.

  All in all, Jared was glad for the physical labor of the day. It kept him from thinking about what might happen the next day.

  It was late when the house was finally quiet, and, with Tim asleep upstairs, Jared found Dr. Huntley on the couch. Poor man, it looked as though Victoria had exhausted him. There were circles under his eyes and his skin had a gray pallor to it. Tomorrow after the wedding Jared was going to tell Victoria to let the man rest.

  At that thought, all Jared’s anxiety came back to him. Tomorrow was the twenty-third, and his grandfather would leave the earth forever. The question was whether Victoria would go with him.

  He saw her in the hallway and was afraid to leave her. When they finally said goodnight, he wondered if he’d ever see her alive again.

  As soon as she went into her bedroom, Jared started toward the attic stairs. He meant to go talk to his grandfather, but he took one step and was so overcome with sleepiness that he almost fell. He had no doubt on earth that Caleb was doing this, using his new powers to control and manipulate.

  Jared fought the feeling of being drugged, but it was no use. The door to Alix’s bedroom was open and the bed—tidily made and so very soft looking—pulled him in. He barely made it to the bed before he fell across it and was sound asleep.

  That had been last night, and now he was sitting in the attic, where he’d always gone when he was upset. He wasn’t sure whether this was going to be the happiest day of his life or the worst. Tim appeared in the doorway. His friend had visited Nantucket often and knew that Jared often hid out upstairs.

  “Please tell me you’re not changing your mind,” Tim said as he sat down in the wing chair.

  “Change my mind? What are you talking about?”

  “You look like a man who’s going to be executed, not a happy bridegroom.”

  Jared tried to remove the frown from his face, but it wouldn’t leave. “Everything is great with Alix. It’s just …” He trailed off. “If I asked you to do something with no questions, would you do it?”

  “Does it involve firearms?”

  “Only a beautiful woman.”

  “I agree. No questions asked. Don’t tell the wife.”

  Jared didn’t smile. “I want you to go downstairs, open Victoria’s bedroom door, look inside, and check on her.”

  Tim had met Victoria yesterday and had made some jokes about his own mother-in-law not looking like that. “Peeping in her bedroom? That’s a bit invasive, isn’t it? Illegal, maybe?”

  “No questions, remember?”

  Tim raised his eyebrows but stood up. “This isn’t a question, but is there anything special I’m supposed to see? And if she asks what the hell I’m doing, what do I say?”

  “I only care that she’s still breathing and you can tell her that you got the wrong room.”

  “Breathing? As in alive?”

  Jared didn’t answer, just looked at his friend, and Tim left. While he was gone, Jared didn’t think he took a breath. He could feel his heart pounding in his throat.

  It seemed like an hour before he heard Tim on the stairs again, and Jared’s right hand gripped the arm of the couch so tightly he probably left fingerprints in the wood.

  “She’s fine,” Tim said as he came through the doorway.

  “What does that mean?”

  He sat back down in the chair. “It means that she’s all right. She’s sound asleep.”

  “Are you sure she’s breathing?”

  “What is wrong with you?” Tim asked, exasperated.

  “I just want to know for sure that Victoria is well and healthy.”

  “Yes, she is breathing, and she certainly looked healthy to me. When I opened her door, she turned over in the bed. I guess you know that she sleeps in the raw.”

  Jared took a relieved breath of air. Caleb Kingsley hadn’t taken his beloved Valentina’s spirit with him when he left the earth.

  Jared took a few more breaths, the frown left his brow, and a smile followed.

  Tim was watching him. “What in the world happened to make you think your bride’s mother wouldn’t be alive this morning?”

  “If I told you, you wouldn’t believe me,” Jared said, a full-fledged smile on his face now. “You’re my best man, so tell me what we need to do to get ready for this shindig.”

  “First, we have to choose some poor sucker to tell the crowd that Izzy and Glenn have been replaced by a couple they don’t know. That crowd is going to be pretty angry at having gone to all this trouble just to see someone else’s kids get married. Not to mention the expense.”

  “Tim, old friend, your job is to get an accounting from each of them and reimburse them. The point of all this has been to keep them away from Izzy and let her have some peace. They won’t be out any money.”

  Tim sighed. “I’m glad you’re getting married, but I guess this means you won’t be in the office on Monday. Honeymoon and all that.”

  Jared stood up. “You haven’t met Alix. Her idea of a honeymoon will be to get her hands on every commission my company has and scrutinize every line of every plan. Those kids you hired are at last going to see some real talent—and precision. Ken taught her well.”

  “She won’t hand out balloons and gold stars?”

  Jared snorted. “I drew a wall four inches off and she told me—me!—that I needed to improve my observation skills.”

  Tim was looking at him with wide eyes. “If I weren’t already married and you weren’t marrying her, I’d call her right now and propose.”

  “Naw, this one is mine and I’m keeping her. Let’s go to Downyflake and get something to eat. After we tell Ken he’s to inform the crowd of the change, that is.”

  “We better invite him to go with us. Poor guy,” Tim said in sympathy.

  “Don’t worry about him. He owes me big time. You see, I brought Parthenia to him.”

  “I thought the woman I met was named Jilly.”

  “Victoria, Valentina, Parthenia, Jilly, it’s all the same.”

  Tim stopped at the head of the stairs and looked at him. “You really need to get back to New York. This island is doing something to your mind.”

  Jared was grinning. “What can I say? It’s Nantucket.”

  It took both her bridesmaids to get Alix into Aunt Addy’s dress, which made her wonder how she’d put it on the first time by herself. She paused with her hand on her cuff and wondered if Captain Caleb had somehow helped. That thought made her suppress a giggle. “Has anyone seen Jared today?” she asked.

  They were in the house Lexie and Toby shared and the young women were wearing the dresses they’d bought in New York: a simple style but in glorious colors of sapphire and ruby. The hairdresser and makeup man had been and gone and it was less than two hours until Alix was to walk down the aisle.

  Lexie stood up, scrutinizing the crisp, clean skirt. “He went with Tim
and Ken to Downy this morning. I don’t know what they’ve done the rest of the day, but I think they’re planning to give Ken the job of telling the guests that Izzy and Glenn aren’t here.”

  “You know,” Alix said, “I feel bad that Izzy’s mom won’t see her get married.”

  “So they’ll have a second ceremony later,” Lexie said. She was always sensible.

  Toby picked up the veil. “Alix, you only feel bad about Izzy’s parents missing out because you have a great mother. Those of us who don’t would look forward to a peaceful wedding, however we could get it.”

  “I do have a great mother, don’t I?” Alix said softly.

  “Do not cry!” Lexie ordered. “You’ll have mascara all down your face.”

  “Okay,” Alix said and sniffed as Toby handed her a tissue. “Tell me again what the plan is.”

  “We go to the chapel and you’re to wait in the small tent with Jilly until your dad has dropped the news bomb,” Lexie said. “After the blood from the ensuing battle is cleared out, Toby and I will walk down the aisle first, then Ken comes with you. After that we eat and dance. Simple.”

  “Mom’s going to be really hurt,” Alix whispered.

  For a moment the two women just looked at her, unable to reply, but then Lexie said, “Let’s leave. We need to get this show going.” She glanced at Toby. At first it had seemed like a great idea to not let Victoria boss everyone around, but when you got down to it, Victoria was Alix’s mother.

  Lexie had borrowed her boss’s driver and Bentley for the day and they helped Alix get inside. She was so quiet that no one else spoke on the short drive to the North Shore.

  There were a lot of cars there but only a few guests were outside, all of whom Lexie shooed away so they wouldn’t see the bride. They quickly ushered her into one of the two tents that were set up with tables and chairs. It was a beautiful sight, with white tablecloths and bouquets of blue hyacinths, cream-colored roses, and sprigs of grasses, all tied with pale blue ribbons. Big ribbons of a darker blue were on the backs of each chair and draped around the top of the tent.