“C’mon, we’d best get back. I won’t forget about what you said.” He slid the door back. “But I don't have a lot of time left.”
She gave him a sympathetic nod then went to join Guy on the sofa. Keely stood to greet her sister, hugging her then resting her hand on her sister’s belly.
“How’s the little one?”
Clarissa sparkled.
“Everything’s good.” She sat down beside Guy taking her first sip of tea. “Damn! This is good.”
“I told you.”
Keely beamed with pride. Nick moved behind her and put his hands on her shoulders as he shrugged off the compliment.
“I’m from Virginia, which is marginally South, but Mama’s a Georgia peach, born and bred. We get that stuff in our bottles the way the French get wine.”
Everyone laughed. Nick took the chair from Keely and pulled her down into his lap.
She tried to push out of his arms but he held her tight.
“We have company.”
She feigned displeasure for him. He just smiled.
“This isn’t company, this is family, baby. That’s different.”
And he determined to fight damn hard to keep this family, just the way it was now.
• • •
It was with great pleasure that Keely discovered the conversation flowed easily between the four of them over the course of the evening. Guy and Nick even discovered they shared a Star Trek fetish.
“My friend Matthew fiendishly got me hooked, then got married. Now he’d rather watch with his wife. Go figure.”
He squeezed Keely, she rested her head on his shoulder.
Dinner was perfectly prepared and served and thoroughly enjoyed. After, they moved out to the balcony to await the fireworks. Nick and Keely gave Clarissa and Guy the lounge and they rested against the wall in one another’s arms.
“You guys do this every night?”
Keely giggled, “Yeah.”
“God, Keely. I’ve never heard you giggle so much in our entire lives.” Clarissa gave an affectionate smile towards Nick. “He has a nice affect on you.”
Keely was thankful there was no more time for talking. The first of the fireworks exploded in red into the night sky. She’d been having a wonderful evening in spite of her sister’s constant hints about how perfect Nick was for her. It was irritating because Rissa knew. She knew why Nick and her could never be.
She got so involved in her own thoughts, for the first time she missed most of the fireworks. She was only brought back to reality when she felt Nick’s mouth on her neck and he whispered in her ear, “I love you.”
It was really only the second time he’d said it, although she’d seen him purposefully not say it on a lot of occasions. She felt so horrible, even though she felt the same, she couldn’t say it back. Romantic love didn’t exist for her, never had, couldn’t now, so why bother ruminating over it? She lost her thoughts again as she could feel the heat of his body through their clothes and wished they were naked in his bed right now.
Her body had become so responsive to his over the past week and a half, that sometimes she’d only have to hear his voice to get turned on. She took a long, slow breath, then turned and kissed him. Vaguely aware of her sister’s comments and cat calls, she ignored them and soon thought Clarissa and Guy were involved in similar activities.
When the fireworks ended, Nick squeezed Keely’s hand. “Stay out here with your sister for a bit. Guy and I’ll go clean up.”
“We will?”
Nick laughed.
“Yeah, and we’ll debate which Star Trek series is better, the original, or Next Generation.”
A topic Keely knew Guy couldn’t refuse. He kissed Clarissa quickly and followed Nick inside the apartment. The women laughed as they left them, then Keely quickly settled in beside her sister, putting an arm around her shoulder.
“I’m so glad you guys came tonight.”
“So am I. I had no idea you were in love with him. Does this mean it’s ‘Adios, Derik’?”
Keely felt the blow hard, she removed her arm from around her sister’s shoulder and folded it with the other one across her chest.
“How could you even say something like that?”
“How could you even consider leaving a hot-blooded romantic like Nick for cold fish Derik?”
“How would you know whether Nick’s blood is hot or not?”
“Oh please. With the way he looks at you. And in case you haven’t noticed, he can’t go five minutes without touching you. I timed him.”
“You’re impossible.”
Keely would have left it at that, but Clarissa was not so inclined.
“And you’re nuts if you let this guy get away.”
Keely let out a slow breath, she didn’t want to say anything that would hurt her sister, but at the same time, she fell under attack.
“Rissa, I can’t change things. If I do, Mom loses everything.”
Clarissa’s cheeks were turning red.
“If you blow this over our stupid mother, I might blow an aneurism!”
She turned on the chaise and pulled one leg up under her.
“I mean, c’mon, Keely, what has that woman ever done to deserve any of what she’s got in the first place? Other than ridicule you into submission.”
The sisters sat in angry silence for a time, then Keely unfolded her arms and placed one around her sister’s shoulder again.
“I don't want to fight with you. We hardly ever get to see one another as it is.”
“That’d change if you’d marry Nick,” Clarissa sniped back.
“Rissa.” There was a warning in her tone this time. “If you can’t understand, then you’ll just have to trust me.”
Clarissa pulled away and again turned herself in the chaise.
“But I don’t. I think mom’s got you convinced you don't deserve any better than Derik. Nick loves you.” She flung her arm out in the direction she assumed the men were in and repeated herself. “He loves you, do you have any idea what a gift that is?”
Keely got up and leaned on the small wall that edged the balcony, her arms folded in defiance across her chest.
“He doesn’t know me, Rissa. It takes a lot longer to get to know someone than a couple of weeks.”
Her head dropped and she started playing with her nails. Her voice became small and she felt the fight go out of her.
“When he got to know the real me, he’d change his mind. I’m simply saving us both the hurt.”
Clarissa stood up and pulled up Keely’s chin until they were eye to eye.
“I’ve never seen you as happy and carefree as you’ve been tonight. This is the real you. It’s the fake you most of us get to see the rest of the time. Nick already loves the real you.” She kissed her sister’s cheek. “Think about that, would you?”
After Clarissa headed back inside, Keely stayed outside a while longer contemplating everything. It began to make her head hurt and she was still caught in the same circle. She went back in just in time to say good bye. She hugged Guy, then her sister. At the door Clarissa invited them both to dinner at her place in two nights and they agreed.
Normal. Huh, that’s so crazy.
When Nick closed the door, he suggested a late night dip. It sounded heavenly, so she ran to get her suit.
• • •
Nick and Keely arrived on Guy and Clarissa’s doorstep at precisely seven thirty two nights later. Keely’d been like an excited child all day. She’d baked a torte to bring and Nick stopped on the way to pick up flowers. She looked up at him as he rang the bell and he swore he was making headway. He saw it in her eyes. Every day he thought she came a little closer to saying yes to him, to making a life with him.
Guy opened the door with a grimace that instantly sent the hairs on the back of Nick’s neck on edge. Keely gave him an awkward hug, but he didn’t move to let them in. They’d come dressed casually tonight, both in jeans, Keely wore a deep purple halter top and Nick
wore a blue collared, black shirt that Keely had gone out of her way to let him know how sexy she thought he was. Guy seemed dressed similarly, but still something wasn’t right.
“Keely, I’m sorry. This wasn’t my idea, but I didn’t want to upset Clarissa, with the baby and all.” Guy whispered and checked over his shoulder several times as he spoke.
Keely looked at him worriedly, and Nick swore he coulds see the pit develop in her stomach.
“Do you want us to leave?”
“Yes, but Clarissa’d have my hide for it.”
In the distance, he heard Clarissa yelling for Guy to let them in, but something was terribly wrong. Keely looked up at him as if asking what he thought, but he was just as lost as she seemed. Guy eventually moved aside and they stepped into the small apartment.
Nick slid a possessive arm around Keely’s waist, he could sense something wasn’t right and he had an undeniable urge to keep Keely as close as possible. She seemed to feel similarly inclined as she was practically bruising his fingers as she held them.
As Guy took the flowers and the torte into the kitchen, a tall blonde woman came forward and Keely went pale. Her knees buckled slightly and Nick moved smoothly to compensate and held her tightly against him.
She uttered one word, “Mom.”
Chapter Eighteen
Keely took a step back, bumped against Nick, and froze.
“Keely, it’s good to see you.”
The woman moved forward to kiss her daughter on the cheek. Nick thought she was deceptively charming and graceful. He could tell he was in the room with the devil by the way her daughter reacted to her and that ice blue in the woman’s eyes.
She was admittedly a beautiful woman. Nick figured she was at least in her late forties, possibly early fifties, but she could have been mistaken easily for Keely’s older sister. Her short, black cocktail dress was silk and hung flawlessly over a curvy figure. He unkindly wondered why she didn’t just sell her own body instead of her daughter’s. She could have gotten enough for it.
“Who’s your friend, dear?”
Keely couldn’t seem to find her vocal controls. She blinked up at Nick, then back at her mother.
“That’s Nick Chilton. I told you Keely was bringing someone.” Clarissa’s voice sounded from the kitchen. “Nick this is our mother, Natasha.”
She held her hand out to Nick, he took it, lightly shaking it before releasing her.
“I know you did dear, but with Derik out of the country and all, I assumed it would be a girlfriend.”
She stared at Nick the entire time she addressed Clarissa. There was a challenge in her eyes that Nick met on every level.
“Have we met before, Mr. Chilton?”
“You met his father, at Derik’s fundraiser two Christmases ago.”
Keely’s voice was quiet, strained and cracked once. Nick wasn’t sure if he should sweep her out of there or let her fight this fight once and for all. This was the last hurdle. If he could somehow make Keely see that she wasn’t beholden to this woman, they could have their happily ever after.
“Oh Lord, that Chilton. The senator’s son. Of course. I see the resemblance now.”
Natasha was eighty pounds of charm in a ten pound bag, Nick decided. He knew she didn’t like him, was probably threatened by him. On the surface, however, you’d never know it.
“I’m very fond of several of your father’s platforms.” She put her arm through Nick’s and smoothly attempted to pull him away from Keely and into the other room.
“So how did you meet my daughter?” He didn’t want to start the night out on a sour note, so he let the woman have her way, but he wrapped his other arm securely around Keely and led her into the living room as well.
It was a small budget apartment—the type students usually lived in—and it appeared furnished in second-hand and thrift store finds, but he could see Clarissa’s touches to make it home and had to admit, it was a warm and friendly environment. Well, with the exception of the ice queen now sitting across from him and Keely.
She perched on a teal and gray tweed chair with stuffing leaking from its seams as if it were a royal throne. He and Keely took the sofa across from the chair. Keely stayed close to Nick, but he noticed she didn’t touch him and when he attempted to touch her, she stiffened. He didn’t like the effect her mother had on her one bit.
He spied Clarissa peeking through the oak shutters that separated the kitchen and living areas and shot her a questioning look. She closed the louvers quickly and loud banging sounds emanated from the kitchen shortly after that.
“Good God, Clarissa, what are you doing in there?”
Natasha sounded very put out. She pushed a hand though her sleek hair as she continued to eye Nick suspiciously.
“Nothing, mother. Dinner will be ready in a minute.”
Clarissa’s voice emanated from behind the shutters and Guy came out from the kitchen soon after that to set up the card table they’d be eating at. Nick helped bring in chairs and finally Clarissa covered the table in a lavender cloth with violets scattered about it.
“Since it’s such a small table, you and Keely’ll have to squish. You don't mind, do you, Nick?”
He looked at Keely, back to sitting prim and proper with a straight spine and her hands folded in her lap. Her mother sitting much the same way, except where Keely’s eyes seemed focused in her lap, Natasha’s seemed to be scrutinizing her wayward daughter.
“No, not at all.” He took Clarissa’s arm. “But let me help you in the kitchen.” He shot a look at Guy. “You don’t mind keeping the ladies company do you, Guy?”
He snorted, but didn’t complain, so Nick ushered Clarissa into the kitchen. She yanked her arm away from him.
“What do you think you’re doing? I’m in a delicate condition, you know.”
He used a controlled whisper to answer her. “I do know, that’s the only reason I didn’t pick you up and bodily carry you in here.”
She picked up an oven mitt and feigned shock every bit as well as her sister.
“You wouldn’t!”
“I most certainly would. Now what do you think you’re doing? And it better be good or else Keely and I won’t be staying for dinner.”
She pulled out a tray of lasagna and sat it on a stone tile sitting on the chipped laminate. Her kitchen was clean but very small, Nick had half expected her to ask him to hold the dish while she closed the oven door.
She dropped the oven mitt and removed her apron, then moved very close to Nick and began to whisper.
“That woman out there is the enemy, and I thought you’d have a better chance of slaying the dragon if you met it first. Now pick up those plates.”
She had spunk and she was bossy. Nick liked her and he picked up the plates. On the way back to the living room he whispered.
“If she gets nasty with Keely, I’ll have her out of here so fast you....”
Clarissa stopped fast and turned to Nick who nearly bumped into the tray of lasagna she was carrying.
“Her who?”
“What?” Nick shook his head.
“Her who? Which her will you have out? Because if I get any say...”
“You don’t.” He snapped. Happy he finally found an upper hand to hold on to.
“Okay, I can respect that. But if I did have a say, if you could rid me of the old bat, I’d appreciate it. I haven’t spoken to her in two years and I was more than happy with that arrangement, if you take Keely and leave Natasha here with me..” she drew a deep breath, “well, you wouldn’t be so cruel to a pregnant woman, would you?”
She batted her lashes at him and he gave her a nudge.
“Oh just go on, would you?”
He followed her back into the living room and took a quick look at Keely, no change. He set the plates on the coffee table were Clarissa showed him, then held his hand out to Keely.
“C’mon. Time to eat.”
She took it, but he wasn’t sure she was even aware of it.
He held out her chair for her and then, only because his mother had taught him so well, he held out Natasha’s chair as well.
Guy dished up plates of lasagna, broccoli and garlic bread and passed them around until everyone had one. There was a salad placed in the center of the table along with three bottles of dressing. Nick helped himself, not fully taking his eye off Natasha.
“This looks wonderful, Clarissa.”
“Thank you. I’m nowhere near as good a cook as Keely is, Nick, but I do okay.”
“You are so a good cook, Rissa.”
Nick could have leapt for joy. It was the first time since they’d stepped foot into this trap that Keely seemed herself.
“Your sister’s name is Clarissa, and you’ll do me the honor of calling her such in my presence.” The woman’s voice was ice.
“Sorry.” Keely’s was contrite.
Damn her!
Nick was in such shock, he couldn’t form a response. He knew his eyes had about fallen out of his head and Clarissa was now looking at him with the mother of all told-you-so looks on her pretty little face.
“I’m sorry, but what difference does it make what the girls call each other? I’m not sure how that’s any of your business, Mrs. Thornhill.”
Nick poured the dressing on his salad hoping to seem a little less on the attack. Natasha answered him much the way she would answer a question about the weather.
“Natasha, please. And I quite frankly don't see how it’s any of yours.”
Sugar sweet and framed with the eyelash bat that Nick was beginning to realize the Thornhill women had the market cornered on.
“Nick, please, just leave it.”
Keely pressed her hand onto his knee beneath the table. Silence permeated every molecule of space around them through half the dinner. Nick continued to shoot Clarissa how could you looks, and she kept shooting him do something looks. But that wasn’t getting anyone anywhere.
“Keely, dear, you never said when Derik was sending for you?”
Keely swallowed a bite of broccoli.
“My flight leaves a week from tomorrow.”
Nick wondered if he’d visibly paled. She hadn’t said a word to him.
“I’ve been trying to call you all week, you haven’t returned a single call. Maybe you should have the line checked.”
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