“What was my first mistake?” He thought she’d say not choosing her. He was wrong. So very wrong. Marti never thought about herself first. Should have been his first clue as to who she really was, the kind of person she really was.
She didn’t turn around to face him, just said, “Continuing to blame yourself for Caroline’s death. It wasn’t your fault.”
She turned back. His shoulders sagged. He did what he always did when he was stressed out and frustrated, he rubbed the back of his neck. She smiled. She’d seen him do it often. She hoped one day she wouldn’t see him do it quite so much. She wouldn’t be here to see it. She had to put an end to this.
“George asked me to watch over Emma because he knows the minute you say your vows and the ring is on Shelly’s hand, she’ll turn on you and Emma and make your lives a living hell.
“I’d give you and Emma so much, and you turn your back on me and the love I offer to you, freely, no strings attached. No more, Cameron. I can’t do this anymore. It hurts too much to have you choose her over me, to have you put me last, to have you not even consider life with me as a possibility.
“She lied, Cameron.”
“She’s pregnant.”
With a shake of her head and a very heavy heart, she gave up. “I can’t take you making love to me like I’m your whole world, only to watch you turn your back on me when we’re done. Let me go. Say the words, Cameron, and let me go.”
“I can’t.” He wanted her to be happy. He wanted to be the one to make her happy. He couldn’t say the words. Nothing could make him say those words. Not when everything inside him wanted to hold onto her.
“Then you leave me no choice.” She walked away, up the back steps, leading into the west wing of the house.
He didn’t know exactly what she meant, except that he’d lost her forever. He sat on the bench, rain pouring over him, his hands on his knees and his head down between his shoulders, and wondered how he’d screwed up his life so badly he’d made the woman he loved hate him.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
* * *
MARTI STAYED IN her room. Cameron, Emma, and Shelly moved into the house on Sunday. Since the house had everything they would need and Cameron was keeping the penthouse, it was simply a matter of bringing in suitcases and a few boxes of personal belongings.
They moved around the house, but Marti couldn’t bring herself to even go out to see Emma and welcome her home. She watched Emma running in the garden and playing on her new play yard. Cameron pushed her on the swing and chased her around the huge back lawn.
Shelly complained about everything, annoying her the most. She didn’t like the room across the hall on Marti’s side of the house. Must be too far from the master bedroom and Cameron’s bed.
Marti wanted nothing more than to kick her out. Petty and childish, but it’s what she wanted to do.
Satisfaction came when Shelly discovered the bedroom bed and bath hadn’t been made up for a guest: no sheets or towels in the room, or fresh flowers like in Marti’s. Shelly practically screamed down the house calling for the maid. Marti had given the staff a few days off. The maid, the cook, and the gardener had all been given time off to grieve for their former employer.
Cameron knocked on her door several times. She didn’t answer. He’d finally resorted to sending Emma. She hated to ignore the little girl, so she’d simply told Emma she’d see her later. Emma left feeling rejected and Marti felt terrible for hurting her, but she needed time.
She’d only gone downstairs to get something to eat when she knew everyone was somewhere else in the house, or outside.
She’d stayed in her office-slash-studio working for hours and well into the night, until she was so exhausted she fell into bed and slept like the dead. When she was in her studio, she thought she heard someone outside the door. She wondered if it had been Cameron, but dismissed it as an old house settling.
Morning came quickly and so did the nausea greeting her each new day. She’d accepted it as part of being pregnant. Although she didn’t like it, it was kind of good to wake up each morning and be reminded she was going to have a baby. She’d rather her body told her in a different way. Soon it would. Her belly swelled, making her pants fit tighter around her waist.
She went down to Emma’s room and peeked inside. Emma was just waking up. She helped her dress and brushed and braided her hair down the back of her head. They went downstairs together. Still early, no one was in the kitchen. She began making Emma and her breakfast. She handed Emma some silverware and asked her to set up the table on the back patio.
Shelly came in, but Marti ignored her.
“Where’s the cook?”
“Gregory has the day off, along with the rest of the staff.”
Shelly frowned, showing her displeasure. Again, Marti ignored her.
“Well, it’s nice you’re making breakfast for everyone. You could have been more hospitable yesterday when we moved in.”
“You have a roof over your head. Be thankful for small favors.”
Marti continued making breakfast and sat out three plates. Jimmy came into the kitchen and she served him up a plate of pancakes and eggs with fresh fruit salad.
“Thanks, Miss Marti. I sure appreciate it. It’s hard being a bachelor. A good home-cooked meal is hard to come by.”
Marti gave Jimmy a warm smile. “Emma is on the back patio. Please, join us.”
“I’ll see you outside.” He took his plate and walked by Shelly with a good morning glare Marti appreciated.
“I like my eggs over easy.”
Marti didn’t say a word. She dished up two more plates for she and Emma, shut off the stove, and walked out the back door with the two plates.
Shelly huffed in outrage. It only made Marti smile more.
Cameron came in dressed for work and glanced at Shelly sitting at the table looking peeved. What now? “What’s the matter?”
“Her. You know what she did? She gave the staff the day off. She made breakfast for Emma and Jimmy and herself and not for me. She’s so rude. Who’s going to make me breakfast?”
Cameron didn’t know what to say. Shelly couldn’t actually expect Marti to make her breakfast.
“I guess you’ll have to make your own. I need to get to the office in a few minutes,” he said and poured a cup of coffee.
“You aren’t going to pour me a cup?”
“No. It’s not good for the baby. Have some orange juice.”
Marti walked in and passed him and poured a cup of coffee for Jimmy and got two glasses of orange juice for her and Emma.
“I’ve been wondering what was in the envelope you got from George that made you mad. It’s interesting he’d give you something just to upset you,” Shelly said.
“Keep wondering. It’s none of your business.”
“Just because you own half this house . . .”
“And all the contents in it,” Marti interrupted.
“Doesn’t give you the right to be rude,” Shelly finished.
“You’re right. I do it just to piss you off. I’d recommend you remember I own every piece of furniture, every rug, every picture, every plate, cup, spoon, fork, everything. It’s all mine. Move one thing without my permission and you’ll regret it. I’m sure you’ve already spent half the morning cataloguing how much everything in your room costs. Just remember, it’s all mine,” she said with a touch of sarcastic whimsy.
“How can you afford to pay the staff and the taxes and the upkeep of this house? You can’t possibly expect Cameron and I to pay for everything.”
“Cameron and I will work it out, since I know you aren’t bringing fifty million dollars to the wedding. You know, when he divorces you after he discovers you’re nothing but a lying bitch, you aren’t entitled to anything he has before the wedding. Not the money, not the house, nothing,” she smiled and started for the door.
“Marti.”
“Cameron,” she shot back, knowing he didn’t want her calling his fia
ncé a liar to her face, but she didn’t care and kept walking.
Cameron didn’t want to get in the middle of Shelly and Marti, but she’d given him the perfect opening to talk about the expenses for the house. “Wait, we do need to talk about this situation with the house. I’ll pay the expenses for the house and staff, but we need to talk about the living arrangements.”
“You know, it’s amazing how little you know about me. I guess now you’ll never know. I will pay half the expenses for the staff and everything else required for the house. As for the living situation, the west wing is mine. I expect whether I’m here or not, you’ll respect the boundary. As for the contents of the house, I’m serious, not a single candlestick gets moved without my permission.”
“You can’t possibly afford to pay the expenses on the house and property. A place this size costs a fortune to upkeep.”
“How do you know I can’t afford it? Tell me what you know about me. Am I rich? Poor? Middle class? What do I do for a living? How much money do I make? Here’s an easier one: what’s my last name? If you know the answer to even one of those questions, you have the answer you need.”
Those questions were just a few of the things he didn’t know about her.
“Well, Cameron? Who is she?” Shelly asked.
The woman I love. The woman I don’t know nearly enough about because I’ve been too selfish to ask and taking everything I could from her. I know she’s kind and doesn’t give her word unless she means it. I know she loves me. I don’t know who she is, and yet I know everything I need to know about her to fall head over heels in love with her.
I know she loves Emma like a mother should love her daughter.
“Cameron?” Shelly asked.
“She’s right. I don’t know any of those things about her. Not even her last name.”
“You won’t get any of those answers either. At least not from me.”
Surprised, Shelly knew they were attracted to each other and had been dancing around the situation since that night at the restaurant. Still, the hurt and pain in Cameron’s eyes at not knowing the answers to Marti’s questions surprised her. Did he feel that deeply for Marti? If so, that could be a real problem, especially this close to the wedding.
“I don’t know how we’ll live in this house together. What was George thinking when he gave half the house to each of you?” she asked.
Both Cameron and Marti knew what he was thinking: they’d work things out and be together.
“I’ll call you a taxi anytime you’re ready to leave,” Marti said sweetly.
“I’m pregnant and engaged to Cameron.”
“Sure you are, sweetie. Cameron’s the only one who believes that crap.”
“Marti, what’s gotten into you?” he asked, noticing she still looked pale and a little green this morning.
“You, the other night.”
He winced at her words.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Shelly darted glances from her to Cameron.
“Figure it out,” Marti said and walked out the door.
“What did she mean, Cameron?”
“We had an argument the other night. Leave it alone, Shelly.”
Shelly didn’t want to leave it alone. Marti had sunk her claws into Cameron and refused to let him go. Well, she knew the best way to lure him away from another woman, get him in her bed and he’d forget all about that bitch. Hopefully, she’d get him so worked up again, he’d forget the whole condom thing and she’d get pregnant for real.
Emma ran in the back door and Jimmy followed, carrying their empty plates.
“Marti is speaking alien. It’s so cool.”
“She’s speaking French, munchkin.” Jimmy dropped their plates in the dishwasher. “Ready to go, boss. We gotta get this little one to school.”
“Yeah. Why is she speaking French?” He couldn’t help but ask.
“She received a call, said it was for work. Why?”
“No reason.” Every reason.
Why was she doing business in French? Who did she know in France? Is that where she’d go when she left at the end of the week? He’d been up all night thinking about her leaving and remembering making love to her in the pouring rain. He’d gone to her room late last night. The lights shown under the door. He wondered what she was working on that kept her up so late. Question after question, and now she’d said she wouldn’t answer any of them for him. She’d remain a mystery and everything he didn’t know about her would haunt him the rest of his life. Everything he did know about her would haunt him. She would haunt him.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
* * *
COMPLETELY DRAINED AFTER her first morning at home with Cameron, Shelly, and Emma. She handled several business calls, went into her office at Fairchild Industries to exchange the paperwork she’d finished for the paperwork she needed to complete. She shot off several emails on the Fairchild/Merrick land deal and ended her afternoon in the city at her publisher’s office. The two new books were going to press. The publisher had gotten the advanced copies Marti requested. She had them gift wrapped along with another surprise for Emma.
She had almost everything in place for her to leave at first light on Saturday. Cameron would be married in the afternoon, and she’d be long gone.
The Decadence restaurant lunch crowd must have thinned out at this late hour. She took a seat at the bar and gulped down a glass of water. Elizabeth came out of the kitchen with a huge smile on her face.
“I told the staff to tell me if you came in. I called Jenna upstairs, she’s on her way down.”
“Um, why?”
“Because we haven’t seen you in quite a while and we were wondering how things are going. Cameron is a bear. Jenna threatened to fire him if he keeps yelling at people and drifting off into space half the day. His assistant is about ready to poison him. Lucky for him, he eats here every day.”
“Lucky for him is right. I, on the other hand, plan on killing him the first chance I get and think I can get away with it. Your husband’s an FBI agent. Maybe he can give me some pointers on how to kill someone and not get caught.”
Elizabeth laughed. “That bad, huh. We heard about him and Shelly moving in with you. That really sucks.”
“You don’t know the half of it. She catalogues the value of everything in the house. ‘Oh my, just look at this vase. Hand painted in Venice, it must be worth a thousand dollars,’” she mimicked Shelly’s annoying voice.
“You’re kidding. Sam mentioned when she was on your sailboat she did the same thing.”
“Yes, very annoying.”
“I can imagine. We all know she’s after Cameron for his money. Now that George left him a fortune, well, I can imagine she’s thinking she can sleep on a fourteen-karat gold bed.”
“How about we just dump a molten load over her head and put her in the garden?”
“She’d scare away all the birds.” Elizabeth put a hand on Marti’s shoulder. “Are you okay? Don’t take this the wrong way, but you don’t look so hot.”
“It’s been a long couple of weeks.” She picked up the bag at her feet and handed it to Elizabeth. “I brought this in because I need a favor. It’s important, and I’d rather Cameron not know about it.”
“Okay. What is it?”
“It’s the dress I had made for Emma for the benefit on Friday night.”
“Which you’ll be going to, right?” Jenna asked from behind them.
“I promised Emma I would be there, and I will. How’s it going by the way?”
“Are you kidding? The day I talked to you I got a call from the curator for the Fairchild Collection. They’re lending me eight paintings to display. Plus a member of the Fairchild family is giving Emma a painting as a gift, since the foundation exists because of her. I got a call from the publisher of the Tina’s Travels books and they’re donating two hundred books all signed by the author. We’ve got so many people coming to see the paintings, I had to ask the hotel to give us the
largest ballroom. Once word got out the author of the books is attending, I got more calls asking if children could attend. I still don’t know if we’ll have enough room for everyone, but at two hundred dollars a plate and the auction, I don’t care.”
Marti’s spirits lifted. “Wonderful. So it all worked out.”
“Worked out. We’ll probably raise more money this year than any other year. It’s funny you said I’d probably get a call by the end of the day, and I did.” Jenna’s last words were laced with suspicion.
“Things have a way of working out.”
“You said that too.”
“What can I get you to eat, Marti?” Elizabeth wanted to get some food into her. She looked exhausted and, well, ill.
“I have the biggest craving for some apple pie. Please tell me you have some,” she pleaded.
“I have a fresh baked one in back. I’ll get you a big piece. How about you, Jenna?”
“I’d love it.”
“Put some chocolate sauce and whip cream on mine.” Marti needed something sweet. She smiled at herself when she realized she was having her first craving.
“What are you smiling about?” Jenna asked, suspicion laced in her words.
“Things have a way of working out in the end. I may not have Cameron, but I did get something out of the last two months.”
“Emma?” Jenna knew how close she was to the little girl. If she could make Cameron marry Marti, she would. They’d all tried and tried to make Cameron see reason, but he just wouldn’t budge. She’d even threatened to fire him if he didn’t marry Marti. He told her to go ahead.
“Emma. God, I will miss that little girl when I leave.”
“You’re leaving?” both Elizabeth and Jenna asked in unison.
The Right Bride: Book Three: The Hunted Series Page 22