His Marriage Bonus

by Cathy Gillen Thacker

  Chapter Seventeen

  “I’ve finally had time to read and study your proposals for a Deveraux-Heyward merger,” Tom Deveraux told Mitch several days later. “They’re good. Providing Payton Heyward is still interested—”

  Relief flowing through him, Mitch ushered his father into his office and shut the door behind him. “He is. I talked to him this morning.”

  Tom sat down in a chair in front of Mitch’s desk and steepled his hands in front of him. He looked at Mitch with the unmitigated respect Mitch had always wanted as Mitch poured them both a cup of coffee. “You want to set up a meeting then?”

  Mitch sat down in the leather swivel chair and checked the calendar on his desk. He was glad he had found out what was behind Payton’s desire to merge companies and marry off his only daughter. Payton’s illness had explained his actions, and that, plus a thorough accounting of the Heyward Shipping Company books, had provided the reassurance Tom and Mitch both needed to be able to trust Payton Heyward and his motives.

  “How about later this afternoon?” Mitch suggested. “Payton and I were planning to meet around four, anyway, to discuss ways to better compete with the e-commerce companies that have been stealing our business—without cutting any of our existing sales forces.”

  Tom sipped his coffee. “I agree, we all need to continue to find cheaper ways to do things, while at the same time protecting the jobs of our current employees. It’s the only way to stay competitive in today’s market. And I had an idea about the sales force. I think we should bring in some instructors and start giving classes on the Web. We’re going to need designers and programmers to maintain the Web site anyway, so why not train anyone who’s interested—and I imagine a lot of the younger workers would be—to do business that way. We’d be giving them an added skill. And since they already know the shipping business, and the way things are done, it would be better for us, too, than hiring people with only a computer science background, for instance.”

  Glad he finally had his father onboard, Mitch grinned. “Sounds good, Dad.”

  “Thanks for taking me into the future,” Tom said.

  Mitch looked at his dad. It had taken him nearly eight years to prove himself to his father, but for the first time, he felt they were working side by side, as equals. It was a good feeling. “Anytime,” he said thickly.

  Tom grinned, stood and reached across the desk to shake Mitch’s hand. “So count me in on that meeting with Payton, and we’ll start talking merger.”

  “Will do.” Mitch picked up his phone—he wanted to tell Payton that Tom would be joining them at the club.

  Tom started to head out the door, then stopped and came back to Mitch’s desk before Mitch could complete his call. Tom gave him a searching look. “You know I never interfere in the personal lives of you and your siblings—”

  Mitch gave his father a forbidding glance and slowly put the receiver back in its cradle. “Then don’t start now,” he warned.

  “Can’t help it.” Tom’s eyes narrowed in concern. “I saw you the other night with Lauren Heyward—before the two of you took the yacht out. The two of you appeared to have something special.”

  “Arranged by her father,” Mitch qualified.

  Tom shrugged, clearly not understanding what difference that made. “So?”

  “So,” Mitch said with mounting bitterness, “therefore it doesn’t count, according to Lauren.”

  Tom frowned, disagreeing. “She can’t mean that.”

  “She does. Besides,” Mitch sighed, admitting his own culpability about this much, “she has every right to be angry with me. I wasn’t honest with her.” Briefly, Mitch explained the deal Payton Heyward had offered him—controlling interest of the company stock—if he married Lauren. Mitch shook his head, recounting with sincere regret, “I should have told Lauren about it from the beginning instead of keeping it a secret. If I had, well, we might still be married today. Regardless, that wasn’t a motivating factor for me.”

  Tom took another sip of his coffee and regarded his second-eldest son thoughtfully. “Has your marriage been annulled?”

  Mitch shook his head and suddenly unbearably restless, began to pace the confines of his office. “Only because Lauren hasn’t gotten around to giving me the papers,” he told his father as he poured himself a cup of coffee, too. “As soon as she does…well, then it really will be over.”

  “Not necessarily,” Tom said.

  Mitch shoved a hand through his hair. “I hurt her, Dad.”

  “Does that mean she can’t forgive you?” Tom countered in a calm, compassionate way. Silence fell between the two men. Tom set his coffee down and approached Mitch. “Look, son, I know how you feel,” he commiserated, clamping a warm, paternal hand on Mitch’s shoulder. “Your pride is hurt. You know you did wrong and you’re sorry you hurt Lauren, but at the same time you also feel like she should be more understanding of what you’re going through, and more able to forgive you.”

  Mitch released a long, frustrated breath and closed his hand tightly around his coffee mug. “That pretty much sums it up.” He looked at his dad, man to man, son to father. “How’d you know that anyway?”

  “Because,” Tom explained gently, his eyes glimmering with the depth of his own regret, “that’s how I felt with your mother when we started having difficulties years ago. I was at fault, so was she. But instead of continuing to go after her with the same unflagging determination that I approached my work here at the company—or the same relentlessness you pursued the merger with Heyward and our foray into the e-commerce world—I gave up and walked away. Figuring if she ever came to her senses, she would come back to me. That was a huge mistake on my part. I should never have walked away from Grace, no matter how hurt and angry we were over the breakdown of our marriage.”

  “From what I can recall of that time,” Mitch said quietly, “Mom didn’t want you anywhere near her.” And in some respects, he amended sadly to himself, she still didn’t.

  “You’re right—she didn’t,” Tom said, for once making no effort to hide his own misery and regret as he looked straight into Mitch’s eyes. “And I let her go because I was so hurt and angry. The point is, if we hadn’t let all that time elapse, if we hadn’t let our wounds fester to the point they became unmanageable, if we had just stuck together and kept trying to work things out, your mother and I might still be together to this day.”

  CONCLUDING IT WOULD benefit her to be as busy as possible, Lauren spent the three days following her split with Mitch showing houses nonstop to Grace Deveraux. Unable to find an existing property suitable for her needs, and unwilling to go through the laborious renovation process, Grace finally decided she wanted to build something brand new and had purchased a piece of property on the beach at Sullivan’s Island. Lauren paired her up with an architect renowned for turning his clients’ dreams into reality, and then turned her attention back to 10 Gathering Street.

  Saturday afternoon she was on a ladder listening to “I Will Survive” on her compact disk player and using a steamer to get the layers of old wallpaper off the dining-room walls when the doorbell rang. Deciding she didn’t want to talk to anyone about anything, Lauren ignored the insistent ring and kept right on working.

  Eventually it stopped, as she knew it would.

  And then her father walked in, the key she’d given him for emergencies in hand. The first thing she noted was that he was in a rather formal-looking business suit and tie—as if he’d just come from an important business meeting. The second was that he looked better, stronger than he had in a while. “I’m here to apologize,” Payton said. “I hope you accept it.”

  Lauren regarded her father warily, knowing if he hadn’t interfered in her life she wouldn’t have fallen in love with Mitch and then had her heart broken all to pieces when she discovered Mitch and Payton had both deceived her and manipulated her for business gain.

  Lauren compressed her lips tightly. “That all depends on whether or not you ever p
lan to do anything like this again.”

  Payton quirked his eyebrow and countered dryly, “Arrange a marriage for you? I hardly think so. Particularly when you’re still married to the love of your life.”

  Lauren blew out an exasperated breath. “Not for long if I have my way about it, and I will.”

  Payton’s gaze narrowed all the more. “Oh, Lauren. Don’t make my mistakes,” he pleaded softly.

  “What do you mean?” Lauren turned off the steamer and climbed down the ladder. She set the rented tool on a blanket on the floor. “You never tried to get your marriage to Mom overturned.”

  “But I did live in denial.” Looking as full of regret as she felt, Payton sat down on the front staircase. “The whole time she was sick, I thought—hoped—it wasn’t as serious as the doctors kept telling us it was.”

  Her father’s confession stopped her cold. More willing to listen now, Lauren joined him on the third step up. “Is that why you spent more time at the office than at home, even at the end?” Lauren asked softly, remembering how hurt she had been about that.

  Payton nodded, the sadness in his eyes mirroring the feelings deep inside her. “I pretended it wasn’t happening, the same way you’re pretending you aren’t in love with Mitch Deveraux.”

  Lauren blinked back the tears gathering in her eyes. “It doesn’t matter whether I love Mitch or not,” she said thickly, struggling to rein in her emotions. “He lied to me.”

  “So did I,” Payton admitted with heartfelt regret as he searched her eyes. “And I dare say you still love me.”

  “That’s different,” Lauren said stiffly, getting back to her feet once again.

  “How?” Payton watched her pace the grand foyer restlessly.

  “Because—” Lauren stammered.

  Her father waited.

  “You were trying to do what was best for me,” Lauren said finally.

  “So was he,” Payton countered gently.

  Lauren whirled to face him. “But he was my husband!” she protested.

  “And I’m your father!” Payton stood, too. He gave her a paternal pat on the shoulder and continued soberly, “We’re not perfect, honey. No one is. Sometimes people make mistakes. Part of loving them is forgiving them.”

  LAUREN’S FATHER’S WORDS were still ringing in Lauren’s ears when he let himself out and she went back to steaming off the wallpaper.

  Somehow, though, now the woman-wronged spirit of the music didn’t quite fit her mood. Again, the doorbell rang. Again, Lauren decided to ignore it. She had too much to think about. Too much to try to figure out. And that was when the front door opened, bathing her in a square of yellow sunshine, and Mitch walked in, a stack of official-looking legal documents in hand. Lauren didn’t even have to ask where he’d gotten the key. She knew her father had given it to him. Nor did she have to ask what he had been doing, as he was dressed in the same formal-looking business clothes her father had been dressed in.

  “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you and my father were double-teaming me,” she quipped lightly. “To try and get me to see things your way.”

  “I admit your father and I see eye to eye on the subject of my marriage to you,” Mitch said.

  Abruptly, Lauren felt herself getting angry. “You two have got to stop getting together and deciding my life for me,” she said, trying not to notice how wonderfully handsome and determined he looked.

  “Your father wants us to stay married.”

  “Only because he doesn’t understand how complicated the situation between us is,” Lauren countered. Only because he doesn’t understand how unwilling I am to let you, Mitch Deveraux, break my heart all to pieces.

  Smiling coolly, Mitch went on as if she hadn’t spoken. “He also didn’t want me to go ahead with these papers until after I had talked to you first. But I told him I had to do it. It was the only way you would know we were free and clear of the situation that has brought us so much unhappiness in the end.”

  Lauren took another look at the papers in Mitch’s hands. And suddenly she had an idea what they were. No doubt Mitch had tired of waiting for the annulment papers she had promised she would get, and had arranged for the end of their foolhardy marriage himself, so they could both be “free and clear of the situation that had brought them so much unhappiness.”

  Feeling as if both her heart and her spirit were broken, Lauren stayed right where she was. “Leave them by the door. I’ll read and sign them later,” she commanded just as tranquilly. And turned back to the wall before he could see the anguish in her eyes.

  Ignoring her orders, Mitch walked over to stand next to the ladder. “Thanks,” he said mildly, appearing prepared to wait her out indefinitely as he tilted his face up to hers. “But just for the record, these papers don’t require your signature.”

  She should have known he would try and one-up her in this matter, too. “Gee.” Lauren scowled and pretended an insouciance she couldn’t begin to feel as she tilted her face down to his. “You can get an annulment without my knowledge? Who would have guessed?”

  Mitch sighed, abruptly looking not so patient after all. “Just come down here and read the papers, Lauren. Then we’ll talk.”

  Able to see she wasn’t going to get him to leave until she complied with what he wanted, Lauren switched off the steamer and stepped carefully down the ladder. A mistake, for as soon as her feet hit the floor, she was aware all over again how tall and strong he was. And how much she wanted to be wrapped in his arms, feeling safe and protected and desired again. Doing her level best to ignore the way her knees were trembling and her heart was thudding against her ribs, Lauren wiped her hands on the hips of her khaki work pants and then took the papers.

  “It’s a little late for a prenuptial agreement, but it’s not too late for a postnuptial agreement,” Mitch explained matter-of-factly. “So I talked to your father, and the two of us had one drawn up.”

  “There you go again,” Lauren said, piqued. She braced herself for the fireworks to come. “Joining forces and doing things together without my knowledge or permission.” Would the two men she loved most in the entire world never learn?

  “Hey! I tried to get you involved,” Mitch said in his own defense. “You refused to return my calls, and instead insisted on an annulment.”

  Lauren swallowed, turned her eyes from his and continued to read. “It says here you refuse to accept any dowry for either dating me or marrying me, that you will not now or ever hold any part of Heyward Shipping Company stock, even if a merger does occur. And that should said merger occur, it will be negotiated and handled by Payton Heyward and Tom Deveraux—you are excusing yourself from any involvement in said merger.”

  “Right.”

  Lauren let the papers drop to midthigh. She stared at him making no effort to hide her puzzlement. “Why would you do that?” she asked, aghast. She knew how long and hard Mitch had worked trying to make the merger happen. He’d said himself it was the one way—maybe even the only way—to prove to himself and his father how much he could do for the family company, given half a chance. It was also the only way he could finance their two companies’ entry into the e-commerce shipping world, and still keeping expanding and adding state-of-the-art ships to their fleets.

  “Because my marriage to you means more than any job,” Mitch explained patiently, looking as if he meant to make her his again, this time with no holds barred. “To the point, I’ve told my father to find a replacement for me because I’m getting out of the shipping business entirely.”

  Lauren handed the papers back to him. “You can’t do that!” she said as a little gasp was wrung from her. “You love the shipping business.”

  Mitch tossed the papers aside, turned back to her and took her all the way in his arms. “Not as much as I love you,” he said, continuing to look down at her in that all-consuming way that made her feel for the first time—the only time—in her life, as really and truly loved as she was meant to be.

  Lauren�
��s heart did a flip-flop in her chest as she thought about what all this meant. The ache in her throat intensified as she tilted her face up to his. “Did you tell my father that, too?”

  Mitch nodded, his expression solemn and direct. “He said I was a fool. And I told him I’d been a fool to let you get away, but no longer. I’m here to stay, Lauren,” Mitch promised her resolutely, before continuing in a rusty-sounding voice, “I’m telling you here and now I’ll do whatever I have to do to work this out because you mean more than anything in the world to me.”

  The tears Lauren had been holding back slipped down her face.

  Using his fingertips, Mitch gently wiped the moistness from her face. “I’m sorry, Lauren,” Mitch whispered ruefully, wrapping his arms around her and bringing her as close as she had always wanted to be. He stroked a hand lovingly through her hair. “I should have told you from the get-go what your father had up his sleeve.”

  Relief flowing through her in waves, Lauren met his eyes. “Why didn’t you?” she asked thickly.

  “I thought you’d probably refuse to date me at all if you knew just how far your father was willing to go to bring the two of us together,” he admitted quietly, his regret evident.

  “You’re right about that. I would have,” Lauren confessed slowly.

  “And,” Mitch continued, “I didn’t think it mattered since I had no intention of ever taking him up on the secret part of his offer, the dowry.”

  Lauren hesitated. As much as she loved Mitch—and she did, with all her heart—she still needed to know that their love had nothing to do with business. “What about all the stuff you said about an arranged marriage being the way to go?” she asked warily after a moment, thinking that he had never looked more caring or more devoted to her than he did at that very moment.

  Mitch regarded her with quiet confidence. “I still believe a husband and wife need to talk things out and negotiate the things that are important to them, just the way you do in business. But the rest of it was just a way of getting under your skin.”