by Amy Field
While the firemen worked tirelessly, Dana, Quinn and Violet had been on the phone, securing motel rooms in Wills Point for the displaced guests at the ranch. The only vehicles not completely destroyed by the fire, were one of the older trucks stored near the stables for farm work and a Jeep. Dana and Jose, Quinn’s right hand man, started shuttling the guests and staff members to the motels by the interstate.
“You go on ahead,” Quinn told Violet. “Ten doesn’t need to keep breathing all of this smoke. I’ll be along soon.” He kissed her before she climbed into the truck with Dana, holding Ten in her arms. As they drove down the drive in the pitch-black darkness, Violet turned and looked back at the glossy red fire trucks and their flickering lights. Smoky haze crept around the trucks and Violet shivered. Everything that they had worked so hard on together was now lost.
Chapter Eight
A soft knock on the motel door startled her. Violet wasn’t asleep, just lying beside Ten, worrying about Quinn. She eased from the stiff mattress to open the door. Checking through the peephole first, she opened the door to an exhausted Quinn. Sweat and soot smudged his face and his clothes were covered with ash. She reached out to hug him, but he put up his hands.
“As much as I want to hug you, let me shower first. I don’t want to get any of this on you,” he explained.
“I don’t care about getting dirty.”
“I believe you, but I’m sure, like the rest of the group, you have no spare clothes lying around right now.” His words conjured up an image of her closet back at the ranch filled with all of those designer clothes she couldn’t bear to part with a few months ago. Now, what did they matter? She’d grown a lot as a person these past few months, and designer gowns just weren’t a priority anymore.
After Quinn showered and dressed in a pair of gym shorts and a t-shirt one of the firefighters had given him, he wrapped Violet in his arms and sighed. “Violet, I don’t know what we’re gonna do. The place is insured, but insurance will only pay if it was accidental.”
“Of course it was accidental!” Violet exclaimed. Quinn put a finger to his lips and glanced at the baby snoozing away.
“I know, but an investigation has to be conducted to rule out arson. Who knows how long that will take, and what am I supposed to do in the meantime?”
“I see what you’re saying, but this is a terrible situation! People depend on you.”
“I’m going to have to let the staff go. When I can get back up and running again, they’ll all be welcomed back, but I can’t have them waiting on ifs and whens while they have families to support,” he said sadly.
“What about…me and Ten? I have a little money saved,” she pondered aloud.
“I want more than anything for you and Ten to stay with me while I figure this out, but I can’t expect you to put your life on hold. I... I’ll understand if you want to move on.”
“Are you kidding me?” She searched his eyes. “I want to be where you are, whether it’s a big ranch house or a box on the street!” There was a fierce determination in her words.
“I’m going to get an inexpensive apartment for the time being. It won’t be anything special,” he muttered.
“The apartment I rented before I moved to the ranch falls into that category. The complex is pretty rundown, but mostly only elderly people live there,” she told him, thinking about sweet, little Mrs. Gonzalez.
“I’ll call them tomorrow. I have a good bit in savings, but not nearly enough to repair the ranch, and I want to hold onto as much as possible since I don’t know what the future holds,” he said wearily.
“I understand, Quinn. All that matters to me is that we are all safe and we’re together,” she said, meaning every word.
“Violet, you’re right. I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have you in my life. I love you, you know that right?”
“I know. I love you, too. So much,” she said softly, tilting her face towards his. He leaned down and kissed her tenderly, the faintest hint of smoke still lingering on his skin. They’d made it through the fire, now it was time to figure out what they would do next.
One month later…
Quinn stepped into the crummy studio apartment, the baby’s wails reaching a fever pitch. Violet was at the tiny stove, stirring a pot and talking to Ten, trying to get him to calm down in his highchair. The scene felt like something straight out of a movie, but not the good part.
Violet turned and waved with her free arm at Quinn. “Hey, hon. Lunch will be ready in a minute.”
“Thanks, babe. Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Change Ten? He’s finished eating and past ready to get out of his seat.”
Quinn walked over, placed a quick kiss on Violet’s lips and picked Ten up from his chair. The baby had sweet potatoes squashed in his hair, all over his clothes, even in his ears.
“Somebody needs a bath,” he said to the baby.
As he carried the baby to the bathroom, he tried to appear cheerful for Violet’s sake, but inwardly he trudged along. This wasn’t the life he wanted to give them. They deserved so much better than this hole in the wall.
Moments later, Quinn carried a clean, sweet-smelling Ten back into the kitchen/living/bedroom. Violet was pouring them glasses of water.
“How’d your meeting with the bank go?” she asked.
“Terrible. They still won’t unfreeze my accounts. They say as long as the investigation is ongoing, there’s nothing that they can do,” Quinn complained.
“That sucks,” Violet sighed, worry lines on her forehead.
“I’ve got a meeting with a lawyer downtown this afternoon. Hopefully they can get this whole case sped up. You and I both know the truth. It shouldn’t take this long for them to figure out no one committed arson. If foul play was involved, then a crime was committed AGAINST me. Not BY me,” Quinn said heatedly. The whole situation really worked up his frustration.
“I hope so, too. This whole situation is just not right,” she agreed.
Quinn helped Violet clean up the lunch dishes and headed out to take the bus into downtown Dallas. He wasn’t used to so much concrete and noise. He preferred the soft wind blowing through the tall grass and crickets singing him to sleep at night.
When he got off at his stop, he had a short walk to the skyscraper that housed the offices of the big shot lawyer he was angling to hire. He stopped at a crosswalk as a huge influx of traffic was about to whiz by. As he waited for the signal to walk, a distinguished looking man on his cell phone clearly wasn’t paying attention and was about to walk into the oncoming traffic. Quinn grabbed him by his arm and yanked him back, just as a city bus flew by. The man fell to the ground at the momentum, startled and scared.
"Thank you, thank you," the man said, looking at Quinn. “You just…saved my life!”
“I just did what anybody would do,” Quinn shrugged uncomfortably. He reached down and helped the man to his feet.
“Sir, I'd like to repay you! What can I do?”
“You don’t owe me anything, mister.”
“The name is Henry Preiss — you may have heard of me?” He stuck out his hand.
“Doesn’t ring a bell. I’m Quinn Harper,” he replied, shaking Henry’s hand.
“I’m a real estate broker,” Henry told him.
“That’s nice. I own a ranch… or at least I did.” Quinn had no idea why he was telling this virtual stranger his business standing in the middle of this concrete jungle.
“Oh, did you sell? It truly is a seller’s market right now,” Henry said amiably. For some reason, Quinn found himself laying out the whole situation.
“So, basically, Violet, Ten and me are in a crummy little apartment just north of here for the time being,” he finished.
“Did you say Violet? That’s a very distinct name. What’s her last name?” Henry asked, the color draining from his face.
“Jansen. You may have heard of her? She’s a talented event planner and the best thing that ever happen
ed to me. I don’t know what I would have done through all this without her and little Ten.”
“Ten?”
“Violet’s son. She calls him Ten, it’s short for Tennessee.”
“Look, Quinn, I need to get going, but I’m going to phone my lawyer friend and the guy I know down at the investigations office to see if I can help you get this mess straightened out. In the meantime, I’d really like to take you and your… girlfriend out to dinner. Here’s my card,” Henry said, handing Quinn a heavy piece of cardstock.
“We’ll have to bring the baby with us,” Quinn told him.
“That will be fine,” Henry said with a tight smile.
Chapter Nine
Violet waited anxiously for Quinn to return from his meeting with the lawyer. She didn’t mind so much being back in a tiny apartment again, especially since she had Quinn in her life now, but she hated how much it tore him apart. No amount of reassuring on her part appeased the situation either.
The key jangled in the lock and the door burst open. For the first time in a month, a bright smile lit up Quinn’s face. “I’m guessing the meeting went well?” she asked. Quinn waltzed over and scooped her up and spun her around. “I’ll take that as a yes,” she laughed before he kissed her.
“Violet, the craziest thing happened,” he started, “but before I get into that, let me just say, the meeting was great and after the events that took place today, the ranch should be on its way to recovery within the week.”
“Whaaaat? Quinn! That’s amazing! So what happened today? Tell me all about it!”
Quinn proceeded to tell her the story, so enthralled that he didn’t notice the shock registering on Violet’s face.
“The man you saved, his name is Henry Preiss?” Violet asked.
“Yes, and he’s great guy. He lined everything up and even spoke with the investigators and the bank to get my account unfrozen. He’s an influential man - everything is getting settled so fast!”
Violet tried her best to keep a straight face.
“Quinn, I need to tell you something.”
“Hmm? What’s that?”
“Henry Preiss is Ten’s biological father.”
Quinn stared at Violet, his eyes wide.
“Seriously, Violet? You’re not kidding?”
“Why would I joke about this?”
“He did seem particularly interested in you. He wants us to have dinner with him tomorrow night. Including Ten.”
“No! No way. He doesn’t even know about Ten.”
“He does now because I told him you had a son. Violet, I know it is a lot to ask, but this man was able to put everything in motion for us to get our life back on track. Can you at least talk with him? He clearly wants to talk with you.”
Violet sighed. “I’ll set up coffee with him, but I’m doing this by myself. I don’t want him to see Ten.”
Violet took a sip of her decaf soy latte and drummed her nails against the table. Her stomach was in knots. Why did she ever agree to meet with Henry?
Because the man you love asked you to meet him, that’s why.
Henry flew in the door, taking off his aviators and smoothing back his hair. He looked sharper than ever in his tailored suit. He spotted Violet and walked purposefully to the table, sitting down silently.
They stared at each other.
“You had a baby.”
“You cheated on me with your assistant.”
“You had a baby, Violet. Since we’ve only been separated a little over a year, it’s clearly my baby. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Would it have made a difference? We were over.”
“I still think I had a right to know.”
“Look, everything that happened, let’s forgive and forget. I’m happy now. I’ve moved on. Quinn is wonderful and he’s a great father figure, too. I really appreciate what you did for him.”
“The man saved my life. It was the least I could do,” Henry shrugged.
“Well, it meant a lot.”
“I’m glad. Now, does the baby…Ten, is it? Does he look like me?”
“Not really. He has a few of your facial expressions, but he looks more like a Jansen,” Violet told him. “Look, Henry, let’s stop dancing around this. The baby is yours. I suppose there is no way I can legally keep you from seeing him, but I know you. Is that really what you want? A kid in your life? It was never part of our plan.”
Henry waved over the waitress and ordered a black coffee. After she left, he looked at Violet and sighed. “No, I don’t want a kid, but I feel guilty. He’s mine. It’s my responsibility.”
“No, Ten is mine. You may have helped create him, but I am his parent. Quinn is going to be a huge part of his life. I don’t mean to be cold, but he doesn’t need a father that hardly ever sees him, doesn’t make him a priority and tosses money at him instead of spending time with him. Let me raise Ten. Wish me well and let us be.”
“If that’s what you want, but I do want to help with the ranch situation, and if you’ll allow it, set up a savings account for Ten that'll ensure his future. You can tell him down the road that you were the one that set it up, he doesn't need to know about me. Whatever, it’s your choice. Let me at least make a gesture.”
“Fine. If you want to do that for him, you can. Thanks for not making this difficult." She looked at him, the self-assured, suave businessman. He hadn't changed, she had, and a small part of her thanked him for forcing her into the place she was now.
She finished her coffee, tossed some bills on the table and told Henry goodbye officially for the last time.
Chapter Ten
Six months later...
“There’s a reason I brought you out here tonight, beautiful,” Quinn said, leading a blindfolded Violet out to the lake.
“Oh, what’s that?” she asked curiously, reaching out with her other arm to steady herself. Walking blindfolded was no easy task.
“You’ll see.” Quinn untied the blindfold and Violet gasped at the beauty of what was before her.
The sun was setting and the sky was full of lavenders, dusty pinks and gold, and it reflected onto the still water of the lake. White rose petals covered the grass by the shoreline and most importantly, Quinn had sunk to one knee before her, extending a diamond ring he held in his hand.
“Marry me, Violet Marie Jansen. You already make me the happiest man in the world, and I can’t imagine not spending every day for the rest of my life waking up beside your beautiful face.” He beamed at her.
“Yes! Of course, yes!” She shouted, smiling through her tears as she placed the ring on her finger and pulled him up and his lips to hers. Her heart sung with happiness. They’d had their share of ups and downs, but she knew deep within her soul that this man would love her through thick and thin, good and bad, and through all of life’s sorrows and joys. Saying yes to the privilege of being his wife was the easiest decision she would ever make.
The End
Book II
The Billionaire’s Secret Baby
Chapter One
Camellia Moore twirled, remaining rooted in the same spot, as she examined the interior of her almost completed project. The project was one of her most recent jobs, the complete designing of an untouched apartment that her clients, the Fergusons, had bought. The Fergusons were dream clients, they didn’t complain and they actually listened to her when she was talking about improvements instead of trying to push half-baked ideas down her throat. She liked clients like them.
“The mural isn’t done yet,” she frowned.
Tracy Jackson, her invaluable secretary of four years looked at the ceiling. She had a folder in her hand in which she noted down the complaint. It was her job to take down every problem that Camellia spotted.
“I’ll ask them to get on that,” Tracy assured her.
“They should have finished it already. The Fergusons want the apartment in two weeks and I showed them the plans for the ceiling. The design was my idea and I can’t have it incomp
lete.” Camellia said and then looked at the wall. “I told them to finish the painting of the walls too.”
“I am sure they’ll get right on that,” Tracy said. “You worry too much.”
“I guess I do,” Camellia said sheepishly.
Tracy giggled and looked at Camellia. In the years she had worked with Camellia, she had come to appreciate her as a friend and employer. Camellia was young, twenty-five, but already the owner of a successful independent architectural firm. The firm had only two employees, her and Camellia but people didn’t matter. It was the quality of the people that mattered, which was the first thing that Camellia had told her. Tracy herself was three years older than Camellia and felt a sisterly affection towards her; Camellia inspired that feeling in everyone.
Camellia’s looks played a big part in that. She had large, innocent blue eyes with long, auburn hair which went with her heart shaped face. Despite her delicate features, Camellia was taller than Tracy without wearing heels and had the quiet dignity that select women were born with.
Tracy, herself, was just as pretty with short blond hair and a perfect figure. It paid to be good looking as a secretary as Tracy had learned. No one liked to wait until you had an appealing face, a sad truth.
“Earth to Tracy,” Camellia said, waving her hand in front of Tracy’s face.
“Huh? I am sorry,” Tracy said automatically.
“Where did you go off to?” Camellia laughed.
“I got a bit distracted,” Tracy said. “It’s nothing to worry about.”
Camellia smiled warmly at her and opened her mouth to say something. As she did, an uncomfortable feeling bloomed in her stomach and began to push its way up to her throat. She tasted the sour liquid and bent down, her hand going to cover her mouth. Tracy was immediately by her side.
“Camellia!” Tracy exclaimed. “What’s wrong?”
“The bathrooms work right?” Camellia managed to say.