A Tempting Proposal

by Dara Girard

  The following day, after Ava had returned from a meeting with Edgar at headquarters, she found Flo talking to Rudy in the great room. “Come work with me in the garden,” Flo said to him. She had a vegetable garden on the vast property out back that she and Rudy liked to tend.

  “No,”

  She reached for his hand. “Just for a little while. You know I like your help.”

  “No,” he said with more force, pushing her away. She lost her balance and fell.

  Edgar pushed past Ava and rushed over to them. “What is wrong with you?”

  “Honey, it’s all right,” Flo said quickly, taking his hand.

  “Your mother is sick and this is how you treat her?” Edgar chided him. “I thought you were a grown man. That’s not how a grown man behaves.”

  Rudy gripped his hands into fists and stared at the ground.

  “Apologize.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Now go to your room.”

  He bit his lip and stomped away.

  “He’s usually not like this,” Flo said a little embarassed when she noticed Ava watching them. She took a seat looking worn. “But he can get into moods sometimes.”

  “Do you think something’s wrong?” Ava asked.

  “What could be wrong?” Edgar said. “He’s got everything he needs and his business is doing great.”

  “Maybe it’s me,” Ava said. “Maybe having me in the house has upset his schedule.”

  “No, that’s not it. We’ve had family guests before and he’s fine, plus you haven’t changed anything here.”

  “He just needs to have some time alone to calm down,” Edgar said.

  But Ava wasn’t so sure and at dinner that evening when Rudy continued to let his food go cold without touching it, her concerns grew.

  “Eat your food,” Edgar said.

  Rudy continued to stare at it.

  “Are you feeling sick?” Flo asked.

  He shook his head.

  “Hey kiddo,” James said.

  Rudy looked at him.

  “Just a couple of bites.” He nodded to Rudy’s plate trying to coax him with a smile from across the table.

  Rudy didn’t move.

  “You know how I feel about wasted food,” Edgar snapped. “Eat or you don’t go to the next resort camp in the summer.”

  Rudy stared at him with wide eyes. “But I have to go. I have to.”

  “Then eat your food.”

  “We’re going to Mexico and I’ve never been there before. You said I could go.”

  “Stop acting this way and behave.”

  Rudy took a bite of his sautéed carrots then pounded both fists on the table over and over again, rattling the dishes and shocking everyone.

  James jumped up and raced over to him. “Rudy, it’s okay.”

  He continued pounding, causing his glass to tip over and stain the tablecloth with purple grape juice.

  James wrapped an arm around his brother and lifted him out of the seat. “Come on, let’s go.”

  He screamed, but didn’t fight him, tears streaming down his cheeks.

  James led him out of the room.

  “No,” Edgar said when Flo stood to follow them, her face creased with worry. “He’ll be okay.”

  She sank back into her seat.

  Edgar cut his carrots. “I told you that we didn’t need the tablecloth.”

  “I thought it was a nice touch,” Flo said. “We usually don’t but,” Flo said to Ava by way of explanation. “I thought it would be nice for you.”

  “I don’t want you to go through any trouble. I’ve been here long enough that you don’t have to do anything special.”

  “See?” Edgar said. “It was a waste.”

  Flo’s face fell.

  “It wasn’t a waste,” Ava countered, annoyed by his cutting tone. “It was a nice gesture.”

  Edgar sniffed. “I’m glad you think so. Our dinners are not always so eventful.”

  “I’ve been around long enough to know how things are.” She turned her attention back to Flo. “You don’t have to worry. I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Sometimes people get frightened,” Flo said, smoothing out the napkin on her lap. “But he’s harmless. He wouldn’t harm anyone and—”

  “Stop making excuses for him,” Edgar cut in. “Or apologizing. Ava knew the kind of family she was marrying into.”

  “I like Rudy,” Ava said.

  James returned to the table. Flo looked at him anxious. He offered her a smile. “He’s okay now.”

  James wouldn’t elaborate even when they were briefly alone after dinner and Ava asked him for more details. For the past few weeks they’d lived separate lives and James made no move to change that, so she went to Rudy’s room on her own to find some answers. In the Fortune family, Rudy was a true innocent and she was worried about him.

  She stood in front of Rudy’s bedroom and lifted her hand to knock then stopped herself. This really is none of my business. No matter how much I like him, if the family isn’t worried, why should I be? James said everything was okay.

  She began to turn away, but the sound of crying caused her to pause. She turned back to the door and knocked. The crying stopped but he didn’t respond. She slowly opened the door and saw him in a corner, curled up on the ground.

  “Are you okay?” she asked gently, knowing it was a silly question. He clearly wasn’t. He looked miserable. She walked over to him.

  “I want to go to Mexico,” he said.

  She sat down beside him. “I’m sure you will.”

  “But Dad said I can’t because I didn’t eat and I wanted to,

  but I don’t want to.”

  “Why not?”

  He shrugged.

  “None of us like to see you so unhappy.”

  “Me too,” he said and Ava paused when she noticed that his breath had a slight odor it shouldn’t have.

  “Could you open your mouth for me?” she asked.

  He did.

  “A little wider?”

  He did and winced.

  “When’s the last time you went to the dentist?”

  He shrugged.

  She touched the side of his neck. “I don’t want you to cry. You’re going to get to go to Mexico with your friends and have a good time.”

  He looked at her with hope. “Really?”

  She nodded and patted his hand. “Trust me.” She left his room and gasped when she saw James standing there.

  “What are you doing?” he asked in a cool tone.

  “I was talking to Rudy.”

  “This is a personal family matter.”

  “Right, and I’m family.”

  “I overheard what you told him.” James folded his arms, his eyes hard and filled with warning. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep. Life is hard enough for him.”

  Ava fought to keep her composure under his penetrating gaze. “I know that and I think I know how to help him. I was going to talk to your parents right now.” She turned.

  James grabbed her wrist and spun her back to him. “You can tell me first. I don’t want you upsetting my mother either.”

  “She needs to hear this. I have an idea.” Ava sent a pointed look at his hand on her wrist. Do you mind?”

  He released her and said in a low voice, “Your idea had better be a good one.”

  Chapter 20

  “A dentist?” Edgar said, doubtful.

  “I’m not a doctor,” Ava said as she sat across from him in the library. Flo sat quietly beside him and James stood by the wall. “But I think there might be something wrong with his mouth. That’s why he’s not eating and being miserable. I also detected some swelling under his jaw.”

  “We have to schedule him right away,” Flo said, her voice anxious.

  Edgar frowned. “There’s no need to panic.”

  “I could be wrong,” Ava said.

  Flo took out her cell phone and checked her calendar. “For his sake, I hope you’
re not.”

  The dentist discovered Rudy had a major abscess that needed to be expressed. Once it was taken care of Rudy was back to his old cheerful self giving Ava a big hug when he returned home from the procedure and found her waiting to greet him in the foyer. “I get to go to Mexico like you promised, Dad said I could.”

  “I’m glad,” Ava said with a smile.

  “And I want you to have this.” He pulled a sterling silver necklace with an amethyst pendant from his pocket.

  “Oh, it’s beautiful.”

  “I know. I made it. Let me put it on you,” he said, unclasping the latch.

  “But it’s too pretty to wear now,” Ava said, looking down at the unflattering pant suit she wore.

  “You can wear it with anything.” He draped it around her neck.

  “Are you trying to make moves on my woman?” James said, coming down the stairs.

  Rudy giggled pleased.

  “It’s the nicest gift I’ve ever gotten,” Ava said.

  Rudy gave her another hug, kissed her on the cheek and said, “I love you,” before heading to his room.

  “Thanks,” James said.

  “I wasn’t pretending,” Ava said, staring down at the necklace. “I really do like the gift. No wonder your brother’s business is so successful. Just wait until Camy sees this.”

  James shook his head. “Not about that, about what you did for him.”

  “It was nothing,” Ava said suddenly feeling shy.

  “No, it wasn’t. He’s not articulate and sometimes things like this get missed. It could have been worse.” He paused. “I’m sorry I doubted you.” He looked at her for a long, powerful moment, desire clear in his gaze. She felt it too, a longing to touch and taste him again, wondering how she could close the gulf that had come between them. But she knew that keeping him at a distance was the only way to keep her traitorous heart safe. She could care for Flo, even for Rudy, but caring for James could destroy her.

  As Ava had predicted, when she sent a photo of her necklace to Camy, her friend wanted one of her own and promptly went to Rudy’s website and ordered two, as did a number of her friends until the design was sold out.

  To Rudy’s delight, that Saturday, Ava came and visited his boutique, which was located on a side street lined with other high end specialty stores. He showed her around the exquisitely decorated bright room and shared some of his other ideas.

  She treated him to lunch, remembering Flo’s warning that he wasn’t allowed to overindulge, then after returning him to the boutique, left him to go run some errands.

  She was halfway to her car when she saw Edgar across the street, standing near his black Mercedes in front of a nondescript building. At first she thought he was coming to pick Rudy up, since there were no stores in the vicinity that would interest him, then she noticed a woman in a flowing yellow dress step out of the passenger side of his car. The woman was probably a decade younger than Flo with light skin and medium length brown hair.

  Ava scrambled to get her cell phone from her handbag and took a picture as he and the woman hugged in a manner that was far from professional. Such evidence would come in useful eventually. Her heart turned cold as she watched the pair disappear into one of the stores.

  She looked down at the photo of them embracing. This was the reminder she needed. This was why she was here and why she needed to focus solely on her task. Edgar was a true bastard. He had a woman on the side while he had a dying wife at home. Ava put her cell phone away, her heart breaking for Flo. She couldn’t be swayed by his care for Rudy or the image he liked to portray to the world. This was the real him. He deserved to go down.

  Chapter 21

  “You’re still acting like a single man,” Flo said as she placed a basket of lettuce, okra and red bell peppers she’d picked from her garden, on one of the two islands in the large kitchen. The smell of the spring day seemed to follow her with the scent of sunshine and fresh soil.

  James looked up from his position at the kitchen table where he’d been reviewing the data of one of his projects. “What?”

  “Ava doesn’t seem to be comfortable here and I rarely see you two together. After what she did for Rudy she should feel like she’s part of the family now, but you two act like strangers. You live different lives.”

  “You know we married for business reasons. Edgar’s happy that—”

  “I thought you married for love.”

  James paused; he’d briefly forgotten that part of the story.

  “She knows I love her,” he said pleased he didn’t stumble over the words. “She’s fine.”

  Flo took a seat in front of him. “Have you asked her?”

  He sighed. “Mom, trust me. We’re happy.”

  “That’s how marriages fail. It’s because the man is clueless. Show her some affection. Your brother Rudy is more affection than you are.”

  “He always has been.”

  “It wouldn’t hurt to show a little tenderness once in a while.”

  “I do…you just don’t see it.”

  “Hmm,” Flo said, but she continued to worry that her son was neglecting his new wife. It had been nearly a month and she sensed something was amiss between them. Perhaps they’d had a martial spat early on and neither one wanted to address it. She knew she had to do something before it got out of hand.

  She found Ava reading in her bedroom. Her new daughter-in-law was almost always there only coming out to be with the family at dinner. She never ventured to the back patio or even the library, which Flo thought would be much more comfortable. She knew Ava had grown up as an only child, but found it strange that she didn’t feel comfortable using any other rooms in the large house.

  “May I talk to you?” she asked.

  Ava set her book aside. “Sure.”

  Flo hesitated then sat on the bed. “I’m sorry James put you in here.”

  “I like it.”

  “Really?” Flo shivered a little. “I find it so cold. Distant.”

  “I like the minimalistic lines and lack of color.”

  Flo laughed, pleased. “I guess that’s why you fell for him.”

  Ava frowned not understanding her response. “What?”

  “James.” She gestured to the room. “This was one of his projects.”

  “Yes,” Ava said in a grim tone. “His special guest room. I’m surprised he told you about it.”

  Flo sent her an odd look. “Why wouldn’t he?” Before Ava could respond, she grinned, “Have you tried the bed out yet?”

  “The bed? Of course. I’ve been sleeping on it.”

  “No, I mean really tried it out. Didn’t he tell you that he had this room designed for me?”

  “No,” Ava said, drawing out the word. “He lied and said…” She shook her head. “Never mind.”

  “He didn’t tell you the truth?” Flo said surprised.

  Ava shook her head.

  She sighed with regret. “It’s probably because I hurt his feelings. I didn’t mean to.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “After my diagnosis James had this room redesigned for me hoping for a calm sanctuary that would help me heal. He made the bed appear weightless so that I could feel as if I were floating and the view from the window changes with controls and the bed…” She shook her head.

  Ava leaned forward curious. “What about the bed?”

  “It actually frightened me.”

  “Why?”

  “It’s attached to a mobile device and embedded with software that knew too much about me. When you lay down it is programmed to adjust to your body temperature, read your heartbeat, adjust to the curve of your body, it even comes with a virtual reality headset. Want to try it?”

  “Okay,” Ava said uncertain.

  Flo pushed the side of the bed frame, opening a hidden drawer. She pulled out the headset and gave it to Ava. “You wouldn’t believe how long it took me to figure this out.” She watched Ava put on the headset then said, “Are you r
eady?”

  “Yes,” Ava said. Seconds later a hillside landscape, lush with greenery, seemed to surround her. “Oh, it’s lovely.” She looked around at the clear sky feeling as if she could touch the green grass beneath her feet, then a dark shadow rose from behind one of the hills. As it raced closer, she felt the ground beneath her feet move and soon the shadow gained form. It became a large monster with black fur, seven eyes and razor sharp teeth inside a black foaming mouth. Its eyes pinpointed her as if ready to eat her alive. “What am I supposed to do?”

  “Grab the sword.”

  “There’s a sword?” Ava asked, frantically searching for it until she found it down by her side. She struggled to pull it from its sheath as the creature continued to come closer “Why didn’t you tell me before?”

  “It’s been a while. I forgot.”

  She held out the sword. But it seemed like a twig in comparison to the monster, but she still used it to try to slice the monster before it got any closer. “It’s not scared,” she said noticing that the monster’s pace hadn’t slowed.

  “You have to kill it. Quickly.”

  Ava reached out and tried to battle the monster, but it jumped on her and opened its large dark mouth, salvia dripping down as it prepared to sink its teeth into her neck. She screamed and tore off the headset. She stared at Flo her heart racing. “What was that awful thing?”

  “The cancer. James worked with a friend to develop a game to help patients find an outlet to fight their diseases. Unfortunately, his monster is too real.”

  “Perhaps for true gamers it would be better.” Ava wiped sweat from her forehead. “It’s not too bad if I’d been more prepared.”

  “It was scary.”

  “Terrifying,” Ava admitted, handing Flo the headset. “But still impressive. Perhaps if he changed the look of the monster or created different levels and gave people the option as to whether the bed would also move or didn’t, as if you were there, then it would be better.”

  “Maybe, but after one moment in that world and on this bed, I had nightmares in this room and never returned. I prefer my meditation and yoga.”

  “And your gardening,” Ava mentioned with a smile.