Chadwick's Rare Find (An Intriguing Romance Novel)

by Heidi Sexton

  Chadwick was released after two hours in the emergency room. He was cleared. There was no concussion. He was given a clean bill of health, but he felt as if something huge had happened to him. He went to the desk to sign his release papers and asked if he could see Brittany. He was told that she had already been released and since he was not related to her they could not give him any information. For some reason, this almost sent him over the edge. Not to mention the fact that Adanna had arrived and was upset. She was blaming herself for his “near-death” experience and was nearly hysterical when she heard the details of the accident. His head still hurt and he just wanted to go into a dark room and think. He didn’t even get Brittany’s last name. They had not exchanged insurance information. There was no police report. They hadn’t even called the police. Well, he had not called the police. How could he neglect to call the police in the face of an accident? Had he gone completely loco? Where were their cars? He did have the number to the towing service. He would call first thing in the morning.

  #

  Daylight brought with it more aggravation for Chadwick. He awoke to hear people in his bedroom talking loudly and fiercely. His youngest sister, Vana, had arrived. She was the one he was closest too. Vana was thirty-one and she had Chadwick wrapped around her fingers. But he could make the same claim on her. She rarely ever disagreed him and she was his alibi for absolutely everything. She was there no matter what. So, when he heard Vana and Adanna’s loud voices, he knew exactly what they were arguing over.

  “I’ve put everything into this house and I will not have you denigrating it based on logistics!” Adanna screamed.

  “Adanna, you can live anywhere you want to live, but you need to stop dragging all of us up here so many times every year. Why can’t you just have one gathering a year? People can’t even find this place. You know how easy it is for Chadwick to get lost. He could have died. You will not have another gathering this year. Do you hear me?” Vana said coldly.

  “He could have let me pick him up from the airport. I picked Momma and Daddy up from the train station.” Adanna started crying. Chadwick was here because of her. She would have been devastated if he had been hurt.

  “Chadwick does not have time to wait around while somebody escorts him here and there. You are so selfish. You have always been selfish. Momma and Daddy make us come here. They say you need to be validated and who better to validate a person than their loved ones. Selfish and needy -- what a pathetic combination.” Adanna was crying in earnest now. She was sobbing and hiccupping and Vana was showing no mercy. It was time for Chadwick to quit playing sleep. He needed to intervene.

  “Vana, please leave Adanna alone. I come here three times a year, because I love my family and Adanna is the only one with the power to get us all together under one roof. I wouldn’t miss being here for the world. Please let’s just try to be happy. I had the accident with the woman I am going to marry anyway. So, some good came out of it,” he said with a sly smile and distant look as he remembered Brittany’s beautiful eyes.

  “What?!” They screamed in unison. He knew this would cut the tears off. They were in his bed within seconds crowding him and begging for details.

  “Leave me alone. Go away and let me get dressed and eat breakfast and then I will tell you whatever you want to know.” There was a lot of protesting and more attempts at begging before they realized that he was serious about getting dressed and having breakfast before he said another word.

  CHAPTER 2

  Brittany’s sisters were staring at her across a table of pancakes, bacon, and eggs. Their twin expressions of bafflement would have been amusing under different circumstances. But their looks of wonderment could be attributed to Brittany’s own predicament, which was far from humorous.

  “Let me get this straight.” Amber, who was older than Brittany by fourteen months and the family head so-to-speak, began, “You were in a car accident last night with a wealthy man. You and he rode in the same ambulance to the emergency room, after he called for an ambulance and towing services. Then after being examined and told you were okay, you left the hospital by taxi without checking on him or asking for his insurance card or the towing service number or anything.”

  It irritated Brittany that Amber was making her sound so imbecilic by the way she was recounting her actions of the previous evening. With each word Amber spit out, it became glaringly clear that she had made all sorts of mistakes in her handling of the accident. The police were not called. How could two adults fail to call the police in the face of an accident? She did not know Chadwick’s last name. She didn’t even get his license plate number. She had no insurance detail. She didn’t even know what towing service had her vehicle. She could have been a sixteen-year-old with a new driver’s license for all her apparent inadequacies last night. She was embarrassed.

  Brittany glanced at Christy, who had been very quiet through the exchange, and she saw the gleam in her eyes that suggested Christy had her own suspicions about why Brittany had made such uncharacteristic mistakes. “I have one question.” Christy blurted out. “Is this wealthy man cute?”

  Brittany made a show of swirling a piece of pancake in syrup before putting it in her mouth. Giving Christy her little-girl-I-am-so-much-older-and-maturer-than-you look, she said, “As a matter of fact, he was a cutie, but a little on the arrogant side.”

  Christy, who was eighteen and already showing an uncanny skill at getting to the heart of people and their issues, was the one you could never fool. While, Amber still wore an expression of incredulity at Brittany’s stupidity, Christy wore a look of excitement and expectation.

  “Christy, before you start dreaming you should know that he is way out of my league. His car, his clothes, the way he smelled, even his cell phone reeked of more money we have ever seen. He is the real deal. So, just get that look out of your eyes.”

  Amber, finally realized there was a reason for Brittany’s distraction and the haughty look left her face. “Well, from what you’ve explained, Mr. Wealthy Man was at fault and of course, he will be making reparation for the damage. I will get on this right away. I only wish you had had the good sense to talk to me last night instead coming in and going straight to bed. Now, that was a shade too crazy.” Brittany was already feeling sorry for Chadwick. Her sister, an aspiring lawyer, who had her undergraduate degree and had entered her first year of law school, could handle anything leaning towards a legal issue. This definitely qualified as a legal issue. She would not be surprised if Amber accused Chadwick of purposefully neglecting to call the police in hopes that once the cars were moved, doubt could be cast on Brittany’s version of what happened. As a matter of fact, looking at Amber and the thin set of her lips, she knew she had already drawn that conclusion. But with her car door missing, she wasn’t worried about there being a question as to who was at fault.

  #

  After they finished eating breakfast and cleaning the kitchen, Amber left the house in a whirlwind muttering under her breath something about “stinking rich people”, and Christy sailed out the door on her way to school with a smile and a wink for Brittany.

  Brittany took a deep breath and let it out. She was glad her sisters were gone. She bit her lower lip and frowned as she thought of Amber and what she would do to poor Chadwick. Why was she feeling so sorry for him? He had made the mistakes. If he had let her make the phone calls.....Oh, who was she kidding? She would not have thought to call the police either. Shrugging her shoulders, she got her appointment book out and settled down at the, now clean, kitchen table to call her clients. She had four people on her list for today. She would call the office and see if she could get Susan to take care of them. Susan’s clientele was not as extensive as hers and she had expressed a desire to fill in for Brittany when she could not meet her appointments. Of course, Brittany couldn’t meet them today, because she had no car. The first order of business was to make sure Susan was available. She was. The next thing she had to do was call each client and find
out if a substitute masseuse was acceptable or if they would rather cancel. All four clients chose to cancel. After making another call to Susan, Brittany slumped in her chair and envisioned Chadwick’s face again. He really was very handsome. It was too bad he was wealthy. All three Bradfield girls distrusted wealthy people. It could easily be said that Amber had more than distrust for the wealthy. She had pure, unadulterated hate for them. This was the only prejudice they had. Neither nationality nor skin color mattered. The only thing that mattered was status. Wealthy people aroused hostile feelings within the Bradfields. The Bradfield girls knew from a very painful personal experience that wealthy people could be the cruelest and most soulless people on the earth. Woe for Chadwick when Amber found out who and where he was.

  #

  Chadwick could not help but laugh at his sisters. They were mad at him. He wasn't the one who had decieved them. They did it to themselves.

  “You guys think too much. Instead of listening and taking a person at word value, you draw conclusions or should I say, you make assumptions. All I said was that I had the accident with the woman that I was going to marry.”

  Adanna sipped on her fresh squeezed orange juice and made a sound of disgust as she rolled her eyes at Chadwick. “Don’t talk to us as if we are the idiots. You’re the idiot. You don’t even know her last name or any other piece of information about her other than she smells good, has long legs, cat eyes, and detests you. Yet, you sat there in the bed and told us you were going to marry her.”

  “I am.” He said this so quietly and with such conviction that a bolt of alarm went through Vana. She loved her big brother dearly. He was the sweetest person she had ever known in her thirty years and she considered herself blessed that he was her brother. She knew him inside and out and those two simple words had her ready to find this Brittany person and drag her to the altar at gunpoint.

  “Now Chadwick, you can’t go about your personal relationships like you would with business or shopping. She has to be willing to marry you. She has to at least like you. These type things have to go through a course and sometimes even then don’t have the results we want. Please don’t be so determined about this woman. You’re scaring me.” Vana put all her heart into this plea only to see the steel in his eyes, which made Chadwick the “stubborn one” in the family. Vana had been told the story about the eye patch countless times, but it came to mind now with a flourish.

  Once when Chadwick was a little boy, no more than five or six, he had decided he would be a pirate and took to wearing a black patch over his right eye. When it came time for them to take their family portrait, he would not take it off. Even after their mother and father had talked to him, he would not budge. So, they took it from him. He cried loud angry tears all the way to the studio. When they got ready to take the picture, he staunchly refused to be in the portrait. He caused such a huge disturbance that their mother had reached into her purse, pulled out the patch, and given it to him. One of their family portraits to this day was a testament that Chadwick was appropriately the “stubborn one” in the family. Dad always used this story to blame mom. He never got over the fact that she had brought the patch in anticipation that there would be trouble. His interpretation of the whole event was that their mother's indulgence had fed and nurtured Chadwick’s stubbornness.

  #

  Chadwick was glad when his audience with his nosy sisters was over with. He had things to do. He had to call the towing service first. But he got his first shock, in a series of shocks, when he called the towing services. Since neither he nor Brittany where there upon the tow truck’s arrival, the driver after realizing that an accident had been involved, called the police. The police had come and taken pictures and then had the cars taken to their headquarters and were awaiting Chadwick’s and Brittany’s appearances. He was given the number to the police station.

  Chadwick had not become the CEO of his own fortune five hundred computer networking company without having a keen intuition about complex situations. He knew instinctively that this situation with Brittany was going to become much more complicated than it seemed last night. The first thing he had to do was unravel some grave mistakes he’d made. He had a hunch it was not going to be easy.

  His hunch proved correct. Upon arriving at the police station and providing ID, they matched the vehicle registration to the car that he claimed was his. It was actually a rental, but it all worked the same way. Unfortunately, they dismissed him upon concluding his business telling him that it would be a breach of confidentiality to provide any information about the other vehicle or its owner. He told them that the accident was his fault and he only wanted to make sure she got his insurance information. They asked for his card and told him that Brittany would contact him. They hoped he had a good day after all it was so “bright and sunny outside who couldn’t.”

  Chadwick could not believe the brick walls he kept running up against trying to get Brittany’s name and phone number. After he made arrangements for the rental company to claim their car, he sat in Adanna’s car and thought about what he would do next. He questioned his motives. Having the habit of being methodical in his actions it followed suit that he would be methodical in his thoughts. So, he acknowledged that his whole aim was to see Brittany again. He was interested in her. This business about their cars, the cost of repairs, towing service fees and all that was nothing to him. He had enough money to make reparation for all of that without a dent in his finances. He only wanted one thing out of this accident. He wanted to see Brittany again.

  He put Adanna’s car in drive and was thankful for her navigational system. She had it installed a couple of weeks ago and it really was such an easy thing to follow. He already knew that he would have one installed in his car as soon as he got back to Atlanta. He would get a portable one too. No more of this getting lost business.

  His cell phone rang before he could drive out of the police station parking lot. He pulled over and answered to hear a strange woman’s voice on the other end asking to speak with a Mr. Chadwick Jordan.

  “This is he.” He said wondering how a sales representative could get his private cell phone number.

  “Mr. Chadwick Jordan, my name is Amber Bradfield. I am representing Brittany Bradfield. I need to meet with you this evening, if that is possible.” Chadwick narrowed his eyes as he realized Amber Bradfield was Brittany’s sister. She had to be, since she had the same last name and sounded just as sassy and smart-mouthed as Brittany.

  “Ms. Bradfield, in what capacity are you representing Ms. Brittany Bradfield?” He needed to know what was going on here.

  “Legal, of course,” was her frosty retort.

  “I see,” was all he could say.

  “Mr. Jordan, I am sure you won’t see a thing until we have had our meeting and then I promise you, you will then see clearly, because I am as always completely thorough. So, what time can I expect you at the McDonald’s on one thousand and twenty fifth Lambert Street?”

  “You want me to meet you at McDonald’s?” He could not keep the disbelief out of his voice.

  “Do you have any objections? Before I make one change in this arrangement, I need to hear a legitimate objection and none of that business about they don’t serve wine or they don’t have valet parking, because our meeting will be brief and we won’t be eating. Furthermore parking is already right at the door. You will survive a few minutes outside of your elements I am sure Mr. Jordan.”

  Chadwick was not used to such open hostility and this sister of Brittany’s was ferocious. He wondered if it was safe to meet her without his own lawyer. Not only had she obviously stereotyped him as a spoiled rich man, but she obviously had drawn some conclusion that he would balk at taking care of this debacle that he had caused. Surely Brittany had not given her these horrible impressions of him. It was ridiculous that he should have two women of the same family hating him for no apparent reason. Chadwick felt anger replacing bafflement.

  “As I am not in the habit of pr
ejudging people, you have caught me totally off guard in your obvious assumptions of my lack of character. But being the gentleman and humanitarian that I am, I will conclude that since you know nothing at all about me, your assumptions must be based upon some unfortunate event in your life. I am perfectly willing to be gracious in this one instance, but hear me clearly Ms. Bradfield, I don’t take insults too easily. I will meet you at McDonald’s and I will come with my checkbook to make full reparation for any inconvenience or damages I have caused Brittany. But in fair warning to you, I will not step one foot out of my car, if I do not see Brittany Bradfield standing at your side. After all this is her business not yours. I have given her no indication that I would dispute my blame for the whole incident. Therefore, your representation is overkill in an otherwise tame situation.” When Chadwick finished, he could hear nothing on the other end and for a minute felt they had lost their connection.

  “I will have Brittany there at seven thirty this evening.” Amber said quietly. Chadwick still felt angry, but knowing that Brittany would be there gave him a rush of excitement. He cast away his troubling thoughts and put Adanna’s address into the navigation system and headed back to her house.

  #

  Amber sat at her desk looking nonplussed. Mr. Chadwick Jordan had made her feel small and meddlesome. He had put her firmly in her place, which seldom happened. If he did this to her, then what must he had done to poor Brittany? Now she understood why Brittany didn’t know where her car was or the full name of the man she had had the accident with. It was obvious that Chadwick Jordan was a force of nature. Amber quickly decided that all three of them would meet him. Between the three of them, they could and they would handle Mr. Jordan. There would be no funny business and he had better have that checkbook.