“Seattle. I think he encouraged her to move there so he could control her and her money. Even though Skye had come into her trust, she wasn’t so in love that she’d let some man pimp her.” Noah let out a groan when he saw Viviana’s pained reflection in the mirror. “I’m sorry, babe. That was thoughtless of me to say that.”
Viviana dried her hands and wrapped her arms around his waist. “There’s no need to apologize, darling. I’m over it.”
He wanted to tell Viviana she wasn’t over it. At least, not yet. Not until she trusted him enough to know that he would never take advantage of her, that he wasn’t like the other men in her past. “Come on, let’s go back before my mother reads me the riot act.”
“Something smells good,” she said as they walked toward the dining room.
“Our chef is one of the best in the city,” Noah announced proudly. “We found him when we had a catered affair at a hotel, and my father made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. He doubled his salary and offered him his own suite of rooms on the lower level.”
“How many rooms are in this house?”
“I think there may be between eighteen and twenty. If you want to know for certain, then you’ll have to ask my mother.” Noah rested his hand at the small of Viviana’s back as he escorted her into the dining room.
Edward flashed a warm smile as they walked in. “Well, it’s about time.” He came over to hug Viviana and kiss her cheek. “We’ve been waiting to meet you ever since my son started talking nonstop about you.”
* * *
Viviana met a pair of laughing light blue eyes. “You can’t believe everything he says because there are times when he tends to embellish a few things,” she said, offering him a friendly smile. She felt as if she’d been put on the spot and wondered exactly what Noah had told his family about her.
Edward patted her cheek. “This time he told the truth. You are lovely.” He picked up a plate from a stack on the buffet server and handed her one. “Come eat.”
The chef had prepared dishes featuring a Mediterranean theme: grilled lamb rib chops, lamb meatballs with tzatziki, hummus, spinach pie, couscous and tabbouleh, stuffed grape leaves, and grilled pork souvlaki.
“Everything looks delicious.”
“That’s because it is,” Christiane confirmed. “I always take a little of each, then go back for seconds.”
Viviana decided to take Christiane’s lead and take small servings from each server. Noah pulled out a chair at the table and seated her. She waited until everyone had served themselves and sat down.
Noah filled her water goblet from a fully leaded carafe, then Christiane’s, his own, and then handed the carafe to Edward. “Would anyone like wine?”
“I’ll take merlot,” Edward said.
Christiane smiled at her son. “I’ll also have merlot.”
Viviana saw three pairs of eyes trained on her. “I’ll pass.”
“Are you in the family way?”
“Mom!”
“Christiane!”
Noah and Edward had spoken in unison.
Viviana shook her head. “No, I’m not.”
“Are you sure?” Christiane questioned.
“I’m one hundred percent sure.” She remembered Noah telling her about his mother’s craving for another grandchild. Whenever she and Noah made love, there was never a time when he did not protect her, and she’d made an appointment to see her gynecologist to ensure she would not conceive at this time in her life.
Viviana had to agree with Noah as to the chef’s proficiency creating dishes with flavors that tantalized her palate as she listened intently to Christiane talk about the changes she wanted to make to their upcoming annual fund-raising event. “How many do you expect to attend?” she asked.
Christiane peered at her over the rim of her water goblet. “We limit it to one hundred.”
“Is it sit-down or buffet?”
“It has always been a buffet. Why do you ask?”
Viviana had put on her hospitality/banquet manager–hat when she listened to Christiane talk about the New Year’s Eve fund-raiser. “How difficult would it be for you and your staff to have a sit-down dinner?”
Christiane blinked slowly. “It wouldn’t be that difficult if I hired additional staff to serve.”
“What are you thinking about?” Edward asked.
Viviana told them about working at the hotel where clients booked parties, some that included up to hundreds of guests. They would begin with a cocktail hour with hors d’oeuvres and carving stations, followed by a sit-down dinner. “I noticed the grand hall when I came in, and it could easily accommodate one hundred for the cocktail hour.”
“You’re right,” Edward confirmed. “We have two ballrooms, and everyone usually gathers in the larger one.”
“I really don’t intend to meddle in something which has worked for you for so many years, but I always feel a sit-down dinner is more intimate, and it can bring strangers together. Rather than have ten tables with ten guests at each table, why don’t you set up two banquet tables seating fifty at each and a head table for the hosts? Separate couples and intersperse family members among the guests.”
Christiane pressed her palms together. “If they can feed one hundred at a state dinner in Buckingham Palace, then there’s no reason why we can’t do it here. And it has to be less chaotic with a sit-down affair. Viviana, I know you didn’t come here to work, but I would truly appreciate your assistance in pulling this off. I sent out invitations for one hundred and so far have received responses from sixty that they are coming. If we end up with seventy-five to eighty, then I would consider that a wonderful return. Those who decline always donate to the earmarked charity, which makes the fund-raiser very successful. And whatever we raise, the Wainwright Foundation will match dollar for dollar.”
Viviana thought how different the Wainwrights were from the Wolfes. They opened their home every year to host a gathering for a charitable cause, while the Wolfes only entertained politicians whom they could call on, if need be, to support their unscrupulous business practices.
“I’d love to help out anyway I can.”
“You may come to regret saying that,” Edward said under his breath. “My wife can be a beast when it comes to her social causes.”
Viviana smiled at him and then covered her mouth with her hand in an attempt to smother a yawn. “I don’t mind working hard if it is for a good cause.” She ignored Noah when he nudged her foot with his under the table. She hadn’t come to New York to be waited on hand and foot but to get to know his family.
She’d only just met Noah’s mother and father but found them to be utterly unpretentious, despite the fact Noah claimed his mother was a snob. Perhaps she had been earlier in her life, but as a middle-aged grandmother, she struck Viviana as humble and down-to-earth.
Christiane folded her napkin and placed it next to her plate. “Noah, Viviana must be exhausted from traveling, so could you please show her to Chanel’s room? Chanel called right after you left to go to the airport to say she’s spending the night at Pat and Amanda’s. Skye needs her support because she’s still devastated about breaking up with her fiancé.”
Pushing back his chair, Noah stood. “She should be celebrating instead of crying because if she’d married that clown, she would’ve gotten herself into something that—”
“Don’t, Noah,” Christiane warned softly, cutting him off. “You know we don’t get into other folks’ business when it comes to whom they choose to marry, because it always boomerangs when they turn on you.”
“Your mother’s right,” Edward said. “It’s apparent my niece had had enough of her fiancé’s attempt to control her life and decided to end it. She’s going to shed a few tears, but later on down the road she’ll realize she made the right decision.”
Noah pulled back Viviana’s chair and
assisted her to stand. “He’s lucky Giles didn’t go out to Seattle and kick his ass.”
Christiane’s face turned beet red. “Noah! You know I don’t abide cursing in my home.”
He put his arm around Viviana’s waist. “You’ll have to talk to Grandpa about that. He’s the one who taught us how to curse.”
Edward glared at his son. “Just because my father likes to occasionally remind people that he grew up cursing because he was a street kid, I don’t want my children mimicking that type of behavior.”
“I’m sorry, Mother, Dad.”
Viviana waited until they were out of earshot to confront Noah. “You weren’t sorry, and you know it.”
He smiled down at her. “They know that. You’ll probably get to meet my grandfather tomorrow. He’s still recovering from the flu, and at eightysomething, he has to be very careful it doesn’t turn into pneumonia. Dad hired a private-duty nurse to monitor him, and I’m willing to bet he’s cursing the poor woman from A to Z.”
“Did he really grow up on the streets?” Viviana asked as Noah punched the button for an elevator built into an alcove. The doors opened, and they walked into the car lined with mirrors. He punched a button for the third floor.
“Grandpa is what folks call an OG. An original gangster. He built WDG from scratch with nothing more than a few thousand dollars and nerves of steel. One of these days, I’ll tell you all about the miscreants in my family, so don’t think the Wolfes have a monopoly on immoral behavior.”
The doors opened, and Viviana found herself in a carpeted hallway with silk-covered walls. “How many suites are on this floor?”
“Two. My parents and Chanel are on this floor. Jordan, Rhett and I had suites on the second floor, while the three on the top floor are set aside for houseguests. My mother decided to have you share Chanel’s room because, come Christmas Eve, the rest of the family will join us and stay overnight, and this place will look like a frat house with people coming and going.”
“Who lives on the first floor?”
“Grandpa. Once he started complaining about arthritis in his knees, he moved to the first floor.”
“But you have an elevator,” Viviana said.
“Grandpa doesn’t like elevators because he was stuck in one during a blackout, and ever since then, he’s been reluctant to get into one by himself. When he used to go into the office, he’d wait until someone rode up with him.”
Viviana knew it would take time for her to come to know the quirks and idiosyncrasies of the people in Noah’s large, extended family. And that was something she wouldn’t be able to accomplish in a week.
Noah opened a door, and she walked into what she thought of as an apartment. It contained an en suite bath, dressing room, living/dining room and a utility kitchen. She found her luggage on a rack in the enormous bedroom with both a queen and a full-size bed. Her garment bag lay over the smaller bed.
Viviana walked over to the floor-to-ceiling windows and peered through the silk drapes. The suite overlooked Central Park. She could detect lightly falling snow under the glow of street lights. Turning around, she smiled at Noah. “I’m going to enjoy sleeping here.”
He nodded. “If you need me for anything, just send me a text, and I’ll be up.”
“Oh no. I’ll not have your mother giving me the stink eye if she catches you in my room.”
“I’d never put you in a compromising position where you’d have to defend yourself.” He smiled. “Good night, sweetheart.”
“Good night, Noah.”
He was there, then he was gone, closing the door behind him. Viviana suspected he still wasn’t feeling well and was putting on a good face. She’d noticed that he’d picked at the food on his plate and preferred drinking water to wine. She’d come to New York to see her man, celebrate the holidays with his family and, hopefully, sort out her feelings for the man with whom she had fallen in love. She loved him, but she wasn’t ready to plan a future with him.
Chapter Twelve
It was another two days before Noah was able to get his father alone to give him an update on the stalled Wickham Falls project. Edward was dividing his time between going into the office and working from home.
Noah sat on a butter-soft leather chair in Edward’s study and propped his feet on a matching footstool. He told his father everything from filing the application to Viviana’s telephone call from someone on the board. At first he’d thought Edward wasn’t listening because he had his eyes closed, but when he’d opened them, they weren’t the constantly laughing ones that met people even in serious circumstances.
Reaching for a pen in a desk filled with stacks of paper, Edward jotted down some notes. “You say they needed a majority, but there was one holdout.”
Noah nodded. “Viviana said his name is Myles Duncan. I don’t know if it’s Myles with a y or an i.”
“It doesn’t matter. Why would he reject the application?”
“Viviana believes he was being vindictive because as a girl she refused to date him.”
“What the hell!” Edward shouted. “He gets turned down by a girl, and years later he can’t let it go?”
“Apparently that’s what it is.”
Edward shook his head. “If I had a dollar for every girl that refused to go out with me, I would’ve been sitting pretty before I turned eighteen.”
“Well, the problem was this creep was still in high school. When I finally got Viviana to open up about it she said he was a senior and she was still a freshman.”
Slumping back in the executive chair, Edward crossed his arms over his chest. “So, the predator was hunting young, innocent girls.”
“That’s what it sounds like.”
Edward sat straight. “I’m going to call Pat and ask him to put one of his men on this. There has to be some obscure law on the books in West Virginia where you might be able to get it reversed without filing an appeal.”
“Thanks, Dad. I really appreciate it.”
“There’s no need to thank me. After all, WDG has a stake in this. There’s always more than one way to skin a cat.” He peered closely at Noah. “You still look a little green around the gills. Why don’t you go upstairs and get some rest before the gang descends on us tonight? Your mother and your girlfriend are now thick as thieves, so you don’t have to concern yourself with entertaining her.”
Noah knew his father was right. He still wasn’t feeling one hundred percent, and he only got to see Viviana whenever they sat down to eat. His mother had the chauffeur on speed dial to drive her and Viviana around the city, picking up last-minute gifts for the staff, friends and family.
“I’m going to take your advice and turn in.”
“Thanks for not challenging me, son.”
“It’s been a while since I challenged you, Dad.”
Edward’s pale eyebrows inched up his forehead. “Oh really? I remember a few months ago when you threatened to use your own money for the West Virginia project if I didn’t approve the expenditure. And I only did that because I knew I would’ve lost you like I did Jordan.”
“Lost me how?”
“Jordan has vowed never to work for WDG because of what your grandfather and I did to his and your biological mother. It was unconscionable, but at twenty-two I was too cowardly to stand up to my father. I was in love with Jordan’s mother while engaged to your mother. And I would’ve married his mother, if your grandfather hadn’t threatened to cut me off without a penny. But you and Rhett are different. You’ve always stood up for yourselves and are not afraid to fight for what you’re passionate about.”
Noah lowered his feet and stood. “I’d appreciate any help you can give.” He’d thanked his father, when he wanted to tell him that he was facing the greatest challenge of his life thus far. He was in love with a woman he wanted to marry yet knew if he proposed, she would turn him down
. He’d told himself over and over to be patient, yet he couldn’t rid himself of the nagging feeling that if he waited too long, he would lose Viviana—not to another man but to another factor that would take precedence. Once her B and B was operational, he knew it would be all-consuming for her, leaving little room in her life for romance.
* * *
Viviana sat on the floor in the entrance hall cradling a sleeping Lily Wainwright on her lap. She hadn’t known what to expect when attending her first Wainwright Christmas Eve celebration, but it had begun with an ongoing brunch for arriving family members. Everyone bedded down in the early afternoon to rest before the nighttime festivities.
The banquet table in the larger ballroom groaned with food as four generations of Wainwrights sat down to eat, drink, talk and laugh in abandon. Everyone was casually dressed, and once dinner concluded, they filed out of the ballroom and into the hall to sing Christmas carols and open gifts. The eight-foot Norway spruce covered with hundreds of priceless fragile glass ornaments going back several centuries was the focal point in the space with a twenty-foot ceiling.
She stared at Wyatt Wainwright, the family patriarch sitting on a rocker with a cashmere throw covering his legs, staring back at her. She’d met the octogenarian earlier that morning, and despite his advancing years, his laser-blue eyes were clear and alert. And when she saw him and Jordan together, the resemblance between the older man and his first grandson was obvious. Many of the younger children were sprawled out, sleeping on the priceless rugs, but their parents were loath to move them until all of the gifts had been opened.
Viviana held her breath when Edward held up one of her gifts and handed it to Mya. There was chorus of approval when Mya held up the handmade crib quilt and a pair of mint-green booties with a matching hat. She smiled when Mya blew her a kiss.
Edward picked up another one of her gifts, handing it to Noah. He took his time unwrapping the flat package and opened the top of a velvet box to reveal a Montblanc fountain pen engraved with his monogram. Everyone followed his movements when he sank down next to Viviana and kissed her boldly on the mouth.
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