“Look, the fact is that she was enjoying herself.”
“Was?”
“Clive went to get them drinks and a minor incident occurred. But all of that is done and dusted, and I’ll behave better next time,” he said with a sigh. He’d have to, to stop Oscar from repeating his behavior or accusations.
“You’d better. You’ve got a Christmas thing, right? You make sure that you attend to her, and you make sure that you dance with that wife of yours. Frankly I can’t understand why you wouldn’t want to anyway. She’s sweet, kind, intelligent, hardworking, and a knockout. You’re a fool, Zachary McCormack, an absolute fool not to spend all evening with her wrapped in your arms.”
“Happy Thanksgiving to you too,” he mumbled petulantly.
“And speaking of your wife, put her on.”
“She’s not here right now,” he repeated.
“I’ll wait. Go get her,” Tessa said, and Zach sighed in frustration. “Come on, Zach. I want to speak to my sister-in-law.”
“I can’t get her,” he finally replied reluctantly.
“Why not?” she asked.
“Because she’s not here, Tessa.”
“Where is she then? Why isn’t she at home? Has she gone to see her dad or something? He’s her last relative, isn’t he? Has she gone to see him? If so, why didn’t you go with her?”
“I don’t know,” he said with a sigh.
“You don’t know why you didn’t go with her?” she asked in confusion.
“No. I don’t know if she’s gone to see him. Maybe. I wouldn’t have any way of finding out.”
“Call her maybe,” Tessa suggested. “What did you do, Zach? Why did your wife leave your house on Thanksgiving without you?”
“I don’t know if she has left the house, Tessa.”
“What am I missing? What aren’t you telling me?”
“I’m not at home,” he finally admitted.
“What?! Why the heck not!?” she screeched at him, and he winced as the noise echoed down the phone line.
“I came into the office to catch up on some work while it’s quiet.”
“And left your wife at home alone? Are you an idiot?!”
“Look, Ellie understands how important work is.”
“I don’t care how much a woman understands the importance of your job or career, no woman is going to be happy to be completely abandoned on a holiday by her husband of less than two weeks, Zach. Go home. Go home and spend some time with your wife. There’s not even any staff there, is there? You always give them the holiday off.”
“Tessa, I –”
“No, Zach, no excuses. Get out of your office and treat your wife like she deserves. You take care of that woman. You were lucky to get her in the first place, you’d be an absolute fool to drive her away now,” she cautioned, and Zach bristled at her words.
“Why exactly does everyone think that I got so much of a better deal? I’m not chopped liver, you know,” he grumbled.
“You might be rich, handsome, and powerful, but to a lot of women that isn’t what counts the most, Zach. It’s the qualities inside that do that. And as much as I love you, bro, you have a tendency to hide those qualities. I don’t believe for one moment that you’ve let your wife see how amazing you truly are. Which is why –”
“Which is why she most likely didn’t marry me for them,” he inputted and heard the silence on the other end that indicated that he’d made his sister mad.
“That is an incredibly insulting thing to say about your wife, Zach. Incredibly insulting. I may have only met Ellie the once, but I know enough about women to know that that girl didn’t marry you for money. You make it sound like she prostituted herself,” Tessa reprimanded sternly. “And there is no way that Ellie would do that. No way.”
“I’m sorry. I’m just feeling a little under attack lately. Mom said I was like Dad, you’re saying I don’t deserve her. I had people last night constantly question how someone like me ended up with her. It’s not exactly flattering.”
“It’s people’s way of showing you that they think you made a good choice, that they think you did a good job in your choice of bride, Zach. It’s a compliment on your wife, not an insult on you.”
“You’re right,” he said with a sigh. “This is all new to me, Tessa. It’s such a change.”
“A good change. Go embrace it, Zach. Call me when you get home, I was serious about wanting to speak to your wife.”
“Alright. I’m going,” he said with a sigh.
“I’m timing you,” she warned, and he groaned as he stood up from his chair, grabbing his keys as he attempted to end the call to his interfering sibling.
“I’ll speak to you soon enough,” he said. “But bear in mind that the roads are snowy and icy, it’ll take me longer to get home because of that,” he warned.
“Whatever, get a move on,” she said, and he shook his head while they said goodbye and hung up.
Grabbing up his coat and gloves, and heading down to his car, Zach just shook his head again. The things he did for his sister. First marriage, now Thanksgiving Day with Ellie.
Chapter Eleven
Wiggling her toes, fingers, and nose, Ellie decided that it was time to head inside. She’d been sitting out back on her favorite bench for long enough now. She could only thank Pauline for insisting that she buy such a warm coat with the hat, scarf, and matching gloves. The thick boots had been a must as well.
After finally getting up, Ellie had investigated the fridge and found enough food for her to cook herself a semblance of a Thanksgiving dinner for two, though there’d only be one eating it, and she’d decided that she’d start on that later.
Instead she’d made herself a hot chocolate and some cinnamon buns for breakfast. After clearing it all away she’d promptly set about making a pumpkin pie for her dessert later. After that was done she’d taken the opportunity to slip outside and enjoy the peace and quiet of nature in the back garden area.
It had been calming and relaxing, and Ellie could, and would, have stayed there for longer if she hadn’t started to go numb. So now she was heading back inside to make herself something for lunch. Or perhaps start her Thanksgiving dinner. She supposed it would all be quick enough to cook right now and then have the leftovers for later on.
With a new course of action ahead of her, Ellie stamped on the outside step to remove the excess snow, and headed through the back door, ready to get out of her outside clothing and straight back into the kitchen again. After she’d eaten she’d relax in the lounge with a book, or maybe see if there was anything good to watch on the television.
As she sorted through all of her plans in her head for her day’s activities she found herself taken by surprise when she walked straight into a firm, warm, and large body. Screaming in fright, she jumped backwards and put her hands up in an attack stance before taking in the person who’d appeared unexpectedly in the kitchen.
When she finally registered who it was, she sighed with relief before finding her temper sparking.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded with a furrowed brow. “I thought you were working all day at the office.”
“Change of plans,” her husband said matter-of-factly without any sort of evident remorse at scaring her so much.
“I see. Planning on working all day at home in your study then,” she concluded as she stepped around him and made her way to the fridge there.
“Not quite,” he said from behind her, and she cast a quick glance over her shoulder at him. Intrigued, but unwilling to show any signs that she cared about the man’s plans, Ellie just remained silent and started to pull out all of the makings for her meal.
Watching her as she continued to clutter the countertops with everything she’d need, her husband just stood there in silence with a bemused look on his face.
“What are you doing?” he finally asked, and she looked up at him with a raised brow.
“Making a Thanksgiving meal. Not quite what
I’m used to, but it’ll suffice,” she explained and looked back at him to see what he was thinking. She couldn’t read him though, so instead focused back on the task at hand. After a few more minutes of silence, where Zachary hadn’t moved, she cringed at her own upbringing and sighed before finally saying, “There’s enough here for two, if you want.”
When there was no response she cast a quick look up at the man and noted his surprised and puzzled look.
“You don’t have to cook for me,” he said, and she just shrugged in response.
“It won’t take any more effort on my part. Plus I’m used to cooking for two. But if you had other plans –”
“No. No other plans,” he interrupted. “We could go out though,” he said just as hesitantly, and Ellie found herself feeling off-guard at this slight change between them. Ever since they’d married there had always been a resentment that festered below the surface whenever they were together, but that seemed to be lacking at the moment.
Thinking about that, Ellie just concluded that Zachary was most likely thinking the same thing as her: they were stuck together for the moment, and it took too much energy to be constantly battling each other at every turn. That wasn’t to say that she’d do everything that the man said and not fight against his many dictates, but she couldn’t keep up the level of hostility that she’d been living with for another two years or more.
“There’s no need for that,” she said.
“It would save you having to cook,” he supplied.
“I enjoy cooking,” she returned. “I haven’t been able to do so since moving in. I’ve missed being able to do something productive,” she added as she continued to focus on the food in front of her.
“What do you do all day?” he suddenly asked as he sat down on the other side of the counter, and she looked up at him in surprise.
“Why this sudden interest?” she asked suspiciously.
“Excuse me?” he asked in surprise.
“You’ve never cared what I’ve been thinking, feeling, or doing before. You’ve never cared about inconveniencing me. Why now? Where’s this concern and solicitousness coming from all of a sudden?” she asked with narrowed eyes. “It’s out of character for you.”
“Is it that hard to believe that I’m simply interested?” he asked with a sigh.
“Yes. It is,” she stated simply.
“Ellie,” he said with another sigh. “We’re stuck together here. And part of that document we signed means that we have to spend time with each other. Do you really want to spend the next two years constantly angry and confrontational with each other?”
“Why the sudden change, Mr McCormack? Where’s this come from?” she persisted.
“Does it matter?” he asked.
“Only if this is some sort of plot or scheme or ploy,” she said then focused back on the meat that she was getting ready to put in to roast.
“Fine,” he said as he stood up suddenly. “We’ll just carry on as we have been then,” he added before he moved to walk away, and Ellie suddenly looked up in surprise at his retreating back.
“I never said I disagreed,” she quickly called out and watched as he stopped and turned back towards her with a raised brow. “I just wanted a reason why,” she added and stood still as his gaze roamed over her. Ellie didn’t know what he was looking for but she found herself fidgeting under his perusal.
“How often do you spend sitting outside?” he asked, and Ellie found herself thrown by the question.
“What?”
“When I came home I couldn’t find you. I noticed you sitting outside. In the cold and snow. Seemed a strange thing to do. How often do you do that?” he asked, and Ellie shrugged.
“Every day.”
“Why?”
“It’s peaceful. And relaxing. I like it,” she explained simply, and he studied her closely again.
“There’s plenty to do inside the house.”
“Nothing compares to nature, Mr McCormack.”
“Zach,” he corrected, and she just stayed silent. “You said you don’t feel productive. What would you do if you had a choice?” he inquired, and Ellie shrugged.
“I don’t know.”
“You get bored,” he surmised, and she shrugged again before focusing back on the pile of vegetables in front of her. “Did anyone show you all of the amenities in the house? There’s an inside pool, a gym, a –”
“That’s not being productive, that’s being pampered,” she interrupted and noticed movement out of the corner of her eye. Looking up in surprise, she noticed him nearing her, studying her intently.
“You confuse me at times,” he said softly, and Ellie looked at him in surprise, thinking very much the same thing about him. Where was this tenderness coming from? He’d never behaved like this with her, and she didn’t trust it. Unfortunately not trusting it didn’t prevent her from reacting to it and she found her breathing start to become shallow.
When he reached up and played with one of her curls that had escaped from the ponytail she’d shoved her hair into she felt her breath catch and locked onto his gray eyes. They were scanning her face, and she had no idea what he was looking for.
“You’re so beautiful, you know,” he added, and she swallowed nervously. “I just don’t understand it all,” he said, and Ellie didn’t understand anything at the moment either. His words were confusing and his proximity was messing with her brain function as well.
Just as his head started to descend, and Ellie told herself that this would be a very bad idea, they were interrupted by the ringing of a phone. Slowly moving backwards and away from her, Zachary looked over his shoulder at the handset hanging on the wall there.
“Tessa said she’d call. She wants to speak to you,” he supplied, and Ellie nodded while trying to place the name.
“Your sister,” she said, finally recollecting her conversation with Pauline.
“Yes,” he said crisply and all of the warmth and tenderness that had been in his eyes only moments before was completely wiped away with that one word, leaving Ellie utterly confused at the change in the man. “You may as well answer it,” he said brusquely. “I’ll be in my study. Just call me when dinner’s ready,” he ordered, and Ellie stared after him in utter confusion.
What the heck had just happened?
Shaking her head, she focused instead on the ringing that was still occurring and picked up the receiver before putting it to her ear.
“Hello?”
“Ellie!” a feminine voice beamed, and Ellie couldn’t help but smile at the woman’s exuberance. “It’s Tessa. Happy Thanksgiving!”
“Happy Thanksgiving to you too,” Ellie responded warmly.
“How are you today? I heard you had one of those dreaded charity dinners last night. How’d that go?”
“Uh … well it was certainly a new experience.”
“That sounds like a story is in there, but first, before we get carried away, I have to ask. Is my brother home yet?”
“He is,” she replied in surprise. “How did you –,” Ellie tried but was cut off by the other woman.
“Good. So he does do as he’s told at times.”
“Sorry?” Ellie asked in confusion.
“That husband of yours. I can’t believe that he went into the office for your first holiday together. The man needs a good slap around his head, he does. So I gave him a little one and sent him on home to you.”
“You sent him home,” Ellie repeated numbly as things started to make sense and she shook her head at herself and her susceptibility to the man.
“Of course. What are sisters for? I couldn’t leave you there all on your own, now could I? The man has no sense. None whatsoever. What new wife would accept her husband working all day on their very first Thanksgiving together? I mean honestly,” Tessa continued, and Ellie just remained silent as she listened to the other woman talk about her brother’s naïve manner and how men were useless creatures when it came to seeing things from a wo
man’s perspective in general.
As Tessa continued to talk about it all, Ellie found herself getting annoyed at the man in question. She’d wondered why the sudden change in demeanor, the sudden turnabout, now she knew. It hadn’t been anything to do with them and their ease and life together, he was doing it for his mother and sister. They’d told him to treat his wife better, told him to behave more nicely, and he was pleasing them.
It had nothing to do with her, nothing at all. It was all about his image again. He hadn’t softened to her, he hadn’t started to see her as a person, he was still treating her as an asset to be displayed, but one that he needed to make sure that people thought he treated well.
How stupid could she be? She’d thought that he wanted to make things easier between them, when instead he just wanted to keep his precious image intact.
“So tell me about the dinner then. I heard that there was some sort of incident. What was that about?” Tessa pried, and Ellie focused back on the phone call instead.
Fine, Zachary wanted a spotless image of them portrayed to his family? She could do that. And she’d do it without having to spend time with the man. She’d do anything right now to spend as little time with him as possible, even if it meant lying through her teeth.
* * *
A knock on his study door interrupted Zach’s attempt at working and he looked up to see his wife standing there.
“Tessa asked to speak to you,” she supplied stiffly, and Zach felt his brow furrow at her change in manner. She’d been cordial earlier in the kitchen, but now they seemed to be back to their usual manner with each other. He knew why he’d retreated, reference to the fact that Tessa was his sister had done that.
Zach hadn’t told Ellie about his sister himself, he’d told very few people, in fact, and her mentioning their relationship had reminded him of the real reason behind them being stuck in the house together. All of the softening he’d felt towards her had disappeared as he’d recalled the low-down manner in which he’d been manipulated by her and her father.
“I’ll take it in here,” he finally answered and watched as she nodded before closing the door silently, leaving Zach trying to figure out the change in her.
Bonds of Matrimony Page 15