A Silken Thread

by Brenda Jackson

  “So how often do you travel outside the United States?” he asked her.

  They were outside strolling along the patio that overlooked a huge lake. Other guests were mulling around, and on occasion a number of people had come up and to introduce themselves and to assure her that Brian would be marrying a lovely girl. Rita was just as quick to inform them that Erica would be trying the knot with a kind and gentle man who loved her very much.

  “I travel outside the States at least twice every month,” Rita answered. “The company I work for provides landscaping for businesses abroad and I help design exactly what they need.”

  “That’s sounds like an interesting profession.”

  She glanced over at him. There was a gentleness in the lines etching his eyes and the grin that marked his lips appeared unguarded. Genuine. Although she hadn’t spent a lot of time in the company of Erica’s mother, she couldn’t imagine Karen and Wilson Sanders sharing a life together. He seemed so warmhearted and friendly. What could have brought two totally opposite people together in marriage?

  Admonishing herself for conjecturing on a subject that didn’t truly concern her, she turned around and steered Wilson back toward the house. For some reason her stomach had begun to tighten in knots. Wilson had gotten quiet and she felt he was no longer with her to merely take her off his wife’s hands. No longer there to spy on her and report back to his wife.

  To keep the conversation going, she asked, “What about you? Do you travel a lot?”

  “Yes, every chance I get. I love international travels. I’ve gotten to the point where I have a good staff to run the company and my services are more valuable as an ambassador.”

  She nodded. She could definitely see him fulfilling that role. “Have you ever been to Dubai?”

  “Yes, it’s one of my favorite places in the Middle East.”

  Rita’s face broke into a huge grin. “No kidding? It’s also mine. I just love the Aiden. Have you ever eaten there?”

  “Yes, several times. Not only is the food fantastic but it’s housed right in the Cumja Gallery. The artwork there is exquisite.”

  “I agree. I was there last month and noted they’ve added a few new pieces by Terina, if you’re into her work.”

  “I am and I’m going to have to check them out the next time I’m there.”

  “You won’t be disappointed, Wilson.”

  He shot her a glittering smile that she felt down to her toes. “I’m sure I won’t be.”

  “Brian’s mother seems to be taking up quite a bit of Wilson’s time, Karen. Is that wise?”

  Karen cast an annoyed glance over at Aggie Pittman, a cousin on her mother’s side who often got on her last dignified nerve. “It is wise if he’s on a mission for me. I suggested he go keep her company to make sure she doesn’t cause us any embarrassing moments…if you know what I mean. Just look at her outfit. It has department store written all over it.”

  “Yes, but it does look good on her. I wasn’t aware a woman that age could still have a figure like that. Not everyone can pull such a style off and look so hot. My waistline certainly wouldn’t let me.” Aggie chuckled and added, “Neither would yours.”

  If Aggie’s words were meant to amuse, they came up short. “I saw Jaye leaving the party. Is something wrong?” Aggie’s youngest son, Jaye, was a private investigator living in New York. Jaye came home almost every weekend to check on his father, who was confined to a wheelchair.

  “No, he just needs to get back to New York to deal with some case he’s working on. I wish he would go back to practicing law.”

  Aggie and her husband, Lester, had sent Jaye to law school. He’d practiced a few years, claimed he was bored and become a private investigator instead. His change in professions had been a big disappointment for Aggie. Karen could understand. Children could be so selfish at times.

  She glanced across the room at her daughter. She fell within that category. Erica was everything Karen hadn’t been at her age, namely defiant. Unfortunately Wilson hadn’t been much help trying to get their daughter to obey.

  Karen had once been young, pretty and vibrant like her daughter but she’d always known how far to take things. There was never a time that she hadn’t felt the weight of the Delbert empire and legacy on her shoulders. Her father would have much preferred she had been born a male and had never let her forget it. She had tried so hard to please him, even going so far as to marry the man he’d picked out for her. The man whose blood was just as blue as hers.

  But, Erica… Even as a child she’d been defiant and headstrong. Growing up, she’d wanted to be a normal kid like all the others. It had taken all Karen had to try and make Erica realize that she was of a unique class of people, with a heritage that set her apart and would always keep her that way.

  And now Karen would give all she had to keep her daughter from making a fool of herself by marrying Brian instead of Griffin.

  Karen tightened her hand on the wineglass she held and turned back to her cousin. “Aggie, please inform Jaye that I’d like to have a private meeting with him when he comes home again.”

  “I will.”

  If Aggie found her request irregular she didn’t show it. Just as well, Karen thought. There were some things one was better off not knowing.

  Chapter Five

  April glanced around the restaurant where she was meeting her agent, Neil Burton. She had flown into New York a few hours ago, barely having time to check into her hotel room and freshen up.

  She had spent the last couple of weeks in Hattersville with Nana and would only be in New York for the weekend before flying to Paris for a magazine shoot. She’d stopped here purposely just to meet with Neil. They had important business to discuss about her future.

  Neil had been her agent since he’d discovered her one summer on the sandy beach in Corpus Christi, where she’d gone her first year out of college to decide what she really wanted to do with her life and her new degree. She had been ready for the business world but it seemed the business world wasn’t ready for her. Job interviews had become synonymous with the word rejection and she had begun to feel she had gone to college for nothing.

  When he’d first approached her she’d thought he was trying to hit on her. She’d soon discovered his sexual preference would not have made that possible. He had convinced her that her beauty—which she hadn’t truly known she had—should grace the cover of every magazine and that he was just the man to make that happen.

  Distrusting her own instincts she had taken him home to Nana. He survived her grandmother’s interrogation and had won Nana’s trust and respect when he’d promised to look after her as if she was his own child. Much to April’s chagrin, he’d done just that. He thought Mark was too immature for marriage, had strong misgivings about Campbell, since Neil believed a gay person should never be in the closet anyway, and he outright detested Green. He’d warned her that the rocker was bad news from the start but she hadn’t listened. She had promised Neil the next time she married it would be for love—which meant she would never marry, since unfortunately the man who had her heart would never know it.

  Thinking of Griffin she couldn’t help recall that night they had run into each other while out walking their pets. It had been nice sharing that stretch of concrete with him, walking beside him and indulging in lighthearted conversation. When they’d reached Nana’s house he had said good-night, wished her well and continued on to his parents’ home.

  That night she had lain in bed, remembering the encounter, replaying every aspect of it over and over in her mind. Loving Griffin was something she had accepted as a part of her and over the years had schooled herself not to think about it. There was no point in doing so anyway, since their worlds were light-years apart. But on the very rare occasions when they had run into each other she savored the moments and thought of them often. She had remained in Hattersville for another two weeks but she hadn’t seen him again. She had deliberately taken Fluffy out for a late-evening
stroll a few times but hadn’t run into Griffin and Pebbles.

  “Sorry I’m late but traffic on the George Washington Bridge was a bitch.”

  The apologetic male voice pulled her out of her reverie. “No problem, Neil. I was just sitting here and enjoying the view.”

  In a way she had been. It was a beautiful day and the late-afternoon sun shining through the window was warm. She loved New York, and unfortunately didn’t get here often enough. Most of her time was spent out of the country and when she did return back to the States it was to the West Coast. But she fondly remembered the three years she had lived in Manhattan during the early days of her modeling career. Those had been fun times, wild times, especially when Erica would visit her. But then it had also been the time she’d needed before finally settling down to become the responsible woman she was now. A woman who knew what she wanted to do with her life and was about to go after all her dreams and desires.

  Except for one.

  She dismissed thoughts of Griffin from her mind and gave her attention to Neil. With his blond hair, blue eyes and a too-handsome face, Neil was one gorgeous hunk. An older one—in his late forties—but gorgeous nonetheless. But women would be sorely disappointed to discover they wouldn’t be his cup of tea. He and his partner, a lovable guy by the name of Aaron Crews, considered themselves married, although the laws of the land did not.

  The waitress came to take their order and then April and Neil spent time chitchatting about Nana. It was only after the waitress delivered their food that Neil got down to business. “Now, what’s this nonsense about you not wanting to expand your career into film?”

  She smiled over at him. “No nonsense, Neil. I tried film once. It was nice but I can’t see myself doing something like that on a permanent basis.”

  They both knew that at twenty-seven her career as a model was coming to an end. Although she kept her body in shape and in most cases was still sought after for modeling gigs, younger women were coming on board and being discovered—some right out of high school—and were dominating the scene. It was time for her to prepare for life after modeling. Neil had agreed with her on that part; however, he was determined that she become Hollywood’s next leading lady.

  “You’re the face of Maybelline now and that’s a lot of exposure, April.”

  She knew that was true. The cosmetic giant took out ads in most major magazines and it seemed her face was plastered in all of them.

  “James Cameron called me just last week asking about you.”

  She could tell by the excitement in Neil’s voice that he was hoping the inquiry was going someplace. Deep down she was hoping that it didn’t. “I don’t mind doing films on occasion, Neil, but my primary focus is elsewhere. I want to open a modeling school here in New York. I need to find a vacant building or warehouse and transform the space.”

  “If you want to open a school, then do it later when you’re my age. But you’re still young, April. Too young not to continue to take advantage of your beauty.”

  She took a sip of her wine. “I don’t see things that way, Neil and—”

  “Excuse me. Hello, April.”

  The deep sexy voice compelled April to look up. At that moment her eyes connected with Griffin’s. The moment they did, sensations she could only feel when she was around him flooded her insides.

  “Griffin,” she said with the surprise in her voice that she couldn’t hide. She hadn’t seen the man for years and now she’d seen him twice in a four-week period. How uncanny was that? “What are you doing in New York?”

  “I thought this would be the perfect weekend to get away and I picked New York because I have friends here.”

  That was when April finally noticed the woman plastered to his side, who was giving her a cool look. April ignored the woman, since Griffin hadn’t bothered to introduce her, but then she realized she hadn’t bothered to introduce Neil, either. “This is Neil. A friend,” she said simply, deciding not to reveal that Neil was her agent, as well.

  Neil stood and the two men shook hands.

  “And this is Paulina. Paulina, April is a friend from Hattersville.”

  A friend? For some reason April had merely considered Griffin and herself as acquaintances rather than friends, April thought, extending her hand out to the woman. The woman barely touched it before leaning even closer to Griffin and whispering loud enough for all to hear, “I think we should find our table. I’m famished, sweetheart, and it’s all your fault.”

  Something flickered inside of April. In an underhanded, strictly bitchy sort of way, Paulina had deliberately given April the impression the reason for her hunger was because she had spent long hours in bed with Griffin and was now in desperate need of something to eat. April was tempted to tell the woman to pull in her claws, since she was out of Griffin’s league. Always had been and always would be.

  “I’m surprised you’re not in Hattersville this weekend,” Griffin said, reclaiming her attention.

  April figured since Erica was her best friend he’d assumed she would be at Erica and Brian’s engagement party. “I figured that I would play the good girl and not give Mrs. Sanders another gray hair,” she said honestly, knowing he would get her drift.

  The twinkle in his eyes indicated that he did. “And I figured I wouldn’t attend just to make sure my presence didn’t give her the wrong impression.”

  Paulina eyed her, evidently annoyed at the fact she had no idea what they were discussing.

  “They won’t hold our table much longer, Griff,” the woman said in an annoyed voice.

  Griff? April lifted a brow. She recalled Griffin never liked that nickname back in the day and from the look in his eyes she could tell he still didn’t. This woman might be his flavor for the hour—or the past hours—but little did she know she was skating on thin ice by using that nickname.

  “I’ll let you two get back to your meal and we can grab our table,” Griffin said tightly. With a brief nod to Neil, he said, “Nice meeting you.” And then to April he said, “Good seeing you again.”

  Unable to resist, she said, “Same here, Griff.”

  He cut her a look that said he would get her for that the next time they ran into each other.

  He gave her a smile before he and his bed partner turned and walked away.

  “They’re sleeping together, you know.”

  April turned to Neil and frowned. “And your point in telling me that?”

  Neil chuckled. “Not the same point she wanted to make in dropping her hint, evidently. But there was something I detected, something in your reaction to seeing him with her, that gave me notice. Makes me think there’s something there.”

  She picked up her wineglass to take a sip and laughed some what nervously. “You’re imagining things.”

  “Am I?”

  “Yes.” Her response had been quick. It had sounded confident. But she knew that she hadn’t fooled Neil.

  She couldn’t help glancing over to the table where Griffin and the woman were now sitting. Her gaze met Griffin’s and she wasn’t sure if she was imagining things or not, but she could swear there was an intense look in the dark depths of his eyes that she’d never seen before.

  Chapter Six

  “Do you have any idea how disastrous last weekend was?” Karen asked her daughter as she stared at her from across the kitchen table.

  Erica looked up from the table, where she had several sheets of paper spread out in front of her, deciding not to be bothered by her mother’s negative attitude and constant complaints. “No, I thought everything went fine. In fact, Brian and I are pleased with how things turned out,” she said in a pleasant tone.

  Karen rolled her eyes. “It’s quite obvious the two families won’t mesh.”

  Erica chuckled. “Mom, it doesn’t matter if the two families mesh. Brian and I mesh and that’s what counts. Now, are you going to help with this list or not? I don’t want to offend anyone by not inviting them to the bridal shower April is giving me in
a few weeks.”

  “I’m surprised she didn’t come to your engagement party. She was invited.”

  “April had business to take care of in New York.”

  Karen gave a dignified snort. “Considering she is supposed to be your best friend, I would think your engagement party would have taken precedence over any business matters.”

  Erica leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. Her mother was always trying to chomp away at her and April’s friendship. “April didn’t have to be here for me to know I have her support. Besides, I’m sure she figured she would make things easier on you by not showing up.”

  Other than rolling her eyes Karen didn’t make a comment. Erica knew there was nothing her mother could truly say. At fifty-seven her mother would never change her way of thinking. It was an ingrained part of her. Erica’s position was and would always be that her mother’s opinion wasn’t her own. Ninety-nine percent of the time it wasn’t.

  Erica gathered the papers together in front of her, slid them into her purse and stood up. “Since you don’t seem to have anything nice to say today, Mom, I’d rather be somewhere else. Your negativity is draining and I’m still tired from this weekend.”

  “Before you go there is something we need to discuss.”

  “What?”

  “Brian’s mother and that outfit she wore. Makes me cringe to think what she might wear to the wedding.”

  Erica turned to leave thinking that holding a conversation with her mother was becoming excruciatingly difficult. For once she would like to visit without feeling resentful and wondering just how her father managed to put up with it.

  Undaunted, her mother continued. “Do you think it would be out of line if I were to suggest that Harriet give her a call?”

  Erica swung back around, her eyes full of anger. “Don’t you dare, Mom.” Harriet was her mother’s personal clothes designer and for some reason her mother thought if Harriet hadn’t made it then it shouldn’t be worn.