“Daddy, daddy.” Chloe chimed out, distracting him from his thoughts. “Watch this.”
Marshall watched horrified as she jumped from one bed to the other, then bounced up and down. “Hey, let’s find the room service menu and order some dinner and watch a movie.” Marshall said, sweeping Chloe off the bed and tickling her.
Chloe dissolved into a fit of giggling and wiggled in his arms making Marshall laugh too. When he set her on her feet and looked down at her smiling face, he realized that he hadn’t tickled his daughter in a long time, not since she’d been a smiling toddler who only needed a few minutes of his time. Now she was six years old and growing up, if he wasn’t carful he’d miss her entire childhood.
Chloe pulled on his sleeve and asked, “Daddy what’s room service?”
“That’s when they bring the food to your room so you don’t have to leave.” Marshall said, going over to the table in the corner and picking up the menu. “See, you can have anything you want.”
Chloe took the menu from him and looked at it, pretending to read it. “I don’t see anything on here that I want. I think we should go to the restaurant downstairs.” She said, the word restaurant came out a little funny making Marshall laugh.
“Oh, you do.”
“Yes, it’s boring to eat in the room. Let’s go out to dinner.” Chloe said, very seriously.
“Well, when you put it that way how can I resist, will you be my date for dinner?” Marshall asked, equally serious, although he was having a hard time keeping a strait face.
Chloe smiled up at him, then began to giggle. “Daddy you’re silly, I can’t be your date I’m your daughter.”
“Darn it, I guess you’re right. Go wash your face and hands and I’ll take my daughter to dinner. Is that better?” Marshall couldn’t hold the laughter back when Chloe nodded her head and stomped off as if she was on an important mission.
When they walked into the dining room, Chloe’s hand firmly in his, Marshall felt happy for the first that day. Chloe was proving to be a very entertaining child when she wasn’t throwing a tantrum, and she hadn’t had one all day long. Heather had been right to stop for the night instead of pushing on, it had given Chloe time to be a kid, and him time to process the truth about Heather.
They’d just stepped up to the hostess podium when Chloe screamed, “Heather.” Pulled her hand from his and ran across the restaurant.
Marshall and the hostess followed her to Heather’s table, Marshall embarrassed by Chloe’s behavior. “Chloe, you can’t just go running off like that.” He said, when he caught up with her.
“But look daddy, it’s Heather. She’s having dinner out too.” Chloe said, confused about what she’d done wrong. “I just wanted to say hi.”
Marshall knelt in front of her, “I know sweetheart, but you have to stay with me. Okay?”
“Okay.” Chloe said, clearly still confused.
Heather’s heart melted watching Marshall with Chloe, he’d handled her running away from him perfectly and didn’t even know it. “I see you decided not to stay in your room.” She said when Marshall stood up.
“Chloe said it was boring to stay in the room so here we are.”
“Let’s eat with Heather.” Chloe chimed in.
Marshall looked at Heather trying to decide if he was still mad at her, then was shocked to discover that not only was he no longer angry, but that he wanted to share dinner with her. There was something comforting about being with her, and for someone as young as she was, she had an amazing amount of patience and insight when it came to Chloe. Studying her, he realized that she was actually very pretty, her long dark hair was pulled back from her face and fell in gentle waves down her back exposing her neck and shoulders.
He could see the pulse at her neck beating and with each breath her chest rose and fell drawing his eyes to her breasts which were perfectly sized for his large hands. Shocked at the path of his thoughts, he tore his gaze away from her breasts, hoping that she didn’t know what he was thinking.
“Oh, honey that’s… I mean she’s probably already ordered.” Marshall said, stumbling over his words, when he felt a tingling in his groin at the thought of sitting down next to Heather.
“Oh, I just ordered a minute ago, you’re welcome to join me.” She said, wondering why Marshall had suddenly begun to act so strange. “Unless you’re still mad at me.”
Chloe looked up at Marshall, then tugged at his pant leg, “Why are you mad at Heather daddy?”
Marshall locked eyes with Heather, then said, “I’m not sweetheart, I was but I’m not anymore. People make mistakes sometimes and we have to accept it when they say they’re sorry.”
“Good.” Chloe said, and climbed onto the seat across from Heather. “I’m hungry. Can I have spaghetti?”
“Of course, you can have spaghetti.” Marshall said, then on an impulse pointed to the seat next to Heather and asked, “Is this seat taken?”
When Heather shook her head, he sat down next to her, not sure why he’d chosen that seat but happy that he had when a warmth spread through him that had nothing to do with the fireplace they were seated next to. Choosing not to think about the source of that warmth, he took a menu from the hostess and opened it, a huge smile on his face, a smile he was unaware of.
Chapter 8
When Heather turned off the main road onto the long drive that led to Homestead House, Marshall looked surprised. “Where are the gates?”
“You mean that ugly stone gate that used to be here?” Heather asked, surprised by the question.
“Yeah, that one.” Marshall said, laughing, the gate had been horrible, but had stood at the end of the drive for his entire life.
“Seth tore it down a few summers ago.” Heather said, then asked, “How long has it been since you’ve been home?”
“I haven’t been back since Seth and Lauren got married.” Marshall said, shrugging his shoulders.
“They got married two years ago. You haven’t been home since then?” Heather was shocked, she’d known that things between Seth and his brothers weren’t great, but had no idea they were that bad.
Marshall looked out the window thinking about the word home, “I don’t really think of this as home, I never did. I spent most of my childhood away from here. My visits to Montgomery mansion were few and far between, and none of dad’s wives wanted a little kid hanging around. I didn’t even have my own room.”
Heather didn’t know what to say at first, she may not have grown up with the wealth that Marshall had, but she had the love of her family. “I’m sorry Marshall, that sounds very lonely. I can’t imagine growing up like that, my family drives me crazy but I know that they love me.”
“Well, I survived.” Marshall said, waving his hand, the conversation was getting way too personal.
Heather let it go, clearly Marshall had said all he wanted to on the subject. When they reached the spot on the road where it dipped down to the shore and Homestead House came into view, Marshall sucked in a deep breath. The entire property could be seen from that height and what he saw looked nothing like what he remembered. It seemed impossible that it could have changed that much in only two years.
“It looks so different, almost like a little village.” He finally said, as they passed new housing that had been built to accommodate the people who worked for Montgomery Renewable and Reclamation.
“It more or less is. We’re basically self-sufficient out here — it’s important to Seth. We raise or catch most of our food, all our power is from the solar panels you’ll see everywhere, and there’s even a school.” Heather said proudly, she’d been a part of building what he was seeing and was very proud of what they’d accomplished.
“But who are all these people? Where do they work?” Marshall asked, wondering how Seth had gotten so many people to move out to the middle of nowhere.
“They work here, or at least they’re based here. There are biologists, ecologists, forestry experts and all the people who suppo
rt them. Then there are all the people who work on the renewable energy project. Not everyone lives here, some only spend the summer, but as you can imagine there was a need for housing and Seth decided that it made sense to make this home base.” Heather said, pulling the SUV up in front of the main house. “I think you’re going to find that the house has changed a lot too.”
Marshall was speechless as he helped Chloe out of the car, several people greeted them as they walked up to the house, including his brother and his wife, who stepped out of the front door just as they started up the steps. It was impossible not to see how happy his brother was, how good the last few years had been to him and Marshall was a little bit jealous.
“It took you two long enough.” Seth said, then pulled Marshall into a big hug, shocking him speechless. “Is this my niece? Hi, Chloe. I’m your uncle Seth.”
Chloe was hiding behind Marshall, but when Seth knelt down to her level, she peeked out. “Hi.”
“Are you ready to go on a big adventure? We’re going to have so much fun together. This is your aunt Laruen and she has a special room all ready for you.” Seth said, pointing to Laruen.
“I heard that you like pink.” Laruen said, holding out her hand.
Chloe looked up at Marshall and then over at Heather who nodded her head. “I love pink. Can I see the room please?”
“You bet.” Laruen said, holding out her hand. “Marshall, we have a room ready for you as well. Seth couldn’t remember which room was yours when you were kids so we picked one in the family wing. If you don’t like it let me know and we’ll make what ever changes you want.”
Marshall was touched by her offer, “Thank you, honestly I don’t remember which room was mine either.”
“Well come in and see the house, it’s probably nothing like you remember it.” Lauren said, then turned when Tyler came barreling around the side of the house and threw his arms around Heathers legs.
“Mom, you’re home.” He said, jumping up and down once he’d released her.
Heather laughed and said, “We just got here.”
“We saw you from the barn and Ms. Jenkins said I could run over and see you. There’s a mare getting ready to foal and she said we could watch if we got our parents permission, but you weren’t here so Seth said I could. Can I still watch?”
“That’s exciting, of course you can watch.” Heather said, ruffling his hair.
“Will you come too?” Tyler couldn’t stand still, he was so excited.
“Let me get unpacked and I’ll be there.” Heather said, giving Tyler a push back toward the barn.
“Okay.” He yelled over his shoulder, then took off at a run for the barn.
Marshall could only stare at Tyler, shocked to find that Heather not only had a child but had one so old. When she turned back to him, the smile still plastered on her face, he asked, “Is he yours?”
“Yes, that’s Tyler, he’s eight.” Heather said, not sure what to make of the look on Marshall’s face.
“But… You can’t be… You didn’t tell me…” Marshall trailed off, not sure if he should be mad that she hadn’t told him about her son.
“You never asked.” Heather said, narrowing her eyes at him, “Is it a problem?”
Marshall hesitated, he wasn’t sure what to think about Heather having a child that old. He’d just assumed that she was single and unattached, she seemed much too young to have a child that was eight. But the more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea, and it explained why she was so good with Chloe.
“Well, no. I guess I’m just surprised, that’s all.” Marshall said.
Heather opened her mouth to reply, but a woman who was crossing the front yard called her name. She turned from Marshall to greet the woman. “Hello Ms. Jenkins. I hear that we’re about to have a new foal.”
“It’s probably going to be hours yet, maybe not until later tonight.” Ms. Jenkins said, “The kids all want to watch but I’m afraid it might be the middle of the night when it happens.”
“Oh, they’re going to be so disappointed.” Heather said, then she and the teacher walked away preventing Marshall from hearing any more of their conversation.
Lauren and Seth watched Marshall watching Heather and exchanged a look, something was going on between them but neither was sure what. “How about I show you and Chloe to your rooms. I can’t wait to show you what I’ve done with yours, Marshall.”
Marshall let them pull him into the house, but before he stepped through the door, he looked over his shoulder at Heather one last time. She’d surprised him once again, and he wasn’t sure he liked it at all. He liked his women to be predictable, to fit into neat little roles but every time he turned around Heather did something that surprised him. It threw him off guard, but it was also exciting to never know what she might do next, it also made him want to get to know her better, to hear her story and see if it compared with his at all.
When he turned back and stepped into the house, thoughts of Heather fled his mind. His childhood home looked nothing like he remembered, gone was the harsh modern furniture, the walls had been stripped back to their original logs, and everywhere he looked there was comfortable furniture. The one thing that hadn’t changed was the view out of the wall to wall windows that faced the sea and he couldn’t help heading straight for them.
Chloe who had been silent since they’d gotten out of the car, reached out and took his hand as they stood there together. “Daddy, I want to go to the beach.” She said, tugging on his hand.
Marshall loved the beach, it was the only thing he’d looked forward to when he came home, and he now realized that at least that hadn’t changed. “Maybe tomorrow sweetheart.” He said to her, then turned to Seth. “It’s changed so much, but I’m happy to see that the beach is still the same.”
“I remember how much you loved the beach.” Seth said coming up behind him and putting his arm over his shoulders, surprising Marshall with not only the memory but the physical contact.
“Your room has a wonderful view of the shore.” Laruen said, “Are you ready to see it?”
Simone picked up her phone and looked at the screen again. She was becoming worried as Marshall hadn’t called or sent her a text message in days. When Marshall had called to say that he had to go home for a few weeks, she’d tried to be supportive at first thinking that he’d invite her to go along, but the invitation had never come. He’d explained that his brother wanted to discuss the purchase of the theatre with him and a cold wave of dread had washed over her. If Seth Montgomery got involved it might not be so easy to pull this off. Especially if she wasn’t around when he was talking to Marshall.
Several times she’d considered just getting in the car and driving to Homestead House, but managed to stop herself. Showing up there unannounced wouldn’t gain her anything, might even send up a red flag, so she’d squashed the urge and stayed put. But her frustration was growing by the hour, making her snap at Marco, who had moved into her hotel room since Marshall was out of town and wouldn’t know. It had been the only thing keeping her sane, but now he was just another annoyance she had to deal with.
After all the work they’d put into this scam it looked like it was in danger of falling apart. Their story would hold together unless someone did a lot of research into the old theatre and owner, but she hadn’t been worried when it was only Marshall they were dealing with, sure that he wouldn’t go to all that effort as long as they had the paperwork and the play to wave under his nose. But just this afternoon, she’d done some research on Seth Montgomery and found that he was more of a worry that she’d at first thought. Marco had blown her concern off, “I don’t know what you’re worried about. Do you really think that anyone in that family is going to be alarmed by the money we’re asking for? They have billions of dollars, a million is just a drop in the bucket.”
“Then why is Marshall there and not here?” Simone asked, sarcasm dripping from her words.
“Marshall explained that, his b
rother wants him to go on that stupid trip and won’t approve the theatre purchase unless he does. It’s a pretty simple case of blackmail if you ask me.” Marco said, taking a beer out of the mini-bar and cracking it open. “Just relax, think of these two weeks as a vacation.”
She wished she could be as confident as Marco, that was part of his charm, no matter what terrible thing was happening he always kept a positive outlook. Setting her phone down, she vowed to stop worrying. “Let’s go do something fun.” She said, going to the closet and picking out an outfit for the day.
“In this town, good luck. I have a better idea.” Marco said, coming up behind her and putting his arms around her middle, then sliding his hands up to her breasts.
Heather took a deep breath of the salty air and sighed happily. “It’s funny I’ve only lived here for two years but I can’t imagine living anywhere else.” She said, her eyes following Tyler who was busy searching the beach for life, Chloe trailing behind him.
“The beach was the one thing I loved about coming here. I spent hours out here, looking for shells, dreaming of being on the stage, and avoiding my father.” Marshall said, bending to pick up a shell.
“You’ve had the same dream for a long time, that’s pretty amazing.” Heather said, feeling sad for the boy Marshall used to be.
“I think acting helped me avoid how lonely my life was. It gave me a chance to be someone else for a little while, to forget that my family wasn’t interested in me.” Marshall said, surprised that he was telling Heather so much about himself, but very aware that it felt good to talk about it with someone.
Heather’s heart went out to the lonely little boy that Marshall must have been, but knew that dwelling in the past would only hold him back so she offered some unasked-for advice. “I’ve known Seth for over two years and watched him change from an unsocial recluse into a man who cares very much for those around him. I think if you give him a chance you’ll see that all he wants is to connect with you.”
You're Not Alone Page 8