by Clare Revell
“Like I said,” Archie insisted, grabbing the bag and case from Chloe, “there is plenty of time to organize and shop. We ought to show Chloe the house, especially if she’s going to be running it and living there.”
Nigel tried again. “Actually, we really do need to get on.”
“It’s OK.” Chloe took his hand and squeezed it. “We’ve got all weekend, right? And I’d like to see the house.”
Trying not to sigh, Nigel headed out into the chilly winter sunshine. He’d hoped that Chloe would bring some spring time into the cold, hard winter of his life, but today that hope seemed frail and easy to kill. He settled into the back of the car with her, leaving the bags to Archie.
The car had barely begun moving before Archie began the rapid-fire questions Nigel knew were coming. “So, Chloe, how long have you known my brother?”
“A few weeks.”
“And you’re marrying him in less than a month. Do you know who he is?”
“Nigel’s middle name is Darcy. He’s a forensic pathologist who teaches at the university several times a week while he’s not carving up dead people. He’s a Christian, kind of cute, and has exquisite taste when it comes to dining out.” Chloe held her own.
Nigel snorted, knowing full well he’d only ever taken her to dinner in a café, albeit twice. “Yeah, well…”
“Really?” Archie raised an eyebrow. “Tell me more.”
“He likes sunsets on the beach, dunking biscuits in his tea, and he has this cute thing he does, where he folds his serviettes over and over into a tiny triangle which he then folds into itself.”
“I didn’t think you’d noticed.” Nigel’s cheeks warmed.
“Oh, I noticed. It’s a little hard not to. It’s fascinating to watch.”
Archie frowned at them in the mirror. “Hmmm. What’s his favorite color?”
Chloe turned back to Archie. “As tempting as it is to say pink and tease him, it’s navy blue.”
“Drink?”
“He doesn’t drink anymore, but he loves tea. He has it really, really hot with a splash of milk and two sugars.”
“Food?”
“Lasagna. He also likes steak, eggs, and chips.”
Nigel sat there impressed, but didn’t say anything. The woman was observant. Not to mention able to hold her own against Archie, which was no mean feat.
Archie frowned. “And I suppose you could answer the same questions about her, bro?”
“You know we’ve had more important things to discuss,” Nigel said, trying not to make a stupid schoolboy error and give the game away.
“Of course he could,” Chloe said. “And it’s kind of you to organize a jet, but Mum and Dad are planning on driving up. Dad said they’ll overnight in Carlisle, come to the wedding, and then go on to stay with my aunt in Dundee on the Monday.”
“What about your brother?” Archie asked.
Chloe’s eyes clouded. “He’s not coming.” She turned to the window as the car pulled off the main road. “Is this the house?”
Nigel nodded, glad of the change of subject. “Yeah. It’s more of a disused abbey really. Part of it survived the dissolution of the monasteries and became a private house.”
“You’re right about the Heritage Organization loving it.”
“What?” Archie’s face went red. “You are kidding. It’s part of your inheritance along with the money.”
Nigel shook his head. “It’s an option. It’d save me running it.”
“You can’t sell it,” his brother protested.
“Why ever not? It isn’t like you live here. You have your own house in Wimbourne. I want to move out and find somewhere closer to work. Somewhere that is just Chloe and me and no history.” Nigel didn’t back down. “It costs hundreds to keep up each month, you know that. The Heritage Organization has the wherewithal to do that.”
“Dad didn’t want it sold.”
“Which is why he left it to them in his will.” Nigel shot back. He ignored the frown on Archie’s face. “Actually, if you let us out here, I can show Chloe some of the grounds. We won’t be long. I’ll take Chloe’s things up to her room when we get back.”
13
Nigel inhaled sharply as the car drove away. “That went well. Not.”
Chloe looked at him apologetically. “Sorry. I told the truth automatically.”
His hand itched to hold hers, but instead, Nigel slid it into his pocket. “It’s fine. He had to find out at some point that you’re not Chloe from Scotland. So what did you want to talk about?”
She hesitated. “It’s nothing important.”
“OK.” He dropped it. It had been important enough a few days ago. Not for the first time he began to doubt this whole charade. Perhaps he’d been wrong and it wasn’t from God after all. Maybe he was being motivated purely by greed and selfish reasons. He had no right to drag someone else down with him.
He glanced at her. “This is going to sound silly, but have you changed your perfume?”
“Yeah. The other one reminded me too much of Leon.”
Nigel leaned a little closer. “I like this one. The other one was too heavy. This one suits you.”
“Thank you.” She shivered.
“Are you OK? Not too cold?”
“No; the proverbial someone just walked over my grave, that’s all. It’s a huge house. Do you have many staff?”
He went with the change of subject. He had all weekend to find out what was bothering her. “There’s roughly fifteen dotted all over the house and estate. Not that I need them. James comes as and when I need him. Despite his complaints, Archie doesn’t live here and I’ve never really cared for the place.”
He gave Chloe the guided tour and a potted history of the abbey. Then he carried her bags up to her room.
Leading her back downstairs, he took her into the study. “So, now I’ve bored you to death with a history lesson, what’s bothering you?”
Chloe walked over to the window and leaned against it. “Don’t you think we should tell everyone the truth rather than lying to them?”
Nigel strode over to her, taking her hand. “I’m not lying to him. Just not telling him everything.”
“That’s the same thing and you know it.” She looked out over the courtyard. “I thought you said it was lying that got you into this position in the first place.”
“Are you getting cold feet?” He turned her face towards his, his fingertips burning at the touch of her skin.
“No…”
“Because we have an unbreakable contract.”
“I know that and I have no intentions of reneging on it, despite what Caleb tells me to do. I’m uncomfortable with the lies, Nigel. It’s affecting every part of my life. Praising God is hard, praying is hard, even going to church makes my skin crawl right now and that’s probably the wrong phrase to use, but it’s like God is looking at me and saying, “What are you doing here when you’re willingly sinning against me by lying to the whole world?””
He looked at her. He felt the same way, but couldn’t admit that to anyone. “Is Caleb pressurizing you to back out?”
“Not in so many words. He got me into this mess…”
“Mess?” he interrupted. Shock ran through him, pitting his stomach. He turned away, trying to rein in his emotions. “Well, I apologize for the mess, and I will do my best to extricate you from it.”
“I didn’t mean mess—look. Caleb signed me up to this website. It wasn’t my choice.” She put a hand on his arm. “Anyway, before your brother asks, my favorite color is yellow. I like sunrises, kicking leaves in the autumn, walking in the woods, roast lamb and mint chocolate chip ice-cream.”
Nigel didn’t know what to think or feel. She considered him and this whole situation a mess; told him that her whole spiritual depression lay at his feet. Perhaps he’d just back out and call the wedding off. It wasn’t fair to do this to someone innocent like Chloe. No amount of money was worth that.
After all, his sala
ry would cover a mortgage or rent somewhere and he was planning on giving the house away anyway. He gripped her hand. “Chloe, look. I know we need to be honest with everyone, but is now really the time?”
“One lie piled on another doesn’t solve the problem.” She pulled away from him. “I can’t live like this and neither can you. Look what it’s doing to the both of us.”
The door swung open and Archie stood there, eyes narrowed and arms folded tightly across his chest.
“What’s up, bro?”
Archie glared at him. “Your voices carried. What aren’t you being honest about?”
Feeling like he’d been sucker punched, Nigel didn’t respond as Archie poured a glass of brandy and offered it to him. “Not for me thanks. It’s a long story.”
“Suit yourself.” Archie drained it and then picked up the one he’d poured for himself. “Since when did you give up the booze?”
“I gave it up for lent,” Nigel quipped. “Actually I don’t miss it or even want it anymore.”
“Punch drunk on love?” Archie drained the glass and went to refill it. “Is this part of your long story you haven’t told me.”
Nigel stayed his hand. “You sound like you’ve had enough on an empty stomach. And as weird as it sounds, yeah, I think I am.”
Archie grunted. “I just found the invitation to your wedding. Thank you very much, I will be honored to attend. I assume I’m the best man. And speaking of weddings, have you decided on a color for the ties yet?”
“Yellow,” Chloe said quickly.
“Your favorite color,” Nigel added.
Archie frowned. “Why Gretna Green and not in your own church or registry office? Surely it’s every girls dream to get married from home.”
“Because that’s what we wanted,” Nigel said quickly.
“Everyone knows you need a quick wedding, yes, but why Scotland? It isn’t as if you’re eloping, is it?”
Chloe spoke up. “They had a cancellation in our time frame.”
“Gretna Green were more than helpful,” Nigel said. “They provided all the forms we needed. We’ve filled them in, sent them back and got confirmation. It’s all legal and there is nothing you can do to stop it.”
“And when they find out how long you’ve really known each other?”
“What are you talking about?” Nigel managed as his stomach dropped into the soles of his shoes. His throat constricted.
“I should go,” Chloe said.
“No, you should stay. You see, I don’t believe a word you’ve just told me. I want the truth, Nigel. Why don’t you just be honest with me and stop lying like you said you wanted?”
Nigel took a deep breath. “OK. None of this is Chloe’s fault. It’s all mine. The lies are mine. I found her on an internet dating site. I’m paying her to marry me so I can get the inheritance.”
Archie’s face darkened. “You’re what?” He turned to Chloe. “And you agree to this deception?”
Chloe paled. “At first, yes, the money was the incentive. But I’ve come to care for your brother a great deal and as I was just telling him, we need to be honest with everyone now. So if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to ring my parents. See if they can come down and we can all sit and talk this through like adults.”
Nigel reached for her. “Chloe…”
She held his gaze. “I can’t lie anymore. I’m sorry.”
****
Rubbing a hand over her eyes, Chloe ran up to her room and shut the door. She pulled her phone from her pocket and dialed. “Dad, it’s me.”
“Are you OK?”
“No, not really. Can you and Mum come down to Thornhill Abbey in Dorset? We…I need to see you. Bring Caleb as well.”
“Can’t you talk over the phone?”
“No, I can’t. Please come.”
“Today isn’t possible. We’ve got an appointment this afternoon. We could come tomorrow.”
Chloe sighed. “OK. I’ll see you then.” She hung up and wrapped her arms tightly around herself. She dropped to her knees beside the bed, praying hard for an end to this. She loved Nigel, she knew that without a doubt now, but couldn’t go ahead with the marriage under a tissue of lies.
14
Day 27
Sunday March 11
Nigel looked at Chloe over breakfast. She looked as pale and sick as he felt and seemed to have lost her appetite as well. The whole weekend had been a washout. Far from flat hunting and shopping for rings which he’d planned, he’d hardly seen Chloe. She’d gone up to her room to call her parents and stayed there. She’d texted him to say they were coming over at some point on Sunday, but hadn’t replied to any messages he’d sent.
He’d even tried knocking on her door, but hadn’t got a reply. Instead, he retreated to the small chapel and read and prayed, trying desperately to find the answers he sought. But the more he prayed, the more he seemed to get exactly the opposite. His sense of disquiet grew until he knew he only had one course of action.
“What time are your parents coming?” Archie asked.
“They’ll be here at one,” she replied, pushing the plate of half-eaten toast away. Even her voice was quiet. She was so unlike the fiery, determined woman he’d fallen for.
Nigel folded his serviette and laid it on the table, hating himself for what he’d done to all of them, in particularly Chloe. “It means we can go to church first. Assuming you want to come, that is.”
“Yeah.”
“Then I’ll get the car out.” He left the room, pausing as voices carried through the open door into the hallway.
“Answer me one question, Chloe. Do you love my brother?”
“Yes, I do,” she replied quietly. “But it’s not enough, is it? He wants the money, not a wife who loves him. He doesn’t love me.”
Nigel hurried out of the house, and leaned against the front wall. How could she not know how he felt about her? Maybe they could salvage this even now. Love was enough. Love was all they needed. Not the house or money or the trappings that came with this fortune he no longer wanted. What he wanted was Chloe.
****
Not knowing how to broach the conversation, Nigel didn’t say anything to Chloe during the trip to church. The sermon just made his stomach turn more. The topic was marriage and how it mimicked the love of Christ and the church. How could he have ever thought this was the right thing to do?
Marriage wasn’t simply a business arrangement or a paid partnership. He had to call it off. He was compounding a lie with an even bigger one.
They arrived back at the house to find Chloe’s parents already there.
Great. I’m not going to get a chance to talk to her at all. Perhaps it’s just as well. I do love her, I know that, but we need a clean slate.
Lunch was as stilted a meal as he’d ever known. No one spoke except to say pass the salt. After eating, they moved into the library and sat in silence.
Archie cleared his throat. “Well, we’re waiting.”
Nigel took a deep breath, praying for guidance as he didn’t want to make the situation any worse. “OK. The truth. According to the terms of my fathers will, if I don’t marry by Easter, I’m disinherited and lose everything. All the money goes to the local dogs’ home and the house to the Heritage Organization. I made up a girlfriend last year to stop dad nagging me about getting married. Knowing him, he was probably calling my bluff.”
Archie glowered from the wing chair he sat in. “So you invented the first Chloe?”
Nigel’s cheeks burned and he shifted uncomfortably on the chair. “Yes I did. Anyway, after the reading of Dad’s will, I prayed about it, and then found this card advertising the rent-a-bride site. It seemed an answer to prayer, especially when I found Chloe’s profile. Her details and picture matched my fake girlfriend. I contacted her, she replied, and things went from there.”
Mr. Wilkes raised an eyebrow and looked distinctly disapproving. “Chloe Rosamund Wilkes?”
It was Chloe’s turn to shift on t
he chair. “Don’t look at me like that. I told you we’d met on line on an agency site. Besides, it was Caleb who signed me up.”
Nigel sighed. This was rapidly turning into an Adam and Eve situation. The atypical it wasn’t me it was her; no it wasn’t me it was him.
Everyone looked at Caleb. “Fine.” He shoved his hands into his coat pocket. “I signed her up as a joke. Well, she does have dating issues. There has been no one since Leon. She gave up her career and became a recluse.”
“It’s only been a year, for goodness sake.” Chloe sounded as frustrated and annoyed as she looked. “I’ll have you know that teaching kids is a perfectly good career and is hardly being a recluse. I could have shut myself away and became a hermit. Or become a nun, but I didn’t. ”
Caleb scowled. “Like I said, signing you up to the website was a joke. You weren’t meant to do it.”
“And if you had given me the password, I would have closed the account the day you told me about it. I was trying to do just that when Nigel’s email came. I was going to delete it, like all the other idiotic ones I’d received.”
Nigel looked at her. “You never told me that.”
“They were all idiots. Telling me how hot I looked in my picture. And those were the polite ones. I was going to delete your email as well, figuring it was just more of the same, but clicked open instead. It intrigued me; that’s why I replied. We arranged to meet and—”
“And agreed to go through with this.” Archie interrupted. He looked at Chloe’s parents. “You don’t seem surprised.”
“Not completely.” Her father replied. “We knew some of it.”
“You knew?” Archie scoffed. “Oh, this just gets better and better.”
Caleb’s wife, Vicky, spoke for the first time. “I didn’t.”
Archie smirked. “Not alone then.”
Nigel stood and paced across the room. “You are all missing the point.”
“No, we’re not.” Archie said. “The point is you are paying her to marry you, just so you can get your millions. How much are you paying her, out of interest?”
Nigel glared at him. “Mind your own beeswax.”
“It is my business,” Archie retorted.