Guarding the Heiress

by Debra Webb

  “Well, in that case I won’t keep you,” Irene said suspiciously. “Enjoy your dinner and don’t forget about tomorrow evening, six sharp.”

  Eddi hung up the receiver and scrubbed both hands over her face. She checked the claw clip holding her still-wet hair and commanded her heart rate to slow before allowing her gaze to meet the one now staring a hole through her.

  “I’m not sure I want to know what that was about.”

  Eddi clasped her hands together in front of her and cautiously approached the counter where he worked. “There’s something you should know about Ms. Irene and her friends.”

  Doug inclined his head a bit to the right and waited for her to clarify the statement.

  “They have this club.” She swallowed back the tension rising in her throat. “It’s called—” she shrugged “—the Club.”

  “How original,” he offered, sparing her only a brief assessment with those heart-stopping blue eyes as he arranged salad onto two plates.

  “Anyway, they get together every Wednesday and have a poker game.”

  One dark eyebrow arched above the other. “Poker?”

  She nodded. “They discuss all the town gossip and drink a little homemade Remedy, which is about one hundred proof.” She turned her hands palms up. “Smoke a few cigars.”

  Doug stopped transferring greens from the bowl to a plate and looked directly at her. “We are talking about the ladies from the incident this morning?”

  She nodded again.

  He made a circling motion with his left hand in a tell-me-the-rest gesture. “This Remedy, is it legal?”

  She moved her head side to side. “Not in this county.”

  “I see.” He finished with the salads and carried the plates to the small table near the window.

  “So yesterday the topic of discussion was me,” she admitted, automatically following his lead. Might as well make herself useful. She collected the dressing from the fridge and the necessary silverware.

  Once the two glasses of iced tea were on the table, he held a chair for her and asked, “They don’t know about—”

  “Oh, no.” She took the seat he offered and smiled in thanks. “It wasn’t about that.”

  He sat down directly across from her and waited for her to continue.

  She shrugged. “It was nothing really. There’s just this curse in my family—”

  “Curse?” He looked more than skeptical.

  She bobbed her head up and down. “If I don’t marry before I’m twenty-five I’m doomed to spend the rest of my life alone.” She plastered a smile in place. “Silly, isn’t it?”

  His answer was so slow in coming she wasn’t sure he intended to comment. “Yes,” he finally said. “Is there some basis for this thinking?”

  “I’ve had several female relatives who suffered from the plight.” God, could this sound any more lame? “So, the Club is convinced that I’m headed for trouble.”

  He studied her for a while. So long that Eddi felt the need to squirm. “I don’t think you have anything to worry about, Eddi. You’re a beautiful young woman. Finding a man willing to spend the rest of his life with you won’t be a challenge.” He smiled, that silky, all-charm expression that made her nerves jangle and her insides too hot. “You can take that to the bank as well.”

  She sprang to her feet, almost overturning her chair. “You know, I’m not really hungry. I think I’ll make an early night of it.” She hated not to eat the dinner he’d gone to the trouble to prepare, but she just couldn’t do this. She blinked repeatedly and then somehow managed to meet his gaze. “Good night.”

  “Eddi.”

  She stalled at the door. She did not want to turn around. She didn’t want to look at him. She didn’t want to hear his voice. Somehow she had to get out of her head this crazy notion those matchmaking old biddies had planted. It was making her act completely out of character.

  Dredging up courage from some source deep inside her that she hadn’t known existed until then, she turned around. He stood at the table, just looking at her with a patience and understanding that defied reason.

  “When you’re ready we need to talk about your plans. You can’t keep putting this off.”

  She swallowed tightly. He was right. She had to do this. She couldn’t run from it. “Tell them I’ll be there on Sunday.” She started to turn away, but looked back at him once more. “I guess we should start those heiress lessons tomorrow.”

  Then she went to bed. Curled up with those things that were familiar to her like her favorite blanket and the ragged teddy bear pillow she’d had for as long as she could remember, and ordered herself to sleep.

  She had responsibilities. Obligations.

  She didn’t have time for foolish matchmaking games.

  Or for her first case of pure, undeniable lust.

  That’s all this could be, she told herself as she drifted off. She was no princess and Doug was no knight in shining armor.

  Chapter Six

  “Doesn’t your mother drive a gray sedan?” Doug wanted to know early the next morning as he peeked between the wood shutters to see who’d pulled up in the driveway.

  Eddi forgot that she was having the worst bad-hair day in history, gave up the search for her favorite cap and strode over to the window. She frowned as she peered out through the slats. It was her mom. What the heck was she doing out this early? She hardly ever left the house. Worry that something had happened suddenly tied a neat little knot in Eddi’s stomach.

  “What’s happened now?” she muttered as she unlocked the door. Enough already, she wanted to rant.

  Eddi hurried down the two steps that separated the small stoop from the yard and over to the driver’s side of her mother’s car. “You’re certainly an early bird,” she said cheerily, hoping to offset some of the dread already rising to panic proportions.

  Milly took her daughter’s offered hand and pulled herself from the driver’s seat. Bracing her weight on her cane, she hobbled far enough out of the way for Eddi to close the car door. “I want to talk,” her mother said. “I’ve been up most of the night mulling things over.”

  “Come on inside, Mom,” Eddi urged. The last thing she wanted was for any of this to worry her mother. But hoping that it wouldn’t was unrealistic.

  “Good morning, Mrs. Harper.”

  Eddi hadn’t even noticed that he’d followed. But, of course, he had. He was a bodyguard after all. It was his job to follow her body wherever it went. The thrilling sensation that shot through her at that thought made her just a little giddy. She forced away the idea. She had to stop thinking like that. But, her emotions had always ruled her. She doubted that would change this side of the grave.

  “Good morning, Mr. Cooper.”

  “Doug,” he insisted.

  As he followed Eddi and her mother back into the house she suddenly wondered about his parents and where he lived. They hadn’t discussed him at all. But then, this wasn’t about him, was it?

  No matter how she tried, it always came back to those silly emotions she shouldn’t be allowing.

  Once she’d settled her mother on the sofa, Eddi selected the same seat she’d occupied the day before when she and Doug had talked. He graciously offered to make a fresh pot of coffee, which gave them some privacy.

  “All right.” Eddi folded her hands in her lap. “Let’s talk.” Her mother was staring at her now…really staring at her as if she’d never seen her before. Eddi wondered if she was seeing for the first time in a long while the D’Martine traits. Doug had told her she was the image of her grandmother.

  “Oh, Eddi, you do look so like your…like Edouard.” Her mother glanced away but her smile didn’t fade. “Your father and I have worked hard all these years to put that behind us.” Her eyes met Eddi’s once more. “But it’s time you knew that part of who you are.” She sighed wistfully. “I suppose I was wrong for keeping this from you so long—”

  Whoa. Been there, done that. “Mom, Dad and I already
had this discussion. I’m glad you waited. You did the right thing.”

  Milly leaned back fully in her chair and rested her cane across her lap. “Your father and I don’t want you to miss out on all the things we did. Your grandmother D’Martine can give you so much more. The past is over. It’s time to get on with our lives. Twenty-five years is a long time to keep secrets. Too long.”

  Eddi was still hung up on the part about all her parents had missed. She knew about her mom…. “Mom, you left college and never went back because you were pregnant with me. Did Dad—”

  She nodded. “Your father had a full scholarship to the college over in Aberdeen. But you can’t do college with a brand-new family.” Realization of what she’d revealed belatedly dawned. “Oh, but we’ve never regretted our decision for a moment.” She leaned forward, wincing with the effort. “Please don’t think that. It was hard, yes. But you and the life we’ve had have been worth every moment.”

  That was the one thing Eddi didn’t doubt. Still, she couldn’t help feeling bad that her mom and dad had given up so much to take care of her. That news only strengthened her resolve to go forward with her decision.

  “I’m flying to Martha’s Vineyard to meet her—Grandmother D’Martine—on Sunday,” Eddi announced. There, that was said. Her mother didn’t say anything, she simply looked at her. “Doug will be going with me…to make sure I’m okay,” Eddi added in hopes of prodding a response from her mom.

  “As much as it hurts to see you go,” her mother said after a while, “I do believe it’s the right thing.”

  Doug arrived with the coffee just then. Eddi was glad for the reprieve. Her mother’s eyes were a little bright and Eddi was sure her own were as well.

  “I have a few calls to make,” he said before disappearing back into the kitchen.

  Watching him walk away, Eddi narrowly caught herself before she sighed out loud.

  Her mom looked from her to Doug and back. “Sweetie, is there something I should know?” she prompted.

  Eddi snapped to attention and shook her head a little too vigorously. “No. No. Nothing. That’s what bodyguards do, you know. Make you feel at ease.” She gestured to the cups of steaming coffee on the table. “And make coffee.”

  That seemed to placate her mother, thank God.

  “Your father and I will expect to hear from you every day,” she said firmly, but Eddi didn’t miss the hint of a quake in her voice.

  “I’ll call every day.”

  “I’ll prepare a photo album for you to take along,” she went on.

  “A photo album?” That one kind of flew right over Eddi’s head.

  “I’m sure your grandmother D’Martine will want to see pictures of you through the years.”

  “Oh.” Eddi nodded then. “Good idea.” She wouldn’t have thought of that until she’d gotten there and the woman asked for that very thing.

  “Don’t worry about your father or the store. Lamar Parks is going to fill in for you while you’re gone.”

  Something resembling outrage ruptured inside Eddi at the mention of Lamar’s name. “Momma, couldn’t it be anybody but him.” She just didn’t like the guy. His work was passable but he was just so obnoxious and always competing with Eddi.

  “You don’t worry about that. Your father will take care of the business. You have other things to attend to right now.” Her mom smiled. “You can be anything you want to, little girl. Don’t hold back.”

  Overwhelmed by her mother’s unconditional support, Eddi deftly changed the subject. And she’d worried about any of this hurting her parents. She could go to Martha’s Vineyard now with a clear conscience.

  An epiphany abruptly took root. So, that’s what this was all about. Her mother intended to make sure that no force on earth held her daughter back from taking this next step. Well, Milly and Harvey Harper had no legitimate worries. Nothing or no one would ever replace them in Eddi’s heart.

  FAUCET PARTS WERE scattered across the counter like the site of a downed aircraft. Doug didn’t see any way Eddi would ever get the thing back together again. When he would have said as much, she whipped around and made her first demand.

  “This is Friday. I only have forty-eight hours.” Her horrified gaze locked with his. “Are you sure I can do this? I mean, what if I say or do the wrong thing?”

  Eddi had been too quiet since her mother’s visit that morning. Doug felt reasonably sure that she’d needed to think, so he’d left her to her silence.

  “You’ll make mistakes,” he granted. “Some things can’t be taught, you simply have to learn them by trial and error.”

  She tossed aside the rubber seals she’d just dug from her toolbox. “What kind of questions will the media ask me?”

  He could see her anxiety level double with every question as it occurred to her. Time to put the brakes on the fear factor. “There’s no way to know for certain. I would imagine they’ll ask about your childhood and growing up in Meadowbrook. But that won’t be the first topic of discussion.”

  Worry knitted its way across her forehead. “It won’t?”

  He propped against the kitchen counter and adopted a completely relaxed stance in hopes that she would as well. “First they’ll want to know how you came to be a D’Martine. They’ll concentrate on that topic for a while. Mrs. D’Martine’s publicist will likely release a statement in regards to that subject in advance.”

  Her eyes rounded slightly. “She has a publicist?”

  “At least one, maybe two.”

  Chewing on her lower lip as she so often did, Eddi twirled a strand of hair on her finger. Her usually smooth braid was a little frazzled-looking today. She complained a full twenty minutes about not being able to find her cap. Doug supposed even plumbers had bad-hair days. But right now, all he could think about was how much he’d like to be nibbling on that full bottom lip.

  “All I have to do is answer the questions truthfully and I’ll be okay.” She looked relieved by her conclusion.

  “Unless the publicist or attorney tells you not to divulge certain information,” he countered. That was a very likely scenario considering the facts.

  Uncertainty once more claimed Eddi’s pretty face. “I’ve never been very good at lying. Mom and Dad caught me every single time I tried.”

  Doug passed a hand over his jaw to cover his smile. He’d just bet she couldn’t tell a lie if her life depended upon it. He’d have to warn Thurston about that.

  “The key,” he told her, “with the media is to stay calm and relaxed. They’ll pick up on it if you’re nervous. Think about something that makes you feel calm and focus on that while the circus goes on around you.” That’s what he’d always tried to do and it worked most of the time.

  She retrieved the seals and proceeded to insert them into some part of the faucet that Doug couldn’t name. “All I have to do is stay cool and I’ll be fine. Okay,” she said more to herself than to him. “I can do that.”

  In two minutes flat she had the faucet completely reassembled. Amazing. He’d have sworn it was a hopeless case. But there it was, drip free.

  “Wait.” She closed the lid on her toolbox and turned back to him. “Do I have to walk a certain way? Dress differently?”

  The walk was just fine, he mused. And he had noticed. The dress? He surveyed her overalls. Now that was another story.

  She rolled her eyes. “I know I can’t go dressed like this, but I don’t think I have anything else appropriate either.” She popped herself on the forehead with the heel of her hand. “What am I saying? I know I don’t have anything appropriate.”

  Before another look of doom could set in on her expression, Doug hefted the toolbox and assured her, “No problem. We’ll go shopping tomorrow.”

  “I didn’t know bodyguards took you shopping, too.”

  He smiled over his shoulder at her. “I’m a different kind of bodyguard.”

  Outside, Eddi walked with her shoulders squared and her chin held high. “Like this, right?�
�

  “Not quite so stiffly,” he pointed out. “Your usual walk is fine. Just remember not to look down and to keep smiling.”

  She smiled widely and started a perfect Miss America wave. “Am I good or what?”

  Neighbors started to wave back. “See!” Eddi teased. “I have fans already.”

  Doug placed the toolbox in the back of the truck and opened the door for her. “Not fans, Eddi,” he chided. “Admirers.”

  She scowled at him as she slid across the bench seat and settled behind the steering wheel. “Doesn’t that mean the same thing?”

  He hesitated before dropping into the passenger seat. “Admirers admire.” His tone turned grim then. He couldn’t have stopped it had he tried. “Fans fixate, they accost. Take it from someone who knows.”

  All signs of amusement disappeared, but Doug turned his attention forward, away from those questioning eyes. He’d said too much. She’d read between the lines. Now she would want to know more.

  And he couldn’t give her more.

  THE BAD-HAIR DAY had morphed into an all-out-appearance catastrophe. Eddi finally had her hair under some semblance of control. Whether it was the new shampoo she’d tried or the new conditioner, not a single strand had wanted to go in the same direction as the other. Now the challenge was wardrobe. She’d wasted her only real chance at looking elegant that first night she and Doug had gone to dinner. Now there was little to choose from.

  Frustrated, she glanced at the bedside clock: 5:40. She had to hurry. No wonder she didn’t bother dating, not that anyone had been asking. It was too much trouble. Too much stress. And this wasn’t even a real date.

  She silently repeated that last statement a dozen times over but it didn’t change the fact that tonight felt like a date, just as the first time they’d gone to dinner had.

  “Because you’re hopeless,” she said to her reflection as she held one last wardrobe offering against her chest. “And doomed to spend your life alone with nothing to wear.”

  Eddi sighed and resigned herself to wearing the hideous green skirt and matching vest she’d owned for half a lifetime. The only reason it still fit was because she’d had that sudden growth spurt in seventh grade and had spent the next three years a full head taller than even the boys in her class. The upside was that she could still wear the same clothes.