Mistakenly Married

by Victorine E. Lieske

He appeared contemplative for a moment. “I was just going to wish you luck, in finding a job and everything.”

  Her heart sank. She was hoping he was going to say something else. Something like, “I’ll miss you.” Or, “I’ve enjoyed the last two weeks.” Or maybe, “I love you more than life itself.”

  She lowered her gaze. “Okay. Thanks.”

  He gave her a quick nod, then turned and walked to his rental car. He loaded his things, got in, and started the engine. Her chest grew heavy as he pulled out of the driveway. She watched his car disappear down the road.

  Chapter 24

  Harrison bit into the stale vending machine sandwich and stared at the sea of people walking by him as he waited for his plane. The hollow feeling in his chest expanded. Leaving Penny had been the hardest thing he’d had to do in his life. Even confessing their deception to her parents paled in comparison.

  It was hard to believe he’d only met her two weeks ago. She’d become so much a part of his life in that short time. She’d brought laughter to his world. Everything came alive when she was around. Even him. And now she was gone.

  His stomach soured and he tossed the rest of his sandwich in the trash. He needed to forget about Penny. She didn’t feel the same way about him. He had to move on.

  Shifting his focus, he geared up for his confrontation with Patrice. She’d had no right to touch his trust fund. Sure, she had set up the account and was the trustee, so she had total control of it. But his father had made it clear he wanted that money to go to Harrison and his brother when they were stable adults. Patrice knew his father’s wishes.

  There had been thirty million dollars in there. His brother had taken fifteen two years ago when he’d gotten married. Where had the rest gone?

  Was she hiding it in another account? He couldn’t imagine her doing that. She was cold and impersonal, but she wasn’t a thief. He could see her dipping into the account to carry on appearances, though. She was obsessed with keeping up with the neighbors.

  His flight was called and he stood and grabbed his case. The truth would come out soon enough. He wasn’t going to let Patrice off the hook.

  When his plane arrived in L.A., he got in his car and sped along the freeway. The radio blared the music Penny liked, and he turned it off in frustration.

  By the time he got home, it was late and the house was dark, but he was determined to confront Patrice. He set his suitcases down and walked toward his stepmother’s room. He pounded on the door, the sound echoing through the hall.

  He heard stirring, and then footsteps. Her door opened. She wore her nightgown, but didn’t look surprised to see him. “Harrison.” Her tone was cold, but also held a tired edge to it.

  “I need to speak to you.”

  She hesitated for only a moment. “Come on in.” She motioned for him to sit in the reading chair.

  “I assume you know why I’m here.”

  Patrice had no make-up on, and her age showed. She nodded. “The trust fund.” She folded her arms under her chest.

  “Where’s the money?”

  “Gone.”

  So, she had spent it. Anger pulsed through him. “It wasn’t yours to spend!”

  She sank down to the bed, her shoulders drooping. “I know.” She twisted a tissue in her hands.

  Even though she looked pathetic, he wasn’t going to let her get away with what she’d done. “I demand an explanation.”

  She stared down at the tissue. “I...I’ve been paying for Antonio’s medical treatment.”

  Harrison blinked. If she’d said she’d been taking belly dancing classes he wouldn’t have been more surprised. He didn’t even know Antonio was ill. “What?”

  Patrice turned toward the window. “Antonio’s been getting cancer treatments for the last three years. He couldn’t pay for it.” She paused, and he waited for her to continue. “It’s my fault.”

  “How is his cancer your fault?”

  She sighed. “Not the cancer. The lack of medical insurance.”

  Harrison shifted in his chair. “I see.” Had she lost her mind? It wasn’t her fault, and she definitely didn’t have any liability. Why had she been paying his medical bills?

  “I...” She cleared her throat. “I loved your father.”

  That came out of left field. Where was she going with that?

  She stared down at her hands. “After he died I got lonely. Antonio and I...”

  Oh, crud. He knew where she was headed now. He held up a hand. “Stop. I don’t want to hear any more.”

  “His diagnosis came not long after we got involved. I couldn’t stand to lose him as well.”

  Harrison shook his head. “There was fifteen million in there. His medical bills couldn’t have been that high.”

  Patrice swallowed, her face turning green. “When I realized I’d spent over two million dollars, I panicked. I tried to get the money back by investing in some risky stocks.”

  The way she fidgeted, he knew there was more, so he waited for her to continue.

  “The more money I lost, the more risk I took, trying to get it back.” She looked like she was going to throw up. “I invested the last three million right before you married Penny. The company went belly up last week.”

  All that money. Gone. Harrison’s mouth dried out. How could she have done that? Anger pulsed through him. She should have just told him instead of trying to cover up her mistake. The realization hit him that he and Penny had done the exact same thing.

  “What about your money? Dad left you a sizable amount.”

  She dabbed at her eye. “I thought I was being wise by investing the bulk of it into Harrison Williams stocks. But the company has been going down, and I’ve lost a lot. I can’t sell now. I’d lose so much.”

  His anger dissipated. There was still money tied up in the business. All he had to do was pull things around. He ran his hand through his hair. “Okay. I guess that’s it then.”

  Patrice’s head snapped up. “Okay? That’s all you’re going to say?”

  “You obviously didn’t mean to drain the account. What else is there to say?”

  She straightened her back. “I’ll get you your money. After the firm’s stocks go back up.”

  He had no choice but to agree to it. “Okay.”

  “Trent and I were talking. He’s been going into the office while you were gone. He has some ideas for turning the business around.”

  “Trent?” The notion seemed absurd.

  “He actually has some good ideas.”

  Harrison shrugged. “I’ll talk to him tomorrow.”

  Patrice smoothed her nightgown, back to her pious posture. “You do that. This business is all we have left.”

  “And you’ve got to rein in your spending.”

  Her mouth tightened into a thin line. “You will not disrespect me.”

  “I mean no disrespect. But you can’t act like we have money when we don’t.”

  She blanched and didn’t say anything else.

  He leaned back in his chair and studied her. “Why didn’t you tell me about you and Antonio?”

  “No one must know,” she said so low it was almost a whisper.

  “You’d rather keep up appearances than be happy?”

  She stood. “I don’t expect you to understand. But I do expect you to keep this information to yourself. The only reason I told you in the first place was because I owed you an explanation about your trust fund.”

  “But—”

  “It’s late and I’m sure Penny is wondering where you are.”

  The mention of Penny sent his stomach to his toes and reminded him why his chest felt hollow. What was he going to tell her? He couldn’t pretend they were still happily married. He stared at his shoes. “Penny’s gone.”

  A smirk landed on her face. “Found out there’s no money, did she? Then I did you a favor.”

  Harrison clenched his hands into fists. “It wasn’t like that.” He stormed out of her room and slammed the door.
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  Chapter 25

  Penny lay on the couch, staring at the television and not seeing it. She snuggled into the afghan her Aunt Tilly had made and sniffled. Kimmy had gone back to college. Her father was at work, her mother out shopping, and her brother wasn’t due home from school for another hour.

  Plenty of time to wallow in self-pity on the couch. She pulled another tissue from the box and wiped her nose. He hadn’t called. Even though she’d tossed her cell phone, she’d been hoping he’d at least call the house. But...nothing. Phone silence, for two weeks.

  If there had been any doubt in her mind about how he felt, it was gone now. He didn’t feel the same. Not the way she felt about him.

  She loved him.

  And she’d messed it all up. Again. She was such a failure. No job. Living in her parents’ house. She looked down at her sweat pants. She couldn’t even muster up the strength to get dressed in the morning.

  What a waste of skin she was. Harrison would be better off with someone else. He deserved a girl who could make him happy. Someone who would stand up to Patrice and help him leave his horrible job.

  The front door rattled and her mother entered, her arms full of groceries. Concern washed over her face. “Penny, can you help?”

  She groaned inwardly but rose from the couch anyway. “Yes.” She dumped the afghan in a heap.

  “Take this one, will you?” Her mother held out a brown paper bag.

  Penny grabbed it and grunted. “This is heavy. What’s in it?”

  “Oh, sorry. There are cans in the bottom.”

  They went into the kitchen and emptied the bags onto the laminate counter, putting things in the cupboard. Her mother eyed her. “How are you doing?”

  Penny sighed. She’d known this conversation would be coming. Her mother had been giving her ‘the eye’ for a while now. “I’m fine, Mom.”

  Her mother pulled a can of corn from the bag and placed it on the shelf. “Fine?” She raised one eyebrow in an ‘oh, really?’ kind of way.

  “All right. I guess I’ve been...moody lately.” Maybe that would satisfy her.

  “Honey, I think we need to talk.”

  Annoyance pinched her, and she frowned. “We are talking.”

  “Then tell me. Have you realized yet that you love him?” Her mother’s bold challenge came with a firm stance and hands on her hips.

  Great. Her mother knew. Penny swiped a strand of hair out of her face. No use in denying it. “Yes.”

  Her mother gave her a sympathetic look. “How long have you known?”

  Penny’s shoulders slumped. “I don’t know. I guess ever since he left.”

  “And what are you going to do about it?”

  Gah! Why couldn’t a hole open up in the kitchen floor so she could jump into it? Heat seared Penny’s cheeks. “Nothing.”

  “Why not?” Her mother picked up a gallon of milk and opened the fridge.

  “He only married me to get his trust fund money.”

  Her mother slowly closed the refrigerator. “I see.” She studied Penny for a moment. “What would happen if you called him and told him how you felt?”

  She’d gone over that in her mind a thousand times. In her fantasies, she flew to California and told him in person. She looked amazing, of course, and he pulled her into his arms and kissed her. In reality, he’d probably laugh at her. “I don’t know.”

  “Well, you won’t find out unless you do tell him.”

  Heh, easy for her mother to say. She was already married to the love of her life. She wasn’t the one taking the risk of being laughed at. Besides, he would have called if he had the same feelings, right?

  The sting of being rejected was too much, and Penny blinked back tears. “He doesn’t want me. I just need to move on.”

  Her mother looked sad for a moment, then brushed it off. “All right, then. Someone called looking for you.” She dug around in her purse then held out a piece of paper.

  Penny grabbed it and read it. The room spun. “The Tribute Show? They’re back on?”

  “Yes. They want you to come immediately.”

  Her heart pounded in her chest. She had a job! And not just some stupid fast food gig, she had her show back. “Mom, this is great news. Why didn’t you tell me right away?”

  “I wanted to talk to you about the more important issue first.”

  “More important? Are you crazy? This is my career. This is more important.”

  A sort of sad look flitted across her mother’s face. “Are you sure?”

  Penny stopped. Her mother was right. As exciting as it was to have her show back, Penny knew her relationship with Harrison was infinitely more important to her. She’d gladly give up the show if it meant she could be happy with him forever.

  But it just wasn’t going to happen. He was filing for a divorce. She’d probably get the papers in the mail any day now. And it wasn’t fair for her to force her affections on him. Heaven only knew how many girls did that to him already.

  “You’re right, Mom. But since I’m pining after someone I can’t have, I need to get on with my life. And this is the perfect thing to distract me.” She waved the paper. “I’m going to go call them, then make flight arrangements.” She sprinted out of the room.

  Her mother called after her. “They already have plane tickets for you.”

  Chapter 26

  Harrison leaned over his desk examining the paperwork Trent had given him. The numbers looked good. They were only projections, but because of the changes Trent had made, things were starting to look up.

  It had been two months since he’d left Penny in Iowa, and not a day had gone by that he hadn’t thought about her. Wondered what she was doing. Wished he could call her just to hear her voice.

  He’d put off talking to his attorney about getting the divorce papers drawn up, because he was a fool and still held a small hope that she’d call and say she missed him. Idiot.

  He’d gone ahead and moved into the apartment, which had probably been a mistake. Every evening he sat there, alone, thinking about Penny. But he couldn’t bring himself to move out.

  He sat back in his office chair and exhaled. Why was he torturing himself? It didn’t do any good to dwell on thoughts of her. It only made the hole in his chest widen. He put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes. The room smelled of shoe polish and leather, smells that always used to comfort him. But not today. Everything in his life had turned flat since he and Penny had parted.

  Trent walked into his office and plopped down on a chair. “What do you think?”

  “These projections look really good. Where did you learn to do all this stuff?”

  Trent snorted. “I took three and a half years of business school. Just because I didn’t graduate doesn’t mean I didn’t learn anything.”

  Harrison felt like he was looking at Trent for the first time. “Why did you drop out of school?”

  He scowled. “Because I wasn’t wanted here.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  Trent stretched his legs out in front of him. “I came home for Christmas my senior year. Dad was going on and on about how well you were doing at the firm. I pulled him aside and asked him what I was going to take over after I graduated. He said, ‘Don’t worry. Harrison has it. You can go do anything you want.’ It was then that I realized it didn’t matter what I did. I’d never measure up to you.”

  The words hit Harrison in the chest. “He didn’t mean it like that.”

  “Maybe not. But it was clear he didn’t see a place for me at the firm. So I quit school. Gave up.”

  “Well, I’m glad you’re here now. You’re pulling us out of a mess.”

  Trent smiled. “I have other ideas.”

  Harrison laughed. “Maybe you should take over.”

  Trent sobered and pulled his legs back. “I would like that.”

  “Really?”

  The chair squeaked as Trent shifted his weight. “If I may be so blunt, you hate this job. Wh
y don’t you let me take over?”

  Harrison was speechless. Trent wanted to take control of the company?

  “I mean, it’s none of my business but you come in every day and you look miserable. It’s obvious you’d rather be doing anything else. I don’t want to point fingers, but a CEO who doesn’t want to be where he is can run an organization into the ground.”

  He was right. Harrison had been too blinded to see it before, but Trent had hit it exactly. It was Harrison’s fault the company was suffering. His fault because he hated what he was doing. He swore under his breath.

  “I didn’t mean to offend you.”

  “No, you’re right. I’m ruining the firm.”

  Trent rubbed his hands together. “Then let me take over. You go start up that restaurant, because I know that’s what you really want to do.”

  Harrison frowned. He’d love nothing more. But how was he supposed to do that? “I can’t. I have no start-up money.”

  “I’ll fund it.”

  Harrison gripped the leather armrests of his office chair. “You’d do that?”

  “Of course. You’re my brother. And I can’t stand to see you moping around here anymore.”

  Harrison ran his finger along the edge of his desk. He wanted to be happy. Starting up his own restaurant was his dream. But he couldn’t muster up the enthusiasm.

  “Why aren’t you smiling?”

  How could he explain how he was feeling to Trent? He barely understood it himself.

  “It’s that Las Vegas girl, isn’t it? You fell in love with her.” Trent loosened his tie, a grin on his face.

  Harrison pulled the ring he’d purchased out of his pocket. He’d been carrying it around with him. Stupid. Carrying around a ring for a girl who wasn’t even there. “I was going to propose.”

  “Oh, man. That’s too good. Propose to your wife.” He chuckled at his own little joke. “Why didn’t you?”

  The diamond caught the light. “She wanted out.”

  “Did you tell her how you feel?”

  His throat grew tight. “No.”

  Trent stood up from his chair. “What are you waiting for? You’ve got to tell her.”