“Hi,” he said, kissing me briefly, but warmly. At least I was definitely feeling warmer after his lips left mine.
“So, what’s going on?” I asked and looked toward the looming skies.
“We’re not going far, don’t worry. I won’t let you get wet.” He gestured to the land in front of us. “You know this place?”
“Of course, it’s the McLean farm. I hear they’re in some trouble, though, so it might not be for long.”
“You hear correctly and you’re right, it won’t be theirs for long. For less than twenty-four hours, as a matter of fact.”
“How do you know that?” I looked up at him. Even in my heels, he towered over me.
He bent low and kissed me full on the lips. “It’s mine. Or, it will be as of tomorrow morning.”
“What?” I squealed. “You bought this? Oh my god, Worth, that’s wonderful. It’s a beautiful farm! The barns could use some work and the house, well… but the land is prime and I think it’s all fenced. You could build a whole Steeplechase course and still have plenty of pasture land. Oh geez, you’ve got frontage on two sides and it would be perfect to build training rings and not block anything off!” Thunder droned in the distance. I turned and saw Worth leaning against the fence, grinning.
“I’m glad you like it,” he said.
“I love it! You lucky dog!” I gave him a congratulatory hug, but he would not let go.
Instead, he scooped me up and held me against his chest, kissing me at the same time. “I’m not going to lose you, Auggie girl. I want you with me. Marry me and live here with me?”
I pushed against his shoulders so I could lean back and look at his face. Was he teasing me? Was he really serious? One look at his face and I knew… he was serious.
“Will you marry me, Elizabeth August Langford?” he repeated.
I could hardly catch my breath and my mind was whirling like a tornado. There I was, all prepared to give him another piece of my mind and instead, I was in his arms and the recipient of a marriage proposal. I quickly weighed the impact. Mother would be aghast, so that was a definite positive. I could move away from home yet be close to Dad and best of all, I could have a house of my own, and plenty of land to build anything I wanted.
Best of all?
Was I missing the link here? I would be married to this man. I would become Auggie LaViere and everything that was connected to that. This handsome, successful, brilliant man, who also happened to be known for promoting the position of “black sheep” to an all-time high with his disdain for convention — this man who made my breath pause in my throat, would be mine. I would sleep with him at night and outwit him during the day. Nothing sounded more intriguing and more like me than that exact thing.
“Yes, Worthington LaViere, III. I will.”
Worth clutched me to him and swung round and round, laughing aloud. I’d never seen him be this carefree and it made me laugh.
“You lied,” I accused him.
“What? What did I lie about?”
“In case you haven’t noticed, it’s raining and I’m getting soaked!”
He laughed again and shouted, “You can give me a thousand lashes with that beautiful tongue and I will be forever chastised. Just stay with me, Auggie. I’m in love with you and this,” he waved his arm, “is where we’re going to build a life. We’re going to begin with a house — anything you want, and then you can have your course and your barns and your horses and anything else your pretty heart desires. As long as you always want me.”
I kissed him then, molding my hands to either side of his strong chin. “I love you too, Worth. God help me, I’m not sure why, but I think I do.”
“There was some doubt?” Worth asked, jesting.
I nodded. I wasn’t jesting.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Auggie
I pulled into the drive and ran into the house. Mother was standing in the doorway of the kitchen, the look of disapproval at my appearance all over her face. “Oh, Auggie, your beautiful new suit. What a shame. Why didn’t you take a coat or an umbrella?”
I could tell she was on a bender. She had a martini in her hand and the tone of her voice told me she wasn’t going to wind down for some time yet.
Worth and I had agreed not to tell anyone about our engagement for the time being. We knew there would be an uproar, one way or another. We didn’t want any interference, advice, threats, mocking, or judgment. Essentially, we wanted to be left alone. We weren’t even going to get an engagement ring. I wore his class ring around my neck on a long chain. We’d plan a wedding sometime in the future, but in the meantime, Worth was going to build a new house on the property and I’d have equal input. When the house was finished, we’d begin to think about wedding plans.
As badly as I wanted to tell Mother to screw herself and leave me alone, I smiled and went up to my room. I was amazed how much easier that was to do when I knew I had Worth at my back.
Worth had suggested that we go away for the weekend and I chose to go to a bed and breakfast in Shelbyville. It was a small, charming town between Louisville and Lexington and was filled with dozens of renovated old Victorians. We just wanted time to be alone.
Worth picked me up very early, before Mother or Dad were even awake. I left a note on the coffee table saying I’d be gone for a couple of days — no further explanation. It was none of Mother’s business how and with whom I spent my time.
“You have no idea how hard it was not to say something about the engagement,” I told him as we drove. “Mother laid into me about getting wet, treating me like a child again and her already drunk.”
Worth was strangely silent about Mother. I think he just didn’t want to mix in and cause trouble. There would be enough of that on the horizon once our wedding plans were announced.
We arrived earlier than check-in time and chose the opportunity to wander around town. There was a quaint little shop that catered to everything Scottish. Its walls were lined with bolts of plaid and the clan names were attached to each one, in case the shopper was too far removed from their heritage to know what theirs looked like. I mentioned that I loved Scottish shortbread cookies and Worth bought me a huge tin of them. I adored dipping them into coffee while reading or watching a cozy afternoon movie.
We found a gourmet shop and bought the very first items for our new life together. I loved this belonging; it made me feel such a part of him. I realized at that moment that although Dad and I had a wonderful relationship, he still jumped to Mother’s tune and I had to compete with that on a daily basis.
Worth, however, was mine. I didn’t need to share him with anyone and most of all, not Mother. I didn’t doubt that his own family would pull at him from time to time, but as far as I could see up to this point, he didn’t allow much of that to happen.
We chose a canister set, white with multi-color flowers circling them. The woman was kind enough to pack them up in a box and Worth stored them in the car. He said we would rent a storage locker near our new home and begin to accumulate things we loved there. With that purpose in mind, we bought a padlock with two keys, one for us each. It was these simple things that really made me happy.
There were some saddle bred farms in the area and we drove by and even stopped alongside the road to watch the horses running in their pasture. We talked about the horses I would buy and the Steeplechase I wanted to build. I planned to study all the well-known courses in the meantime so that I would have a world-class field. I dreamed of hosting my own events in the future, and Worth said we should take the time to sketch out our farm on paper so we could make the plans to better scale.
To this end, we found a café in town armed with a sketchpad we bought at the art store next to it. We spread our sketching materials across a four-person table and prepared to set to work. I loved the idea of planning my future with Worth. He was brilliant, although he sometimes hid it well.
Worth got up to get us drinks and sandwiches. I’d spied the chicken salad o
n croissant when we walked in and that’s what I ordered with a serving of fresh fruit. I ordered a raspberry iced tea to which Worth rolled his eyes and I had to laugh.
I was using the ruler to proportionately measure out the lay of our land when a voice came up from my side.
“Well, look who’s here,” said Brandon, grinning widely.
“Brandon!” I was so surprised my voice was louder than I meant it to be.
“Auggie, imagine finding you here in this little café. Don’t you generally head toward the big city when you’re getting out?”
I just smiled. Internally, I was grasping for something redeemable to say.
“Mind if I join you?” Brandon slid off his light leather jacket and hung it over the back of one of the chairs. It set off his eyes which were now sparkling with innuendo and hope.
My eyes flared in alarm. “Brandon, nice to see you. Actually, I’m waiting for someone.” I knew I didn’t want to alienate him since he held the key to everything I wanted to accomplish at Sunset Village. Even so, I couldn’t very well explain all the drawings and of course, Worth, without some indication of what was going on.
A shadow crept up behind me and I turned my head enough to see Worth had returned and was holding a large tray with our food. I leapt to my feet. “Oh, here, let me help you,” I said, removing the drinks first to lessen the danger of them spilling. We sorted the food and Worth looked to Brandon.
“Worth, this is my friend, Brandon. You remember, we went to school together and he generously offered to help with the project at Sunset Village.”
Worth stuck out his hand in acknowledgment, “Brandon.”
Brandon’s face fell as he realized that he not only was imposing, but that he was face to face with the man I was interested in — the reason I hadn’t accepted his flirting. Brandon slowly reached out to take Worth’s hand and gave it a weak and brief shake. “Well, I can see I’m interrupting,” he began and I felt the pressure of my rejection pressing upon him.
“Of course you can join us,” I said quickly and gave Worth a look that begged him to play along. “As a matter of fact, it’s perfect timing. We were just sketching out the lay of the land with Sunset Village so I could pencil in where and what I wanted to build.”
“Oh… well, in that case, perhaps it is good timing because I planned to call you on Monday about that anyway.” He looked to Worth and I could see the veins in Worth’s neck pulsing as he forced a smile and offered Brandon a seat with a brief sweep of his hand.
“Can I get you something to eat?” Worth went so far to offer.
“A coffee would be great,” Brandon answered and I knew Worth was cringing inside and that Brandon had just moved a chess piece to endanger Worth’s queen.
Worth nodded, stood and moved off to get the coffee, but as he stood at the counter, he never took his eyes off us.
I hurriedly completed the squares I was drawing, trying to imitate the land of Sunset Village. Then I drew a rectangle in the center to represent the building itself.
“Let’s wait for Worth to come back,” I said.
“Who is he to you?” Brandon asked.
I had put myself in a trap and was squirming at that moment, trying to figure out how to free myself. I chose subterfuge.
“Worth’s family is friendly with my family; they go way back.”
I felt Worth standing next to me and looked up to see a completely bewildered look upon his face. I knew I was going to hear about this later. For now, I mustered on as best as I could.
“So,” I went on, “did you have news, Brandon?”
Brandon looked from Worth to me and hesitated. I nodded to him to go on and he finally began to talk. “I checked in with the facility administrator and it seems that they aren’t part of a chain, which is the good news. That means you don’t need to get approval any higher than the owner of that particular home, and you won’t need to ‘spread around the wealth,’ so to speak. What’s not as good news is that the facility is barely breaking even right now. They have grave concerns about the construction noises disturbing the residents and the maintenance of all that you’re planning to add on. So, they need some sort of guarantee that this won’t interrupt their day-to-day routine and environment, as well as a provision for the upkeep and maintenance for the additions. They barely have staff to keep what they have going.”
“Yes, I noticed that when I was there,” I said. “So, they’re not saying ‘no.’ They just need better planning and follow-through. Is that what you’re saying?”
“Pretty much,” Brandon answered and I looked to Worth whose face was dark, the muscle in his jaw still twitching. At the same time, Brandon was clearly enjoying himself. He loved the role of hero. “Don’t worry, Auggie,” he continued. “I’ve got you covered. I’m drawing up the papers to form the charity foundation and then will apply for tax-exempt status. We’ll make sure it’s well-funded before we turn over the first shovel of sod and will figure out something to keep the residents from being disturbed. Anyway, winter is coming soon, so there’s nothing that can be done for at least the next five months or so with regard to construction. I suggest you use that time to begin your fundraising. After all, people are looking for tax deductions this time of year. I think you said your dad was going to help get you started?”
I nodded and smiled. “Dad’s a good egg.”
Brandon saw that Worth was even darker, if anything, and he was eating it up. He scooted his chair closer to mine and chirped, “So, let’s see what kind of planning you had in mind.”
I hesitated only a second and then began stacking things up. “You know… I’m sorry, but I’m getting a monster headache. I think maybe we’ll continue this another time? Worth, would you take me home?” I didn’t dare look at Worth and I knew he hadn’t even begun his lunch.
“Oh, what a shame,” Brandon cooed. “But listen, Worth there hasn’t even begun eating. Why don’t I run you home, Auggie, and let Worth eat in peace?” Brandon stood up and slurped the end of his coffee. “See, I’m ready to go.”
“Oh, no, I couldn’t,” I demurred.
“Oh, it’s no problem, none whatsoever. We can catch up on the ride back. I’ve wanted to get in touch with you for some time.”
Worth stood and picked up our food-laden plates, chucking them both into the garbage before slapping the empty tray on top of the trash bin. “We’re all done eating, Brandon,” he snarled the name. “I’ll take Auggie home and you don’t need to give it a second thought.”
Brandon looked at Worth’s expression and gave a cocky half-smile. “Like that, is it?”
“You got it,” Worth said simply.
Brandon shrugged and looked at me. “That okay with you, Auggie?”
I nodded immediately and Brandon smiled again, that knowing smile that said everything and yet revealed nothing about the extent of his speculations. “Good enough,” he said and stood there, tapping the back of his chair, waiting while we packed up our things. I guess he was using that time to rub it in a bit more and he knew very well that Worth and I would be having a fight about this when we left. He was getting in one last, subliminal punch at Worth, all the while pretending chivalry.
Worth’s entire body was stiff with anger, but he could say or do nothing. I felt my heart go out to him and knew it was all my fault.
Brandon stood next to the door, waiting for us and as we approached, he swung it open and stood back to let us pass. It was yet another subtle alpha move to indicate he was in control of the door and was allowing Worth to leave.
I was completely helpless. A skilled trial lawyer and a highly-educated psychologist; how could I even begin to compete? The headache was no longer a fabricated excuse. It was building in the stress center of my brain.
Brandon insisted on walking us out to Worth’s car. There was no opportunity to turn around and go back into the restaurant. I thought it couldn’t get worse, but it did.
Brandon piped up. “Auggie, I’m going to be tie
d up with a trial next week so I’ve got some papers at the office I’d like to get you to sign today. That way I can finish everything up and take it with me to the courthouse on Monday morning to file. I’ll drop by your house this evening and get that little detail taken care of.”
What could I say? Oh, the tangled webs…
“Brandon, I think my parents are having guests tonight.”
“Perfect! Always room for one more at the table, isn’t there? Dinner at seven, as always?”
I was breathless at his audacity. Worth, on the other hand, looked ready to kill him.
I smiled weakly and Brandon saluted the settled deal as he walked down the street, whistling. Worth opened my car door and I slid as gracefully as a sinking ship can manage into the seat.
Worth got in next to me. “You and I are going to have a little talk, young lady.”
“Don’t do that.”
“Don’t do what, Auggie?” his voice was loud and angry.
“Don’t begin that interrogation attitude. I get it from my mother, but I will not tolerate it from you.” Okay, so perhaps I went a bit strong but sometimes the best defense is the unexpected offense. Regardless, we had better start this marriage thing out with an understanding about who was in charge of me.
Worth was furious and started the car, pulling out and doing a one-eighty degree turn from the parking space. We were headed back toward my house. I hung on to my seatbelt but was too frightened to say a word. He passed the sign for the city limit going a solid eighty. I couldn’t hold it back any longer.
“You have some anger issues, you know that?” I popped off at him.
Fifty feet later, I found myself sitting at the end of someone’s driveway. I’d never seen a car turn ninety degrees to a screaming stop like that before. I tried to open the door, but Worth had his finger planted firmly on the child-proof lock. I was trapped and began to panic. Worth was staring a hole into the side of my face.
Claiming Amelia Page 33