Vicki bit her lip then answered, "Before college, we both went on that trip to Paris, for the orchestra. You weren't there."
"The church-sponsored choir? I don't believe it." Alice pushed John's knees down then asked, "Why didn't you tell anyone?"
Vicki closed her eyes and let the words fly out. "Dad said he'd take care of me if I stayed home, and didn't start at UM right away. He'd say he'd fix everything so that we weren't giving up on my dreams." Her stomach rolled.
John quietly said, "I never came home from college, Vic. I should have been here for you."
Vicki's gaze flew to her brother's. "The House of Morgan is above everyone else." Vicki's lips curled as she repeated her father's infamous words. "John, you escaped because Peter was the oldest, but I believed our dad. He lied to everyone, but I thought I was the exception."
"He hurt all of us." John's arm went around Alice, and he nodded. "A baby would interfere with his plan to marry you off to the highest bidder."
"The House of Morgan doesn't answer to anyone." Vicki jerked away and stared at her brother. He had their father's nose, though Peter had more of the personality. Tears that she refused to shed formed in her eyes. "You knew him. We were his pawns."
Alice made a sound in her throat and everyone stared at her. Then she asked, "Why didn't you tell my brother?"
The humidity outside the air-conditioned walls would push Vicki toward the ground and take over. Her body felt hot. She swallowed her retort that he'd slept with another woman the day he left. Alice would defend her brother. Vicki's cheeks felt wet from tears that refused to stop. "I wanted to tell Colt, but he had gone to basic over the summer, then officer school in the fall. When the time came closer to my due date, I was ready to tell him. I told Dad my plan to go to DC before Colt shipped out. Dad threatened to take our family fortune away from me if I tried. It was to be my daughter's inheritance." The whine in her voice shouldn't exist. She had no one to blame. "I wish I had told Colt. A few months after giving birth, I ran away."
"You didn't know Dad went that far." John leaned closer to pat her knee. "You told me in confidence at the will reading how you lost your baby. The second I saw the little girl with Colt, I saw you, Vicki. She even has the Morgan birthmark on the bottom of her foot."
"You saw that?" Vicki's eyes watered fully now, but she saw through her soaked eyelashes. "I'm so grateful. Ever since that day, I've never been whole."
"Neither of you better think, for one second, my brother would steal Vicki's baby from her. That's insane," Alice added fast, and crossed her arms. "Colt is one of the best men I know, and I'm not saying that because he's my brother. He's moral and fair and awesome."
Vicki blushed. She shook her head, then wrung the edge of her blouse. Her heart still raced. "No. Dad would have, not Colt. The House of Morgan must always stand, or something like that. I was so stupid."
Vicki's spine was rigid, and she squirmed in her seat.
Alice sighed. "I don't understand. If you think that, why would you have not told my brother he was going to be a father? Just because you're the heirs of a fortune doesn't mean your family controls you."
"Our father controlled everything." John turned to her and placed his hand on her knee. "You say that because your parents love you, unconditionally. We never had that."
Alice shook her head, but said nothing else.
Vicki held her head in her hands and stared at the ground. Her stomach flipped like she was still the teenager whose father thought her the worst daughter. She'd not get sick. "I was eighteen and knocked up by a man with ties to government agencies that might threaten my father's business empire."
"We own a farm, though Dad had been in the service and my brother joined the Marines," Alice said. "Was your father selling to both sides of any war?"
"Probably, but the ties you have, it was enough."
"Look, you're my best friend, but Colt's my brother. I'm trying to understand. Let me put the dots together. Your brother Peter is still dating the horrible Jennifer, though he's been kind to all of us lately. John came to town on a mission to destroy your father, which is how we fell in love, and I know you faked your death, Vicki. I can believe all of this, but my mind is still trying to grasp what you said about Colt. He'd have protected you just as he watched out for Clara. Why didn't you go to him?"
"I couldn't. I stupidly wanted to be a good daughter, and then it was too late."
Alice smacked her lips, but said nothing.
"Colt was the perfect guy that I was forbidden to date." Vicki rubbed the back of her neck and hoped the heat vanished. "He was off limits because he was a Collins, but my heart told me he was so different than everyone else."
John added, "Alice thought I was a spoiled, rich brat, and until recently hated my guts."
"I didn't hate you. I just didn't like you." Alice smiled, and Vicki watched the engaged couple tighten their handholding. "Then you stole my heart."
Part of Vicki's heart soared. Love was supposed to be happy, like with these two. Her life was complicated.
She gave a closed-lip smile, then Vicki told them, "I found out as I packed my bags for college of my pregnancy, and Colt shipped out the next day for basic. He had his life planned to leave Miami for a while and never come back. I had my life planned with music that helped keep my sanity in my father's world. We were going our separate ways. So I thought my life changed with a baby. Then my dad promised to support me, and he's all I ever knew."
Alice narrowed her eyes. "Colt's had Clara since the day she was born. I didn't know you were the mother. He never said anything to me, and I never guessed you'd have had sex with him."
"The girl has my hair," Vicki argued fast, though she regretted the words.
"Lots of women are blondes. I didn't know you even liked Colt." Alice stood and twirled like she would go to the kitchen. Then she stopped and gazed at Vicki. "You're going to have to talk to him, but he had that look of a bear out to protect his baby just now."
"Where does he live?" Vicki asked. She had to pull herself together. She had to talk to Colt and make him understand. "I've not seen him since we came home from that summer trip to Europe."
Alice stood, walked over, and opened the refrigerator, and refused to stare at Vicki. Vicki gazed at her friend as she pulled out vegetables to chop. Alice found a large knife and went to the counter to dice. Finally Vicki followed and stood next to her. Alice wiped her face dry, shook her head, and finished. "He's staying at our family's ranch now, and our parents live in Palm Beach, near the beach, as a sort of retirement."
To see Clara, she'd face Colt. "So he's alone with Clara?"
Alice chopped the celery. "Until his new fiancée, Belle, gets out of the service and joins him here. She's never been to Florida, but the wedding is in two months. They planned to move north to the bigger ranch and tend to the planting up there, but now I don't know. I can call my dad, but I'd guess Colt's seen enough war. He wants to stick to his farm and not come off it."
Vicki closed her eyes and, despite having to face down Colt, fought back a fit of hysterical laughter. Her baby had lived. She'd been a fool, but she had a second chance. Motherhood meant she was necessary. She had risked her neck, but now giddiness rose in her. For the first time, it was enough. "I'll head there, then. My daughter will need her mother."
The House of Morgan
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"Belle Jordan?" A young man's voice echoed with a crack in it.
Belle stood from her desk by the
window, which overlooked the Capitol Building as the door opened. Perhaps it was orders from her old military base or she was still in this habit, but she straightened her spine. "Yeah, who's this?"
Again a boy's voice squeaked. "I'm from FTL. I have a letter to deliver."
Civilians didn't stand at attention for delivery people. She forced herself to sit and fixed her long, brown braid behind her head. "Come in."
A boy, no more than eighteen years old in a bright yellow shirt appeared. The tension in her spine dissipated as the messenger held out a package and an electronic box. "I need you to sign here."
She scribbled her name and then stared at the letter. It was white, and the calligraphy was tasteful. The date December 23rd echoed in her brain. Someone knew she worked late. It might be some new lobbyist business party that doubled as training for the just-out-of-the-military group she was hired with. It was not like she had anymore friends who would send her wedding new invitations. She shook the letter. It certainly looked like an invitation.
She glanced at her desk and pushed the contract with the US Marines and Century Arms to the side as she opened the white linen envelope. A moment later, white confetti in the shape of butterflies spilled onto her mahogany desk. She unfolded the crisp linen invitation from wrapping paper and read, Victoria Morgan and Colt Collins cordially invite you to their Christmas Eve wedding in Miami.
Again. This was the second invitation, not that she had responded to the first. Belle covered her lips and sat. She'd never go to this. Her heart beat a mile a minute. Her ex-fiancé and the mother of his child were not exactly her favorite people.
She dropped the invitation but then noticed a second sheet of paper in the envelope. She tucked the paper in to hide it and picked up the contract. She needed to finish and get her work in the mail and over to the Pentagon. She picked up her pen, signed the last of the pages and, and dropped the papers in the 'to be copied' stack for her secretary in the morning.
She had earned another bonus. The night sky still had the whiteness of this morning's snow flurry. The postcards of Washington, DC at Christmas could be snapped from her office, not that she'd ever care.
It was time to go home. She sighed. No one else was still here on the floor. As she stood, she peeked at the second piece of paper that had come with the invitation. She blinked. It was Colt's handwriting.
Her heart had a pang. Her father had loved the idea of her and Colt. So had her stepmother. They had said they finally had a daughter because she intended to get married and wear a white dress.
Clothes did not make her feminine.
She closed her eyes and hoped the zap in her heartbeat stopped. They had never been proud of her, ever, and they certainly weren't now. Her father had said he couldn't wait to dance with his daughter at her wedding. A piece of her hair fell in front of her eyes. As she gazed at the letter, she tucked the wayward strand behind her ear.
Belle,
Please come to the wedding. We were always friends first. You saved my life in the desert and kept me alive. Victoria wants you here too. We both want you to be happy. We included an airplane ticket. Please come.
Colt
She rubbed her throat and then dropped the letter. There was no way she'd go. This was insane. Ex fiancées did not go to the new fiancée's wedding. Victoria and she hardly even knew each other. All she knew about Colt's new bride was that Colt had thought the other woman dead the entire time he had dated her.
She fumbled through her desk and found her pocketbook. At the door, she wrapped herself in her scarf, warm woolen jacket, and thick hat. Four years of dating one guy had left her utterly alone this winter.
She closed her office door, strode through the empty office with gray cubicles, and locked the department front door. She'd return in eight short hours. Christmas Eve was for other people who cared.
On the empty street, the brightest light on the horizon was still the Capitol Building. She wrapped her scarf tighter and quickened her steps to get to her apartment faster. The cold air numbed her nose, but she trekked forward. She'd be home soon.
People's cheers from the local bars she passed were loud with ‘Merry Christmas.' She hugged her waist and rushed. Then her new stepmother's smiling face flashed on her caller ID.
She answered, "Hello?"
"Darling, your father and I are heading out for the holidays on that Mediterranean cruise we told you about earlier this year. He's very sorry to miss you for the holidays again."
"I remember." Of course. Her stepmother had never asked, 'Why don't you drop everything and join us when we book the cruise?' Not that she'd go. She straightened her shoulders. "Have fun with my dad."
Sophie's perky voice echoed through the phone. "What will you do this holiday?"
Find a way to not think about Colt anymore. She would never say that, and instead she rolled her eyes. She was the one who'd paid her father's debts so her stepmother could spend his retirement earnings. "Work. It's what I enjoy."
Her stepmother's voice, which had once soothed her said, "Baby, there is more to life than work. We hoped one day you'd learn to relax and enjoy the small moments."
Clearly they lived on another planet. Belle pressed her lips together. "It's okay, Sophie. Have fun with Dad."
Sophie mumbled something else, but Belle's phone began to ding with multiple text messages. She hung up on her stepmother and read her texts.
‘Saw you pass. Come into Andrew's Pub.'
‘Belle, we want to see you.'
None of the former crew of her favorite Marines were in the service anymore. They all planned to fly out tomorrow, for Colt's wedding.
She gazed up at her dark window. All that waited for her at home was the internet and some movie she picked out.
She pursed her lips. Perhaps one drink with her old crew wouldn't be the end of the world. She'd tell everyone to have a good time.
She clutched her phone in her hand and decided to pop in without a message.
* * *
A rock version of "Silent Night" that someone must have attempted during karaoke clung in the air. Someone's feet stomped from the stage as Belle walked past. Then she saw Emily Fletcher, her perky best friend, as she sat with three other former Marines. All four of them had flights in the morning to Miami. All of them were off to wish Colt well.
"Someone order me a Guinness."
Em sucked in her breath. "Belle, we thought you were avoiding us."
Next time she'd start slower, and she'd never again date a guy she needed to fix. She never should have asked Colt out years ago.
She sat on the bar stool and faked a smile. "How could I ignore the texts that offered to buy me a free beer?"
The intake of breath rang in her ears. Then Em said, "Come with us to Miami."
No. Belle lifted her head and waved at the bartender. "I don't do Christmas."
She ordered the drink and turned to her friends. "I'll be fine here."
"You'll be alone."
Another voice piped in from behind Emily's. "Belle, you were both our friends."
James Harrington handed the bartender money as he slipped the beer in front of Belle.
She licked her lips. "We're both still your friends. It's just that he's marrying someone else."
"Belle, we all knew he loved and lost his Victoria," James said. "He called out her name countless times in the sandbox."
Belle's entire body froze. It was true. At night, when Colt slept, he had called out for Victoria. He had never said her name. She had lived with that for years, and had only thought she helped his broken heart.
Perhaps it was time to be an adult. If she wanted to be sure that she could live without Colt, then she should see this through to the end. A plan came to her. The plane ticket for the wedding was in her pocketbook. Miami was warm, sunny, and perhaps with friends nearby, she could be a better person. She chugged her beer.
"You, Em, and the others will have my back if I go with you?"
"Of cour
se." James patted her on the back and took the seat next to her.
She lifted her glass as she sucked in her breath. "Even if I break down into tears and need someone to get me a tissue?"
"You never cry, Belle. You're still a Marine and wouldn't break down like that."
Belle stopped and stared at herself in the mirror behind the bar. Her frizzy brown hair and plain Jane face would make someone like Colt choose someone else. Perhaps her stepmother was right that she was too masculine.
She hid her chin, which trembled with another gulp. She'd never wanted to be a pretty face with nothing in between her ears. She swallowed. "I will try not to cry. I don't hate him, and I don't want anyone who doesn't love me back. I should go to this wedding and make my peace."
"This is last minute. Are you sure?"
She took a deep breath and gulped her beer. "Maybe it will be healthy for me. Cleansing almost, so I can let go."
Now her glass was empty. If she intended to catch the eight in the morning flight, she needed to pack her bags.
Em placed her hand on Belle's shoulder as she stood from her barstool. "What aren't you telling me, Belle?"
"I'm going home to pack. My flight is early."
"You had already had a ticket."
"Yeah. I'll see everyone later."
She hugged all her friends and then rushed from the building. A few minutes later, she climbed the steps to her apartment and realized she still didn't have any pictures on the wall.
Anyone who came here would assume she was a drifter or newly out of the Marines. In reality, she just hadn't had the time or motivation to shop.
Home and decorating could wait. She went to her closet and tugged out her folded duffel. Then she froze and stared through the park and back toward the Capitol Building. It illuminated her bedroom, and she didn't need to turn on the lights.
Change needed to happen. She hugged her stomach and shook on her feet. "I loved Colt. He loved Victoria. Please make the pain stop, okay? I don't want to become numb and I feel sad. Why wasn’t I enough? What did I do to make you hate me this much? I always tried to do the right thing, so why punish me?"
Secret Date Page 18