In Love with a Stranger (14 page)

My mother looked ashamed of herself. "Yes, I'm very sorry. Your daddy is my little boy. I was worried about him."

"So you're like the queen, 'cause daddy's a prince."

"I'm actually a countess. He's a viscount and you, my dear girl, are a lady."

"Mum," I whined, "I really don't want my daughter mixed up with that stuff."

"Oh, please, if we're playing, she might as well get to use her title." My mother cupped Penelope's cheek. "You
are
a lady, but since daddy loves you so much, you get to be anything you want to be as well," said my mother giggling, like it was an exciting secret.

I let out a sigh of relief, glad she was not going to push that title on my daughter. "Thank you."

"You know I only want you to be happy. If I’d known the truth, if I’d known she hadn’t taken the payoff and truly loved you, I wouldn't have stood in your way, William. I hope you'll forgive me." She looked at Hannah when she said the last part.

"Can we trust her?" Hannah asked worried.

"My mother is just protective, beautiful. It's my father who's mental. She won't do anything to jeopardize her chance to be a part of our family."

"Alright, I'll need some time, but I trust William. If he says it's safe for you to be around my daughter, then I'll allow it."

"Great, now that that's all settled, we have a wedding to plan," Ophelia said with a clap of her hands.

"How exciting, I do hope you'll let me help. I promise not to encroach on your mum's territory, though," my mother begged.

Hannah's face fell at the mention of her mother. My mum looked worried. "Does she not approve of my son?"

"No, Mum, Hannah lost her mother when she was a little girl."

"Oh, dear heart, I'm so sorry."

"It's alright, it was a long time ago."

"No, I lost my mother before William was born. It was very hard to go through that without her. There'll always be things you'll wish she was there for. She is, though. I truly believe my mother looks after me, and I believe yours does the same as well."

"Thank you, Lady Greyson."

"It's Emmaline, we're family, and there are no titles in family." When my mother said that, I knew she’d truly accepted Hannah.

"Thank you, Emmaline." She turned to me. "Is it safe to let your mother help?"

"You know this can't get back to dad, Mum." My point was clear.

"That man will be lucky to hear from me at all. There's no way I'll let him hurt your family, William. He's already hurt too many people. It has to stop."

"Great, we have flowers to pick out," Ophelia said. She was really pushing to get things done. I had to admit, I was thankful for her focus.

"Do you want to see what arrangements we're looking at?" Hannah asked me.

"I trust you, beautiful. You ladies work on the wedding, and Brody and I will work on supper."

Hannah pulled me down for a kiss. "Thank you."

"No, thank
you.
I love you." I had to kiss her once more, or maybe twice.

"I know, I love you, too," she kissed me again.

"Don't make me hose you down," Ophelia complained.

"We need a crowbar to pry these two apart," Brody chimed in.

Penelope had long wiggled out of my arms, so they were free to hold Hannah. "How about I keep the bride, and you all plan the wedding," I teased, lifting her and kissing her again.

"William, put her down." It was Camille's turn to complain. "She's only getting married once. You have to let her plan it."

Hannah's arms were wrapped around my neck, and she was snickering through our kiss.

"They have flower crowns! We need flower crowns, Mommy! Come see. Put her down, Daddy!"

"Only for you, Poppet." I set Hannah down and tried to give her one last kiss, but it was so hard to stop at just one.

Brody grabbed my arm, and Ophelia grabbed Hannah's. "You guys can do that after dinner. We have work to do."

Hannah blushed, and I grabbed her hand and kissed it before she was out of reach.

"The pair of you are mad," Camille teased.

I was surprised, when it was my mother who came to our defense. "Let them be, they're in love." Her approving smile was the best wedding gift she could’ve given me. I’d suspected my mother would eventually come around, and I was so glad she had.

Chapter 17 – Doubts and Outs

HANNAH

I let Penelope pick which “crown” she wanted, and I figured we’d work around it. This was her wedding, too. Emmaline was looking at me strangely. I knew she didn’t trust me. She might’ve accepted me as part of her family, since I was her granddaughter’s mother, but I knew she still didn’t really believe I hadn’t taken the money.

“How did you meet William?” Emmaline asked.

“We were in a café in Carson City, Nevada. I was heading home from school.”

“Oh, you lived in Carson City?”

“No, I went to college there. I’d graduated a few…” I hadn’t realized it, but I’d never stopped to think about the time between my graduation and meeting William.  Had it been a few days…a few weeks?

“What is it?” Ophelia asked.

“I just realized I’m still missing some time, but I don’t know how much.”

“What do you mean?” Ophelia was getting worried.

“I don’t know. I remember graduating and my dad taking pictures, and then I remember the café. Do you know how long that was?”

“Brody, get in here! He can settle this for you. You said he was at school with you, too, right?”

“Yeah, he’d know.” I was sure Brody would remember, at least the timespan.

“What’s up?” Brody came in, and so did William.

“What happened between graduation and me meeting William?”

William pulled me into his arms, looking down at me worried. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I guess, but I just realized I’m still missing pieces. It’s probably no big deal. I remember the important parts.”

“You were in Carson City for a little bit after graduation, just like me. Then you took off with this weirdo,” Brody teased.

“So nothing happened?”

“Nah, we packed up, sold some of our books at the used bookstore, and you donated some stuff, like…I don’t know. OH!  Remember that lamp I had? You made me get rid of it. So cruel, but you were right, Lisa said she’d planned on accidentally on purpose breaking it. Other than that stuff, nothing really stands out in my mind.”

“So, you helped her with her boxes and dropped her off at the café?” William asked.

“No, I’d already left. I don’t know who she got to help her with her boxes, but it had to have been someone. One was heavy as hell, filled with books. I nearly gave myself a hernia with that one.”

“I remember that box as well. Thankfully, I was better built back then. Lots of travel and visits to hotel gyms, when I had nothing to do, had kept me in shape. I was scared I’d drop the box, and she’d think me a wimp,” William laughed.

“No, you were very impressive.” I squeezed William’s bicep, reassuring him. He pulled me into his arms, and we were back to kissing. I loved him so much. It was so hard not to kiss him. I never wanted to leave his embrace.

“Not this again!” our daughter huffed.

William, the amazing father he was, snatched her up and kissed her all over her face and tickled her.

“Alright, back to work, people,” Camille ordered.

I did go back to work, but then I wondered who’d moved the heavy box for me. I knew I’d remember in time.

“Do you think we have everything covered?” I asked the ladies helping me.

“We need centerpieces as well,” Camille insisted.

I rolled my eyes, thinking Ophelia would have my back and tell her we didn’t need centerpieces for the two tables we’d have, if even that many. There’d only be ten of us. We could probably all fit at one long table. “Do we really need one?”

“ONE?” Emmaline sounded shocked.

“Counting you, there are only ten of us,” I explained.

Emmaline’s disapproval was clear on her face. “You really are going about this in a…”

“Mum,” Camille cut her off with a glare before she could finish.  “Just pick out a centerpiece, and we’ll order two of them. We don’t know how large the tables are, so we may need the second one.”

“Two should be good,” Ophelia agreed. “Make sure they’re low, though, so they don’t impede conversation.”

“I like that one.” Penelope pointed to one that matched well enough with the other flowers. I quickly added them and sent her to get my purse to pay.

I wondered what the real reason was for Emmaline joining us with the wedding planning. She hadn’t done much, other than smile at Penelope.  I could only guess it was her way of spending more time with her granddaughter.

“Are you going somewhere?” William asked, as he led Penelope in with my purse.

“No, I was just ordering the flowers.”

When I pulled out my credit card, he saw that it was my own, not his. His hand covered mine to stop me from using it. “I told you I’d pay for it. Where’s the card I gave you?”

“You’re the groom. You’re not supposed to be paying for everything. I used your card to reserve the venue and the cottage for our guests. I can handle the rest.”

“That was not what we agreed on.” He looked upset.

“We didn’t really agree on anything. You told Ophelia to make sure I got the castle I wanted, and she did. Getting the cottage for our friends actually saved you a lot of money.”

“She’s right, you know. That cottage was cute and insanely well priced. I might rent it for the following week, so I can do more exploring myself.” I wondered if Ophelia would follow through with that.

“I want to pay for the flowers. What else is on the list?” he asked, looking around.

“I’ve already taken care of everything else.” There really wasn’t much else, just the dresses, and I felt he shouldn’t be the one paying for my dress. “I did let you pay for the registrar fee,” I told him, hoping that would appease him. It didn’t look like it was working.

He let out a frustrated huff, and then he suddenly wore a huge grin. “It doesn’t matter, because once we’re married, I can replenish the accounts.” He clapped his hands and pointed his fingers at me in a taunting way. “I’m paying for it anyway,” he practically sang.

Ophelia and Camille laughed, but Emmaline didn’t look amused at all. “I hope you have your prenuptial agreement in order.”  Everyone went quiet.  “You’ll need to follow it up with a postnuptial agreement as well. It’s hard to get anything to stick in the courts these days,” she continued.

“Mother, can I have a word with you, alone?” William sounded furious.

She was not moving. Camille took Penelope to her room, and Ophelia ushered me into the living room. She was trying to lead me down the hall to my daughter’s room as well, but I waved her off. “Go take care of Penelope.  I need to be here for this.”

“Are you sure?” Ophelia was ready to fight me.

“She’s going to be my mother-in-law. I need to learn how to deal with her.”

“Alright, but you know where we are,” she conceded.

I moved back toward to living room, just as William lit into his mother.

“You were allowed to stay, because you’d accepted my decision to marry Hannah!” William yelled at his mother. “If you’re going to…”

“I accepted the fact that you have a daughter and want to be a part of her life. William, how well do you really know this woman?”

“Mother, if you’re going to cause problems…”

“I’m trying to be the voice of reason, since no one else is.”

I went to my bedroom, realizing I didn’t want to get in the middle of that fight. Unfortunately, I could still hear them loud and clear, thin walls and all. I was grateful Penelope’s room was down the hall and had a closet and bathroom to muffle the fight.

“I don’t need a voice of reason.”

“I can’t believe your sister is letting you get wrapped up in that woman. Money is all she’s after.”

Camille slipped into my bedroom, her worried eyes settled on me, and she glanced back at the bedroom door, where the sound came in the clearest.

“I think you should leave,” William snapped. I guessed he realized he actually wouldn’t be changing his mother’s mind about me anytime soon.

“The truth of the matter is you don’t know her. I don’t understand why you’re doing this. Has she refused to sign one?”

“I’ve never brought it up.”

“Well, if you’re going to go through with this marriage, you need to discuss it.”

“There’s nothing to discuss,” he insisted.

“I still don’t understand why you’re even bothering with a marriage.”

“Don’t listen to her,” Camille implored.

“Your daughter, that’s why, isn’t it?  You’d have no rights if you didn’t marry her. I get it now,” Emmaline said, sounding sure of her conclusion.

My heart crumbled. Camille’s eyes were wide, and she was shaking her head no.

“I’d like to be alone.” I barely got the words out, before I rushed into the bathroom and slammed the door. I turned on the shower, so she wouldn’t come in. I sat on the floor crying. I loved William, but what Emmaline said made more sense than him loving me back. The sound of the water thankfully canceled out the fight. I climbed into the shower, in hopes it’d drown out my sobs and hide the sound of me crying.

A gust of cold air made me shiver, and William pulled me into his arms, settling under the water with me. “Camille told me what you heard. I hope you put that silly thought out of your head.”

I hid my face in his chest, not sure how to respond to him.

“My mother is worried about me. She doesn’t know you. She was rude, because she’s very protective of our family, which also includes Penelope at this point. It’ll include you with time. I don’t want a pre or post-nuptial agreement. I don’t believe we need one.” His arms tightened on me, and he kissed the top of my head. “You’re going to be my wife. You’re my family, and we’re trying to add more to it, are we not?” he asked, his hand settling on my tummy.

“Please don’t question my love for you. Remember, I asked you to go for coffee that first day, before I even knew who Penelope was, even before I knew who you were. I pushed for an insane project that was a longshot, just so I’d have a legitimate reason to see you. I wanted to be in New York for you. You said you’d let me take you out for coffee if I was here. Well, I’m here, and I want a whole hell of a lot more than coffee.” He tipped my chin up and kissed my lips softly.

“Please, don’t question how I feel about you. Recognize by my actions…I can’t be away from you, beautiful. There’s no way I’d ever divorce you. It’s just not going to happen. We don’t need a prenuptial agreement,” he insisted, and then he proceeded to make me understand just how much he loved me.

Embarrassed by what the others might’ve heard, I took my time dressing. There was no reason to be embarrassed, though, as everyone had left. Brody couldn’t cook, and with William not in the kitchen, dinner had burned, so Ophelia took everyone out to eat, leaving us alone. The apartment was silent, and William actually complained about me attempting to put on clothes, as he sprawled naked on my bed.  That was all the convincing I needed that clothes were overrated.  

WILLIAM

I wanted to investigate Marvin. I had a feeling Hannah would think I was overreacting or possibly get defensive, though, since she was always defending him as a harmless loyal patron. I decided to bypass the issue altogether and went to Shawna for answers. Marvin had paid for things with a credit card before. I was sure if I had his full name and card information, I’d be able to find out more on him.

When I told Shawna what I was doing, she was more than happy to help. “Ever since the first time I met him, he’s freaked me out. Hannah was in the backroom, and I was ready to run back there and hide out with her. He didn’t say anything to me, other than ask where Hannah was. That’s all he ever asks. He always wants to know where she is. She swears he’s never hurt her, but I know she’s scared to be alone with him. Something’s not right with that man, and our instincts are telling us to stay away from him. She’s just too nice to do anything about it.”

Shawna’s words didn’t comfort me. His interest in Hannah alone had me worried that he was working for my father. The men who worked for my father had to be greedy bastards or mental to actually take part in his debauchery. I was worried Marvin might’ve been both, and so I decided to possibly incur Hannah’s wrath and investigate him anyway.

The first report I received from my privately-hired investigator yielded some interesting facts. Marvin Dooley had gone to college with Hannah, and they’d graduated at the same time. He’d moved to New York a week after we had. I would’ve been worried that she’d been followed by a stalker, but he’d had a job waiting for him when he’d arrived. He’d most likely planned to move here before I’d met Hannah.

The next time Marvin came into the shop, I followed him to the back aisle to confront him with what I’d found. I decided it was best if I did it casually in polite conversation. “Mr. Marvin, Hannah tells me you’re her best customer. I’d like to thank you for that.”

“It’s not your place to thank me,” he snapped.

“So, how long have you known Hannah?” I asked.

He narrowed his eyes at me. “College. However, I consider Hannah a friend, and if she hasn’t divulged more personal information to you than that, I’m not going to go against her wishes.”