36. Chapter 36
Chapter 36
Marcy
By late afternoon, I was back at Patrick’s. Showered and in cute clothes. He’d said to wear comfortable shoes.
We walked into town, taking a longer route along side streets and through the park. Rustic fall flowers planted in bunches dotted the ground among sunset streaked leaves. A beautiful and perfectly cozy fall evening. We ended our walk at the storefront. Not mine, yet, but hopefully soon.
Wordlessly, he bent to one knee. “Marcy Russo. You’re the love of my life. I want to spend every moment with you. We can wait months or years for a wedding, but I am signing on to a commitment today.” He cleared his throat. “That sounded rather lawyer-like. I love you like crazy and would be honored to be your husband.”
A gasp of delight escaped. “Yes. A hundred times, yes.”
He tapped my ring finger. I hadn’t taken off the fake ring. Huh. Funny, I’d gotten used to it. Maybe that should have been a clue we weren’t truly over. “Should we slide this off and on again?” he asked .
“I can’t wait to go ring shopping for real.” I gazed at the fake diamond. “Or I might just keep this one.” I pulled him up to standing. “Now kiss me, you checkbox.”
Patrick
I couldn’t believe it finally happened. She said yes.
We were engaged. Actually engaged. Still with a fake ring, but we’d get to that later.
We agreed to let the marriage license expire. Though, something told me it might not be too long before we applied for another one.
Over celebratory dinner in town, we discussed a plan to let our friends and family know in the coming days about the engagement. Marcy promised to set aside time to talk to her grandmother. Neither had spoken since Saturday night. “I love my nonna, but she may have committed an unforgivable act.”
“Unforgivable?”
“A shock and awe wedding operation!”
I didn’t bring up that she almost went for it.
“And don’t tell me how I almost went for it.” She shot me a fierce look across the table. “Truly, who sets up a surprise wedding where the betrothed couple aren’t in on it? The surprise should have come from us, not some mastermind pulling strings. It almost makes me think the need for a marriage license was a setup.” She grew quiet. “Oh. Wow. What if there is no attorney? What if she made it all up?” She gaped at me in horror.
I had no answers. Her grandmother clearly loved her, but yeah, there were some seriously odd machinations at work inside that woman’s head. I felt it best to listen and not offer advice—after all, I had none.
The next day, I made calls, including to my parents. I couldn’t ignore them forever, so I invited them over.
The doorbell rang. “Want me to answer?” Marcy called out from the kitchen.
“We’ve got it.” The third person currently in my house answered the door.
“Bea Clark? What on earth are you doing here?” my mother exclaimed from the front porch.
Bea looked over her shoulder at me. “Want me to let her in?”
“Yes, it’s okay.” Just my mother then. So, my father hadn’t bothered. She entered with a sour expression, probably because of Bea.
“Coffee, tea, anyone?” Marcy peeked into the living room. “I haven’t had time to bake anything, what with the attempted forced betrothal and all.”
“What are you up to?” My mother glanced at Bea. “Why is she here?”
“I assume you saw the campaign announcement,” I said. “We should set the record straight. Let’s talk.”
She sat on the couch, keeping her coat on. Bea sat in the chair like a queen, peering down at her somehow, given she was shorter than everybody here. “Yes, let’s.”
I sat on the opposite end of the couch and angled toward my mother. “You fired Bea. Why?”
She looked at me for a long moment. “Bea was out of line. She had to go.”
“Out of line because she was working a back-end deal with Banner Entertainment Group, or out of line because she got caught doing your dirty work?”
She didn’t answer, instead quietly picking up her phone. “Your father’s out at the golf club. I already texted him to come over. ”
I had a fantastic idea what to do with his golf clubs at his golf club. I envisioned a very expensive bag of clubs sailing into the deep end of the lake. Except knowing me, I wouldn’t risk the environmental hazard, so I’d donate the clubs to a local charity shop instead. But angrily .
“You made me trust you again.” I tried to keep my cool. “You treated me like…like how you did when I was little. Like you loved me. You manipulated me this whole time.”
She chewed at her lip. “I know you’re upset, but I loved being part of this campaign. Seeing you in action, doing what matters to you. Spending time with you again. You’ve been so distant for so long—”
“I’ve been distant because of you. You started caring more about appearances and money and clout, all these things I didn’t care about. We’ve talked about this. That’s not what’s hurtful right now. You lied to me.”
Behind me, Marcy rested her hand at my shoulder. I was so grateful she was here.
“This casino deal, it’s not what you think.” My mother sat forward. “Once we lined up the right people, your father and I planned to bring you in. You should see the opportunities this will offer. It’s positive, Patrick. We did this for you.”
I couldn’t believe this. “Can you hear yourself? You’re admitting you lied to me and made a deal behind my back. You know this isn’t what I stand for. At all.”
“When you saw my nonna and her friends in Detroit a few weeks ago, were you at the casino there?” Marcy suddenly asked.
“What? Oh, yes. I think I did see them.”
“At the casino.” Marcy waited.
She straightened. “Yes. That doesn’t prove anything nefarious. Patrick, you should listen to reason.”
Marcy muttered behind me. “A red flag and I missed it. ”
The front door opened and my father barreled in. “You have no idea what you’re ruining right now.” He noticed Bea Clark. “What’s she—”
“I’m here at Patrick’s request,” Bea said coolly. “Now that you’ve finally made it, we can clear up unfinished business.”
He looked at my mother, who slowly shook her head. “Let’s hear them out.”
A montage played in my mind of memories of my family together. The good ones and the times I felt cringy when they’d acted stuck up or rude. It all made me so angry, but balled up inside that tangle of anger was hurt. Hurt I’d thought we were moving past.
I remembered when he’d said I deserved more, meaning I deserved more than being with Marcy. My future wife. I felt Marcy’s hand at my shoulder, grounding me.
“I can’t believe either of you think it’s okay to use me to line your own pockets.”
My father sighed, still standing. “The company can benefit from the casino deal, yes. That’s true. It’s not an illegal deal. Everything will be done by the books.”
“If I get into office, I’m not signing over that land,” I told him. “Never.”
He shook his head. “You will. We’ll show you what this means for your little town, and you’ll sign it willingly. This isn’t the big bad wolf you believe it to be. You have stars in your eyes about what it means to run a town. All those projects you want to do cost money, and your budget is slim. This deal brings in real money to your community. Money that will give good jobs to those folks complaining over at the diner. Get your head out of the clouds and let’s talk this through.”
If I’d been younger, more na?ve, I would have given his offer a second thought. But I’d done my research on Banner Entertainment Group and what they did to communities. How the outlying towns they expanded into ended up with less revenue than promised. The waste that large enterprises brought in, and the environmental impact of urban sprawl.
“Not signing. I’d be happy to share with you why in more detail. Beyond what I’ve already said repeatedly in my campaign.”
“No need. If that’s your answer, we’re pulling our funding from your little operation.”
“Grant,” my mother scolded. “The last thing we need is to wedge a bigger divide with our son. Don’t threaten him.”
I knew they’d pull the money, and I also knew I couldn’t use their money anymore regardless of a threat. I had to cut ties with them to maintain a campaign I could still believe in. I had a rough plan to get through the remaining weeks, riding on the momentum we’d built up and a promise from Bea.
“I should have never trusted either of you. I came to you for help. I should have known it would come at a steep cost. So pull your money. I don’t want it.”
“Patrick.” My mother looked crushed. “We can work this out.”
“That’s where I come in.” Bea smiled like a predator. “I’m filing suit for breach of contract. You’ll be served papers later this week.”
My father laughed sarcastically. “You can’t do that.”
“Legally, yes. I can. And did.” She looked at him with a brutally neutral expression. “The terms of my contract were breached without merit. I am meticulous with my contract terms and I also record all phone conversations. Seems to be tricky what you promised Banner Entertainment if your chosen candidate won’t sign off on the land. Discovery in a court case tends to shed light on so many details. Even details not related to the case that can expose a vulnerable enterprise.”
His face reddened. “Are you blackmailing me? And if you didn’t have my consent to record—”
“You consented in my contract. You both signed, did you not?” She looked between my parents .
I didn’t want to stoop this low, but the opportunity was right there. “Don’t tell me you signed a contract without a legal review? I mean, you could have just asked.”
My father grimaced. “What does this prove? She can sue me, so what? That will take months.”
He was rattled. I doubted he would risk a court case that could expose all sorts of things I suspected weren’t by the books . Just speculation on my part, but it was a risk I was willing to take.
“So that’s your play, then?” He watched me. “The lawsuit? The insistence you don’t need your family’s support? Same as you did with your stunt taking out loans for law school and wasting away at that charity case legal office?”
“Absolutely not.” Marcy ground out from behind me. “How dare you imply Patrick is wasting his talent speaking up for people who need affordable legal help. He’s hardworking and owns up to his mistakes. He listens and he believes in people. He’s a freaking treasure .”
I could kiss her. Her support meant everything.
My mother rose from the couch. “Grant, that’s enough. You’re being cruel. We didn’t discuss any of this.”
He slipped his hands into his pockets. “What our son failed to factor in is if he won’t work with us, then we go through the Ribbens.”
She gasped. “You’d fund his opponent? We can’t do that!”
“Can and will.” He shrugged, seemingly indifferent. “We do business with who’s willing to play the game. Patrick, I respect your decision to stick with your platform. It’s admirable, ethically. Just unfortunate for your chances of winning this election.”
Cold dread washed over me. He was that willing to completely give up on me to get his way.
“Old man Ribben was right,” Marcy spat out. “Double crossing your own son is low. Real low. ”
My father looked confused, so I filled him in. “Eli Ribben told us about your deal. He assumed I was undermining him, but it was you all along. I wonder if he’d even be interested in working with you at all.”
“Janine, we’re leaving.” My father swung the front door open.
“Patrick,” my mother said, breathless. “I’m sorry.”
She walked toward me and Marcy’s grip on my shoulder tightened. I patted her hand. “It’s okay.” I stood and faced my mother. “I believe you that it meant something to work on the campaign together, but it still hurts that you lied.”
Tears streaked her face. “I never meant to hurt you. I thought we were helping. I only ever wanted to help.”
My father growled at the door. “ Janine .”
“You should go,” I told her. “We can talk more later.”
“Make sure to answer your door,” Bea called after them. “They’ll just keep hounding you until you take those papers.”
I closed the door behind them.
Marcy folded into my arms. “That was rough. Are you alright?”
A hundred thoughts competed for attention. “I’m not sure I can stay in the race.”
“What?” Bea and Marcy spoke at the same time.
“If Banner Entertainment believes I cut a deal and word gets out, my integrity is shot. The only way ahead of that is to put it out there first.”
“So do that and stay in the race,” Marcy said. “If you give up and the Ribbens win, they’ll sign that deal themselves. Then you lose, and so does everyone who doesn’t want this casino built.”
Bea paced the room. “You said Ribbens plural because Eli is the real front for that campaign. But what about Eric? He’s weak, but impressionable. He hasn’t showed to recent events.”
“Why do you know that? Haven’t you moved on already?” Marcy asked .
“I keep tabs on people. And I have an idea, if you trust me.” She looked to me.
“Not even a little but go ahead.”
She smiled her wolfish smile. “Don’t worry. I always work within the law.”