Chapter 5 #2
"He did." She could feel Dean's displeasure mounting but was determined to keep the serene expression on her face.
"I'm sure you also heard that during the time he left, I started acting out.
I was a complete wreck and caused my mother acute grief by doing everything possible to prove that I was bad.
" She lifted her head and met the woman's gaze squarely.
"My past was very eventful, but it made me who I am now. "
"You don't owe anyone an explanation." Dean decided it was time to put a stop to the line of questioning. "She's marrying me and I happen to like the person she is." His expression clearly stated that the interrogation was at an end.
As the evening progressed, Catherine was beginning to understand why Dean was the way he was, and also why his sister looked so unhappy.
The tenseness at the table was oppressive.
The siblings only spoke to each other. The sister's husband Charles sat in uncomfortable silence, casting uneasy glances at Dean.
The parents ate in studied silence, barely looking at each other.
The utensils barely made any sound. The maids cleared the dishes after each course, careful not to make a sound, and whisked to what Catherine assumed was the kitchen.
Dean was also right about her not fitting in.
She felt uncomfortable. She had always prided herself on being able to like everyone.
After her near-death experiences, she had gone out of her way to mend bridges and be a person who was above reproach.
But the more time she spent with his parents especially, the more she realized that they were not very nice.
She had to force herself not to give the nod to leave. She had told Dean she wanted to try and get along with the people who were going to be her in-laws, and she was not a person who gave up easily.
By the time the coffee and crème br?lée was served, she was ready to go. And he sensed it. Cutting the conversation that had sprung up when they adjourned to the "small" blue and white salon, he hustled her out of the house.
He had just opened the passenger door and ushered her in when his sister came rushing out.
Glancing at Catherine, she nodded and offered a faint smile before turning to her brother.
"May I speak with you for a minute?"
He hesitated briefly, before nodding curtly and slamming the door shut. They walked over to the water fountain.
"She's beautiful."
"Inside and out, and now I'm wondering if she's changed her mind about marrying me." His expression was grim as he glanced towards the vehicle. She had her head leaning back and her eyes closed. Dean shifted his gaze to his sister. "What is it?"
"I'm divorcing Charles." She firmed her lips and took a deep breath.
"I've been thinking about what you said and you're right.
" She shrugged thin shoulders. "I might never find what you have with Catherine, and I hope to God they--" She gestured towards the house.
"I sincerely hope they have not ruined things for you.
" She touched his arm briefly, before dropping her hand.
"I deserve better. I have no idea what to do next and I know that when I confront them with my decision, they're going to want to change my mind, but not this time. "
He gave her a concerned look. "Do you want me to be there when you tell them?"
She shook her head, her smile luminous. "I believe this is a turning point for us -- you and me." She hesitated briefly and then, making up her mind, she stepped forward to hug him. His jolt of surprise had her smiling as she stepped back.
"Thanks." With a wave of acknowledgement to Catherine, she hurried back inside.
He came back to the car and got in, gunning the engine immediately.
She had seen the exchange and was relieved to see that something had changed between the siblings.
And he no longer had that haunted expression on his face.
He just looked thoughtful and sober, making her wonder what he was thinking.
She liked his sister and was going to make an effort to get to know her.
Leaning her head back, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Her quiet breathing alerted him that she was knocked out.
Even when he pulled into the driveway, she did not wake up.
Shutting off the engine, he shifted sideways so he could see her better.
Her face was turned towards him, so he had the pleasure of looking his fill.
Her lashes made shadows on her cheeks, and her lips were slightly parted.
She had adjusted the seat for comfort and was half reclining.
She looked so serene, so calm, so beautiful, so pure.
She had held her own with his family. In the past, after he moved out, he had never brought a woman to meet his parents. Not even when he was living there.
After the bitterness of finding out who they really were and what they were doing, he had decided that as soon as he started college, he was going out on his own.
He could not resist touching her. Lifting his hand, he trailed a finger over the silky softness of her cheek. Her lids fluttered open and her smile came, the dimples peeping out.
"You were completely knocked out."
"It must be the seven-course meal. I only saw that in movies when very wealthy people entertain. Has it been that way for you when you were growing up?"
"Yes," he answered warily.
"Then I'm surprised you're not fat."
That was the last thing he expected to hear from her, and his shout of laughter filled the car and warmed her heart. Relief covered him like a cloak. He had been filled with agonizing certainty that after the disastrous dinner at his family home, she was going to change her mind.
"Your sweetness is a breath of fresh air," he whispered huskily. "Why are you not turned off? I saw the way my father was leering at you. I wanted to smash his face in. It made me sick to see his behavior."
She touched his taut jaw with feather-light fingers. "One thing my near-death experience taught me, and it's this -- never ever take anything seriously. Your dad is who he is, and hopefully one day he will change. What he does is on him, not on anyone else."
"Does that mean we're still getting married?"
"Oh, I don't know, it depends." She straightened and touched the lever to bring the seat back up.
"On what?" he asked with a frown.
"On whether or not you kiss me good night." Her impish smile had him pulling her into his arms and doing just that.
*****
The date of the wedding was set for the first Saturday in June.
And things were progressing rapidly. Somehow, their engagement was leaked to the press.
An enterprising photographer had snapped a candid shot of them taking a walk in the park one afternoon after he had picked her up from school.
The long-lens camera had captured the couple holding hands and Dean gazing down at her with an indulgent look on his face.
Catherine was saying something to him and smiling up at him.
The caption read: 'Playboy multibillionaire has finally stumbled.'
'The Collier family have been forever dead center in the spotlight over the years.
The family of investment bankers seem to court scandal one way or another by their flagrant ignorance of what society would call normal behavior.
Both parents are well known for their relationships with other people and are well known to have total disregard for the whispers surrounding them.
Dean Collier, only son and heir to the vast holding that includes banks all over the world as well as properties that stretch as far as Europe, has courted his own scandal.
Rumor has it that he was involved in a messy to-do with a member of a royal family in Spain and had to be escorted from that country after refusing to marry the young woman.
His reputation with the opposite sex is many and varied and the list includes movie stars, lawyers, doctors, society princesses and the list goes on.
He has been jet-setting all over the world and his wild parties are legendary.
Now he's settling down with an African-American woman who so happens to be a kindergarten teacher.
One is left wondering what brought this about.
Catherine Antoinette Miller is the epitome of "unlikely bride.
" Which leaves this writer with the conclusion that this must be love.
Thousands of hearts will be broken by this unprecedented turn of events.
Many hopeful young ladies had yearned for the privilege of being the one to capture Collier's interest for more than a week or even a month.
We are also left wondering if this will last or if this marriage is just a way to get the young man to finally take his rightful place in the family and produce an heir. '
Dean read the entire article and felt the anger kindling. What was worse was that it was based on facts. He had been that person, and before now what the press had printed on him and his family had never made a dent because it had not mattered.
Now it did. His reputation was going to spill over on her and she was bound to get caught up in the backlash. They would forever be in the public eye, as they would be watched to see if this was really happening. Their entire lives would be open to public scrutiny.
Catherine had enjoyed her privacy before, but everything was about to change.
He was genuinely making an effort to become involved in the company.
He hated rules and regulations and, more than anything, hated the office.
But he was getting married and rather than live off his substantial trust fund, he wanted to make a difference.
He was highly educated; it was time he used his brain for something other than partying and traveling all over the world.
He was going to show everyone that this was real.
But first he had to get to her to find out how she was coping with all of it.
He lived in constant fear that she would end up changing her mind.
For the first time in his life, he wanted something so badly, he would do anything to make it happen.
He wanted to marry her. The press and people in his society might speculate, and he himself had been wondering why he was so fixated on this one woman, after flitting from one relationship to the next and never settling.
Jumping into his vehicle, he decided to turn up at her school. He needed answers.