Chapter 45 Came For You
CAME FOR YOU
Just when life was finally settling into place, Natalie’s phone rang two weeks later.
“Hello, Sarah.”
“Sorry to bother you, Natalie. But Erin Brown is at the desk and asking to speak with you. She won’t tell me what it’s about so it’s nothing I can help her with.”
She didn’t know what Arik’s mother was doing at The Retreat again or why Arik hadn’t said anything.
Unless he didn’t know. Chances were he didn’t.
“I’ll be right up.”
She stood and left her office, trying to decide if she wanted to bring Erin back here to talk or another place for privacy.
Something in her gut twisted, warning her this talk wouldn’t end well.
“Erin,” she said. “It’s so nice to see you again. What do I owe this visit to?”
Arik’s mother was dressed as if she were ready to present before the biggest, toughest jury of her career.
A navy power suit, white and red silk shirt under an open jacket that rested on her trim hips, red pumps with the matching red treads.
“You’re looking lovely,” Erin said, her eyes landing on Natalie’s belly. They weren’t parading the pregnancy around, but no one was pretending it didn’t exist. Erin’s eyes found the diamond on Natalie’s finger for the briefest second, just long enough to register what it meant.
Arik had told no one on his side that she had the ring.
It’s not as if it was an engagement. He hadn’t asked her to marry him. It was his sign of a commitment.
His symbol.
When others had noticed the ring, they asked when the wedding was.
It was easy to say no date had been set.
“Thank you. Are you visiting the island long?”
“Just a few hours,” Erin said. “Is there a place we can have a private conversation?”
“Of course.”
She could play the game of polite public conversation just as well as Erin could.
They returned to her office, she shut the door and gestured toward the chair in front of her desk.
The dismissive glance at her workspace told her everything that Natalie needed to know of Erin’s opinion of her.
But she didn’t care about those things. She only cared about how Arik felt about her.
“I’ll cut right to the chase. You know what I do for a living.”
“I do.”
“It’s a parent’s duty to protect their child. Arik has a lot that needs to be protected.”
She expected this to come up at some point, but not like this. Not from Erin.
“I’m not after Arik’s money,” she said.
“Every woman says that, but doesn’t mean it. Or maybe they do. At one point, I thought love was enough but was smart enough to have a security blanket if it wasn’t. I’ve taken the liberty of drawing up a prenup.”
“We aren’t getting married,” she said.
“That ring says otherwise.”
“It’s not what you think. We haven’t set a date or even talked about it.”
She didn’t need to explain any of this to Erin but was doing it out of courtesy.
“I know my son. He’s impulsive. You could find a band to match that ring before the baby comes.
Might as well make sure everyone is happy.
” Erin pulled a document out of her large tote.
“You’ll find this very generous. It wouldn’t leave you with nothing but give you a specific amount for each year you’re married.
Having been there several times, I know how hard it is to see something ending you wish didn’t.
Love doesn’t last. I know firsthand, no matter how much I wish it weren’t so. ”
She didn’t look at the paper.
She couldn’t believe she was having this conversation.
In a weird, twisted way, Arik’s mother actually thought she was protecting Natalie. Or was she imagining that?
“If Arik wants me to sign one, then I will. But it’s not a conversation we’ve had. If or when we do, you will not be part of it.”
“I like that you’ve got a backbone,” Erin said, nodding her head. “I know you think I’m a horrible person for doing this.”
“I think that deep down you care for your son, in your way. You’re looking out for him the same way I will my child.
Maybe you’re even sympathizing with the speed of our relationship and putting yourself in my shoes.
I’m not sure. But I’ll not allow my parents to interfere in my life just as I know Arik doesn’t want or need it from you or his father. ”
Erin sat back and smiled. “I like you. I really do.”
Could have fooled her. “And that’s why you’re being so generous?” she asked, waving her hand at the papers in front of her.
“I’m not trying to be a bitch. I’d like to have a relationship with my grandchild. Documents just make this less messy in the end, if something happened.”
“Some might think you’d approach matters differently then.”
Erin’s grin only widened. “I told you my son was impulsive. It’s not always the best trait to have. He can back it now. Early on, if I’d known he was laying all his money on the line, I would have talked him out of it. I sure the hell would have the second time.”
“He wouldn’t have listened. And then you wouldn’t have had much to brag about either.”
“Good for you,” Erin said. “But back to Arik. Did you ever wonder why he came to this island?”
“He said that he was watching a cooking reality show my cousin Grace competed on. He heard The Bond Retreat and wanted to check it out.”
“I thought you were smarter than that,” Erin said.
“I don’t understand.”
“He came for you. He knew exactly what he was doing. He might have been spontaneously coming here, but he had a plan. When Arik wants something, nothing stands in his way. I mean nothing.”
“What kind of plan?”
“You,” Erin said. “I remember your name coming up once. A girl he liked, but he was moving on to a new career. I don’t remember much more. There was no reason to.”
“Because you dismiss and wipe people out so easily?”
“No,” Erin said, grinning. “Because Arik never focused on women much back then. Call it cold feet watching his father.”
“And you.”
“I’ll admit I’ve got bad luck with marriages. It happens.”
Bad luck? Was that what Erin thought all her divorces were? Good lord, and Arik’s mother made the comment that she thought Natalie was smart?
“To you.”
“Natalie. Arik came here for you. That was his reason. A full month trying to find you. You fell into his lap quickly. Or not. Your name is listed as an employee. That step was easy enough. He was only going to bide his time and pick up where he left off.”
She was shaking her head. She refused to believe this.
That he wouldn’t have been completely honest with her.
She’d told him numerous times she valued honesty.
“You’re wrong.”
And it was not as if Arik would ever talk to his mother about this. Erin had to be fabricating it.
“I can tell by the look on your face that you’re not so sure I am.” Erin stood up. “And that is why people need prenups. Think it over before you go further. Nothing is ever as it seems. I’ll see myself out.”
She sat at her desk staring at the document in front of her.
There was no reason to read any of it. None of it mattered. She’d sign it if he wanted her to.
Her anger wasn’t from that.
It was from what Erin said.
But was Erin just trying to stir up trouble?
It was most likely that.
The gnawing in her gut said there was some truth to Erin’s words.
She grabbed her purse and the papers, marched out of her office, told her staff she was leaving for the day. It was just a few hours early, but she couldn’t wait.
She wouldn’t wait. Not to find out the truth.
As purposefully as she left her office, she turned it up a notch to storm into Arik’s house, then up the stairs to his office.
“You look like a hurricane just flew in.”
“Darn close to it.” She took a deep breath and then another. “Give me a second.”
He watched as she tried her hardest to calm her racing heart and shaking hands.
She had to give him the benefit of the doubt.
It was the right thing to do.
“Are you okay? You’re scaring me.”
“Did you or did you not come to this island intending to seek me out?”
“Where is this coming from?”
“Answer the question, Arik. Yes or no?”
“I told you how I ended up here.”
“I believe it. You saw the show and decided to check the island out. Farfetched for many, but not you. But did you do it because of me?”
“I remembered you were from the island,” he said. His words were slow. Deliberate. Thoughtful. Almost too much.
“And you hoped to see me?” she asked.
“Of course. We had a start of something years ago. I’ve thought of you over the years.”
The first he’d said that. Or along those lines.
“When you came here, did you hope for this? For us to be in this situation?”
“Where are all these questions coming from?” he asked.
“Yes or no, Arik?”
“Fine,” he said. “I’ve thought of you for years. I don’t believe you if you say you haven’t thought of me.”
She had, in passing, just wondering how he turned out.
“Not enough to search you out!”
The pain etched across his face pierced her chest.
She didn’t want to hurt him, but she had to be honest.
This was huge to her.
She felt deceived in the worst way imaginable.
“Well, I wanted to see you. I wanted to know how your life turned out. If you were in a relationship or married, I would have said hi, stayed my month and moved on.”
“But I wasn’t. And you used that fact. You used me.”
“Whoa,” he said. “There was no using anyone. I asked you to lunch. We talked. I asked you on a date. No one held a gun to your head to get in bed with me.”
“The wedding? The fake relationship? All of it. Your idea.”
“No. You came up with the idea and I just built on it.”
“Don’t play games.”
“I’m not! Why is this coming up now? The truth.
I just told you. I wanted to see if what I felt for you years ago was still there.
It was. Harder. Deeper. More intense. You know.
You felt it. But you can’t say I begged you to get in my bed.
You made that step. Not me. We did all of this together. Everything. Even our child. Together.”
“You could have told me the truth months ago rather than for me to find out from your mother.”
“My mother?” he asked. “What are you talking about?”
She threw the papers at him. “This! Everything feels like a lie.”
She turned and stomped out of the room.