Chapter 18
EIGHTEEN
Susan
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I LOOKED AT MY LITTLE sister with more pride than I would have thought myself capable of. She’d done it. She’d written a dozen songs and had performed them flawlessly.
I’d seen Keely’s face, as well as those of Ayra and Abbie. They were all impressed and pleased, adding to my sense of pride.
When I wheeled Mother backstage, I didn’t know which Holly we would find. Would her ego be inflated to an unreasonable level? Could she have matured as much as she seemed to?
She came to us, happier than I’d ever seen her.
“Your father would be so proud, Holly dear,” Mother said. “You were spectacular. The entire audience agrees.”
“And Keely is so impressed,” I added. “You must really be proud of yourself.”
She nodded with a touch of modesty she’d never displayed before. “I had a lot of help.”
Her gaze travelled past us, and I glanced back to see Major Cooper waiting for her. I nodded, silently giving her the okay to leave us to go to him.
“My, but that gentleman is fine,” Mother said. “How wrong of me to have been charmed by that retched Damen Dominic.”
I smiled down at her. “You’re not the only to have been charmed.”
*****
TAKING A brEAK FROM my accounting the next morning, I headed to my mother’s room to see if she’d like to go out for a walk.
I knocked at her door, surprised to hear a masculine voice inside. “Mother?” I called out.
The door opened and I face a man of about sixty years old.
“Um. Who are you?”
“Gordon was just leaving,” Mother said as she wheeled herself up behind him.
With a nod and a smile, the gentleman left.
“Who was that?” I said a little too curtly.
“Gordon. Gordon Mingleton.”
“I don’t want to know his name, Mother. I want to know who he is and what he is doing in your room.”
She smiled.
“Is this the surprise you have? Are you having an affair with... with whoever that is?”
“Oh, heavens, no.” She looked up at me, that broad and girlish smile on her face. “What did you want to see me about?”
Frustrated, I bit my tongue. “I wanted to know if you wanted to go out for a walk.”
“That sounds wonderful.” She wheeled her way out of her room and pulled the door closed behind her.
We headed down to the front hall and out the front door.
“Thank you for inviting me, Susan. This is nice. The air out here is always so fragrant.”
“Mother,” I said when I could no longer stand the mystery of it all. “Would you please tell me what that man was doing in your room.”
“Stop fussing, Susan. He’s helping me with my surprise. That’s all.”
“And when are you going to divulge this surprise to us?”
“When I’m good and ready, dear. When I’m good and ready.”
That seemed to put an end to the discussion, and I had to let it go.
“Wasn’t Holly so wonderful last night?” she said after a beat.
“She’s always been very talented,” I said. “She’s truly blossomed into a mature woman these past weeks. I’m afraid to say it, but I almost think that heartache did her some good.”
“Well, speak of the devil.”
I followed the direction of my mother’s gaze to see Holly coming up the drive in a silver sports car. The top was down, and she looked like the star that she was behind her oversized sunglasses.
She parked the car on the edge of the drive and got out to come see us. “Precisely the two people I wanted to see.”
“How are you this morning, dear?” Mother said.
“On a cloud, Mother. On a huge, fluffy, gorgeous cloud.”
“I imagine you’ve received great reviews after your show last night,” I said.
She nodded. “Yes. There have been some... but my happiness is not due to that.”
“Oh? What is it? Did some grand producer approach you for a record deal?” Mother said with a chuckle.
She held her hand out in response. On her finger was a sparkling diamond ring.
I looked at her in disbelief. “Major Cooper?” I said.
She nodded, tears of happiness lining her eyes. “Oh, Holly.” I pulled her into my arms for a warm hug. “I’m so happy for you. You deserve a man like Major Cooper. And he seems to love you very much.”
“You have no idea how kind he’s been, Susan.” She smiled, then frowned. “Oh, and believe you me. He does not treat me like a princess.”
“But, Holly,” Mother said. “Isn’t that what you want? Don’t you want a man who will spoil you and treat you like the princess that you are, dear?”
“No, Mother. That’s what I’ve learned with Major Cooper. I’m not a princess. I’m a mature woman with responsibilities. I have a career to build. I have you to take care of, Mother.” She turned to me. “And I think that it’s time I showed my appreciation to my big sister who’s given so much for me.”
I choked back the tears. I knew she’d matured, but this?
“Don’t get me wrong,” she went on. “Major Cooper is kind beyond anything you could imagine, and he treats me like the very special lady in his life that I am. But he doesn’t let me get away with any selfish tantrums or childish wants.”
“Good for you, dear,” Mother said, wheeling herself back away from us. “I’m very happy for you, but... Sorry to cut this short, but nature calls. I have to hurry back.”
“I’ll bring you, Mother,” I said.
“No. No,” she said, as she continued away. “You stay and chat with your sister. I’ll make it back just fine.”
“Do you think she’s happy for me?” Holly said. “She was so taken with Damen.”
“Believe me, she got over that one. No. She likes Major Cooper very much.” I watched Mother wheel herself away.
“He told me that he’d been left at the altar years ago,” she said.
“Really? How awful.”
“And it left him a little hesitant... you know... about me. But... well, you saw him last night. He was so happy. I was so happy. I really do think that we’ll be happy together.”
We took a few slow steps, our eyes on Mother in the distance.
“And what about you?” she said. “Do you approve?”
“Of Major Cooper? Why, yes! Of course. He’s such a wonderful, kind man... very responsible, respectful, successful.”
“I’m glad. It’s important to me that you approve.”
“Me? Why?”
“I know I don’t tell you often enough, but I do truly value your opinion, Susan. You’re the wise and sensible one... I mean, you saw Damen coming a mile away. You knew he’d hurt me, and you were right.”
I shrugged.
“But now it’s your turn.” She grabbed my hand, and we stopped walking. “I mean it, Susan. I fully intend to take responsibility for Mother. I want you to have more freedom, to find your own happiness. It’s time you put yourself first.”
I wasn’t sure I knew how to do that. I’d always put others first.
“A strange man came out of Mother’s room this morning,” I said, wanting to change the subject.
She burst out laughing. “Are you serious? Mum has found a mate?”
I shrugged. “She insisted there’s nothing going on between them, but... She claims he was there to help her with this surprise she has for us.”
Still laughing, she put her hand to my shoulder. “Whatever it is, let Mum have her fun.”
We resumed walking, slowly heading down to the house.
“Have you two set a date yet?” I said.
“Not yet,” she said with a knowing smile. “We still have a few things to get settled. We’ve started shopping around for a place large enough to hold the type of wedding we really want.”
“You want the whole big shebang, I suppose.”
A car pulled up behind us and we moved over to the side to let it pass, but it stopped at our side.
“Major Cooper,” I said as he put down his window.
“Good morning, Susan. I take it Holly has spread the good news.”
“Indeed. Congratulations. I’m very happy for the two of you.”
“Hi, honey,” Holly said, her grin as wide as could be.
He, too, pulled his car to the side of the drive and got out. He immediately went to Holly and pulled her in for a tender kiss.
He looked at me. “Do you mind if I borrow her for a moment. I have an idea for the wedding that I’d like to share with her.”
I nodded, leaving them to walk off. Then I heard the passenger door open and close shut. A shiver ran up my spine and dared not look back.
“Hello, Susan.”
I slowly turned to him, bracing myself. He looked tired and he might have lost a few pounds, but he looked wonderful all the same. His eyes were as warm and kind as I’d always known them to be, though with a touch more concern.
“Have I just been tricked?” I said, trying to find levity in this difficult moment.
“I just wanted to be sure I could see you. I feared that if I just showed up... well... you’d refuse to see me.”
I nodded.
“I have news about Selma Sanctuary.”
Again, I nodded. “Fine. What news?”
“Jeremy is having second thoughts.”
“Is it any better than the first ones?”
He chuckled. “I learned of how he acquired your father’s property. It’s something that I’ve wondered about from the start. I finally got in touch with the notary who informed me that my brother had won Selma Sanctuary in a card game.”
“What?” I frowned. How could my father be so irresponsible?
“When I confronted Jeremy, he admitted that Mr. Selma was quite inebriated at the time. And while he was fully aware that it was a callous and unfair thing to do, he nonetheless held your father to his wager. The property was to be Jeremy’s.”
Seething, I turned away from him. All this; the move, my mother’s failing health, the push to start a new life... all because of a lousy bet. I didn’t know whether to be mad at my father for putting us in such a precarious position or Jeremy for taking advantage of a drunken old man.
Both, I finally concluded.
“But, Susan,” Brad said. “I’ve given my brother an ultimatum. I should have done it a long time ago. Truth be told, this isn’t the first time he’s played a little loose with laws... and morals.”
“What ultimatum have you given him?”
“I quit. If he doesn’t give Selma Sanctuary back to you and your family, I will never work for him again.”
“He must not have taken that very well.”
He shook his head as a crooked smile came to his lips. “Oh, no. He did not like that at all. At first, he ordered me out of the room. Then he whined as he told me that it was his desperate attempt at making a go of this development company. Finally, he admitted that he’d been a bit of a louse.”
“A bit?”
He laughed. “Give him a chance. It took a lot for him to admit he was a louse at all. As clumsy as it all was, he really did want to make a success of our development company. Our last projects hadn’t been as profitable as he would have liked, and he thought this was a sure thing.”
“So what is he going to do now?”
“I spent the last three days going over our books. A while back, Jeremy had temporarily hired a girlfriend to do our accounting. She made a major mistake. Actually, she’d made several mistakes.
By the time I got everything in order, we were half a million in the black as opposed to being a quarter million in the red. ”
“So, this means...?” I feared saying it aloud. I didn’t want to get my hopes up.
I’d seen the last few weeks play out... Keely’s movie was almost done.
My work for her was almost over. I’d had the constant thought that we would have to move on at some point.
.. soon. We couldn’t stay at Moon Manor forever.
This whole adventure would come to an end, and we’d have to find our own home.
Brad reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys; Selma Sanctuary’s keys.
I looked at them in disbelief. Unable to reach out to take them, I simply brought my hand over my astonished and gaping mouth.
“It’s all yours again,” he said softly.
Tears blurred my vision as I stared at those keys.
He jiggled them. “They’re yours.”
With a giggle, I grabbed them out of his hand and reached up to hug him. “Oh, Brad. Thank you. Thank you so much. Mother will be so happy. You have no idea.”
I pulled back, but he held me, his hands warm on my waist. “I assure you that I didn’t do all this simply with the intention of... well, of winning you back. But I do think it’s important that you know how I really feel about you.”
I looked at him in silence, unable to say a word.
“I do believe I fell in love with you the very first moment I saw you. I thought it might simply be infatuation, just a passing fancy. When my brother pushed me to leave Selma Sanctuary, I thought... okay. I’ll get over you.
I’ll move on. But it didn’t work out that way.
I thought of you constantly.” He chuckled.
“My heart refused to forget you... to let you go.”
I couldn’t keep from smiling. “It hurt so much to learn that you were gone. I hated you.”
He nodded, pulling me closer to him. “I know. But if you give me a chance, I’ll spend the rest of my life making you forget that misstep, and making you fall in love with me.”
Happy tears stung my eyes.
“Will you give me another chance?”
I nodded and reached up to kiss him. Yes. Oh, yes!
It felt so right, being in his arms, kissing his tender lips. All of it was the perfection that I never thought I’d find.
He pulled away and grinned as he once again reached into his pocket. “I hope you won’t find it too forward of me, but...” He pulled out a small blue box.
My heart thundered.
“I was cautiously optimistic when I bought this.” He popped open the box. “Will you do me the honor, dear Susan, of becoming my wife?”