Chapter Twenty-Nine
VIVI
Genevieve’s text had been short, sweet, and laced with the kind of power-play punctuation only she could manage.
“I will be hosting a brunch tomorrow at my house to discuss wedding plans with you and Jameson. See you then.”
Wedding plans.
As if the last month hadn’t been a dumpster fire I was still trying to stomp out in heels.
By the time I make it through the gates and up the sweeping driveway, I’ve told myself three times that this is just business. My life has been one long series of brunches with people who smile while sharpening the knife under the table anyway. I should be used to this by now.
The house smells like furniture polish and some flowers that she probably has flown in on a weekly basis for her floral arrangements. Money well spent, I’m sure all her garden club friends would say.
Sunlight pours in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, catching on every gilded frame and piece of crystal. My heels are barely off the marble foyer when I hear laughter coming from the sitting room.
I follow it, bracing for Jameson’s smooth politician’s smile and Genevieve’s measuring eyes.
But when I round the corner…
My feet stop.
So does my breath.
Jameson is on the white settee, elbows on his knees with a smirk, my father in an armchair with a satisfied smile as if his negotiation tactics worked again. Both of them staring back at Genevieve as she pours herself a cup of tea.
“Well, this was all a surprise but you’re right, the board will agree.
It’s all worked out and we should celebrate,” she says.
“Jameson, I still expect an elopement in the South of France. Everything’s already set and promises have been made to sponsors and the press.
And you will play your part as the groom perfectly. ”
“Of course. There’s just the matter of the bride,” he says. “She hasn’t agreed.”
“She will. Let me know if I can help in any way,” my father says.
The sight of my father is an unwelcome addition to an already miserable venture.
I clear my throat, and then all eyes are on me.
The world tilts in the space of a heartbeat.
Genevieve is positively glowing, all but clapping her hands as if the universe just handed her the most perfect brunch centerpiece. “Darling, come in. We have news.”
“Vivi,” Jameson says, setting down his cup of tea and rising.
“I see the planning is underway without me. Already with the celebration. I should have guessed. Between the three of you, I suppose I was unneeded anyway. You can go ahead and send me the flight details for France. No point in my staying any longer as I see I must have stepped in on your celebration.”
I turn as if ready to stomp off.
“Vivi, wait,” Jameson says, heading towards me. “I need to talk to you privately.”
I debate heading for the exit, anger bubbling at the thought that my father got his way in the end. Controlling everything he touches. I stand there instead because I still control myself, and I won’t allow my emotions to get the best of me.
Jameson walks up to me. He looks tired almost, but unlike when I saw him at the ballet recital, there’s a softness to his eyes this time. Almost as if relieved.
He walks to me and gently puts his hand on my arm. “Can we talk for a second?”
I nod and follow him as he leads me down the hall of his mother’s opulent home.
The moment he stops and turns around to face me, I stop too, crossing my arms over my chest protectively.
He takes a deep breath. “There’s a lot to tell you, and also so much I can’t say yet.”
“How about you start with our wedding plans. That’s all I really need to know. I won’t run away this time,” I tell him.
He gives a soft smile. “I believe you, but I’m not sorry that you did in the first place.”
My eyebrows stitch together. This is not what I thought was about to happen. “I don’t understand.”
“You’re in love with Trey Hartley, aren’t you?”
“How do you know that?”
“I saw the way he looked at you when I showed up at the ballet recital. And I saw the way you looked at him.”
“Jameson…it doesn’t matter how I feel about Trey. I’m here now. I’m ready to get married and do what we agreed to.”
“There won’t be a wedding, Vivi. At least…not between us.”
I stare back into his eyes. Searching for what he means.
“But I just heard that Genevieve still expects the wedding in France? The press? The sponsors? I heard her say, ‘This calls for a celebration.’”
“There will be a wedding. Or at least I hope there will be. But first, I have to find Natasha and propose. If she’ll still have me.”
“I’m so confused. You showed up six days ago at my ballet recital to tell me that we were getting married. When did this happen? How did this happen? I…”
I’m in such shock that I let him lead me out of the room.
“I can’t exactly tell you everything. Not until I talk to Natasha first.”
“I don’t get it. What happened in Greece? I thought she hated your guts.”
He laughs. “She did at first. It’s a long story. I offered her the money she lost on the commission to come with me. She didn't want to come at first, but she needed the money.”
My stomach sinks at the idea that I’m the cause of Natasha having to agree. “I cost her that commission she needed for medical bills. She must hate me,” I say.
“She doesn’t hate you. But she agreed to come with me, and I used her as a threat to my mother.
That if she tried to drag me back to the US before the honeymoon, I would flaunt Natasha in front of every paparazzi I could.
I thought that if I had enough time to get the deal in Greece done before I had to come back, I could use it to buy the trust and the board out of requiring us to marry. ”
I nod. At least that part makes sense, and I place my hand on my forehead, hating how I cost her that commission. “I got her fired, didn’t I? And she really needed that money.”
He pulls my hand from my forehead. “It’s fine. You don’t have to worry about her. I’ve got her taken care of,” he grins. “Despite my being an ass to her by taking out my frustrations about the wedding on her trying to plan it, I fell in love with her in Greece, and I need to find her and tell her.”
“You could have mentioned these plans to me so I could have…I don’t know, been at least supportive. I was here getting berated by two sets of board directors and your mother.”
“Well, I had to stand up in front of four hundred people while my bride ran off with the left winger for the Hawkeyes.”
I suck in my lower lip. “Okay…we’re even.”
He chuckles, and then I smile. A little weight lifting off both of our shoulders.
“My plan was to convince the hotel chain to sell to me, and I was going to use the deal to leverage the board to let us both out of the marriage. Even your father showed up and helped me close the deal.”
“My father came to Greece to help you?”
“He sensed why you were marrying me. I guess your mom and Isla both gave him hell at the wedding that you, entering into an arranged marriage, was his fault. When you wouldn’t return his phone calls, he flew out to find me to convince me to call off the engagement.
He didn’t know how deep you and I both were into it. ”
“So that’s why he was overseas and not at Berkeley’s birthday party. He was with you in Greece.”
“I’m guessing so. He did a deal years ago with the CFO, and he’s the one who got us a meeting with the owner.”
“And Natasha?”
“I convinced her to fall in love with me. It took a while,” he grins. “The board will see it my way soon enough. You’re off the hook.”
“So that's it then. You and I are free?” I ask, a smile wanting to break across my lips, but I’m too scared to believe this is all true. That I’m free to be with Trey and Adeline.
He nods. “But you and I are still business partners, so we’ll be seeing each other around.”
I leaped forward and hugged him. Something he and I have never done before unprovoked by a press camera.
“Thank you. I can’t even tell you how relieved I am,” I tell him, fighting back tears.
“We’re better business partners.”
I nod. “You’ll make some lucky girl an amazing husband.”
“I just hope Natasha thinks that, too.”
“She will,” I nod. He gives a warm smile, and I realize just now…I think Jameson and I might have just become friends.
Which should work to my advantage when I need help getting Richard to reinstate me. If Holiday Industries puts him back in his position, he’ll have the power to put pressure on Newport's board of directors.
“Your father is the one who made this happen. Without him, I wouldn't have closed that deal. He’s also the one who made me realize that I needed to fight for Natasha no matter what it cost.”
“He did?”
“Maybe talk to him? I don’t know what you two went through, but he didn’t have to show up in Greece. He loves you, Vivi.”
“Here,” I say, pulling off his ring and handing it back to him. “This is hers now.”
“Thanks. I already bought her a ring I chose myself. If she agrees to marry me, we’re going to start new traditions.”
I smile. “I like the sound of that.”
I hear footsteps behind me, and I turn to see who it is.
It’s my father.
“Hi,” he says.
“Hi,” I say back.
“You haven’t returned my calls.”
“I thought you were going to berate me for running out on my wedding.”
“I just wanted to help.”
“You went to Greece to help Jameson close that deal so I wouldn’t have to marry him. I thought you wanted the Newport/Holiday family merger. I don't understand why you would have helped Jameson get out of it.”
His expression softens. “Because I love you. The moment you ran out of that wedding, I knew something was wrong. And your sister and mother laid into me at the wedding, saying it was all my fault. That I put too much pressure on you. That you were marrying Jameson Holiday to make me happy.”
“But you were happy. You sent me seven dozen roses to my townhouse when you heard about the engagement.”
"Those roses I sent were an attempt to be supportive. I wanted you to know that I will always support your choices. I didn’t do that for Isla, and I regret that still to this day.”
My throat tightens. “This merger is your dream, though.”
“I’m tired of being on the outside of your life, Vivi.
Looking in, but never getting the relationship with you that I want because of the mistakes I made with you…
and with Isla. I’m not that man anymore, but you won’t let me prove it to you, and I don’t blame you.
That’s why I tried to stay away. I thought maybe someday, you’d come to me when you were ready.
When you got engaged, I thought if I supported you instead of telling you I was worried you were making the wrong choice—like Isla almost made because of me—you’d let me close again. ”
I swallow. “So you went to Greece to help Jameson?”
“Yes. I thought if I could help him get the deal done, you’d be off the hook. You weren’t taking my calls, but Jameson was more than happy to let me in.”
There’s a pause, and then he says quietly, “I know about Trey. Isla told me and asked me not to screw this up for you.”
I laugh. “She is very protective.”
“And I know why you two have had to be for each other. You know that I grew up poor. I built everything on my own, and the best gift I thought I was giving you girls was to make sure that you made the best business decisions you could make. I thought I knew what was best to protect you, and I’ve been wrong so many times. ”
“I know you love me. I just want a father, not a business partner.”
He nods. “Can we start fresh?”
I nod and step forward, wrapping my arms around his neck.
“I am proud of you, Vivi Ann,” he says, and then I think of Trey. The nickname he always uses.
Genevieve finally peeks in her head. “Everyone okay here?”
We let go at the same time, but the healing has already started. We both nod at her.
“Well, I still have brunch available if anyone is interested. We may not be family now, but I have a sense that this will be a long and successful friendship between our two families.
My dad nods, but I pipe up. “Actually, I have someone I need to go see.”
Jameson leaves to grab a jet to go find Natasha, and my father follows Genevieve back into the living room. They’re already discussing a new venture together, but I have somewhere else to be too.
Now I just have to see if the man I love and the little girl who has my heart still have room for one more.