Once Upon a Marriage (14 page)

Barbara's smile grew slowly. And surprised Marie. It was an expression she didn't recognize on her mother's face. As if it held answers to life's mysteries or something.

Kind of like the Mona Lisa smile she and Gabi had made fun of during their freshman year art appreciation class.

Those days were so long ago. And seemed too close for comfort, too. As if she were still a kid hanging out with her best friend, rather than a grown woman with a successful business of her own and a slew of people who depended upon her.

“My past, my time with your father, was difficult. Painful,” Barbara started slowly. “But it also served a purpose. A good purpose.”

Marie wasn't following. And braced herself for whatever cockamamie thing her mother might come out with next.

“You know, they say that all things happen for a reason. That sometimes the most painful journeys are the way to the greatest joys...”

She didn't want philosophy. She needed to know her mother was going to be okay.

“I knew the very first time I crossed the line from looking at Bruce as my doctor and started seeing him as a man, that my life had changed,” Barbara said. She didn't look gooey-eyed. Nor did she sound it.

But she had to be suffering from the malady just the same. This was her mother. Not some twenty-year-old college girl who still believed in love at first sight.

“How long ago was that?” Marie asked. Curious. And trying to figure out what to say next. Did she try to discourage the wedding?

Or keep her worry to herself and give her mother the full support she so obviously wanted?

“Not quite six months.”

“But you said...the whole transference thing. You thought you just had a thing for him, which is common between therapists and their patients. You said that had been going on for a long time.” Or at least that was how Marie remembered it.

Something wasn't right here. It was up to her to figure this out. To be there for her mother.

“I'd had a crush on him, which I understood to be transference, for years. That's true.”

“Did you talk to him about it?” Had the man taken advantage of Barbara?

“No. I knew enough to know what it was. That it wasn't unusual.”

“I'm confused,” Marie said, frowning. “So, when did you cross the line from therapist to man? What happened? Why did things suddenly change?”

Had the man come on to a lonely, vulnerable woman? Was her mother on the rebound?

“Nothing happened. I walked into his office one day to tell him that I didn't need therapy anymore, to tell him thank you and goodbye. He hadn't heard me come in. Didn't even know I was there. He was standing at the window, his shoulders were slightly slumped and he looked tired.”

Marie waited, practically holding her breath. “So what happened?” she finally asked.

“That's it. I saw a man who was tired. Whose shoulders were heavy with the weight they bore. And long after I left his office, I kept seeing that man in my mind. Not the doctor. Not the medical professional who'd helped me. But the man.”

The reply left Marie with more questions than answers. “So you said Dad's last effort to get back together was the catalyst. But you'd withstood his attempts in the past. What makes you think that this time is different? That you were really ready to be done with therapy?” She attacked the easiest confusion first.

“I'd been off medication for months. And your father had come to visit me.”

Marie had known her father had tried, again, to get back with her mother. He'd tried to get her in the middle of it all. Neither of her parents had told her the attempt had included an in-person visit.

“At the house?”

“Yes.”

Oh. Her stomach filled with dread. In-person visits always meant they shared a room. Maybe because they couldn't help it. Or just because they always had. Marie had never asked. But how could her mother have her father over and be suddenly in love with someone else? Marrying someone else?

Turning on her side, Barbara faced Marie, too. And sliding her hand out from under the covers, brushed a hand across Marie's face.

“He slept in the guest room, sweetie. Because I told him he could stay, but I had absolutely no desire to get back together. He brought flowers. Got on his knees and made promises. Big promises. Ones that should have won me over. He had this idea that he'd keep a tracking app on his phone, that I'd have all his accounts and passwords, he was putting a text app on his tablet and he'd leave that at home so I could see all his texts. He wanted us to have the same phone plan so I could see all numbers he communicated with if I needed to do so...”

Her father had told her about all his big promises. They'd been his attempt to keep himself in line. Because he wanted so badly to be a good husband to her mother. He'd need to have the measures in place that would ensure that he'd be caught
before
he cheated...

“I didn't want to live my life as a police warden,” Barbara said, her eyes sad. “I couldn't face a life where I'd be constantly checking numbers and data and text messages to ensure that my husband was being faithful to me. I didn't want to even think about such things. And I didn't want to live life with your father anymore, either. I was saddened by the realization, but I wasn't heartbroken. I was well and truly over him. And that's why I went to tell Bruce that I wasn't going to be coming to counseling anymore.”

“And then as soon as you told Bruce you were through, you started dating him?”

Marie had read the statistics, too. To appease her mother, she'd read far too much propaganda and professional opinion on infidelity and discourse on why men cheat. The ways they cheat. The probability of saving a marriage after cheating. How to save a marriage after cheating.

How to know when your husband was cheating. How to prevent him from cheating.

And one thing that had been clear in almost all the pieces she'd read was that women often turned to another man, another relationship, to give them something to lean on as they let go of an old one.

“We ran into each other,” Barbara said. “I was at a shop I'd never been to before, getting new tires on my car, and he was there, too. He'd had a flat that morning, driven over a nail and was waiting for it to be fixed.

“I sat down next to him. He asked me how I was doing. And I saw those tired shoulders. I saw a man who had flat tires. And a life outside of counseling people. I asked him about himself. Somewhat to satisfy the curiosity that had been growing inside me ever since that day in his office. As it turned out, we'd just seen the same movie. We liked the same foods. The same kind of landscaping. He'd just had his redone. But mostly what struck me was the way he talked when he wasn't working. He has a sense of humor, a way of seeing the world, that delights me...”

Okay. Wow. Marie scrambled, looking for whatever had to be wrong in what her mother was saying.

“I knew, as I sat there in the greasy shop that smelled like rubber, that he was someone important to my life. As soon as I knew he felt the same, I was certain I'd finally found the right man.”

“How can you be so certain, Mom? You remember the throes of first love. You told me about it often enough, when you warned me about how you'd fallen for Dad in the beginning.”

“This is different, Marie. With your father there was always an element of...unrest. I don't know how else to describe it. There was excitement. And love. But there was...” Barbara shrugged, lifting the covers enough that a burst of cool air chilled Marie.

“With Bruce, there is peace. I know it sounds corny, but when you feel it, you'll know.”

Peace. Gabi had said something similar the night before she'd married Liam. She'd said that it just felt right. That she wasn't worried. She saw all the dangers inherent in a relationship between longtime friends who knew more about each other than a lot of husbands and wives ever knew. Dangers inherent in people from two completely different social classes hooking up. Money mattered a heck of a lot more to Liam than it did to Gabi.

He was a fly-by-nighter. She was a planner.

If their marriage didn't work, Threefold would be in jeopardy, and the company currently held Gabi's entire life savings.

If their marriage didn't work, a lifelong friendship would end.

And Gabi had said marrying Liam still felt right.

“But...” Marie wasn't ready to give it up.

And didn't want to examine possible reasons for her to be holding so tightly to her need to believe that marriage was a business too risky to invest in.

“I need to marry him more than I fear being hurt,” Barbara said. And then nodded, a smile breaking through on her face again. “That's how you know. When you need to marry him more than you fear being hurt, then he's the right one for you.”

Maybe her mother's words wouldn't work for the general public, but to Marie, they made perfect sense.

They also calmed her enough to help her sleep.

Or at least to end the barrage of questions that had been attacking her mind.

Which was a good thing. She needed her rest.

Her mother was getting married in the morning.

 

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

E
LLIOTT
 
AVOIDED
 
THE
 
BRIDE
. And her daughter. Dressed in the tuxedo he'd brought with him—one he owned for the occasions when he had to accompany clients to black-tie affairs—he trailed behind the bridal party as, all dressed in their finery, they made their way through the luxury resort to the small, discreet wedding chapel down a hallway on the second floor.

Until that point, he hadn't known there was anything small or discreet about Sin City. Nor had he known that the city famous for impromptu garish weddings officiated by Elvis impersonators also had on-the-spot facilities for more traditional unions.

He stood in the back of the chapel while final arrangements, including music and video choices, were made. The nondenominational pastor, Reverend Billings, introduced himself, gave a rundown of the proceedings, asked the bride and groom to choose their vows from the various ceremonies he had available and then directed the bridesmaids into a vestibule where they were to enter on cue. For the ceremony video that the bride and groom would have as a keepsake of their special day.

Barbara had chosen to walk up the aisle on her own. She'd be entering from the back of the chapel after her bridesmaids—Marie and Gabi—had taken their places from the side door. Bruce, Liam and Bruce's brother, Michael, were mingling up front, where, when they were told, they'd take their places at the altar.

Michael's wife, Erin—the token audience member—was already seated.

Elliott had it all down. He knew where every player was and where they would be when.

There'd been no one in the hallway as they approached the chapel. The outer vestibule had been vacant, as well.

Still, he was on the job. Prepared and focused.

“So?”

He turned when he heard the bride's voice. She was in the vacant vestibule. Talking in a pseudo-whisper so only Elliott could hear her. Because it would look odd for the bride to suddenly have reason to converse with Liam Connelly's bodyguard.

But as soon as she spoke, he knew what she wanted. Knew, too, that it was up to him to make himself available to her without raising suspicion.

She might be getting married. But her daughter's happiness was still on her mind.

Elliott texted Liam. Telling the other man to stay put. He was taking a very quick bathroom break.

And then he slipped into the vestibule.

“He played at a five-dollar table.”

“And?”

“At the end of the night he was up a thousand.”

“So he got lucky.”

“No, he played smart.” Elliott took some satisfaction in relaying this particular truth. Though he really had no reason to feel ownership of the outcome. Liam Connelly was just a job. “He took no big risks. And quit when he started to lose.”

“Because Bruce was ready to come upstairs?” Most might have missed the hint of vulnerability in the woman's eyes. If he hadn't been trained to see such things, Elliott probably would have, too.

“Bruce spent twenty on penny slots, won thirty and then seemed to take great delight in cheering on Liam.”

He wasn't being paid to spy on her intended. She'd never even hinted that he should.

But Marie had told him Barbara's history. She was Marie's mother.

And there he was, stepping out of bounds.

“He drank two beers. Liam had two, as well.”

Barbara nodded. Looking a bit like a little girl, unsure.

“I had none,” he added. Because the woman did that to him. Made him feel that he wasn't giving her enough.

“And women? Liam's a good-looking man. And there are women paid to please those with money to spend.”

And Bruce had been at his bachelor party. A woman like Barbara, no matter how much she loved her soon-to-be husband and felt she was doing the right thing...had to have some doubts.

Not that it was his job to tend to that.

“Neither one of them did more than tip the waitress who brought them their beers.” He'd have told her if either man had behaved differently. Because she was paying him.

And maybe...because he knew it would matter to Marie.

The woman he'd been hired to protect.

“One more thing.” Barbara's eyes took on a steely glint.

He nodded.

“I need your word, here in this church, that you will never, not ever, tell my daughter that I hired you to watch over her.” There was no vulnerability about the woman now.

She was pure businesswoman who knew her rights. With ethics on her side.

He knew his job. The answer was a given. And...

She held up her hand. “Do you think I'm stupid, young man? That I'm blind? Or that I don't know my own daughter?”

He blinked. Leaned back. Two minutes ago he'd been feeling sorry for the broad, and now...

“Marie has...issues. I'm to blame for a lot of them. If not all of them. And I'm telling you right now, she can't ever know that I hired you. You and I are the only two people who know. I haven't even told Bruce. As long as we agree never to say anything, she'll never have to know.”

“I...”

“Please.” She leaned forward, her tone no less adamant for being hushed. “We don't have much time. I've created the monster within Marie. It's up to me to do what I can to protect her from it. I know that I trusted you with my daughter's life...”

“Barbara?” Reverend Billings's voice came from inside the chapel. She wasn't standing in the opening as she'd been instructed to do. The music wouldn't start until she was in place.

So the video played smoothly afterward.

“Just a minute,” she called.

Bruce was probably sweating bullets. Afraid she was going to change her mind. Two beers had loosened the psychiatrist's tongue the night before. He'd never met anyone like Barbara. Was having a hard time believing she really wanted to spend the rest of her life with a boring guy like him.

“If Marie ever knew that you're in her life because I'd hired you to be there...you think she'd ever speak to you again? And why else would you have called to ask me to let you tell her, unless you had some crazy idea that the two of you could hit it off?”

He was not going to answer to that. Not even to himself.

“She's too distrustful. The fact that you've gotten her to be friendly with you is a miracle I'm sure you can't fully comprehend. But I saw the difference in her the moment I saw her last night. And when you walked in behind her, when she looked at you, I knew you were the reason. And I'm warning you right now—it goes no further. Be her friend, if that's what you have to do to do your job, but in every other sense, stay away from my daughter.”

“Ma'am, I—”

“She cried herself to sleep last night. She might like you, but she doesn't trust in relationships. And there will be other men for her to like. Men who haven't lied to her. Because, this I know, if she ever finds out that we've been duplicitous with her, not only would she shut herself off from you, but you'd probably be robbing her of ever finding someone else. If she's not already at that point.”

And Barbara would lose the trust of the daughter she adored.

“Barbara?”

“Coming! I...pulled a thread...”

The woman was nothing if not clever. And determined.

“I know my daughter, Tanner,” she said. “It would kill her to finally trust herself to a relationship and then find out that it was based on a lie. Leave her alone. And keep your mouth shut.”

The woman didn't blink. “If you don't, I'll sue you for everything you've got,” she added.

Elliott was under pressure, unlike any he'd known before. A wedding party, a minister, was waiting.

He could only think of one thing to say. “I understand.”

“I want your word on that. And you say nothing about our association.”

He stood there, arms at his sides, feeling his gun beneath his forearm. Deflated. And hating this job more than ever before.

“Mom? Do you need help?” Marie's voice was coming closer.

“No! I'm coming! Get in place,” she called. Waited to make certain her daughter wasn't going to appear and then turned back to him. “I need to know that you aren't going to sell me up the river to my daughter. Not for me, although that would definitely ruin my life, but for her. I'm the one person in this world, with the exception of Gabi, who she knows she can trust.”

Maybe the woman should have thought of that before she'd hired a private investigator bodyguard to watch over her daughter.

“Tanner?”

The woman wasn't stupid. She had every base covered.

If he didn't agree to leave Marie alone, other than friendship, and to keep her secret, she'd do everything she could to ruin his career.

He couldn't fault her her motivation, though. She loved her daughter and was trying to protect her.

He just couldn't take the chance that Marie would never have anything more to do with him.

And really, she was only saying what he already knew himself. There was no future for him with Marie.

“You have my word.”

* * *

P
EOPLE
 
WERE
 
SUPPOSED
 
to cry at weddings. People of the female persuasion, especially. Gabi didn't cry. But she had a tissue on hand to pass to Marie as Barbara looked into her intended's eyes and clearly and succinctly promised to love him until death did them part.

She promised to put him first. To be loyal. He promised the same. They each vowed to always protect the other.

And Marie could hardly endure all the emotions swarming inside. Happiness for her mother. Relief. Pure joy. Envy. Fear. And a loneliness that was threatening to smother the life out of her.

She didn't know what took her attention from the couple standing in front of the minister. Didn't know why she turned and looked to the back of the room where Elliott stood, in full wedding garb minus a boutonniere, his hands crossed at his midsection.

He overshadowed the room. Not because of his size. But because he was there. More than her mother or Gabi, more than Liam, she was glad Elliott was there.

Which made no sense.

And perfect sense.

He was there to guard Liam, but he was staring at Marie. She could feel him. As though he were holding her hand. Telling her that she was going to be fine.

That good things were in store for her, too.

The ache in her heart eased. Excitement filled the gaps.

He didn't smile.

Neither did she.

They just...looked. Giving and taking.

It wasn't until she heard the music start that she realized the minister had just told the groom he could kiss his bride.

The wedding was over.

And she'd spent the majority of it with Elliott.