The Awakening (12 page)

This time, Andy did push through the gate and walked around the table to Laura. Her face was pasty white, and her eyes were red.

Diana said, “Laura, that wasn’t what the social worker said, and as far as the judge saying that, well, he was out of line. A superior court would overrule this. Laura, we’re going to get an apology. But I’ve got to tell you, with the healthcare crisis in this country, with so many who still can’t afford health insurance, it made absolutely no sense that they said you denied your child medical. I’m speechless.” Diana patted Laura’s shoulder.

Laura didn’t move. Her shoulders were hunched forward, and a tear fell down her cheek. “But it’s Christmas, and they took my child away. I can’t even see him again before Christmas, he said. He won’t be home for Christmas, not that I have a home, anyway.”

“Diana, what now?” Andy asked. For the first time ever, he felt helpless, and he was pretty sure his mother had been responsible for this.

She shook her head. “We need to go. I’m going to call a colleague in Seattle, get some help.” The social worker and counsel left the courtroom with the sheriff and deputy, without saying a word to Diana. “Let’s go,” she said.

It was Andy who helped Laura up, and Diana led the way out. Andy helped Laura into the backseat of the SUV, while Diana climbed in front. He held Laura’s hand for a second, and she looked at him, the light gone from her eyes, and said, “Thank you, Andy. Thank you for helping me.”

Andy didn’t know what to say, but he skimmed her cheek where a tear fell and used his thumb to wipe it away. “We’ll get him back.”

Jed touched his shoulder and leaned in, glancing at Laura. “Andy, are you coming out to the ranch? There isn’t much you can do right now.”

Laura still held his hand.

“Actually, I think there is.” Andy squeezed Laura’s hand and pulled away when he realized then what he needed to do.

“Oh, do you care to fill me in?” Jed asked.

“I’ll call you later.” Andy waved as he hurried to his truck, yanking open the door and sliding behind the wheel, wondering how one prepared before dealing with the devil.

Chapter Twenty

“Mother!” Andy shouted as he strode through the front foyer.

Jules, of course, came running. “Sir, please, is there something you need?”

“Where’s Mother?”

“I’m right here,” Caroline called to him from the library.

When he strode in, she was sitting behind his desk, dressed in a silk pantsuit. She had his drawers open and was sifting through his personal records, which had been in a locked drawer.

“What the hell are you doing in my desk?”

She leaned back and crossed her legs, clasping her hands. “How was your morning, Andy?”

The way she said it, Andy knew she had been responsible for that circus in the courtroom. His mother had connections, money, but he never thought she had this kind of power. He obviously didn’t know her very well, and that terrified him. “Why would you do that to Laura? What did she ever do to you? You had your temper tantrum. Her child was taken away, for God’s sake. What kind of monster are you?”

“Andy, sit down, and don’t talk to your mother that way.” Todd Friessen was lounging on the sofa—Andy hadn’t seen him sitting there when he walked in.

“What the hell is this? Dad, we were always close, but doing this to an innocent girl is not okay. Which one of you was responsible for that carnival at court this morning?” Andy didn’t move but stepped back to really see both his parents. Right now, he didn’t like what he was seeing.

“That was necessary. We warned you, and apparently the threat to have your cousin’s funding pulled wasn’t enough incentive for you. After that stunt last night with Alexis, you humiliated her. She couldn’t face anyone for dinner. There were whispers, but fortunately for you, it was hinted that you were so crazy about Alexis that you two snuck off together. The senator knew the truth, and he’s still livid. So you have a choice, Anderson: You will either knock off this foolishness and get to know Alexis or you’ll be responsible for a whole lot of misery. I think a spring wedding would be best.” Caroline spoke as if this were just a casual business deal.

“I don’t think so. I made it clear to you before that you will never have any say in who and when I marry!” Andy shouted.

Todd laughed. “Actually, son, it’s your choice. You see, Laura Parnell will never see her child again unless you make this happen. And remember, too, it’s amazing the things that turn up in people’s pasts. Dear, weren’t you telling me that several pieces of your jewellery are missing, and they were last seen before Laura cleaned your room? How many days ago was that? And Jed, wow, do you remember that incident Jed had with his brothers when they were teens, the time the sheriff brought them home with… What was it, theft, vandalism, public mischief? I guess the details don’t really matter. We just need to allude to the crime—they can dig and find out what really happened. Oh, that’s right. The senator doesn’t like any hint of a scandal, so by the time Jed straightens it out, his funding will be gone for good.”

Andy felt ice water chill his veins. He shut his eyes and started to leave, but then he stopped. He’d seen firsthand today just how far his parents were willing to go, so whatever deal they had with the senator, they needed him to make it happen. “So if things go your way, will Laura get her son back?”

“Well, it’s getting awfully close to Christmas, so can we expect your answer tonight?” Caroline asked.

Andy only nodded and left, fearing what he needed to do for a young lady named Laura who was out of her league, a pawn in a game she never signed on for.

Chapter Twenty-One

Andy had shed his jacket and tie. There was a misting rain falling, and the daylight was fading from the gray skies as he leaned against his window. The night was turning colder, and Andy couldn’t fathom how Laura had spent two nights in her car. She still didn’t have a home. Jed and Diana couldn’t let her stay forever. They didn’t have room, and those cabins beside the house still hadn’t been winterized and were only used in the summer months when booked by the summer riders that Jed took out on pack trips.

A soft knock on his door pulled him from his thoughts. “Come in.”

He didn’t look to see who was there, but he sensed her, smelled her as she approached. “You ran out on me.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to embarrass you.” Andy lifted a lock of her silky brown hair.

She just stared at him with an innocence he’d never seen before. She gazed at his lips, and Andy touched her cheek with the back of his fingers. She turned her head inward, kissed his fingers. Andy bent his head, and her mouth opened under the force of his. His tongue moved in, touching hers.

Alexis buried her fingers in his hair, dug her nails into his skull. Andy walked her back to the bed and lowered her. She wrapped her arms around his thickly muscled shoulders and hugged him even closer to her. The slow movements of her hips beneath him urged him on. He reached behind her and slid the zipper down her dress, sliding his hand and pulling the straps down, exposing a barely decent black lace bra. She was stunning as he ran his hand over her generous breasts and then froze, rolling off her to the side and resting his arm across his forehead. He could feel the way she stiffened and could hear her turn away and pull her dress up.

“Alexis, I’m so sorry. Embarrassing you is not what I want to do. But I can’t do this. I can’t be forced to make love to you, to marry you. The woman I marry, I need to love with my whole heart. You deserve better.”

She didn’t look at him but kept her back to him as she slid off the bed in the dim room, reaching for the zipper he’d lowered. “Then why would you pretend? I don’t deserve that.”

Andy sat up on the edge of the bed. “Alexis, this is about a young lady named Laura. She was fired by my mother just before you arrived for knocking over a Christmas tree that I wanted out of there. She had a little boy, four years old. She’s twenty, got pregnant at fifteen, and her parents threw her out. She worked to support her kid, put a roof over their head, to feed them, and she was barely getting by when my mother had her escorted off the property without her pitiful pay. She couldn’t pay rent, buy food, and she was thrown out of her home by her predator of a landlord. She was forced to sleep in her car with her son and was begging for a job. She was found by a deputy one night, and he had her child taken away. Can you imagine a woman who loved her child so much she’d do everything to protect him? Then, for me to discover my mother’s hand in keeping a child from his mother in court today…”

Alexis stood with her back to the door, her hand on the door handle. Slowly, she turned. Her eyes flashed with anger. “Your mother is keeping a child from his mother?” She took a step away from the door and placed her hands on her hips. “Sounds to me like what you need is a wife.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Andy pulled over and parked in front of the estate. The round, circular driveway was normally used by guests—the family always parked in back. Christmas lights blinked in a rainbow of colors, strewn on the trees in front of the estate and strung across the roofline of the house. He shut off the engine and stepped out, wearing his dark suit. He walked around to the passenger side and opened her door, and held out his hand. She hesitated before slipping her slender, pale hand in his. Her white gown slid up, exposing slim, shapely legs, and she stepped down in gold-trimmed high-heeled sandals.

A pear-shaped emerald glittered from her ring finger. It wasn’t too big to appear garish, but it definitely was dazzling. Andy had chosen a simple gold band for himself, which was warmed by his wife’s hand. She paused at the bottom of the wide stone steps, and when he felt her trembling, he realized she was frightened. He ran his hand over her long, silky hair. “Let’s go in. Don’t worry. Everything’s going to be okay.”

She hesitated and searched out his gaze before nodding. He slid his arm around her shoulders as they walked up the stairs together. When he opened the front door, they heard voices chattering from the guests who lingered in the grand foyer. “Wait here,” he said, and he climbed the stairs until he looked down on the crowd and shouted, “Could I have your attention, please?” He stuck two fingers in his mouth and whistled until the room fell quiet. His mother and father pushed through the crowd and peered up at him. “Can I have your attention, please? I have an announcement to make.”

Alexis moved to the bottom of the stairs and smiled up at him.

“I’d like to add to this celebration by introducing you all to my bride.”

Cheers and whistles echoed from the crowd, and his mother smiled and clapped, glancing at Alexis.

Andy extended his hand out. “My wife, Mrs. Laura Friessen. Come on up here, darling.” His mother gasped before quickly masking her anger. Laura lifted the gown Diana had snared from a boutique in the mall, and she strode up the dozen stairs to where her husband waited. She put her hand in his. He pulled her to his side and leaned down, kissing her long enough that the crowd cheered. He sensed her innocence, her inexperience, when she blushed brightly. Alexis raised her glass at the bottom of the stairs and strode to his mother, to Todd, to where the senator lingered, glaring at Andy as if he’d just yanked the rug out from under him.

“I’d like to propose a toast,” Alexis said. “Please, everyone, raise your glasses. To my good friend Andy Friessen and his lovely wife, Laura, please, everyone, help wish them a joyous and blissfully happy marriage filled with love and lots of children, and to Laura’s little boy, Gabriel, who will be arriving here tomorrow morning. Isn’t that right, Father, Caroline?”

Everyone cheered and drank. Andy and Laura were surrounded by well-wishers as they strode down the stairs and made their way through the crowd to Alexis, where she stood with his parents and the senator, who all masked their rage with plastic smiles they’d mastered years ago. Caroline accepted hugs from several friends.

Alexis set her glass on the tray of a passing waiter. “I’ll be leaving in the morning, Father, Caroline, Todd, but I’d like to thank you for your hospitality and the enlightening stay. I’m sure you’ll have no trouble seeing that Laura’s son arrives safely tomorrow, which is Christmas Eve.”

Caroline flashed an icy smile, showing all of her perfectly straight teeth, nodding at friends who waved across the room. “Why, you little bitch.”

“Don’t ever talk to my daughter like that,” the senator snapped. He stepped closer, leaning in. “Alexis, I’d like to speak with you in private.”

“While you’re at it, tell her that Laura has just lost her child for good,” Caroline muttered, so low that no one would overhear.

Alexis chuckled softly under her breath. “You may want to rethink that, since your little offshore partnership and the investments that will net you billions might come crashing down around you. With the recent election, it’s frowned on when billionaires and senators are partnering up to take jobs from those in their own state, their own country, and ship them overseas. And with all the subsidies you’ve managed to streamline your way… This will make a great story, especially from a senator’s daughter.”

The senator reached for her arm and smiled, but his eyes flashed with a glimpse of the predator he’d always kept from her. “Are you blackmailing your own father?”

“Yes. When a senator abuses his power with a wealthy woman to destroy an impoverished single mother, to separate her from her child, that’s where I draw the line, Daddy. I love you, but I’m ashamed to know you right now.” She didn’t move but glared at his hand until he dropped it from her arm.