This Winter Night Page 16

  Desiree had entered the room in the middle of Lauren’s speech and Meghan, who hated to see anyone upset in the family, was wildly gesturing to her to step in with professional advice. When Desiree remained silent, Meghan cried, “Desi, do something. Tell Lauren she’s wrong about Momma.”

  Desiree went to put her arm about Lauren’s shoulders. She looked at Amina, who had gotten to her feet, as well. “Mina, is Lauren wrong?”

  Amina went to stand on the other side of Lauren in a show of support. “No, she’s not wrong.” She directed her next comment to her youngest sister, Meghan. “Maybe by the time you came along Momma had run out of steam. But she was hard on us, always pitting us against each other to compete for her affections. To prove that we were good girls, smart girls, put on this earth to achieve the highest possible goals in life. Me? I was going to be a general like my father.” She looked her mother in the eyes. “Sorry to disappoint you, Momma.”

  Desiree and Lauren hugged her tightly. Meghan got up and joined her sisters. She had tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she whispered over and over again.

  “What is this, Beat Up On Your Mother Day?” asked Virginia incredulously. Her petite body practically trembled with indignation. “If I was hard on you girls it was because I wanted you to believe in yourselves, to know that you could accomplish anything. That’s what a parent’s supposed to do, inspire and cheer her children on. Apparently it worked. I got an architect, a psychotherapist, a zoologist, an accountant and a college professor out of it.”

  Benjamin suddenly stood up and grabbed Virginia by the shoulders and shook her. “Are you not hearing what they’re saying, Virginia? You’ve alienated your children by being a hard-ass. Is that plain enough English for you?”

  Virginia looked crestfallen. “Daddy, please don’t say that. I love my children!”

  “I know you love them, but you’re driving them away with your attitude.” He sighed heavily. “Baby girl, if I did anything to you when you were growing up to make you behave this way, I’m sorry.” He let go of her and went on to explain as everyone gathered around him and Virginia, “I wasn’t always as successful as I am now. When Virginia was a child her mother and I struggled. She even went hungry sometimes. I don’t know, maybe the memory of hard times made her believe she had to push her daughters to succeed so they’d never have to go through what she did. I don’t know for sure.” He turned to Virginia once more and smiled. “But deep down she’s got a good heart. She really does believe she does what she does for the betterment of her family.”

  Fonzi, who was nearby, spoke up on his wife’s behalf. “If you girls want to blame anyone, blame me. I was often away from home and Ginny had to do everything by herself. I’m the one who turned her into an iron soldier.”

  Virginia was crying silently. Fonzi hugged her close. “It’s always best to get things out in the open, sweetheart. The girls aren’t saying they don’t love you.”

  Lauren, Amina, Meghan and Desiree wrapped their arms around their parents in a group hug.

  Colton, standing beside Benjamin, joked, “Are all Thanksgivings with the Gaineses like this?”

  Ben looked up at him and laughed, “No, this is a first. But I have a good feeling about it.”

  * * *

  Later that night in bed at Colton’s house, he held Lauren close after making love. Colton peered lovingly into her eyes. Her hair was a tangled mess. He liked it that way. Today had been enlightening. It wasn’t because of the argument he’d witnessed between Lauren and her mother. He knew that no family was perfect. Every family was dysfunctional in one way or another.

  What he had found interesting was the ease with which they had forgiven each other and gone on to have a wonderful time together. Some families let grudges grow and they feuded for years.

  Lauren smiled at him. “What’re you thinking?”

  “That your family and my family are a lot alike,” he said softly.

  “Oh, your family’s nuts, too?” she joked.

  “You have an idealized view of my mom and dad because you saw them in a relaxed environment in the mountains. I saw them every day growing up. They argued as much as any other couple. But after they argued, they made up and there was never any fear of them breaking up. They were in it together, forever. That’s what I want for you and me.”

  “I want that, too,” she told him, “more than anything.”

  “Then let’s do it,” Colton said, his eyes sweeping over her face. “I think it would be romantic to get married a year from the day we met.”

  Lauren gasped. “Are you asking me to marry you?”

  Colton laughed shortly. “Don’t look so shocked. Yes, I am. I’m sorry for the circumstances, being naked in bed and all that. But this wasn’t planned, it just came out. I’ve never asked anyone to marry me before.” He reached over and opened the top drawer in the nightstand on his side of the bed and withdrew a small brown velvet jewelry box. “I do have the ring, though. I bought it weeks ago and have been trying to think of a romantic way to propose but I kept drawing a blank.”

  While he was rambling on, Lauren sat up in bed, snatched the jewelry box from his clutches and tore it open. She stared down at a five-carat solitaire in a platinum setting. Looking at him with an astonished expression, she cried, “You’re serious!”

  “As serious as a naked man can be,” he said, sitting up, as well. He took the jewelry box back, plucked the ring from it and placed it on her finger. It was a perfect fit. “You are a six. That was the jeweler’s guess after I described you.”

  Lauren continued to regard him with a shocked expression. He cleared his throat. “I never thought you’d be at a loss for words. Say something, anything. Okay, not anything. I’m hoping for a positive response.”

  Tears pooled in her eyes and left wet trails down her cheeks. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

  She threw her arms around his neck. “You know we can never tell anyone how you proposed. We’re going to have to make something up.”

  Colton grinned and kissed her. “It’ll be our secret.”

  * * *

  Lauren stood in the atrium of the new children’s hospital. Sunlight spilled in from the glass dome above. She couldn’t believe the project was so close to completion. It had been nearly a year since they’d broken ground.

  It was a Sunday and the construction crew was not there. She walked the building alone, marveling at the realization of what had once only been in her mind.

  “Hey, Lauren, I see great minds think alike.”

  She turned around to find Adam walking toward her. She immediately grew tense.

  He must have seen it in her face because he quickly said, “Don’t worry. I’m not here to make a scene. I saw your car and debated whether I should come in or not. I saw your wedding announcement in the paper and I wanted to wish you well.”

  Lauren didn’t know what to make of him. She decided to take the high road and be civil. “Thank you, Adam.”

  He took a deep breath and visibly relaxed. Looking up at the glass dome above their heads, he said, “Great project, huh? It turned out better than I imagined.”

  Lauren smiled. “I have to agree. Your company did a good job.”

  He smiled his thanks. Then he turned to leave. “I’ve got to go. Nichole is cooking dinner.”

  Lauren couldn’t let that comment go unnoticed. “Nichole?”

  He smiled. “Yes, I apologized and asked her to take me back and she forgave me. We’re engaged.”

  Lauren was genuinely surprised. “Good for you,” she said, and meant it.

  He smiled and gave her a salute as he continued on his way.

  Lauren finished her tour of the building alone.

  Chapter 15

  The club was on the seedy side of town and was not the type of establishment C
olton would typically be willing to go to. But then he hadn’t chosen it. His best man, Decker, had. Decker and several of the other men who’d been invited to his bachelor party were onstage gyrating with scantily clad strippers. Decker had rented the place out, as well as the services of the strippers, for the night.

  The music was so loud Colton couldn’t hear himself think.

  A bra landed on his head, and he brushed it off onto the floor. Decker came down off the stage and plopped down across from him. “Look, cuz, this party is supposed to be for you and you’re sitting there nursing a beer. Get up and dance.”

  “I’m danced out,” Colton told him. He glanced at his watch. “It’s three in the morning. Don’t you think it’s time to wrap up the party and head home? My wedding is in eleven hours.”

  Decker, who was about three sheets to the wind, sighed loudly. “You’re not even married yet and she’s got you on a leash.”

  “Nobody’s got me on a leash,” Colton denied. “I simply know who I am and it’s not this. When you asked me what I wanted to do for my bachelor party I told you I wanted to go to a sports bar and watch a couple games with the guys. Why you kids think naked women doing degrading things is the ultimate bachelor party, I’ll never know.”

  “Because for those of us who aren’t already hog-tied, naked women doing degrading things is the ultimate in a bachelor party,” Decker said.

  “That’s just why Desiree won’t go out with you.”

  “Don’t mention that devil’s spawn. I ran into her at a Starbucks the other day and she was so friendly, smiling and asking me how life had been treating me but when I asked her to sit down and have a coffee with me she said she had an appointment.”

  “Don’t call her devil’s spawn just because she won’t go out with you. She has her reasons.”

  “Such as?” asked Decker sarcastically.

  “It’s not for me to say,” Colton told him. “You’ll have to ask her yourself.”

  “I don’t care what her reasons are,” Decker declared and went back onstage where a buxom blonde threw a feather boa around his neck and pulled him against her chest. He turned his head, grinned at Colton and gave him a thumbs-up. “A girl’s got to make a living!” he yelled.

  Colton laughed.

  “Having fun?” asked a sultry feminine voice at Colton’s side.

  He looked up at the curvaceous brunette and smiled. “Just great, thanks.” He returned his attention to the stage, hoping she’d get the hint and leave him alone.

  Instead, she sat down in the chair Decker had vacated earlier. “My name’s Viveca,” she told him. “If this scene isn’t your cup of tea, we can go somewhere private.”

  “Thanks, but I’m engaged,” Colton said firmly.

  “I know,” she said. “You’re the guest of honor.” Her gaze went to Decker.

  “Oh, he told you to take care of me, huh?” Colton guessed.

  She smiled seductively. “He was very generous.”

  That did it. Colton got up and walked onto the stage and dragged Decker off of it. He pulled him back to the table where the brunette was still sitting.

  “Did you tell her to entertain me?” he asked Decker through clenched teeth.

  Decker shook his hands off him. “Can’t you take a joke, cuz? I knew you’d never cheat on Lauren. But it’s traditional for the groom to be offered the opportunity to have another woman before he gets tied down to one woman for the rest of his life.”

  “Desiree was right,” Colton told him. “You’re not ready for her. I’m out of here.”

  “But you’re my ride home,” Decker protested.

  Colton headed for the exit. “If I’m giving you a lift you’d better come on.”

  Decker started yelling to the other guys who’d been invited to the bachelor party, “Hey, fellas, we’re taking off.”

  “Yeah,” Colton yelled, too, wondering why he was even bothering to thank them for coming when all of them were so drunk they wouldn’t remember his words tomorrow. “Thanks for coming!”

  As he walked out the door of the establishment, he didn’t bother to look back to see if his cousin was following him. In the parking lot, which was poorly lit, he went to his car and unlocked the door.

  He heard a noise behind him and thinking it was Decker he whirled around to tell him to get in the car. But it wasn’t Decker. It was a stranger and he was wielding a crowbar like a weapon. Colton was able to block the blow and grab the crowbar. He wrenched it out of the guy’s grasp and swung it, hitting the guy on the forearm as he held up his arm to protect his head.

  “Ah!” the guy yelled. “Don’t hurt me. I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Please don’t hurt me.”

  Colton finally got a good look at the man. He was thin and bedraggled. His hair was matted and he looked and smelled like he hadn’t bathed in a long time.

  “Cuz, what the hell’s going on?” Decker cried as he ran toward Colton.

  “I was attacked,” Colton said, pointing the crowbar at the man who’d jumped him. “Call the police.”

  “Please mister, I was hungry,” the man said.

  Decker was already punching in the numbers on his cell phone.

  Suddenly, a car came careening straight at them. The assailant ran, screaming his head off. Colton wound up tackling Decker, who had frozen in the headlights, and shoving him out of the way just in time. They ended up sprawled on their sides in the alley next to a Dumpster.

  Decker got to his feet but Colton didn’t get up. Decker knelt over his cousin. “Colton?” Colton didn’t answer. Decker gently rolled him onto his back. Colton was unconscious and there was a gash on the side of his head. It appeared he’d hit his head on the Dumpster when he’d propelled both of them out of the path of the car that had tried to run them down.

  Decker had dropped his cell phone when Colton had shoved him out of harm’s way. He doubled back and found it lying on the pavement in pieces. He had no alternative but to run back into the club and make a call from there.

  He looked back at Colton lying in that dirty alleyway one more time before sprinting toward the club’s entrance.

  * * *

  Decker had phoned Lauren from the hospital as he sat in the emergency room waiting area. Half an hour later she arrived and was told the same thing Decker had been told earlier. Colton was still unconscious and they were doing everything in their power to bring him around.

  Lauren paced the floor, unable to sit for any length of time. Decker sat feeling guilty for having taken his cousin to a strip club in a bad neighborhood.

  A few minutes after Lauren had gotten to the hospital Desiree and Meghan showed up. Embarrassed about his part in the drama and knowing he must smell like a distillery, Decker was not overly enthusiastic about seeing them, especially Desiree. He had to repeat the story of how they’d come to be at the hospital. He imagined Desiree would dislike him even more than she already did after tonight.

  About two hours after Colton had been brought in, a doctor in scrubs strode into the emergency room waiting area and asked for the family of Colton Riley. They all approached her with hopeful looks on their faces.

  “He’s awake,” she reported. “There doesn’t seem to be any permanent damage but head wounds can be tricky. We’re keeping him overnight for observation.”

  “Thank you, Doctor,” Lauren said gratefully. “Can we see him?”

  The doctor smiled. “Only one of you, I’m afraid.”

  Lauren followed the doctor back to an examining room. She found Colton lying on his back in a narrow hospital bed. He smiled when he spotted her. “Hey, baby.”

  The doctor left them alone and Lauren hurried to his side.

  She grasped his hand in hers and kissed his cheek. “You gave me quite the scare.”

  He smiled weakly. “You thought
it was the curse all over again for a minute there, huh?”

  “Don’t even joke about that.”

  His gray eyes were alight with humor. “I would have to be dead to miss our wedding tomorrow.”

  “Stop talking,” Lauren ordered him with tears in her eyes. “Do you realize what our lives were like a year ago? Frank had recently died and I was a basket case over a failed marriage. Never joke about dying. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you.”

  He squeezed her hand. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  Meanwhile in the waiting room, Desiree had sat down beside Decker. Meghan had gone in search of coffee.

  “It’s a good thing you were with Colton when he got hurt,” she said, drawing him into a conversation. She had good instincts and knew he was blaming himself for Colton’s injuries.

  She wondered if she wanted to ease his pain because that was her profession, or if she was actually starting to like him.

  At any rate he seemed vulnerable and she’d never been able to resist helping anyone in a weakened state.

  He looked at her. “You don’t have to be nice to me. I know you can’t stand me.”

  “That isn’t true, Decker,” she denied. The truth was she didn’t think of him at all. She couldn’t say that though. It would be cruel. She didn’t waste time thinking about the handsome attorney because she’d pegged him as a player from their first meeting and she had no patience with men who didn’t respect women. It wasn’t personal.

  “I’m going to tell you something, and I hope you’ll try to understand. I’ve been avoiding you because I have a low tolerance for men who see women as playthings. I have nothing against you. You seem like a decent guy except for the player vibe you give off. But, you see, I’ve had a great guy in my life and I know what I want in a man. He died a few years ago and, I’m sorry, but I’ve been comparing every guy I meet to him and they never stack up.”