This Winter Night Read online

  That was when Manu walked up, grinning, and greeted them. He had the same light of natural happiness in his eyes. He playfully picked up his wife from behind and set her back down on the floor. “Hey, everybody,” he said warmly.

  “Manu,” Jade said, “This is Lauren, the woman who saved my crazy brother’s life.”

  Manu’s face broke into an even wider grin. “We’re indebted to you, Lauren. I don’t know what we’d do if something happened to this dude.” He playfully punched his brother-in-law on the arm. Lauren knew from Colton’s wince that it had hurt.

  “He was actually company for me,” Lauren graciously said. “Without him I would’ve been trapped in a blizzard all by myself.”

  “I hope he was a good houseguest and didn’t leave his wet towels on the bathroom floor,” Jade joked.

  Lauren looked up at Colton in mock horror. “You don’t really do that, do you?”

  “I have no idea what Jade is talking about,” Colton denied. “Now, if you two will excuse us, Lauren and I have something to discuss in private.”

  Manu hugged his wife. “Well, go on, my brother. No one’s stopping you.”

  “Mommy, Daddy!” Two adorable children, a boy of about six and a girl of about three came running up to them.

  Manu grabbed both of them to either side of him with powerful arms. “Didn’t I tell you to stop running?”

  In that instant, Lauren had her answer to how Jade managed to look so happy on such a sad day. She had love in abundance.

  Lauren was delighted to be introduced to Colton’s niece and nephew, and then Colton took her firmly by the hand and led her upstairs.

  Colton stuck his head in the room to make sure that no one else had sought a bit of peace and quiet in his dad’s study before ushering Lauren inside the bookshelf-lined room.

  Elegant, yet homey, the room reflected its late owner’s tastes. A huge cherrywood desk sat atop a Persian rug in front of a bay window. There was the faint scent of a sweet variety of tobacco in the air. Leather sofas faced each other with a large square coffee table between them. Frank’s antique chess set was the only thing on the tabletop.

  Lauren remembered it fondly. She used to joke with him that she hoped the elephants whose ivory the chess pieces had been carved out of had died of natural causes. Frank had found that hilarious. “And I suppose that chicken you’re eating committed suicide?”

  A dark brown leather Queen Anne chair sat near the fireplace, a reading lamp next to it. A red wool throw was on back of the chair. It looked so inviting that Lauren couldn’t help but sit in it, her mind on its previous owner. She looked around admiringly. Frank had left an indelible imprint on this room.

  Colton locked the door behind them so they wouldn’t be disturbed without advance warning.

  Lauren noticed his actions and smiled, but she didn’t move from her seat. She hadn’t come here today to find an empty room and make out with Colton. She’d come to show support. As always, though, her body betrayed her loftier intentions. She wanted to kiss him, and deeply.

  To mask her desires, she started talking. “What you said today was very touching.”

  “It was the truth,” Colton said as he slowly walked toward her. “I’ve worked hard to change. But I’m far from perfect. I’m always discovering something I need to work on. What I’ve discovered lately is that I have the capacity for becoming one of those annoying people who is completely obsessed with someone else. So obsessed that they think about them all the time, crave their touch and even dream about them.”

  As he said this and walked toward her, he held her captive with his mesmerizing gaze. His gray eyes were dark and stormy and so damned sexy. Her body, it seemed, rose from the chair of its own accord. She fairly floated into his arms. And the kissing began.

  They moaned with the sheer pleasure of their mouths finally being able to come together in this common but astonishing manner. Colton had read somewhere that kissing raised levels of neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin. They made you feel happy and horny and that was what made kissing such an enjoyable act. He was a man of nearly thirty-five years old and he didn’t remember ever getting such a thrill from kissing as he did when he engaged in it with Lauren. She was beautiful, yes. But he’d dated many beautiful women. So what was it about her?

  “We’re back in Raleigh,” he said softly, “And I, for one, don’t want to forget what happened between us. I want to date you, in public. That’s my decision.”

  Lauren went with her heart. “I’m in total agreement.”

  Colton grinned. “Great, because I need a date for the Black and White Ball.”

  “That’s on New Year’s Eve,” said Lauren in a near panic. Last year, she’d gone with Adam and it had been one of the worst experiences of her life. The ball was attended by premier businesspeople in Raleigh. The attendance fee was a grand and most of the proceeds went to local charities. To Lauren, that was the only reason to participate. However, Adam attended to network and to be seen. Last year’s event had certainly been memorable, to say the least.

  “My marriage crashed and burned at the ball last year,” Lauren told Colton.

  His brows arched questioningly. “I remember seeing you there. You looked exquisite. You were smiling as if there was nowhere you’d rather be.”

  “I became very good at pretending the last year of our marriage,” Lauren said sadly. “Do you want to hear what happened or not?”

  Colton had been holding her by her arms. He let go of her and gestured to one of the couches.

  “No, thanks,” Lauren said. “I’d rather stand for this.”

  She could still see the scene that had unfolded in the ladies’ room the night of the ball. She had used the facilities and emerged from the stall to wash her hands and check the state of her makeup only to be accosted by a young woman in a white gown. The women in attendance wore either a black gown or a white gown. She’d worn white that night, as well. Her gown had been a Grecian-inspired one-shoulder creation. The other woman wore one with a plunging neckline and a side-slit almost up to her waist. She had curves in all the right places and meant for them to be seen.

  A redhead, her skin was the color of toasted almonds and her eyes were blue. Lauren remembered thinking she must not be a real redhead because redheads generally had paler skin, not brown skin. At any rate, she could have given a supermodel a run for her money. “You’re Mrs. Adam Eckhart, aren’t you?” she asked Lauren. Her tone had been friendly and admiring. Lauren’s guard was down because this wasn’t the first time a young woman had approached her to try and get in her good graces. Adam Eckhart was a rich, powerful man and it could be to a young woman’s advantage to get in good with his wife. It got you closer to the great man himself. And if you failed to get to him, at least you would be in his orbit and there were other successful men who ran in his circles who were worth latching on to.

  Lauren wrongly assumed the redhead was one of these women.

  “Yes,” she’d replied, equally friendly. “I am, and you are?”

  They were standing in the middle of the ladies’ room, other women moving around them. The redhead looked Lauren straight in the eye, her stare unflinching. “My name is Joy Summers and I’m his mistress.”

  She hadn’t even lowered her voice, just said it out loud for everyone to hear. Several women gasped and immediately turned to stare at this vulgar young woman who’d chosen to confront her lover’s wife at the social event of the season.

  Lauren felt sick to her stomach. She’d suspected Adam was cheating but suspecting it and having proof of it were two entirely different things.

  She recovered fairly quickly, though. Years of inculcation by her mother and father to always be poised and behave intelligently in public came to her rescue. She met the redhead’s challenging gaze, and said, “And what does that have to do
with me?”

  The redhead’s eyes bugged out. She had not expected such a response. “I thought you’d want to know.”

  The other five women in the room showed no signs of leaving. They stood rapt, hanging on every word. Lauren calmly said, “I already knew, thank you. Is there anything else you’d like to say? For instance, you’re sorry for not telling a married man to go to hell when he first hit on you? Because you must have known Adam Eckhart was married. Or do you specialize in married men?”

  “Don’t kill the messenger,” said the woman, smiling as though she’d exacted a coup with that comeback.

  One of the onlookers sniffed derisively. “If it was me I’d do more than kill you.”

  Lauren looked sharply at the woman. “I’ve got this.”

  “Handle it, sister,” encouraged the woman.

  “Obviously you feel confident in your status as his mistress,” Lauren said, “Or you wouldn’t risk his wrath. Married men like keeping their affairs quiet. That’s the point of an affair. It’s a naughty delight. It loses its appeal after it’s been revealed.” She circled the woman much like a lioness checking out her prey before pouncing. “Maybe you think I’ll divorce him and then he’ll come running to you. I’ve never heard of that happening but you might get lucky. Who knows?”

  “I’m pregnant with his child,” the redhead tossed out as her trump card.

  “Then that’s why you’ve come here with this desperate attempt to win a permanent place in his life,” Lauren surmised. With that, she turned to leave.

  “I’m sorry for everything,” the redhead shouted at her retreating back. “I had no alternative but to show up here and embarrass him into taking responsibility.”

  “Good luck with that,” Lauren had called back.

  “She really was his mistress,” Lauren said to Colton now. “But that stunt she pulled was the end of her. Adam dropped her soon after. He’s engaged to someone else now. I have no idea if there was ever really a baby involved.”

  Colton hugged her close. “Forget the Black and White Ball then. We’ll ring in the new year together anywhere you want.”

  Concerned by his state of mind so soon after his father’s death, Lauren asked while looking him in the eyes, “Are you sure you’re up for a celebration?”

  “Dad wouldn’t have had it any other way,” Colton assured her. “For years the Black and White Ball has been the big blowout of the year for the company. We make generous donations to local charities. It made Dad feel like Santa Claus at the end of the year.”

  “All right,” she relented, noticing the look of pride on Colton’s face. “I’ll go with you.”

  “But what about your bad memories from last year’s ball?”

  “I’m no longer married to that cheater,” she reasoned. “I doubt I’ll be cornered in the ladies’ room by one of his mistresses again.”

  Colton hugged her tightly. “I’m going to make sure you have a good time. Now, for what I wanted to show you.”

  Lauren’s brows arched in surprise. “You mean you really did have something you wanted to show me? I thought that was a ploy to get me alone.”

  “Only partly,” Colton said, releasing her and walking over to his father’s desk. He opened a drawer and withdrew an envelope and walked back over to Lauren and handed it to her.

  Puzzled, Lauren looked down at the envelope, which was made out of expensive vellum paper in a rich cream shade. Her name was scrawled on it in cursive.

  “It’s from Dad,” Colton said.

  Tears sprang to Lauren’s eyes at the thought of Frank thinking enough of her to leave her a personal message. She eagerly opened the envelope and read the enclosed note aloud, “Lauren, I want you to have my chess set because you and I spent wonderful evenings both challenging and getting to know one another. If I’d had a second daughter I would want her to be just like you. By the way, I inquired and the pieces were made from the ivory of an elephant by the name of Hannibal. He spent his last days at a retirement home for elephants in Botswana where he died in his sleep. Being an environmentalist himself, I’m sure Hannibal wouldn’t mind your having a part of him. Frank.”

  Lauren cried even harder after reading his message. Colton pulled her into his arms.

  He bent and kissed her, tasting her tears. “Stop crying now. Dad didn’t want anyone crying over him. You know what he wrote in his letter to me? He said, ‘Colton, I can’t tell you how to remember me. You’ll have formed your own opinion of me over the years. But I hope you’ll remember that I liked to laugh and I worked hard. I loved your mother and you and your sister and when I made friends I kept them for life. I don’t want you to waste a minute of your life. Don’t cry for me. Be happy that I knew how to have a good time while the getting was good. I wish you happiness, son.’”

  “That’s so sweet,” Lauren said.

  Colton laughed. “Only you and my mother would describe Dad as being sweet. He was a tough SOB, but he was fair and honest and he loved his family. He was a good man. The kind of man I aspire to be one day.”

  “You’re already a good man, Colton Riley.”

  Someone knocked on the door. Colton shot an irritated look in its direction and reluctantly released Lauren to open the door.

  Veronica stood on the other side. “Um, hi. Wouldn’t you and Lauren like to come downstairs and join us? There’s food in the kitchen. You two must be ravenous by now.”

  Colton immediately knew he’d been tattled on by his sister or perhaps his brother-in-law. Both were equally immature and loved playing practical jokes on him. They’d probably told his mother he’d taken Lauren upstairs with seduction in mind. True, he’d wanted to steal a kiss, but he’d never make love to Lauren and risk embarrassing her in a house full of people on the day of his father’s funeral.

  He looked back at Lauren and laughed. “Shall we go down before all the potato salad’s gone?”

  Lauren wiped her tears away and smiled. “I am a little hungry.”

  She noticed Veronica was observing her closely as they started downstairs. “Have you been crying, dear?”

  “I gave her the letter Dad left for her,” Colton explained.

  “I see,” said Veronica sympathetically. She pulled Lauren into the crook of her arm and held her close to her side all the way downstairs. “I helped him write the letters. He was in good spirits the day he wrote yours. He smiled the whole time and when he finished, he said he knew you’d get a kick out of that.”

  “He was right,” Lauren assured her. Taking Colton’s advice that Frank didn’t want anyone crying over him, she took a deep breath and smiled.

  Chapter 7

  Lauren was pleased to return to work on Monday. Work centered her. Her current commission was to design the new children’s hospital. She’d been with the architectural firm of Lawrence, Mayer and McGill since she was twenty-two. She had interned there and the senior partner, Albert Lawrence, had liked her so much he’d offered her a permanent position after she’d graduated from Duke University. For some time family and friends had encouraged Lauren to start her own firm. But she enjoyed being part of a design team. She also liked being able to concentrate fully on her work and not have to worry about renting an office space, hiring reliable staff and all the other hassles of running your own firm. Maybe one day, she had thought.

  When Lauren stepped off the elevator, she greeted the firm’s receptionist, Meredith, a stout middle-aged black woman who wore her long gray hair in a large bun. Meredith genuinely loved people and made everyone feel at ease.

  “Good morning, Meredith,” Lauren said cheerfully.

  Meredith put down the coffee mug she’d just taken a sip from. Her brown eyes twinkled. “Hello there! How was your Christmas?”

  Lauren smiled. She was searching for a suitable response because she hadn’t discus
sed her divorce with Meredith. So saying she’d holed up in a cabin while she wallowed in self-pity then had rescued a gorgeous hunk whom she had spent two days making love to, wouldn’t do at all. She kept it simple and told a little white lie. “Wonderful. We went to the mountains. There was snow.”

  “I heard,” said Meredith, “A blizzard. But I’m sure your mister kept you warm.”

  Lauren had found over the years that Meredith believed a little romance could cure anything that ailed you. Reading romance novels, which she could be found doing each day at lunchtime, was her favorite pastime.

  “Oh, yes, I had a big strong man to keep me warm,” Lauren confirmed. She smiled. It was the truth and it ought to satisfy Meredith’s romantic imagination.

  “And how was your Christmas?” she inquired.

  “Too much family,” Meredith complained. “The house was so full you were stepping over warm bodies to get to the bathroom. But we had a real good time.”

  “I’m glad to hear it.” Lauren continued walking toward her office. “Have a great day!”

  “You, too,” Meredith said and resumed drinking her coffee.

  At around ten that morning, Albert Lawrence tapped on her office door. Lauren could see his portly outline through the opaque glass in the top of the door.

  “Come in, Albert,” she called, her tone welcoming.

  In his sixties, Albert had a head full of curly white hair, which he kept shorn close to his head. In spite of his excess weight, he was invariably impeccably dressed. Today he wore a dark blue pinstriped suit with a white dress shirt and a red silk tie. His dress shoes were always shined to a high gloss.

  He closed the door behind him and approached Lauren’s desk at a turtle’s pace. “Hello, Lauren. I thought I’d drop by and see how you were doing. Holding up? I went through a stressful divorce myself some years ago. Initially, I didn’t think I’d survive without her. She left me for a younger man, you know, and back then, the courts were always on the side of the mother when it came to custody rights. I not only stood to lose a wife, but my children. So, I understand what you’re going through.”