Binder Full of Women (2 page)

They paged through the binder looking at each sheet. Even if she couldn’t convince him up front, Rachel’s goal was to find him a woman that he could love. After spending time with him the right woman would see beyond just his money. There was so much to see.

As they were leafing through the pages, Rachel noticed that Brett paused on a sheet that looked like it had been well handled. Chelsea Kiefer was her name and she was a vivacious looking redhead. Brett caught Rachel looking and quickly stepped away from the table.

Trent kept turning the pages until his eyes paused on a page of a woman named Ann Brady.

“I know her. We’ve talked at several charity events throughout the last several years. She seems ok.”

“Look, she is involved with the animal shelter,” Rachel said pointing to a line of the text. “That’s at least one plus.”

Anyone who cared about animals had at least one thing going for them.

“Let’s go for her then,” Trent said. He trusted her opinion in pretty much everything. Everything except vehicles and wine. For vehicles she always went for looks where as he went for performance. She was a strict crisp white wine drinker and he preferred full bodied reds.

With Brett making arrangements for the four of them to meet that night at Captain Louie’s, the only restaurant on Geist reservoir, the plan was in motion.

There was still something so wrong about this that Rachel’s stomach did not stop flip flopping all day. There had to be a way to prevent Trent from throwing away his future. At least a future of happiness and love. Only the most important thing in the world.

Chapter 3

For dinner Rachel threw on a simple black spaghetti strap dress and her playful silver necklace she had purchased at a friend’s jewelry party. Taking one last look in the rearview mirror to check her lip gloss, she questioned if she should even get out of the car. She was running abnormally late because she spent so much time while getting ready thinking about why she was going along with this plan.

It went against so much that she believed in. Trent was being up front with the women. Well, at least after the first meeting he would.

Believing in and supporting her friend trumped her marriage beliefs for him. He needed her and she would be there.

With her newfound determination she walked in the restaurant and was taken out to the deck to join the others. It overlooked the water that was sparkling in the setting sun. There were a few boats !out dotting the landscape. Their seat was next to a metal palm tree sculpture adorned with little white lights like those used on Christmas trees. On such a beautiful summer evening she couldn’t imagine a more perfect setting.

Ann was exactly as Trent had described. Pretty much every man’s dream. She looked like a shorter version of Marilyn Monroe without the mole. Even the way she sat looked like the way Marilyn would have.

Ann’s lips were painted bright red and she was dressed in a body hugging and revealing purple dress with stilettos.

Suddenly Rachel felt frumpy in her modest dress. “It’s not about you,” she reminded herself.

When she joined the table there was a glass of white wine waiting for her. After introductions were made she took a big, long drink of the wine.

When Trent had arrived at the restaurant earlier Brett and Ann were already waiting outside the door for him. Ann looked exactly as he remembered. Not necessarily his type. Well, actually it was his dating type. Very artificial looking. Fake hair color, fake nails, fake smile, fake other things. The perfect trophy wife who would want his money and nothing else.

While looking at his perfect solution he let out a small grunt. So this is what life had come to. Gramps wanted the legacy to continue and he would make it happen one way or the other.

Ann’s hand was soft and limp when he shook it. Her thumbnail was cat like as it casually, but surely intentionally, stroked his hand during the shake.

Normally he tried to stay away from these women and the trouble they caused. Today he would have to work hard to remind himself that this was the answer and not the problem. They sat at their table knowing from Rachel’s text that she was running late.

“Where’s your boat Trent? Is it docked at your house?” Ann asked.

Good. She was getting down to the important stuff that indicated she was perfect for this role – his money and his possessions.

“No, my house is in Carmel. The boat is at the marina. Well the one here. It’s just my weekend toy. The bigger one is docked at the yacht club in South Haven,” he said making sure to point out more of what she wanted. His possessions were not something he liked to talk about so openly. He knew how to play her game though.

South Haven was where his summer house was. It was a quaint town along the beautiful sandy shores of Lake Michigan. It was his escape where he sought out peace and serenity when he felt overwhelmed. He wondered if maybe he should have kept that private, away from Ann.

“You’ll have to take me out on it sometime,” she said leaning in revealing even more of her cleavage.

The waitress delivered their wine just at that moment making Trent think of the view that she interrupted. Ann was proving to be pretty much everything that he expected.

Out of the corner of his eye, Trent saw Rachel coming towards the table and he tensed. It didn’t sit quite right with him bringing his friend into his convoluted plan. As she was walking up, he also noticed a husky man at the bar; wearing a wrinkled shirt and holding a pilsner of beer give her the eye. The "I want her in my bedroom" eye that was.

As the man watched her walk the entire way to the table, the man’s lips tightened and his eyes popped out. Trent turned his attention back to his table and made the introductions but couldn’t help and notice that Ann’s attention was drawn to the wrinkled shirt man. Once she saw him there was a look of concern on her face that she tried to disguise when she turned back to the group.

Rachel was able to steer the conversation off of money. Ann must have sensed it was a topic to avoid around Rachel. At least she had some sense in her. That would be a good trait in a wife.

“I hear you volunteer at the animal shelter,” Rachel said before taking another sip of her wine.

Trent could see that the man in the wrinkled shirt was still staring at their table. Was it Ann or Rachel that he was eyeing? The man’s breaths were deep and heavy and he kept fidgeting. Trent could see it from all of the way across the deck.

As Trent was observing the man, Ann went on to describe in detail what she did for the cats and dogs there. It truly was a passion for her.

Choosing to ignore the man, Trent leaned in closer to Ann and turned the conversation with her private.   

Rachel saw Trent look at Ann in appreciation and a chilling feeling grabbed her heart and squeezed. What was happening? It felt like jealousy, but it couldn’t be. Trent was her friend. He had been since they met and he always would be. That was one of the sure things her life. There weren’t many sure things, but Trent’s friendship was one.

She thought her last love was a sure thing too. That was until she was crushed by the discovery that he was trying to get to Trent through her. He wanted Trent’s business connections to help his own business succeed. It still hurt.

She wasn’t going to let Trent do this to someone too. Not unless their eyes were wide open and his future wife knew what she was signing up for.

Rachel took a deeper drink of her wine and shot Brett a questioning look. What was he thinking?

“Rachel, it is going to be ok,” Brett said in a feeble attempt at reassurance.

“I just don’t have a good feeling,” she replied.

Rachel and Brett made small talk while Ann and Trent continued their more intimate discussion. Rachel could hear that it moved past the shelter and they were now talking about Ann’s family. This tightened the squeeze that was still around Rachel’s heart.

Her feelings were so confused. In her mind she kept chanting over and over again, “This is Trent, this is what he wants.”

When their salads were brought to the table, the conversation returned to a group discussion. To Rachel’s surprise, Ann didn’t mention one thing about possessions. Maybe Rachel needed to give her more credit.

Ann seemed to know how to laugh at just the right moments, make the right comments and chime in a funny remark all with perfect timing. She really was picture perfect and Rachel started liking her less and less.

There was a searing feeling rolling through her body that she just needed to leave. She needed to go back to her townhouse and figure out what in the world was wrong with her mind and body. Why was she getting jealous over Trent with another woman? This had never happened before in all of the years she had known him. Was it just so shocking that he was going to marry?

Rachel tried to turn her attention across the table and noticed a balding man with a scruffy beard and a wrinkled shirt at the bar staring at their table. She thought that if he looked any more upset she would see smoke coming from his head.

His head flinched up as she was caught looking back. The man stood and marched in the direction of their table with the obvious stride of a man who had at least two too many beers. There was anger dripping through his pores and it showed in his face and his walk.

Trent stood up immediately when the man reached the table.

“What’s going on here?” Trent asked.

“Do you know what you have here? You have a table full of gold digging women,” the man loudly slurred in a violent tone.

Rachel had been called many things before, but gold digging was never one of them. It stung because it was the furthest thing from the truth. With the success of her business she had built herself quite a comfortable nest egg. To her men were so much more than money. In fact that didn’t even factor into her equation of the perfect man. Her list of must haves was far from that.

“Be careful of what you say to my friends,” Trent warned in a stern voice.

“Ha,” the man said and then lunged towards Ann with his arm outreached.

Rachel jumped back in her seat and watched.

Trent hooked him from behind and restrained him. Trent was holding on to this man and protecting Ann. Rachel knew he would do the same for her, but the seed of jealousy that was already in her heart started to grow deeper roots. She was very much in danger of it growing even more.

“Listen, I don’t want this to get ugly,” Trent said. “We are all adults and make our own choices. Apologize to the ladies and then wait out front for the cab I’m calling you to take you home. I’ll get your tab too.”

The man struggled trying to release himself from Trent’s grasp. Trent’s arms were too powerful for the husky man to budge more than an inch.

Finally giving up and with a glare in his eyes the man apologized to the ladies. As Trent was releasing him the man pointed to Ann and added, “You better watch out for that one. She is a bucket full of trouble beyond just digging for the gold. A large bucket full.”

Trent escorted him to the front before the man could add anything else. After handing the situation over to the manager of Captain Louie’s he retuned to the table. What in the devil had this man meant about Ann being a bucket full of trouble, Trent wondered. Sure, he knew that she liked money. Ironically that was what was currently attractive about her.

Immediately upon his return Rachel said, “Sorry, I have to leave. “ This was before she even touched her mocha heaven brownie, which was quite uncommon for Rachel. She was a pure chocolate lover.

“Are you ok?” Trent asked.

“Yes, I just remembered something I have to do,” Rachel said. Yes, yes she did need to go home and discover why her body and mind were betraying her.

She hurriedly grabbed her purse to get money for her portion of the bill.

“No, I have it,” Trent said in a voice that let her know he meant it and she shouldn’t bother arguing.

With a nod, Rachel practically ran to her car. She couldn’t make it home fast enough to get to that bubble bath and figure out her emotions leaving Trent to figure out what to do with Ann.

Trent was surprised that Rachel left in such a hurry. She hadn’t been quite herself all evening. He was still worried about her ever since her breakup with Bill. Trent still wanted to wring the man’s neck, but knew what Rachel’s reaction to that would be.

He knew that Rachel was still touchy from that breakup. The man at the bar had somehow upset her. If she wanted to leave that was fine. He knew that she needed her space and he would give it to her.  

He had to learn more about Ann, his likely future wife. Rachel was no longer the female he needed to be most concerned about. Then why couldn’t he stop thinking about her reaction?

Shortly after Rachel left, Brett made his excuses too leaving him alone with Ann and their desserts.

Ann ran her finger down his arm, leaned closer and asked, “So when are you going to take me out on that boat?”

“How about Saturday?” Trent figured the faster his situation was resolved the sooner all of his problems would be fixed. This whole courtship and discussion of his plans needed to move quickly. Ann wasn’t all bad. There were bright points in their interaction throughout the evening. It was just the type of woman and relationship he needed. Someone who would appreciate his money and name and someone that he could have a pleasant time with. That was acceptable and his current goal.

They finished their coffee and he walked Ann to her Mercedes. She leaned forward to him for a kiss, pushing her arms together, making her cleavage pop out again. Kissing her just didn’t feel right in the lit parking lot with people walking to and from their cars. He gave her a quick peck on the lips and nothing more. Yes, he reminded himself. This is my future. A potentially grim future.

Chapter 4

Throughout the week the four had spent some time together every day either playing euchre, Rachel’s favorite card game, or having dinner. Ann was proving to be tolerable and her fake beauty was growing on him seeming somehow natural for her.