For His Trust (10 page)

Nicole bit her lip and tried to think where the story might have originated. After all, very few people knew about their wedding plans. So the list of suspects was relatively small; her mother, Marcie Tilly, Danielle, and possibly one of the new employees that Red had hired at his company.

But the most suspicious part was that these new stories had really started up again at The Rag since Kane Wright took over. And now that Kane was involved with Danielle, she was probably telling him things about Red and Nicole, and he could easily pass that information off to his people at tabloids. It was good for his tabloid business and also he seemed to enjoy finding ways to needle Red whenever possible.

Nicole knew she was going to have to either broach the subject with Danielle, or she’d have to simply stop telling her best friend anything about her relationship with Red Jameson. And Nicole didn’t want to stop talking to Danielle about Red and their life together—after all, friends told each other things. Without that, their friendship would surely just decay and blow away in the breeze.

She wasn’t sure what to do, so for now, Nicole decided to put it off and focus on continuing the wedding preparations.

Nicole decided that it was time to call Marcie Tilly and let her know she had the job.

***

Marcie was thrilled to be hired as Nicole’s wedding planner, that much was clear.

Nicole had had to hold the phone away from her ear when the large woman bellowed her excited thanks and appreciation into the phone.

And now, just a day later, Marcie was over the house, helping Nicole pick out invitations. Unfortunately, Nicole had made the mistake of talking to her mother in advance of the meeting, and her mother had somehow weaseled her way into coming over along with Marcie.

So now the three of them were in the living room, drinking tea and having biscotti, while Marcie expounded on wedding do’s and don’ts and Nicole’s mother adding her own two cents.

Nicole could barely get a word in edgewise.

“I love the color scheme on this one,” Marcie practically shouted, holding up her sample book and pointing to a pink nightmare of an invitation design.

“Oh,” Nicole’s mother gasped, putting a hand over her heart. “That’s like a pink dahlia motif, yes?”

Marcie nodded. “Yes, and it’s so elegant, yet also contemporary.”

Nicole half-nodded. “It’s pretty, but I think maybe something a little more understated…”

The two older women exchanged looks.

Her mother took a sip of tea and Marcie resettled her body on the couch, turning her wide smile to Nicole. “Now, honey, picking out invitations is so much fun and we are having a blast. But we’re starting to run into a major roadblock here with this guest list.”

Nicole bit her lower lip. She felt like a chastised fifth grader. “I know. I’ve been trying to get Red to sit down with me to figure out who he wants to invite.”

“Don’t try, honey. Do.”

Nicole nodded. “I will.”

“As it is, we’re already way behind—we can’t even send out a save the date at this point,” her mother whispered. Nicole couldn’t help but notice how her mother had started using the “we” pronoun an awful lot during wedding conversation, as if she were now just as involved as Nicole and Marcie.

“I know, Mom. Believe me, I’m well aware just how far behind the eight ball I am.”

“We’re going to help you get through this,” Marcie said, “so don’t you fret. I’m very good at pulling husbands aside and giving them a good old-fashioned knock upside the head.”

Nicole’s mother giggled and snorted. “That’s because she has so much practice doing it to her own husband.”

Marcie gave a bawdy guffaw. “I swear, my Harold must have a permanent dent in his head the size of The Grand Canyon.”

Nicole gave a weak smile.

Just then, Red and his new assistant, Gia, came out of the conference room and walked by the living room. Red still brought company employees by the house, especially when they were newly hired. He said he liked to make them feel welcome and at ease, as if they were more friends then employees. He usually spent most of the time at the house in the conference room, putting them through their paces.

Red gave a smile and a wave. “Hello, ladies. How’s the wedding planning going?”

Nicole watched her mother’s eyes narrow as she honed in on Gia, who was admittedly dressed like the office slut. She was wearing a black, clingy skirt (that was far too short in Nicole’s biased opinion), a white blouse showing plenty of cleavage, and a little pendant that hung perfectly between her young, full breasts. Her dark hair was pinned back and her lipstick was red and glossy. Even her high heels were what Nicole typically thought of as “stripper shoes.”

“The wedding planning’s going super, Red,” Marcie said. “However, we do have a teensy weensy problem with the guest list—“

Red put up a finger. “Sorry, I’ve got to take this call,” he said, and then the cell phone was up to his ear and he was walking away from them.

Marcie and Nicole’s mother exchanged glances once again, and Nicole felt a rising sense of frustration with the two of them. She didn’t intend on being ganged up on for the duration of this.

Gia approached the table where the book of samples was laid out. Her legs were tan and smooth and—inviting—that was the word that came to Nicole’s mind. Gia’s skin looked soft and freshly moisturized. Her breasts were full and young and perky. She had a tight, athletic body.

Next to her, Nicole was feeling positively frumpy.

“It’s so exciting,” Gia said, her perfectly plucked eyebrows arching.

“Yeah, a lot of stress too, when you’re doing it all last minute,” Nicole laughed.

Gia crossed her arms and nodded as if she knew all about it. “Yeah, well it’s hard when you’ve had a nontraditional courtship.”

“Nontraditional?” Nicole asked, her throat tightening. She kept the smile frozen on her face.

“My sister hooked up with this guy over the Internet and they did it the same way.”

Nicole couldn’t tell if Gia was just young or if she was truly intending to insult Nicole to her face.

“Well, this ain’t no Internet wedding, I can tell you that,” Marcie laughed, breaking the tension. “We’re spending way too much money on it for there to be any confusion. This is going to be one beautiful, stunning affair.”

“Oh, totally—I’m sure it’ll be amazing,” Gia said.

I don’t need your reassurance, Nicole wanted to tell her—so save the phony sympathy. She decided there and then that she’d been right about Gia, and that she shouldn’t have doubted her first instincts, which had been to hire Rick instead.

Red came back into the room. “Sorry everyone, but that was work. We’re having a call with one of our big potential clients and I need to get back to the office pronto.

Gia?” he said, beckoning her to follow him.

Nicole got up and ran over to him, hating that it felt like she was chasing after him. Gia was practically in-step with her and she had an urge to throw an elbow.

“Red,” Nicole said, “we need to talk about the guest list. We should have had those invites in the mail like yesterday.”

Red sighed and checked his phone. “Listen, I don’t have any time today. But let’s do it first thing tomorrow morning.”

“I really need to do it sooner.”

“Tomorrow morning isn’t soon enough? Have them do a rush order, spare no expense.”

“Promise you’ll do it tomorrow morning, no excuses?” she pleaded.

He took her by the shoulders. “I swear to God. Now, I have to go. Love you.”

He gave her a quick kiss and then he and Gia were off. Nicole watched them go, and Gia’s round, firm ass swayed back and forth as she hurried after him like a pet terrier.

When Nicole returned to the living room, the mood was somber.

Her mother said nothing, just raised her eyebrows elaborately.

“What?” Nicole said, annoyed.

“I didn’t say anything.”

“Well she seems like a nice girl,” Marcie cooed.

“That’s one way of putting it,” her mother muttered.

Nicole couldn’t even focus. She hated that her jealousy had reared its ugly head again so quickly. She’d told herself that she wasn’t going to let things like this bother her. After all, Red had shown no interest in hiring Gia—he’d made it perfectly clear that he was fine with hiring Rick, and Nicole had been the one to push the girl back into the mix.

And now she was resenting Red for it, which made no sense.

“I hired her,” Nicole said. “She’s a nice young girl with an impeccable resume.”

“That’s not the only thing that’s impeccable about her,” Nicole’s mother quipped.

Marcie stifled a laugh. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I can’t help it. The girl has some serious assets. I’ll give her that.”

And now the two older women were cracking up, laughing so hard they were practically in tears.

Nicole sat on her couch in a state of shock at what her life had become.

***

The rest of the day, Nicole’s tension only grew.

Her mother and Marcie were long gone, and she was glad of that. Truth be told, they’d accomplished a lot in their time together. She’d picked a venue for both the ceremony and the reception (The Branford Mansion near the University of Connecticut), chosen what kind of flowers and tablecloths she wanted, and finally decided on a design for the invitations.

But by the time the wedding planner had left, Nicole was starting to second-guess her decision to hire Marcie. The woman was obnoxious, boisterous and overbearing.

And she seemed to be a package deal with Nicole’s mother, which was perhaps the worst part of it all.

Nicole went and took a very long, hot bath and tried to soak away her tension.

She kept her cellphone on the edge of the bathtub and watched it with an eagle eye, hoping that Red might find just a moment or two of free time to call or text her and tell her he loved and missed her.

Nicole had begun thinking wistfully back to their time together in the cabin, when none of their worldly problems had interfered with their love. Now it seemed like the whole world was conspiring against them, keeping them further and further apart as their respective responsibilities increased.

Red was so busy with this new company and it was almost all he thought about or did, day and night. Of course she knew that was what it took to start a new business, but she at least hoped that he could spare a brief second to say he loved her.

And now this wedding was growing into something bigger than she’d really intended, but Nicole didn’t know how to stop it. She needed Red to really help her understand what people he truly wanted to have attend the wedding, and who he didn’t want or care either way about.

Stay calm, Nicole reminded herself, as she sat in the tub soaking until the skin on her hands and feet began to resemble prunes.

Stay calm. Tomorrow morning it will all get better. We’ll settle this ridiculous
guest list once and for all and I can start to relax.

That night, Red came home so late from work that Nicole was already sleeping in the master bedroom. She’d fallen asleep with the TV on, watching bad reality shows about bitchy rich housewives. It had been the wrong choice of viewing material for the kind of mood she was in.

Red woke her up as he was settling into bed for the night.

“Hey,” she said, groggy from sleep. “What time is it?”

“Late,” he replied. “Go back to sleep, babe.” He slid under the covers and rubbed her back.

“I miss you. What were you doing so late?”

“Working on this pitch for Erikson Bikes. They could be a huge first client if we get it right.”

“Was Gia there?”

“She works at the company, honey. You’re not thinking straight—you’re half asleep.”

Nicole lifted her head and gave him an angry look. “I’m not half asleep. I know Gia works with you. But was she there until you left tonight?”

He sighed. “Yes.”

“Who else stayed?”

“I don’t know. Pretty much everyone.”

For some reason, Nicole was becoming convinced that it wasn’t just everyone staying late and working together, sharing little jokes and fleeting, flirtatious touches. It was just Red and Gia, and now he was lying because he knew she’d be angry with him if she knew.

“You could have at least called me, Red.”

“I’m sorry. I just got so caught up at work, babe.” He moved close to her and kissed her neck.

The warmth of his body and his affection soothed her a little bit. “You can still call me and just say you love me,” she whispered.

“I will, from now on. You know how much I need you and love you, though.

Right?”

She nodded, snuggling close to him.

And then she was asleep before she even realized it.

When Nicole awoke again, Red was already out of bed and in the shower. She was feeling tense, but not as upset as she’d been yesterday. Instead, she was looking forward to finally nailing down this guest list so that she could email it to Marcie, who would in turn forward it along to the vendor. From there, it would be printed and mailed out.

Nicole got up and threw on some sweats, went downstairs and started breakfast.

Chef Roland was on vacation and she was kind of glad. She enjoyed cooking for Red, and he really enjoyed eating what she prepared. This morning she made his favorite—

chocolate chip pancakes and sausage links. It was a thank you to him for finally making time to work on this list for the invitations, which Nicole knew he hated. He didn’t want to think about the stuff with his mother and brother and God only knew what else. She understood that.

By the time he came downstairs in his blue suit and red tie, she had his plate ready for him.

“Nicole, you didn’t have to do that,” he said, but she could tell he was very pleased just the same.

“Come on, sit down and eat up,” she said. “I’m going to grab my laptop.”

“You don’t need your laptop,” he said, cutting up his pancake and starting to eat.

“Why?”

“Because, I already—“ he looked down at his pants and patted his pocket.

Nicole heard the familiar buzzing sound of his cell phone and then he was answering. “Yeah?”