His Island Bride

Copyright © 2011 Shadonna Richards

All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead is entirely coincidental.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thank you, God for all my blessings.
To my cherished son and husband for your unconditional love.
With gratitude to my family and friends for your endless support.
To Solomon, Jermaine,
Merdella
,
Nesitta
, Godwin, Monica, and
Percell
.
To my editor M.M. for always being brilliant.

To Sean, Charms, Judy, Yvonne, and
Fenn
.

His Island Bride

She wasn’t looking for love, but love found her…while vacationing on the sunny island of Jamaica.

With mixed emotions, Jessica Mills can’t wait to escape to the Caribbean—away from an arranged marriage agreement to honor her new found heritage. She is to meet her potential groom-to-be in two weeks. She finally books her long-awaited vacation to a resort in Jamaica only to be double booked in the same suite as a gorgeous, irresistible stranger—who happens to get under her skin.

Sexy, undercover billionaire, James Carrington has more on his mind than relationships. On the verge of making an important business decision that can affect his entire future and everything he’s worked for, he goes to Jamaica to think and indulge in recreational activities. He did not count on having a beautiful brunette in his suite—a pleasant but ill-timed distraction. There’s no mistaking the sparks that fly between Jessica and James at one of the island’s hottest resorts. But Jessica is betrothed to someone else…which direction will her heart follow?

1  

“
Happiness is where we find it, but rarely
where we seek it…”
–
Jean Antoine Petit-
Senn
(1792–1870)
French-Swiss Poet

“You have to meet this young man, Jess. I’ve heard so many great things about him.”

“Sorry, Mom!
Not this time. I’m really not interested in being hooked up.” Jessica Mills sat in the kitchen sipping her coffee as she eyed her mother.

“And why not, Jess?”

“Because the last time you played matchmaker it turned out to be a total disaster!
Remember?”

“Oh, Jess. Nobody’s perfect, darling. I mean, how
was I supposed to know that Mrs. Pawl’s nephew was a kleptomaniac for God’s
sake.
A
kleptomaniac
!”
Her mother replied, scrubbing the frying pan with such force one would think she was displacing her anger on the pan.

“Yeah, he was supposed to steal my heart, not my jewellery, my cellphone and my best friend,” Jessica tightened her lips, trying to conceal her fury. She placed her cup down on the table and gazed out the window as the morning sunlight beamed into the kitchen.

“Okay, that one was a screw up, dear. But trust me, Jess. This one’s different. You remember that reunion I went to a while back? Well, one of my former classmates married into an aristocratic family and well, they have a darling son who has trouble settling down. And in order to take over the estate one day, he should marry suitable.”

“You mean marry a rich girl, of which I am clearly not.”

“No, we’re not…yet, dear. But we have some aristocrat in our blood line. It’s sort of like Lady Diana Spencer before she became a princess. You know?”

“Yes, I know. The difference is, nobody knows about our supposed link to some dead forgotten duke. And besides, we’re a struggling working class family all the way. No glamour there.”

“Well anyway, his name is Earl and he’ll be…
get
this…an earl! His uncle was actually the title
holder  but
recently died and left no heirs.”

Jessica chuckled. “His name is Earl
and
he’s an earl?” She sighed. “Okay and his uncle didn’t have any sons so it bumped to the nearest male member of the household. Am I right?”

“Right.
So all of a sudden this young man inherits the title as earl of a huge estate in England. I heard he’ll inherit 14,000 acres of beautiful countryside property. The estate holds charitable events and all sorts of wonderful things. Could you imagine? Well anyway, he has to marry or at least they prefer him to marry someone of an aristocratic bloodline.”

“You mean someone in the highest social class in society, next to being royalty?”

“Exactly!”

“Which we are not, Mother!”
Jessica playfully rolled her eyes, trying hard not to burst her mother’s enthusiastic bubble.

It was too late. Her mother looked deflated as she finished up the dishes and dried her hands on a sheet of paper towel.

“Up until recently we were just common people,” Jessica tried to rationalize her stand on the situation. “And we just found out we have an ancestor who was some duke or something hundreds of years back in England—so how could that make me eligible?”

“We have blood ties to the Honourable Elbert Mills IV, the Duke of Arrington. That makes you eligible, dear.”

“Yeah and I was only too happy to Google my great-great uncle’s history. I looked up Arrington, his supposed estate which, by the way, became an impoverished, debt-ridden estate that no longer exists today. Not even the Mills House exists. I read it was destroyed during the First World War.”

“Darling Jessica, why are you being so negative…so resistant?
Don’t you see that what your father and I are trying to do for you
is
for the best?” Her mother’s voice grew impatient.

“Yes, well some matches don’t end up being what they’re supposed to be, Mom. I’ve made huge mistakes before and I really don’t know if I want to be matched with someone simply because of a drop of blood from a bloodline which I know little of.”

“Jessica!”

“Mom, what if he turns out to be some freaky, cross-dressing, alcoholic behind closed doors? No thank you. We all know that not all fairy tale marriages end up… happily ever after.”

Her mother narrowed her eyes and pinched her lips.

“Jessica, you know I don’t have much time.”

“Mom….I….
I’m
sorry, it’s just that…well…”

“Jess, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.” Her mother sat down beside her at the kitchen table and fidgeted with the flowers on the table.

“No, Mom, you’re right. I know you want to see me happy and married well after…well…”

“After I go to be with the Lord.”

Jessica bit down on her lip. Her mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer two years ago and beat the dreadful disease. Well at least it was in remission until recently when she went for her usual six month check up with the oncologist.

Then, Jessica had her own scare. A few months ago while performing her monthly breast self-examination in the shower she felt a lump in her right breast which thankfully turned out to be a false alarm. This had terrified her and her mother. The oncologist told Jessica that
her risk of breast cancer would be higher because her mother had breast cancer. The risk was even higher if a family member had breast cancer before age fifty.
Her mother was forty-nine when first diagnosed years ago. Jessica knew how precious time was.
How golden each and every day was.
And how important it was to be happy with the choices one made because life was really short but it can also be sweet if a person was happy.