Love Finds the One (Sully Point Book 2) (23 page)

"I'd just as soon not have you out there fishing, if
you don't mind. You're really lousy at it."

She gave a surprised laugh. "And I'd prefer you not to
touch my computer components because you don't have a clue."

"Would you want to donate some of the money to
charity?"

"Yes, I've always planned to. We could use some of it
to fund something useful right here in Sully Point. But tell me this--when it
comes time to buy a house, will you go along with using the money to get one we
really want?"

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Yes, all
right. I'd want us to have as nice a place as we could get, especially if we
plan to have kids someday."

"What about vacations?"

The negotiations began.

* * * *

"You are kidding me," Betsy said to Frank.
"It's about the money?"

"It has to be. It's the only thing that makes any
sense."

"It makes no sense at all, Frank!"

"Well, now, sometimes it's hard for some men to handle
when a woman makes more money than they do, in a relationship. He works his
butt off with two businesses and she will suddenly have millions...I think it
got to him."

"That is the most asinine--wait a minute--he's your
son. Do you have a problem if the woman makes more than the man?"

He laughed out loud. "No. I was fully aware you
probably had more money than I ever will from the beginning. I think Cody met Julia's
father, in his obviously expensive suit and tie, with his cultured manner,
someone who is clearly a mover and shaker. Then, the next thing you know he's
hearing himself being torn down by that awful woman, with all her rude
comments. And suddenly he's finding out Julia will have all this money. He
knows right away everyone will think just what the mother thought--that he's
only marrying her for that reason. He doesn't know what to think, so he walks
out. And gets very drunk."

"Wow. Men."

* * * *

In the middle of the discussion about how to handle the
money, Cody asked, "What do you think your mother will do now?"

"Probably try to drain the trust fund."

He looked startled. "She could do that?"

"She could, except my father is one of the trustees. He
can prevent it from happening since he is now firmly on my side."

"I liked him," Cody said. "He impressed
me."

"The one thing I know is, he's tough enough to stop my
mother if he decides to do it. And he will."

"Okay, back to this." Cody motioned to the pad of
paper in her hands with the document they were working on. "If my business
fails, then it fails. No bail-out from wifey."

"Wifey." She snorted. "Okay. And another
thing--if, or rather, when we have kids there will be no boarding schools.
Ever."

"Agreed."

"I think we've about got everything on here," Julia
said. "We'll still need to do wills which will spell out how, if I go
first, you get the money."

"I still think--"

"No. It probably won't happen, but if it does, there's
nobody I trust as much as you with the money. You'll do good with it. And we
have to make it very clear, so Mother can't get her hands on it, ever."

"Ah, yes. Okay."

Julia dialed the number five on the phone.

* * * *

Betsy hung up the phone. Frank watched her set it carefully
down and saw confusion in her eyes.

"What?"

"They want a notary public," she said slowly.

"They want what? What the hell are they doing in
there?"

"I'm not entirely sure," she answered. "Let's
go in and find out. I'm still a notary, let me get my seal." She found it
in a drawer and the two walked quickly into the conference room.

 Frank unlocked the door and walked in to find Julia and
Cody kissing. "See, I told you this would work," he said to Betsy who
was looking down at a paper she'd found on the table.

She began to laugh. "It's a pre-nup! A strange one, but
that's what it is all right."

Cody and Julia turned to look at them. "Notarize that,
and we're all set," Cody said.

Frank asked, "Is the wedding back on?"

"The wedding," his son said, smiling, "is
definitely on. And we're not waiting a year for it either. As soon as we can,
we're getting married. That is, if you'll agree to be my best man."

Frank swallowed past a sudden lump in his throat. "You
know I will, son."

"Thank you, Frank, for locking us in here," Julia
said with a grin. "It's a good thing it's just the four of us here or this
would be the biggest rumor in town."

Betsy looked at the ceiling. Frank gave them a sick-looking
smile. "Uh, we had to order pizza because you were taking a long time. And
Charlie was the delivery guy. When he asked what we were doing in a bank
ordering pizza..."

"You didn't. You didn't tell him...did you?" Julia
asked, appalled.

"Did you?" Cody asked, starting to laugh.

"I'm sure everyone will be glad to hear we have a happy
ending," Frank said, virtuously.

* * * *

That night Cody and Julia went to the loft. He apologized
again for being an idiot. "How could I have been so stupid? You're the one
I've waited for my whole life--what's a little money compared to that?"

Julia laughed. "A little money. Listen to the man. You
know, I never knew I was waiting for anyone. I just knew nobody was right for
me, until I met you. From the very beginning, you made me feel comfortable,
safe...and really turned on."

Cody grinned at her. "I have plans for more along those
lines tonight."

"Yeah? And just what plans do you have?"

"Remember the tub big enough for two downstairs? I
figured we'd start there."

She came up to him and ran her fingers through his blond
hair. "And end up where?"

He laughed and put his arms around her waist. "Wherever
we collapse from exhaustion, which will hopefully be the bed."

"I love you, Cody, so much."

"And I love you, more than you'll ever know."

The kiss they shared was gentle and sweet, and became passionate
and strong.

"Let's make love," he said softly.

She nodded and answered him with a kiss.

Chapter 11

The May wedding of Cody and Julia was the event of the year
in Sully Point. It even got a mention in the gossip columns of the city. At
least half the town showed up, which worked out well enough because they had
the wedding on the beach. The crowd sat on the beach or stood around for the
ceremony.

Julia's deceptively simple-looking gown was sleeveless and
covered with a fine lace. She wore pearls her father gave her, with a blue star
sapphire pendant in the center of the necklace. Violet, the yarn lady, gave her
a very old intricately crocheted handkerchief to carry for the ceremony as her
borrowed and old item.

Holly came to town for the wedding as Julia's maid of honor,
and looked beautiful in blue chiffon. Anna had refused to be a bridesmaid, on
the grounds that she might have the baby during the ceremony. They ended up
with just Holly and Frank for their wedding party, if you didn't count the
entire town spread along the beach. When the kiss happened at the end of the
ceremony, the crowd applauded loudly, and Cody and Julia ended up laughing as
they walked down the makeshift aisle on the sand.

Everyone went to a spectacular barbecue, held in the park in
the middle of town square after the wedding. Mr. Tremaine, known to everyone
now as Rob, supervised the grills and the chefs he'd brought in from New York.
Anna had made the beautiful wedding cake covered in a profusion of colorful
sugar blossoms.

At the end of the party in the square, Julia stood with her
back turned in front of a small crowd of women hoping to catch the bouquet. She
was pleased to see Holly catch it, although she noticed a small frown on
Holly's face for an instant before she was smiling again.

The honeymoon locale was kept a secret through the simple
expedient of Julia and Cody telling no one, not even family, where they were
going. They had a wonderful time in the Caribbean.

Returning to Sully Point, they decided to use her father's
wedding gift of a down payment on a house to buy a two bedroom Cape Cod style
home. Living on the boat and in the loft had grown old fast and they wanted a
place that was theirs together.

One evening, after coming home and parking the Corvette,
Cody walked up the stone path through the flowers Julia had planted in the
front yard. He found her sitting in one of the two rocking chairs they had
placed on the front porch. Just as he was going to say hello, he realized she
was sitting very still and looking down, hair spilled around her face.

"Julia? What's wrong?" Cody said as he ran quickly
up the steps and onto the porch.

She looked up at him with a blazing smile on her face.
"Everything's right. We're going to have a baby."

Cody sank to his knees beside her chair. "For
sure?"

She nodded. "Absolutely positively."

He laid his head in her lap and spoke to her belly.
"Welcome to the best life."

# # #

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