Then & Now (32 page)

There was the distinct change in his voice that indicated his real question wasn’t the one he asked.  Intrigued, she answered slowly.  “Yeah, he decided to retire.”

“He moved out?”  He asked looking surprised.

“No, he moved into the master bedroom and hired a new maid who is driving him crazy.”  She lifted one shoulder.  “Although I know it isn’t her cleaning or cooking that drives him crazy.  It’s that fact that she’s only three years younger than him and still looks like a cover-girl.  I’ve been trying to get him to ask her out but he’s too stubborn.”  She rambled trying not to breakdown in front of him.  If he only knew the pain he caused when he moved on after
nine years, without so much as a glance back.

“Good.  That’s good.”  He repeated looking nervous.

Suddenly her own nervous became alerted.  What if he had bad news and didn’t know how to tell her?  “What, Jasper?  Why are you here?”

“I miss you.”

She had no idea that those three little words could sound so perfect.  “Really?”

“Yeah.
  I really missed you.”  He smiled taking a step toward her.  “I’m not good at this.  Honestly I don’t know how to…You’re the first woman I have ever… I love you, Leya.”

“What?”  She gasped completely taken off guard.

“I know this is bad timing.  I mean you’re still getting over something horrible and I tried to give you space…” He swallowed as he fretfully rubbed the back of his neck.

He tried to give her space, that’s why he hadn’t come around.  Thrill shot through her and before she knew what she was
doing, her arms wrapped themselves around his neck as her mouth found his.

“I had hoped you’d respond like this.”  He revealed between kisses.

She giggled, loving the feel of him in his arms. “I love you too.”  Pulling back far enough to look at him she gave him a playful frown. “I could smack you for leaving.”

“I should let you.  But when Jace offered me that job, I wanted to stable myself before I could ask you to marry me.”

“Marry you?!”

“Well yeah.  You’re everything to me, Leya.”  He whispered across her lips.

“You know, you didn’t have to get a job first.  I have money.  Lots of money.  And after what you did for me and Victor you deserve to be paid…”

“I don’t want your money. 
Although if you want to pay me I take other forms of payment.”  He smiled wickedly.

Her eyebrows shot up. 
“Oh, really? Like what?”  She asked playfully while glancing at the staircase that led to her room.

“I think you know.”  He growled hugging her closer.

Nodding she took his hand.  “Yes.  I do.”  While she escorted him to her room she smiled to herself.  For the first time in her life she knew everything was going to be alright.  

Ella Hall sat at her kitchen-table with the phone pressed to her ear.  In one full sentence Leya told her she had a brother that no one told her about, and he had tried to kill her and her butler.  Oh, and she was getting married to Jasper, Ella couldn’t forget that part.

Shaking her head Ella took a deep breath.  “So…You’re okay?  Maddie said it got pretty crazy at your house.”  It sucked living across the state.  Unless she drove the two hours to get to any one of her friends, she was always the last to hear anything.

“Yeah, for a few weeks it did.”  Leya admitted with a sigh.  “But once everything calmed down it was wonderful. Jasper’s wonderful…”

She didn’t miss the dreamy sound in her friend’s voice. “I’m so happy for you, Leya.”  Ella said trying to sound happy.  Even though she was genuinely excited for her long time friend, she couldn’t help but feel a little jealous.

While Leya rambled on and on about Jasper and the wedding,
Ella sat quietly allowing her eyes to slowly look over Sophia’s wedding invitation.  It was the fourth one she got over the last month. Her calendar was filled from June to December with Bachelorette parties, bride’s maids’ fittings, and of course the actual wedding themselves.

Through it all she couldn’t help the feeling of being envious of her friends.

She had been married for four years and there had not been a day that she had wondered if she had made the wrong choice.  Marrying Matt had been a whim.  She had felt at the time he had been her only choice, the mean to an end.  Unfortunately, now she was starting to learn that wasn’t the case.

Moving to a little town, that didn’t even make it on a map, had been her idea of expanding her horizons.
In truth, she had been running from feelings she didn’t want to acknowledge. Luckily Maddie and Sophia had found out the truth before they got married to the wrong man.  She had to figure it out the hard way.

Glancing at the clock that was mounted above her stove she realized Matt should’ve been home an hour ago.  She wanted to lie to herself and say that he was probably at the gas station talking about the
upcoming hunt. Unfortunately, she couldn’t lie to herself anymore.  She didn’t care enough to.

A soft knock on the back window had Ella looking up at her neighbor Cassie Miller.  Ella smiled and waved for her friend to come in.  Saying a quick good-bye to Leya, she welcomed her neighbor with a soft “Hello.”

“Hi, there.”  Cassie greeted as she closed the sliding glass door behind her.  Although Cassie was the same age as Ella she dressed like a woman in her fifties.  Her hair was piled up on the top of her head, while her white tee shirt was tucked nicely into her baggie pants.  The girl could be a real knock-out if she tried. “Where’s your hubby?”

Her friend’s question hung in the space between them. She knew the other woman’s curiosity was laced with suspicion.  In a town this small when your husband comes home late everyone notices.

Picking up Sophia’s wedding invite she fought back tears.  Who was she kidding?  Her marriage was a joke and everyone could see it.

Cassie waved a dismissive hand in front of her while she took a seat at the table. Grabbing the magazine that had been sitting face-up, she whistled as she tapped on the front page. “Now, he’s a looker!” 

Ella let out a small sigh.  Cassie was a real friend.  Although, her attempt to change the subject backfired without her realizing it. 

Clearing her throat, Ella sat up a little straighter.  “That’s Colin Russo.  He’s one of the world’s youngest billionaires.”

“Really? Well…Well…”  Cassie wiggled her eyebrows.  “Sexy and rich?  Sounds dangerous to me.”

Tell me about it
.  Ella swallowed the lump in her throat.  Dangerous was absolutely the right word for it.  Pushing some of her unruly curls behind her ear she wondered how much she should tell her friend.

She had to fight back a smile as she remembered Colin coming to their home for the first time. He had been waiting in the den for her father, who was counseling him on some legal
issues, when she walked in unexpectedly on him. The memory of Colin standing in her father’s den looking amazing in every way had her fighting back tears. He was polite at first, not letting her hide behind her book. He had smiled at her, even flirted a little. He had told her how beautiful her eyes were and damn her, she had believed him.

“He’s actually very sweet. It’s not just the physical attraction that lures you in; it’s his charm, his wit, and his excellent taste in books.”  Ella confessed without looking at her friend. Colin had complimented the book she had been
holding like a shield at the time. Once he started commenting on the author he had her laughing and joking right along with him. She fell hard in that one moment. He was so perfect…too perfect.

“You’ve met him?”  Cassie asked as she turned his picture for Ella to see it better.

Though she didn’t need to see it.  She knew his face line by line.  Which was pathetic on so many levels. “Yeah, I’ve met him.”

“Really?
When? Where?” Cassie dropped the magazine giving Ella her complete attention.

Reaching across her small table she turned to the page she had been avoiding and laid it out in front of Cassie.  “He’s my brother-in-law.”

The picture of her identical twin standing arm in arm with the man Ella had wanted from the moment she had met him was agonizing.  Ella wanted him, Amy got him. He was the captain of the football team all over again.  Only this time, the sting of it wasn’t going away.

“Holy, crap!
  I knew you had a twin, but…”  She glanced at the picture then back. “If I had just picked this up in a supermarket I would’ve thought it was you.”

She had to laugh at her neighbor’s comment.  “Yeah, I know.  Our hair and our ears are the only difference between us.”

Cassie cocked one eyebrow. “Ears?  How are your ears different?”

Ella pushed back her hair and pointed to the three little freckles that lined her earlobe. “I have them. Amy doesn’t.”

“Huh.  That’s interesting.”  She said leaning a little closer.  “You know, I had cousins who were twins.  The only difference I ever saw was that one was really outgoing and the other was shy, kinda kept to herself.”

Same could be said about
her and her sister.  When they were young it was Thea and her against Amy and Thea’s sister Mytrice.  Amy and Mytrice got all the cute boys; while she and Thea sat back wishing they did.

Not that Amy was ever mean to her.  It was just painfully obvious who the
better
twin was.  And her sister kept on proving she was better in every way.

“Are they happy?”  Cassie’s question came out of nowhere.

“Yes.  I guess.  Why do you ask?”

“Because they don’t look like it.”
  She stated bluntly.

Ella took another look at their smiling faces and shrugged. “How can you tell?”

Letting out a low breath, Cassie pointed at Colin’s perfect face.  “In magazines and on television everyone looks happy and content, but you can always tell when they’re faking. It’s in their body language. See? They are leaning away from each other.”

Giving her friend a doubtful look she shook her head. 
“Maybe.  But they’ve been talking about having a baby.  So…”

“So, what?”
  Cassie stood slowly. “I’m sorry, Ella.  But I’m usually never wrong about this.” Stretching her arms out, she wiggled her fingers. “I should be a physic to the stars.  You know I called that whole Angelina Jolie-Brad Pitt thing long before it happened.”

Ella chuckled softly as she gave her sister’s picture another quick look.  Some part of her hoped her friend was wrong.
She didn’t want her sister unhappy.  Unfortunately, the ugly dark side of her, which she tried to ignore, hoped Cassie was right.

Amy Russo forged a smile as she entered her husband’s den. It took everything she had not to throw something at him when he didn’t even look up from his stupid computer. He knew she had entered he just didn’t care to say anything.

After four years of marriage nothing had changed.  Sure the first two years had been fun.  He took her shopping in Paris, fine dining in Italy, dropped thousands on her in London so she would look her best for a Royal Ball held by her Majesty the Queen.  Unfortunately, it had taken her those two years before she realized he wasn’t doing it for her.

Colin was a billionaire.  He rubbed elbows with not just the rich but the extremely wealthy.  She was nothing more than a prize to the “who has the prettiest wife” contest.  Now with the pressure from the media he had been talking baby.  It took everything she had not to laugh in his face when he basically
told
her that they should have a child.

Yeah, a baby wasn’t going to happen for them.  Not only is she not the motherly type, but having a child with a man who only wanted to look good for the press was out of the question.  No one should ever bring a child into a loveless marriage, ever.

“Colin.” Amy barked into the room tired of waiting for him to acknowledge her.

His emerald green eyes shot over to her from the monster sized computer screen. “Yes?”

He really was quite attractive, she will give him that.  Leya had told her once that he looked a lot like Christian Bale. In certain lights Amy would have to agree.  Regrettably, Bale look-a-like, billions in the bank, and a brain that would match Einstein’s doesn’t mean happily ever after.  She just wished she would have figured that out sooner.

Plastering on her fake smile she walked around his desk calmly. “I was thinking of taking a little vacation.”

He lifted one eye brow slightly. “Oh? Where might I ask?”

“I haven’t spent a lot of time with my sister lately.  I want to take her to our home in Hawaii, and spend some time with her.” Even though she stated her words matter-of-factly, her heart was racing. She couldn’t let him know what she was really up to.

She watched as he took a deep breath. “The opening of the new Egyptian exhibit is next week.  Will you be back before then?”

Ah, yes.
The Egyptian exhibit.  Colin’s new project had his whole team of archaeologist flying in and out of Egypt for the past few months in an endless fight to gain the attention of one woman.  Apparently this woman had connections in Egypt that would bring Colin’s project to a whole new level.