Words of Seduction (9 page)

For the next several weeks, Suzanne’s schedule focused on fixing up the house for her new family. With Rick’s unlimited bank account, she was able to hire one of the most premiere interior design firms in the area. Everything was redone to reflect their new lives. One particular project took precedent—Luke’s bedroom. Because she knew about his love for amphibians and other water creatures, she worked with designers to create a themed room.

After doing some research and contacting the Durham National Zoo, the designers created a special artificial lagoon in Luke’s bedroom. And when Luke finally saw it his face lit up.

“Wow. This is cool!” he had said and then dashed over to his greatest surprise—a large amphibian tank. Luke could not contain himself as he pressed his face against the glass of the enclosure, which was separated in two. On one side he could see several gray tree frogs, a small box turtle; on the other side a garter snake and two red-backed salamanders.

“That’s a tree frog!” he said, barely able to contain himself.

Suzanne nodded. “Yes.”

“Why is it not moving?”

“It is just relaxing and enjoying itself.”

He pointed. “What is that one?”

“Don’t tap the glass, honey. It’s called a box turtle.”

He snatched his hand back. “Will it bite me?”

“No. I’ll show you how to pick it up and take care of it.” As he moved slowly around the tank, Luke suddenly let out a high shriek. “Look at the snake! Look at the snake! Wow! That’s cool. Can it kill you?”

“Oh, no. It is not poisonous.”

“What is poisonous?”

“That means it has something inside it that could kill you. It won’t hurt you.”

As he looked closer, he saw something moving under a batch of fake leaves. “What is that flat thing?”

“It’s a salamander.”

“A sal-man-da?”

“No, a sal-la-man-der.”

“Oh, a sal-man-ner!”

“Yes.”

Rick came up behind them and shook his head. “Amazing.”

The aquarium was artfully decorated to provide round-the-year shelter for its inhabitants. In the winter, the snakes and box turtle could find small holes and large rocks to hibernate. The spotted salamander and the “masked” wood frog could find small pieces of fake rotting logs and layers of old leaves to hibernate. Since it was summer, a labyrinth of twigs, small plants and fake rocks provided ample place for them to sun themselves under the direct sun rays that
came through the large bedroom window and the artificial sunlamps.

“You didn’t have to do all this,” Rick said, looking at the mural on the wall that replicated an underwater cave, then the library of books on water creatures, and a lighted globe.

Suzanne shrugged, although she was pleased with his praise. “It’s your money.”

“But you’re the one who made my son happy.”

Luke hugged her leg. “I have the best room in the whole wide world. Thank you, Momma.”

“You’re welcome,” Suzanne said in an unsteady voice.

Luke ran over to his bed, grabbed a stuffed snake and started to make hissing noises.

Rick looked at her, curious. “You don’t mind, do you? I can have him call you something else.”

“No, it’s fine. I was just surprised. We’re not married yet.”

“Yes, and I plan to change that very soon.”

Although she knew the day would come, her heart still jumped to her throat. There was no turning back now. In two days she would be married.

“I
won’t marry you.”

Suzanne stared at the judge, dumbfounded. She and Rick stood in the courthouse before the Honorable Judge Jean Meadows while Luke and Mandy sat on the bench behind them. The judge was a formidable woman with a voice that belonged on radio. Her words were an unexpected development for such an extraordinary day, which started with Rick arriving on Suzanne’s doorstep.

“So you showed up,” she said when she saw him.

His gaze swept her cream-colored dress with admiration. “Nothing could keep me away.”

“You don’t have to worry. I’m very good at getting married.”

“I know. I was at your wedding.”

She blinked. “No, you weren’t.”

“Not as a guest, but as one of the help, which is no big surprise.”

“I didn’t know.”

“I didn’t want you to know. And just as I predicted you made a beautiful bride.”

“And now?”

His gaze measured her form. “Nothing’s changed.”

“Yes, well as we both know, getting married is easy. It’s staying married that’s hard.”

“It won’t be hard for us.”

“You sound certain.”

“I am. There’s no one to get in our way this time.”

But apparently he was wrong. Suzanne looked at her old family friend and knew that somehow luck was not on their side. “Excuse me?” she said, unsure she’d heard correctly.

“You might as well go home because I won’t marry you. You may have lost your mind, but I certainly haven’t. Your father would turn over in his grave if he knew you planned to shackle yourself to this man.” She gestured to Rick. “Yes, he may be handsome and now he’s got some money in his pockets, but I knew his father and the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

“I’m nothing like my father,” Rick said.

“How about your brother, then?” she countered.

Rick opened his mouth to reply, but Suzanne took his hand and stopped him.

Jean looked at Suzanne’s gesture with disgust. “Yes, you’ll have to keep him in line. He doesn’t drink, but I remember him as a boy and a young man and I know what he’s trying to set up. He’s marrying you for your reputation and to help him raise his little bastard.”

Rick narrowed his eyes and said with a cold note of warning, “Watch your words, Judge.”

She ignored him as though he were a cockroach who’d scurried into her courtroom. “You think you had trouble with Wallace? Do you honestly expect this one to be loyal to you?”

“Yes,” Suzanne said as Rick stood stiff beside her.

“And he won’t touch you?”

Feeling Rick’s anger, Suzanne squeezed his hand and calmly said, “No.”

“Liquor can change a man.”

“I don’t drink,” Rick said.

“I trust him,” Suzanne added.

“So you say,” Jean said with an ugly smile. “but that doesn’t matter. You may want to ruin your life, but I’m not going to help you.”

“It’s your obligation.”

The judge smiled. “Want to sue me?”

Rick began to turn. “Let’s go somewhere else.”

Suzanne didn’t move. “We’re staying right here.” She looked at Jean and remembered the judge’s many visits to her house. She’d been an attorney then. There had been rumors that she’d been one of her father’s mistresses, but Suzanne had never believed it. Now she wasn’t so sure. However, as she looked at Jean she didn’t see an adversary. She saw a woman who cared. Jean had also been at Melba’s trial and Suzanne remembered the tears she refused to let fall as Melba’s sentence was read. But Suzanne wasn’t Melba or the woman she’d been before. She had to let Jean know she could take care of herself. “Have you forgotten who I am?”

Jean’s smile fell. “Of course, I know—”

“Actually, I don’t believe you know as much as you need to or you wouldn’t be wasting our time. My name is Suzanne Rand and my father was a judge and my ex-husband was an attorney. I may not have gotten a degree but living with those two men in the legal field taught me a few things about the law and my rights. This is Rick Gordon the owner of a multimillion-dollar business with access to a team of top-notch lawyers. Now we want to get married today and you will comply or regret that you even woke up this morning. Am I clear?”

“Now, Suzanne—”

“I asked you a question.”

“Yes, you’re clear,” the judge said grimly. She tapped her desk with reluctant admiration. “I read that book of yours and real life doesn’t tie up as sweet and pretty as a story.”

“I know.”

The judge looked at Rick then Suzanne with a shrewd gaze. “They said you came back different.”

“They were right. Now let’s proceed.”

“Hmm, maybe I’m warning the wrong half of this pair.” Jean adjusted her glasses and turned her attention to Rick, finally addressing him as an equal. “You sure you want to go through with this?”

Rick sent her a glare so cold she nearly choked. She cleared her throat. “Very well,” she said then started the proceedings.

Suzanne left the courtroom still unable to grasp the choice she’d made. It was eerie being in the courthouse
again. It was like stepping into her past. This courthouse had been her second home. So many lives had been changed there—one being Melba Lowell’s. She and Rick had been in the courthouse together, but were separated by class, family and duty. In a strange way the Lowells had brought them together and torn them apart. She remembered seeing Rick with his mother and those who were on Melba’s side during her trial for killing her husband. Suzanne had wanted to talk to him then. They were only a few yards away from each other, but it felt like miles. Who would have thought that years later they’d enter the same courthouse and leave it as husband and wife? What would her parents say? What would the town say?

She turned to Rick and he looked like someone hiding secret thoughts.

The wedding ceremony was so different from her first. Her first had been a huge ordeal with more than three hundred guests, an orchestra and dozens and dozens of flowers everywhere. But the one similarity between the past and present was that the man beside her didn’t love her. At least she wasn’t naive this time. Suzanne didn’t expect anything. She thought about Jean’s words—was she being foolish again? Dare she trust him? Did he even care? Just like Wallace, all he wanted from her was her name. Her gaze fell to Luke, and his wide smile gave her strength. His warmth and acceptance made all the difference. Motherhood was something she’d wanted and now she had that chance. Luke would be the one man who would eventually love and trust her.

“Let’s go get ice cream,” she said, referring to the ice
cream parlor off the main street in town. For weeks she’d rarely ventured into town, especially in the daytime, but now she knew she was ready.

Rick came out of his thoughts and looked at Mandy. “Yes, go ahead, we’ll join you.”

Suzanne looked at him with concern. “What’s wrong?”

“I didn’t get you a present.”

She blinked at his strange reply. “I don’t need one. Besides I didn’t get you anything, either.”

He rubbed the back of his neck with agitation. “Why didn’t you turn away?”

“What?”

“That judge gave you every reason not to marry me and you still did. Why?”

“You can’t let Jean bother you.”

He repeated his question. “Why, Suzanne?”

“Rick, it’s no big deal.”

He stopped walking. “Answer my question.”

“Why does it matter?”

“It does. Why did you still marry me?”

She threw up her hands, exasperated. “Because of Luke.”

He searched her face, his tone intense. “That’s all?”

“Did you expect another reason?”

He sighed and his gaze fell. “No.” He turned. “Of course not.”

“Because the other reason is that I wanted to.”

He spun around. “You mean that?”

“Yes.”

“You don’t have to love me, but I’m glad that you want me.”

“What woman doesn’t want you?”

“I only care about one.” His mouth covered hers with such force that she stumbled back and had to hold on to him to keep from falling.

“Rick,” she breathed when he briefly drew away for air. “We can’t kiss like this here.”

“I’m kissing my bride. What’s wrong with that?”

She couldn’t come up with a response and soon she didn’t care. Normally, she didn’t believe in public displays of affection, but somehow she knew this was special—important. This was their first kiss as husband and wife. She let herself relax into his arms.

“Hey, what’s this?” Wallace said, appearing suddenly from one of the rooms. “Moving in on my territory, Gordon?”

“The only territory here belongs to me.”

Suzanne held up her hands. “I’m no one’s territory.”

The two men ignored her.

“You’re trying to stake claim?” Wallace said.

“I’ve already got the deed. She’s my wife.”

Wallace stared at Suzanne. “You’re kidding me. You really went through with it?”

“You knew?”

“I heard rumors. You can’t start redecorating your house without some talk slipping out.”

“Where did you hear the rumors?” Suzanne asked.

“People,” he said vaguely. “But I didn’t believe it. I thought you had better taste.”

“Go away, Wallace.”

He ignored her and addressed Rick. “Heard you had a kid and we all know you need someone for him, but don’t expect any more. She’s as barren as a dried up well. Isn’t that right, Suzanne?”

Suzanne gritted her teeth, but Rick grinned. “Are you sure you weren’t shooting blanks, Lyon?”

Wallace’s face went deep red. “Don’t mess with me, Gordon. I know things that could break up this little union.”

“Like what?”

“Ask your momma.”

Suzanne gripped Rick’s arm. “Let’s go. He’s just trying to goad you.”

Rick sent Wallace a look, then allowed Suzanne to drag him away.

“Forget about him. Don’t let him ruin this day.”

But Suzanne knew he’d already ruined it. She was well acquainted with Wallace’s underhanded ways. His father had been the prosecutor at Melba’s trial and he’d done a successful smear campaign. The Lyons could be dirty when they wanted something and his father had wanted Melba proven guilty and he’d won. She remembered the cries of outrage and the shouts of triumph when the verdict came down. She remembered seeing Melba being led away. Her former music teacher showed no reaction to the verdict and looked like the cold, heartless murderer they’d portrayed her to be. But Suzanne knew that wasn’t true. Later Melba would die in prison from ovarian cancer after completing four years of her thirty years to life sentence. But in a way she’d died the day she was convicted, maybe even before that.

Suzanne was eager to leave the courthouse and welcome the sight of the sun outside. She opened the door and seconds later a camera flashed. “Tell us about this special day,” a reporter said.

“I see news still travels fast in Anadale,” Suzanne said.

“Hey, every small town needs its celebrities and this story is hot. We already have three headlines,” said the wiry man with a large camera slung around his neck.

“I won’t even ask how you found out.” She glanced at Wallace as he got into his car.

“Can’t share my source.”

“We’ll give you the details another time,” Rick said.

“I hope so. My editor wants something on the front page and if it’s not your story it will be
a
story.”

“One filled with rumors and gossip?” Suzanne guessed, knowing how the local paper operated.

“One that will sell papers.” The reporter handed Suzanne his card. “You have twenty-four hours,” he said before leaving.

Rick took the card and shoved it in his pocket. “He’ll wait.”

Suzanne opened her mouth to reply then saw Luke sitting on the front courthouse steps while Mandy spoke to a guard. Suzanne went up to her, politely told the guard they had to go, and said to Mandy, “What happened to the ice cream?”

“Oh, I was going to get it, but that nice young man started to tell me about when this courthouse was built and I just love history and—”

“Fine, you can go and continue that conversation. We’re leaving.” She held her hand out to Luke. “Come on, we’re going into town.” She walked away and didn’t notice Rick saying something to Mandy before he joined her.

“You’re going to have to let her go,” she said. “I wouldn’t trust her to watch a school of fish.”

“I know, but she’s family and needed the work and you have to help family.”

Suzanne sent him a curious look. “How many family members are you helping?”

“Enough,” Rick said, not wanting to elaborate, but Suzanne could hear the burden in his voice. He was the “successful one” and his obligation was clear. “She’s the last one and I got her on short notice.”

“Why did you need her on short notice?”

“I had to fire the last nanny on the spot.”

“Why?” Suzanne asked, intrigued by his vagueness.

He glanced at his son then lowered his voice. “She was starting to get ideas that our relationship could be something more.”

“Oh.”

“It’s happened a few times.”

Suzanne flashed a sly grin. “I thought you’d have fun with that.”

“Not when I have a business to run.”

“Why not hire a man, then?”

He glanced away. “I did once.”

The way he said the words made her look closely at him and she saw a tinge of red in his cheeks. “He fell for you?”

Rick studied a passing car.

Suzanne burst into laughter.

“It’s not funny.”

She laughed harder and Rick couldn’t help a smile. “It was very awkward.”

Suzanne covered her mouth, trying to contain herself. “I can imagine.” At that thought she burst into fresh peals of laughter. Eventually she sobered. “I guess I’m helping you in more ways than one.”

“Yes.”

Suzanne spotted a drugstore. “I need to stop in there for a few things before we get the ice cream. Okay?”

Suzanne entered the store and grabbed a basket. She hadn’t gone in since her return and not much had changed. It still had a country charm. She saw the clerk, Hannah Fulford, and in a flash the image of a young girl in a short pink dress entered her mind, but quickly vanished. Unlike her cousin, she didn’t look as though she’d ever entered a salon, keeping her hair and features natural. But the years had been kind to her and, though she no longer wore short dresses, her khaki trousers and linen blouse emphasized an attractive figure. However, Suzanne could see that her feelings for Rick had not changed because she cast a wary eye on Rick and Luke, but when she saw Suzanne she smiled. “Suzanne! Nice to see you here. You haven’t been in town much.”