“Do you ladies need any help?” Chad asked as he stepped out of the bathroom next to the kitchen.
“No, we’re good,” Desire’s mother said.
Desire gave him a nervous smile. “Why don’t you join Daddy in the living room? We’ll be right in.”
“Yes, dear. Dinner was delish.”
“Only because I didn’t make it.”
“I’m not marrying you for your cooking, darling.” He blew her a conspiratorial kiss, and walked away.
“Poor man. He’ll be eating out a lot,” Desire’s mother said in jest as she scooped blueberry-plum crisp into dessert bowls. “When you invited us over, I thought you’d be cooking, and frankly I was a little worried.”
Desire smiled as she topped off the crisp with vanilla bean ice cream. “Like mother, like daughter, Mom.”
“You got me there, baby.” Her mother paused to look Desire up and down. “By the way, I’ve been meaning to tell you that I love your dress. It’s gorgeous. Is it new?”
Desire blushed as she took a quick glance at her pink and black butterfly lace mini dress. Since she’d had no other clothes at the hotel but the gown she’d worn to dinner the previous night, Chase had gone down to the hotel’s boutique to purchase this dress half an hour before she had to leave to meet her patents. “Yes, it’s new.” She licked a speck of ice cream from her finger.
“Is it a replica of one of our favorite designers?”
“It’s an Alexander McQueen. And it’s the real thing. Not a replica,” she replied, deciding to be honest about at least one thing tonight.
Her mother dropped the serving spoon on the counter, her admiration turning to reproof. “Desire Summers, McQueen is one of the top designers in the country. It must have cost a small fortune. Remember what I told you about letting your overnight success go to your head, baby. You should be saving your money, especially now that you’re getting married. What would your fiancé say if he knew you’d spent that kind of money on a dress?”
“He’d say that I look beautiful since he bought it for me.”
“Chad bought you that? Wow, his practice must be doing a lot better than I thought if he can afford to throw that kind of money at a dress.”
“Believe me, my fiancé can afford it. If he couldn’t, I would have made him return it.” Her heart skipped a beat as she glanced through the kitchen window to see Azura’s car entering the Hunters’ driveway. Soon, soon she’d be able to tell the whole truth. She picked up the tray with a stack of glasses and a pitcher of iced tea and headed out of the kitchen.
“Fancy takeout dinners and designer dresses. I still say you should be saving for your children’s college,” her mother said, following behind her with the tray laden with the bowls of dessert. “Kids are expensive.”
Desire just smiled, happy she and Chase had thought to swap out the huge diamond for the simpler, more modest one Chad had bought her. It had been Chad’s idea. The attorney in him had seen the potential problem and the barrage of questions that would have given them away. She wished she’d thought to change her dress before her family arrived.
The men stood up when they walked into the living room, but her mother shooed them back to their seats. “Sit, sit. You cleared the dinner table and put the leftovers away. This is ours.” She placed the tray on the coffee table and began handing out the bowls, utensils, and napkins.
Desire poured the iced tea, grinning at her mother’s take-charge attitude, a trait that had earned her Evergreen’s Principal of the Year several years in a row. She was orderly, organized, and always did her fair share of the work, but her school had thrived because of her ability to match the right staff member with the right duty. She’d run her home the same way, and tonight, she’d taken charge of Desire’s dinner party, doling out orders as if she still lived here.
“This brings back memories of when we used to entertain in our younger days, doesn’t it, Ruth?” her father asked her mother.
“It sure does, honey. And just like Desire, we served takeout. Not as elaborate as this, but it was either takeout, or lose our friends.”
Desire’s heart warmed at her father’s enthusiastic chuckle.
“Now, Chad and Desire are picking up the baton,” he added. “Do you intend to live here, in this house, after you’re married?”
Desire’s hand shook as she set the pitcher down on the tray.
“We haven’t planned that far yet,” Chad answered, picking up on her hesitation to string another lie on to the chain they had already forged.
“Mmm. This is delicious,” her mother stated around a mouthful of the crisp. “I’ll have to walk an extra mile tomorrow, but that’s okay. It’s worth it.” She rubbed her stomach. “I think I need to make a little room though. I gorged myself on dinner.” She headed for the stairs.
“I should probably skip dessert,” Desire said, as she sat down next to Chad on a mini sofa facing the porch. “I want to fit into my wedding gown.”
“Since you brought it up, I’d love to hear about your wedding plans,” her father said, as he took his first bite of the crisp.
She closed her eyes in exasperation when she realized she’d opened the door to the conversation she’d been trying to delay all evening. “Remember, Daddy, we have to wait until Chad’s mom arrives before we start talking about the wedding.”
“You could at least tell me where the ceremony will take place. Chad, you and your family are members of Evergreen Congregational, but I think you should get married at Granite Falls Community Church since that’s where the bride’s family worships. No offense.”
“We’re not getting married in a church,” Desire said, in a low voice.
“Not in a church? You can’t be serious.”
“I’m—we’re very serious, Daddy. We’re exchanging our vows in Evergreen’s Garden Maze.”
He set his bowl down and sat forward, his hands on his knees. “The garden maze? Are you out of your mind? No daughter of mine is getting married in a garden maze. As long as I’m paying for this wedding, I have a say in where it takes place.”
I’m not asking you to pay for it, and I know you won’t when you hear whom I’m marrying. “No, you don’t have any say, Daddy.” Desire met her father’s authoritative stare. A vision of him ripping up Chase’s letter flashed across her mind. “It’s what I want. What we want,” she added, smiling at Chad.
Last night and earlier today, during their few breaks from lovemaking, Desire and Chase had discussed the details of their wedding ceremony, honeymoon, and her dinner party.
Chase had suggested that perhaps the Hunters should skip tonight’s dinner. He wanted her to enjoy her meal with her family since it might be the last time the Summerses would dine together for a while—at least until her father’s opinion of him changed. She couldn’t argue with him, but she’d been concerned that her family would find it strange that Chad was absent during the discussion of his own wedding plans.
After a quick phone call, Chad had agreed to keep up the farce. Azura had deliberately taken a shift at the hospital so she wouldn’t have to lie about declining the dinner invitation, and Chase was keeping a low profile until Chad called to let him know that dinner was over.
Chase had also told her about his phone call with Lisa. He’d suggested that since Lisa was invited, Desire should talk with her before the party. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately for Desire, Lisa had left for Rhode Island early this morning to take care of a problem in one of her company’s stores. She was not expected back until tomorrow. By then, Desire’s family would have already been told, and she would break the news to Lisa herself.
With their conspiracy in motion, Desire and Chad had requested that they delay discussing the wedding plans until dessert when Azura would join them. Her parents still had no idea that Chase was in town. They’d talked about old times, about her and Chad growing up next to each other, work, careers, and a host of other pleasant topics while they feasted on a four-course meal that started with pomegranate spritzers, prosciutto cantaloupe bites, and a variety of seafood appetizers, followed by a tomato and watermelon salad. The main course, rosemary braised lamb, was complemented with roasted garlic mashed potatoes, and grilled vegetables.
Desire had ordered takeout from Ristorante Andreas on her way home. She’d chosen lamb because it was her father’s favorite. From the way her family had devoured the dishes, she knew it wasn’t just her mother who’d been happy she hadn’t cooked. The meal wasn’t cheap, but since she was about to marry a billionaire, money wasn’t an issue.
Besides, if it weren’t for that said billionaire holding her captive in his bachelor penthouse pad for almost twenty-four straight hours, she might have had time to throw some ingredients together. Butterflies fluttered around in Desire’s stomach, but she quickly suppressed the visions of Chase and her tangled up in each other’s arms in his penthouse. Neither of them had wanted to leave, but they knew that the sooner their families were aware of their intentions, the sooner they could get on with their lives.
“Are you challenging me, Desire?” her father asked, breaking into her stroll down memory lane.
“Yes, Daddy,” Desire said without a moment’s hesitation. I should have challenged you twelve years ago. If I had, the grandchildren you want so badly would be sitting at your feet right now. “I love and respect you, Daddy,” she added, meeting his belligerent stare, “but this is my wedding, and I make the decisions.”
“We have a beautiful church. Even the billionaires realize the importance and sanctity of exchanging their vows in church. You planned that wedding, Desire. It’s what made you famous.”
“She just wants something different, Mr. Summers.” Chad, who was aware of the significance of the garden, came to her defense.
“Enough with the ‘Mr. Summers,’ Chad. You’re marrying my daughter. It’s time you start calling me Dad.”
Biting her lower lip, Desire looked away, out the window to the porch, praying silently for Chase and Azura to show up soon so she could stop lying to her family.
“What’s wrong with our church that you don’t want to get married in it, Desire?”
Turning her head, she recaptured her father’s gaze. “Nothing’s wrong with the church, Daddy. It’s just that I want to exchange my vows in a place that means something to me.”
“Are you saying the church means nothing to you?” He took a sip of iced tea.
“Of course not. The maze is where I first declared my love for Ch—for my fiancé. It’s where I want to pledge my heart and my soul to him.” My body, too. “Is that so bad, Daddy?”
“Is what so bad?” her mother asked, walking back into the room and taking a seat next to her father.
“Our daughter is planning to get married in the garden.”
Her mother’s eyebrows raised in question. “Evergreen Garden Maze?”
Desire nodded.
“I think that’s very romantic, baby.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
“Why are we discussing your wedding?” she asked, picking up her bowl of fruit crisp. “Weren’t we supposed to wait for Azura?”
“The joining of two souls is sacred,” her husband said, completely disregarding his wife’s concern about waiting for Desire’s neighbor. “A wedding ceremony should only take place in a church, by a minister, in the sight of God.”
“Pastor Kelly will be performing the ceremony,” Chad said. “I’m sure he’ll bring God along, since they always travel together, sir.”
“Good one, Chad,” Desire’s mom said on a snicker.
Desire giggled, warmly remembering Chad’s uncanny ability to lighten any dark situation with his humor and wit. If she weren’t in love with Chase, and if Chad weren’t gay, she knew they would have found a way to make it work if she’d been pressured into marrying him.
Her father raised his hand, bringing her and her mother’s humor to a halt. “When I said I want to walk you down the aisle, I meant it,” he said. “The aisle is in the church where God is.”
“Are you telling me that God can only be found in church? If that’s the case, then I guess the millions of folks who can’t go to church for one reason or the other are eternally doomed. Come on Gerry, even you know you sound ridiculous.”
Defeated, her father grumbled something under his breath and cut his eyes at his wife, much in the same way Desire did when she was backed into a corner. Stubborn as he was, her heart warmed with affection for him, even as her anxiety grew about what his reaction would be when he came face-to-face with his future son-in-law.
Her mother took a sip of iced tea. “The garden maze is a very romantic place to have a wedding, and as the mother-of-the-bride, I give my approval and blessings. Since your father already opened up the discussion, have you begun working on a guest list yet? Who’s coming to this wedding?”
“Well, we—” A mixture of feelings surged through her at the sound of footsteps on the porch steps. Finally, her reinforcements had arrived. She swallowed her panic when the door opened and Lisa walked in.
“Hey, everybody,” she said in her cheerful Lisa voice. “Sorry I couldn’t make dinner, but I’m here now.”
“Lisa,” Desire whispered. “What are you doing here? I mean, I thought you weren’t coming back until around midnight.”
“I thought so, too. But it turns out that I didn’t even have to drive to Rhode Island, according to the boss of my boss.” She stepped inside and closed the door behind her. “Seems I got back just in time for dessert.” She eyed the bowls of crisp with a hungry glint in her eyes.
“You can have mine.” Desire held out the bowl she hadn’t touched. She hadn’t eaten much at dinner either, but neither her parents nor Chad seemed to notice her lack of appetite.
Lisa snatched the bowl from Desire’s hand. “You shouldn’t be eating this anyway, not when you have to fit into that lovely wedding dress.” She flopped down on the other end of the sectional, dropped her purse on the floor, and delved into the dessert.
“You found a dress already?” Desire’s mother asked.
“Yes, Mom. I um—I placed one on hold at Princess Brides earlier today.” The exclusive boutique was close to Hotel Andreas, so she’d stopped there on her way home and had fallen in love with the dress that had arrived yesterday.
Chase had told her that he wanted her to have everything and anything she wanted to make her wedding day perfect. He’d said that the sky was the limit and he’d handed her an American Express card with her name on it. Desire had wept when she realized that he’d been planning to include her in his life during the years they’d been separated. How could she ever doubt that he was devoted to her?
“Desire, that’s the most sophisticated and expensive bridal boutique around. Their cheapest dress costs five times more than the most expensive one at Bride of the Day. How can you—”
“The groom is paying for it. He can well afford it, Mrs. Summers,” Chad said with a smile.
“I hope so,” Lisa said around a mouthful of dessert. “Because that dress is to-die-for.”
“You already saw it?” Desire’s mother asked with a trace of jealousy in her voice.
“Desire texted me a picture this afternoon. Wait until you see it, Aunt Ruth.” Lisa reached for her handbag.
“Not yet, Lisa,” Desire said hastily to stop her cousin from messing up her plan, even more than her unexpected appearance already had. She watched her mother’s envious pout. “I sent it to Lisa when I thought she would miss dinner,” she said. “I was planning to show it to everyone else at the same time once Mrs. Hunter gets here.”
“Sorry, cuz. Me and my big mouth.” Lisa gave her an apologetic smile. “But I still say ‘Yes’ to the dress.” She grinned at Chad and gave him a thumbs-up. “You’re the man.”
“Thanks, Lisa. Desire’s happiness equals my happiness. By the way, what was the problem with your company?” he asked, astutely and diplomatically taking the opportunity to change the subject, to Desire’s delight.
“Several shipments we were expecting last night never arrived. The drivers of one of the shipping companies we use went on strike without notice. Inside sabotage of some kind. Anyway, I was told that all regional managers were expected at headquarters, but it turned out not to be true.” She sighed and poured herself a glass of iced tea.
“So you drove down there for nothing,” her aunt said.
“Yep, a huge waste of my day. Good thing they’re paying for my gas. Headquarters is scrambling to find the truckloads of merchandise that were already en route, and trying to secure new drivers. But that’s the big wigs’ problem.” She took a sip from her glass. “Let’s not dwell on that. We have a wedding to plan,” she said, grinning at Desire. “What did I miss?”
Desire’s stomach tightened as her mind jumped ahead to the moment when Lisa would learn that she was in love with Chase and that they had slept together two days after he’d slept with Lisa. Lisa would have every right to feel used, but what was done was done. Desire couldn’t let her cousin be humiliated in front of her family and the Hunters like this. Lisa didn’t deserve it. Desire stood up. “Lisa, can we—”
“Your cousin is getting married in the garden maze.” Her father waved his hand, motioning Desire to sit back down.
“What’s wrong with that, Uncle Gerry?”
“Your uncle thinks it’s unholy to get married anywhere but in a church, but I think it’s romantic.”
“I’m with you, Aunt Ruth. The important thing is that the bride and groom are happy. And they look pretty happy to me.” She tossed a grin at Chad and Desire. “You all set a date yet? I need to start planning a bridal shower. I already have the perfect venue in mind. It’s gonna be the bomb.”
“That’s right. You haven’t given us a date.” Her mother sat forward and placed her empty bowl on the coffee table. “Have you set one?”
Desire glanced at Chad who shrugged questioningly. Of course, he knew nothing about the details of the wedding she and Chase had planned. She dropped into her seat, her mind fluttering away in anxiety. “We’re supposed to wait for Mrs. Hunter,” she said, stalling. She’d hoped that Chase and Azura would be present by the time these questions were hurled at them. Chase had been alerted. Azura had been home for a while. So what on earth was keeping them?
“Oh come on, who knows when she’ll get out of work? We’re already talking about it,” Lisa prompted.
Desire took a deep breath as all eyes trained on her, even Chad’s. “It’s on Tuesday, day after tomorrow.”
“That soon? What’s the rush? Are you pregnant, girl?”
The questions hit her simultaneously, but the one from Lisa packed a fierce punch.
Desire wrapped her arms around her stomach and stared cautiously at the stunned faces, including Chad’s. She could have conceived last night, or this morning, or this afternoon.
“Oh my God, you are!” Lisa took her silence as confirmation. She waved her hands above her head and stamped her feet on the floor like a schoolgirl who’d just heard the boy she liked broke up with her biggest rival. “That’s why you’re in a hurry to get hitched. When did you lose it? Up until last month, you were a virgin. Well, at least that’s what you told me. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Chad, you sneaky—”
“Lisa!” Desire’s father stomped his foot, bringing silence raining down upon them.
While Lisa sat back and pursed her lips, Desire took in the look of astonishment on her mother’s face. She had no idea if it was the fact that Desire had remained a virgin all these years, or the possibility that she was going to be a grandmother sooner than she thought that had rendered her mother speechless. Even though Ruth Summers had always been the one to remain calm when her family was in turmoil, it was hard to know how she was currently feeling. Her father’s reaction was definitely a different matter, and true to his nature.
Desire held her breath as he placed his bowl down on the coffee table, took a sip of iced tea, and then pushed to his feet with a lot more vigor than she’d seen in him for a long time. In the next instant, he was towering over her and Chad. She held Chad’s hand, ready to defend him if her father dared to attack.
“Chad,” he began, “I always thought you were a respectable young man, so the other night when my daughter told me you’d proposed and that she’d accepted, I was filled with joy. But the thoughts of you making a baby—”
“Daddy!” Desire could not sit idly and let her father rip into Chad.
“I’m not done, Desire,” he said, not taking his eyes from Chad.
“Yes, you are. I won’t let you accuse Chad of something he—”
“Accuse him? I’m not accusing him of anything. I’m thanking him for making my last two wishes come true. Stand up, both of you.” He stepped back and opened his arms.
Still reeling from the shock of her father’s reaction, Desire looked at Chad, shaking her head, letting him know that he didn’t have to pretend any longer, that it was over, but he pulled her to her feet and into her father’s bear hug.
Her mother, with tears in her eyes, and Lisa grinning like an idiot, joined in the cheers, hugging and kissing and applauding them, patting her on the belly and Chad on the back until…
“I guess I missed whatever you’re excited about,” a voice said.
All eyes turned to the door. Desire’s heart skipped at the sight of Azura standing just inside the screen door. She had changed from her scrubs into a striped blue and white summer dress. Chase was nowhere in sight.
“We’re going to be grandparents, Azura.” Desire’s mother ran over to hug her.
“We are?” Azura’s brows furrowed as she stared at her son, and then her future daughter-in-law. “Desire, are you expecting?” she asked, walking over to the group, still huddled together.
“I—um—I—” She dropped her gaze at the realization that Azura was the only person in the room who knew exactly where Desire had spent last night and most of today.
Chase had called to tell his mother where they were after she’d tried repeatedly and unsuccessfully to get in touch with him. Desire also knew that Chad hadn’t yet told his mother that he was gay, and that she might be concerned that Desire didn’t know the father of her hypothetical child, because at this point, that’s all it was. Hypothetical. She could only imagine the thoughts running through the woman’s head, especially since she herself had been caught in a vindictive, jealous war between two brothers.
Azura placed a hand on Chad’s cheek. Her eyes were flat and burning with unspoken turmoil. “Are you claiming this, son?” she asked quietly.
Chad shook his head. “No, Mom. I’m not. I can’t. It’s not mine.”
Azura dropped her hand and closed her eyes, her mouth moving in a silent prayer of thanks.
“Desire, what are you saying? What is he saying?” Her mother’s voice was a dull cry.
“You’ve been sleeping with someone else other than Chad?” Lisa asked. “Dang, Desire. When you’re out, you’re out, huh?”
“How can you do this to us, Desire? How can you be engaged to one man and carrying another’s child? I didn’t raise you like this. Hasn’t this family suffered enough already?” Her father’s voice seemed to shake the very foundation of the house.
The disdain and accusations ripped through Desire, rendering her motionless. The fact that she’d been a thirty-year-old virgin didn’t matter to her father. All he could see were the headlines with the Summers family name once again in the middle of a scandal.
She opened her mouth in an attempt to clarify the confusion, to tell them that if she were indeed pregnant she was in love with the father of her baby and that they were going to be married. There would be no scandal, but nothing came out.
“Who’s the father of your child, Desire?” her father demanded.
“Okay, hold up!” Azura raised her hands in the air, demanding silence. “It’s too soon for Desire to know if she’s pregnant.”
“Too soon?” her father shouted. “What do you mean by too soon?”
“You work in the maternity ward at the hospital, Azura,” her mother stated. “Is Desire your patient?”
Azura smiled lovingly at Desire. “I had no idea you were a virgin all these years, that you’d kept yourself for him. I understand the bond. It’s true love.”
“What bond, and who are you talking about?” her mother asked.
Azura turned to Desire’s parents. “Ruth, Gerry, I haven’t consulted with your daughter as a patient. I haven’t consulted with her at all. But I know this much, if your daughter is pregnant, the child belongs to—”
“Chase!” Lisa screamed.