Chapter 31
Exactly one week later, Meri welcomed her fiancé, fresh from yet another round of meetings with DeVon, for a do-over of the engagement party. March had come in like a lamb, soft and warm, and the cellophane on the enormous bouquet he’d brought her crackled when they hugged. “You’re early.”
He grinned. “On my best behavior to make up for keeping your family waiting last week.”
“You had a good excuse. Tell me the latest.”
“Gloria signed the papers this morning.”
With a little squeal, she hugged him again, accepted the flowers, and gestured him toward the solarium, where Savvy, Char, and Papa paced with their wineglasses.
“Let’s go share the news.”
“Hold on. I have something else to tell you.”
Her smile faded.
“This morning I called the head of the jewelry department at Gates to tell him Harrington’s is going to make college visits a regular part of their new buying routine. After all, that’s how I found you. He remembered you well. Talked about how deserving you were of the Purchase Prize.”
Meri’s brows twitched.
“Do you know how it was that your work was selected?”
She shrugged. “The faculty picks the one they like best. Pretty straightforward.”
“The faculty does not pick. They recruit outside judges to select the winner. Working artists, other schools’ faculty. It’s a blind judging. You have no reason to doubt that you won on merit.”
Meri stood up straighter. “Who told you that I doubted myself?” Then it hit her. “Jasmine. Hannah.” She shouldn’t be surprised. They’d already demonstrated a tendency to talk.
“They care about you. That’s why they told me. Maybe your father did give that school a pile of money, but none of the judges knew about that. You won that prize anonymously, fair and square.”
Now Meri had a twin triumph to add to his. Their eyes met, brimful of meaning as her heart swelled with joy at the promise of the future next to this man who was always thinking of her needs, even when they weren’t together. Because of Mark, she’d dropped her obsession with proving her self-worth as easily as shedding a winter coat on the first day of spring, and her shoulders went back with a newfound dignity. Mark loved her just the way she was. And because of him, maybe for the first time, she loved herself.
This evening, the moment Mark and Meri presented themselves with arms draped around each other’s waists, her sisters gave a collective sigh of relief.
When Meri informed Papa what the Harrington’s CFO had done, his outrage over employee misconduct overshadowed his fury at Mark leaving his daughter high and dry at her own engagement party. Right or wrong, that was Papa. Business trumped love.
Papa seized Mark’s hand and clapped his shoulder.
“Bonsoir, monsieur. I regret to hear of your recent troubles. I can think of nothing worse than corporate treason.”
“I appreciate it, sir.”
“What is the current state of affairs?”
With a hand to his forearm, Savvy said, “Papa, not now. You can talk business later.” She turned to Mark with a bottle and a glass. “Champagne?”
“It’s okay.” He accepted the flute, then turned to Papa. “I bought out my aunt today. Harrington’s belongs to me now.”
Papa beamed with admiration. “And your aunt. How is she?”
“Gloria once said she wanted to die at her desk at age ninety. Didn’t trust anyone else with the reins of the company—even her own nephew, thanks to Dick conspiring to make me look incompetent. Dick was the only one who could have eventually persuaded her to retire, if he’d just played it straight, hung in there a couple more years. She was completely sucked in by the guy—still is. But he knew Harrington’s was in trouble. He got impatient, started manipulating people and events.” Mark grimaced. “I caught him. Now she’ll be enjoying her beach house without him.”
“You will prosecute, of course,” said Papa.
“I promised Gloria I wouldn’t, in return for selling me her interest. Even though she won’t have anything more to do with him, she can’t bear the thought of him in jail.”
Char stepped toward them. “Shouldn’t we have a toast or something?”
Xavier raised his glass and puffed out his chest. “Félicitations.”
Five glasses clinked.
Still facing Mark, Papa indicated Meri with a head toss. “And bon chance. You are going to have the need of it.”
Without warning, Papa pursed his lips and dove left. When Mark realized what was happening he scrambled to his own right, resulting in a crashing of noses and an unintended brushing of male lips.
Feminine laughter rang through the big house. Mark couldn’t scrub the back of his hand across his mouth hard enough, while Papa affected a look of grand hauteur and pretended nothing had happened.
Even Bruno couldn’t hide the twinkle in his eye as he announced that dinner was served.