“Wow, you’re right. This is an invasion,” Ethan said. His face lit up. “It’s quite exciting.”
He handed me the smallest bag and seized the handles of the two large suitcases. Lucille must have been watching us from some window, because we didn’t get three steps up before she burst out of the entrance with two of her temporary wedding employees beside her. She muttered some orders and nodded at us. They rushed down to take the bags.
“Welcome back, Ethan,” she said. He smiled up at her and quickly hurried to kiss her on both cheeks, something she loved men and even women to do. “Semantha, why don’t you show Bob and Steve where to take the bags?” she said. “I need to steal Ethan for ten minutes before you capture all of his attention. Let’s go to the office,” she told him.
Ethan flashed a smile at me
, shrugged, and followed her obediently. I had given Daddy and her only a general idea of when Ethan would arrive, yet she pounced as if she had known the exact moment. It seemed nothing was going on in this house and on this estate without her involvement and control. It was as if she were deciding when we would all eat, sleep, and breathe. Whatever she had for Ethan surely could have waited until he was settled in and we had spent some time together. Fuming, I quickly realized that her two employees were standing there holding Ethan’s suitcases and waiting for me to give them instructions.
“Oh, just follow me up the stairs,” I said briskly, and marched in and up to Ethan’s room. I told them to leave the suitcases next to the bed. They seemed to feel my rage, because they left instantly without glancing at me or saying a word. Then I sat on his bed and pouted like a child until I heard him rushing up the stairway and down the hall.
“There you are,” he said.
“What did she want? What could she possibly want from you immediately? What couldn’t wait until you settled in after so long a trip?” I demanded, firing all of my questions in one breath. I could feel the crimson heat in my face.
“Oh, she was just nervous about my starting at the store because she’s too occupied with everything that’s going on here. She had some last-minute instructions,” he said, making it all seem innocent and unworthy of my displeasure.
He kissed my cheek and brushed my hair back.
“It could have waited,” I insisted. “You’re not going to work until after the wedding.”
“No. She wants me to start tomorrow. She thinks it’s a waste of time for me not to get right in there.”
“Tomorrow?”
“I gotta say, she’s really rooting for me, hoping I’ll be a success. Besides, she wanted to know if I had a tux for the wedding. I didn’t realize that I needed one. It’s my first real black-tie event. She picked up the phone and immediately ordered Erickson to arrange for my fitting tomorrow morning before anything else. She went on and on about the wedding and the important businesspeople I’ll meet. So many dignitaries are attending, too. I had no idea. It’s a Who’s Who of Kentucky society and then some.”
This was exactly what I didn’t want, the two of us so caught up in the wedding that we ignored each other. He saw the look on my face and added, “But I told her I just had to get back to you.”
I didn’t believe him, but I didn’t say so. He put his suitcases on the bed and began to unload them. Without another word, I helped him organize and hang up his clothes. He must have been nervous about his decision to accept the offer, because he talked without taking a breath, describing his parents’ reactions to his career decision, what he had been doing with the time he had spent at home, the impatience he’d had waiting for his moment of departure, and the weather he’d encountered on the journey.
“I hated the rain because it slowed me down.” He finally took a breath and looked at me. “And what have you been doing all this time?”
“Waiting for this wedding to be over,” I replied sharply. “It can’t end soon enough for me.”
“Hold it,” he said.
He stopped what he was doing and took my hands into his, leading me back to the settee as if I were his little girl and not his girlfriend. We both sat.
“What?”
“I know what you’re going through,” he began.
“Do you?”
“Yes, I do. It’s understandable. You’re upset because your father’s swept up in all this and not paying much attention to you. It’s natural for you to resent Lucille, too.”
“Everyone’s my therapist,” I said.
“I’m not trying to be a therapist. I’m just trying to reassure you that things will settle down, and besides, I’m here now, and I’ll be at your side and taking up your time. I’d rather you not think of anything or anyone else but me, anyway.”
“At my side? You’re going to work, Ethan. Immediately, it seems, and that will occupy you quite a bit. I’m sure she has a lot more for you to do than you can imagine. Lucille made that pretty clear when she swooped down on you the moment you arrived.”
“Yes, I know, but no matter what work they give me, I’ll be hurrying back to you at the end of the day, and we’ll spend every other waking moment together. Maybe,” he said, smiling, “sleeping moments, too. She’d better not try to interfere with that. It would take a crowbar to pry us apart.” He sounded a bit like my father. He winked.
I had to smile at his coyness.
“That’s better. That’s the girl I came rushing back to,” he said.