Читать книгу The Kincaids: Southern Seduction: Sex, Lies and the Southern Belle - Day Leclaire, Kathie DeNosky - Страница 9

After a miserable couple of hours waiting for her morning sickness to subside, Lily sat with her elbow propped on her art table, her chin cupped in her palm. She wasn’t accomplishing anything by staring off into space, but she couldn’t seem to settle down to work. All she had been able to think about since reading her father’s letter the night before was what she was going to do with the Beauchamp property.

She had never been inside the structure, but from the outside the beautiful four-story antebellum mansion had always captured her eye. With three levels of piazzas overlooking White Point Gardens and Charleston Harbor beyond, she was almost certain that the Sullivan’s Island Lighthouse and Fort Sumter could be seen in the distance.

She smiled wistfully. As a child, whenever she had passed by the stately double house, she had imagined how wonderful it would be to stand in the cupola on top of the tall roof and pretend to be a princess, surveying her kingdom below. And now the home she had thought to be as grand as any castle was actually hers.

What on earth was she going to do with it? It was such a big house and she didn’t need all that space. Of course, when the baby came there would be the two of them, but it was still going to be much more room than they would need.

As she pondered what to do with the mansion, she was reminded of her father’s warning. What had he meant when he told her that she would meet with opposition from Charlotte Addison? What was that all about?

Deciding she wasn’t getting anything done anyway, Lily left her art table and walked over to the laptop on her desk. With everything being accessible online these days, she should be able to find out some of the mansion’s history and the connection that Daniel’s mother had with the place. A few of the homes in the Battery had been passed from one generation to the next, never being occupied by anyone outside of the family who built them. A sense of dread began to settle in the pit of Lily’s stomach.

Her suspicions were confirmed when the first link she clicked on was a twenty-year-old article on homes in the Battery. According to the reporter from the Post and Courier, Charleston’s newspaper, the mansion had been in Colonel Samuel Beauchamp’s family since it was built in the late 1700s. It went on to read that the home had been passed down to his descendants and, at the time the article was written, belonged to Mrs. Charlotte Beauchamp-Addison, who anticipated keeping it in the family when she eventually passed it on to her son, Daniel.

A chill traveled the length of Lily’s spine. No wonder Charlotte Addison had treated her so poorly when she had shown up with Daniel at the dinner party. She obviously resented the fact that Reginald Kincaid, one of the nouveau riche, as the woman had called him, had purchased her ancestral home. Lily had been condemned simply because she was his daughter. If the mansion had meant so much to her, what could have possibly caused Charlotte to sell it to him?

Lily suddenly caught her breath. Did Daniel know about all this? Was he aware that her father had bought the home he was supposed to own one day and could that be the reason he had become interested in her to begin with? Had he hoped to somehow use his association with her to get the Beauchamp mansion back into his family?

Frowning, she nibbled on her lower lip. She didn’t think that was the case. He had told her on more than one occasion that he loved the new condo he’d bought after his divorce. It was close to the Addison Industries office building and within walking distance of Charleston’s French Quarter.

Trying to unravel her tangled thoughts, Lily jumped when the phone rang. “Hello Matt,” she said, recognizing her brother’s office number on the caller ID.

“Lily, could you do me a favor and watch Flynn one night a week for the next several weeks?” Her brother sounded rushed and she could only imagine the tremendous amount of stress he was under after hearing that Jack Sinclair was going to be in control of The Kincaid Group.

“Of course,” she said, smiling. “You know how much I love my nephew.”

“Great. RJ and I are going to be working late for who knows how long and I’m trying to line up babysitters,” Matt explained.

“What nights do you need me?” Lily asked. She loved spending time with Flynn and found that playing with him had inspired some of her best illustrations.

“Are you free Thursday evenings?” he asked. “Laurel is watching him Mondays and Kara has Tuesdays and Wednesdays covered.”

“That’s fine. What about the weekends?”

“He’s going to spend Friday nights and all day on Saturdays with Mom.” Lily heard him shuffle papers and realized Matt was trying to work and arrange child care at the same time. “I’ve already told RJ that Jack Sinclair can wait on the reports he wants until hell freezes over if need be, but Sundays are mine with Flynn and I’m not going to give that up for Sinclair or anyone else.”

“Good for you,” Lily said, meaning it. “Is there anything else I can do to help?”

She heard her brother sigh heavily. “Not unless you can figure out a way to add several more hours to the day.”

“Sorry, Matt, but I don’t think anyone has figured out how to do that just yet. What time do you need me on Thursday evenings?” When he named a time, she added, “Please take care of yourself. Whatever is going to happen, it’s not worth sacrificing your health.”

“Thanks, sis,” he said, sounding tired. “I’ll try to keep that in mind.”

After ending the call, Lily started to return to her worktable to try to get something done, when the phone rang again.

“Good afternoon, sweetheart,” Daniel said cheerfully. “I’m about five minutes away. Would you like to start setting the table for lunch?”

“Daniel, I’m not sure—”

“Have you eaten yet?”

“No, but—”

“Then set the table,” he said, breaking the connection.

Lily stared at the phone in her hand for several seconds before placing it on the desk to go set the table. She thought about calling Daniel back and insisting that he respect her wishes to be left alone. But she did need to talk to him and try to find out how much he knew about the sale of the Beauchamp mansion to her father as well as try to find a way to tell him about the baby.

Maybe then she would know more about what kind of battle her father had gotten her into with the Addisons. And how Daniel was going to react when he learned about the baby.

As Daniel steered his Mercedes around the Kincaid mansion to the carriage house in the back, he couldn’t help but smile. After having lunch with Lily, she had asked him to stay for a bit so they could talk, but he’d had to decline because of an afternoon meeting with the president of the dockworkers’ union. He had, however, managed to convince her to let him pick her up after the meeting for a trip to check out the most recently renovated exhibit at the aquarium, then have an early dinner at the little bistro she loved in the French Quarter. As far as he was concerned, that was progress in getting things back to the way they had been before his mother’s dinner party.

Parking the car, he hesitated before opening the driver’s door. Everything had been going great between them until the night of the party. But immediately afterward, Lily had decided to be conveniently busy whenever he asked her out. Could his mother have possibly said something to Lily that evening, causing her to have a sudden change of heart about seeing him? Or had the thirteen-year difference in their ages suddenly become a problem for her?

He dismissed the latter thought outright. Surely he would have had an indication if age had become an issue. They both enjoyed most of the same things and there had never been any sort of gap in conversation when they discussed the kind of music they liked to listen to, the books they had read or type of movies they preferred. No, the problem had to have been generated by his mother. He narrowed his eyes. It wouldn’t surprise him if she had said something to insult or hurt Lily. In the past, when Charlotte Addison felt that someone was beneath her, she had never hesitated to let that person know all about just who she was in the pecking order of society. On more than one occasion, he had witnessed her boasting about her family pedigree and the fact that the Beauchamps were considered to be in the highest echelon of Charleston’s social order.

But when could she have had the chance that evening to talk to Lily alone? He had purposely tried to keep Lily at his side throughout the evening, anticipating that his mother might say something insulting. And he had been certain that given the chance, she would. Not only was The Kincaid Group the chief rival of Addison Industries, his mother seemed to have a huge problem with Reginald Kincaid in particular.

As he got out of the car and walked toward Lily’s door, Daniel decided that by dinner he fully intended to have his questions answered and things straightened out between them. Then at his earliest possible convenience, he would confront his mother and firmly suggest that she mind her own business and stop meddling in his social life.

“I see you’re ready to go,” Daniel said when Lily stepped out of the carriage house before he reached the door.

“Actually, I had just returned from checking on my mother to see how she’s doing when I heard you arrive,” Lily said as she walked toward his car.

“How is your mother faring?” he asked, knowing the entire family had been dealing with one shock after another since their ordeal began.

“Momma is holding up surprisingly well,” Lily said, frowning. “It makes me wonder if she might not be in a state of shock and everything that’s happened will come crashing down on top of her later.”

Opening the passenger door, Daniel helped her into the car, then walked around to slide into the driver’s seat. “Sometimes grief brings out a strength in people they never knew they had,” he suggested, suspecting that might be the case. With a quiet grace about her, Elizabeth Kincaid had always impressed him as having the heart and soul of a steel magnolia lying just beneath the surface of her soft-spoken, genteel exterior.

“I think you might be right,” Lily said. “It’s like she’s become the rock that the rest of us are leaning on.”

Reaching over, he covered her hand with his. “And don’t forget. I’m here for you too, sweetheart.”

Lily gave him an odd look before she finally nodded. “Thank you, Daniel. I appreciate your compassion, but as I’ve told you, I’m going to be fine.”

Neither had a lot to say on the drive to the aquarium and Daniel hoped that the exhibit he wanted to show her would help relieve some of her tension and stress. “When I heard the plans for renovating this area of the aquarium, I knew it was something you would enjoy,” he said as he bought two cups of shrimp from Gilligan’s Shrimp Shack not far from the entrance to the exhibit.

Lily eyed the two plastic feeding sticks the attendant handed him as they walked toward the Saltmarsh Aviary. “What are we supposed to do with those?”

“We’re going to feed the stingrays,” he said, anticipating her reaction. He wasn’t disappointed when her eyes brightened with almost childlike excitement.

“I’ve always thought stingrays look so graceful as they swim,” Lily said as they walked up to the enormous tank.

He placed a shrimp on the end of one of the sticks, and handed it to her. “Just stick it down into the water and wait.”

As he watched, Lily did as he instructed and in no time a large ray glided up to the stick and ate the shrimp. “Oh, Daniel, this is definitely my new favorite thing about the aquarium.”

Her enthusiasm was infectious and by the time both shrimp cups were empty, Daniel felt as if he were a good ten years younger. It was always this way when he was with Lily. Her zest for life never failed to improve his mood and he found that his outlook wasn’t nearly as jaded and cynical as it had been just a few hours ago.

“Thank you for bringing me,” Lily said as they walked on to view the puffer fish and diamondback terrapins in the mock saltmarsh tidal creek.

He shook his head. “No, I’m the one who should be thanking you.” Reaching down, he took her hand in his and brought it to his lips to kiss the back. “Seeing all this wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun without you.”

By the time they left the aquarium, Lily looked more relaxed and he gave himself a mental pat on the back for thinking to bring her to the exhibit. “What do you have planned for after dinner?” he asked on the short drive to her favorite bistro.

For the second time that afternoon, she gave him a look as if trying to decide what she wanted to say. “Mr. Parsons stopped by my mother’s this morning to drop off the keys to the different properties my father left to me and my siblings. I thought I would go take a look at the home I inherited.”

“Where’s it located?”

“In the Battery.”

“Nice area,” he said, meaning it. He had been raised in the Battery, and it was where some of the finest homes in Charleston were located. Steering the car into the restaurant’s parking lot, he switched off the engine and turned to face her. “Since we’re already out, why don’t I drive you over there after we eat?”

She gave him that look again—the one she had been giving him all afternoon. If he didn’t know better, he would swear she suspected him of something. But he didn’t have a clue what he could have done to deserve it.

“That might be a good idea,” she finally said. “I think I’d like to get your opinion on what I should do with the place.”

As he guided her into the bistro, Daniel grinned. “If you want to know how to pack it, ship it or liquidate it, I’m your guy. Decorating? Not so much.”

After a scrumptious dinner, Daniel drove along South Battery Street toward the Beauchamp mansion, and Lily couldn’t help but feel a bit apprehensive about touring the house with him. She purposely hadn’t told him that the home she inherited was once owned by his mother—the very house that was supposed to one day be his. She wasn’t sure why she had omitted the information, other than she had a feeling his immediate reaction when he saw the place would tell her if he was interested in getting it back or really didn’t care about it.

“That’s it,” she said, pointing to the stately home up ahead.

“You inherited Colonel Sam’s old place?” Daniel asked, clearly astounded. “Up until fifteen years ago, this used to belong to my mother.”

His surprise was genuine and Lily was almost certain that Daniel was unaware her father had bought the home. “I’ve always thought it was one of the most beautiful mansions in the Battery,” she said, smiling.

He shrugged as he turned the car into the driveway. “I guess it’s all right.”

“Don’t you like historic homes?” she asked, wondering how anyone could resist the charm and beauty of antebellum architecture.

“I think they’re great when someone takes the time to keep them up,” he answered, getting out of the car. When he came around to open her door for her, he added, “It’s when they’re allowed to fall into a state of disrepair that they look like any other old house that’s been let go.”

“The outside looks as if someone has been taking good care of this one,” she said, crossing her fingers that the inside looked just as nice.

“I hope for your sake they have,” he said, guiding her up the steps onto the piazza. “The last time I was in this place it was in need of some serious renovations and looked to me like it could turn into a bottomless money pit.”

Reaching into her handbag, Lily removed the set of keys Mr. Parsons had tagged as belonging to the house. “I hope the electricity is on. Otherwise, I’ll have to come back tomorrow in the daylight to see what needs to be done.”

Daniel took the keys from her and, unlocking the door, stepped inside ahead of her. “Let me find the switch and we’ll see if the lights work.”

When the foyer’s crystal chandelier sparkled to life, Lily crossed the threshold and felt as if she had indeed entered the princess’s castle. Apparently her father had seen to it that the mansion had been completely restored to its original grandeur.

“This is everything I thought it would be and more,” Lily said, in awe of her surroundings.

The walls, wainscoting and ornate dentiled ceiling cornice had been painted a rich cream that glowed warmly in the chandelier’s light and contrasted perfectly with the highly polished heart-pine floor. A graceful sweeping staircase with a black cypress banister and steps ascended to the upper floors and Lily could only imagine how beautiful the rest of the house had to be.

“Wow,” Daniel said, looking around. “I’m impressed. Your dad spent a small fortune to bring this old place back to life. I’ve never seen it look this good.”

“I can’t believe it’s mine,” Lily said, falling in love with the house all over again.

“Let’s check out the rest of it,” he said, taking her by the hand.

As he led her through the mansion, Lily marveled at the attention that had been paid to detail. Every room was fully furnished and although the furniture was new, it had been chosen to complement the antebellum style, while still projecting a comfortable homey atmosphere.

Whoever designed the master suite had pulled out all the stops to make it the most luxurious room in the house. From the balcony off the sitting room overlooking the courtyard below, to the his-and-her bathrooms, the interior designer had outdone himself.

By the time she and Daniel had toured all the rooms and walked out onto the lighted terrace, Lily had to ask, “How could your mother part with such a beautiful place?”

“It didn’t look anything like this when she owned it and besides, she really didn’t have a choice.” Putting his arm around her shoulders, he led her across the yard toward the carriage house. “Right after I graduated from college, my dad died and I had to take over Addison Industries. That’s when we discovered that he wasn’t the best of managers. The business was in such bad shape financially, it took her selling off the summer home on Hilton Head Island, as well as parting with this place, just for her to survive until I could get the business back in the black and out of the danger of bankruptcy.”

“I’m so sorry, Daniel.” Lily couldn’t begin to imagine how stressful the situation had to have been for him. “You’ve done an amazing job of bringing it back. I’ve heard RJ and my father talk about Addison Industries being TKG’s toughest competitor.”

He shrugged. “It wasn’t easy, but I think it was harder on my mom than anyone else. For the first time in her life, she had to adhere to a strict budget and she was scared to death that some of her snooty friends would find out that she was on the verge of being destitute.”

Lily couldn’t help but wonder how Charlotte Addison’s pride had survived such a devastating blow. “Did you know she had sold the home to my father?”

“I had my hands full with getting Addison Industries back on its feet,” he said, shaking his head. “I didn’t have time, nor did I care what she did with this place, just as long as I didn’t have to deal with it.” His adamant tone convinced Lily that Daniel truly had no idea who had bought the mansion or that he had any interest in getting it back.

As he started to unlock the door to the carriage house, she turned and, rising on tiptoe, impulsively kissed his cheek.

“What was that for?” he asked, chuckling as he turned and wrapped her in his arms.

“I’m just happy,” she said, not wanting to explain about her unfounded suspicions. “Do you mind?”

“You’re not going to get any complaints out of me,” he said, using his index finger to trace her jawline.

His gentle touch reminded her of how tender he could be, how much care he took when he made love to her. “Daniel, I’m not certain—”

“I’ll be sure for both of us,” he said, lowering his head to brush her lips with his.

When his mouth settled over hers, Lily brought her hands up to his chest to push away from him, to put distance between herself and the temptation he posed. The issue of how much he knew about her father buying the house had been settled, but she had yet to tell him the news that would no doubt put a permanent end to his attraction to her.

But as his arms tightened around her and he traced her lips with his tongue, she abandoned all thought and allowed him to kiss her the way she had wanted him to do the night before. There would be plenty of time within the next few days to tell him about the baby and face the future without Daniel in her life.

As he explored her with a thoroughness that threatened to turn her insides to warm pudding, a tingling sensation began to spread throughout her body and she welcomed his deepening of the kiss. It had been the better part of three weeks since he had held her like this, made her feel as if she was the most cherished creature on earth. And heaven help her, she didn’t want him to stop.

He pulled her closer and the feel of his hard, muscular body pressed to hers sent a flash of heat racing from the top of her head to the soles of her feet. His chest muscles beneath her hands flexed as she clutched his shirt and she could feel his heart pounding against her fingertips.

“I’ve missed you, sweetheart,” he said, easing away from the kiss. “I’ve missed holding you like this.”

“Me, too.”

Lily could have denied that she had missed him, but what was the point? Her response to him had been every bit as eager as it had always been and there was no sense in her lying to either one of them.

“What happened, Lily?” he whispered close to her ear. “Why did you stop seeing me?”

“Please, not now,” she begged, not wanting reality to intrude. She kissed the exposed skin at his open collar. “Could we please leave this for another time?”

Just when she thought he was going to press the issue, he leaned back and, staring down into her eyes for several long moments, finally nodded. “It can wait for now.” He gave her a smile that made her feel warm all over. “Why don’t we check out the carriage house, then lock up and go back to your place.”

“It sounds like we have a plan, Mr. Addison,” she agreed. “You can drop me off and then go home.”

He gave her an exasperated look, but didn’t comment.

She knew he was confused by her insistence that she wanted to be left alone, then her allowing him to hold her, kiss her. But she was doing her best to distance herself from him and if he wasn’t such a source of temptation for her, she would be able to do that. Unfortunately, from the moment he took her into his arms at the Autumn Ball, she had discovered a weakness within herself that she hadn’t known existed. Whenever Daniel touched her, she seemed to lose a will of her own. It was something she needed to work on—had to work on—or risk losing her sanity when he found out about the baby and lost interest in her.

When they entered the carriage house, they found that her father had turned it into a studio with huge floor-to-ceiling windows to let in plenty of natural light. “It looks like your dad had planned on an artist using this,” Daniel said, giving her a knowing wink as they looked around the spacious work area.

Lily had a hard time blinking back her tears. It was clear her father had her in mind when he’d commissioned the renovations of the property, meaning that he had planned for some time to make her childhood dream of living here come true.

“When I was a little girl, Daddy used to take me to White Point Gardens across the street. We would sit for hours on one of the benches staring at this place and I would tell him stories I made up about the princess who lived here.”

“I’ll bet she had red hair and blue eyes,” Daniel teased, walking up behind her to put his arms around her.

She nodded as she indulged herself just one more time and leaned back against him. “The princess would stand in the cupola and look out at Charleston Harbor.”

“What was she looking for?” His deep baritone vibrated against her back and caused a delightful fluttering in her lower belly.

“She was watching for her prince to sail into Charleston Harbor and come home to live with her in the castle,” Lily answered.

“Of course,” he murmured close to her ear. “Any princess worth her salt always waits for her prince, whether he’s sailing up in a ship or riding a big white horse.”

“Now you’re making fun of me,” she said, smiling as she turned in his arms to face him.

“Maybe just a little,” he said, grinning. “Have you ever thought of writing children’s books, instead of just illustrating them?”

“My father always thought I should,” she said, doing her best to stifle a yawn. She had missed the afternoon nap that she had been taking since becoming pregnant. “But since college, the major children’s publishers have kept me so busy illustrating for others, I haven’t had time to think much about it.”

“You should,” he said, kissing her forehead. “Now, why don’t I walk you to my car and then I’ll go back and lock up. You’re starting to look pretty tired.”

She nodded as they left the carriage house. “It has been a long day.”

While Lily waited in the car for Daniel to return from turning off lights and locking the house, she couldn’t help but think about what her father had said in his letter. She was a strong, capable woman who he was confident would make the right decision about the mansion. He hadn’t insisted that she keep the property, but he had everything in place for her, anticipating that she would want to.

Staring up at the stately home, she knew it was foolish for one person to even contemplate living alone in a house with more than ten thousand square feet of living space. But her father had spared no expense in getting it ready for her. He had given her her dream and, wise or not, she was going to take it.

“I’ve made a decision about what I’m going to do with the mansion,” Lily said when Daniel returned to the car.

“And just what might that be?” he asked, starting the car and driving it down the driveway to the street.

“It’s going to take me a week or so to make arrangements, but as soon as I can get things packed up, I’m going to move in and live here.”