Читать книгу A Love That Binds - Rochelle Chase - Страница 4

Grace Valerie Stone was born a week early on the eighth of June, 2017. A healthy seven and a half pounds, a beautiful, baby girl. Lilly had spent a gruelling twenty hours in labour. My mother and I had taken turns comforting Lilly through her contractions while Michael, Joe and my father stayed in the hospital waiting area. When the doctor brought Grace back in after her initial check-up, Lilly was glowing with excitement. Finally, I had a new baby God-daughter.

Life was busy in the Gardener household. Lilly settled into motherhood and Grace was a happy baby who slept well. My parents enjoyed having a new addition to the family and Lilly was able to complete part of her Arts degree online, as long as she kept her grades up and attended the fortnightly lectures. My mother offered to look after Grace whenever Lilly needed and Michael often came over for dinner and spent time with Lilly while Grace was asleep. I was busy with my studies most nights and only saw Joe on the weekends.

My father was promoted in the Governor’s office and enjoyed his new position. He had convinced my mother to work part time so she could focus on her writing. My mother was a freelance journalist and wrote the odd article from time to time. She had been researching an intriguing monumental case for over four years now and intended on writing a book regarding her findings. She was planning on interviewing rape victims and seemed very preoccupied with her research.

One day, I arrived home feeling distraught at some news I’d just been given from Joe, and my father noticed my mood as soon as he saw me.

“What’s wrong, Jess?” my father asked gently.

“Joe is moving to Chicago, Dad. He’s going to finish his law degree there and has been offered an internship at a top law firm. He promised that he would commute, but it’s for two years,” I said, distressed. I was devastated and unsure of what would happen to us. Long distance relationships were difficult and we were both so young.

“You both are so very young,” my father said, echoing my own sentiments. “You have your whole life ahead of you,” my father assured me as he put his arms around me to comfort me.

“I guess I have to be okay with it,” I sighed, disappointed. “You know what, I really feel like a drink, Dad,” I said, hoping my father would allow me a glass of wine. He must have felt sorry for me because he opened up a bottle of red and poured us both a glass.

It was about twelve thirty when my mother finally arrived home. Dad and I had finished off a nice bottle of red.

“It’s a little late, Mum, your case must be interesting,” I said to her, slightly tipsy.

“It certainly is. My research is done, all I need to do now is write the damn book. My publisher is giving me a six-month deadline,” my mother replied, glancing over at the empty bottle.

“I am so proud of you, darling,” my father said as he stood up and embraced my mother.

“What are we celebrating here? And are we not a little young to be drinking?” my mother asked me as she looked over at my father, slightly annoyed.

“Joe is moving to Chicago,” I replied as I attempted to walk to my room without stumbling. “I’ll let Dad fill you in on the rest of it. Goodnight, I’ll see you both in the morning,” I added before I could be asked any more questions. Luckily, when I laid down on my bed, I instantly fell asleep.

For the next few weeks I kept myself busy with my studies and tried not to think too much about Joe. He was leaving at the beginning of September and I wasn’t sure where it would leave our relationship. Joe asked me to spend the last weekend of August with him at his family’s holiday home. I wasn’t even certain I wanted to go.

“You’re coming next weekend?” Joe asked, sounding worried when we spoke on the phone one afternoon.

“I don’t know, it may be harder for me to say goodbye,” I replied, a little confused with the situation.

“It’s two years, Jess, not a lifetime. We will speak on the phone and you can visit me whenever you want and I will fly back every few months,” Joe insisted. Joe was very ambitious and he knew where he was going with his career. His dream was to have his own law firms all over the country and it all seemed like a very challenging life to me.

It finally hit me. I just wasn’t sure I wanted to be part of that kind of future.

I decided to go away with Joe for the weekend despite my reservations. The weather was beautiful. We paddled out on the lake, went on long walks, slept in most mornings and made love before breakfast. Making love with Joe was always intense and passionate. He was a sexual man and I wondered if he would stray as he grew older, or even during the two years he spent in Chicago. I had heard those stories about high powered lawyers cheating on their wives with their secretaries, and it always bothered me to think that one day it could actually happen to me.

On Monday morning we said our goodbyes. It was horrible, we both had tears in our eyes. Joe promised to call me as soon as he was settled but something deep inside me felt that this was the end.

The weeks became busy with studies and life at home was always enjoyable with Lilly around. Grace was a very cheerful baby and she was growing up fast. She looked like Lilly except for her olive complexion that she had inherited from her father. Grace’s father Jarrah was Columbian and we refused to talk about him at all. All I knew of him was that he was a very dangerous man.

Lilly continued painting and we were all impressed when she was picked up by a gallery. The gallery that represented her was in the upmarket Tyson’s Galleria Centre and exhibited some very well-known artists. The curator of the gallery visited the house often to view Lilly’s new works. Michael’s aunt had also commissioned Lilly to paint a few pieces for her office in town and Lilly was grateful for the support. She was also asked to enter into a group exhibition that was held every year called ‘Unspoken’. A percentage of the proceeds went towards rape victims who were homeless. My mother had interviewed some of the victims over the years and was adding the research into her book. She had been the one to introduce Lilly to the lady that arranged the ‘Unspoken’ exhibition and Lilly was happy to take part.

It had been two months since Joe had left for Chicago and we had only spoken a few times. I started to go out with some of the girls from my classes and we would meet for drinks on a Friday night and go out to dinner or the movies over the weekend. Tanya and Megan were two of my classmates who would come over to study when we had essays due. Both Tanya and Megan were single. They went on dates with boys but they made sure they stayed focused on their future careers as well. Lilly got along with my friends and we would all hang out and chat after our study nights.

“What are you girls doing for the holidays?” Megan asked, after a long night.

“I want to let my hair down. Let’s plan something exciting, we’ve worked so hard,” Tanya replied as she looked over at Lilly, waiting for any suggestions.

“How about Vegas,” Lilly exclaimed excitedly. “Except I would have to organise for someone to look after Grace,” she said, jumping up at the thought of a girl’s getaway.

“Well, I’m in for sure,” Megan declared without hesitation.

“Mum can take care of Grace, she’s old enough now for you to leave her here for a week,” I suggested as I looked over at Lilly as she tried to digest her thoughts.

“Okay girls, Vegas here we come,” Lilly screamed as her whole face lit up.

The next morning, Lilly and I walked into the kitchen to ask my mother if she could take care of Grace for a week.

“I’m happy to take care of Grace, girls, but you’ve forgotten one important fact. You’re both only eighteen, what will you do in Vegas? You need to be twenty-one to drink or gamble, and you know how strict they are over there,” my mother said sternly.

“Mum, we will be staying at the Bellagio hotel, that’s legal. We can go shopping and hang by the pool during the day and in the nights we will go out for dinner. You don’t need to be twenty-one to do that,” I pleaded as I waited for my mother to reply.

“Okay, girls, well I guess that’s that, but if I get a call that my under-aged daughter and her friends are in trouble, it won’t go down well with your father,” she replied as she poured herself a morning coffee.

“We will be fine, there’s no need to worry, we won’t do anything illegal,” Lilly assured her as she happily walked over to prepare breakfast.

In fact, we had Megan’s older brother arrange fake IDs for us all and we planned to go out on the town. As they say, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

Joe was spending the holidays skiing with a few of his friends from law school and would be back in DC the day before Christmas. Our phone calls were less frequent and both of us were too polite or perhaps afraid to talk about anything serious. He mentioned he wanted to spend New Year’s Eve at a friend’s house party and I was welcome to come, but I said I would think about it. When we said goodbye, we didn’t tell each other we loved each other like we used to. Our relationship felt like a slow train going downhill towards a perfect crash.

A day before I was leaving for Vegas, Joe called me and came out with it.

“I think we should both be open to seeing other people,” he said hesitantly.

I guess in a way I was not surprised. “Have you met someone?” I asked, wondering if I even wanted to know, as I waited for Joe’s answer.

“No, Jess, I just feel we both may be growing apart. I know in some way you agree.”

There was a long silence as I collected my thoughts. “I’ve not been very sure what to feel or say, Joe, I guess this is for the best,” I said, feeling a huge weight lift off my shoulder.

“I still care for you, Jess, and will always be there for you, if you ever needed me for anything, like legal advice …”

We both laughed, we always shared a sense of humour when things got a little uncomfortable.

“Enjoy Vegas, and I will see you after Christmas. I have a small gift for you and I would love to see your folks,” Joe said before we hung up.

Well, that was it, and surprisingly I was somewhat relieved.

“If you ask me, it happened at the perfect time,” Tanya blurted out when we were in the cab on our way to the airport. Tanya always spoke her mind and I guess this time I agreed with her.

“I’m actually okay with this. I had been having nightmares that if I stayed with Joe, I would end up a divorced, bitter woman after years of Joe sleeping with his secretaries,” I said as the cab stopped outside the airport.

“You watch too many movies, Jess,” Megan gasped.

Lilly was on the phone to my mother, checking if everything was okay with Grace.

“Grace will be fine,” I reassured her as I handed over her suitcase.

“I know,” she smiled back. We were all excited for our week ahead.

We arrived at the Bellagio Hotel just in time for happy hour at the bar. No one questioned our IDs and we were even upgraded to suites and given our own personal butler.

“You know, I could easily fit in to this kind of life. Butlers, maids, room service, happy hour every day,” Tanya laughed as she waved her drink in the air.

“Cheers girls, here’s to a fun week in town, let the celebrations begin,” I replied.

Moments later, a very well-dressed and handsome man walked past us.

“Are you enjoying your evening, ladies?” he asked politely. “I can escort you to a lovely booth we have available if you wish?” he said as his eyes wandered over to me.

“Thank you, that would be awesome,” Megan replied eagerly, as we followed him to our booth. There were bottles of complimentary Champagne at our table and a waiter arrived to pour our glasses.

“My name is Ben Stanford. We have a comedy show in the Arena Lounge at nine tonight. If you would like to attend, let me know, I will be sitting at the bar,” he said and he left us to enjoy our drinks.

“Maybe he’s the manager, he is gorgeous. What do you think, Jess? He couldn’t take his eyes off you!” Tanya smiled as I started to blush.

“He is very handsome,” I had to admit.

“Well, you are available,” Tanya reminded me. “Mrs Jessica Stanford, it does have a nice ring to it …”

And we all burst out laughing.

At nine, we headed to the comedy show in the Arena Lounge. I spoke to Ben briefly before we sat down – he was very sincere and it was pretty clear he was interested in me. The show was entertaining; five comedians took the stage and they all had us in stitches. The band came on afterwards and we were all on the dance floor having a ball. Time flew and before we knew it, it was three o’clock in the morning.

“Night girls, I need to get some sleep. You ready, Jess?” Lilly pulled me off the dancefloor and we left while Megan and Tanya stayed and chatted with some of the crew from the band.

The doorbell rang at ten the next morning and Lilly walked back in with a dozen white roses.

“The card is addressed to you, Jess, open it,” Lilly screamed excitedly.

It was from Ben Stanford and included an invitation to dinner. I began to blush again as I read the card.

“Well, you must go. C’mon, let’s go shopping and we can find you a dress to wear,” Lilly eagerly insisted.

The stores in Vegas had sales on and the girls were pleased with their new purchases. The Bellagio staff were very accommodating and had organised a driver to take us anywhere we wished. We arrived back at the hotel in the afternoon and spent a few hours sunbaking by the pool.

“The service is impeccable here, don’t you think, girls?” Megan remarked while eyeing off a hot guy at the other side of the pool.

“Sure, especially if the manager has a crush on you,” Lilly teased as she winked at me.

I accepted Ben’s dinner invitation and he took me to a fab Japanese restaurant in the hotel. We had our own private room and enjoyed a seven course degustation with complementing wines.

“I have to say, this is a very lavish evening. Do you invite all your special guests here?” I asked as I swirled my wine.

“No, we just opened this restaurant last week,” Ben happily remarked. “My uncle owns the Bellagio Hotel and I manage it for him. I guess it requires me to dine in all our restaurants frequently, to make sure the quality remains high.”

“Oh, so that explains the special treatment,” I smiled. “You must be close with your uncle?”

“Yes, he raised me. My mother was very sick and died when I was young and my father, well, he was never in the picture. My uncle promised my mother before she died that he would take care of me. He’s a good man and I guess it helps that he’s very powerful here in Vegas.”

Ben looked into my eyes like he could see right through me. I could see there was a sadness there, but also a quiet confidence.

“That must have been hard for you growing up,” I sympathised and decided to lighten the subject. “You obviously love the hotel business, Ben?”

“I do, Jessica. Let me take you for a walk, I want to show you something.”

Most people didn’t call me Jessica, but I liked the way Ben said my name. He looked like he was in his late twenties, he was obviously well educated, and he had a warmth about him that made me feel comfortable. Ben took me to the top floor of the hotel and we walked around to what looked like an old fire escape that opened to the rooftop.

“Welcome to Vegas,” Ben smiled. The view was spectacular. We stayed for a while and admired the city lights.

Ben was a gentleman and asked if I wanted him to escort me to my friends. The girls had said that they would be in the Player’s Lounge after dinner. As we walked back to the lift, we shared a slight moment when our eyes connected. I did like him, actually more than I thought I would.

We walked over to the gaming table where the girls looked like they were on a winning streak.

“Yes! Blackjack!” Megan was very happy with herself. “I’ve just won a thousand dollars.”

“Congratulations, Megan, if you’ll excuse me ladies. Jessica, thank you for a lovely evening, can I call you tomorrow?” Ben asked me.

“Of course, sure,” I answered, and Ben left. I told the girls about my dinner date and they were excited for me and insisted I date Ben again.

“Cocktails are on me, girls,” Megan said as she jumped up eagerly and headed towards the bar.

The next day, we spent the morning at the hotel spa indulging in massages and facial treatments, followed by a buffet lunch. I spent most of the afternoon alone, relaxing by the pool and reading my book until sunset.

Ben had left a note for me requesting another dinner the following evening. I was surprised I didn’t miss or think of Joe. Ben was very different, I guess that was part of the reason why I liked him. I also liked the fact that he was older. I wondered why he was single, though, as it was obvious he could have any woman he wanted.

Lilly had spoken to my mother. She had taken Grace to the zoo for the day. Grace had been sleeping well and my mother assured Lilly that she had nothing to worry about and to enjoy the rest of the holiday. My mother couldn’t wait to be a grandmother, and Grace was almost like a grandchild for her. She wanted me to have a large family so she could spoil her grandkids. My parents had tried to have more children after me and my mother had fallen pregnant but lost the baby. After that, they tried for a few more years until they decided it wasn’t meant to be.

We had dinner and cocktails in the garden that evening, it was Mexican night. Tanya and Megan stayed up late chatting with a few guys they had met at the bar, and Lilly and I went back to our room to chill and watch a movie.

“Jess, I think Michael is going to ask me to marry him.”

I could tell this had been on Lilly’s mind for a while. “How do you feel about this?” I asked.

“I don’t know, Jess. I love Michael, he loves Grace, he wants us to have kids and he’s a good man, but spending your whole life with just one person, Jess, well, that’s huge, right?”

“You’ve got a lot to think about, Lilly. Michael’s good for you, he loves you, but you’re right, it’s a huge commitment. I would struggle with that too,” I replied honestly.

“I have dreams, Jess, I want to fulfil my art career. Michael will be a doctor soon. He’s predictable and I’m not, I like unpredictable.” Lilly sighed as she struggled to decide what to do.

“That’s exactly why predictable is good for you, Lilly. Now you choose the movie, I’m ordering in ice cream.”

The following evening, Ben had arranged a car for six pm, so I was to meet him in the downstairs foyer. I wore a simple, classic, navy blue dress with my hair loosely tied back, pearls I’d received from my parents for my eighteenth birthday, and a cream scarf.

“You look beautiful, Jessica. I’m taking you to a show before dinner, I hope that’s okay?”

It was about a twenty-minute drive to the theatre. The show was a dance musical production based on the lives of African village people. The costumes and set design were creatively colourful, it was certainly a feast for the eyes. At intermission, we were served Champagne and appetisers. Ben greeted a few people he knew and introduced me to a couple he often socialised with. I worried if Ben ever wondered how old I was. He hadn’t asked yet, but if he did I would need to lie to him.

Over dinner, we talked about our childhood. Ben was a good listener and very impressed I was studying business and finance. I told Ben about Joe and he mentioned he recently broke up with a woman but didn’t go into any detail, only that it had been complicated.

“I will be in DC for New Year’s, Jessica, I would love to see you again,” he said to me.

“That would be nice,” I replied.

By the time we got back to the hotel, it was after midnight. I nearly fell asleep on the drive back, so we said goodnight and I went straight to my room to bed.

We spent our last day in Vegas by the pool. After an hour of silence, Lilly slammed her book down and turned to me.

“I love being a mum, but I’m not sure I want more children. Do you think I should tell Michael?” Lilly asked.

“Perhaps you should, I think he deserves to know, especially if you decide you want to marry him. What do you think he will say?” I asked.

“I don’t know, I can’t see him being okay with it. I’ve had time to think while we’ve been away, maybe I will talk to him when we get back,” she replied. Poor Lilly’s mind was ticking overtime.

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, you’ll always have me,” I reassured her.

“And I am so bloody glad I do,” she said before she looked around for a waiter. “Well, I think it’s just about cocktail time.”