Chadwick's Rare Find (An Intriguing Romance Novel) (20 page)

Brittany went into the bathroom and gasped.  This was literally the cutest bathroom she had ever seen.  The tiles on the wall of the tub were of the same bright colors as the bedspread.  The marble flooring and granite counter were beautiful.  Even the water fixtures were different.  Brittany was still looking around when Chadwick called out as he came into the room. 

“Chadwick, can I start asking questions now?”  Brittany said as he peeked around the door frame of the bathroom. 

Chadwick smiled.  He knew she had questions and he couldn’t wait to answer them. “Yes, you can ask your questions now.”  

“Are there bathrooms in every bedroom in this house?”  

“Yes.”  He didn’t offer anymore information. 

“Your parents could have a larger house couldn’t they?”  Brittany hated how this question sounded, but she had to find out what was going on here.  

“Brittany, my parents could afford five of Adanna’s homes if they wanted them.”  Chadwick was just getting warmed up.  He wondered how long it would take before she asked the important question. 

Brittany sat on top of the toilet seat and stared at Chadwick.  She pursed her lips and squint her eyes as she thought.  Now why would Mara and James decide to live here in a small house when they could live in a mansion?  

“Did you grow up in this house?”  

“Yes, we all grew up right here in this very house.”   Chadwick stepped into the bathroom and sat on the edge of the tub.  He settled Brittany’s legs in between his as he faced her.  

“Okay, Chadwick.   Tell me why your parents would choose to live here in this small house when they could have lived in a mansion?” Brittany wanted to know the whole story.  It promised to be very intriguing. 

Chadwick put his big hands on either side of her thighs, which made Brittany’s heart beat faster.  His hands against the bare skin of her thighs was shocking.  He had her full attention.  

“My mother comes from a very wealthy group of people.  Her great grandfather invented a machine that made farming in the south easier than it has ever been.  The result was mass production of his machine, which still down to this day brings in revenue.  My mother is an heiress.  She met Dad at a wedding.  They fell in love, but Mom’s family didn’t like Dad, because he was poor.  My Mom went against them and married him anyway.”  Chadwick’s hands were caressing Brittany’s thighs as he told the story of his mother and father.  

“So, they disowned her?”  Brittany whispered.   She could barely muster up energy to speak.  Chadwick’s hands were doing things to her insides.  At the same time the story of his mother and father had her spellbound.

“No.   My mom is an only child.  Her family, as it turned out, was not her biggest problem.”   Chadwick’s voice was throaty as he ran one hand down to Brittany’s ankle and back up across her knee.  Her skin felt like silk.  He just couldn't help himself.  He needed to be touching her.  

“What was the biggest problem?”  Brittany felt out of breath.  Chadwick couldn’t have any idea what he was doing to her.  His hands were everywhere.  

“Dad.  He wanted her, but not her money. So, they came to a compromise.”  Chadwick stood up.  He had to put some space between them.  Staring at the unsteady rise and fall of her chest, he knew she was in the same turmoil as he.  She made the mistake of standing up when he stood up.  Their bodies touched as they stood in the small space between the tub and toilet. 

“This house is part of the compromise, isn’t it?”  Brittany’s caramel eyes watched Chadwick as his chest heaved.  He let out his breath in a whoosh as his lips sought hers.  The kiss was swift and intense.  His arms wrapped around her as he pressed into her.  

“Yes.  We lived here and we lived simple lives.  Momma’s inheritance belongs to her children.  She barely put a dent in the interest.  She was happy just to love Dad and her children.”  Chadwick’s eyes roamed Brittany’s face.  He watched the first tear fall from her eye.  Cupping her face in his hands he thumbed it away and kissed her again. 

“Chadwick, that is the most beautiful thing I have ever heard.”  Brittany put her arms around Chadwick’s waist and laid her head on his shoulder.  This man knew what true love was all about.  He had experienced it through his mother and father.  He had seen the beauty of it.  Brittany knew she would be a very fortunate girl to be part of this family. 

Chadwick reluctantly left Brittany to bathe and change clothes.  Brittany was just as pained to separate from him.  Sharing the history of his parents had drawn them closer together.  They each were feeling the hopefulness that people who are in love feel when they are about to embark on a life together.  Chadwick had not asked Brittany to marry him yet, but it would be done before the end of the day.  He needed to figure out where and when.  The ring sat snugly in a small box in his pants pocket.  He kissed Brittany thoroughly one last time and closed the bedroom door. 

He found Mara and James sitting on the porch in their swing.  That swing had been there forever.  He remembered how his parents would go out there to get away from the noise he and his sisters were making when they were children.  Sometimes they would sit out there talking until the wee hours of the morning.  Stepping onto the porch Chadwick stood before them.

“I’m here to ask her to marry me,” Chadwick announced.  

James stopped the swing with one long leg as he broke into a grin.  “We already figured that out, son.  Congratulations.  You’ll make a good husband and she will make you a good wife.”  

“Oh Chadwick, we’re so happy for both of you,” Mara said as she stood and wrapped her arms around him.  Her head only reached his chest.  He kissed the top of it and hugged her back.  

As Mara and James settled back into the swing, Chadwick heard a loud crash and then a scream.  Everyone jerked back to their feet.  Chadwick raced through the door.  He ran through the living area and down the hall.   James waited in the living room, but Mara was at Chadwick’s heels.  He could hear his mom calling his name, but fear for Brittany kept him running.  He rushed into the bedroom and found it empty.  Charging into the bathroom Chadwick was subjected to another loud scream. 

Time stood still as Chadwick took in the scene before him.  Brittany stood in the center of the tub.  The sight of her stark naked before him immobilized Chadwick.  He opened his mouth, but no words came out.  

“Is she okay,” Mara asked as she pushed past Chadwick.  Mara was stunned to see Brittany standing in the center of the tub, butt-naked, eyes as big as saucers, and standing still as a statue.  Both Chadwick’s and Brittany’s stance struck her as odd. Was it even possible these two had not had sex, had not even seen each other naked?  Mara looked at Chadwick and knew that he was seeing Brittany for the first time.  Putting her hand gently on his chest she pushed him out of the bathroom and shut the door behind them.

Chadwick felt numb.  Brittany was more beautiful than he could have ever dreamed.  He suddenly felt like a tiger in a cage.  He wanted to claw his way out and tear something apart.  He looked down at his mother, but he wasn’t really seeing her.  All he could see was Brittany in her glorious nakedness.  Chadwick came to an instant decision.  

“Momma, you and dad need to get dressed.  We’re going to the courthouse now.  We can have a wedding later.”  Chadwick had already turned and was leaving the room.  

“Don’t you need to ask Brittany to marry you first?”  Mara saw the glint in Chadwick’s eyes that oftentimes spelled trouble and she began to worry.  

“Tell Brittany to be ready in an hour.  I’m going to find Dad.  We leave in an hour.”  He repeated as he marched off leaving Mara standing in the hallway wringing her hands.

Mara turned around and stared at the door to Vana’s old room.  Mara had dreamed many years ago that she would one day be able to enter this room, sit on the bed and have a long talk with Vana about what happens when a man and woman marries.  Vana and Adanna both were experienced women now and Mara had never gotten the opportunity to tell them anything.  They had learned on their own.  Mara knew that the opportunity stood before her to have that talk, not with one of her biological daughters, but with the woman who would marry her only son.   The enormous irony of it all made goose bumps rise on her flesh.  She could hear Brittany moving around in the bedroom.  Knocking softly on the door she waited. 

“Come in.” Brittany had no idea who was at the door, but she was beyond caring at this point.  She had been scandalized and embarrassed beyond her own comprehension.  Her nerves felt to be on the outside of her skin.  She didn’t know whether to stand or to sit.   Both Chadwick and his mother had looked upon her nakedness at the same time.  Brittany felt like crying.  Her embarrassment was profound.   When Mara entered the room, Brittany was torn between relief and mortification.  

“Oh, sweetheart, don’t be embarrassed.  I am the one embarrassed.  I let something like this happen to you in my house.  I tried to stop him, but he thought you were hurt.  What happened anyway?”  

“I fell.  I can be clumsy at times.  I don’t even know how my feet came from under me, but they did.”  Brittany laughed at herself.  

“You should have seen Chadwick’s face when he heard you scream.  That boy really loves you.  You know that don’t you?” Mara sat on the bed beside Brittany and rubbed the back of her hand, which was gripping the blanket.   Brittany’s nerves had really been shattered.   She nodded her head letting Mara know that she knew how much Chadwick loved her. 

“Will you marry him, Brittany?”  Mara knew the question had to be asked before they left for the courthouse.  She felt strange being the one asking Brittany to marry Chadwick, but the present circumstances called for her action. 

“Yes, if he will ask me.”  Brittany whispered.  Mara was holding her hand tightly now and Brittany felt there was more coming.

“He told me to tell you to get ready.  We will all be going to the courthouse within the hour.  It seems you will be a married woman before nightfall.”   

Brittany’s jaw had gone slack as Mara talked.  She remembered Chadwick’s face as he looked at her standing in the tub.  She had finally pushed him too far.  If she had known it was that easy, she would have run in front of him naked days ago.  Standing up and grinning wildly at Mara she said, “Well, let’s get ready then.”  

Mara felt laughter bubbling up from the bottom of her stomach.  Brittany was a character for sure.  Here she was worried that Brittany would be upset at Chadwick’s highhanded way of marrying her.  Instead Brittany was ecstatic.   Mara cleared her throat.  Her mission was not quite finished. 

“Brittany, I think you and I need to discuss a few things before you run off and get married.”  Mara patted the bed for Brittany to sit down.  

“Oh, no.”  Brittany drawled in dread.  Surely there was not going to be some terrible disclosure right before her marriage that would dim her budding happiness.  

“You are a virgin aren’t you, Brittany?”  Mara got right to the point. 

“Yes, but I’ll be fine.  You don’t have to do this.”  Brittany felt sheer terror rip threw her at the thought of Chadwick’s mother giving her the sex talk.  It seemed unnatural.  

“Don’t look like that.  I just want to share a few things with you that most women share with their daughters before they have intercourse.  It will hurt a little, but if you just relax, the pain won’t last long at all.  Some women have even been so caught up in the act they didn’t feel pain at all.  Let’s hope you are one of them.  One more thing.  Never be ashamed of your nakedness before your husband.  They don’t like that.  Chadwick thinks you are beautiful and he expects you to feel the same way about yourself.  Be confident before him and let him love your body.”   Patting Brittany on the knee she declared that that was all she had to say and left the room.  

Brittany sat on the bed a few minutes and committed Mara’s words to memory.  She would remember verbatim her future mother-in-law’s words for the rest of her life.  They had to hold wisdom.  These were words from a woman who had been married forty years to a man that still adored her.   Words of a woman who had found love, understood it, and made great sacrifices to nurture it.  

The ceremony passed by quicker than Chadwick and Brittany could ever have imagined.  They were newlyweds within an hour and a half of reaching the courthouse.  Mara and James stood as their witnesses.  The ceremony although short, had been overshadowed with a sense of seriousness and promise.  Chadwick and Brittany had spoken their vows with solemnity.  Their futures were bound together as they descended the steps of the Mississippi Municipal Courthouse.  

Chadwick stopped before the car.  Wrapping his arms around Brittany’s waist he lifted her completely off the ground.  With her body pressed tightly against his he gave her a searing kiss.  His lips ravaged her and took her breath away.  Brittany could hear horns blowing as people passed by on the busy main street of Jackson, Mississippi.  Chadwick finally slid her down his length as he opened the car door and settled her inside.  

“Where are we going?” Brittany’s body tingled with arousal as they drove away from the courthouse.  Chadwick’s parents had already left.  Chadwick was going in the opposite direction.  Brittany had no idea where they were headed.  

“We are going to the hotel.  I got us a room for the night.  Our flight to California leaves tomorrow afternoon.”  Chadwick was trying not to speed.  He wanted desperately to be naked flesh to naked flesh with his wife.  Chadwick had never experienced this kind of wanting and it was driving him crazy.  He worried a little that he had rushed things too much for Brittany.  Every girl wanted a wedding.  He pacified his conscience with the thought that they would have a wedding celebration in California as soon as he and Brittany were ready.  Glancing over at her, he was thrilled to see that she looked as happy as he felt.

“I’ve never seen anyone make so many plans so fast,”  Brittany said.  Chadwick tried to look as if he had no idea what she was talking about.  Brittany laughed.   She knew exactly what he was doing.  She felt the same urgent need.  She didn’t fully understand the spiraling feelings that were gathering in her stomach, but she knew Chadwick held the answer to her needs.  She was sure that within hours she would understand the whole mystery.