With These Four Rings - Book Five: Wedding Bonus (Billionaire Brides of Granite Falls 5) (26 page)

Family pictures hung on either side of a fifty-inch TV screen mounted on one wall. One quick scope and Bryce noticed that there were no photos of Victoria among them. He wondered mildly if they’d removed them because he was visiting, or if they’d just axed her from the family tree.

“I’m Kaya.”

At the sound of his wife’s voice, Bryce let out the breath he’d been holding. The smell of freshly baked chocolate-chip cookies and fresh brewed coffee wafted from the next room where a dog let out an occasional bark and whine. He turned to see the Summerses shaking his wife’s hand. Only then did it dawn on him that they’d never met Kaya—the wife who’d replaced the one their daughter had killed. It felt very strange to him, because if Pilar hadn’t died…

“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Summers.”

Kaya’s voice sounded foreign to Bryce, and he wondered if they’d ever met Pilar. Had Victoria spoken about her to them? Did she tell them that she’d had an affair with him? Did they believe her? Is that why Mr. Summers was now watching him with contempt in his eyes?

“Please, sit.” Ruth Summers indicated the sofa, and once he and Kaya were seated—still hand-in-hand—she and her husband both settled into the chairs on the other side of the coffee table.

As Bryce took in their wary expressions, he got a feeling of déjà vu from when he and Pilar had gone to her parents’ home in Chicago to inform them that they’d gotten married. They hadn’t known what to expect from him as a man, or as a husband for their daughter. Later, they blamed him for their daughter’s death, for not protecting her from crazy Victoria.

“I baked cookies and made coffee,” Ruth said, drawing Bryce’s attention back to the room and the unbearable task at hand. “Would you like to have some?”

He declined, but Kaya accepted, out of propriety he supposed.

“I’ll bring them in.”

A snarl curved Bryce’s lips as Gerald jumped up and practically ran out of the room. He was a medium-height, medium-built man in his late fifties, with balding salt and pepper hair, and a labyrinth of crow’s-feet around the corners of his eyes, even when he was expressionless. He’d been the mayor of Granite Falls when Bryce first moved to town, and he’d resigned from that post shortly after his daughter committed her ghastly crime. If Bryce had to sum up Gerald Summers in one word, it would be
sad
. He wondered if he’d always been like that or if the tragedy had saddened him over the years.

His wife was a slender, attractive woman who wore her short natural curls in a twisty style he thought was very becoming. She was amiable and didn’t seem to carry any of the animosity her husband was portraying toward him—perhaps because Victoria was her stepdaughter. The tragedy may not have affected her as deeply as it had her husband.

After a long awkward silence, Ruth said, “So Desire tells me she has taken over the planning of your wedding. She’s so excited to get the opportunity to plan a wedding of this scope and magnitude.”

“Yes,” Kaya said when she apparently realized that he wasn’t going to respond. “Don’t tell Fae that I said this, but Desire is the best wedding planner around. We wanted to hire her at first, but didn’t for obvious reason.” She paused as Gerald came back into the room carrying a wooden tray with a plate of cookies, four mugs, a carafe of coffee, and cream and sugar. He placed the tray on the coffee table, motioned for his wife to remain seated, and began filling the mugs with coffee and handing them out.

Even though Bryce had declined the treat, he nevertheless took the mug Gerald handed him. He wanted to ask him if he had any Scotch or tequila.
What am I doing here? I don’t want to be here.

“She told me about her idea for the four aisles,” Ruth continued in a jovial voice.

Bryce glanced at his wife.
Four aisles? What the heck was she talking about
?

Kaya smiled at him over the rim of her coffee mug. “We, the wives, couldn’t decide what kind of flowers to use for the aisle, and Desire came up with the brilliant solution to give us each our own aisle, and the flowers of our choice, and ultimately our own spotlight. Each husband can focus on his wife as she walks toward him.”

Not a bad idea
, Bryce thought.

While Ruth and Kaya exchanged small talk about the wedding plans, Bryce met Gerald’s gaze. Neither one of them had said anything since he’d arrived. Well,
he
hadn’t. And all that had come out of Gerald’s mouth was, “It’s very nice to meet you, Kaya” and “I’ll bring them in.”

They were like two dogs sizing up each other. Bryce set his full mug of coffee down on the tray with a thud, causing some of the black liquid to spill on the surface of the wood, like Pilar’s blood had spilled onto the floor that horrific night.

It grew deadly quiet and all eyes focused on him. “I appreciate the cookies and the coffee and the small talk between my wife and you, Mrs. Summers, but this—” He flared his hands. “This isn’t the reason I’m here.”

“We know, but we’re trying to make everyone feel at ease,” Ruth said.

“There’s nothing easy about what happened with my wi—with Pilar nine years ago. Your daughter murdered her.” He felt Kaya’s hand on his back, rubbing gently as she tried to calm him down.

“I’m truly sorry about your loss, Mr. Fontaine. No man should have to go through what you went through. I can’t imagine watching someone shoot my wife in front of me and then have her bleed to death in my arms. The thought gives me chills.” Gerald set his mug down on a nearby lamp table and sat forward. “I’m in no way condoning what Victoria did, but,” he added after a short pause, “you’re not blameless in this tragedy.”

The accusations, and condescension in his voice and eyes cleared it up for Bryce. So Victoria had told them lies about him. “Do you care to explain?” He sent Gerald a stone cold stare.

“Well, you were having relations with my daughter, weren’t you? And then you tossed her aside to marry Pilar. Then you slept with her after you were married. She was hurt and confused. You pushed her over the edge when you fired her after she threatened to file a sexual harassment suit against you.”

The anger Bryce had been trying to suppress sprang sharply to life. He balled his fists on his thighs. “The only relation I had with your daughter was professional, Mr. Summers. At no time did I enter into any form of sexual liaison with her. I fired her after she slid some naked photos of herself into a pile of letters she’d given me to sign. You got one thing right, sir. I do blame myself for the tragedy, for not realizing what a nutcase your daughter was.”

Gerald jumped to his feet, shaking his fists at Bryce. “I will not sit here and allow you to insult my daughter’s memory. Not in my house! The door is right there!” He pointed at it. “Use it!”

“Gerald!” his wife scolded him, and rushed to stop his forward advance toward Bryce.

“Good point—” Bryce was about to get up and head for the door when Kaya placed her hand on his arm. “Bryce, we knew it wasn’t going to be easy. Please. You need to let this go.”

Is this the kind of legacy you want to pass on to your children, son? Do you want to teach them to hold on to grudges and not to forgive those who hurt them?

Bryce took a deep breath and turned to look at Kaya. The plea in her beautiful brown eyes tugged at his heart.
It’s not just about you. It’s about the future of your children, of the Fontaine family. It’ll make me very happy, Bryce.
Even if it kills me
.

As the words reverberated inside his head, Bryce stared at Gerald, who was now back in his chair and eyeing him with barely contained fury. Ruth stood behind him, her hands on his shoulders.

“Bryce, be the man who you are. The man I love,” Kaya whispered in his ear. “Take the high road, darling.”

Bryce straightened his shoulders, drawing calm from Kaya’s warm touch. “I apologize for insulting your daughter’s memory, Mr. Summers. I didn’t come here to fight. I came here to say that I—I—I—want to put this anger and animosity for your family behind me. I can’t forget what your daughter did, but I can try to start forgiving her. I have to, for my sake and for the sake of my family.” He placed his hand over Kaya’s.

Gerald gave him a dubious look. “You really never had an affair with Victoria? Because you did have a reputation with women. You and your friends.”

“Never. She tried to start something between us, but I never mix business and pleasure. Even when I had my
reputation
,” he added, making quotations marks in the air, “I never juggled women. I never cheated on my wife. I never made advances toward your daughter. I never touched her.” He felt as if he needed to say it all for emphasis.

“Victoria pulled the wool over your eyes, Gerry,” Ruth said, squeezing her husband’s shoulders.

Gerald stared out of a window for a long moment before bringing his attention back to his company. “Her mother was a flight attendant. She loved to travel the world and didn’t want kids keeping her down, so she signed Victoria over to me when she was an infant, and she never looked back. To protect her, I told Victoria that her mother died when she was born.” He shook his head in obvious sorrow and regret. “I did everything I could to make her feel wanted, but she always felt starved for attention.”

“I understand how she must have felt,” Kaya said. “I was abandoned by both my parents when I was a child. It’s not something you get over easily.” She shrugged. “If ever.”

But you didn’t turn into a nutcase and kill anyone
, Bryce thought.

Gerald gave her a faint smile. “Thank you for sharing that.” He placed his hands over Ruth’s. “Vicki felt even less loved after Desire was born, even though I tried hard to show her that I didn’t love her any less because I had another daughter.”

Bryce’s thoughts wandered off to Jason, Alyssa, and Anastasia. He hoped that they never felt less loved than Eli and Elyse. Yes, he shared a special bond with his biological children that he couldn’t share with anyone else, not even his wife. It was natural. He wasn’t making any apologies for it. The important thing is that all his children were equally loved, and they equally loved each other. He would charge into a burning building to rescue Jason and his sisters, just as quickly and easily as he would for Eli and Elyse. He knew that Jason felt the same way about the twins as he felt about his siblings, and that he would protect them as ferociously, but Jason shared a special bond with his sisters that he didn’t share with Eli and Elyse.

Listening to Gerald speak of his daughter, Bryce put himself in the man’s shoes, and soon Victoria Summers didn’t seem like a monster to him anymore. She was a troubled soul. Lost.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Fontaine. You were…still are a respected man in Granite Falls.” Gerald’s voice penetrated Bryce’s thoughts. “I should have looked into the matter before accusing you of wrongdoing, and blaming you for pushing my daughter over the edge.” His voice faltered. “I didn’t want her to think that I didn’t believe her, that I didn’t love her. I didn’t want to make her feel any less important than she already felt. I realize now that was my mistake. You shouldn’t love your children to the point where you’re afraid to hurt their feelings by calling them out. If I had not taken Victoria at her word, she and your first wife would still be alive. I’m sorry. Truly sorry.” Tears rolled down his cheeks as his wife wrapped her arms about him.

As Bryce watched him, the tension inside his chest loosened. He took a deep breath and realized that it didn’t hurt. He was sitting in the Summerses’ home, talking to them about their daughter, the woman who’d murdered his first wife, and he wasn’t angry or tense anymore.
It hadn’t killed him.

Bryce turned to his wife and wrapped her in his arms. “I can breathe. Thank you. Thank you. I love you. I love you so very much.”

“You’re free, Bryce. You’re free.” She held on to him, crying softly in relief.

“Would you like a fresh cup of coffee, Mr. Fontaine?” Ruth asked after they’d all regained their composure.

“Yes, please, Mrs. Summers. That would be awesome. And you can call me Bryce.”

* * *

Big Boy’s Pizza Shop – Sunday morning…

It had been one crazy week, and when it rained, it really poured. Literally and figuratively, Massimo thought, as huge raindrops pelted his windshield. His wipers were going at full speed yet it was hard for him to see as he carefully made his way down Union Street toward Big Boy’s Pizza Shop.

He should be in church with his family and his friends and their families—especially the LaCrosses who’d laid Sarah to rest yesterday. He hadn’t even been aware that the dear old woman had died until his return from Kenya early yesterday morning. Among other news, he’d learned that Desire Summers had taken over the planning of their wedding, with Bryce’s blessings to boot, and that their wedding was now a community affair. Michelle’s brilliant idea, that everyone thought was the therapy the town needed to heal old wounds, had gone public on Friday while he and Shaina were still in Kenya.

As he pulled his Lamborghini into a parking space in front of the pizza shop, Massimo wondered if Michelle’s idea was the reason he’d received the letter from the mystery person waiting for him inside. The letter had been hand delivered to Andretti Industries, late Friday, and had been among the pile of mail he’d had sent from his office to the estate.

Massimo’s hands shook as he pulled the note from his suit pocket, and his stomach tightened as he read it for the millionth time:
Dear Mr. Andretti, Your mother got a phone call the day she died. If you want to know who called her, meet me at Big Boy’s Pizza on Union Street Sunday morning at 11.