A British Bride by Agreement (13 page)

The woman gave her a quizzical stare.
“Your
mother call
.” Her accent sounded Spanish.

Emma’s tea sloshed in her cup.
“My mother?”

“I give her you cell phone number.” The
woman nodded and left the room.

Scrunching up her eyes, Emma held her
balled fist to her head. The blissful bubble of her honeymoon burst as a rush
of cold memories flooded back. If she never heard from her mother again, it
would be fine. That woman had dragged her and her brother from one end of
England to the other for years, all to make a few pounds. Several hundred
thousand pounds, none of which she or her brother ever saw. Obsessed with
wealth and status, Lilith Waterhouse never showed emotion, never once flagged
in her determination to get the one thing she wanted in life—money.

Needing reassurance, Emma called her
brother on her cell phone first. She wanted to tell him her good news. He
answered it as always, on the first ring, although she had no idea how he did
it. “David.”

“Duckie, how are you? What are you
doing?”

At the sound of her pet name, a tide of
relief washed over her. She smiled, picturing him with his thatch of black hair
and bushy brows.
“Sitting around in my mansion while my
servants do my every bidding.”

“You’re a laugh. Where are you?”

She leaned in and lowered her voice.
“No, really, David, I got remarried.”

“To a
Rockefeller?”

“Close.
A Steller.”

A low whistle filled her ear.
“Brilliant. Well don’t let Mum and Dad hear that. They’ll be onto you faster
than a hound at a fox hunt.”

“I know. Mum already called me.”

“Oh dear, she’s on the prowl. So who’s
the lucky fellow?”

“Jonathan Steller.”

“Ah huh.
Now I know why
you’re worried about mum. So where was my invitation?”

Emma winced. How could she explain that
their marriage was actually a business deal of
sorts.
“It happened really fast. I didn’t even invite any friends.” She chewed her
lower lip. “Do you think Mum and Dad know who I married?”

“I don’t think so. It hasn’t hit the
London papers. Don’t worry. If I sense they’re onto something I’ll send them
down a wrong rabbit trail.”

She leaned back in her chair. “I could
always count on you.”

“Always,
Duckie.”

“Are you doing okay? Are you enjoying
life away from mum and dad’s schemes?”

“Yah, right as
rain.
Everything is looking up.
Fine, definitely fine.”

Emma frowned at the odd tone to his
voice.

“Well ducks, I’ve got to meet some
blokes at the pub.”

“Okay, bye.” Emma hung up with her
brother and noticed an envelope Jonathan left on the table for her. It contained
five credit cards with the name Emma Steller embossed on the bottom. She’d
never actually held an American Express Black card.

“Emma!” Laughter followed the calling of
her name. Emma turned to see Janette and Jennifer bounding into the room.

A spurt of longing rolled through Emma.
She wanted so badly to be liked by Jonathan’s sophisticated, beautiful sisters,
but how could she ever measure up? Janette was twenty-two,
with
 
light
brown hair and light brown eyes.
she
acted at times, very serious, but Emma had seen
glimpses of the same caring nature that Jonathan had. And Jennifer, at
nineteen, was the youngest in the family, with long blonde hair and blue eyes,
she appeared more light-hearted, but Emma had already noticed her brilliant
mind.

“Hi, girls.
Did you get the
gifts we picked out for you?”

Twirling her wrists, Janette admired her
silver bracelet. “This is beautiful. You and my brother have very good taste.”

Jennifer set her hands on her hips. “So,
why did I get the coffee-table book?”

Emma frowned. That had been her idea.
“You didn’t like it? I thought you were fascinated by the history of the German
royal family?”

The girls giggled. “She’s teasing you.”
Janette swatted her sister. “Jen is a total egghead, but you’d never know it by
the way she dresses.”

“Just because I love fashion doesn’t
make me any less smart.” Jennifer smoothed out her white jeans and lime green
knitted top as she leaned in toward Emma. “An egg-head in our family is a
person who appreciates good books.”

“And reading and studying and watching
the Discovery channel.” Janette scoffed.

“Whatever.” Jennifer pulled out a chair
and sat next to Emma. “I loved the book. You were so sweet to think of us while
you were on your honeymoon. So we thought we’d take you furniture shopping. I
mean, this place is a mausoleum. No disrespect to you and Jonathan, but you
could house a country in this wing.”

Emma smiled. Those were her thoughts
exactly. “I’d love the help. I have no idea where to start.”

Janette pulled Emma to her feet. “But first,
we have to dress you, girlfriend. When we close down the stores, they expect us
to look the part.”

“Close the store?” Emma directed her
gaze between the two girls.

Jennifer linked her arm through Emma’s.
“For security reasons, mom and dad like for us to shop alone.”

“So they close the whole store for you?
For us?”

Jennifer nodded. “It’s for our
protection and to keep away the—”

“Look at the time.” Janette strode ahead
of them.
“Already nine-thirty.
We need to get going.”
Janette trooped into the empty Master Bedroom. “Hey, where’s your stuff?”

Cringing, Emma stood in the doorway.
Neither she nor Jonathan slept in the master bedroom, yet. But how could she
explain why they slept in the guest rooms?
Separate guest
rooms.
“We don’t—that is to say—we need more furniture in here first.”

Undeterred, Janette followed Emma into
the guest room’s walk-in closet, and shook her head at the few items hanging
there. “And then we’re going clothes shopping.”

Embarrassed, Emma rubbed her forehead.
“I think your mother said she wanted to do that—”

“And have you looking like someone who
thinks Doris Day is hip?” Janette folded her arms.

Jennifer pulled out a hot pink skirt,
white t-shirt, and a hound’s-tooth jacket, a paring Emma never would have
considered.

She added some pearls and a couple of
gold chains Jonathan had bought her in Germany. Jennifer held the ensemble high
with a dazzling grin on her face. “Voila, fashion created for a Steller.”

Emma took the outfit into the bathroom,
took a quick shower and changed. Staring at her rather doctored-up appearance,
she tugged at the jacket. She liked it. It was a nice changed from jeans and a
t-shirt. But would she be expected to dress like this every day? Would she ever
feel comfortable being a Steller?

She picked up her purse and headed for
the door, suddenly remembering her mother had called. Let her call. Emma
dismissed the worry. She was far away from England and her mother could never
hurt her again.

***

“Miss Stellers, good morning. I was delighted
to get your call. We were only too happy to clear the floor for you.” A man in
a black t-shirt and black jacket and jeans greeted them at Bammerts Furniture.
To Emma, his tan looked as fake as the zebra rug in the front display.

Janette pulled Emma forward. “Rex, this
is Jonathan’s wife, Emma.”

Rex shook her hand.
“Very
nice to meet you.
I’d heard the rascal got married. How did you ever
tame him?”

Emma slipped a glance at Jennifer, who
rolled her eyes. Relived, Emma ignored the man’s comments. Jonathan had had a
reputation as a big spender who dated lots of different women, but she hadn’t
seen that side of him. He had changed.
Except for his
expensive tastes.
And that he liked to go shopping.
In
expensive stores.

“Emma?” Jennifer and Janette were walking
further into the store. “Coming?”

Emma startled out of her fretting.
Living in St. Louis, Emma had heard of Bammerts. They had been in the furniture
business in St. Louis since the turn of the century and by the look of the
handcrafted, richly textured pieces, they catered to those who had exquisite
tastes

Emma scurried after them until an
employee
arrived,
carrying a tray with glasses filled
with ice and several types of Steller Soda stopped her.
“Drinks
for everyone.”

“Got any cold Green Tea?” Janette
paused.

Emma blinked. Refuse a Steller soda? Was
that even allowed?

“Just water for
me, thanks.”
Jennifer pulled Emma toward the sofas.

Emma took a glass of soda and paced
along the long narrow store. The large glass windows revealed the beautiful day,
but after they had tried out several couches, she noticed a crowd was gathering
outside. “We’d better hurry. Looks like a lot of people are waiting to get in.”

Jennifer turned her back to the window
and sighed.
“Photographers again.”

A shock chilled Emma. She swirled around
as the men outside held their cameras high and pressed them against the glass
with flashes popping. Her gaze searched the crowd. “Do you see a celebrity?”

Jennifer pulled Emma behind an armoire.
“You are the celebrity.”

Emma startled. Surely they were joking—

“You’re a Steller now, and being
Jonathan Steller’s wife, people are going to be very interested in you.”
Jennifer offered her a sympathetic gaze.

Emma held her breath, waiting for the
punch line, except it never came. She snuck a glance around the tall armoire,
remembering her first encounter with them in Germany. Of course, they were news
having just wed, but what did they want to write about now? “When will they
leave?”

Janette came and stood by her.
“When we do.”

“We should’ve had Nick come with us.”
Jennifer said.

Janette scanned her cell phone. “Nick
loves the paparazzi too much. Knowing him, he’d turn it around and make it an
announcement of some new soda he created.”

Jennifer laughed. “Like Diet Pesto—get
it, like Diet Pepsi? Let me see who else I can get to come and escort us home.”

Taking the phone from her sister,
Janette turned it off. “Remember how we got in trouble for not lining up
security ahead of time?”

At the sudden jostling of camera-laden
men, Emma stepped back behind the furniture.

Jennifer sighed. “Besides, Nick will
tell Jonathan. He’d do anything to butter him up.”

Emma’s gaze swerved between the two
sisters. She was too shocked by their calm discussion of security and safety to
offer any suggestions. And why didn’t they like Nick? He had been very kind to
her thus far.

“I know who we can call who won’t tell.”
Jennifer winked at her sister, who eagerly nodded.

After ten minutes of an intense
discussion of lamps, Emma’s attention was drawn again to the crowd outside as
they morphed into one ball of frenzied activity. A rumble rose up in the crowd
and the sales people rushed to the front entry.

“Mr. Steller, welcome.” Rex greeted
Jonathan. “Your wife is here.”

Jonathan strode into the room with a blazing
look of frustration on his face. “Where is she?”

***

Jonathan found Emma sitting between his
two sisters on a long chaise lounge. He let out an even sigh to calm his ire.
“Jennifer, what are you doing calling me in the middle of the work day for this?”
He waved his arm toward the outside photographers. When he turned around, his
frown dropped. “Hello, Emma.”

Jennifer elbowed her sister. “See, I
told you he wouldn’t mind. He’s happy to see his new wife.”

He sighed as he took in the pink blush
of Emma’s cheeks and how great her legs looked in that skirt. He shifted his
gaze away.

Emma stood. “Jonathan, I’m sorry. This
is my fault. I didn’t know anything about photographers and the need for
security.”

He shoved his hands to his hips. He
wanted to stay mad, but her good looks were melting his annoyance faster than
global warming. He turned to his
sisters,
you both
know never to call me at work. Not unless it’s an emergency. I was in a very
important meeting.”

Emma sat back down.

Tension tightened the back of his neck.
Had he hurt her feelings? He softened his tone and nodded at her. “I understand
,
this can be very overwhelming.”

“Can you take us to lunch?” Jennifer
slung her purse on her shoulder.

“No, I have to get back to work. Why
don’t you stay here and get some ideas before you meet with Franz, the
decorator?”