A Perfect Bride For Christmas (33 page)

Dyann Love Barr

torrent of desperation.

“Yes, but I’m not going to Paris.” Alex followed to stop her back and forth trek by taking hold of her shoulders. “Stop it, Sydney. I’m not marrying you.

What is it going to take for you to get it through your head?”

She threw herself into his arms, gripped him

tight, sobbing violent, heartrending cries. “We’re getting married in two days.”

“No we’re not.”

“Okay, you wanted me to postpone the wedding.

I’ll do it.” She glanced up at him, her eyes wild.

Alex felt a moment of sympathy but shook his

head. “No postponement. We’re past that point.”

“I’ll die if we call it off entirely. I’ll kill myself—I swear it.”

A shiver of dread threaded through his body.

“Don’t say things like that.”

Sydney tore away, shoulders hunched, arms

hugging her body. She’d worked herself into a

hysterical frenzy, her face red and splotched. Sydney raked her hands through her hair, shoving it out of her eyes. “I’ll do whatever it takes to make you see how much I love you. I mean every word. I’ll either have my honeymoon in Paris or a funeral. Take your pick.”

“That’s not love, Sydney. Threats don’t add up to a Hallmark moment.”

“It’s the truth, not a threat,” Sydney snapped.

“I’ve wanted you from the first moment I saw you at Yolanda Zucker’s Christmas party.” Her words came out soft and faraway. “You’re my life, Alex—I can’t breathe without you. Don’t you see that?”

“I don’t know what I’m seeing.”

“You’ll marry me because you won’t want to

think about what might happen if you don’t. How will you live with yourself if I commit suicide? You won’t be able to love anyone after that, will you?” A 264

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gleam of triumph ruined her threat. “No even your mousy ex-wife. I’ve seen the way you look at her.”

“She’s the mother of my children. We have a

past together.”

“You’re lying if say it’s nothing more than that.

She wants you.” She whirled away from him. “All it will take is one slice of a razor blade. Every time you look at one of those little monsters of yours, you’ll know they’re the reason I’m dead.”

There it wa
s—
Demon
Sydney reared her ugly head. “I’m beginning to wonder if you know the

meaning of love. I’m not falling for the melodrama anymore than I believe you’ll commit suicide.

Sydney walked in tight little circles, her hands covering her face. “That’s a cruel thing to say,” she gasped. “Nothing is going the way I planned.”

Sydney went to the window and pulled the pale blue, lace curtain aside to look out into the cold morning.

“There’s no way I’ll let you go anywhere near Zoe Bennett.”

“It’s over. You have no say in what I do.”

She turned around, her face set and hard. “Let

me put it this way, I’ll sue for breach of promise.

You’ll have nothing. I’ll drag your ex-wife’s name through the mud,” Sydney snarled. “I wormed the story out of Tommy. The man gets verbal diarrhea after a few drinks. So Zoe wa
s
the office fat girl.

That had to be a shock, and now you’ve got three kids to support. I’ll tell everyone your ex whored around until she found a man stupid enough to take on her brats. They’ll believe me.”

“You aren’t serious.” Alex didn’t know whether

to laugh or strangle her.

“As a root canal.”

“I’m supposed to go along with this insanity?

Her eyes lit with a vindictive fire. “You will if you want to keep those precious little girls out of the media.”

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The smug look on her face curdled his stomach.

“You miscalculated.” He opened the closet door, pulled out one of her suitcases, and threw it on the bed. All the hanging clothes followed.

“What are you doing?” she shrieked.

“I’m packing your things. Or rather, you’re

packing. I want you out of my mother’s house, right now.”

“You’ll be sorry.” Her hands clawed at his arms as he opened the dresser drawers and yanked out a pile of designer lingerie. “I’ll ruin you,” she screamed. “Take everything you own! Daddy will

break you.”

“Do your worst. I don’t give a rat’s ass about

what Lyle does.” The shoes followed the rest of the clothes in the pile. “I’d rather fix tickets or flip burgers if that’s what it takes to support my family.

But I don’t think it will come to that. Have you forgotten you’re talking to an attorney? We’re a slippery lot.”

Alex felt a weight drop from his shoulders. “I’ll call a limo for you. Be ready to leave in an hour.”

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Zoe glanced up at the clock. A little past noon.

The weather report said the wind advisory had been updated to a warning. Amelia hadn’t called to cancel the food for the reception. So here it was, two days before Alex got married, and a blizzard was in the forecast. It seemed appropriate somehow. Sydney earned the title of Ice Queen. The weather

forecasters predicted up to a foot of snow with blowing winds. How on earth would Amelia cope

with the wrath of God and Mother Nature

combined?

She smiled. If anyone could, it would be Amelia.

Then Zoe had to deal with Brenda. She’d have to leave for St. Louis soon or she’d be stuck here for the holidays. The woman would bring a pall over

Christmas. The last thing Zoe needed was Brenda schlumping around, whining, with her hand out for a loan.

Lunch turned into a disaster. Brenda sat quiet

and sullen while the girls made it their life mission to be as crabalicious as possible. Macy and

Michaela’s shouting match over who got the last chicken nugget bored into Zoe’s skull with the

precision of a dentist’s drill. A drill with a fine bit and no Novocain. Mia whined about the cheese. She wanted string cheese instead of cheddar cubes. The world would come to an end if she didn’t get string cheese.

“Girls!” Zoe commanded over the noise. “If you

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to your room. On second thought, I think a nap is in order.” She turned to Brenda who fingered a potato chip on her plate as if it was an alien object. “I’ll be back.”

Zoe marched the complaining girls up the stairs.

Mia broke into tears.

“What is wrong with you three?” Zoe pulled back the covers on Mia’s bed. “Sit.” She pulled off shoes and socks and tucked the girls in.

“We got to talk to Santa.” Macy turned her face to the wall with a pout, pulling Dora close. “Who’s going to take us to see Santa?”

“Your father said he would try to take you on

the twenty-third. Remember? That’s tomorrow.”

“That’s too late.” Michaela sat up. “Please,

Mommy can we go today?”

Zoe had to disappoint again. “No, I have a lot of work to do, and Aunt Brenda is here to see you girls.

We don’t have time today, besides it’s going to snow.”

Michaela flopped back in disgust. “I told you. We won’t get to see Santa.”

“Ladies…” She twisted the rod on the mini-

blinds until the room darkened. “Nap time.”

A few more grumbles, and they quieted down.

Zoe went down the stairs one step at a time,

reluctant to have any more alone time with Brenda.

The woman eyed everything in the house as if the cost of Zoe’s home took bread out of her mouth. She walked into the kitchen and began to put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher.

“Is something wrong with your sandwich,

Brenda?”

“No. I’m not really hungry.” Brenda’s shoulders slumped. She eyed the plate holding the bacon and tomato sandwich with disgust and pushed it away. “I think I’ll take you up on the offer of the money. Like I said, a few hundred won’t even begin to cover the amount I need to get back on my feet.” Brenda

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slathered on the guilt with a trowel. “It would kill James to see how you’re treating me, now that you have control of his money.”

“I told you it’s in a trust.”

“Whatever,” Brenda sneered.

“That’s all I have.” Zoe added the dishwashing

powder and closed the door. “You can take it or leave it. I don’t care.”

“Okay.” Brenda nodded and threw her napkin

on the table. “I’m going to go pack. I need to get out of here before the storm hits. Looks like the trip to St. Louis should be uneventful, if I can keep ahead of it.” The doorbell rang. Zoe rushed into the living room to keep whoever was at the door from ringing it again. The girls had just settled down, and she didn’t want them disturbed before she had a chance to take a breather.

Her heart flipped in her chest at the sight of

Alex standing in a flurry of fluffy snowflakes. They danced around in the air, so delicate, as they

brushed his face and kissed his hair. Zoe felt her heart tear in two. She’d bleed out if he touched her.

And yet, she wanted his touch.

“Hi.” She opened the door wider to let him in.

The scent of wintery cold, the sharpness of the snowdrops melting into his hair mixed with his

cologne. Zoe stepped back as he came into the front hall. She put her finger against her lips to let him know he needed to be quiet. “What brings you here?”

Zoe whispered as she took his coat and put it in the hall closet. “I just put the girls down for a nap, and believe me, they need it. They’ll be out for couple of hours. Are you sure you want to wait that long?”

“No, you’re the one I need to talk to, Zoe.”

Brenda came out of the kitchen. “Well, well, who is this?” she purred with interest. Her hands

smoothed her sweater and slacks as she approached.

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Brenda thrust out her small, pert breasts for his inspection. Her eyes ate Alex up.

“This is Alex King. The girls’ father.” She tried to keep her voice neutral. “Alex, this is Brenda Bennett. James’ sister.”

Alex flashed a dimpled smile. “Hello. I can’t tell you how much your brother’s care and love of my family is appreciated.”

For once, the fabled Alex King charm failed.

Brenda scowled as her approval turned sour.

“They’re his family. God knows he left those kids all his money. If you really want to show your

appreciation, you can give me twenty thousand

dollars.”

“Brenda!” Zoe let out a hushed cry of

embarrassment. Alex’s stunned look added to the heat creeping into her cheeks. “It’s time for you to leave, now.”

“Looks like you’ve got another rich sucker in you targets,” Brenda shrugged. “It doesn’t hurt to ask, now does it?”

“Just go. I want you out of here, right now.” Zoe turned her back and walked back to the kitchen, head high even though she wished the floor would open and swallow her.

Alex followed behind her. “Wait, wait.” He

stopped her with a gentle touch to her shoulder.

“What was that all about?”

“You heard her. I thought Brenda made herself

pretty clear, she needs money.”

He turned her around and tipped her chin up

with one finger. His smile cleared the clouds away.

“I kind of figured that part out. It’s the why that has me confused.”

Zoe told Alex their turbulent history, what she’d said to the girls at James’ funeral, as well as the constant begging for money.

“I tried, I really did, but I can’t enable her

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anymore.”

“Okay.” He leaned down to place a gentle kiss on her mouth and pulled back with a smile.

“What is wrong with you? You’re engaged.” She

gave him a soft push and moved away from the

distraction of his body so close to hers. The slight touch of his lips against hers let the floodgates open and left her wanting more.

“Can you stand some good news?”

“Anything.” She needed a distraction, whatever

it took to keep her mind off the empty bed upstairs.

In two heartbeats, all her fine resolutions would fail.

“I’m not marrying Sydney.” A dimple popped out

with his smile. “Not now, not ever.”

“What?” The air in the room seemed thin, so

thin she felt breathless. Her jaw dropped in shock.

“Didn’t I tell you I am calling off the wedding, hmmm?”

“Yes, but—”

Alex waggled a finger at her. “No buts.” His eyes searched hers, bright blue and excited. “I asked you to give me a second chance, and you said you had doubts, real doubts, about my character?”

“Yes.”

Zoe’s heart hammered and banged like all three

girls were pounding on her pots and pans. Its

beating drowned out what he said. She wanted to throw herself in his arms, beg him to be a part of her life, but she held back. Old fears crowded out his words until she couldn’t make out his words.

“I can’t think right now.” She turned away, her hand over her mouth to keep the words
I love you
from slipping out again. He already knew she loved him, but was it enough?

“Zoe, I—”

“I’m leaving now.” Brenda stood in the doorway

with her bags on the floor. “So you can write me check or give the money to me in cash.”

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Alex frowned down at Zoe. “You’re giving her

money? I thought you said no.”

“You don’t have any say in this, Mr. King. You

may be the girls’ father, but how Zoe spends James’

money is up to her.”

“It’s coming out of my personal account.” Zoe

glanced over at Alex. “And it’s the last time, ever.

Brenda, after this, you’re on your own.”

She hoped she didn’t sound like a bitch. Zoe

went into the hallway to the antique cabinet where she kept her purse. With a few quick strokes of a pen, she wrote a check and pulled out some cash.

Brenda was out the door the instant she had the money in her hands.

“I hope she makes it back to St. Louis in one