An Unbreakable Bond (17 page)

They all looked at her expectantly.

What could she say? “Erm, it wasn’t quite like that.” At that moment she caught sight of April. “Oh, please excuse me. I can see my daughter coming down the stairs.”

Never was she as glad to see April as she was in that moment. Before she could reach her though, April was met by Tristan and Elsa came out of the formal dining room to call them all in to dinner.

Tristan waited for her and indicated to the seat next to his and she found herself seated between Tristan at the head of the table and Niall to her left. April sat opposite, next to a very pretty blonde called Lucile.

Tristan completely ignored her and spoke directly to April and Lucile.

Annabelle inwardly sighed. Not one to give up, she turned to Niall and asked, “So, how long have you worked here?”

Smiling openly, he replied, “I was born on this ranch, so I guess I’ve worked here from the moment I could walk.”

“Wow, so your family live here too?”

“All the people you see around this table are classed as family to me and we all live in homes dotted about the land. Most of us were born here from families who travelled over from England with the original Hemsley-Ford household.”

“Oh,” she replied.

He laughed at the amazed look on her face. “Tristan over there,” he nodded in his direction, “turned the ranch into a share-holding business about five years ago, so we all now own a share between us. I suppose that makes us more of a family.”

This was news to her. “Is that how he can work in the city with his oil business at the same time as running the ranch?”

“Yep, that was the general idea for shared-ownership. See, when you own something, you take better care of it. Tristan was real clever about that. He knew we’d make it work even if he weren’t here to oversee it.”

Stumped at Tristan’s generosity and business strategy, she turned to look at him and found him staring straight back at her. The glare in his eyes was fierce, making her gulp, then he shuttered it and his eyes became vacant. Looking away, she caught Lucile shyly glancing at Niall wistfully. There was a girl with a crush. She smiled to herself and turned back to Niall. Withstanding Tristan was a strenuous task, but matchmaking, now that she could do.

“So Niall, are you married?”

“No, I, erm, haven’t found the right girl yet.”

She caught him throw a quick glimpse at Lucile. How lovely. Maybe they just needed a little shove.

“April and I are going to the lake tomorrow, how about you join us and maybe Lu –”

“Are you hitting on my head ranchman?”

Tristan’s voice was icy cold and it had a tremor of anger laced through it. Glancing at Lucile she could see the tears in her eyes. Mortified, she turned to Tristan and threw him a disgusted look. “Actually, I was –”

“Annabelle’s already taken.” He nodded at Niall. “Goes by the name of Daniel,” he hissed.

The table went quiet.

Horrified at him speaking about her like that in front of strangers, her response was fuelled with indignation, “Yes, I do like a man with manners and Daniel is very well-mannered, which suits me just fine.”

Rising to the bait he bit back, “Yes, he’s very mild and well-mannered, with about as much sex-appeal as a dead fish,” he said dripping with sarcasm.

Colour rose into her cheeks, but before she come back with another retort, April spoke, “But mum, Daniel's not –”

Panic cursed through her and she cut her off, “April, not now honey.” She smiled weakly at her.

“But mum, you’re not –”

“I said not now.” Lies always come back to bite you on the arse at the least unexpected moment and she could see Tristan bouncing a questioning look between her and April, but before he could utter a word, a commotion could be heard from the other side of the dining room door. All eyes and heads turned in that direction.

It swung open and a formidable man stood there, Tristan’s father, Preston Hemsley-Ford, followed by another man, Marshall Boone and his daughter, Cara Boone. Finally, coming in at the rear was the harassed looking housekeeper, Elsa.

“So sorry Tristan, but they wouldn’t wait in the foyer,” said a distressed looking Elsa.

“Be quiet woman,” barked Preston. “This is the house of my ancestral family. No-one has the audacity to keep me waiting!” he said more to the room than to Elsa.

Now standing, Tristan soothed, “
It’s
okay Elsa, I’ll take it from here.” He turned to his father. “What are you doing here? I’ve not invited you and I asked you on the phone to await my instructions as to a meeting.”

“I’ve waited all day,” Preston bellowed. “And I think that is long enough. I will not be kept waiting any longer. I require an explanation as to your unacceptable behaviour to Cara and to also meet my granddaughter.”

Preston was standing directly behind Annabelle’s chair and she could feel his anger penetrating into her back. Marshall had his hands on his hips and Cara, who looked like a super-model from the pages of Vogue, was smiling sickly sweet at Tristan. The hum of anticipation in the room was turning her stomach. No-one moved a muscle.

“Is that her there?” Preston was pointing at April, who was ashen in colour looking from Preston back to Tristan.

Tristan was now furious. No-one gets access to April without his approval and his father had not yet earned that right. The only thing that gave him away as to his inner fury was the tic in his jaw. Calmly, he spoke, “Elsa, can you take April to her room.”

Annabelle nodded and smiled encouragingly at April as they left the room.

Tristan refused to take his eyes off his father, silently challenging him to defy his request of having April removed from the scene. “Father, we’ll take this discussion into my office. Annabelle, can you come with us.” Turning to the table, he offered an apology. “Please excuse us and carry on with dinner, we’ll be back shortly.”

Tristan towered his presence over his father, guiding him from the room, giving him no option but to move. Annabelle followed at the back behind Cara.

This was the first time she’d entered into Tristan’s office and it was huge, with banks of patio doors along one wall, leading out onto a garden. At any other time she may have wandered around and taken a book from the tall bookcases and perhaps dropped into a large winged padded chair near the marble fireplace, spending hours reading next to an open fire. The desk was down at the far end and Tristan was pulling additional chairs towards it. Nervously, she sat on the edge of one at the end of the line of four. Cara perched herself at the other end.

Several times his father tried to speak, but Tristan had put his hand up, stopping him until everyone was seated. There was no way Preston was going to lead this meeting. This was his daughter and his life. His father had lost all power over him many years ago.

“Now, what is so important that you storm into my house, disrupt my guests and make demands?” Tristan’s voice was alarmingly calm.

Preston’s fingers tapped on the chair. “Everything and I mean
everything
that we’ve worked on for these last ten years is being annihilated by this sudden decision of yours.”

“Nothing is being annihilated. Business is strong and stable. The way I see it is that you’re upset at not getting your own way with this idiotic marriage deal.”

Preston slammed his hand down on the arm of the chair, making Annabelle wince. “You can’t just make a deal and then back out of it when it suits you! This is a billion dollar deal, not just some flimsy whim!”

“Yes I can, especially when the deal is pivotal to the quality of my life.” Nothing was going to make him back down from his decision.

Trying a different tactic, Preston appeared to soften. “That’s just self-centred thinking son. Everyone is sacrificing something for the greater good of all.”

Tristan scoffed. “Don’t you mean for the greater lining of pockets, father?” Emotional blackmail wasn’t going to swing it.

Marshall chewed on his tobacco. “Boy, I don’t know what they taught you over in England, but I’m a Texan through and through, and us Texans don’t go back on a deal.”

Tristan looked Marshall directly in the eyes. “I will say this only once more. There is no deal. There will be no uniting of Boone and Hemsley-Ford, no marriage, no heirs – no nothing. I’ve had a lawyer look at everything and I’m willing to make a polite financial offer for any disruption my decision may cause.” Tristan wasn’t budging. There was nothing these people had that he would ever want. Since having Annabelle and April in his life, he felt he’d finally found that ‘something’ that had been missing. On a business level, Preston had handed over the reins of the oil franchise to him and the ranch was sub-divided into shares, so he had no power to make any demands.

The room went silent for a second as they digested the strength behind   Tristan’s words. Annabelle had not been aware of any deal. It was dawning on her that Tristan had never actually loved Cara and even if April had not existed, he still wouldn’t have gone through with it. Warmth spread through her and despite the tense circumstances she wanted to laugh out loud. Taking a quick peek at Tristan, she saw his eyes were on her, a slight smile at the corner of his mouth. She knew he’d read her thoughts.

The silence was broken by Cara, who sat primly with that sickly smile still etched onto her face. “Come now darling, surely we can sort this out together. If the problem is April,” she took a swift glance in Annabelle’s direction, “then we can resolve it with a team of good lawyers.”

“Cara, what exactly are you implying?” replied Preston questioningly.

“I’m saying that if Annabelle had any love for her daughter she would allow her to stay here with her father and her new step-mother, that being me. It’s the best place for her.”

Annabelle’s heartbeat nearly stopped in shock. The marriage deal she knew nothing about, but some stuck-up rich bitch threatening to have April taken from her, well, that was something she could take action on.

Standing up, she marched over to Cara and put her face level with hers. “I will see you in hell before I let you take my daughter!”

“Is that a threat?” Cara purred back.

“Damn right it is!” she spat back, not dropping eye contact.

“Can you see what I mean daddy? That child is being brought up by a violent mother and you’re all witnesses to her threat!” Cara also did not drop eye contact and she smiled triumphantly at the effect of her own scheming.

Annabelle had been duped into a reaction and now she was seething. “You bitch, how dare you-”

“Enough!” roared Tristan. “I want everyone apart from Annabelle to leave. I’ve given you my final answer and I won’t be changing my mind. No-one but Annabelle and I will be
raising
April. We are her parents and there’s no room for anyone else to be putting in their self-centred, greedy ideas.” He looked pointedly at Cara. “Now, if you don’t mind I have a dining room full of people to get back to.”

They all stood to leave.

“I can’t believe that you’re sacrificing the entire business for her?” Preston angrily pointed at Annabelle.

“Father, you of all people should know that you can’t fight the matters of the heart with intellect. Nearly thirty-three years ago you lost the one thing that meant more to you than any business deal. Forced to give it up by my uncle, you’ve never recovered from that loss. I will not make the same mistake.”

Annabelle watched all the colour fall from Preston’s face and he seemed to shrink in size. She knew that Tristan was referring to her mother. A bubble of hope fluttered in her heart. Ten years ago he wouldn’t have fought for her. Today he implied that he will not give her up no matter what. The door that had opened a crack this morning swung fully open. The room started to spin. Grabbing the edge of the desk she leaned into it as the full force of her feelings for Tristan burst through every cell of her body.

She loved him utterly and completely.

From far away she could hear Tristan telling his father that he would be in touch about him meeting April.

It was the pressure of his arms around her that brought her senses back into the room. Turning to face him, she immediately felt faint at the intensity of the question that burned in his eyes. “Tristan, I –”

“Hush, it’s over. No-one will take April away from you, from us,” he soothed.

Closing her eyes, she breathed him in and felt the warmth of his body against hers. The kiss that followed wasn’t a passionate kiss; it was a type of request – a question of trust. In her heart she knew he was asking her if she was ready to surrender.

Sighing, she pulled away and rested her head on his chest, listening to the beat of his heart. Was she ready to let go of her doubts? She knew she loved him with every fibre of her being, but was she ready to show that love again, to be open to being vulnerable? A lone tear trickled down her face and before she could catch her breath a deep desperate sob began to rise up from the pit of her being.

For ten years she’d felt so alone. Yes, there had been her family and Katie, but she'd felt alone at her core, without the father of her child to share what they had created. Not all of it had been Tristan’s fault. Ten years ago she could have picked up the phone and told him about their daughter. If the truth was known, fear is what stopped her, the fear that he would want their daughter, but not her. After six years of loving him, she couldn’t have taken that ultimate rejection. Gulping, she pulled away as the sob erupted. “I…I…have to go and see April.”