Her Unexpected Admirer (16 page)

He nodded, relieved when she didn’t immediately reject the idea.  “Absolutely.  And there’s no way in hell your father is coming to the wedding.”

Kate didn’t argue again.  She wasn’t sure she could face her father again.  Not after what he’d pulled. 

Davis continued.  “I live in Atlanta but fly up to Virginia often to see my family.  They’re scattered all over the country right now, but we get together pretty regularly.”

A slight smile started forming.  It was small, but the light of hope that was simmering inside of her flamed just a little bit bigger.  “You’ve told me stories.  I’m not sure if I’m strong enough to meet your brothers.” 

Davis chuckled.  “Yes you are.  You’re a strong, powerful woman who is a creative genius.”

That was an odd statement but Kate thought he was just trying to revive her self-esteem after years of having it beaten down by her father.  Thankfully, she’d had a solid upbringing with her mother’s kindness.  “You don’t know anything about my creativity.”

He smiled slightly, his eyes never leaving her face.  “Oh, you have no idea how much about your creativity that I understand.”

She thought he was just talking about their sex life.  “Where are we going?”

He shrugged one huge shoulder, maintaining a hold on her gaze.  “You’re going to have to trust me.”

She leaned back in the chair.  “I don’t trust you.”  But she was smiling.  Her fears built up because of her father’s rejection were non-existent with Davis.  That didn’t mean she was going to shout her love of painting to anyone who asked, but she felt enormously better knowing that he didn’t think it was silly.  Davis’ opinion, she suddenly thought, was more important than anyone else’s. 

“You love me.  You have to trust me.  It comes along with the territory.” 

She crossed her legs and arms, looking across at him.  “Who says love and trust go hand in hand?”

He laughed softly.  “Finish your breakfast,” he ordered.  “You’re going to need all the energy you can get once we land in Atlanta.”

He changed the subject after that and wouldn’t give her any clue as to what was happening next.  As soon as they landed, Davis led her through the parking lot to a grey jaguar parked alongside the airport for private planes.  He drove for less than thirty minutes, still refusing to tell her anything.  It wasn’t until they were pulling up outside of a beautiful, old house with a lovely garden and enormous weeping willow trees that he explained.  The door opened immediately as soon as they pulled up outside the house.  “This is my house,” he told her, waving to the matronly woman standing on the stoop.  “That’s Ms. Dramond who cooks and cleans for me, takes care of the place while I’m traveling.”

Kate nodded, still not sure what was going on.  “Ms. Dramond, this is my future wife, Kate Evans,” he said, introducing the two women.  Kate’s eyes snapped up to his.  She hadn’t agreed to marry him, but it certainly sounded wonderful to her ears.

“It is a delight to meet you, Ms. Evans.  It’s about time this annoying man decided to get married.  I’ve been nagging for him to start a family for years.” 

Kate blushed at the idea, but she liked that too.  And she liked Ms. Dramond immediately.  “It is a pleasure to meet you.  And please, call me Kate.”  She didn’t like being called Ms. Evans.  It sounded much too formal for who she felt she was inside. 

They shook hands and Kate felt a warmth that she hadn’t felt in a long time as the older woman covered her hands in greeting.  “I’m going to whip up something warm and fattening for dinner tonight.  You look like you need a bit more meat on your bones.”

Kate looked to Davis to see how he would react but he seemed to be in perfect agreement with that idea.  She looked down at herself and noticed her jeans sort of hanging a bit on her frame.  Well, perhaps she could stand to gain a few pounds she thought. 

“I’m going to take her around to the back.  I have something to show her before I give her a tour of the house.  We’ll be back in a few minutes,” he explained.

“Show her Jimmy’s roses.  He’s been swooning over them lately and devastated that the fall is going to stop their blooming.”  And with that, she moved back inside to do whatever it was that she did inside the house.

Davis took her along a pathway that was partially hidden by the stunning gardens.  More weeping willows draped over a wooden bridge that crossed a creek and all along the edge of the pathway, different plants were growing every which way.  “This is gorgeous!” she gushed, pulling a curtain of leaves back to step through the garden.

“I agree.  Jimmy is Ms. Dramond’s husband and takes care of the gardens.  I can’t believe I found the couple.  She loves to cook and vacuuming soothes her, or so she says.  While Jimmy would rather be out gardening than anything else in the world.  The two of them take care of the house, making sure everything runs smoothly while I’m gone.”

“It must be nice to come home to a clean, dust free house and a warm meal,” she said, thinking of her apartment that was probably covered with dust by now.  She’d been gone for about two weeks and that was more than enough time to create a layer of dust over everything, not to mention time for mold to grow on everything in her fridge. 

“You’ll get used to it,” he promised her and led her through an iron gate.  “Look out over this hill,” he said, referring to a grassy knoll right in front of them. 

“Yes, what about it?  It looks lovely.”

He stepped behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist.  “How about if I built a small house with windows on all sides, skylights in the roof and gave Jimmy free reign to establish a garden around it.  Do you think that would be a good place to paint?”  He felt her stiffen in his arms but held her so she couldn’t move away from him.  “I’ve heard that artists need lots of light in their studios.” 

He heard a sniffle but wasn’t sure what was happening.  It wasn’t until she spun around in his arms that he grasped that she was crying.  “Thank you,” she whispered, burying her face in his chest.  “Thank you!”

He bent down, trying to read her expression.  “Hey, Kate.  I didn’t mean to make you cry.  I thought the idea would make you happy.”

She nodded through her tears, thinking she must look like a complete mess after all the crying she’d done today.  “I am.  I’m so happy I can barely believe you’re real.”

He chuckled softly, still not sure why she was crying.  “Okay, then.”  He leaned back and wrapped his arms around her.  “I have something else to show you.  I’m not sure if I’m completely right, but I’d like to…” he paused, still hoping against hope that his dates and his guess was on the mark.  “Well, I don’t care if you’re not the one who painted these, but I just want you to know that, before I saw these paintings,” he explained, taking her hands once more and leading her through the garden again towards the back door of the house, “well, I didn’t really like art.  Or more accurately, I didn’t appreciate art except as a business transaction.” 

Her eyes narrowed as she listened, not liking what she was hearing.  “Davis, are you telling me that you’re one of those people who buys art simply to wait for it to appreciate in value and then you sell it at a profit?”  She’d never respected people like that.  They seemed too mercenary for her taste.

“Honestly?  Yes.  I used to be.  Until I went to this art gallery in New York back in August.  I gave myself a time limit.  I’d promised a friend that I would be there but I wasn’t going to stay long.  Just an in and out, pretend to drink the horrible wine, say a few pithy words to the press about the paintings and be out of there.”

She smacked his arm, not hard, but enough to show that she completely disapproved of his attitude.  “You are one of those people.”

“Only until that day.”  He opened the door and led her inside.  “And then I discovered these paintings,” he said, standing in the great room of his house which he’d had painted white so his newest acquisitions would stand out more.  “I walked into the gallery and bought every single painting by this artist.”

Kate stood very still, her eyes moving from one wall to the next.  It was a two story room with windows bringing in the outside world, but what struck her were the paintings on the wall.  Her paintings.  Every painting she’d allowed to go to her friend in New York.  They were all here, hanging on Davis’ wall. 

“You bought all of them,” she whispered, afraid to voice what she was seeing. 

“Every single painting.  I loved them.  I couldn’t let them go to anyone else,” he said with reverence.  He turned to look down at her and saw the emotion in her crystal blue eyes, but couldn’t identify it.  “Your art struck me deeply, Kate.  Every painting, every emotion…I wanted to own it.  Your art is filled with joy and happiness, anger, frustration.  I’ve never experienced such passionate, emotion-evoking art before.  I’ve read about people who have experienced that kind of reaction to a painting, but I’d dismissed it before that day, thinking the people were just…nuts.” 

Kate laughed at his honesty because she suspected a lot of people felt that way as well.  They simply couldn’t see the intrinsic value of various forms of art while others thought art was breathtaking. 

But the laughter quickly died away as she looked around again.  All of those paintings!  Everything she’d released to the world was right here in Davis’ house 

“So if I paint something else, does that mean you’re going to keep it?” she asked.  She wasn’t sure how he wanted her to answer that question. 

He touched her cheek, silently telling her to look at him.  “Can I have first right of refusal on each piece?”

She didn’t understand.  “You want…”

He sighed.  “On the one hand, I want the world to experience your art.  I want you to know the incredible feeling of success.  I think, once you put your art out on the market, that you’ll start to understand what an amazing artist you are.  Once people are clamoring for your works, you’ll start to gain confidence in your art.  But on the other hand, I still want the right to keep all of your art here, close to me.  I think everything you’ve produced is the most outstanding, amazing and shocking pieces of art I’ve ever viewed and I want to hoard it all to myself.”

She laughed, delighted with everything he was telling her.  “So what are you going to do?” she asked.

He pulled her into his arms.  “First, I’m going to marry you so that I have you all to myself.  Then I’m going to build you the most amazing art studio so that you can create all day long.  No more accounting.  Now that I’ve discovered your hidden talents, I want you to dedicate yourself to your art.”

She was in whole hearted agreement with that.  “And then?” she asked, correctly assuming that there was more on his mind. 

“And then, I’m going to ensure that you have plenty of material on which to draw by bringing you to my bed every night and making love to you in various sorts of ways so that when you go down to your studio,” he bent lower and kissed her gently, starting the flames that were always there, just simmering under the surface, “you’ll have plenty of passion to put into your art.”

She laughed, leaning in to hug his enormous body with excitement.  “I can’t think of a better way to spend the rest of my life,” she told him.  “Thank you,” she whispered, putting all of her love into those two words. 

“I don’t want you going there alone,” Davis said through the phone.  “Just give me an hour and I’ll go with you.”

Kate was back in Boston, but only so that she could close up her apartment and resign from her job.  Kate smiled as she packed up the last of her paints, sealing the box.  “I’ve got to do this alone, Davis.  Don’t worry about me.  I’m fine.”  She thought about it and realized that she really was okay.  Now.

“Kate, I don’t care how ‘okay’ you think you are, I still want to be there.  Your father is a bully and he doesn’t fight fair.”

Her heart melted with the concern in his voice.  “Do you trust me?” she asked, throwing his words back at him. 

Davis ran a hand through his hair, frustrated.  “Of course I trust you,” he told her.  That didn’t mean that he liked her going to confront her father alone.  She was supposed to be handing in her resignation, packing up her office and getting on his plane to come back to Atlanta.  If he’d known she’d try and do her office in person while her father was there, he would have gone with her, been there to stop her father’s abusive words. 

“I’m going to be fine.  There’s nothing he can say that will hurt me.  And if he’s not there, I’ll just lay the resignation on his desk and move on.”  She picked up her purse, wiping her hands on her jeans.  “My apartment is packed up and I’ll be on the plane in,” she glanced at her watch, “two hours.  That gives me plenty of time to get to my office, grab the last few things, say goodbye to my father and meet Mike at the airport,” she explained, referring to Davis’ pilot who was standing by.  “He’ll then fly over to Denver to pick you up.  I expect to see you before midnight, my man.”

He laughed, enjoying the carefree tone of her voice.  “Kate, if he gives you any grief, I swear I’ll…”

“You’ll trust me to take care of this,” she said firmly.  “I love you.  Please be safe.”

“I will.  I wouldn’t miss next weekend for anything,” he promised, referring to their wedding day which was in eight days. 

She hung up with him and rode the elevator down to the street.  Movers would be by to pick up most of the boxes.  Some of them were labeled for charity donations.  Davis had insisted that her entire wardrobe be given away, promising that if she ever wore one of those “hideous” suits, he would rip it off of her.

Kate didn’t mind in the least so she’d packed up the suits and labeled them for the thrift shop down the street.  They didn’t fit her well enough, but someone could use them, she was sure. 

The walk to the office was cold but she pulled the hood of her sweatshirt over her head and wrapped her arms around herself.  She felt like the world was sunnier today.  She’d see Davis tonight and she would curl up in his arms.  He would kiss her and her world would be perfect once again.   

She was in such a wonderful mood, she stopped by the Godiva store and bought a small package of chocolate truffles.  Smiling, she entered her old office building, almost skipping with excitement. 

“Good afternoon, Joyce,” she said to the startled receptionist.  “These are for you.”  Kate handed her the chocolates.  “I hope you have a good afternoon.”  Joyce wasn’t the friendliest of receptionists, but she’d never been outwardly cruel either. 

When she entered her office, she was amazed once again by the small size.  Surely this wasn’t a regulation office, she thought as she pulled a canvas bag out of her tote.  Filling the bag with only her personal items, she smiled to herself.  Her mother’s picture was really the only thing of importance here.  She had a few small items like chewing gum, a well-used stress ball and some pens that she’d bought in colors her father definitely wouldn’t approve of.  It took her less than ten minutes to go through her desk drawers, then leave her laptop.  She didn’t have anything personal on the computer.  Her father had warned his staff often enough that he had a software program that regularly sweeps the laptops connected to the firm’s internet and flags him of anything that might be non-work related. 

“So you finally returned,” her father sneered as they both met in the hallway as they walked towards his office, resignation letter in her hand.  She stopped, facing him and wondered why he was such a bitter man.  But really, did it matter?  He’d put her through so much, she didn’t want to figure him out.  She should be a good daughter and try to help him but she realized that he’d been like this all her life.  She’d just been at school for most of his horrid attitude. 

“I’m leaving, Father,” she finally said, handing him her resignation. 

He snapped the piece of paper and pointed towards his office.  “You’re going to fill me in on what you’ve been doing for the past two weeks.”

She followed him, only because she didn’t want to have this confrontation in the hallway. 

Sitting behind his desk, he glared at her.  “Okay, so fill me in.”

She took the chair in front of his desk, angering him because he hadn’t indicated that she could sit.  He used that as a power play and she wasn’t giving in to his games.  “I was right,” she told him.  “The information I found was exactly what he was looking for.  Over the past week, we’ve involved the lawyers and the police.  They’ve rounded up the perpetrators and they are already facing criminal charges.  Bail was denied since the two people at the head of the ring were flight risks.”

Her father sat forward, his eyes narrowing with anger.  “You gave him the reports that I told you were wrong?”

She shrugged her shoulders, not caring in the least that he was puffing up, his temper about to explode.  “Of course I did.  I was right and you knew it.  You just wanted to take credit for the discovery all along.  I walked by Davis’ office when you were doing exactly that.”

His face turned red and he sputtered with his outrage.  “I was only trying to protect you in case the information was wrong.  You had no right to go behind my back like that, Kate!” 

Normally at this point in the conversation, she would be shivering with reaction, backing down and trying to soothe his temper.  But today, she simply looked at him objectively, as if he were a fish out of water or a curiosity.  “Father, you knew I was right and you were trying to make me look bad.  I heard you on the phone.”  She sighed, dismissing the issue completely.  “Anyway, I’m leaving.”

His mouth fell open.  He snapped it shut when she didn’t react properly and compressed his lips in fury.  “You’re not going anywhere.  We’ve got a ton of work to do.  As far as I’m concerned, you’ve been on vacation for the past few weeks.  I’ll be docking your pay because of it too.”

She stood up.  “If you do that, I’ll hire a lawyer and will win.  You know that you’re wrong in this case as well, so don’t fight me here.”  She waited for her words to sink in and she felt a moment’s peace at his silence.  “I’m not leaving the office, Father.  I’m leaving your firm.  I’m leaving Boston.”  She thought about telling him she was getting married, but it occurred to her that he wasn’t really a father who deserved that kind of information.  And then a thought struck her.  Something that made so much sense, she was surprised that she hadn’t thought of it before now.  “Am I really your daughter?” she asked. 

She immediately saw the truth in his eyes.  “I’m not your daughter, am I?” she asked again with both wonder and resolve in her voice. 

The man she’d always thought of as her father sat back in his chair – his eyes revealing the truth.

“Your mother was pregnant when I married her.  I didn’t make her give up the baby because I loved her.”  He sat back in his chair, a sneer on his face as he looked at her.  “Then you came along.  You were a mess, always drawing and painting.  Anything you could get your hands on, you just drew constantly.  If it weren’t for me, you’d be unemployed and out on the street.  I grew you into the woman you are today.”

Kate took a deep breath, feeling a rush of joy.  “Wow!  That is such a relief!”  She stood up, taking another deep breath.  “Wow!”

His eyes lasered in on what she was wearing.  “Why the hell are you wearing jeans?!  I’ve told you over and over again, conservative suits, Kate!  Go change and then get back to work.”

She shook her head, smiling down at the old man who had made the last ten years of her life miserable.  “I’m quitting.  The paper in your hands is my resignation.  I don’t need your recommendation, not that you’d give it anyway.”  She shook her head, enjoying the feeling of her hair free and not pinned to her head.  “Goodbye,” she told him and walked to the doorway. 

The screaming and insults started before she was halfway down the hallway.  She ignored it all, thinking of Davis and how wonderful he was.  She couldn’t wait to tell him the news that Richard Evans wasn’t her father!  Oh goodness, the relief she felt almost made her dizzy. 

She stepped out into the sunshine.  “Ms. Evans?” a uniformed chauffer stepped up to her.  “I’m from Mr. Alfieri.  He asked me to ensure that you reached the airport safely.”  He handed her a cell phone.  “He’s on the phone now.”

Kate laughed as she took the phone.  “Davis?”

“Kate, are you okay?” his deep voice asked her, filled with concern. 

“I’m more than okay!” she told him with a gleeful laugh.  “It’s all over.  And I also found out that he’s not actually my biological father!”  She laughed again as she told him.  “He’s been horrible to me for years, all because he resented that I wasn’t his daughter.  Oh goodness, this is so wonderful!”

Davis didn’t know how that could be good news, but he was relieved to hear the happiness in her voice.  “I’m just glad that you’re finished with him.  This man is going to drive you to the airport.  I didn’t want you to take a cab.  Mike is waiting for you.  Just come home to me, love.”

“I will,” she said and practically danced over to the black town car.  “See you soon.  I love you too!”