Lawful Wife (Eternal Bachelors Club) (18 page)

Sabrina laughed. Her mother-in-law would be a wonderful grandmother. “I fear that once we hand our child over to her for a day, she won’t want to give it back.”

“That’s a definite risk,” Daniel admitted.

“Daniel?” his father’s voice suddenly came from the house as he stepped out into the garden. When he spotted them, he added, “Ah, here you are. The Millers just called and said they’re coming to the wedding, and they’re very sorry about the mix-up with the calendars. They said they can make it after all.” He rolled his eyes.

Daniel shook his head. “Mix-up? It appears the Millers just read the
New York Times
and decided that it’s safe again to be associated with us.”

His father smiled. “It appears so. So let’s be gracious and welcome them. I’ve added them back onto the guest list.”

Sabrina pointed toward Raffaela. “James, you might want to let your wife know. I have the feeling she’ll want to rearrange the seating plan again.”

James sighed. “Oh dear.”

Sabrina stroked over his shoulder. “Well at least they’re not invited to the rehearsal dinner tonight. If she had to change the arrangements for tonight, she would really be stressing out. At least there’s still time to make changes for tomorrow.”

Her future father-in-law made a dramatic grimace. “I’m assuming neither of you wants to do the honors?”

Both Daniel and Sabrina shook their heads in unison.

“You can do it, Dad,” Daniel encouraged him as he marched toward his wife.

“Do you think we’ll be like that when we’re an old married couple?” Sabrina asked.

“You mean still in love? Still playful?” He pressed a soft kiss on her lips. “Yes, all of that. I promise you.”

Before she could lean into him and kiss him back, footsteps from behind her made her turn her head.

Sabrina’s breath caught in her chest. “Mrs. Vogel?”

The female partner of Yellin, Vogel, and Winslow, the firm who’d fired her only days earlier, stepped onto the porch. “I’m sorry, Miss Parker,” she said hesitantly and pointed back toward the house. “The front door was open, and there was nobody in the house. I’m sorry to intrude.” She motioned to the tent. “You’re busy. So I won’t keep you long.”

Sabrina swallowed and instinctively reached for Daniel’s hand.

“Mr. Sinclair.” Mrs. Vogel nodded at Daniel. “I’ve come to apologize to both of you. On behalf of the entire firm, I’m terribly sorry for the manner in which we treated you. It was inexcusable. We should have known that it couldn’t be true. We should have trusted in you and your integrity. I could give you a hundred excuses why we terminated your employment. You know, reputation, image and such. But what it boils down to was that we made an error in judgment. And for that we’re truly sorry.”

Sabrina nodded numbly, surprised at the thoughtful apology. “Thank you, Mrs. Vogel. It means a lot to me.”

“That’s not all. I know you might not trust us anymore, Miss Parker, but we do value your work at the firm. You’re an excellent attorney, and we would hate it if we’d lost you for good. I’m here to offer you your job back. That is if you still want it.”

Sabrina could barely believe her ears. “You’re offering me my job back?”

With a smile, Mrs. Vogel nodded. “Take your time to make a decision. But we would love it if you returned to Yellin, Vogel, and Winslow after your honeymoon.”

Sabrina exchanged a long look with Daniel, who smiled at her encouragingly. Then she looked back at Mrs. Vogel and stretched her hand out to her. “I’d love to.”

Mrs. Vogel let out a relieved breath, shaking Sabrina’s hand. “Thank you. And congratulations on your upcoming wedding.”

Moments later Mrs. Vogel was gone.

“I can’t believe it!” she said and threw herself into Daniel’s arms.

He turned her in a circle as if she were a horse on a carousel.

“Congratulations, baby!” He laughed. “See, everything is fine now.”

“Almost everything.” She smiled wistfully. The wedding was back on. The guests were coming. She had her job back. But there was still one thing that wasn’t right.

“I wish my father would come back and walk me down the aisle tomorrow.”

Then everything would be perfect again.

26

“And you’re sure he’s still there?” Daniel asked Tim as they both got out of the car in front of the Mill House Inn in East Hampton.

Tim nodded. “I sweet-talked the girl who works the front desk. She would have called me if he’d checked out.”

Daniel couldn’t suppress a smirk. “A girl, really?”

“Hey, she totally thinks I’m straight.” Tim shrugged. “Not my fault that her
gaydar
isn’t working. Anyway, she hasn’t called me. Looks like he’s reluctant to leave after all. Maybe he just needs a gentle push in the right direction.”

“I hope you’re right. Do you know what room he’s in?”

“Twenty-two. Up the stairs, turn right, then an immediate left.” Tim’s cell phone suddenly rang. He pulled it from his pocket and looked at the display. “It’s the PI.”

“Take it.” Daniel watched as Tim answered the phone. They’d managed to get the story retracted without the PI’s help, but it wouldn’t hurt to find out what the private investigator had found out about Audrey.

“Yeah? This is Tim.”

Lots of hmms, uh huhs, and ohs came over Tim’s lips while he listened to the PI on the other end of the line. Then he finally said, “Email me the file. Thanks, man.”

He hung up, a crooked grin on his face.

“He found something?” Daniel asked, curious now.

Tim chuckled. “Oh, you’re so not gonna believe whom our little tramp Audrey slept with when she was sixteen.”

“Whom?”

Tim shook his head. “Tell you afterward.” He motioned to the entrance door of the B&B. “Now, go and give him a piece of your mind. I’ll wait here and make a few calls.”

Daniel didn’t press Tim for an explanation, opened the door to the beautiful building and stepped into the foyer with the dark wooden floors and the white walls which were hung with pictures of old ships and other maritime motifs. He glanced to the little reception area. A sign stood on the counter next to a little bell:
Ring me for service!

Just as well that nobody was manning the reception. He much preferred going upstairs without being seen. Following Tim’s instructions, he found the room in question immediately. He knocked and waited.

There was a sound coming from the inside, then the door was opened.

Sabrina’s father wore a pair of pants and a wife-beater shirt. He looked unshaven and unkempt. Daniel inhaled. And he’d been drinking, he added to his quick assessment.

“What do you want?” George Palmer asked.

“I want to talk to you.”

By way of reply, George opened the door wider and stepped aside. Daniel entered, closing the door behind him, and looked around. The TV was on mute. The
New York Times
lay on the sofa in front of it, and a bottle of Jim Beam stood on the side table, a half empty glass next to it.

Daniel took a closer look at the newspaper and was able to read the date: it was today’s edition.

“You read it?” he asked George without turning his head to him.

George walked around and slumped down on the couch. “Yeah.”

“So you know it was all a lie.”

His future father-in-law didn’t look at him, but nodded his head. He reached for the glass and took a large gulp.

“Then what are you doing here sulking? You should be sobering up to be ready for the wedding tomorrow.” Daniel stepped over a pair of dirty socks and walked around the sofa to stare down at him. “Damn it! What’s the matter with you? Your daughter needs you!”

George scoffed and lifted his lids for a moment, but dropped them again quickly, as if he couldn’t look Daniel in the eye. “She doesn’t need me. Not after the things I said to her.”

“That’s not true. Every girl needs her father to walk her down the aisle, no matter what happened before.”

George shook his head. “I called her a call girl! Don’t you get that? I can’t take that back. All the apologies in this world won’t be enough to restore my relationship to my daughter.” He sniffed, and Daniel noticed how the older man’s eyes grew moist with tears. “I’ve screwed up. I should have trusted her. I should have known! She’s my little girl. She would have never done anything like that. Why didn’t I believe her? Why didn’t I take her word for it?”

Daniel lowered himself and moved the newspaper aside to make space on the couch, before sitting down next to him. “We all make mistakes. That’s what apologies are for.”

“I’ve made one too many mistakes. She deserves better than me.”

“You’re still her father. She loves you. Are you really going to ruin your only daughter’s wedding day by staying away from it? By letting some stranger walk her down the aisle? Do you know how that will make her feel?” He paused for a moment. “She’ll feel abandoned by her father. She’ll think you don’t love her anymore.”

George jumped up. “That’s not true! I love her!”

Daniel got up too, jabbing his finger in George’s chest. “Then show it! Don’t wallow in your own sorrow!” He pointed to the bottle. “Do you think alcohol will resolve the rift between you two? I can tell you it won’t! The only way you can fix this is by going to Sabrina and apologizing to her. She’ll forgive you. I promise you. Your daughter has the most amazing capacity for forgiveness, and I know that for a fact. In the past, I’ve hurt her worse than you did. But she forgave me. And it’s taught me a lot about your daughter. It’s taught me who she is and who I am. And who I would be without her. That’s why no matter what happens, I will always ask for her forgiveness, and I will always do whatever is in my power to make her happy. Because the thought of seeing Sabrina unhappy breaks my heart into a million pieces. So, if you love her only a fraction of how I love her, then you will be at that wedding, or I promise you, you’ll regret for the rest of your life that you weren’t part of the happiest day in your daughter’s life.”

Without waiting for George’s reply, Daniel turned on his heels and walked to the door.

When he turned the handle, George’s voice reached him. “What if she doesn’t forgive me?”

“That’s the risk you’ll have to take.”

He opened the door and left the room. Now it was up to George to find it in himself to ask for forgiveness. There was nothing else Daniel could do.

27

Daniel glanced at Sabrina as she laughed at something his mother said to her. They were just getting up from the dinner table, where they’d enjoyed the rehearsal dinner, which was taking place in the same tent where the wedding would take place the next day. Sabrina looked beautiful in a simple, yet elegant empire waist evening dress in a soft pastel green that accentuated her breasts as well as her eyes. His eyes drifted lower to where the material flowed over her still-flat stomach. Soon everybody would be able to see that their child was growing inside her. He couldn’t suppress the pride and happiness he felt at the thought of Sabrina giving him a child.

“Daniel? Did you hear me?” Paul Gilbert nudged him in the side.

Daniel forced his gaze away from Sabrina. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”

Paul laughed. “I said it’s not too late to change your mind. You can pack a bag and we can bust you out of here.”

Jay, who’d sidled up to him, nodded in agreement. “Absolutely.”

Daniel rolled his eyes at his two friends. “And let me guess, both of you will be more than willing to comfort my jilted fiancée?”

Paul exchanged a grin with Jay. “Somebody will have to.”

“Thanks for the offer, but there is nothing in this world that’ll keep me from marrying Sabrina tomorrow.” He glanced in Sabrina’s direction again. “Nothing in the world.”

“That’s it guys, we’ve lost him,” Paul teased, and everyone around them laughed. “Let’s leave this lovesick puppy and get another drink at the bar, before they throw us out. What do you say, Jay?”

“You had me at drink,” Jay joked.

Daniel watched the two walk toward the bar and sighed. His eyes wandered over the assembled guests. Tonight only about twenty-five close friends and family members were assembled: his own parents, the members of the Eternal Bachelors Club, Holly and Tim, of course, Sabrina’s mother, and several relatives who’d arrived earlier in the day. However, Sabrina’s father had not shown up. Would he be there tomorrow? Daniel hoped so with all his heart, because her father not being there to walk her down the aisle would be the one thing that was still tainting the perfect wedding.

Daniel was about to walk up to Sabrina, when something entered his periphery. He turned his head and stared right at Audrey, who’d walked up to the tent and now entered the lit area. Her red hair glowed like that of a fallen angel seeking revenge. As did her eyes. Audrey was on a mission.

Daniel set his glass of champagne on the nearest table and walked toward her, intent on preventing her from reaching Sabrina and causing any trouble on this otherwise perfect evening.

He stopped in front of her. “You’re not welcome here. Leave, or I’ll have the police escort you from the property.”

“Go ahead, call them! Then I’ll tell them that you’re blackmailing me!” She shoved a large envelope toward him.

He glanced down at it. “What is this?”

“As if you didn’t know!”

Footsteps approached from behind him. Daniel glanced over his shoulder and noticed Tim and Holly hurry in his direction.

“So you got my package,” Tim said nonchalantly.

Audrey’s glare landed on Tim. “Who the fuck—”

“Oh, I forgot, we’ve never officially met. I’m Tim, Daniel’s best friend. And I look out for him and Sabrina.”

Next to him, Holly braced her hands at her hips. “We both do. And we don’t like people like you.”

“Daniel has nothing to do with this,” Tim claimed and gave Daniel a sideways look.

Daniel pointed to the envelope. “The stuff the PI found?”

Tim nodded. “All the gory details.” He grinned at Audrey. “Who would have thought that at the tender age of sixteen, our dear Audrey was screwing Kevin Boyd, who, if my calculations are correct, was twenty-seven at the time and already married to Linda.”