To My Senses The Nicci Beauvoir Series Book 1 (40 page)

I listened to the thud of music coming from
the house. The party would be getting into full swing now. All the
guests would be toasting to the happiness of the bride and
groom.

I pushed my dark thoughts from my mind and
rose from the bench. I needed to return to the party. I was a bride
and it was time I started acting like one. I walked back through
the gardens to the house. The house was alive with lights and
revelry. I squared my shoulders and marched face front into the
storm.

Val was hovering around inside the living
room door when I entered from the patio. She looked flushed and was
searching the crowd.

“
There you are!” she yelled
at me. “Wait here. It’s time for your present.”

I stood in my place by the
patio door, as Val scurried off to the den. A few moments later,
the music stopped and a crowd of people entered the expansive
living room. Michael and Uncle Lance were ushered into the room
with my father following close behind them. Val pushed Michael next
to me.

“
Do you know what this is
about?” he asked me.

“
I have no
idea.”

Val waved her arms and
shouted for the room to quiet down. The Fagles were gathered around
Val. Mrs. Fagles appeared to be hanging on Val’s every
word.

“
I want to thank everyone
for coming tonight,” Val began. “I’m glad so many of you turned out
to celebrate the union of this fair young couple. I know we wish
them all the best in their new marriage. To Nicci and Michael.”
There was a small round of applause. “I have a very special wedding
present and I wanted all of you to share in it with me,” Val went
on. “I hope, Nicci and Michael, that the two of you will enjoy this
for years to come.” She motioned to an easel standing to her left.
It was covered with a large red sheet.

I felt my stomach tighten.

“
My gift to you.” With a
flourish, she yanked the sheet away from the easel.

The room suddenly went
quiet. Mrs. Fagles was the first to scream. She dropped her
champagne glass to the floor. Uncle Lance and my father were
chuckling. Michael grabbed my forearm and began squeezing,
hard.

I stared at the painting in
disbelief. It was the bathtub nude I had done with David and it was
sitting on the easel for all the guests at the party to
see.

Michael jerked on my arm.
“What the hell is that?” He was trying, rather unsuccessfully, to
restrain his voice.

A low buzz of whispers started circulating
around the room.

I turned to my uncle and
father while shaking off Michael’s grip. “You knew about
this?”

“
Well, actually it was
Val’s idea,” my father replied, pointing to Val. “She wanted to get
you something special.”

“
I can’t believe this!”
Michael shouted. “You knew and you did not ask me about this
first?”

My father scowled. “Why
should we do that, Mor…Michael? Lance and I liked the
idea.”

“
It’s not your fiancée
naked up there, for all the world to see!” Michael’s voice
reverberated off the tile floor as a small group of guests took in
the show.

“
No. It’s my daughter. I
think she looks wonderful. Don’t you think she looks wonderful,
Lance?” My father turned to his brother.

Uncle Lance tried to look
serious. “Smashing! Damned fine picture, if you ask me!”

I glowered at Uncle Lance
and my father. “I cannot believe you two did this to
me.”

“
What about me, Nicci?”
Michael whined. “They did this to me, too.”

“
Shut up, Michael!” I
yelled.

I turned to the small crowd
gathered around the painting. Michael’s mother was off to the side,
sitting in a chair. Someone was fanning her, while her husband was
patting her hand. People were looking at me and Michael, and the
painting. I saw Hattie off to the side, standing next to Uncle Ned.
Uncle Ned was smiling. Hattie wasn’t.

My fists were clenched and my heart was
beating like a scared deer. I felt the walls of the room closing in
on me. It was getting difficult to breathe.

“
I have to get out of
here.”

I was about to take off for the patio doors
when a large hand seized my arm.

“
Nicci!” Dad
called.

I turned to him, gasping
for air. The room was getting smaller as the burn of panic crept up
my chest and into my throat. I must have looked pretty bad, because
Uncle Lance frowned at me.

“
Let’s get her out of
here,” he said, heading to the patio doors. “Come on, this way,”
Uncle Lance called to my father.

Dad began escorting me to
the patio.

Michael followed quickly
behind us, reaching for my other arm. “Nicci and I have to talk,”
he demanded, trying to stare my father down.

My father stepped back and
removed Michael’s hand from my arm. “Go and take care of your
mother, Michael. First, Lance and I need a word with
her.”

Michael stood there,
looking rejected, while my father carted me to the patio and across
the lawn.

We finally came to a halt in the middle of
the lawn far from the lights of the house.

“
Are you okay?” Uncle Lance
questioned, as I continued to hyperventilate. “Calm down, darlin’.
It’s all right.”

When I finally caught my
breath, I shouted, “I can’t believe this. How did you get that
picture?”

“
Val tracked him down in
New York,” my father illuminated. “It seems the lady in that
newspaper picture was an acquaintance of hers. She bought the
portrait from David.”

“
Does he know? Does David
know about all of this?” I motioned to the house.

“
Nicci, your uncle and I
want to talk to you about that.” My father nodded to Uncle Lance
standing at his side. “We think it is time you called off this
farce.”

“
Farce? Dad, I’m going to
marry Michael. If he’ll still have me, after what you did
tonight.”

“
What your father is trying
to say, my dear,” Uncle Lance inserted, “is that there is a reason
for all of this. The picture and so forth.”

“
Which is what, Uncle
Lance?” I snapped. “Besides trying to ruin my marriage before it
even takes place.”

“
That is part of it,” Uncle
Lance admitted, grinning. “The truth of it is, Nicci, we don’t want
to see you make the same mistake your father and I made many years
ago.”

“
What are you talking
about?”

“
When I was young and
definitely foolish, I met a wonderful woman. She was very much like
you.” Uncle Lance waved to me. “I was too arrogant and stupid to
realize how much I really loved this woman. When I finally did come
to terms with my feelings for her, she had married someone else. My
brother.”

“
Your uncle always thought
I stole your mother from him,” Dad added.

Uncle Lance shrugged. “Your
father made a better husband than I ever could have been. I would
have hurt Ellen more by marrying her than by letting her
go.”

“
I knew Ellen was in love
with Lance when I married her,” my father said, “but I was too
afraid to admit it. I thought she would get over it.” He paused and
sighed. “She never did.”

“
Why are you telling me
this now?” I begged.

My father directed his eyes
to the lake. “Your uncle and I spent years bickering over petty
things. Our relationship with your mother destroyed the once close
bond we shared, and her death cemented our guilt. He felt guilty
for letting her go, and I felt guilty for marrying her. Don’t get
me wrong, your mother and I were good together. Only, I can’t help
but question how much better it would have been if we had started
out in love with each other. I know, eventually, she learned to
love me. However, since her death I’ve wondered if life could have
been better for all three of us if the circumstances had been
different.” He turned away from the lake and looked at me. “You
see, Nicci, you won’t just ruin one life by going through with this
marriage, you’ll ruin three. Running away from love never cures you
of it. It just creates a whole new set of symptoms.”

“
We have watched you and
Michael for some time,” Uncle Lance chimed in. “Michael wants a
wife who will do for him and make him happy. He has no idea how to
make you happy. In many ways, Michael reminds me of myself when I
was young. He is arrogant, ambitious, and completely ignorant of
the treasure he has in you. After all, you can’t marry one man when
you are in love with another.” Uncle Lance walked over to his
brother’s side and placed his hand on his shoulder. “Saving you
from this marriage is the first thing your father and I have agreed
on in years.”

That heaviness in my heart
bore down on me, and I dropped my eyes to the grass. “Michael loves
me.”

“
Maybe, but he will never
make you happy.” My uncle lifted my head to meet his gaze.
“Happiness is not a science, Nicci. It is an art. It can never be
measured or predicted; it can only be enjoyed.”

I removed his hand from my
chin. “I appreciate what you are both trying to tell me, but I know
Michael and I can be happy. And you’re wrong, you know. Mom loved
you both, very much. She never meant to come between you. In the
end, she always said she got the best of both worlds. She had a
wonderful husband and a loving brother-in-law. I don’t think she
would have wanted it any other way.”

My father raised his head
and peered past me toward the house. “So do you still want to go
through with this wedding?”

“
Yes, Dad.”

He shook his head. “Then
there is only one way to get you to change your mind.”

“
I will not change my
mind,” I avowed.

Uncle Lance stood back from
me, smiling. “So we called the one person who we knew could change
your mind about Michael.”

“
Oh really, Uncle Lance and
who is that?”

“
Me.” The deep voice came
from across the lawn.

I saw a tall figure of a
man, coming closer. As the lights from the house receded behind
him, his face came into focus.

“
David,” I
whispered.

Chapter 24

Wearing a double-breasted
suit, with his hair neatly combed to the side, David looked exactly
the same. He walked with his usual confidence as he approached, and
his piercing gray eyes had lost none of their hypnotic
fire.

“
I guess we should go and
be social,” my father reasoned, backing away from my
side.

Uncle Lance moved off with
my father. “Remind me to collect my money from the moron,” I heard
him say, as the two men strolled back toward the house.

We were alone.

“
Hello, Nicci.” David’s
deep voice resonated throughout my body.

“
David. I can’t believe
this. You’re here.”

“
Your father called me in
New York and told me about you and the doctor. He thought this
would be a good idea.” He motioned around the lawn.

“
A good idea? You thought
this would be a good idea? You son of a bitch!” I went to punch him
in the face, but he was too fast for me.

He grabbed both my wrists
and held me to him. “I know you’re angry. I know what I did was
wrong, but I missed you, Nicci. When your father called and told me
about you, I volunteered to come. I wanted to see you again. I know
you may never forgive me, but at least let me explain.”

I relaxed and he let go of
me.

“
So what are you after now,
David? I don’t have any more secrets left to give you. You got all
my best ones already.” I turned, about to head back to the house,
but he reached for my left wrist.

“
I deserved that. I know
it. But damn it, you have to listen to me. Everything I said that
night at the wedding, everything I told you was the truth. You have
to believe that, Nicci.”

“
I bet you say that to all
of your women,” I snarled, trying to wrestle my hand free from his
grip. “There was a picture with you and an older woman in New York.
Did she have industrial secrets to sell or was she looking for
something a little bit more substantial?”

“
Your father me you saw
that picture. He also told me how you reacted when you saw it.” He
let me go. “That old lady in the news photo was my Aunt Flo. I told
you about her, remember? She bought the gallery for me to sell my
paintings. She wants to meet you. She claims you made me a real
artist.”

“
You’ve got one hell of a
pair of balls coming back after everything you did to
me.”

He picked up my left hand
and fondled my engagement ring. “At least, I didn’t jump into bed
with the first guy to come along. He moves a little too fast if you
ask me.”

“
I’m sure you haven’t been
lonely since you left,” I shouted, yanking my hand back.

“
I haven’t even looked at
another woman since I left. I’ve taken so many cold showers, I’m
starting to like them,” he roared.

“
You expect me to believe
that? That is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard!”