A Matter of Marriage (10 page)

“I
would bet your secret is safe with them. After more than three years on the
road, I’ve become a good judge of character, and I trust them.”

She
nodded. “They are like family to me. I trust them implicitly.”

“Maybe
they can help with the wedding arrangements. The gazebo we passed in the Garden
Patio will be the perfect place for the ceremony.”

Her
pretty mouth tightened. “That’s too public. Anyone could watch.”

“Exactly.
You’ll be introducing me at one fell swoop, and your attacker will find out
you’re no longer alone. Anyone bent on hurting you will have to go through me.”

She
clasped her fingers so tightly they turned white. “You think the saboteur will
try again?”

“I
think we’d be foolish to drop our guard. Tomorrow morning, while the marshal is
twiddling his thumbs trying to find out about me, I’ll start my own
investigation. I’ll also spread the word about the ceremony. I expect you to do
the same. Despite your shame and embarrassment, this wedding is going to be
real.”

She
stood abruptly and swished her skirts past the chair. “Tomorrow is going to be
a busy and difficult day. I believe I’ll skip my rounds tonight and go to bed.”

“Good
idea. Skip your rounds tomorrow morning, too, unless I’m with you. Let’s keep
your assailant guessing.”

“All
right. No rounds.” She started for the door. “I don’t want to do anything
foolish.”

Alex
took the hint and followed her. He walked slowly, though, thinking. For a woman
who didn’t want to do anything foolish, she was planning to commit herself to
the height of foolishness—marrying a man she barely knew. “Julia, are you
absolutely sure you want to go through with this?”

She
stumbled, righted herself, and faced him. “You’re not having second thoughts,
are you?”

“No,”
he said quickly, his answer removing the panic from her eyes. “I like you, and
I want to marry again. Awhile back, I even proposed to a woman up in Oregon, but she practically shuddered at the thought of seeing this”—he touched his scar—“every
morning and night.”

Julia
studied his scar and shrugged, showing no revulsion at all.

Alex
felt his heart clutch, then beat faster at the promise of happiness in front of
him.

“Sometimes
I wished I were ugly,” she said. “Then I wouldn’t attract so much attention.
I’d rather be admired for what I do, not how I look.”

“If
those people knew you, they’d realize the beauty that captured their interest is
nothing compared to the beauty inside you.”

Her
mouth opened slightly, and she licked her lips. Alex vaguely heard a clock
ticking somewhere nearby. She swallowed, the movement tempting him to trail his
fingers along the curve of her neck and beneath her ear. He imagined twining
one of her decorative curls around his finger. And when her desire matched his
own, when she leaned into him, he would kiss her. Their lips would—

She
unlocked the door with a loud click.

He
blinked, bringing himself back to reality. Disappointment nagged at him, and he
comforted himself with thoughts of the wedding. He supposed he could wait until
then for their first kiss.

Standing
stiffly, all business now, she said, “Tomorrow morning, at eleven, my lawyer is
bringing the marriage contract to my office.”

“Do
we need that?”

“I
do. You’re still a stranger, Alex, and I will do whatever I must to protect the
hotel. You said money isn’t important to you. Therefore, you won’t mind signing
away your rights, as my husband, to the hotel. I wish to remain the sole owner.”

“That’s
fine with me. I don’t want what’s yours. I’ll meet you at eleven. Will you arrange
to have the gazebo area set up for us?”

“Yes.
And I’ll speak to Reverend Spencer about … the kiss. I know it’s becoming more
common to include a kiss in wedding ceremonies, but I wish to leave it out.”

Alex
felt like a boy who’d just had his lollipop stolen. “Wait a second. I was
looking forward to that part.”

“I’m
sorry to disappoint you, but that gazebo will be a stage. Any kiss we share
would be an act solely for the benefit of our audience, and I’m not an actress.
They would know something wasn’t right between us.”

“If
you say so.” So much for starting their marriage off right.

“I
do say so.” She placed her hand on the knob and turned it. “I can’t take any
chances on something going wrong. The deadline is too close.” She opened the
door.

“Everything
will work out. You’ll see.” He stepped into the hallway. “Good night, Julia.
Lock the door and don’t let anyone lure you out. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

As
he walked away, he heard the click of the lock and felt some sense of relief.
She was safe for now. But as he headed toward his room, Alex remembered the
danger Alberta Hensley posed. If she remembered him, she could dash his dreams
of a future with purpose and love. Worse yet, she could ruin Julia’s chance to
keep the Hotel Grand Victoria.

*   *   *

Friday
morning, Julia closeted herself with an account book in her small, paneled
office beside the registration desk. The same disconcerting thoughts that had
kept her awake most of the night continued spinning through her head. Alex had,
once again, stepped in just when she needed him most.

He
had rescued her from what she knew would have been a miserable marriage with
Tom Landis. There was a price to pay, though. Alex intended to stay and try to
make something real out of their arrangement. He intended to make love to her. Could
his claim be true—that intimacy between a husband and wife could be enjoyable?
Harriet, her stepmother, had described it as a duty that had to be “endured on
a regular basis.” Plenty of guests, however, especially the couples staying in
the two Bridal Chambers, seemed to look forward to checking into their rooms
and not coming out for hours on end.

Julia
decided to reserve judgment on Alex’s claim. At least he hadn’t dismissed her
feelings about childbirth and losing a child. When he mentioned how his wife
had died, the sorrow in his eyes had touched a deep chord in her heart. They
had both, indeed, suffered.

She
gave her head a shake. With so much on her mind, it was a wonder she had slept
at all.

Leaning
forward, she forced herself to concentrate on the account book in front of her,
but when she added up the latest food and beverage expenses for the fourth
time, she derived yet a fourth answer.

She
threw down her pencil, leaned her elbows on the hand-carved oak desk, and
propped her head in her hands. Why was she even bothering today of all days—her
wedding day?

Once
again, her thoughts returned to Alex. Last night, they had begun getting
acquainted. Learning about his past had intrigued her. His parents must have
been special people, and he had obviously been close to them.

She
smiled, imagining a very young Alex caught in the act of drawing on the wall by
his mother. Her smile faded though when she recalled that he had lost his
ability to create, which he had seemed born to do. Perhaps his marrying her and
living a stable life at the hotel would put his past trials behind him, even
allowing him to design again.

A
knock at the door nearly sent her skyward. She thought first of Alex, then of
her assailant, and then of her lawyer and his reason for coming. Her heart beat
too fast. Maybe tomorrow, after today and tonight were done with, she would be
her unruffled self again.

“Who
is it?” she managed to call.

“Alex.”

Her
heart continued to pound, and she tried to calm herself with a deep breath. It
didn’t help. “Come in.”

The
door opened, and he entered wearing a clean work shirt and a pair of brown
canvas trousers that had a few less patches than the pair he had worn on his
arrival yesterday.

Julia
tried another deep breath, but the air barely filled her lungs as thoughts of
her imminent future flooded her head. Alex would be moving into her apartment
tonight.

“Morning,”
he said. “I thought I’d check in with you before the lawyer arrives.”

“I’m
glad you did.” She glanced at the wall clock her father had brought from Philadelphia. It read quarter to eleven. Mr. Byrnes would arrive soon, and she would be
relieved to get the paperwork out of the way.

Alex
eased himself onto the chair across from her, his lips pressed into a thin line
as he moved.

She
winced in sympathy. “I’m sorry. You’re in even worse pain today than yesterday,
aren’t you?”

“I’m
stiff, but that’s to be expected.” He shrugged. “I’ll feel better as the day
goes on.”

“You
shouldn’t have pulled up that step.”

Another
shrug. “Probably not, but we needed to see the underside to know what we were
dealing with. I told Theo about it this morning. He hasn’t come up with any new
suspects.”

“I
wish we had a longer list of specific names to investigate.” She picked up her
pencil and tapped it against the open account book. “Having grown up in hotels,
I thought I was a good judge of character, but—”

“You
are. You’re marrying me.”

She
huffed at his attempt at humor, except that his expression was serious. Was he
teasing her? “As I was about to say, apparently I am not a good judge of
character because I have no idea who hates me so much he wants to harm me.”

“Well,
you know it’s not me.”

“If
only it were you,” she said, ignoring the lift of his eyebrows. “I would rather
entertain the notion that a stranger was responsible for the attacks instead of
someone I know and thought I could trust. To be honest, anyone, except you, could
have been on that balcony.”

He
slanted a questioning look at her. “Are you saying we shouldn’t have trusted
Theo with so much information or asked for his help? He wasn’t with you at the hotel’s
entrance, and he arrived at the scene shortly thereafter.”

She
carefully set the pencil aside and shook her head, unable to imagine Theo as
her assailant. “No. I misspoke. Not just anyone could have thrown that
flowerpot with such force or sawn through that step. Theodore Mulligan is
strong for his age, but he is not a suspect. I have known him since the hotel
opened, and he is as close to a grandfather as I have ever had. He has never
shown me any disrespect, either before or after I took charge of the hotel.
He’s smart, efficient, and has a wonderful memory for the guests’ names and room
numbers. Best of all, he always wears a smile.”

“I
admire your loyalty to him and agree that he is an unlikely suspect.” A twinkle
shone from Alex’s eyes. “You see, Julia, we already agree on something. I have
a hunch we’re going to get along very well.”

She
crossed her arms. “We’ll see.” She would concede nothing until she knew him
much better. “Shall we continue discussing our limited list of named suspects?”

“It
hasn’t changed.” He shifted in the chair, as though trying to find a more
comfortable position for his ribs. “Theo took me up to the room where the
flowerpot came from. I didn’t find any clues.”

She
closed the account book. “The culprit could be anyone who’s been watching me
closely enough to know where I might be at a given time.”

“I
believe so. Until he, or she, is caught, I suggest you vary your schedule and
routes around the hotel.”

“I
will do that,” she said, though she wished she didn’t have to change anything,
including her marital status. Though Alex seemed like the answer to her prayers,
they’d met less than twenty-four hours ago. She hoped she would not live to
regret her choice. And what if Alex regretted his choice? As far as she could
tell, she was the one who would benefit most from their arrangement. She shoved
her worries aside, reminding herself
one thing at a time
. “Have you been
telling people about the wedding?”

“Just
Theo. He said, ‘Leave it to me,’ and went straight to the biggest gossips on
your payroll. Ten minutes ago, he informed me our news has spread faster than
bees pollinating flowers. It’s the hot topic in the housekeeping department,
laundry, kitchen, engine house, dining room, and maintenance and gardening
sheds. When I passed the registration desk, Chalmers even congratulated me,
though his sincerity was questionable.”

“It
would be.” Resigned to her fate, she moved her account book to one side of her
desk, making room for the paperwork Mr. Byrnes would be bringing for their
signatures. This evening, she would be saying her vows in front of countless
members of her staff and whichever guests heard about the show taking place in
the Garden Patio.

At
least there would be no kiss for them to gawk at. Thank goodness she had made
that clear to Alex last night, when she had very nearly lost herself and her
resolve in his gaze and words. With genuine feeling, he’d spoken of the beauty
inside her instead of what most people saw when they looked at her. He had
wanted to kiss her. She was not so inexperienced that she didn’t recognize when
a man desired her. Fortunately, she had taken charge at the critical moment, sending
Alex on his way. The moment she closed the door, however, she had felt a sense
of regret, as though she might have missed something special.