Beautifully Damaged (35 page)

"But you already agreed to marry me."

"Um..."and then he was kissing me. After a bit he pulled away and grinned as he reached for my hand and started back towards our table. He held my chair for me before taking his own and as his eyes found mine he reached for his beer.

"I always imagined when the woman I loved asked me to marry her that she'd get down on one knee."

I narrowed my eyes at him and he chuckled before he reached for my hand and brought it to his lips. He kissed my fingertips before his expression turned serious.

"Teasing aside, you asking me to marry you is hands down the greatest moment of my life. Thank you."

I moved closer to him so that our mouths were only inches apart before I replied, "You agreeing to marry me is hands down the greatest moment of my life. Thank you."

At that moment, the door opened as Trace's eyes moved from me to just behind me as a smile touched his lips.

"Your dad and uncle are here."

"Are we going to tell them?" I asked.

"Hell, yes!"

Just then my dad came up behind me and rested his hands on my shoulders.

"Hello, Emmie."

He leaned over and brushed a kiss on my head just as I heard Uncle Josh's greeting.

"Hi Ember, Trace."

Trace stood and reached his hand across the table to shake my uncle's hand and then my dad's before he said, "Ember just asked me to marry her."

I put my head down and started banging it against the table. "Nice segue, Trace."

His response was a grin, a completely unrepentant grin, before he added, "I said, yes."

My dad's voice was filled with joy when he reached for Trace and pulled him in for a hug.

"Welcome to the family, son."

I sat back and watched as my uncle also hugged Trace and saw the look on Trace's face, a combination of happiness and embarrassment, and it was my turn for an unrepentant grin. And then I was being lifted from my chair and pulled into my dad's arms.

"I am so happy for you, Ember."

"When is the happy day?" Uncle Josh chimed in.

"When can I expect grandkids?"

I paled as my eyes moved to Trace who was watching us with a tender smile on his face. "Nine months after I get my ring on her finger."

I was confused because he didn't want children and he seemed to understand what I was thinking, being the great mind reader that he was, as he moved to me and pulled me into his arms.

"A child that comes from the love we have for each other, a child that is a part of both you and me, how could I not want that?"

I reached up to touch his face. "You're healing, Trace."

"I am and it's all because of you."

Trace pulled my chair out for me as we joined my dad and uncle at the table. Uncle Josh reached for my hand and squeezed. "Congratulations, Ember."

"Thank you."

"Wait until the guys hear about this, Ember." My dad said and that thought had a smile curving my lips because a more masculine bunch of mothering hens I did not know.

Our attentions turned to Darlene as my uncle stood. "She knows we're coming. I'll be right back."

I was watching my uncle but my dad's voice pulled my attention to him.

"Do you have any idea where you want to get married?"

I looked over at Trace who was watching me with such love and the sight of him, in all of his hard-ass glory, looking at me with such tenderness took my breath away. I reached for his hand to hold in mine before I looked back at my dad.

"If Trace doesn't mind, I'd like to get married in the chapel where you and mom were married."

My dad covered my hand with his own.

"I was really hoping you were going to say that."

At that moment, Uncle Josh returned with Darlene and seeing her up close really showed that the years had not been good to her. Deep lines cut the areas around her mouth and eyes and her hair, at one time brown if her roots were any indication, was dyed in an attempt to look blonde but she wasn't keeping up with the treatments. She was thin, almost too thin, and her blue eyes looked very tired. Both my dad and Trace stood as the introductions were made. Darlene stared at Trace a moment too long and I assumed it was due to a sudden spike in her blood pressure at the sight of his male beauty before she settled at the table. Her eyes turned to me as a smile touched his lips.

"You look so much like her. She loved you so much and used to talk about you all the time. She had a booklet of photos that she would whip out to show to anyone even slightly interested." Darlene's eyes moved to my dad before she added, "Both of you."

Her eyes moved to my uncle before she asked, "What do you want to know?"

"Right before Mandy died she was working on something. Do you happen to know what she may have been up to?"

Darlene sat back in her chair and thought on it for a few minutes before she offered, "I do remember she was really off weeks before the accident. I never knew what it was that was bothering her but I do know it had something to do with her friend, Teresa Nolan; whatever it was it put an end to their friendship."

My dad leaned up in his chair. "What do you mean?"

"She and Teresa stopped speaking after their huge fight."

"What fight?"

"I wasn't there but I heard it was in the hospital cafeteria. Teresa was visiting some doctor that she was smitten with and something that Teresa said really upset Mandy. They had words and then Teresa stormed off. They didn't speak again after that and it was around that time that Mandy started acting oddly."

"Meaning?" Uncle Josh prompted.

"She seemed paranoid at times, secretive, and then there was the whole drug thing."

"What drug thing?" Trace asked.

"Mandy developed an unusual interest in the drug benzodiazephine: specifically the withdrawal symptoms."

"What is that?" I asked.

"It's a psychoactive drug, a really powerful sedative among other things. You know she was spending a fair amount of time with Dr. Cavanaugh, the head of the psychiatric department at the hospital. She could probably tell you more."

My uncle looked over at my dad who was sitting silently, looking almost lost in thought, as he asked him. "Did you know Mandy and Teresa had a falling out?"

"I suspected since Teresa stopped coming around but I wasn't really that upset about it because Teresa really wasn't much of a friend. She was more interested in what Mandy could do for her and if the grass was greener, she'd roam."

His eyes turned to me as a slight smile touched his lips just before Trace offered, "Like mother, like daughter."

Trace's comment had me turning my attention to him as a smile touched his lips before he added, "A friend who isn't much of a friend."

"She really wasn't much of a friend. Teresa was self-serving and looked out for only herself. Mandy was generous to a fault, at times. You know the other thing I didn't understand about Teresa was that she claimed to be in love with this doctor, a man who was old enough to be her father, but the few times I saw her she wasn't with the doctor."

Darlene's eyes moved back to Trace and I noticed something close to tenderness move across her expression before she added, "In fact, the man she was with looked a lot like you."

I looked from Darlene to Trace and saw as he clenched his jaw as the blood drained from his face. My uncle reached across the table with his phone.

"Was this the man?"

Darlene pulled her eyes from Trace and looked at the picture and it was clear that she recognized the face but what was even more interesting was her reaction to seeing him -- her jaw clenched and her lips thinned -- before she offered,"Yeah, that's him."

Trace's voice was hard when he said, "Douglas."

"Yes."

I rested my hand on Trace's lap as I leaned closer to him. "I love you, Trace."

He leaned over and brushed his lips over my neck as he whispered, "I don't deserve you but I'll never let you go."

I touched his chin and lifted his eyes to mine before I whispered, "...but you do and maybe one day you'll finally realize that."

He didn't answer me except to lift my hand and press a kiss in my palm. He kept my hand in his as we both tuned back into the conversation in time to hear my dad say, "Teresa and Douglas, I wonder if Victoria knew?"

"I doubt it since she was out of it all the time." Trace offered softly.

"Wait! Trace you said your mom was zoned out that night you asked her for help but what if she wasn't zoned out, what if she was drugged? Think about it, my mom visits your mom and suddenly she takes an interest in the withdrawal symptoms of a drug that's a powerful sedative."

Uncle Josh pulled a hand through his hair as he leaned back in his chair. "It makes sense. How much do you want to bet that Teresa was dating the doctor for the scripts? She was probably bragging to Mandy about her clever ruse that day in the cafeteria. It would be so like Mandy to visit Victoria to confirm for herself if the woman was really in harm."

I looked at Darlene, saw a flicker in her eyes and wondered what she was thinking before I asked, "If someone was on that drug for any period of time could it make them almost comatose?"

She didn't hesitate to answer. "Absolutely."

"Do you remember the doctor's name, Darlene?" My dad asked.

"Dr. Richard Grant. He heads up the cardiac division now."

Uncle Josh noted that down as I turned my attention to Trace; he was livid.

"It sounds like something my bastard of a father would do; drugging his wife to keep her oblivious while he spent her money and abused her children."

"I never understood how your mother sat back and allowed the horrors but if she was drugged, Trace, she didn't have any control over herself. She was as much a victim as you and Chelsea."

His voice was very flat when he replied, "I know."

"Where is Teresa now?" My dad asked.

"I don't know." Darlene said. "After Mandy died I never saw her again."

I looked over at her and noticed that there were tears in her eyes as she looked at Trace.

My dad turned to Uncle Josh. "We need to find that bitch."

"Absolutely."

A few nights later, Trace and I were heading to a club to meet up with Trent and Lucien. We were sitting in a cab and Trace had my hand in his as he looked out the window. Trace had been distracted ever since the meeting with Darlene. Lord knew he had a great deal in which to distract him but I hurt for him because he still believed himself some how responsible for his father. I wished that there was some way I could take that burden from him but I knew that he'd never truly be free of it until he realized, finally, that he was nothing like his father.

I planned on pulling Lucien aside that evening so I could pick his brain about starting up a cooking school since I didn't have a clue where to begin. While thinking about Lucien, I remembered Trace's comment about him. I turned to Trace and asked, "Why did you call Lucien a dangerous friend?"

Trace's head turned to mine and I saw as his mind shifted gears from whatever he was thinking about to focus on me. A slight smile touched his lips before he offered, "Lucien Black is a bit of a gangster, Ember."

"What?"

"Yeah, I don't know all the details about him but I know that, though most of his businesses are legit now, they didn't start out that way."

I turned in my seat to look more fully at Trace before I asked, "And yet you seem okay with me hanging out with a gangster. Why is that?"

"Everything I've heard about Lucien, despite the legality of his businesses, says that he's a gentleman who treats women with reverence and respect."

"It was Lucien that told me to fight for you."

Trace's eyes grew darker before he offered, "I know and for that I will be forever in his debt."

"Me, too."

The cab pulled up in front of the club and Trace climbed out before helping me out. He paid the cabbie before reaching for my hand and leading us inside. The place was fairly packed but as soon as we entered, a pretty blonde approached us.

"Are you Trace and Ember?"

"Yes." I said.

"Please this way." She led us deeper into the club until we reached a table that was in a prime location. Lucien and Trent were already seated but as soon as they saw us, they both stood. We stopped just in front of the table as Lucien walked around and reached for my hand to lift to his lips.

"It's lovely to see you again, Ember."

"Hi, Lucien, likewise."

He was grinning when he released my hand and turned to Trace which had me offering the introductions.

"Trace, Lucien Black, Lucien, Trace Montgomery."

They shook hands before Lucien offered, "I've seen you fight a time or two: wicked."

Trace's expression was completely blank in response and then he said, "I believe you provided Ember with some rather sound advice a time back and for that I am in your debt."

Lucien turned and studied me for a moment before looking back at Trace. "She's happy, the sadness is gone from her eyes so I think the debt is paid."

I watched the two of them and knew that there was some kind of male, nonverbal communication going on. I turned from them when Trent came up behind me and pulled me into a hug.

"Hey, you. Are you going to sing tonight?"

I hugged him back before I replied, "Yes, I am."

It was hard getting a moment alone with Lucien since he and Trace were just chatting it up like a couple of school girls. It was official, he and Lucien hit it off and I was so happy about that; even happier with how relaxed and comfortable Trace looked. I did find my moment with Lucien later in the evening when he left the stage after his performance.

"That was wonderful, Lucien, truly you have a gift."

He grinned in response but remained silent so I asked, "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"How would someone go about starting up a cooking school?"

He looked at me and I saw as his mind shifted from his music to business. "Why? We've got some really outstanding schools already in the city."

"It's a dream."

"Ah, well, you'd want to do a cost/benefit analysis to justify that the investment is both sound and feasible. After that you'd need to find a location, write a business proposal, find investors, instructors, create a curriculum, go through the steps to get accredited..."