His Paradise Wife (17 page)

Chapter 31

“
Let’s take a walk, Dante,
if you don’t mind,” Emily’s father, George, told him.

“
Sure,” Dante
replied.

Emily was lying in the chair next to her
mother. Both women were sleeping. A nurse had just stopped by to
check her mother’s vitals.

“
I know we didn’t officially
meet, and I apologize for my rudeness, but I had no idea that Emily
had gotten married. At any rate, I’m George. My wife’s name is
Antoinette.” After shaking hands, George said, “So how did you meet
my daughter?”

“
I met her at a festival but
we got to know each other on a website.”

“
What kind of
website?”

“
It’s called Grieving Hearts
Connect...a website where people who lost spouses in death can
connect with each other.”

“
Oh, I see. So you must know
all about Melvin, huh?”

“
Yes, Sir. I do.”

“
He was a good man. If I
could’ve hand-picked a husband for my daughter, it would’ve been
him. He loved Emily very much.”

“
As do I, Sir.”

George looked at him. “Emily told me she
would never remarry, so I’m curious about what made her marry
you.”

“
Must be love,” Dante
replied, but he wasn’t too sure if Emily loved him or
not.

George grinned. “I’m a very observant man,
Dante, and when you came into the room, my daughter frowned. It was
obvious that she didn’t want you there. And she wasn’t wearing a
ring, either. You want to tell me what’s really going on?”

Dante stopped walking when he noticed that
George had. “Sure. I’ll tell you what’s going on. I love your
daughter. We were married two weeks ago on a beach with many other
couples and we were basically giving the marriage a two-week trial.
She left early to come here to be with her Mom.”

“
Why didn’t you come with
her?”

“
Because I didn’t know she
was gone. She didn’t tell me she was leaving. She just dropped
everything and came here, and when I found out, I dropped
everything to be here with her. And I intend to be there for her
always, to take care of her.”

“
Not too sure about that,
son. My daughter is very strong-willed and stubborn. She dedicated
herself to Melvin, and...” he shook his head.

“
When Melvin passed, Emily
put her life on hold. She stopped talking to me and her Mother and
I think the only thing that has kept her from having a breakdown is
that little store of hers. She invested every dime of money Melvin
left behind to the store because he’d helped her in the early
stages of it, you know, when she’d first got the idea to open a
boutique.”

Dante nodded. Now he understood her
attachment to the store, keeping it running and making it a
success.

“
Tell me more about
yourself, Dante.” The men had made their way outside and sat on one
of the concrete benches.

“
Well, not sure exactly what
you want to know, so...ah... I was married for five years and my
wife passed. We didn’t have any children. It was just me and
her.”

“
Do you want children? I
know Emily does...well, she used to.”

“
Yes. I want
children.”

“
What do you do for work,
Dante?”

“
I own The Champion
Corporation. We specialize in creating web companies.”

“
An
entrepreneur...”

“
Yes, Sir.”

“
Ain’t nothing wrong with
that. Do you live in Asheville?”

“
Yes. I moved there from San
Francisco.”

“
You think you’ll ever go
back?”

“
Nah. My life is in
Asheville. My brothers live there too, and Emily has her store
there, so...”

“
Yeah, she has it for now at
least. She told me she was having trouble with the landlord raising
the rent.”

“
Really?” Dante said like
this was the first time he’d heard this. Sherita had initially told
him about the trouble that Emily was having with the landlord, but
in order to see if he could get even more information from George,
he played dumb.

“
Yeah, she was talking about
possibly closing the store and moving here to Jacksonville. It was
nothing set in stone...just casual conversation. She’s pretty upset
about the store and worried about her mother.”

“
That’s
understandable.”

“
Well, I’m going to get back
in there and check on my girls. I hope Emily changes her mind about
you, Dante. You seem like a decent man.”

“
Thank you, Sir.”

Once George was further away from him, Dante
took out his cell and called Dimitrius at the office.

“
What’s up,
Dante?”

“
Listen, Dimitrius...I don’t
have much time, but I need a huge favor.”

“
What’s that?”

“
I need you to find out who
owns the building where Emily has her boutique. It’s the same
building as that Caribbean restaurant you like.”

“
Okay, Dante. I’m on
it.”

“
When you get the name and
number, text it to me.”

“
Will do.”

“
Okay. Later.

Chapter 32

Emily’s mother, Antionette, opened her eyes
and smiled at her daughter.

“
How do you feel,
mom?”

“
Feel like I’ve been run
over by a city bus, child, but you know your mom is a
survivor.”

Emily smiled. Her mother was a tough woman.
She liked that very much about her mom.

“
Mom, what do you think
about me staying with you and dad for a couple of
weeks?”

“
I think that will be nice,
but I know you have your own life, dear.”

Not so
much
. Emily didn’t have much of a life
these days, but her mother didn’t need to know that.

“
It’ll be fine.”

“
But what about Dante?” her
father inquired.

“
Dante?” her mother asked,
her eyes bright. “Who’s Dante?”

“
Uh...um...” Emily
stammered.

“
Dante is Emily’s husband,”
her father blurted out.

Antionette’s eyes grew even bigger.
“Husband? You got married, Emily?”

“
Ma, calm down before you
hurt yourself. Please.”

“
Emily, you have a husband?”
Antionette inquired again.

Before she could answer, Dante came in the
room with coffee and a bag.

“
Hi. Good morning,” he said
when he saw that Antionette was awake. He set the coffee and bagels
on the countertop and walking over near the bed, he said, “It’s
nice to meet you, Mrs. Mitchell. How are you feeling?”

“
I’m feeling a lot better
now.”

Dante smiled. “I’m Dante.”

“
Nice to meet you, Dante.
You have to excuse my demeanor, but Emily neglected to tell us that
she remarried.”

“
Dante, please let her
rest,” Emily said.

“
I’m fine dear,” Antionette
spoke up. “I’m just in a state of shock to find out that I have a
new son-in-law.” Antionette looked at Dante again and asked, “You
said your name was Dante?”

“
Yes, ma’am.”

“
When did you marry my
daughter?”

“
About two weeks
ago.”

“
Oh my word...I didn’t even
know Emily was seeing anyone. But you are a welcomed sight, I tell
you that. Emily swore up and down that she would never remarry
after Melvin. I’m sure you know all about Melvin.”

Emily sighed into her palms then said,
“Ma...”

“
What dear? I’m excited. Why
didn’t you tell me you married his handsome man?”

“
Because we’re
not—”

“
Looks like I’m going to
have me some grandbabies after all,” Antoinette said, interrupting
her.

Emily frowned, stood up and walked out of
the room in a hurry.

“
I’ll be right back,” Dante
said to Emily’s parents before leaving to room to go after her. He
looked to the right, then to the left and saw her round the
corner.

“
Emily,” he yelled loud
enough so she would hear him. Then he jogged to catch up to her,
finding her sitting in the waiting room, her face buried in her
hands. “Emily,” he said, kneeling in front of her.

She hadn’t looked at him, just remained as
she was.

He placed his hands on her knees.
“Emily—”

“
Haven’t you humiliated me
enough? Please go. Leave me and my family alone.”

“
Baby, I’m just trying to be
here for you.”

“
I don’t want you here,” she
said with a shaky, broken voice. “I want you to leave me
alone!”

Dante wanted to do nothing other than grab
her into his arms and console her, to show her how much she needed
him. But he was tired of fighting for a woman who didn’t want him.
So indeed, he stood up, sucked in a breath and said, “You can’t say
I didn’t try.” Then he walked away.

Chapter 33

On the company jet during his flight home,
he dialed the number that Dimitrius had texted to him – the
landlord to the building where Emily’s boutique was located.

“
Hello,” a woman
answered.

“
Hi. This is Dante Champion
calling. I’m looking for Luke Taylor.”

“
Please hold and I’ll check
to see if he’s available for you.”

“
Thanks.”

You’re welcome.”

After listening to some instrumentals for a
few seconds, he heard a male voice on the other end.

“
This is Mr. Taylor. What
can I do for you?”

“
I’m interested in buying
the building you own, located on Battery Park Avenue.”

“
Well, I’ll stop you right
there. That location isn’t for sale and—”

“
Eight million,” Dante
said.

“
Excuse me?”

“
I said eight million. Now
I’ve done my research, so I know the building is only worth five
million, but I’m willing to throw in an extra three million for
your trouble.”

Luke thought about it for a moment and said,
“I’ll think on it and let you know. I’m not sure what you want with
the building, but I’m contractually liable to the current tenants
who’ve set up shop there, so if, and that’s a big if, I was to take
you up on your offer, we would have to come to the table and figure
out a plan for the current tenants to move out.”

“
That won’t be a problem. I
do not plan on making anyone move out.”

“
Hmm. Okay. Well, I’ll still
give your proposal some thought.”

“
Don’t think too long. The
offer is off the table tomorrow at noon.

“
Then you’ll be hearing from
me before noon tomorrow then, Mr. Champion.”

“
Good. I’ll be waiting for
your call.”

Chapter 34

Two weeks later, Emily returned home after
being in Jacksonville. Her mother had been doing much better and
she felt confident that she would be okay now. She hadn’t spoken to
Dante in those two weeks – no text messages, instant messages,
phone calls, nothing. Since she was back home today, she wanted to
go by the boutique and collect a few more pieces of her
merchandise. Sherita had already began boxing up some things and
was going to meet her there this morning.

When she pulled up and parked in front of
the store, Emily saw Sherita’s car already there. Emily got out of
the car, in tears. The store already had cardboard paper in the
windows.

Sherita hugged her tight and said, “It’s
okay, Emily.”

“
No, it’s not okay,” Emily
cried. “I was supposed to make this store a success and I failed.
My life has been nothing but a series of failures...one
disappointment after another.”

“
No, that’s not true. You
have a lot to be proud of, Emily.”

Emily wiped her eyes. “Like what?”

“
You have your health...your
parents...”

Emily batted more tears away and said,
“Let’s just go in and see what else I need to remove. You said you
got most of the clothes out, right?”

Sherita nodded. Then she unlocked the door.
Emily couldn’t see the smile on Sherita’s face since she was
standing behind her, but Emily was about to get the surprise of a
lifetime.

When Sherita opened the door, more tears
poured out of Emily’s eyes. The place had been completely redone.
Whoever leased the space must’ve had money, because she couldn’t
afford to tile the floor in black and white, or add two additional
dressing rooms and completely cover a small portion of the wall
with a floor-to-ceiling mirror. The register was even computerized
with a barcode system. “I can’t believe somebody already moved in,”
she whimpered.

Melanie came walking from the back. “No,
actually, this is your place, Em, completely redone.”

Emily looked confused. “What? What are you
doing here, Melanie?”

“
Well, since I helped to
design the place, I figured I should be here to surprise
you.”