Indigo Spell (24 page)

“You…you…that’s impossible. You wouldn’t have gotten married without your family and friends. Even you wouldn’t be that inconsiderate. Of course you’re not married. The idea is preposterous. Not to mention the fact that you simply would not marry a…a…building contractor. You are perfectly aware of your responsibilities and you would not shirk them for a man you barely know.”

“Mother, I shirked.”

“Oh, oh,” Colleen took a couple of stumbling steps backward, grasping at the arm of the sofa behind her. “I think I’m going to faint.”

Tess noticed her mother aligned herself perfectly with the sofa so as to spare her tailored dress from coming into contact with the floor. “You’re not going to faint. You’re going to listen to me. Jaxon and I love each other. We saw no reason to wait to get married. It’s not like I had any desire to be a June bride.”

“Saw no reason?” Colleen parroted, her voice rising an octave higher than her normally strident voice. “What about your mother? Did you even stop to think that as my only child, I would want to see you get married? Did that ever occur to you, Tess?”

The headache intensified. She had the sudden, overwhelming desire to leave, to disappear. “Let’s try to make an effort to discuss this calmly. After all, we wouldn’t want to alert the neighbors.” Her lips turned upward in a parody of a smile.

“Calmly? Do you really think that’s going to be possible considering the news you just delivered without so much as an apology?”

“An apology?” Tess tilted her head to one side, considered the words. “I have nothing to apologize for. You would never have approved of Jaxon.” At least not the only way she could know him. Her mother was big on power, so in another world, she might bestow her bountiful blessing on the union if she knew the wizard behind the man.

“And yet you married him.” Colleen whipped her head around as the doorbell pealed.

“I’ll get it. It’s probably Belinda.”

“You invited her to a family conversation?”

Tess had never gained her mother’s approval and had long ago realized it was a futile quest. Colleen Montgomery approved of few people in her world. “Jaxon and I can’t stay long. We wanted to see everyone before we left.”

Colleen trailed after her to the door. “Left? You’re leaving? Going where?”

“Jaxon is taking over the family business.” It wasn’t exactly a lie.

Her mother’s eyes glinted with the hint of curiosity. “And what, pray tell, is the family business? A construction company?”

Tess opened the door, saved from responding to her mother’s sarcastic question by Belinda’s squeal of delight. Enveloped in a hug, Tess relaxed for the first time since setting foot on South Carolina soil once more. “Belle, it’s good to see you.”

Belinda pulled away, clasping Tess’ shoulders. “I thought I would never see you again! Did Jaxon come with you?”

She pulled her into the house, eager to have a friend with her to face her mother’s displeasure. “Yes, he did. He’ll be here shortly. In the meantime, I’m telling Mother about us.” Issued sotto voce, the warning gave Belinda enough heads up to paste a smile on her face.

“Mrs. Montgomery, how wonderful to see you again.” Belinda extended her hand in perfect politeness.

“Isn’t it though?” Colleen accepted the proffered hand reluctantly. Tess knew at the first given moment her mother would excuse herself to the restroom to wash her hands. “Well, if you ladies will excuse me, I have to visit the ladies’ room.”

Belinda and Tess traded glances, waiting until Colleen closed the door on the guest bathroom before erupting into peals of laughter. “Oh God, your mother will never change.”

Tess hooked her arm through Belinda’s and guided her to the sofa. “Did you expect her to? Jaxon wanted to say goodbye to his friends. He should be here shortly.”

Belinda’s eyes widened with fright. “Goodbye? You mean you’re leaving? I thought you were back to stay.”

Their hands linked. “I wish I could but Jaxon is taking over the family business. We only have a couple of days.”

“Where are you moving? When will I see you again?”

Tess hated this part. “We’re moving to Nepal and I’m not sure.”

“Nepal.” Belinda’s face scrunched with confusion. “Isn’t that like in Asia?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“Who is this man? The family business is in Nepal?”

“Jaxon is part Nepalese on his mother’s side.” Tess squeezed Belinda’s hand for reassurance. “But I’ll call you every chance I get.”

“So this guy isn’t just a contractor.” Belinda sighed. “It figures. I can’t imagine why I thought you could actually end up with a normal guy.”

“Look at the bright side, at least I got married.” She grinned and winked.

“I should hardly think that’s something to be proud of, Tess.” Colleen returned to the living room. “And I think it appalling that your new husband,” she wrinkled her nose at the word, “would not have the common decency to greet me alongside you. Apparently his friends were far more important.”

Tess got to her feet. “I asked for this time, Mother. I wanted to tell you myself, just in case you weren’t happy about it.”

The barb went ignored. “You never did say what type of business Jaxon’s family is involved in.”

Tess searched her brain for a feasible business endeavor. Then brightening, she responded with a cheerful, “His family deals in power, electricity. In fact they are the biggest assembly of power companies in Nepal and the surrounding countries.” Silently patting herself on the back, she pasted a hundred-watt smile to her face.

Colleen’s eyes had taken on an avaricious gleam. Tess knew her mother smelled money, lots of it. Not that the Montgomerys didn’t have a fair share of their own but one could never have enough money. “I see. Then perhaps I might visit you one day in Nepal.”

Belinda bounced to her feet. “Mrs. Montgomery, aren’t you the least bit upset your daughter is moving so far away? I mean it isn’t like we’re talking Tennessee here. We’re talking across the world. It’s an entire universe apart from us.”

Colleen waved a hand. A diamond winked in the last rays of sunshine pouring through the French windows. “Belinda, my dear, we are a thoroughly modernized nation. It is a simple matter to book a flight to Nepal.”

“For you, maybe,” Belinda muttered to herself as she sat once more.

Tess heard the sound of a car’s engine. “That must be Jaxon now.”

Belinda scurried after her, peering over her shoulder. “He looks even better than I remember.”

Tess smiled as Jaxon unfolded his length from the same black sports car she’d seen parked in her driveway the night of their first date. It seemed such a long time ago.

Mirrored sunglasses hid Jaxon’s eyes but his lips were parted in a smile only for her. Long legs covered the distance up the driveway while Belinda purred from behind her friend.

“My God, he’s absolutely gorgeous.”

Tess had to agree. He had changed to black jeans and an emerald green knit shirt that stretched tautly over his biceps. She wanted to run her fingers through his wind-tousled hair and drag him down to her for a kiss. But Colleen’s irritating voice tapped her on the shoulder, reminded her they were not alone.

“Hi, honey.” Jaxon removed his sunglasses, ducked his head for a quick kiss and turned his charm on Belinda, who was staring in open-mouthed amazement. “You must be Belinda. Tess has told me a lot about you.” He stuck out his hand.

Belinda’s jaw snapped shut and she babbled some semblance of a reply while she shook his hand.

“And this is,” Tess moved aside to introduce her mother, “my mother, Colleen Montgomery. Mother, this is Jaxon Richards, my husband.” Tess had seen predatory gleams before but her mother had perfected the look. Colleen gazed at Jaxon as if he were the answer to a maiden’s prayers.

She sailed over to where her son-in-law stood and wrapped her arms around his waist to give him an affectionate hug, which lasted longer than was considered decent in polite society. “Why, Jaxon, it’s so wonderful to finally meet you.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you as well, Mrs. Montgomery.” Jaxon managed to put Colleen away without embarrassing her.

“Tess tells me the two of you are moving to Nepal.” She practically simpered.

Jaxon’s silver-gold eyes fell on Tess’ face and she read the question in those eyes. Exactly how much had she told her mother and friend? Her gaze must have reassured him for Jaxon broke eye contact and returned to the conversation. “That is why we came back to South Carolina. I wanted to give Tess the chance to say her goodbyes and tie up any loose ends.”

Colleen patted her hair back into place. “I was telling Tess that perhaps I could visit you sometime in the future. I’ve always wanted to see Nepal.”

Tess glared at her mother. She’d never heard about Colleen’s desire to tour Asia. She decided to let Jaxon dig them out of this one. “What do you think, honey?”

He wrapped an arm around her waist. “I think that’s a wonderful idea. We’ll have to let you know when things settle down. Right now we’re in the middle of an attempted hostile takeover. I’m afraid all of my energies are going to be used dealing with that matter when we return.”

Tess swallowed a nervous giggle. A hostile takeover. How apropos. “I’ve told Mother and Belinda your family owns several power companies in Nepal.” She turned her gaze back to her mother. “They generate a lot of electricity.”

He squeezed a warning. “Well, I’m sorry we won’t be able to stay longer but perhaps we can all meet for dinner tomorrow evening. I know Tess is tired from the trip and needs to relax. Since both of our houses are still hurricane-damaged, we’d planned on going back to the hotel and taking it easy tonight.”

The gleam was back in Colleen’s eyes. “Yes. The trip. Tess, darling, you haven’t mentioned where you’ve been all this time.”

“Just up the coast,” Jaxon intervened in a smooth-as-butter tone of voice.

“Well, perhaps next time, you can encourage Tess to call her family before she takes off on a tour of the Eastern seaboard.”

Belinda quickly jumped in. “I’m just so excited for the both of you. I never thought for one moment when I bid on you for Tess that the two of you would end up married and living in Nepal.”

Colleen’s breath escaped on a low hiss. “Bid on him?”

“Oh Lord. I wasn’t supposed to say that, was I?” Belinda shot Tess an apologetic look, which Jaxon intercepted with a smile to reassure her.

“Tess and I were involved in a charity auction for a children’s home. That’s how we met,” he said casually in response to his mother-in-law’s curiosity.

“And she bid on you?” Ice dripped from every word.

Tess joined the conversation. “Actually Belinda bid for me.”

“I see. And how much did you go for, Mr. Richards?”

“Mother.” Any minute her head was going to explode. As if sensing her pain, Jaxon came to stand behind her, his hands massaging her temples. The heat of his fingers soothed her, easing away the ache.

“Don’t ‘Mother’ me, Tess. I’d like very much to know how much you paid for your husband. After all, it is a mother’s duty to make sure you didn’t pay below retail.”

Jaxon remained perfectly still, eyes narrowed, focused on his mother-in-law. He didn’t need to be told that Colleen Montgomery’s sophistication and poise were in perfect synchronization with her old money snobbery and bitchiness. While she coveted the new money her daughter had acquired through marriage, she wasn’t letting go of the haughtiness that, in her mind, kept her a rung above everyone else.