Rent-A-Bride (12 page)

He still sounded like Ed and for the most part acted like Ed but it seemed like all the passion and fire had gone out of him. When they made love it felt distant and cold, and Amelia was growing more concerned by the day.

It didn’t help that he had suddenly thrown himself back into his work in a way she had never seen. Stanley had mentioned on more than one occasion that he worried about the pace with which Ed worked, but having come on the scene during Stanley’s illness, she’d only seen first the devoted grandson, and then the adoring boyfriend. But now, he never seem to be around.

Whenever she called to make plans he was working, or planning to go in to the hospital or just getting home from a shift. And she wasn’t the only one to notice the sudden obsession with work.

Visiting Stanley one Wednesday afternoon, Amelia entered the room to see him sitting up in bed, his hands folded together on his lap while staring out the window. He was so focused on his inner thoughts he didn’t even hear her enter the room.

She lightly tapped the door so as not to startle him. “Penny for your thoughts.”

He turned and smiled at her. “Hey, Sugar. Didn’t expect to see you today. How did the job interview go?”

She shrugged. “As well as expected considering I’m almost twenty-three and have no skills.”

“Well don’t you fret, we’ll find something for you.”

Over the past few weeks, Amelia had discovered that one of the added benefits of Stanley knowing the whole truth was his willingness to use his connections to help her find a job.

“Have you applied here at the hospital? They have a lot of clerical jobs.”

“Does that involve typing?”

“Some.” He nodded, a slightly befuddled expression on his face.

She shook her head vigorously. “Then that won’t work.”

“Everybody can type
a little
.”

“Not everybody.”

He sighed. “No offense, Sugar, but you really should thank the good Lord you were born beautiful.”

She chuckled, casting a quick glance around the room for any evidence that Ed had been there. “Have you seen Ed today?”

“He stopped by early this morning, just for a minute.” He reached over and took her hand in his. “Amelia, is everything okay between you two?”

Some part of her said to paste on a smile and pretend everything was just fine. But there was something so warm and comforting about Stanley that she found herself telling him things she hadn’t told anyone else. Like how she felt her mother’s betrayal had changed the entire trajectory of her life. Like how the failure of her acting career left her feeling worthless. And like how hopelessly head-over-heels-in-love she was with his grandson.

And so now looking into his soft brown eyes so full of concern she found herself telling him a truth she had not even acknowledged to herself yet. “I…I think we’re done.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think he’s over it. Whatever
it
was. I think he’s going to break up with me soon.”

“Here, sit down.” He tugged her toward a nearby chair. “Now tell me, what’s been going on?”

She sat and bowed her head. “I don’t know. It’s like he doesn’t want to be around me anymore.”

“Well, what happened? I thought things were going good between you. He’s been happier than I’ve seen him for years and you seem to be happy as well.”

“I am! I mean I was.” She made a frustrated hand gesture. “Actually, Stanley, I don’t know what I mean. One minute everything is good and fine and then the next…he’s like a stranger.”

“Well, did something change?”

She shook her head. “Not that I’m aware of. I can’t explain it.”

A hard knock on the door startled both of them. Amelia’s eyes widened to see Ed standing in the doorway looking yummy in dark blue slacks, a powder blue shirt and a white lab coat. It was the first time she’d seen him in several days, and it only then hit her just how much she’d missed him.

His eyes glanced over her before landing on his grandfather. “Hey Pop, just wanted to give you some good news.”

Stanley’s eyes narrowed in a way that immediately reminded her of Ed.
Her Ed
. Not this look-alike in the doorway. “Aren’t you going to speak, son?”

Ed’s eyes flicked back to Amelia. “Sorry, didn’t mean to be rude. Hello, Amelia.”

“Hi.” Her throat clogged with tears, and the sympathy she saw in Stanley’s face when he turned back to her certainly didn’t help matters.

She stood. “I better get going.” She leaned over and placed a gently kiss on Stanley’s forehead. “I’ll come by and see you tomorrow. She was heading out the door when Ed’s words stopped her in her tracks.

“That won’t be necessary.” He said, coming into the room. “That was the good news I was coming to give you, Pop. Steve believes you’re stable enough to return home, even as early as tomorrow.”

“Well, Hallelujah!” Stanley whooped, but the whoop turned into a cough and both Ed and Amelia rushed to his bedside to assist him. Stanley held up his hands warding them off. “I’m fine. I’m fine. Just got a little over excited. I was afraid these walls were going to be the last thing I see.”

“That’s wonderful news, Stanley!” Amelia was genuinely happy he was finally going home, but considering his home was with Ed and Ed was barely acknowledging her existence anymore, she wondered would she ever see either of them again.

Just as she had with his grandson, she’d fallen in love with the old man in a relatively short amount of time. What was it about the Bouchard men that had that effect on her?

• • •

“What the hell is wrong with you?!”

Ed walked over to the window and looked out, not in any condition to spare with his grandfather. He hadn’t expected to find Amelia there, and so it caught him off guard to see her sitting there as beautiful as ever, looking up at him with those eyes he loved so much. Those eyes that were pleading for answers he was unable to give.

“Son, I know you’ve had a rough ride but that is no reason to throw away something
that
wonderful!”

Ed sighed heavily. He had no desire to fight with Stanley, but he wasn’t about to just take his abuse either. “Pop, you don’t know—”

“What?! That she loves you? That she makes you happy? What don’t I know, Teddy?!”

He turned to face his grandfather and was startled by the pure, raw rage he saw. “Pop, you need to calm down. This kind of stress is not good for you.”

“Then you need to stop
stressing
me out!”

“I tried to explain to you that this wasn’t a real relationship. That she was just an actress playing a part. I thought you understood.”

Stanley shook his head in confusion. “Who are you trying to convince, Teddy? Me? Or yourself?”

“It wasn’t real!”

“You’re telling me that you don’t love that girl?”

“Love is a letdown.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Divorce courts are full of people who thought they were in love.”

“So, let me get this straight. You answer to avoiding a possible divorce is to never get married?”

Ok, it sounded kinda silly when he heard it said back to him like that. Although, that was essentially his strategy. Instead of opening his mouth and sounding like an idiot, Ed decided to remain silent.

“You’re an idiot, you know that?”

“Since you’re the one who thinks she’s all that why don’t you marry her?!”
So much for not sounding like an idiot.

“I would if I could, but I’m too old and sick to appreciate such a prize. You on the other hand are just an id—”

“Yeah! Yeah! An idiot, I know.”

He’d had enough of this, and stalked toward the door.

“Just where do you think you’re going?!”

A lifetime of proper upbringing kept his feet from crossing the threshold. But that didn’t mean he had to turn and face him.

“Teddy, you have to know that all I want is your happiness…no matter what that is.”

“I know, Pop.”

“Wanna hear something ironic?’

He glanced at him over his shoulder. “What?”

“That
actress
is probably one of the most genuine people I’ve ever met.”

“I’ll check on you later, Pop.” Ed left the room at an almost run.

F
ool’s Gold.
A metallic mineral that bore a striking resemblance to real gold and that mistaken identity was the plotline of the spaghetti western Amelia was currently watching with Stanley.

The pair was ensconced on the leather couch in Ed’s den and this is where they’d spent most of their time over the past week since Stanley’s return home.

When Ed called her last week, shortly after their encounter in Stanley’s room, she’d been incredibly hopeful that the distance between them had been just the result of her over active imagination.

Ed invited her out to dinner at one of the loveliest Italian restaurants she’d ever been to. He’d apologized repeatedly for neglecting her over the past days. He’d vowed that his feelings for her were as rock solid as always. Afterwards, he’d taken her back to his house and they’d made love most of the night. Then he’d rolled over turning his back to her and fell asleep. And Amelia awoke the next morning wondering where the hell was
her Ed
, and wondering why the look-alike was suddenly pretending they were in love.

Later that day when they’d picked up Stanley from the hospital together, she began to get a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach. Ed was suddenly
Mister Affectionate
but only in the presence of Stanley. And then it hit her, the look-alike was using her as a prop.

She knew then that Stanley must’ve said something about their relationship being on the rocks after she left the hospital that day, and this was the look-alike’s attempt at fixing it. Strangely enough, he’d somehow maneuvered her into continuing to play the role he’d originally hired her for…
and for free!

Only now, the rules of the game had changed.

The problem was that when she tried to talk to him about it he always managed to avoid the conversation. He was funny, charming, attentive and completely fake.
Fool’s gold
.

As the movie credits played on the screen she glanced over and saw Stanley had fallen asleep. Slightly concerned, she reached over and checked his pulse. He was only sleeping. But this was the third nap he’d taken since morning. She pulled a throw blanket off the arm of a chair and laid it over his body.

Just then Amelia heard a key in the front door lock and went to greet Ed in the foyer. She noticed that when he opened the door there was a scowl on his face until he looked up and saw her.

“Hey, Sweetheart.” He smiled, and crossed the room to hug her. His mouth came down on hers sending a delicious chill throughout her whole body.
Fake or not, he still felt so damn good
.

“Everything okay?” She asked from the circle of his arms.

“Everything’s great.” He lied. “How’s Stanley?”

“I don’t know, the last couple of days he’s been kinda listless.”
“That’s to be expected.” He mumbled, flipping through the mail on a nearby table. “It’s going to take time for his body to readjust.”

She thought about it a moment and shrugged. “Maybe you’re right.”

“So, what are we doing for dinner?”

“Sorry, hadn’t got that far yet.”

He shrugged. “Wanna order a pizza?”

She followed him into the kitchen. “Sounds good to me.”

Amelia watched as he went to the refrigerator and took out a can of beer. Her eyes narrowed. “You’ve been drinking quite a bit lately.”

He closed the refrigerator and turned back to face her. “What?”

She folded her arms across her chest refusing to back down. “I said, that lately I’ve noticed every night you come in and go straight for the beer. Are you sure everything’s okay?”

He stared at her for several seconds, and for a moment there she thought he was going to actually be honest with her. But instead he took a long gulp and poured the rest down the sink. “Happy?”

“Ed, what’s going on?”

“What do you mean?” He tossed the empty can into the recycle bin and leaned against the counter opposite her.

“If you don’t want to be with me why won’t you just say so?”

“If I didn’t want to be with you, you wouldn’t be here.”

“See? That’s what I’m talking about!”

“
Now
what?!”

“Every time I try to talk to you about what’s wrong between us, you give me some smart ass answer.”

“Look, Amelia.” He covered his face with one hand. “I’ve had a really long day. I can’t deal with your drama right now.”

Her eyes widened. “My drama?!”

“You know what—don’t worry about dinner.” He pushed away from the counter and headed toward the door. “I’m just gonna go to bed.”

“Do you love me?” She called after him.

He paused in the doorway and slowly turned to face her. His dark eyes slowly perused over her body from head to toe and it took every ounce of strength to resist the siren call of that look.

When his eyes met hers, a slight smirk crossed his lips. “Come upstairs with me and I’ll give you the answer to that question.”

She sighed. “You can’t fuck your way out of this, Ed.” She crossed the room to stand directly in front of him and placed her hand over his heart. “I need to know…is there anything left here for me?”

Without a word he turned and walked away. And a week later the world went to hell.

• • •

Stanley’s remission ended suddenly and within a few days he was readmitted to the hospital. Both Amelia and Ed had been by his side both night and day since his return to the hospital.

On the second day Amelia got a phone call from Byron that Pepper had gone into labor and was at a hospital across town. Amelia was torn between staying with the sweet old man who’d been like a father to her or going to be present at the birth of her first niece.

Needing some time alone to think, she told Ed she was going down to the hospital cafeteria to get a cup of coffee. On her way back upstairs she received a text message from Terry:
talked to Billy - he still wants you to star in new movie - Lexie’s Locker Room Escapades – big, big money call me!