See Bride Run! (24 page)

“Amen to that,” Darla said. “Everybody needs to calm down.”

Bo gave her a loving smile. “Do you remember what kinda’ car the scumbag was driving?”

“I wrote it down.” Darla pulled out her ticket pad. “It’s a silver metallic Mercedes sedan,” she said. “Looked brand-spanking new.”

“Good girl,” Bo said. “What time did they leave?”

Darla glanced at the clock. “I’m guessing forty-five minutes, give or take a few minutes. But this is the strange part. Instead of turning left out of the parking lot toward the interstate, he turned right, which is all back roads.”

“Why would he do that?” Lillian asked.

Bo shook his head. “Good question when you consider the number of pot holes along the way. Plus, it is going to slow him down considerably.”

“The whole thing smells if you ask me,” Sam said. “If Annie’s father is really in CCU, Eldon would take the quickest route. He is up to something.”

Finally, Bo said, “We can stand here all day trying to figure it out, but we don’t have time.” He slapped Sam on the back. “Let’s go, m’friend,” he said. “My Dodge Ram has a few miles on it, but it’ll outrun most anything, I gar-run-tee, and it eats up potholes and spits ‘em out.”

“I’m going with you,” Lillian said.

All three looked at her, surprised. Bo and Sam exchanged glances. “My truck is going to be kind of tight as it is,” Bo said. “It would be best if you stayed here with Darla in case Annie calls.”

“I insist,” Lillian said. “You’re not leaving without me.” Her voice trembled.

Darla took her hand. “Hon, Bo is right. Why don’t you let me pour you a cup of coffee, and we’ll wait for Annie’s call together. You’re too upset.”

“Hell, yes, I’m upset,” Lillian said. “We’re talking about my daughter.”

#

“This makes absolutely no sense,” Annie said. “I thought we were in a hurry. Why are we taking the back roads?”

“I know a short cut,” Eldon said. “Besides, I have a surprise for you.”

Annie frowned. “What kind of surprise? I don’t like surprises. You offered to drive me to the hospital to see my father. If you have something else in mind then you need to turn this car around, take me back to Pinckney, and I’ll get another ride.”

“Is your new boyfriend going to drive you to Atlanta?” he asked.

“I refuse to discuss my personal life with you.” Annie wasn’t sure what to make of the situation, but something did not feel right. “You never said which hospital my father was in.”

“You’re right, I did not.”

“I should call and check on his condition. I need to borrow your cell phone.”

“They aren’t going to give you information over the phone,” Eldon said, “what with all the laws protecting the patient’s privacy. Besides, you and I need to talk.”

“The only thing I want to talk about is my father’s condition.”

Eldon looked at her. “You sure have changed your tune since we left the restaurant. Is this your attempt to pass yourself off as a doting daughter?”

Annie’s irritation flared. “Excuse me? I’ve put my life on hold since Bradley’s death, hoping I could help my father get through his grief. If that’s not a doting daughter then I don’t know what is.
“
She shook her head. “Why am I telling
you
this? I don’t owe you an explanation.” She took a long look at Eldon. “What’s going on? Why do I feel like all is not as it should be?”

“Did you really think you would get away with humiliating me and my family in front of six hundred people?” he asked, his mouth twisting wryly.

Annie felt a prickle of unease at the back of her neck. She was not surprised that Eldon was annoyed with her for running out on him and escaping holy matrimony. He had expressed his displeasure back at the restaurant, but most of it had seemed aimed at Annie for not acting responsibly where her father was concerned. Eldon had gone out of his way to point out her shortcomings as a daughter until he had guilt tripped her into going back to Atlanta with him. Now, she realized she should not have gotten in the car with him. She should have listened to Darla and waited for Sam.

“I don’t think this is the time to discuss what happened between us,” she said, keeping her voice steady. She would not give Eldon the satisfaction of knowing she was anxious.

“I think it’s the perfect time,” Eldon said. “What you did was inexcusable. Or deplorable, as my mother has said more than once.”

Annie noted his tense jaw. The skin on his face looked as though it had been stretched too tight. She realized that, despite dating and being engaged to him, she did not know him as well as she should because he had been deceitful from the beginning. All she could do was try to play things down as best she could and hope that he did not lose his cool or go into some freakish rage.

“I tried to do the right thing by calling off the engagement well in advance, Eldon. The only reason I agreed to become engaged in the first place—especially after only dating for three months—was because my father pushed and pushed until it was easier to give in. But I got sick and tired of giving in, sick and tired of being bullied.”

“That’s a real touching story, Annie, but it doesn’t make up for what you did to me. I’m not sure you can ever make it up to me, but I’m going to see that you try.”

“What are you talking about?”

He looked at her. His expression was menacing. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

Warning bells rang loudly in Annie’s head. “Stop the car!” she said, reaching for the door handle.

Eldon hit the master lock. “Don’t be stupid, Annie!” he shouted.

“I’m not going with you. Stop the car. I want out.”

“Yeah, well I wanted my wife-to-be to show up at the altar, but that didn’t happen, did it?”

Annie saw a gas station up ahead. “Let me off at the gas station,” she said. “I’ll find someone else to drive me to Atlanta.”

“Shut up, Annie!” he snapped. “If you have any hope of seeing your father alive you will shut your damn mouth and do as you’re told.”

She glared at him. “Do as I’m told? What is that supposed to mean?”

“There is a preacher up the road who has agreed to marry us.”

Annie could not believe what she was hearing. “Are you insane!” she said. “I’m not marrying you!”

“You need to rethink that,” Eldon said. “I have a full tank of gas. I’ll go the scenic route. By the time we get to Atlanta they will have moved your father’s body to the morgue.”

“Did you not
hear
me, Eldon? I will never marry you. I don’t love you. I never loved you. Why would you even
want
to marry me when you know I don’t have feelings for you?”

“You really have to ask?”

Annie grunted. “Oh, right, the money. It’s always about the money.”

“Finally, you get it. Your father and I have a contract. Once you and I marry I will be five million dollars richer.”

“He was going to
pay you
to marry me?” Annie closed her eyes and leaned against the headrest. She felt sick. Finally, she opened her eyes. “I don’t believe you.”

“I have the contract and the marriage license.”

“Show it to me.”

“It’s in the trunk.”

“Sure it is.”

Eldon slammed his hand against the steering wheel. “I am getting sick and tired of your mouth,” he yelled.

“And, yet, you wish to marry me,” she shouted back.

“For five million dollars I can put up with almost anything.”

“You planned this all along, didn’t you? How do I know my father is even ill?”

“Because I said so.”

“I can’t believe anything you say. What happens after the wedding, Eldon, since you seem to have everything, including my life, all figured out?”

“We live happily ever after and hope our union brings us many sons.”

“Do you get a bonus check each time I birth a boy?”

“You’re sole heir to a fortune, Annie. I think it’s safe to say I will be well compensated.”

“Why did my father choose you?”

Eldon shrugged. “He enjoys my stories. Like I said the night you called off the engagement. He believes them because he wants to believe them. You enjoyed them even more before someone told you differently.”

“I can’t believe my father did not check you out.”

Eldon gave her an odd look. “Of course he checked me out. He knows all about my past, including getting kicked out of Duke.”

“He didn’t have a problem with it?”

“He isn’t exactly without sin, Annie. He did not get where he is today by playing nice. I think he liked me more when he found out about my expulsion and other crap that I pulled.” Eldon paused. “At the same time, he likes that I have good, um, breeding. Old people seem to get off on that sort of thing. He wants to make certain his
dynasty
will live on, and that his grandsons will one day take over.”

“And
you’re
supposed to run Hartford Iron and Steel until the male fruit of your loins is old enough in say twenty-five years?”

“Your father has been mentoring me. Good thing I learn fast because it looks like I’ll be taking over sooner than we’d planned.”

Annie noted the time on the dashboard and wondered if Sam had returned from the courthouse. What would he do once he found out she had left with Eldon? Would he be angry with her? She had promised to call, but it did not look likely. She should have done as Lillian told her some days ago and bought a prepaid phone. Lillian had even offered to get it for her, but Annie had declined. The woman already catered to her every need.

#

Even though Sam kept his eyes peeled out for sight of Eldon’s car, he could sense Lillian was upset. She had tried to hide her tears. Finally, she had given up and pulled a small pack of tissue from her purse.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Sam asked.

Lillian sniffed. “I haven’t talked about it in years,” she said. “Only a couple of people know, but the bottom line, I had to give up Annie and her brother, and I was devastated.”

“Why were you not able to keep them?” Bo asked.

“You would have to know how cruel and vindictive my ex-husband, Annie’s father, is to understand.”

“I have a fairly good idea,” Sam said, “just from what Annie has told me.”

Lillian sniffed and wiped her eyes again. “I was barely twenty years old and working as a secretary at his plant when he asked me out. He was forty but did not look it. I grew up lower middle-class so I was impressed with his great wealth. I think he just wanted a sweet young thing on his arm, and I’ll have to say I was quite attractive.”

“You still are,” Sam said and Bo agreed.

Lillian chuckled. “You boys are sweet to say so.”

“Anyway, a few months later, I ended up pregnant. I’ll give him credit for doing the honorable thing and marrying me, but, that’s when the
real
Winston Hartford showed up. He was a mean old bully who used fear, bribes, and intimidation to get what he wanted. He once told me that he had the goods on almost every judge and elected official in Atlanta. I later found he was right.

“Annie and Bradley were only four years old when I asked for a divorce, and believe me, I put up with a lot. But Winston Hartford was not about to let me take his children even though he seldom gave them the time of day. Telling him I wanted out was the absolute worst thing I could have done. In what felt like the twinkle of an eye, I no longer had access to money, credit cards, my car, or even a telephone. His henchmen practically moved into the house so they could watch every move I made.

“In the meantime, Winston filed for an emergency divorce on grounds of adultery and habitual drunkenness. He had affidavits from half the people who worked for him. People who lied for him because they were afraid of losing their jobs. Long story short, he was granted full custody of both kids, and I ended up on the street. When I tried to fight back, one of his men broke into my apartment while I was out and planted a crap-load of cocaine. The next thing I know there are police searching my apartment, and I’m in jail facing a ten year sentence for dealing illegal drugs. It was hopeless. My mother and father went to the editor of the newspaper because they hoped to get my story out so people could see how crooked Winston and his cronies were.” Lillian paused and shook her head. “A week later their house burned to the ground.”

“What a bastard,” Bo said.

“That’s not even the worst of it,” Lillian replied. “One day Winston and his lawyer showed up with papers for me to sign, handing over any and all rights to my children. I was told if I signed the papers, all charges against me would be dropped. If I refused, I would go to prison for a long time, and—” Lillian choked on a sob.

“You don’t have to say anything more,” Sam told her.

“I have to get it out,” Lillian replied. “Winston said if I did not do exactly as I was told, he was going to put Annie up for adoption, meaning she would be separated from her twin.”

“Da-um,” Bo said.

Lillian nodded. “I knew he would do it because he only cared about having a son who could one day take over his stupid plant. He was obsessed. I could not bear the thought of Bradley and Annie being separated. Twins need to be together.”

Sam and Bo exchanged looks as Lillian began to cry in earnest. Sam held her close. “It’s okay,” he said. “Annie is the last person in the world who would judge you.”

“I thought maybe I could finally see them when they were older,” Lillian said. “I figured once they moved out of their father’s house and had a life of their own, I would ask them to meet with me so I could try to explain why I did what I did. But I was too afraid of having them say no. I figured their father had turned them against me, although Vera claimed she had taught them differently, bless her heart.” Lillian sniffed again.

“But then Bradley died in the auto accident, and I think something inside me died as well. I did a good job of hiding it from folks. I’m ashamed that I did not try to see Annie, but I figured she was going through enough pain, what with losing her twin. The last thing she needed was for me to show up and confuse things.” Lillian was quiet for a moment as though gathering her thoughts.

“When Vera told me Annie had skipped out on her wedding and was on her way to Pinckney, I had a full-blown panic attack. I considered leaving town, and that’s no lie. But Vera said Annie would need help so I had to pull myself together and be there for her, even though she had no idea who I was.”