Sudden Pleasures (22 page)

“You’re thinking about babies with me?” His mouth turned up in a smile.

“Yeah, I am. A little boy with dark curls and big brown eyes like his daddy,” she replied. “Crazy, huh?”

“How many babies?” he asked her.

“How many do you want?” she responded, smiling back at him.

“Three too many?” he said.

“Three’s a good number,” she agreed.

“Ashley?”

“Yes, Ryan?”

“I
really
do love you!”

“And I
really
love you,” Ashley answered him. “Now eat your dinner, Ryan. Mrs. B. won’t be very happy with us if we let this perfect roast of hers go to waste. And we won’t be getting good corn like this much longer now that autumn’s coming.”

After dinner they made love again, and this time with such tenderness that Ashley cried when she came to climax. She was loved. She loved. Their crazy marriage of convenience had by some miracle turned into a love match. They were even talking about a family. She began to think that they would have to start thinking about a religious ceremony to formalize the love they admitted to having for each other. Lina would be so pleased, but first things first. She had two new shops to staff and open.

Ashley drove into town on Tuesday with her husband. They stopped at his apartment first. He introduced her to his doorman, explaining that his wife would be using the apartment now and again. The doorman, he knew, would spread the word to the superintendent and the other help in the building. Ashley already had a key, as they had had one made the previous day in Egret Pointe.

Her appointment for the city store was at eleven in the morning. Their car parked in his building’s garage, they hailed a cab and headed back downtown. The contractor was a big, jovial fellow. Ashley had met him only once before. They had conducted most of their business on the telephone once she had hired him. He let them into the store, and Ashley’s first reaction was delight. The fresh gray paint with its elegant white trim looked perfect. The pale silver-gray carpeting was plush. The display cases were ebony and glass. The lighting fixtures were discreet but for the elegant gold sconces on the walls. She checked the stockroom, the manager’s office, the bathroom, the small lunchroom she had insisted upon for her employees. “What do you think?” she asked Ryan.

“It’s good, but has the electric been upgraded to handle the computers, the register, and the security system?” he asked the contractor.

“I got the papers from the city inspector right here, Mr. Mulcahy,” came the response. “The security system ain’t hooked up yet, but the guy is coming next week.”

“We’re opening the first week in November,” Ashley said.

“It’ll be ready before then, I promise,” the contractor replied.

“And the window painter for the shop’s name and logo?” she wanted to know.

“Tomorrow. I wanted the best guy, and he’s hard to get,” the contractor explained. “You know about those things, Mr. Mulcahy.”

“You know me?” Ryan said.

“My father knew your father,” the contractor answered. “It’s a small world when you’re a woodworker.”

Ryan nodded. “When can we see the mall store?”

“Tomorrow be all right, Miss Kim…Mrs. Mulcahy?” The contractor wisely addressed the question to Ashley. After all, she was paying him, not the husband.

“How about Thursday afternoon instead?” Ashley suggested. “Then we can just head out of town from there. Three o’clock?”

“That’s fine with me, Miss Kim…Mrs. Mulcahy.” He laughed. “I’ll get it right eventually,” the contractor promised.

“You had better,” she said with a smile. “If these two shops do well I’ll probably be opening a few more in the area.”

“Yes, ma’am!” he responded with a broad grin.

Ryan left her afterward, and Ashley hurried to a luncheon meeting she had scheduled with Nina’s friend Suzette. The two women met at Felicity’s Tea Shoppe on Madison. Nina had reminded Ashley that the two women had met briefly when Suzette had visited Nina the previous year, and sure enough they recognized each other. They were seated, and as they ate lunch Ashley explained to Suzette what she wanted. Suzette assured her that she could handle the shop, asked some salient questions that impressed Ashley, and then the two women negotiated a salary. Ashley was rather relieved at what Suzette wanted. It was less than she had been prepared to pay, but as Nina told her later, Suzette’s boss had had an investment retirement fund for his employees, and under the law Suzette had taken hers with her. She was comfortably fixed, and with Ashley picking up her medical insurance and adding to that fund, she could accept less of a salary.

“Do you want me to do the hiring for the shop?” Suzette asked. She was an elegant, well-spoken woman in her late fifties with stylishly cut short salt-and-pepper hair. Her makeup, Ashley noted, was flawless and natural-looking, her jewelry good. Suzette was just what Ashley was looking for. Nina was going to get a bonus for it.

“It would be a help if you did,” Ashley replied.

“How many girls do you want?”

“Start with two. If you need more let me know. You might have to hire someone to temp for the holiday rush. I’m putting you in charge of the employees to start. Once you’ve learned the stock and what sells on the Upper East Side, then I’ll probably ask you to do some ordering.”

Suzette nodded. “I come from dresses and suits, but I learn fast,” she said.

“Would you mind coming out to Egret Pointe soon? I’d like you to work with Nina and get an idea of the merchandise,” Ashley said. “We’re opening the first week in November. Hire your girls to begin the last week in October for paid training.”

“No problem,” Nina said.

Ashley spent the following day visiting the showrooms of some of her largest suppliers. She also found a new small showroom with some rather interesting and one-of-a-kind garments. She placed an order. On Thursday she and Ryan headed up to the suburban mall to meet the contractor and inspect the mall store. It was identical to the shop in town and in Egret Pointe. There were two women from a local employment agency waiting for her when they arrived. She interviewed them before the contractor got there, and hired one, a Mrs. Babcock, who had solid retail experience. She explained, as she had to Suzette, what her duties would be, and that she would be responsible for the hiring.

“You will have to come up to Egret Pointe shortly, along with the manager of the city store. I’ll see you’re both put up, and pay your expenses, of course.”

“Certainly,” said Mrs. Babcock, a slightly younger version of Suzette. “My husband is home every night, and the kids are in high school and presumably civilized. They can all manage without me for a few days.”

Ashley was feeling very good as they returned home. Everything seemed to be going along perfectly. She was in love, and loved in return. Now all she had to do was face down her horrific in-laws. But with Ryan by her side she decided she could triumph over just about anything. And one day very soon her birth control pills were going to be dumped down the commode. Now that she had birthed three shops, she was ready to have that baby. And they were going to make such beautiful babies too.

T
he leaves had begun to turn, and Main Street in Egret Pointe was decorated once more to fit the season. The trees lining the street were surrounded with tall dried and colored cornstalks tied with wide bright-orange ribbons. Large, fat pumpkins in every possible shade a pumpkin could be grown, along with piles of green, yellow, white, and orange gourds, encircled the trees amid baskets of red and yellow apples. A large banner advertising the local Harvest Festival was slung across Main Street.

“We get to go on Sunday,” Ashley told her husband. “We’ve got the harpies on Saturday. I’m going to ask your mom and Frankie to stay over.”

“I thought we were going to have the rest of the weekend to ourselves,” he complained. “Besides, Frankie won’t be coming. It’s parents’ weekend up at St. Peter’s, and she never misses one. And this is her last, as my nephew graduates in June.”

“Can’t I ask your mom?” Ashley said. “I like her, Ryan. I have only the barest memory of my own mother, because she died when I was fourteen. Oh, I’ve got a picture of her, but very few memories. And I missed having a mother. Your mother is cool. Look how she went to Ray to find a wife for you. And look how nice she’s been to me, even if I wasn’t quite the daughter-in-law she was expecting. Besides, do you want her having to ride home with the harpies and their husbands?”

“You’re too softhearted, woman,” he said, pulling her into his arms and giving her a kiss. “All right. Ask Ma if she’d like to stay. And call Frankie. She’s been worried you’d be upset she couldn’t come, but she didn’t want to disappoint her kid.”

The next day Ashley called her sister-in-law Frankie. “It’s okay,” she said to her. “I’ll just deal with the harpies myself. I was going to ask you and your mom to stay over just to piss them off.”

Frankie laughed. “Ma told me you called her this morning. She thinks you’re sweet asking her to stay, and of course she’s going to do it, because she had such a good time last time. I’m sorry to leave you with the harpies—well, not really, if you get my meaning—but my kid comes first, Ash. You’ll understand when you have your own.”

“So you’ll come for Christmas with him and your mother, okay?” Ashley asked.

“Yes, we’ll come,” Frankie replied. She paused, then finally said, “You sound different. Really happy. I guess everything’s all right with you and my brother.”

“If that’s your clever way of asking what’s going on, I don’t mind telling you. It seems that against all odds we have fallen in love,” Ashley told her sister-in-law. “We’re even talking babies, although I’m not quite ready to give up my birth control pills. I need to get these two new shops open and running smoothly.”

“Oh, my God!” Frankie gasped. “I am so glad, Ash! For you and for my brother. He really is a good guy, and I want him to be happy. Does Ma know?”

“We’re going to let her figure it out for herself.” Ashley chuckled.

“Ashley, don’t stop loving Ryan after you’ve met the harpies.
Please!
” Frankie said. “They’ll start off semicharming, but the mood will degenerate as the day goes on. It’s the way they are. They’ve got the sibling-rivalry thing down pat, I’m afraid.”

“I have to admit that I’ll be glad to get it over and done with,” Ashley admitted.

“I’ve got to go,” Frankie said. “I’ve got a client coming in any minute. Good luck on Saturday, sweetie.”

On Saturday morning they arose, ate a leisurely breakfast together, and then dressed to receive their guests. Ashley was wearing light wool slacks in a red-yellow-and-black Royal Stewart plaid, along with an off-white cotton cable-knit sweater with a round neckline. She had comfortable black leather boots on her feet. Ryan was wearing pale gray slacks and a taupe-colored Italian knit sweater in silk and cotton. He had expensive leather loafers on his feet. They were the picture of wealthy country casual.

At a little after eleven Ashley’s cell rang. “This is Ashley,” she said, picking up.

“It’s Bill, Mrs. Mulcahy. We’re five minutes out,” a voice said.

“Thank you, Bill. After you drop my guests off, Byrnes will show you around to the kitchens, where you can get lunch and later dinner before you return to town.”

“Thanks, ma’am.” The phone clicked off.

“Who was that?” Ryan asked.

“The driver,” Ashley told him. “We are now about four minutes from touchdown, darling. Gird your loins.”

“I’d rather still be up in bed grinding them against yours,” he said. “You are too delicious today, baby. And I’m going to be thinking all day about tonight after we wave them off. And don’t look at me that way, Ash, all soft and melty-eyed. You want to really start a brouhaha, you’ll let me greet the five harpies with a hard-on for my beautiful wife.” He sighed dramatically, making a shaking motion with his hand.
“Mamma mia!”

Ashley laughed. “You can’t be that horny after last night,” she said.

“I can’t get enough of you,” he replied.

“Stifle, big man!” she warned him. “Uh-oh. I hear the limo coming up the drive. Let’s head to the door, and remember, smiles, everyone.”

Now it was his turn to laugh. “
Fantasy Island
my foot,” he said.

She flashed him a grin.

They stood on the portico of the house, arms about each other as the extra-large black limousine drew up before them in the drive. Bill, the chauffeur, was out of the vehicle immediately to open the door. First out was Angelina Mulcahy. Both Ryan and Ashley greeted her warmly, Ashley giving her a big hug.

“Be brave,
cara
,” Lina murmured softly as one by one Ryan’s older sisters were carefully handed out of the car. Their husbands had gotten out on the far side, and now stood bunched together, not quite certain what to do.

“Welcome to Kimbrough Hall, everyone,” Ashley said, smiling. “I’m so glad the weather is perfect for you.”

“It’s a long ride from the city. I am Bride,” a tall, dark-haired woman said. She smiled, but Ashley noticed that the smile didn’t reach her eyes.

“But I hope it was at least comfortable for you,” Ashley answered.

“Oh, yes, very nice, but certainly expensive. We could have driven our own cars. I’m Elisabetta.” She was smaller than Bride, and her hair was quite red.

“Kathleen,” said a third woman, holding out her hand to Ashley. She was platinum blond, and her handshake was feeble and limp.

“Magdalena,” said the fourth woman. She was plump, and looked the most like her mother. Her gray hair made her look older than the others, although she was younger.

“I’m Deirdre,” the last of the sisters said. Like Bride her hair was dark.

None of the sisters made any move to kiss Ashley.

“Good morning, ladies,” Ryan said cheerfully. “Nice to see you all together.”

“Yeah,” one of the men said with a grin. “If you wanted to take them out, this would sure as hell be the time and place, Ryan.”

“It’s a good thought, Kevin, but I know how much you guys would miss them,” Ryan joked with his brothers-in-law as, laughing, the men came forward, and Ryan introduced them to Ashley. On the whole the men seemed friendlier than Ryan’s sisters.

“Come into the house,” Ashley invited them, then settled them in the living room. She turned to her butler. “Byrnes, if anyone would like coffee, will you please bring it?”

“At once, Mrs. Mulcahy,” Byrnes replied with a slight bow.

“You have servants?” Bride asked as she settled herself in a large wing chair that allowed her a full view of the room and everyone in it.

“They came with the house,” Ashley joked, and the men laughed. “Yes, I have servants. They helped raise me after my parents died. Thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Byrnes the house runs like clockwork. I couldn’t do without them.”

“My daughters are striving to remain polite, Ashley, but they are dying to learn how you and Ryan met,” Lina said. “I hope you’ll tell them
everything
,
cara
.”

Ashley threw her mother-in-law a look of thanks. There were going to be no secrets now, and she was glad. “We were introduced by our attorneys in my lawyer’s offices several months ago. Because Ryan and I were faced with a similar problem, we decided to make a marriage of convenience. Actually, it was Lina and Frankie who spoke first with Ray Pietro d’Angelo, and asked him to find Ryan a wife. Ray mentioned this rather odd request to his cousin, Joe Pietro d’Angelo, who is my lawyer.”

“And just what problem did you have that was similar to our brother’s?” Bride demanded to know. Her face was stony.

“Your father wanted to make certain Ryan married, because he knew that just being consumed by his business wasn’t a good idea. A man ends up alone that way. And my grandfather thought a woman needed to be married to be happy and safe. And both of these old gentlemen added clauses to their wills. Ryan had to marry before he was forty. And I had to be married before I was thirty-five. If I didn’t marry before that birthday, my father’s old girlfriend’s cockamamie organization, the Society Seeking Extraterrestial Life, or SSEXL, would get everything: my house, my investments, and my monies. For your brother the penalty was as bad. To lose the business he had built up would be terrible for Ryan. I’m sure that now that you’ve all had time to think about it you appreciate that.”

The five sisters all glared at Ashley, and then Bride said, “Your marriage can’t be real. I think you should know we’ve hired a lawyer, and we’re going to be suing you, Ryan. You only married to spite us, damn it!”

“Bride, do you hear yourself?” Ryan asked her.

“Fin’s will only said your brother had to marry, Bride,” Lina said quietly. “It didn’t say to who, or even what kind of a marriage. It just said he had to marry.”

“But it’s a fraud!” Bride said angrily. “It’s nothing more than a business arrangement. It isn’t a
real
marriage! They weren’t even married in the church by a priest, so it can’t be a marriage at all.”

“Our lawyer says we may have a case,” Kathleen chimed in. “We were married under the laws of the state, and that makes it legal no matter your religious beliefs,” Ashley said quietly. “We signed prenups, and even have a written agreement as to what our marriage is and how it should work.”

“There’s a sex-is-optional clause,” Ryan said wickedly. “And, of course, we exercised it immediately. I can’t seem to keep my hands off of her.” He leered at his five sisters, who were briefly silent.

“Don’t be vulgar!” Bride finally snapped. “So you have sex. Everyone has sex today. That doesn’t make it a real marriage in our eyes.”

“Sister dearest, I don’t give a damn what you think. Or the rest of you, for that matter. Ashley and I are married. We have sex daily when I’m here. We—”

“When you’re here? Just what does that mean, Ryan?” Deirdre asked.

“I’m in town two nights a week,” Ryan said. “But my legal residence is now here in Egret Pointe. And yes, I still have the apartment. I’m trying to figure out a way to telecommute to the studio and only have to go in now and again. Give it up, girls. You are not going to sell R&R. And you haven’t a hope in hell of getting a court or a judge to say our marriage isn’t legal. Besides, we love each other.”

“You love each other?” Bride said shrilly.

“Yes,” Ashley said. “Isn’t it wonderful? All the years Ryan and I looked for love, and only thanks to those silly wills were we fortunate enough to meet, marry, and then fall in love. It’s a miracle, a fairy tale, a dream come true.”

“Ridiculous!” Magdelena, silent up to now, said. “No one falls in love that quickly. Love at first sight is a myth. The pair of you are just doing this to cheat us.”

“Please,” Ashley said. “You are guests in my home, and for us to get into a quarrel like this is terrible. I invited you so I might meet you and get to know you and your husbands. I’ve planned a lovely day. I want to show you Egret Pointe. My ancestors were among the group who founded it. My brother and I were the last Kimbroughs. Ryan and I have really fallen in love. We’re happy, and I want you all to be happy too.”

“That’s real nice of you,” Kevin McGuire, Kathleen’s husband, said. “I agree with Ashley. Ryan is married. The money wasn’t ours to begin with, so let’s cut the crap and be a family, like we should.”

“Kevin!” his wife exclaimed.

“Yeah, I agree with Kev,” Robert Napoli, Deirdre’s husband, spoke up.

“We all do,” Frank Butler, Magdalena’s husband, said, and the other men nodded.

“All very well and good for you men to say. It wasn’t your father’s money,” Bride responded sourly.

“It wasn’t your father’s money either,” Bride’s husband, Pete Franklin, said. “Your old man was a great craftsman, Bride, but his business couldn’t have taken in more than a hundred thou a year until Ryan took over. Ryan made the money, and Ryan saw that Fin remembered each of you generously. The guys and I have had enough of the five of you whining and bitching about it. We let you do what you wanted with the money you inherited, and you all pissed most of it away. Too bad. Boo-hoo. This ends today. Get past it, girls.” He turned to Ashley and said, “Welcome to the family, sweetie. Ryan sure got himself a pretty girl. And a smart one too.”