Sweet Surrender (40 page)

“She’d lose everything,” Marc supplied. “Is that it, Jess? You’re still hung up on needing a safety net for when we split up.”

She bent her head, her nod almost imperceptible. He couldn’t miss the tear that dripped off her chin to splash against the back of his hand. “Please don’t take this the wrong way; it’s not that I don’t trust you. I do, but after what I’ve been through for over half my life, I need to feel safe about my future so I don’t—”

“Wind up old and alone like me,” her mother finished for her. “Oh, honey, what have I done to you?” She started to cry too. Jessie rushed to her, sitting beside her on the couch. They collapsed into each other’s arms. “I’ve robbed you as sure as your bastard of a father stole from me. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. It’s Frank freakin’ Swanson’s.”

Marc sat on the couch, leaning back, his fingers diving into his hair, combing it back in obvious frustration. Jessie watched as he turned a moment later, his eyes scanning over them both.

“Poor man,” Lily sympathized, “he has two sobbing Swanson women on his hands. You’re probably not used to all this drama.”

Marc snorted. “Are you kidding? I’m Italian and have three meddling sisters and an overprotective, interfering mother. My life has been nothing but drama.” He reached out for Jessie’s hand and hauled her next to him. “I’ve got a plan,” he said suddenly as if having a great revelation.

She looked up at him expectantly, waiting for the rest. Her mother was not so patient, blurting out, “Well? What is it?”

His eyes met Jessie’s straight on as he announced, “My mother’s been preaching about a pre-nup. We’re going to get one.”

“We are?”

“I told you this would come up eventually, baby girl.” Lily crossed her arms and narrowed her gaze at Marc. “A pre-nup doesn’t usually help the one in Jessie’s position, so I don’t think I’m going to like this plan very much.”

“Mom, please let him explain! Sheesh, this is like the snowstorm all over again, all we need is some wine.” She started to get up to look for some.

“It’s okay, baby,” Marc chuckled, keeping her snug to his side. “It will make sense when I tell you my idea. This won’t be a typical pre-nup, which protects assets acquired prior to the marriage. This would be more of a trust that would protect you if it all falls apart one day, which I’m confident won’t happen. However, I want you to feel secure, which is what this is all about, right?”

She nodded.

“I’m going to set up your safety net.” He held up his hand. “No. Don’t argue; this is happening. This trust will be like an insurance policy. If anything ever happens to me or to us, it will be there for your use, no strings attached. Use it before that, or save it until you retire, I don’t care. It’s for you to decide. As long as it gives you peace of mind that lets you sleep next to me every night, knowing your future is secure, that’s all I care about. It means that if you want to work, you can leave that crap job at the hospital and find something that you enjoy, whatever or wherever that might be. It also frees you up to work
with
me at the clinic if you choose.”

Jessie hesitated. “So you’d simply give me the money.”

“How much would that be, exactly?” Lily asked boldly.

“Mom!”

He laughed, hugging Jessie tight. “It will be enough for Jessie to live very comfortably into old age,” he told Lily.

“I don’t know,” she responded uncertainly, her lips downturned. “You’ve done so much; you bought me a freakin’ beach house, for crying out loud. What do I bring to this one-sided marriage, except for me?”

“That’s just it, don’t you see. I want you in my life, in my arms, and in my bed, however you come to me. You’re all that I want, baby, and you can’t put a price tag on that.
Ti adoro, mio tesoro.
How much clearer can I be?”

Her eyes shot to her mother. With tears on her lashes and a small smile on her lips, her eyes were darting back and forth between the two of them. Finally, she settled on Jessie. “Don’t you dare walk away from this, Jessica Lynn Swanson. The man loves you, let him do this for you. You won’t have a cloud of fear hanging over you anymore and can concentrate on your marriage.”

Looking back to Marc, she searched for an answer.

“Listen to your mama, baby girl,” he encouraged. “She’s giving you excellent advice.” In spite of the teasing cadence of his words, Jessie could still see the concern in his eyes.

“What do you have to lose, Jess? It’s there, whether you ever need it or not.”

“I suppose I could consider it marriage insurance?” she said, thinking out loud. “Even if I never intend to spend a dime, it’s there, giving me peace of mind.”

“Exactly, think of me as Allstate.”

Jessie giggled. “I guess that means I’m in good hands.”

Marc groaned, which turned into a laugh as he pulled her close. “Truer words, sweet Jessie, you’re always in good hands with me. What do you say?”

“I say yes.”

With a huge sigh and a wide grin, Marc hauled her onto his lap and with his face buried in her hair, whispered, “Thank you, God.”

Her mother smiled. “At least in one way, you’ll be protected.” After a moment, she frowned at Jessie. Then she all but screamed, “Wait a minute, did you say he bought you a freakin’ beach house?”

Jessie nodded, laughing into Marc’s shirtfront as his arms flexed around her. Feeling better than she had in ages, she tilted her head back, grinning up at him before she addressed her stunned mother.

“Yes, mom. He bought a freakin’ huge beach house in West Palm Beach. It’s awesome and when you come with us, you’ll have your own beachfront room with an amazing view of the Atlantic Ocean. We’ll spend the day on the beach in the middle of February and when we come home we’ll flaunt our tans and pink noses.”

“Un-freakin’-believable!” Angling her head Jessie’s way, she smiled. “You know, I always wondered what it would be like to be a snowbird.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Smoothing down her pale blue pencil skirt, Jessie stood as her mother exited the conference room with her attorney. She looked surprisingly relaxed, smiling and chatting with Antonia D’Orozio, the divorce lawyer Marc had recommended. The woman was a dynamo and things were moving along faster than Jessie had thought possible. Since her father had already filed the necessary paperwork and her mother was not contesting the complaint, it was just a matter of facilitating the settlement, waiting out the rest of the mandatory waiting period, and appearing in court. Today was the first time her parents and their attorneys were sitting down, face to face, to go over the particulars. Jessie had come along as moral support, but not being allowed into the conference room, not that she’d actually wanted to be there, she’d waited in the hall and become a bundle of nerves.

As the women approached, Jessie called out impatiently, even though they were still at least twenty yards away. “Well?”

Antonia smiled in her direction, saying when she got within casual speaking distance, “Does One Hour Martinizing mean anything to you?”

Jessie grinned. As promised, she’d taken him to the cleaners. “So it went well?”

“Yes. We’ve agreed to a settlement amount. After a brief cooling-off period and a quickie court appearance, I think Ms. Huffman here is going to be a very comfortable woman.”

Jessie looked at her mom. “Are you okay? Did it get ugly?”

“No. Frank just wanted out.”

The door opening down the hall and the sound of hushed voices had her turning. Jessie stared in amazement as her father walked out of the same room her mother had just exited, with a pretty blonde on his arm who was also very much pregnant. Dressed in a navy suit, he looked the same. A little silver at his temples, but he was as handsome as she remembered. As he approached the elevators, he had to pass their small group.

As his eyes met hers, Jessie recognized the blue she saw reflected back at her every day in the mirror. He glanced away, saying something to the woman who nodded and walked past. He stopped a few feet away.

“Jessica, a word?”

She stiffened, but nodded as she began to walk toward him. Lily grabbed her arm.

“It’s okay, mom.” Jessie gave her hand a squeeze, before following her father down the hall a ways, out of earshot of her mother and her attorney.

“You grew up beautifully, baby girl.”

She looked away, tamping down the warmth that spread through her.
Don’t let him get to you
. “Thank you,” she murmured.

“I know you must hate me.”

Her eyes flashed to his, not denying his words.

He swallowed uncomfortably. “Well, I suppose I deserve that.”

“Why? That’s all I want to know. I understand things don’t always work out between two people, but leaving without so much as a word to us, to me. That’s a despicable cowardly thing to do to a child.”

“I agree. I’ve thought about you, Jessie. Often, but I’ve never—I couldn’t…” He stopped and cleared his throat. “It was hard.”

Jessie snorted in disbelief. “Hard is a child being abandoned without a word from her father who she thought loved her. Hard is a woman being left stranded without a penny to her name and trying to raise a daughter alone. You took everything from her and left both of us with nothing, that’s what’s hard, Frank.”

He flinched, the look of shock on his handsome face quickly turning to pain.

“Why did you do it?”

“I was unhappy. The restaurant was floundering and it wasn’t what I wanted. It was a mistake to have thought we could make it work.”

“So you just cut and run? Nice.” Sarcasm dripped from her words. “So are you happy now, with your new life, your new family?”

“I am, Jessie. It’s an easier life. Rhonda’s family…”

“Has money, so I heard.”

“I’m sorry, baby.”

“Don’t even.” She shook her head, swallowing down her tears. “Sorry does nothing but make you feel better, so save it. It isn’t going to give me back what I lost, or undo what you did, or make me forgive you. I survived, so did mom, in spite of you. So save your apologies for someone who wants to hear them.” She turned to leave, no longer able to contain her emotions.

“I’m just a man, Jessie. I make mistakes—”

“No!” she all but shouted as she whirled back. “I have a man, Frank, a good man, a strong man, a real man. You are definitely not any of those things. A man takes care of his family and doesn’t shirk his responsibilities; he doesn’t bail when times get tough, and leave them with their asses swinging in the wind. He digs in, finds a solution, and lives up to the vows he’s taken. And he for damn sure doesn’t run out on his thirteen-year-old daughter without a word or any form of contact for fifteen freakin’ years.”

A gasp from behind had them both turning. Rhonda stood a few feet away.

“You said you kept in touch with her.” She stared at Frank with a shocked look on her face. “You said you sent her money. I gave you money to send to her, for God’s sake. Good Lord, Frank, how could you just leave her without a word!” Her voice rose as she spoke, ending close to a shout.

“Rhonda, baby—”

“No!” She held up her hand and stopped him mid-wheedle. “Don’t give me any of your ‘Rhonda, baby’ bullshit. She’s right. What kind of man deserts his own daughter like that?”

“But, sugar bear—”

“Fuck you, Frank, and you know where you can stick all your sugar bears.” She looked at Jessie, horror-stricken. “I’m so sorry, dear. I had no idea.” Then she turned and practically ran down the hall.

Without another word to Jessie, her father scurried after Rhonda, begging and pleading for her to wait. Jessie watched in wonder.

“I hope she leaves him without a penny,” her mother said with a smirk as she walked up beside her, a comforting arm sliding around Jessie’s waist. “You know, every time I’ve seen him lately, I’ve wondered what I ever saw in that man.”

“You mean besides the good looks?” Antonia asked as she walked up. “I’ve wondered the exact same thing.”

“What an idiot I was, going for a ten,” Lily said with a shake of her head. “Next time, I’ll marry a four or a five who thanks God every day I let him in my bed.”

“Mom!”

Antonia laughed. “Now you’re talking, Lily. Or better yet, just shack up.” She slapped her forehead. “I’m a divorce attorney, what am I saying? That advice would really hurt repeat business.” She winked at Jessie. “I’ll call you with an update, Lily.”

Still in a state of shock, Jessie tried to assimilate all that had happened. If Rhonda left Frank… She turned to her mother. “Won’t this hurt your settlement? If Rhonda has all the money, I mean.”

“Possibly, but you know, honey, it doesn’t matter. I’ll be shed of him and happier for it. If he gets it good in the end, all the better. Either way, I can move on at last.”

“I’m amazed at the change in you. It’s a good thing, but if you don’t mind my asking, what made it come about?”

“You had a lot to do with it, Jess. I didn’t realize how my resentment was affecting not only me, but also others around me, people who I love. I came to the conclusion that I had to let it go, for both of our sakes.”

“You came to that all on your own?”

“Heck, no. Stacy’s therapist is amazing; you should really make an appointment.” She chuckled as Jessie gaped at her, at the same time steering them down the hall toward the elevators.

“Since when?”

“Since the snowstorm. Seeing how happy you were with Marc made me want to grab a little of that for myself. It might have a little something to do with Luther at work, of course.”

“Luther? Luther Banks? The owner? The one who’s been asking you out for like ten years?”

She shrugged. “More like five, and yes, that Luther. We’ve gone out a few times, in fact.”

“Mom! How could you not tell me?”

“I wanted to see if we were more than a flash in the pan. Besides, look how long it took you to introduce me to Marc. You’d been dating for months before I got the pleasure.”

“Luther Banks,” Jessie repeated, ignoring the valid point she was making. “He owns something like ten diners, doesn’t he?”

“More like fifteen. He’s taken me to all but two, so far.”