Investment in Love (Contemporary Romance) (11 page)

***

When Calvin pulled into his driveway the next morning, he was delighted to see Ellie sitting by the front door of his house.

“You are just what I wanted to see after a long boring drive,” he exclaimed as he got out of the car. She walked over to him with a big smile, and he tugged her into his arms for a proper greeting. “You look beautiful,” he added, noting her outfit. She wore a pretty white sundress and wedge heels, and she even had makeup on. “Did we have plans for lunch?”

“Um, kind of,” said Ellie. She seemed nervous for some reason, twisting at her engagement ring, but Calvin wrote it off as his imagination. “We can talk about it after we unload the car.”

“Sure,” Calvin said easily. “Wait till you see the paintings I picked. There’s one I think you’ll especially love.”

“Cool,” said Ellie brightly, but something about it seemed forced. A sense of foreboding twisted in his gut. Had she changed her mind about marrying him? But still, she didn’t seem upset, just nervous, and she oohed and aahed appropriately as they moved the artwork into the house.

“Okay,” he said once everything was unpacked. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

Ellie bit her lip. “Nothing’s wrong, exactly. I just wanted to talk to you about something.”

“So talk, sweetheart,” he said gently. “Tell me what’s on your mind.”

He watched his fiancée take a deep breath. “Okay,” she said. “We should sit down.”

He led the way to the new brown suede couch and waited patiently. Ellie was staring at her hands and twisting her ring again. “So,” she said, “I was thinking about something your great-aunt—er, your grandma—said in her diary.”

“Yeah?”

She nodded, visibly swallowing. “She said that a lesson she learned from her own experience was that instead of waiting for the right time and being responsible, sometimes young men should be made to marry quickly and follow their hearts.”

Calvin blinked in confusion. “Ellie, honey, I am following my heart. That’s why I proposed to you.”

“I know,” she said anxiously. “But Calvin, I was thinking about it, and I don’t want to wait. I don’t want to be left behind for months while you try to get your affairs in order. So… So I called the courthouse, and it turns out we could get a marriage license today if we pay the waiver fee to speed the process up. And the judge is available to perform marriages until 5:30 p.m.”

He stared in shock. “You want to get married today?”

Ellie nodded quickly. “Yes. I really do. We could ask my mom and Ann as witnesses, and I know your dad isn’t close enough to make it, but maybe we could bring him in via webcam. Or if you wanted, we could have the whole fancy ceremony later on once things have settled. And when you go to New York, I’ll come too. As your wife.”

“You’d come with?” His heart leapt at the thought. “But what about the shop, Ellie?”

She brushed the thought off impatiently with a flick of her hand. “I don’t care. I’ll close it for a while. It’s my own business—I can close it if I want. I can stand the losses if I get to be with you.”

Processing everything she’d just said, Calvin nodded slowly. “Married today. Hm… Okay.”

“Okay?” squeaked Ellie.

“Yes! Let’s do it. Call your mom and Ann.”

“Okay!” said Ellie, nearly bouncing up and down on the couch. “I’ll call them. You should put on something more suitable.” She winked.

“Oh!” Calvin pretended to slap his forehead. “That explains the dress.”

Only a few hours later, they took Calvin’s rental car into town. Ann and Ellie’s mother were meeting them at the courthouse, and afterward they were all going to go out for lunch together. Calvin had declined to bother his father about the whole thing, opting for the possibility of having a fancy wedding later once things were settled.

“I can’t believe we’re doing this today,” Ellie said from the passenger seat, grinning happily at him. Calvin smiled back and grabbed her hand with a squeeze. He couldn’t believe it either. His honest expectation had been that Ellie would want to wait months, or even a year—not two weeks.

A nasty voice in the back of his head whispered, “
You’re getting married in time to claim the inheritance.”
He tried to ignore the thought. Maybe he would tell Ellie about the whole situation and claim the money—or maybe he would just not notify Mr. Greenfeld and let it revert to a charity fund. Either way, he wasn’t going to let it cheapen his wedding day with the woman he loved.

“Oh,” said Ellie, interrupting his thoughts. “I almost forgot. Mom insisted on reserving us a room at the hotel. I hope you don’t mind.”

Calvin pulled his head back to the present. “That sounds wonderful, love. As long as I get to marry you.”

In only a matter of minutes, he found himself standing before a bored-looking clerk, clutching Ellie’s hand. His hands were sweating—or maybe hers were, or maybe both.
No time to back out now,
he thought, but then he realized that he didn’t
want
to back out. He really wanted to spend the rest of his life with this woman, father children with her, and live in this tiny little town if it made her happy.

He squeezed her hand tighter and focused on the clerk’s words. His heart was thumping so loudly that he could barely hear it, and everything passed by in a blur. All he could think was he was going to be
married. Married to Ellie.
Joy swelled within him.

Calvin stared into Ellie’s sparkling brown eyes, nodded in the right places, and said “I do” at the right time. Belatedly, she laughed and pulled off her engagement ring and gave it to him to slide back on her slim finger. Finally, they signed the license, grinning wildly, and Ellie’s mother and Ann cheered and clapped as he kissed Ellie.

“We did it,” he whispered to her. “We did it,
Mrs
. Barnard.” And then he kissed her again.

“I love you,” she murmured.

“I love you too.”

***

Ellie couldn’t stop grinning. She had never been as happy as she was in this moment, holding hands with the man she loved, flanked on both sides by her best friend and her mother. She only wished her father could have been alive to share this moment, but she couldn’t help feeling like his spirit was with them. Before the ceremony,
her mom had taken her aside for a quiet moment. She’d whispered, “You look beautiful. Wherever your father is, I’m sure he’s looking down thinking the same thing.” Ellie kept that thought close as she walked to the car with the three people she loved most in the world. 

After a brief negotiation, they decided to go to Susie’s for lunch.

“I know it isn’t fancy,” Calvin explained to Ann and Ellie’s mother. “But it was where we had our first date—if you could call it a date.”

Ann laughed, having already heard the story, but Ellie’s mom gave her a questioning look. As Calvin drove, she explained the whole tale. Reliving each minute just made her even happier to be there now as Calvin’s bride, and as they pulled into the parking lot she gave his hand an affectionate squeeze.

Her usual order of a turkey club sandwich was delicious as always, and Ellie just basked in the love that surrounded her as she ate. Anticipating what was to come didn’t hurt, either. At one point, Calvin stepped out for a moment, and when he came back in, he leaned over and whispered in her ear, “I just called the hotel and asked them to chill some champagne for our room later. I can’t wait.”

But perhaps the best moment of all came when Mallory walked inside, talking loudly on the phone. She made it almost to their table before she noticed the group. Feeling mischievous, Ellie ignored her old classmate’s irritated expression and waved cheerily.

“Mallory, hi!” she said sweetly.

“Ellie. Hi. Calvin. Ann. Mrs. Parker.” Mallory forced a smile, turning up lips that were coated in bright red lipstick, but it lacked any real feeling. “What are you four doing today?”

“Oh,” said Ellie’s mom unexpectedly, “it’s a special day for us, actually! Ellie and Calvin here have just been married! We’re celebrating.” The older woman grinned angelically as Mallory’s mouth dropped open. She sputtered something about congratulations before spinning and leaving, at which point Ellie’s mother leaned forward with a conspiratorial grin.

“There you go, darling,” she murmured. “Consider that a wedding gift. If I remember right, she was quite nasty to you in high school.”

Everyone laughed, and Ellie kissed her mom on the cheek. “Thank you, Mama,” she said. “You remember right.” She and Calvin shared a private smile.

Finally, Ann went home to her family, with a promise to wear an ugly bridesmaid’s dress whenever Ellie wanted, and Mrs. Parker kissed bride and groom on the cheek before sending them off to their hotel room.

Calvin carried Ellie over the threshold, closed the door, and carefully locked it. They lost themselves in one another, whispering words of endearment and love over and over again.

The champagne was warm by the time they got to it.

Early the next morning, Ellie slipped quietly out of bed, smiling at the sleeping figure of her new husband. She was by the side table, headed to the bathroom, when she heard a buzzing sound.

Confused, she looked around, trying to identify the noise. A glowing square on the table caught her attention—Calvin’s phone. She picked it up, intending to silence it so he could sleep, but the name on the screen caught her eye. “Great-Aunt Loretta’s Lawyer,” it said.

Anxiously, Ellie looked at Calvin’s snoring form and then back at the phone. She really didn’t want to wake him, since they’d been up late. But she also didn’t want to miss some urgent communication about the property. Before she could decide, the buzzing stopped, making the decision for her.

She was about to sit the phone back down, but it blinked again.
1 New Voicemail.

With another glance at Calvin, Ellie slid the phone open and pressed play. She just wanted to make sure it wasn’t urgent.

“Mr. Barnard, this is Walter Greenfeld. You never returned my previous calls. I just wanted to remind you, the deadline is fast approaching for the inheritance. You did consent to the terms of the will, and I’m afraid if I don’t have documentation of your marriage to a woman whose place of legal residence is Carterville, Oregon, the entirety of the $10 million will be turned over to a charity organization. Please do give me a call and let me know either way, as I need to begin filing the correct forms.” The dignified voice rattled off a phone number, but Ellie’s blood was rushing too loudly for her to hear it.

“What?” Ellie said it out loud, but her voice was so weak as to be inaudible. She hit play again, hoping that she had somehow misheard.

She hadn’t.

“I don’t understand,” said Ellie. She was shaking.

Calvin sat up in the bed, blinking. “Ellie, sweetheart? What is it?”

“I don’t
understand
,” she said. Her voice wobbled uneasily, and she bit her lip to keep from crying.

“Don’t understand what?” Calvin’s voice was still hoarse with sleep, but he sounded concerned suddenly.

“I don’t understand why you are getting a call from a lawyer, saying that—that—that you have to
marry
someone in order to get
money
!” By the end of the sentence, Ellie’s volume had escalated to a near-yell.

“Um…” Calvin sat bolt upright, suddenly looking much more alert. “Ellie, just listen.”

“Listen to what? Are you saying… are you saying it’s true?” Tears welled up in her eyes, making it hard to see in the dim room.

Silence reigned for a moment, punctuated only by a sniffle.

“Ellie… I haven’t been one hundred percent honest with you. My great-aunt—grandmother, whatever she was—put some strictures on the money she left me. She said that I had to marry a woman from Carterville within three months to get it. But I swear to you, Ellie,
swear
on my mother’s grave that I wasn’t going to do it. I gave up on that when I met you. You’re all I want, Ellie…”

“Oh my God,” she said bleakly. “She said it right there in her diary. I didn’t even know.
God!
You must have thought it was damn convenient when I wanted to get married just in time. Were you ever going to tell me about the money?” Her tears overflowed with the last words.

“No, listen,” said Calvin, jumping out of bed and looking panicked. “It wasn’t like that. Of course I was going to tell you! We don’t even have to take the money. We can talk about that.”

A bitter, humorless laugh tore from Ellie’s throat. “Take your stupid money,” she said. “There isn’t anything to talk about. Have your—your $10 million. But you can’t have me.” Blindly, she stumbled to where her clothes from the day before sat, and started struggling into them.

“What are you saying?” he asked. He sounded frantic now, but Ellie didn’t even care. “I thought you were coming to New York with me. That was why we got married right away. I thought we were going to be together forever.” She heard footsteps, and then the familiar warmth of his hand landed on her shoulder.

Ellie jerked away. “Don’t touch me,” she sobbed. “And don’t worry. I’ll do whatever it takes for you to get your money, but I’m not going with you.
I don’t ever want to see you again. God, I must have played right into your hands. Stupid small-town girl who actually believed you might love her.”

With her sandals finally stuffed on and the crumpled white dress mostly zipped, Ellie stumbled toward the door.

“I do!” Calvin said. “Ellie, I do. Please, you have to trust me.”

“No,” Ellie said dully. “No. It’s too late.” With one agonized backward glance, she walked out the door and down the hall, already dialing Ann for a ride.