She's Got Dibs (34 page)

“I will not permit that woman anywhere near your birthday party.” A sharp edge hardened Mrs. Brenner’s tone. “Your father practically sent me through the roof with his suggestion. Who knows what would happen if things were left in her control?”

“And she was so rude. Can you imagine not paying attention to Dibsy for two whole weeks? She must be insane.”

“I’m sure that was all part of her plan, dear. Any smart woman knows in order to get a man’s undivided attention you must ignore them. They enjoy the chase.”

Tessa snapped her head over when Gerald entered from the hallway, a large suitcase weighing down each of his arms. He locked onto her and his stride momentarily faltered. She quickly put a finger to her lips, asking for silence.

“Gerald, there you are,” Mrs. Brenner said. “Now where is Benjamin?”

“I believe Mr. Brenner is in the kitchen, ma’am.”

“No doubt spoiling his dinner with Theresa’s beef stew.” She sighed. “Well, take our luggage to the car, Gerald. No need to stand around.”

“Yes, ma’am.” The front door opened and closed.

“You’ll meet us at the house, then?” Mrs. Brenner asked.

“Tomorrow or the next day. I’m sticking around to see where all this is headed.”

“Just remember,” she instructed, “don’t press him too hard. Fighting with him will only strengthen his resolve. There are better ways to achieve the desired result.”

“Don’t worry, Mumsy. I’ll be coy.”

“Good girl. Call when you have something to report. Now, where is your father?” The front door opened. “Gerald, will you please tell Benjamin I am ready to leave.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He crossed the room, past the couch, and darted a glance over his shoulder.

“Help me,” Tessa mouthed.

He abruptly halted. “Ma’am, the car is warming. If you prefer, I will tell Mr. Brenner you’re awaiting him there.”

“Very good, Gerald. I swear that man lives to be a complete annoyance to me.”

Gerald nodded and left the room.

The door opened and closed.

Tessa said a silent prayer Caroline wouldn’t approach the fire. But her plea went unanswered as Dibs’s sister passed the end of the couch and faced the grate, shoulders slumped, her back to the room.

So now what? Did she lie there like a plank of wood? Or try some lame commando maneuver, rolling off the couch and skulking behind furniture until she’d successfully escaped? Tessa rolled her eyes and sat up.

Caroline stiffened, and then slowly turned. She gasped and clapped a hand over her mouth.

They stared directly into each other’s eyes, and though Tessa couldn’t speak for her own, Caroline’s blue orbs were filled with fear.

She lowered her hand. “Did you?” She jerked her head toward the doorway.

Tessa nodded.

Her gaze darted across the room and a bright smile lit her face, suddenly all happy eyes and glowing pink cheeks. “Are you leaving, Daddy?”

Déjà vu hit Tessa square in the forehead. She knew that look, had worn it herself on many occasions—most recently at the Sandburg wedding, standing beside Michael.

Over her shoulder, Mr. Brenner traversed the room, briefcase in hand. “I’ve been summoned to the car. Have a good trip back, Pumpkin.” He nodded at Tessa. “Ms. Adams.”

“Nice to see you again, Mr. Brenner.”

He smirked, as if her comment was hard to believe, swung the door wide and left.

All the pleasantness vanished from Caroline’s face. She squared her shoulders, hands on her hips, apparently shoring up her defenses. “Are you going to tell him what I said?”

Tell who? Mr. Brenner? Or the more obvious choice…Dibs. What purpose would that serve? Tessa lifted a brow. “Let’s play that scenario out for a moment, shall we? I tell Dibs what I just overheard, and he becomes angry. He goes to your parents, and they get even angrier. You get upset, Marcus starts cursing at everyone…and who do you think will get blamed for all that?”

Caroline’s shoulders eased to a more natural position. “You’ve got a point.”

“Creating a rift in this family is not now, nor will it ever be, one of my goals. But I have to ask. Exactly how many roles
do
you play, Caroline?”

She stiffened, hesitated, and then dropped her shoulders a second time. “I’ve lost count.”

“Well, then, I guess we can work this one of two ways. You can either consider me a friend, tell me the truth, and let Dibs and I try to help you, or you can place me in one of those many categories I’m sure you’ve invented. Trust me, I speak from experience. The choice is yours.”

She turned away and paced the length of the fireplace, high-heeled boots tapping the slate. Three complete revolutions disappeared under her feet before she finally spoke. “Have you ever felt completely unsure of yourself? Like no matter what you do, you’re going to make a huge mistake?”

So Caroline had opted for friendship, then. Tessa exhaled in relief. “All the time.”

“Really? You seem so confident. Like you know exactly what you want.”

She huffed. “A big façade. Everyone feels unsure at one point or another.”

“Mother doesn’t.” Caroline’s words were clipped.

Wait…what? The girl had just opened a topic of discussion no way Tessa was prepared to broach. Assessing Vanessa Brenner’s personality traits with Dib’s sister was tantamount to relationship suicide. Still, the anguish on Caroline’s face, the way she chewed her bottom lip. Her distress spoke of something much deeper. Something close to her heart…like the discussion she’d shared with her brothers.

Yes. This conversation was about a young man.

“What’s his name?”

She peeked askance at Tessa, but not an ounce of surprise crossed her face. In fact, if anything, respect smoothed the tension in her brow. “Jeremy. He’s an artist, and unbelievably gifted.”

Tessa inwardly grimaced, but kept her opinions to herself.

“I know from the outside it must seem ridiculous. Poor little rich girl and all that.”

“I don’t think your concerns are ridiculous at all.” She shrugged. “Look at Dibs. He’s convinced getting his parents’ approval means nothing, when even I can tell that’s not true. But I also think they may have left him no choice. The pressure has got to be enormous. It breaks my heart.”

“Do what I say or get booted.” Caroline nodded.

Tessa’s shoulders fell, her heart tumbling into her stomach along with them. She had been right. Based on Caroline’s words, her fear for Dibs truly had merit. The circumstances were every bit as dire as she imagined.

She replayed everything she had learned about Dibs while she was here—the conversation on the stairs, the stories of his childhood, their disagreement about getting married. She braced her forehead in her hand as a dark shadow eclipsed her heart. Dibs would fight his parents and risk the possibility of being ostracized because he thought it was the right thing to do, for her and for their future.

Tipping her head back, she searched the ceiling for a ray of hope, a light at the end of what was surely to be a long dark tunnel in their relationship. She finally faced Caroline. “Has it always been this way?”

“It has always been this way.” She left the fireplace to join Tessa on the couch. “Even before my father was born. It’s the Brenner legacy. The parents decide whom the children should marry.”

She had to be kidding. Hadn’t prearranged marriage gone the way of oil lamps and petticoats? “No one has ever bucked the system?”

“Well, sure.” She glanced at Tessa. “But we no longer associate with those Brenners.”

“Oh.” With every word, things just got better and better. What was she ever going to do?

“He doesn’t know about the money.” Caroline rubbed her palms over her thighs.

“Jeremy?”

She nodded. “He despises people with money. He thinks we’re all phony. The bourgeois rich, he calls us.”

“Does he think you’re phony?”

Her eyebrows lifted. “No, I don’t think so.”

“Well, then, he’s wrong, isn’t he?”

She smiled gratefully.

“Are you planning to tell him?”

“I don’t know how.” She propped her elbows on her knees, fingers fidgeting. “I don’t want to lose him, but no matter what I do, it seems unavoidable. Ours is a doomed relationship.”

Remorse tugged at Tessa’s heartstrings, tempered with a profound familiarity. She and Caroline were both struggling with the same issues, fighting the same enemy in order to protect the ones they loved. If they could somehow become friends, their relationship just might be the saving grace they
both
needed.

That friendship would never happen, unless she was honest, though. Unless she told Caroline the truth…the
whole
truth.

Tessa steeled her heart in preparation for a leap of faith, voice low, staring into the fire. “Dibs is going to buck the system. And he’s going to do it for me.”

Caroline lowered chin. “I know.”

“He proposed.”

She whipped around, and a rueful smile tugged at Tessa’s lips. “Don’t worry. I know I can’t allow a marriage to happen…I
won’t
allow it to happen.”

Caroline sat silent for a long moment before dropping her gaze to the floor. “Wow. You must really love him.”

“I do.” A swell of warm tears rushed Tessa’s eyes, the fire blurring in her vision. “And my great fear is I love him so much, it will only end up destroying us in the end.”

The front door swung open, ushering in a frigid gust of air. Tessa locked onto Caroline, hoping to convey the trust she had just offered, so their exchange would remain private. Caroline searched her face and nodded.

Marcus and Dibs entered behind them, cheeks ruddy, booted feet covered in powdery snow, removing their hats and gloves and laughing while they unzipped their jackets. The way they were enjoying one another’s company lit a small flame of hope inside Tessa’s heart. Their camaraderie made the struggle of the past two days all worthwhile, even more so after learning of their history.

Perhaps…in some small way…spending time with Dibs’s family was the real reason they had come to Vail, after all.

Chapter Seventeen

Sitting at her desk, sliding her letter opener into envelope after envelope, Tessa remained blissfully distracted by the tantalizing visuals of her last few days in Vail.

After Caroline and Marcus departed, she and Dibs hadn’t left the house for anything. Why, when they could cuddle in front of a toasty fire, visit with Theresa and Gerald, and swim in an Olympic size pool—where she happily modeled each of her new swimming suits for Dibs? One whole night they picnicked on the floor of the master suite, the golden-pink rays of the setting sun streaking like an iridescent fan behind the mountains—surprised when a new day dawned and they’d never slept because they found everything they needed in each other. Time ceased to exist at Bernhamwood, the hours fleeting by while she gazed into her lover’s clear, blue-gray eyes. And whenever she tired and her lids fluttered closed, his breath was a reassurance in her ear, the velvet sweep of his lips tended hers. He would nuzzle her ear or trace the curve of her shoulder with the tip of his tongue, the stubble on his cheek a heady aphrodisiac along her skin.

Each vision of their love-making sent thrills racing through her body, a heated rush of blood to her cheeks. Never before had she imagined such an all-consuming love could exist.

The phone rang, and she smiled at the spike of excitement in her belly. Even the thought of his voice nearly had her unglued. “TNT Entertainment, this is Tessa.”

“Is this as hard for you as it is for me?”

She laughed. “I was just thinking about you.”

“When can you leave?”

“Dibs, it’s only a little after ten. I’ve got a ton of stuff to get through before I can even remotely consider leaving.”

“Six o’clock is eight hours away. I’m never going to make it.”

“Think about that night in the Jacuzzi. You’ll make it.”

“I know you like to torture me, Rex, but that’s just cruel.”

She cleared her throat. “Oh, okay. Then think about tonight, when I plan to—”

“Yeah, I’m hanging up now.” The phone went dead.

A wicked chuckle shook her chest as she lowered the receiver to the cradle.

The majority of her day was spent with Tiffany and her new assistant, Roxanne, catching up on everything that had transpired while Tessa was away. She updated her calendar, and then reviewed the assistant candidates Tiffany had penciled into her schedule before sorting through her huge pile of mail.

The clock finally ticked toward six, and even though stacks still littered her desk, each piece of paper had passed before her eyes or been stuck in her to-do folder.

She pulled out her brush and compact, anticipation fluttering through her stomach. Only a few minutes and Dibs would be coming through the door, a smile on his lips, his strong arms open and waiting to receive her.

The phone rang and she snapped her chin over. Oh no… If he was running late, she was apt to crawl out of her skin. “TNT Entertainment, this is Tessa.”

“I had a feeling you’d be there.” She sharply inhaled. No, not Michael. Anyone but Michael. “Still like to work late, huh?”

A hot needle of irritation wormed through her chest and she fought the urge to slam the phone into the cradle. He thought he still knew her so well…

“Are you there?”

“What do you want, Michael?” Elbows perched on her desk, shoulders high and tight, she kept her focus pinned to the front door. If Dibs chose this moment to appear, her goose was cooked.

“I need to speak with you.”

“So speak.”

“Not over the phone. We should meet in person.”

“Yeah, that’s not gonna happen.”

“Look, I have some important things to discuss with you. And I’m not comfortable doing it over the phone.”

“Well, I’m not comfortable doing it in person, so there we are.”

The doorbell rang and her heart raced forward when Dibs breached the threshold and grinned at her across the distance. She needed off the phone. Right now. “The restaurant in the basement of the Palmer House,” she whispered. “One o’clock tomorrow.”