The Guest List (28 page)

She shifted her attention back to Lauren. ‘I see . . .’ She was almost at a loss for words. Why wouldn’t Shane have told her about this and why would he let her be blindsided by it? ‘I’m sure he must be furious. I can’t even imagine what he is going to do when I tell him that you came here and shoved this in my face.’ Cara wanted to tear the papers up, wanted to set them on fire and then put the ashes through the shredder. She wanted to throw them on the ground and stomp on them until they disintegrated. She wanted to show Lauren just what she thought of her.

However, the other woman looked completely unfazed by Cara’s obvious distress.

‘Oh, if I know my son, he is probably going to advise you to sign the papers and then figure out a date for a wedding at the Club,’ she replied smugly.

‘No, you are wrong. I cannot be bought, and neither can Shane. We don’t want your money, it doesn’t mean anything to us,’ Cara said with a conviction she didn’t feel. About Shane at least, given that he hadn’t taken it upon himself to give her the heads-up about this ‘agreement’. Deal with the devil, more like, Cara thought darkly. ‘I don’t want it and I don’t need it. I’m not for sale.’

‘Well, that’s all well and good, but what about Shane?’

She considered the question. Indeed, she didn’t want a cent of the Richardsons’ money, but if she was reading this contract right, whatever she decided not only affected her, but also affected Shane.

No, she reassured herself. Money wasn’t important to Shane. He always said he didn’t care a fig about his parents’ money or their perceived status, that it was all just materialistic fluff. But, did he mean it? After all, this document said that she would be cut off, as well as any children that might come of the marriage, but Shane would be cut off entirely too even if the marriage ended.

Had Shane been telling her how he really felt? Cara wondered now. Or was he just posturing? Would he be upset if his parents followed through on their threat and cut him off from the family money for good?

Lauren seemed to be studying Cara’s face, as if she knew exactly what was going through her head and could read every thought as it occurred. She smiled.

‘What’s wrong dear?’ she asked tartly. ‘Are you wondering if Shane might have been talking for talk’s sake when it comes to how much he cares about his inheritance or family money? Thinking now that it might mean a little bit more than he lets on?’ She rolled her eyes. ‘The only people who say they don’t care about money and that money doesn’t buy happiness and all that dreary nonsense are the very ones who’ve have never had much of it. Shane knows better. Money is security, money is peace of mind. He is likely not only considering his future, but yours too.’

Cara wanted to close her ears. She knew what Lauren was trying to do. She was trying to plant the seeds of doubt in her brain, trying to turn Shane against her. But it wasn’t going to work; Shane would never go for this.

Would he? Cara felt her confidence wilt from within.

But what if he did? What if he played into his mother’s hands? What if he insisted that they keep the wedding here and have it at the K-Club or wherever his parents wanted them to have it? What would that mean for their relationship?

No, she wasn’t going to be bullied, Cara decided. She wouldn’t have it. Neither would Shane, there was no way.

‘Lauren, you obviously don’t know your son. He has refused your money before and I’d be willing to bet he is going to do it again—’

‘A bet?’ Lauren smiled, cutting Cara off again. ‘What would you like to wager? A wedding?’ she said, her tone frighteningly enthusiastic.

Cara felt her stomach turn to jelly, but she pushed on. ‘No Lauren. I’m going to prove to you that you are wrong. We are not signing this . . . document.’

‘No, you are right, Cara. You and Shane are not going to be signing anything. You are. You and you alone,’ Lauren clarified. ‘Now really, I don’t understand all the fuss. Gene and I are making you a very generous offer. Something that you should be happy about. What better wedding present could anyone possibly ask for than financial security? Really, all we are asking is that you hold the wedding on our terms. After all, you said it yourself, it’s just one day. How bad could a beautiful wedding laid on by your very gracious in-laws be?’ Lauren tried to smile sweetly, but Cara wasn’t fooled. She had done exactly what she had come to do. There was an ulterior motive here, and Cara wasn’t so sure that Lauren wanted there to be a wedding at all. If she was reading this right, it seemed like she would actually prefer it if she and Shane broke up.

Cara took a deep breath. ‘Lauren, it’s time for you to leave. And you can take this with you.’ She flung the contract at her with such force that it accidentally ended up on the floor. Lauren’s eyes followed it as she stood, but she didn’t make a move to reach for it.

‘Yes, you are probably right Cara. I am late for a luncheon with friends. As for that,’ she said, waving her hand in the contract’s direction, ‘I’ll leave that with you. I’d imagine you’ll want to reread it. Preferably with Shane. In fact, I’m sure that you two have
much
to discuss together.’

Cara felt her cheeks burning and she turned her head, refusing to meet Lauren’s sharp gaze.

‘I enjoyed our chat, and I’ll be so eager to hear what is decided. I’m sure we can come to a mutually beneficial conclusion, aren’t you? Goodbye, dear.’

When Cara looked up, all that was left of Lauren was the smell of her Chanel No.
5
perfume. That and the legal document on the floor, of course.

Reluctantly, she leaned forward and picked it up. She looked at the signature line. The lone signature line. Her decision. It was all on her. Her future, Shane’s future. Now that she was alone, she allowed the tears to flow in earnest and she pushed the contract away as she buried her face in her hands, sobbing openly.

‘Cara? What was that all about?’ Conor rushed into the office and spotted her as she broke down. ‘Hey, hey, are you OK? Cara? Talk to me.’ He kneeled at her side and stroked her hair as she sobbed in frustration. ‘Come on, whatever she did, it’ll be OK, there’s no need to cry.’

Cara shook her head and allowed herself to be held. Conor’s embrace was soft and massively comforting. ‘She hates me, she honestly must hate me. What did I ever do to her? Why is she doing this?’

Conor shook his head, thoroughly confused. ‘What did she do, Cara? Please, let me help you.’

She cast the document in his direction. ‘This, she brought me this. She wants me to sign it.’

Conor took the document as he got to his feet and sat back in the chair that had been vacated by Lauren only moments earlier. ‘What is this?’ he asked as his eyes began to scan the document. As the words began to sink in, Cara watched his face grow red with anger. ‘What the hell is she playing at?’

Cara shook her head. ‘It’s horrible. She wants to buy me off. I feel so cheap and . . . dirty.’

‘Well,’ Conor said with resolution. ‘You are neither, and this is complete bullshit. You know it is. There is no way Shane is going to stand for this once you tell him. He’s just going to have to put his parents in their place and tell them to take a running jump.’

Cara ran her hand through her hair. She grabbed a tissue from the box on the desk and blew her nose. ‘That’s just the thing. He already knows about it. They told him at the weekend apparently.’

‘And he didn’t mention it to you?’ Conor questioned, obviously trying to put all the pieces together.

Cara shook her head. ‘Not a word. Nothing. Why wouldn’t he talk to me about this Conor?’

‘He probably just didn’t know how to tell you,’ Conor assured her, but she could tell that he was wondering the very same thing. ‘No doubt he was just as shocked as you are now. He probably didn’t expect his mother to come here and tell you herself either.’

Cara shook her head. ‘Perhaps. But Conor, what if he just didn’t know how to tell me that he wanted me to sign it?’ she offered, placing her worst fears on the table. ‘If Shane wants me to sign it, it means he is scared about a future without the money, regardless of whether we stay together. In fact, I almost feel like the money is the primary thing here. I don’t care anything about it. But if I go ahead with St Lucia, I am essentially cutting him off from his parents. How can I do that?’

She launched into another round of crying, this time out of frustration and confusion. Conor approached her and pulled her up from the chair, again putting his arms around her and letting her cry into his shirt.

‘Hey, hey, now come on. It will all be all right. It’s OK. You and Shane will talk about this and sort it all out. Come on,’ he soothed. ‘You guys are a team.’

But Cara didn’t feel so sure about that any more. Team members worked together after all. They didn’t keep secrets from each other.

‘Why don’t you call it a day?’ her boss suggested kindly. ‘Go home and take it easy for a while so you’re in a better frame of mind when Shane comes home from work, and then you can sort everything out with a clearer head.’

‘But I have to work,’ Cara said, pulling away and wiping her eyes, to no avail. There was no way the streams of runny mascara were going to come off with anything less than a good scrubbing. ‘I’m already behind as it is and—’

‘Right, and after this, I’m sure it will be a highly productive day,’ Conor said wryly, trying to coax a smile from her. It worked. ‘Honestly, Cara, go home. Calm down, wait for Shane to get there and have a good, long talk with him about it. I’m sure he is not going to be happy that his mother came here.’

Cara agreed that Shane would definitely not be happy, but she wondered if his annoyance would be about the way in which the document had been delivered, or the contract itself and the terms it demanded.

Oh hell
, Danielle thought, reading Cara’s latest email,
my measurements? For a bridesmaid dress?

She thought back to the last time she’d had to wear a bridesmaid dress and realised that it had to have been at least ten years – at an old colleague’s wedding in Tampa. The dress had been a horrendous, baby-pink taffeta monstrosity. Hopefully Cara had better taste. She tentatively opened the attachment to the email – a picture of the dress in question – and nodded her approval.

‘OK, not too bad, actually not bad at all,’ she murmured softly as she examined the cute gold coloured Empire-line dress. While she wasn’t overly fond of that particular look on its own, feeling that it was an all too convenient way for women to hide their tummies or round-the-middle bulge, she knew that Cara was considering the burgeoning waistlines of her other bridesmaids Kim and Heidi. ‘It could be worse, and at least my boobs will look great,’ said Danielle to herself matter-of-factly, gradually resigning herself to bridesmaid duty.

Despite being the oldest bridesmaid, she guessed that she’d look much hotter than the other two. Although Kim was a stunner, that was for sure. With her looks and famed devil-may-care attitude, Danielle got the feeling her sister-in-law would be pretty good at rocking the ‘yummy mummy’ look. As for Heidi, she couldn’t be sure as she hadn’t seen her in years.

And on that note, Danielle mused, it was time to schedule a chemical peel and a fresh round of Botox. She needed to make sure that everyone at that wedding would be impressed by her good looks and youthful appearance.

She read through the rest of Cara’s email, which outlined what details the bridal store needed for the dress. She went into the kitchen and rummaged through a drawer for the tape measure she knew was in there somewhere. Finding it, she went to quick work measuring her bust, waist and hips. Pleased with the numbers, she worked out the conversion from an American size chart to the European equivalent.

Right at that moment Zack walked into the room. Danielle hurried to close the email and reduce the window on the computer screen, but too late – Zack had definitely seen something. Her fingers trembled as they moved across the keyboard.

‘What are you up to?’ Zack asked as he leaned down to kiss her neck. She felt his gaze turn towards the computer screen and wondered how much he had seen.

‘Oh, nothing, just doing some online shopping.’ She smiled, trying to turn round in her chair to divert his attention back to her face.

‘What were you shopping for?’ he inquired. Zack was sharp; very little got past him.

‘Just a new outfit,’ she said simply. It wasn’t a lie, and Danielle hoped that he wouldn’t ask to see it onscreen. ‘More to the point, what are you up to?’ she cooed coquettishly, in an effort to change the subject.

Zack chuckled as she stood up and encircled her in his arms. ‘Hmm . . . what are you trying to hide?’ he cooed. ‘Someone sounds awfully guilty about what they were just doing. Spending some serious money were we?’

She giggled. ‘Oh stop it.’ Danielle never usually hid any of her shopping habits; in fact, she was usually quite open about them, believing that her ability to indulge was a merely another testament to her success. She enjoyed showing off her Gucci watch, Balenciaga handbag, Manolo Blahnik shoes, or whichever other luxury items she’d recently procured. So it was understandable that Zack was going to be suspicious about her suddenly secretive behaviour.

‘Is there a special occasion coming up I don’t know about?’ he asked, raising his eyebrows.

Sensing her opening, she smiled seductively. ‘Well, I don’t know . . . is there? And if there is, why would you want me to spoil the surprise?’ She leaned forward and kissed him hard on the mouth.

‘Interesting,’ he said a smile in his voice. ‘So is this an outfit to be worn inside or outside?’

‘I guess that depends on how you look at it,’ Danielle purred, pleased that she was able to divert his attention so easily.

‘Maybe I could get a preview? Or at least help you with your measurements?’ he offered, his words full of innuendo.

‘Sounds like a plan. Why don’t I meet you in the bedroom? Go and make yourself comfortable, while I tie up a few loose ends here.’ She started to undo her blouse one button at a time, exposing a lacy and expensive purple La Perla bra underneath.