THE RISK OF LOVE AND MAGIC (36 page)

He was right—today was for just enjoying. So she hugged his promise close to her heart to keep her going forward.

Pippa was preparing pumpkin pancakes and apple syrup for the children. Dorrie supervised the toaster. She frowned a bit as Nadine picked up a butter knife to help with the toast. “Your chi is confused this morning. Is everything all right?”

“Confusion is my natural state,” Nadine suggested, taking the toast from Dorrie and setting it on a plate for buttering. “Even confused, I can handle this. You must have bubble baths and hairdressers waiting for you.”

Dorrie beamed. “No, I have a man to drag away from a computer. Thank you!” She danced off.

Pippa laughed and winked at Nadine. “The bread thanks you. We’ll be cutting toast into hors d’oeurves as it is.”

Absorbed into the community, Nadine slipped from task to task. She gathered that Magnus hadn’t told anyone the news about the general yet. It would be a pity to spoil a beautiful day. It was her burden to bear, anyway, and she must be doing it well if perceptive Dorrie hadn’t noticed.

Magnus disappeared inside the house with his brothers. Nadine took the children out to the heated pool after breakfast to work off some of their excess energy.

The small dignified grandmother Dorrie had introduced last night joined her underneath the pool awning. Wearing a rich floral silk floor-length gown wrapped with a contrasting gold sash, Ling Fai looked both traditionally Chinese and modern American businesswoman.

“Your family are teachers,” Ling Fai said, after re-introducing herself. “You must see my charts. Very direct Malcolm descendants. Very rare. Your father could have been a great man if he had lived.”

“He would have been a professor, like my mother,” Nadine said, smiling at the correctness of Magnus’s warning about the genealogy charts. “Professors are seldom great men.”

The older woman looked indignant. “Professors are very great men. They shape the minds of our future. He would not have let you bury yourself as your stepfather did, may he rest in peace.”

Nadine blinked. “You know Jo-jo is dead?”

Ling Fai waved a dismissive hand. “It is in all your thoughts, great sadness. You should not be sorry. He was in much pain, and now he is at rest. It is your future that matters. Consider it carefully.”

The children started shouting for towels. By the time Nadine had supplied them, Ling Fai had disappeared.

Dorrie’s grandmother had read her mind? And in more ways than about the general.

Her father had been a teacher, like her mother. The hurdle seemed impossibly high.

Magnus admired the flowy turquoise skirt and short jacket that Nadine chose for the wedding. He was trapped in his tux—to which a turquoise cummerbund had been added. “Did you choose that outfit to match me?” He tugged at the bright band around his middle with discomfort. “Doesn’t make me feel less like a dress dummy.”

“Dorrie chose peach and turquoise as her wedding colors. I’m told the colors mark you as part of the wedding party. And since almost everything on this rack contains some shade of peach or turquoise, I’m assuming Pippa decided we should match.” Nadine tugged on the bottom of her jacket and squirmed uncomfortably. “I hate jackets, but if I take this off, I’ll look like a bimbo from outer space.”

Happy to be given an excuse to look, Magnus opened the jacket and admired the cleavage-revealing silk top underneath. “I have a thing for alien bimbos. Best keep that hidden until we’re alone.”

She smacked his arm with affection. “Come on, dress dummy, we’ll be late, and I want to find Vera before the ceremony starts.”

“I take it we won’t be sailing to Australia on a cruise ship requiring dress attire,” he said amiably as they walked up the path to the main house.

“I hope not!” She sent him a hasty glance. “Sorry. I’m not used to sharing decisions. If that’s the best way to go, then we need to explore the possibility.”

He shook his head at her. “Don’t retreat to the good general’s daughter, please. I don’t read minds. I need you to speak honestly. If there are reasons we ought to fly instead of cruise, we can discuss those reasons along with the fancy dress problem.”

She pondered that for a while, then just before they reached the guest house, stood on her toes and kissed his cheek. “I have a lot to learn. Be patient.”

She was plotting. Magnus hid his unease as he sent her off to join the guests while he tracked down his brothers.

Conan was pacing an office, phone in hand, wearing a shirt with the studs unfastened. His cummerbund had been discarded over a computer monitor. The boutonnieres were buried beneath an avalanche of file folders.

Magnus grabbed him in mid stride and began shoving studs into the shirt. Conan kept talking. Gathering Conan was speaking to the sheriff’s department about the school, Magnus didn’t interrupt.

Conan finally hit END and stuck the phone in his pocket. “The county is talking about shutting the school down and sending the kids home. I had social workers comb the place. They’ve found the facilities more than adequate. Someone needs to review the teachers and administrators. Nadine’s stepbrothers aren’t being helpful.”

“The sheriff told you about the general?” Magnus handed over the studs.

Conan fastened his shirt without looking. “Poison in his tooth cap, added recently. The man was deteriorating fast. How’s Nadine holding up?”

“Hard to say. She hero-worshipped the general for a long time. Made excuses for him probably longer than he deserved. She eventually recognized his paranoia, but he was the only father she ever really had. And now she’s completely untethered. I’m crap at handling emotional women.”

Magnus didn’t really think Conan had any advice for him, but he was trying to learn to say what he thought.

“Don’t handle her,” Conan said with a shrug, picking up his white cummerbund and staring at in distaste. “She’ll just bite your head off. Try asking her what she wants.”

“She doesn’t
know
what she wants. She’s never been rootless before. Maybe I should talk to her stepbrothers about the school.” Magnus liked the idea of that. He wanted to know what made the brothers tick. And bash Feng Jin’s head through a wall. He was pretty certain that was the brother who had helped hold him hostage.

Conan shook his head. “You’d better take up mind reading if you’re not going to ask Nadine what she wants. What time is it?” He tugged his phone from his pocket to check.

Magnus plucked the fancy gadget from his brother’s hand and threw it on the bed. “Time to go downstairs. No phones at your wedding.”

Conan scowled but obediently finished dressing. Magnus shoved a boutonniere at him before he escaped.

Magnus was as nervous as the bridegroom as they descended the stairs. He was pretty certain of the future he wanted—even if it scared hell out of him. Nadine was the question mark in the equation.

***

While guests gathered in the folding chairs in the garden, Nadine stayed in the background, thrilled to have the opportunity to talk with Vera. She’d introduced her sister to the few people she knew. Vera had introduced her to Jack’s family.

Without Magnus, the cacophony of this many minds pushing thoughts into the universe soon had Nadine’s head pounding. It was simpler to stand back.

The wedding was the loveliest event she’d ever experienced, and she embraced the love and joy despite the headache. Pippa sang one of her own creations, a paean to love and eternity that brought tears to every eye in the audience. She must have chosen the rest of the music, as well, because the guitars followed the emotional roller coaster of the ceremony to perfection. Even Nadine laughed and wiped tears from her eyes as the flower girls skipped to the music and flung blossoms at the audience instead of the carpet.

Under the brilliant blooms of bougainvillea, the bride and groom radiated love. Dorrie wore a tea-length white gown and carried a bouquet of blue and peach-colored flowers. Her short veil perched in her dark curls with the help of a spray of roses. Golden Conan wore his tux as if born to it. They held hands and beamed at each other throughout the ceremony, ignoring tradition.

Nadine could almost believe that love would last forever—unless parted by tragedy. That had been her experience. She’d never seen happy-forever-after.

So when her phone vibrated just as Oz produced the wedding rings, she stepped out of the crowd and behind the hedge.

“We’ve found Father’s will,” Chang reported without greeting. “His attorney assures us Father was in his right mind when he dictated the terms.”

“That might be a matter of opinion,” Nadine responded without thinking, then bit her tongue. “Sorry. I’m at a wedding. Can we talk later?”

She really didn’t want to be disappointed yet again. She wanted to return to that scene of hope and joy.

“The authorities are raising a stink over that school. We need to do something now. Did you know the papers establishing it were fraudulent?”

“Learned that this past week.” Her stomach sank to her feet. Here it came, the cutting of the one thread of hope she’d been clinging to these last hours.

“The state insists we dissolve the charter. My name and Jin’s are on it. The school district and parents are screaming bloody murder. We’re about to get our pants sued off.”

“I’m sorry, Chang. I don’t know what this has to do with me. My name wasn’t on the charter. I assume Jo-jo left everything to you and your brothers. What am I supposed to do?”

“He made you executor,” Chang said curtly, with obvious displeasure. “The school is part of his estate. It needs to be disposed of before we lose everything.”

He was bullying her. He came by this performance naturally.

She had to develop that backbone she’d been missing. She took a deep breath and steeled herself for the explosion. “I’m not doing anything until tomorrow. And if you push me, I’ll make it next week,” she warned.

“I’ll tell the judge you’re not suited to be executor and have a new one appointed,” he retorted.

“Then you’ll have me suing you,” she said without hesitation. “You need to back off and help me work this out, or I’ll get an injunction against you.” She didn’t even know what an injunction was much less how to get one—but she’d figure it out.

Jo-jo had made her
executor.
Either he’d been seriously demented at the time, or he’d
trusted
her wisdom. Nadine turned her eyes to the brilliantly blue sky and tried to decide whether to sing hosannas or curses.

“Just
do
something,” Chang insisted. “I have to run all his damned businesses. I don’t have time for angry parents.”

“I can’t do anything right this minute. I’m not a lawyer.” And then she remembered—the East Coast Oswins were judges and senators. She took a deep breath. “Let me talk to some people. I’ll get back to you.”

Feeling powerful, she hit END. Take that, big brother.

Executor. May all the heavens weep, what did an executor do?

Returning to the guests, she sought Magnus for assurance. He was already scanning the crowd for her. She smiled and waved. He looked relieved. Had he thought she’d run away?

She was confused, but she wasn’t dumb. He was her rock. She wanted him in her life for as long as he would stay. But first, she needed a life.

The wedding photos took forever. Magnus couldn’t get away until the photographer was done.

Complete strangers walked up and started talking to her, as if she were one of the family. Despite the increasing headache from all the thoughts bouncing around the party, she was enjoying herself, but she wasn’t used to any of this.

Overwhelmed, she almost collapsed in exhaustion and relief when Magnus finally reached her. “What do you know about being executor of an estate?” she asked without preliminaries.

“Zilch. The general made you executor?” he asked, bending over to kiss her.

She luxuriated in the connection, and the headache almost receded. “That’s what I love about you—you nail problems so succinctly and dismiss them with a kiss. Yes. I’m executor, and the estate is about to be sued over the school. I hate to ask but . . . help?”

“Zorro, at your service,” he said solemnly. “Good to know you love something about me.”

“I love everything about you,” Nadine admitted in her weariness, “but I don’t think I’m supposed to say that. So pretend you didn’t hear it and steer me in the right direction.”

Right in front of everyone, Magnus swept her into his arms and kissed her thoroughly. Breathless once he put her down, Nadine stared at him wide-eyed. “I didn’t think you’d appreciate another burden. You’ll give people ideas if you keep doing that.”

He grinned. “Yeah. Let’s go find the judge.”

“Don’t even kid me about that,” she warned as he took her arm. “I could be standing in front of a court any minute now.” Nadine let Magnus steer her through the crowd.

He hadn’t run in the opposite direction, screaming, when she’d told him she loved him. He hadn’t returned the sentiment, but her confidence grew another notch, and she felt a little less shaky.

“Considering what we’ve been doing lately, we both could be in front of a judge. Would you do anything differently?” he said in unconcern.

“Is that a rhetorical question, I hope? I can’t answer anything else at this minute. You looked splendid up there in your fancy clothes.” Nadine tried to see past the crowd of people to where he was taking her, but her heels weren’t high enough. His family was tall.

Luckily, most of Dorrie’s family was her size. She caught a glimpse of the stately older woman she’d been introduced to earlier talking to Pippa. Their hostess looked gorgeous in a peachy-colored silk gown with a full skirt that looked good on her slender figure and with her red hair. The judge in her gray, business-like suit . . . looked intimidating.

“Aunt Helena.” Magnus intruded on their conversation. “We have a small problem. Pippa.” He nodded at his sister-in-law. “We’re about to steal a school. Keep Conan occupied or he’ll abandon the honeymoon.”

Pippa’s generous mouth spread into a smile. “I like the way you think. You’ll tell me what they’re up to later, won’t you, Helena?”