Change of Heart Page 13

He had built up this evening in his mind, not understanding himself why it had become so important. Maybe because the event represented the ending of something that had meant a lot to them both. Maybe he wanted to give Val an experience to remember him by. Maybe his reasoning wasn’t as altruistic as he’d led himself to believe. He selfishly wanted Val at the garden party, whether to prove something to herself, to Marielle, or just because she was the one he wanted beside him at an event that could change his life. Whatever the reason, the night would be special. He’d make sure of it. The last gift he’d give Val would be to let her go and follow her dreams.

  He would have never imagined making such a decision would be physically painful.

  Half an hour later, he woke up Ruby when they reached the parking garage. “Come on, honey. I need you to walk so I can carry Finn.”

  She rubbed her eyes and looked at the front passenger seat. “Where’s Val?”

  Nathaniel’s chest was tight. “Remember, Val has her own house now, and we’re back here at ours.”

  Ruby crossed her arms. “I don’t want to be at our house. I want to be in Maine with Val.”

  He unbuckled Finn, lifted the boy from his car seat then walked to the other side of the car, and opened Ruby’s door. “Come on inside, sweetheart. I bet Mrs. Kimball has dinner all ready.”

  She climbed out of the car but stood next to it instead of walking to their house. “I don’t like it in Boston.”

  Nathaniel sighed. He didn’t have the patience for one of Ruby’s tantrums and wished he knew how to diffuse it before it started. He shifted Finn onto his shoulder and reached to take Ruby’s hand, leading her out of the parking garage and down the lamp-lit street. “Of course you like it here, Ruby. Your toys are here, and your friends.

  “No, I don’t. I don’t want to be here.” She pulled her hand from his and stood on the sidewalk, glaring at their front door.

  Nathaniel sighed. “Ruby, honey. We’re all tired. You’ll feel happier in the morning. Just come on inside, and we’ll eat dinner and—”

  “You’re not a daddy in Boston.” Ruby stomped her foot and her curls bounced. “We never see you here. You’re always at work or on the phone. I want to go back to Maine.” Her lower lip quivered and her shoulders shook.

  Her words hit Nathaniel so hard that he sucked in a heavy breath. Coldness spread from his core. He had no idea his daughter felt this strongly. He hurried up the steps and unlocked the front door, handing Finn to the housekeeper and then knelt on the brick sidewalk next to Ruby. “I’ll still be your daddy whether we’re in Boston or Maine.”

  She shook her head, covering her face with her hands.

  Nathaniel lifted her into his arms and carried her into the house. He sat on a chair in the living room and set her on his lap, holding her tightly as he hushed her cries.

  Ruby wrapped her arms around his neck and sobbed onto his shoulder.

  If Clara were here, she’d tell him one day Ruby would appreciate all the hard work and sacrifice he made for the family.

  He tried to think of what Val would say. He felt the side of his mouth lift and let out a sigh. Val would support him in anything he did, picking up the slack where his parenting skills fell short. He rubbed circles on her back and kissed the top of her head. The career goals he’d had since college didn’t hold the same appeal as they once did. But was he just being sentimental? Inside, he felt the rift between his work goals and his family widening. With a sinking feeling, he worried choosing one would mean giving up the other.

  ****

  The next morning, Nathaniel met Rachel in front of Val’s apartment building.

  She didn’t even wait for him to get out of his car before she bombarded him with questions. “Why can’t this woman find a dress herself?”

  “Listen, I explained this before. She’s from out of town, and she needs something for tonight.”

  She flipped her hair over her shoulder. “Where did you meet her? Are you dating?”

  He stepped out of the car, closed the door behind him, and folded his arms across his chest. “We’re not dating. Val’s going to Europe in a few months, and I’m taking her to the Sutherland’s garden party tonight. Why is this so difficult to understand?”

  “Because a request like this is so out of character for you.”

  He ignored her for the few minutes needed to enter the building and climb the stairs in the narrow hallway. Nathaniel knocked on Val’s apartment door and shushed his sister one more time. “Be gentle with her, she’s not used to this kind of thing.”

  She lifted her palms. “What kind of thing? Shopping?”

  Val opened the door and when she saw Rachel, she lowered her gaze and then raised it again with a shy smile. She stepped back. “Come on in.”

  Nathaniel had never seen the expression on Val’s face and realized how nervous she must be. He introduced the women and glanced around the space, relieved the apartment appeared nicely furnished. He noticed the stuffed squirrel sat on a shelf in the living room.

  Val looked at the shelf, too, and her cheeks turned pink. “How did Ruby and Finn do last night?”

  “Good.” He didn’t tell her about Ruby’s tears or Finn’s tantrum when Val didn’t prepare his breakfast. “They did well.” He thought she looked as if she’d ask more, and he was grateful when his sister interrupted.

  “Are you ready to go?” Rachel took a step back toward the door.

  Val picked up her purse from where it hung on the back of a kitchen chair.

  When Rachel saw it, she lowered her chin. “First order of business. New purse, hold the pink fur.”

  Nathaniel cleared his throat.

  Val frowned as she glanced at her purse and then back to Rachel.

  He studied Val’s face and let out a breath when her expression relaxed.

  Rachel nodded and smiled. “We’ll have fun today, Val. And don’t worry, big brother, I’ll have her home in time for the ball.”

  Seeing Val’s expression was still strained, Nathaniel gave an encouraging smile, hoping to set her at ease. She was obviously nervous about spending the day with a stranger.

  They entered the hallway, and she closed the door behind them, turning the knob to make sure it locked.

  Once they reached the sidewalk in front of the building, Nathaniel opened the door for Val to get into Rachel’s car and shot a look at his sister. She held up her hands, widening her eyes in a look he could clearly read as telling him to “cool it.”

  He stuffed his hands in his pockets and watched as they pulled away, then drove to work, knowing he couldn’t concentrate on anything today while he wondered how Val was doing, what she looked like in her dress, and how could he say good bye to her tonight.

  Chapter Nine

  Val shifted in her seat, unsure what to say to Nathaniel’s sister. Rachel was tall, slender, elegant, sophisticated…The complete opposite of Val. She guessed the dark-haired woman was a few years younger than Nathaniel. Confident and beautiful.

  Val stared out the window as the city went by, hoping she didn’t look like a wide-eyed country hick, but she couldn’t help it. Boston was amazing. The city was made up of uniform brick buildings with different colored doors, varying doorframes, awnings, and flowers in window boxes to distinguish them from one another. They passed old-looking churches and historic-looking buildings. Quaint streetlamps and brick sidewalks contrasted with neon signs hanging in windows.

  Rachel pulled onto Newbury Street and found a parking spot. She put the car into gear and turned it off.

  Val reached for the door handle.

  “We have a few minutes before anything opens.” Rachel fished in her purse and offered a pack of gum to Val, then tore a piece in half, and chewed. “That’s enough time for you to tell me what’s really going on with you and my brother.”

  Val had just popped the stick in her mouth. “I don’t know what you mean,” she said around the wad of gum.

  She lowered her eyes to half-mast and tipped
her head. “I mean, why is Nathaniel so worried about finding a dress for a woman I’ve never heard of until a few days ago? How do you even know him?”

  “I was his nanny this summer. In Lobster Cove.” Rachel’s plucked brows rose so high Val thought they would disappear into her hair line.

  “His nanny? He’s taking his nanny to a garden party at the Sutherlands?”

  Val rubbed her arm. Rachel was definitely less than impressed. “I know, the arrangement sounds weird.”

  “Not just weird. He’s acting crazy.” She pushed her hair over her shoulder. “You know he chewed out one of your neighbors who held open the entry door, instead of letting it lock and waiting for you to buzz us in.”

  Val was startled and confused. She had no idea what she should say. What would make Nathaniel so upset that he got after a person for being friendly?

  Rachel flipped her hand to the side. “And then there’s the whole, ‘help my friend find a pretty dress.’ Honestly, I don’t know what to think. I’ve never seen him act this way.”

  “He must think I need extra help with my East Coast fashion sense.” Val waved her hand, indicating her Daisy Duke cut-offs and tank top. Her face heated. “I don’t want to embarrass him at the garden party.”

  Rachel squinted her eyes as she studied Val.

  Under the blue-eyed gaze, Val felt like a bug under a microscope and tried not to squirm.

  “You’re in love with him.”

  Tears sprang into Val’s eyes, and she blinked them away. She realized she hadn’t even admitted the truth to herself, and hearing the words caught her so off guard she didn’t have a chance to school her expression. “How pathetic, right? The nanny that’s in love with her boss. Please don’t tell him.”

  “Honey, why do you think he’s doing all this? Do you really think he’d give me his credit card and send his nanny on a shopping spree unless he felt the same? I mean, I love my brother, but he just plain isn’t that thoughtful. I guarantee his assistant’s sent me flowers on my birthday for the last five years. He probably doesn’t even know what date it is.” She gave a smirk and small shrug.

  Val folded the gum wrapper, creasing it with her nails. Her heart was pounding as her mind spun. Was Rachel right? Did Nathaniel love her? She turned away and looked at the buildings outside the car window, hoping to keep Rachel from seeing the turmoil inside her. She attempted an off-handed tone as she spoke. “Maybe his wife sent them?”

  “Ha! Clara? Not in a million years. That woman was the worst thing to happen to my brother.” Her lip curled in a sneer. “And to the world.”

  Val sucked in a breath. Rachel seemed so collected. “You didn’t like her?”

  “Honey, let’s put it this way…if Clara was on fire and I had a cup of water, I’d drink it.”

  Val laughed. She was starting to like Nathaniel’s sister.

  “She hated me.” Rachel’s teeth showed as she talked. “And the feeling was completely mutual.”

  Based on Rachel’s expression, Val wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d spit or growled while she talked about Clara. “Why?”

  “The harpy tore down my brother every chance she got—until he was hardly recognizable as the same kid I grew up with.” Rachel’s eyes squinted, and her brows pulled together in a scowl. Her face flushed a rosy hue. “And no matter how terribly he was treated, he still did everything he could to make her happy. Finally I’d had enough, and I told her so.”

  “What happened?” Val struggled inside between the need to hear about Nathaniel, and knowing his past was none of her business. The more she heard about his marriage, the sadder she felt.

  “Well, let’s just say I didn’t get invited for Christmas dinner.” Rachel shrugged.

  Val thought his sister faked like the slight hadn’t bothered her, but her feelings had certainly been hurt.

  “I could see choosing between the two of us was getting too hard for Nathaniel, and, anyway…after that I didn’t see him very often.” Rachel pulled her keys out of the ignition and dropped them into her purse. “That woman took away my only family.” She opened the car door and stepped out.

  Val followed suit. “I’m sorry,” she said when she joined Rachel on the sidewalk. “Not having your family nearby hurts.” They walked past several shops. Rachel apparently knew just where she was going.

  “And where’s your family, Val?”

  “West Virginia.”

  “Ah, so that’s why you speak all Southern and sultry like Scarlett O’Hara.”

  Rachel’s voice sounded lighter, and Val felt relieved she wasn’t still talking about Clara. “Y’all might call it sultry, but I don’t think my accent always gives a good first impression.”

  Rachel pulled open the glass door of a shop and ushered Val inside. “Well, honey, that’s where I come in. Your first impression tonight will knock everyone’s socks off. That brother of mine won’t know what hit him.”

  Val looked around when they entered the shop and was tempted to hurry back outside. The shop was cramped, but the clothing on display was sophisticated and beautiful, making her feel like a toad who’d hopped into a frog pond.

  The saleslady greeted Rachel by name and when she heard what they were looking for, she smiled and showed Val to a dressing room.

  Val stepped out of her clothes and slid on gown after gown, zipping and tying and buttoning until she thought she must have tried on every outfit in the shop.

  But the saleslady and Rachel both kept bringing more. Rachel insisted she try on slacks and blouses in addition to formal gowns.

  Val argued, but Rachel said she was just following orders.

  After more than an hour, Val slipped on a champagne-colored pleated gown with a gold belt. Looking into the mirror, she couldn’t believe the elegant looking person was really Valdosta McKinley from the holler. She lifted the floor-length skirt and walked out of the dressing room.

  “That’s the one.” Rachel turned Val by the shoulders to look in the half-circle of mirrors. “You look absolutely amazing.” She lifted the shoulder seams and checked the waist. “And it fits perfectly, even better—no alterations.” She tapped a finger on her chin. “I think maybe pearls, and you’ll need to wear your hair down…”

  “I love it.” Val held out the skirt and swished it back and forth. She felt beautiful and couldn’t wait to see Nathaniel’s face when he saw her in the gown. But when she turned over the tag, she couldn’t stop her fingers from flying to her lips, and she gasped. “Oh. Is that the price? I had no idea the dress would cost this much. I couldn’t possibly.”

  Rachel put her hands on her hips. “Val, I can’t face Nathaniel if I don’t do exactly what he asked. Now hurry and change out of the gown. We still need to find shoes and stop at the spa. And of course, have lunch.”

  They dropped the gown off at the car, along with a few other items Rachel had purchased while Val changed. At the day spa, Rachel ordered a haircut, mani/pedi, and facial for both of them. A make-up artist worked on Val’s face.

  Rachel waved away Val’s concern about the amount of money they were spending. “Val, take up your complaints with the boss. I’m just fulfilling my assignment.”

  They returned home late in the afternoon. Rachel helped Val carry the packages and bags to her apartment. In addition to her clothing for tonight, Val had a few nice outfits, shoes, and scarves Rachel told her were exactly the thing an art museum employee would wear.

  Noting the time, Val freshened up then changed into her dress and stepped into her new shoes.

  Rachel hung the remaining clothes in the closet. Chattering away as she fussed with the fit, she helped Val attach her necklace and smoothed down her hair.

  Val studied her appearance in the bathroom mirror. She couldn’t believe her new chic look with her hair cut and straightened. And the dress was spectacular.

  The buzzer rang.

  Val answered it, heart racing now that Nathaniel was here and on his way upstairs.

  “Don’t
worry. He won’t be able to keep his eyes off you.”

  I hope not. Val hugged Rachel. “Thank you. I could never have done this myself.” She’d loved spending the day with Rachel, and thought how much she’d enjoyed having a friend in the city. Rachel had turned out to be so different than Val’s first impression.

  “Careful, don’t wrinkle your dress.” Rachel held her at arm’s length and smiled. “And today was my pleasure, Val.” She opened the door.

  Nathaniel entered carrying a vase of multi-colored roses. He wore a tuxedo that fit him perfectly and stood straight and confident. His eyes widened when he saw Val.

  Val clasped her hands so he wouldn’t see them shaking.

  He thrust the flowers at his sister, still holding Val’s gaze. “Shall we?” The side of his mouth lifted in a smile.

  Val hadn’t realized how tightly she’d been holding her shoulders until she released them. She had no reason to be nervous. Nathaniel’s familiar smile had somehow calmed her nerves and set them tingling at the same time. She would never tire of the sensation.

  “That’s my cue to leave.” Rachel set the vase on the table, grabbed her bag, and wiggled her fingers in a wave as she stepped around her brother. She winked at Val before closing the door behind her.

  “I just need my purse.” Val hurried into her bedroom and grabbed the clutch Rachel selected to match her dress, and then returned to the living room.

  “You look beautiful, Val.” Nathaniel made a twirling motion with his finger, smiling as Val turned in a circle. “How did you and Rachel get along?”

  “We had a fabulous day. Thanks for arranging everything and for the dress, and…” She glanced toward her bedroom where hundreds of dollars’ worth of clothing hung in her closet. “Why did you do all this? You didn’t need to have Rachel buy me clothes.”

  Nathaniel lifted a shoulder and tipped his head toward it. “You’re starting a new job on Monday, and I just wanted you to—”

  “To look decent for your friend?” Val didn’t mean for her words to sound ungrateful, but she felt insecure about her clothing already, and she hated the idea that he was ashamed of her just like Bo Callaway had been. Was Nathaniel so afraid she’d humiliate him, he didn’t mind spending all that money to make sure she didn’t show up looking like a redneck from the holler?