The Playboy King's Bride

Chapter 12

The next two days passed much quicker than Stella liked. Gareth had been discharged soon after waking up, and by the time they brought him home, hospice workers had already moved everything around to where they could get a hospital bed to his room on the first floor. Seeing all the books that she had had to dodge before with every step stacked neatly around with much more care than they’d received in years, Stella couldn’t stop thinking about what would have happened if they had lost this place.

Years ago, Lillian Bridges had bought this house for herself and her baby daughter after being abandoned by her husband. Stella didn’t want to think about how stressed she must have been, searching everywhere for jobs while raising a toddler by herself. Lillian had been smart enough to hide a family inheritance from her previous husband, but she knew it wouldn’t last forever.

Lillian worked tirelessly for years, taking any job she could as a waitress, secretary, customer service rep. Until one day she met Gareth as she was getting coffee. They instantly connected and fell for each other, hard. Gareth hadn’t been put off by Stella at all, and included her on almost every date he took with Lillian.

Stella didn’t like to think of the time before Gareth and Lillian met. Her mother was always tired, though she tried to hide it, and sometimes she would sit at a window and stare at nothing with such melancholy that even little Stella wanted to cry. Her hair would be in a badly made messy bun Lillian had just thrown up, there were constant dark circles under her eyes, and her smiles were often, but often very fake looking.

Gareth had changed that. Once they got closer and she trusted him more, he took on almost as much as Lillian did. He still had a few years before he could take an early retirement from the Oil and Gas industry, but when he came over (and later moved in) he gladly helped Lillian with anything related to Stella or keeping house.

Looking back, Stella was again amazed at how quickly Gareth had become indispensable to her and Lillian. He had become everything she had ever wanted her own father to be and more. Lillian’s smile returned in full force and they had filled the house with laughter and music all the time.

By the time Perce came along, as a surprise to everyone, Stella was old enough to help her parents (for Gareth had almost instantly claimed her as his own) with his general care, and she had taken as much responsibility for taking care of him as her parents would allow a teenager.

Gareth had needed the most help at that point, since he had never been around toddlers. He would look panicked every time Perce was put in his arms, or he cried or coughed. Or anything to do with him really, but under Lillian’s supervision and Stella’s support he had done reasonably well.

The house had gone quiet again after Lillian passed away. Stella had come back from studying abroad to a completely different life than she had known. Gareth never smiled, and Perce had gone almost completely mute. It took everything she had to get them to talk again, but she knew that her own efforts had been half-hearted as well. Lillian had taken the heart of the family with her.

Stella dragged her feet to pack, but it still didn’t take long since she’d never had much more than clothes and a computer. Marvin checked in with her at least once each day. She thought it must be Arthur wanting to make sure she hadn’t changed her mind, but on the third day she had her instructions to be outside at eight in the morning and Adam would pick her up with all her things.

Perce and Gareth had been almost completely silent since coming home from the hospital. Gareth only really spoke with his nurse, but she said he only seemed to want her to leave, though he was too polite to say anything. Stella had only chuckled and assured her Gareth wanted her to go in the nicest way possible, but he would be a stubborn one once he was strong enough to get out of his bed.

Perce mostly stayed in his room. He barely looked at Stella at dinner and only spoke in short sentences, if at all. Stella could tell that he was hurt by her leaving, but he refused to let her talk to him until finally she finally cornered him just before she was supposed to be outside, having already said bye to Gareth. She pulled him to sit on the couch next to her, but did not release his hands.

“Please Perce, don’t make me leave while you’re so cold.” The boy looked down with a glare.

“Then don’t leave.” He muttered.

“I have to. Mr. King helped us out so much…Gareth might still be unconscious in the hospital if not for him, and then what? I don’t have a job, Crowley comes back…Perce I’m doing what I have to. I can still visit, and you have my number…”

“It’s not the same. Just like last time. You left…then Mom left.” Tears formed in his eyes as he hung his head and sobs wracked his thin frame.

She cupped his cheeks so he was looking directly into her eyes, even as she heard a car pulling up outside. “I am still here for you. You can call me anytime, and I’ll visit you as often as possible. Gareth has the best care anyone could ask for and I’ll be checking on both of you constantly. If you don’t trust Mr. King…trust me.” He nodded lightly as a knock resounded on the front door, signaling Adam’s arrival.

Perce hugged her tightly and she left feeling a bit better, knowing that he wasn’t as mad at her now. He had moped for months when she first left, and she didn’t know if she had the strength to go through that again. Not with everything that was happening.

Adam greeted her cheerfully as he helped her load her suitcases into the van. All the way to the airport, they maintained a steady stream of conversation, ranging from the weather to favorite music and books. Stella felt heartened by how different he seemed now than he had when they first met. At least she’d have one person to talk to.

The ride to the airport didn’t last very long before Adam had pulled directly onto the tarmac. He handed her out and motioned to a large plane ramp while he unloaded her bags. No one else seemed to be around, so Stella hesitatingly walked up the steps where a waitress greeted her with a warm smile.

“Ms. Knight? Mrs. King is waiting for you inside and we’ll be departing shortly.” Stella smiled stiffly in response and moved inside the plane. She was greeted by a large space with a long luxurious white couch on one side and four matching chairs surrounding a table on the other. Beyond them was a small area that could double as a bar and kitchen for the staff.

On one of the chairs sat a very thin older woman who stood as soon as Stella came into view. Her green eyes sparkled in a motherly way, but she maintained a gentle and polite grin as she stepped forward to take both of Stella’s hands in her own.

“Ms. Knight, I have so wanted to meet you. I must thank you for saving my husband's life. He’s told me you don’t like being thanked, but seriously, I hate thinking about what would have happened if you weren’t there. I know moving to New York will be a big change for you, so please let me know if there is ever anything that you need. We’ll have to have dinner together sometimes to get away from the boys once you’re settled in.”

Stella wasn’t sure what to say. Mrs. King may be smiling at her in a completely non-threatening way, but everything about her intimidated Stella, much the way Mr. King had. She seemed to know everything about Stella with a look and she stood with perfect posture, a perfectly suited brown-striped dress that seemed picked to perfectly accentuate her skin tone and eyes. Everything about her seemed to have been picked in a lab to make her the most perfect woman ever.

Mrs. King motioned for Stella to sit in the chair across from her. Stella tried to mimic Mrs. King’s posture as she sat, if only because she felt that anything less than perfection on her part would be an act of disrespect towards the older woman.

“Arthur and Lance will be here soon, but until then, please relax. I’d like to get to know my future daughter-in-law.” Stella struggled to find anything that might interest her but Mrs. King seemed to genuinely want to know her, and eventually Stella was able to relax just enough to be comfortable in her seat.

After a while, Mrs. King became distracted by something outside the jet, and a concerned look took over her beautiful face. Looking out the window as well, Stella saw Mr. King and another tall man. He had the same chiseled face as Arthur, so Stella assumed he must be Lance.

Just like his mother and father, everything about him, even from a distance, told her he was way out of her league and she wondered if she could still call this off. He looked like the type of man who could wander into any photo shoot and would instantly become a top model.

The men stood fairly far away, but the way they were waving their hands at each other and their mouths moved rapidly, so she could assume they were fighting. Arthur kept gesturing at the plane but Lance made no move to come closer. At one point, he looked at her window, but after shooting a glare that made her blood run cold, he turned and walked away.

Arthur quickly boarded the plane, and after greeting his wife with a warm smile and a quick peck on her cheek, he turned to Stella. “I’d wanted to introduce you and Lance, but he…had some other things he wanted to do here. He’ll be following us to New York tomorrow.”

Stella didn’t say anything, even though she could tell by the way Arthur and Mrs. King exchanged secretive glances, they knew something they didn’t want to tell her. She assumed it had to do with Lance storming away. She hoped, rather than believed, that it didn’t have anything to do with the upcoming marriage. If he was already against it, she dreaded to think what would happen when he actually met her…