“That would be ideal.”
“How about the end of next week?”
“Can you arrange it that quickly?”
“Of course.” Her voice was full of confidence. “It won’t be the event of the season, but it will be tasteful and elegant. I promise, Tasha won’t be disappointed.”
“That’s why I called you.”
“Okay, so let me get to work. When are you coming home?”
“We’ll be in tomorrow morning. You can chat with Tasha about the details then.” Andre sat down in the nearest chair. “And don’t forget…not a word.”
“We are, if nothing else, discreet.”
Satisfied that he had everything under control Andre ended the call, deposited his cell phone back into his blazer’s inner pocket and went back inside.
Where was that food? Surprisingly, he was hungry.
CHAPTER NINE
TASHA HAD A LOVE-HATE RELATIONSHIP WITH HER MOTHER. Nola Gordon had been a frightful stage mother. She had Tasha working in commercials before she could even crawl, much less walk. And once Tasha did start auditioning for speaking parts, if she didn’t get it her mother never missed the opportunity to remind her it was because she wasn’t good enough, pretty enough, or talented enough.
As Tasha dialed the telephone number, she prayed her father would answer instead of her mother.
“Gordons.” Her mother’s voice flowed through the earpiece.
“Hi, Mom.” Tasha tried to cover her disappointment in a cheerful greeting. She thought about asking how things were going, but that’d open the door for a long rant about how someone, probably Marge Dickerson, was trying to take over the planning of some event on the social scene. Tasha didn’t have the time or the inclination to listen to that today. Instead of inviting trouble, she got straight to the point. “Andre and I are in town. Can you and Daddy come over?”
“A little notice would’ve been nice.” Even over the airwaves, Nola Gordon’s tone gave Tasha a good admonishing.
“Sorry, Mom. We didn’t know we were coming until this morning.”
“Well, it would be nice to see Andre.”
Andre? How about your only daughter? Tasha kept quiet. Anything she had to say at this point, she’d only end up regretting.
When she didn’t respond after several seconds, her mother finally said, “Your father’s playing golf. I’ll call him and pick him up on the way over. Where are you? The Shoreline?”
“Yes.” Tasha nodded, even though her mother couldn’t see her. “Come as soon as you can. Okay?” Of course, she knew that as-soon-as-she-could would turn into an hour, maybe more.
On the bright side, that gave Tasha an hour to prepare for a meeting that could go either way. She hoped her mother would be thrilled about her marrying Andre. After all, he came with a lot of status that her mother would undoubtedly use to her advantage.
Then again, Nola might be livid. Especially if she thought Tasha was throwing away a budding career that she, Nola, had worked so hard to build.
After lunch arrived, Andre had Simon set it up on the terrace via the door leading out through the suite’s main room.
Inside, Andre eased the door open to the room where Tasha was resting and found her watching television. “Couldn’t sleep?” He went to the unoccupied side of the bed and sat down.
“I called my parents.”
“You told them over the phone?”
Tasha shook her head. “They’ll be here within the hour.”
“Ah, good. Just in time for the ceremony.” He leaned across the bed and brushed his lips over Tasha’s cheek. “Brunch is here. Simon is setting it up on the terrace. Care to try a bite or two?”
“Sounds like a good idea.” Tasha tossed the coverlet aside and sat up. “Fresh air might do me some good.”
“Are you feeling ill? Should I ring for a doctor?”
“No, I’m fine. We have an appointment with the doctor in France soon, don’t we?”
“Yes. A few days after the wedding over there.” He laid his hand on her upper arm and gave her a gentle caress. “You sure you’re feeling all right?”
Tasha turned to face him. “I’m feeling perfectly well…just a little tired.”
“Good.” He touched her lips with a gentle kiss. “I was hoping to go to sleep beside my wife tonight.”
“Oh, you needn’t worry about that.” Tasha chuckled and reached for his hand. “Let’s go eat.” She stood and moved toward the door, still holding his hand. “I have a feeling we’ll need the energy later.”
Out on the terrace a banquet of food awaited them. Tasha picked up a few pieces of fruit, mostly watermelon, peaches, kiwi and strawberries, and nibbled on them between sips of the soup. Andre was glad to see her eating.
He made himself a sandwich from the tray of cold cuts and ate it in silence while mentally going over the afternoon’s events to make sure he’d left nothing to chance.
It was bad enough that he was responsible for Julian and Lecie’s inheritances, but now, now he was holding his unborn child’s future inheritance in his hands. He couldn’t spoil that. A U.S. wedding taking place today was imperative—his, Tasha’s, and their baby’s future depended on it.
“You’re very quiet,” she said. “What’s on your mind?”
He looked at her and smiled. His smile always seemed to calm her. He hoped that was the case now. “I just want this day to be perfect for you.” This wasn’t a road they needed to go down. Andre didn’t need Tasha worrying that he might be marrying her for all the wrong reasons. There would never be a better time than now.
Andre took the little blue jewelry box from his pocket, opened it up and set it in front of her. He gazed into her eyes and smiled. “I hope you like it.”
She looked down at the jewelry box and her mouth fell open. “Oh, Andre…”
“I chose blue diamonds,” he said, almost stuttering and quickly admonished himself for acting like a dunce. He cleared his throat and continued in a tone filled with confidence. “These in particular because they match the color of your eyes.” She was crying now. Andre wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. He hoped it was good. “We can get you a different set,” he offered. “If you don’t like these.”
“It’s better than okay…” She tried to laugh, but it was mixed with her tears. “They’re absolutely beautiful. I wouldn’t dream of trading my rings in for anything else.”