Sunny's Love

chapter Ten



Sunny slept late the next morning. When she awoke, she remembered the dream she’d had the night before. I have got to get a handle on my feelings for my boss. With each passing day, I find myself more and more attracted to him.

She dressed and went into the kitchen. Alice and the children had apparently already left on their outing. John was nowhere to be seen either, he must have gone with them.

There was a fresh pot of coffee and some sweet rolls on the counter with a note attached. It was from Alice, telling her that she, John and the children were out for the day and to enjoy herself. She also told her she knew the boss would be home tonight and that he wanted to speak to Sunny alone when he arrived. She had drawn a smiley face in the shape of a heart on the bottom of the note.

Oh, Alice, you sweetheart. You and Alma are such romantics. She sat down at the bar and decided to take her coffee and rolls to the patio. She sat in the lounge chair and as she sipped the steaming hot coffee, her thoughts returned to the talk she and Chase were supposed to have that evening. Why the mystery?

She spent the rest of the morning trying to figure out his plan and when she came up with nothing, decided to read a book instead.

She fell asleep, reading. When she awoke and looked at her watch, she jumped up. It was six o’clock. Where was everyone? She went inside to find the other four at the table eating pizza.

“Hello, sleepyhead, you looked so peaceful we hated to wake you.” John grinned.

“I’m so sorry.”

“What are you sorry about? It’s your day off. If you want to sleep, that’s your choice. Now sit down and have some pizza. These kiddos are tired and after they’ve eaten, I’m going to draw them both a bath and get them ready for bed.” Alice looked pointedly at Sunny, knowing Chase had asked for the kids to be put to bed early.

“I can do that, Alice. You have to be tired after a day with these two.”

“All right, I’ll let you do that. I believe I’ll turn in early tonight myself.”

Sunny helped herself to pepperoni pizza and got up to get a Coke out of the fridge. She noticed Brice was about to fall asleep in his plate.

After getting them bathed and in bed, she decided she had just enough time to take a quick shower before Chase returned.

She had just dressed in a casual pair of lounging pants and a tee shirt when there was a knock on the bathroom door. She opened it to let Chase into her bedroom.

“Is it okay to talk in here? I don’t want to go back out and we’ll be undisturbed here.”

“It’s fine. Let’s sit on the love seat over there. I have some wine. Would you like a glass?”

“My nanny keeps wine in her room. Should I be worried?” he teased as he accepted a glass.

“Not at all, I sometimes like a glass of wine to unwind in the evenings. I hope sweet red is okay, it’s my favorite.”

“I’m not worried about you in the least, Sunny. And sweet red is fine with me. If it’s your favorite, we’ll have it every day.”

“I don’t think we need to go to that extreme.” She giggled. “Now, tell me what’s going on? You’ve kept me in suspense long enough.” She sat next to him.

“Sunny, I don’t know how to begin…” He looked her square in the eyes, took another sip of wine, and went on. “I told you a large chain is trying to take over my company, but I didn’t tell you everything. The company is owned by a man and his daughter, Lindy. Lindy has been trying to get me in her bed since before Brittney died. My guess is she plans to convince me to marry her. After she gets her claws in my company, she’ll divorce me, leaving me with nothing.”

“That’s horrible, are you sure that’s what she’s up to? Maybe she genuinely wants you.”

“There’s nothing genuine about Lindy, believe me. But being the sweet person that you are, you probably wouldn’t understand that. I’ve been on to her for a long time, hopefully she doesn’t realize that.”

“I see. Is there more? Where do I fit into this bizarre scene?”

“Ah…here comes the part I’m unsure of. I’m not unsure of the plan, or of my part in it. I’m just unsure of how to best present it to you. I don’t know how you’ll react to what I’m about to ask you.”

“I’m listening,” she said, gently urging him to continue.

“I need to get married.”

“I see,” Sunny said, shock not quite a strong enough word to describe her feelings.

“Sunny, did you think about what I’d asked you to? Did you think about what you wanted to do in your future?”

“Yes, I did, and I came up with nothing. The past few years were tough. I lost my dad, Scott broke up with me, he married someone else, and Dr. Rose retired. I was lost as to what to do next, when you showed up out of the blue and offered me a dream job. I accepted on the spot and have not regretted it for one minute. I love taking care of your children and I had no plans to move on anytime soon, but if you’re planning to get married, I guess I need to start thinking about what comes next.”

“Sunny, I don’t think you understand.” Chase set down his glass and took her hands in his.

“I want to marry you.”

“What?”

“It would be a marriage-of-convenience, so to speak, a business arrangement. I trust you, Sunny. I trust you with my children, with my business, and with my life. I can’t think of anyone more suited. Your name would immediately be added to the business, no one could get it away from you, should something ever happen to me. You and the children would be protected. I’ve drawn up all the paperwork and added you to my will, that’s what I was doing in Des Moines this week. You would want for nothing, Sunny. You would enjoy all the privileges of being Mrs. Chase Dupont. All the privileges you want, of course, I’m not expecting you to jump in my bed the first night. Over time, who knows? You would be protected and well taken care of for the rest of your life. But that’s the catch. It would be for the rest of your life, Sunny. I won’t put my children through a divorce after they’ve lost their natural mother. You’d have to agree to stay with me. You would be my wife and their mother. And in the eyes of the world, no matter what goes on behind closed doors, we would be the perfect newlywed couple, madly in love with each other. I will be faithful to you, no matter what and I would expect the same from you.”

“Wow…I never imagined this was the plan. How will this save your company?”

“For starters, Lindy won’t be able to continue with her plan. She’ll have to come up with a new one. And with your name on the company and with you on the Board of Directors, she and her father won’t only be fighting me, they’ll be fighting both of us. I want to share it all with you, Sunny. Do you think there’s any way you can consider it? I know I’m asking a lot, but I think we could make it work. I respect you, Sunny, and we get along well. The children love you. I’ll give you time to think about it, of course, but time is of the essence.” He looked into her eyes, once more, his gaze deeply penetrating.

“I don’t need to think about it. I’ll do it. I’ll marry you, Chase.” Her eyes met his and she smiled. If he only knew how much I wish this was a real proposal. At least I won’t have to worry about his ever being with another woman. He said he’d be faithful. And the pretending to the rest of the world certainly won’t be hard for me to do.

“Are you absolutely certain this is what you want? You do understand you’re making a lifelong commitment to me, Sunny.”

“I understand, Chase.”

“In that case, I picked up something for you in Des Moines before I left today. I hope you like it.” He took a small box from his pocket and opened it, revealing an exquisite diamond engagement ring. It was set in white-gold. The center diamond was large, with two smaller diamonds on either side of it. He removed it, took her left hand, and slipped it on her third finger. He got down on one knee and said, “Sunny Drake, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife? Will you consent to be mine for the rest of your life?”

“I will, Chase.” Am I dreaming?

He kissed her, a short kiss, but still a kiss to seal the deal. It was better than a handshake anyway.

“We need to make plans, Sunny. I want to announce our engagement as soon as possible. We’ll need to tell the children, our mothers, and the staff first, of course. Then we need to talk about the ceremony. It needs to be small and soon.”

“That’s all fine, but one thing I will insist on, if I may.”

“What’s that, Sunny?”

“I don’t want to be married at City Hall. I want to be married in a church, with a minister officiating. Even if this isn’t a traditional marriage, I want that.”

“That’s no problem. I know the perfect place. I’ll call the minister tomorrow. Will your mom be coming for the wedding?”

“Is that okay?”

“Of course, I thought perhaps the children, our mothers, Alma, George, Alice, and John and anyone else you might want to ask.”

“Dr. Rose and his wife, I’d like for him to give me away.”

“That’s fine. I’ll let you call everyone and tell them. I’ll do as much as I can to help with the arrangements, but I think you and Alice can probably handle most of it.”

“You’re giving me free reign?”

“Sunny, we’re partners from now on. It’s going to be small and quick, but other than that, you plan the wedding you want. It’s your day.”

“I’ll get right on it tomorrow. How soon are you thinking?”

“Within the month, if possible, I’ll know for sure after I speak to Reverend Key tomorrow.”

“Wow, that soon? Okay, I’ll need to get busy.”

“Sunny, you don’t know how much this means to me. I hope you know what you’re getting yourself into.”

“I do and I’m fine with it. I’m fond of you and I adore your children. The rest of it…we’ll see.”

“I’ll never rush you into loving me, Sunny. That’s something that has to happen when we both are ready. The marriage needs to come first, for obvious reasons. So, we’ll just do things a little backwards, the marriage first and maybe the courtship later. I’m hoping, in time, we’ll be able to be a normal, married couple. But, in no way, do I expect that of you right now. So please don’t fret about that.”

“I appreciate that, Chase, and I won’t fret about it. It’ll happen naturally. We can’t be married for the rest of our lives without it happening sooner or later.”

“Oh, Sunny, you’re such a breath of fresh air.” He leaned over and kissed her again, this time a little longer, a little deeper. He drew away and said in a husky voice, “I need to go to my room, or I may break my promise the first night not to rush you, Sunny.”

She got up and walked him to the door. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Remember, to the world, from now on out, we’re the happiest couple in the world.”

“Goodnight.” She shook her head and closed the door.

If he only knew that I really am the happiest bride-to-be in the world.