The Right Bride

Chapter Forty-One


MARTI WALKED IN the front door and heard the commotion upstairs.

“Give it back,” Emma screamed.

“You have to share,” Shelly yelled back.

Marti took the stairs two at a time, topped them, and wondered if she was at some warped elementary school fight. Shelly sidestepped in circles with Emma jumping up trying to grab the ruby and diamond necklace out of her upraised hand.

“That doesn’t belong to you,” Marti snapped.

Marti took a menacing step forward and Shelly started explaining quickly, “I want to wear it for my wedding, and the little brat won’t even let me borrow it, so I can try it on with my dress.”

“I’ll only tell you once, give it back to her. The necklace was her inheritance from her grandfather.”

“She got millions. It’s just a necklace. She needs to learn how to share.”

“Give it back to her,” Marti said emphatically.

“No. I’m going to be her stepmother and she needs to learn to respect me and do as I say.”

Marti refused to listen to another childish word. She grabbed the necklace and held her hand out to give it to Emma. With a frustrated growl, Shelly lunged for her, planted her hands on her shoulders, and shoved her backwards down the stairs.

She hit her shoulder, tumbled, and wrenched her knee. The pain from her shoulder shot up her neck, and her knee felt like it exploded with a pop.

Emma screamed. Shelly dragged her away from the stairs, pushed her into her room, and bent over her.

“If you say one word about what happened, I’ll make sure you never see your father again. Not one word,” she said and pointed her finger in Emma’s face.

Emma ran and hid under her bed. She held the necklace clutched in her fist and cried, thinking only one thing: Marti was dead and it was all her fault.

Shelly needed to do some damage control. She hadn’t meant to push Marti down the stairs. She just wanted her to butt out. It was worth a fortune and would look so great around her neck in all the wedding pictures.

She grabbed the phone and called Cameron. “Cameron,” she said breathlessly. “You have to come home quick.”

“What’s the matter? I’m almost there. Are you okay? Is it Emma?”

“No. Marti’s gone crazy. She tried to shove me down the stairs. She said she didn’t want me to have your baby and she was going to make sure I didn’t. You have to come home,” she sobbed out.

“Are you okay? Is the baby okay?”

“Yes, I managed to fight her off, but I’m not feeling well. Help me, Cameron.”

“I’m not far from the house. I’ll be there in a minute.”

He shouted to Jimmy, even though he’d probably overheard everything. “Jimmy, you have to hurry. Marti tried to throw Shelly down the stairs.”

“That doesn’t sound like something Marti would do.” Jimmy put his foot on the gas and hurried to the house.

A fight between Marti and Shelly couldn’t be good, no matter what the circumstances.

“Hurry. Shelly said she isn’t feeling well. I hope nothing happened to the baby.”

They pulled into the driveway and Cameron flew out of the car. He ran into the house. Marti sat on the stairs, leaning against the wall.

“Cameron.” Marti barely got that much out, she was in so much pain.

“What the hell did you do?”

“I . . .”

“I have to check on Shelly. She called me and told me what you did,” he accused. “How could you?” He ran up the stairs past her.

“Cameron, please,” she called after him.

“I don’t have time for you, Marti.” He cleared the last of the stairs and raced to Shelly’s room.

Jimmy came in and heard and saw everything. Cameron left Marti sitting there on the stairs. One look at her told him she was in bad shape. “Marti, are you okay?”

“No. Hospital.” She couldn’t move. Every little move hurt.

“What happened?”

“She pushed me down the stairs,” Marti whispered. She couldn’t take a full breath, her back hurt so badly. She had no idea how she’d managed to get up to a sitting position.

“Where do you hurt?”

“Everywhere. My back is hurt and my knee. I think it exploded. I’m pregnant,” she sobbed. “I can’t lose my baby.”

“Are you having any cramps?”

“I can’t tell. The pain in my back is terrible.”

“I have to get you to the car to get you to the hospital.”

“Just pick me up, but keep my leg straight. It hurts to try to bend it.”

He put his arms around her, lifted, and she stifled a scream of pain.

“I’m sorry,” Jimmy said and rushed her out the door.

Jimmy put her into her car and threw her purse in the back seat. He got in the driver’s seat, peeled out of the driveway, and raced to the hospital.

Cameron stood in the bedroom doorway, heard the car leave, and felt torn. He shouldn’t have spoken to Marti that way, but fear for his child overrode his common sense. He hated that she’d left and wanted to go after her, but Shelly needed him and he needed to be sure his baby was okay.

He lowered himself to sit on the bed. She cried softly into her pillow. Her back to him, he rubbed her lower back and told her it would be okay.

“Tell me what happened.” He tried to console her, praying she didn’t lose the baby.

“She attacked me. She doesn’t want me to have our baby. She tried to throw me down the stairs, but I moved away, and she fell instead. She tried to kill our baby.”

“She fell down the stairs?” Cameron’s heart stopped. He froze in shock. He’d been in such a hurry to get to Shelly, make sure his baby was okay, he hadn’t realized Marti might be hurt. Oh God, their baby.

“Yes. I got out of the way before she pushed me down. I couldn’t let her hurt our baby. Oh, Cameron, she’s so jealous you’re marrying me. She tried to hurt us. Our poor baby,” she sobbed.

She was laying it on thick, but she needed to go for broke. She’d gotten up the night before and heard everything Marti said to Cameron. Marti was pregnant, and she dared Cameron to make her take a pregnancy test. Only a matter of time before he demanded she do it. Now she had him thinking Marti tried to hurt her. He wouldn’t forgive her for trying to hurt his baby. She only had to get to Saturday and through the wedding. Nothing else would matter. She’d be Mrs. Shaw and there would be nothing anyone could do about it, baby or no baby.

He saw Marti sitting on the stairs. She wanted to say something to him. He didn’t know she’d fallen. She must have been all right to have peeled out of the driveway the way she did. Still, he pulled out his cell and called her. Voicemail.

Frustrated, he rubbed the back of his neck and let out a frustrated breath. Unable to reach Marti, he focused on the woman beside him. He ran his hand over her hair and down her arm. “Can I get you anything? Maybe we should go to the emergency room and make sure everything is all right with the baby.”

“No, darling. I just need to rest. I’m feeling better and the shock is wearing off. All this stress can’t be good for the baby.” She took his hand and held tight. Her eyes found his and he read the desperation. “She can’t live here with us, Cameron. It just won’t work. What if she tries to hurt me and the baby again?”

“She won’t. I won’t let that happen.”

“Lie down with me. When you’re with me, I feel safe. I’ll be able to rest and that will be best for the baby.”

Unable to deny her such a simple thing, he lay down on the bed behind her and pulled her to his chest and held her. She needed to remain calm. Stress during pregnancy could be detrimental to her health and the baby’s.

His mind wandered to Marti as it always did.

Where is she? Are she and the baby okay?

He had a fleeting thought of Marti falling down the stairs, but he forgot it the moment Shelly moaned and complained about not feeling well. He held her tighter and hoped his baby was safe.