The Right Bride

Chapter Forty-Four


CAMERON SPENT THREE days brooding since leaving the hospital with a sore gut and a bruised jaw. He’d locked himself in his office and worked like a demon, ignoring all the problems in his personal life. In the quiet evening alone in his office, he gave in to the grief eating at him and mourned his lost baby with Marti.

Emma refused to talk to him. She was quiet and stayed close to Jimmy.

Shelly continued to rest and claim the trauma of being attacked was too much to bear. She stayed in her room and ordered the staff around like she was queen of the manor.

He let her. He didn’t want to deal with her, or Emma, or anything besides the pounding in his head and heart, telling him he’d lost his baby and Marti.

He’d never recover from losing the baby he wanted more than life itself and the woman and the life they might have had.

He hadn’t gone back to the hospital to see her. He couldn’t. When he finally called to check on her, he didn’t know her last name and he’d forgotten the room number. He had no idea if she was okay, or where she was now. It was like she’d dropped off the face of the earth, or had simply been a dream.

He was the most concerned about Emma. She wasn’t eating well, never smiled anymore, and every time he asked if she was okay, she ran to her room and slammed the door.

He and Shelly were just arriving at the hotel for the benefit when he saw Elizabeth, Sam, and Emma get out of their own limo and walk into the hotel lobby. Emma looked beautiful in a gold gown. He wondered if Elizabeth bought her a new dress, because it wasn’t the dress he’d left for her to wear. She wore her necklace on her head. He thought of George and his wish for Emma to always feel like a princess. Cameron hadn’t made her feel that way in too long and he regretted it.

“What’s the matter?”

Shelly avoided being alone with Cameron. She was afraid he’d ask her about the incident with Marti again, or he’d ask her to prove she was pregnant. She’d made it this far and the wedding was tomorrow.

Marti hadn’t come home and she had no idea what happened to her since going down the stairs. She didn’t care, so long as she was gone.

Cameron worried her. He seemed sad and lonely and something else she couldn’t really pin down. He worked till all hours in the library and barely ate a thing. Probably missing Marti. She’d help him get over it, once they were married and she had him all to herself.

“I just saw Emma. She looks beautiful. Just like her mother. She won’t talk to me anymore. She stays in her room and watches movies. She isn’t the same.”

“Since Marti left, right? Isn’t that what you mean? She tried to hurt me and our baby, and you and Emma are just waiting around for her to come back and try again.”

“I doubt she’s in any shape to do anything. Last I saw her, she was in the hospital with her leg in a sling.”

“Serves her right for trying to hurt us,” she said and put her hand on her stomach. Cameron had been so sweet about the baby lately. He came home from work today and wrapped his arms around her from behind and put his hand over her stomach. She thought the gesture sweet, and for a moment even wished she was pregnant. The thought was immediately replaced with how fat she’d get. It would take her months to lose the weight.

Cameron caught the gesture of her putting her hand on her stomach and he was stricken with how he’d never see Marti do the same thing. Their baby was gone.

He stepped out of the limo and escorted her into the lobby. When they reached the doors leading into the ballroom, he stopped short, surprised. The benefit usually got a lot of press, but this was something else. Reporters and photographers were everywhere with flashes going off and people clamoring for interviews with Jenna.

Jenna made an announcement to the press. “I promise all of you Miss Fairchild will be in attendance tonight. She won’t answer questions. There will be a photo opportunity when she presents the gift to Miss Emma Shaw.”

“What about Tina Fair? We understand a lot of children attended tonight to see her.”

“She will be here and has an announcement and a gift for Miss Shaw. If you’ll excuse me, Cameron Shaw has arrived and we need to get inside.”

She turned from the press and headed for the doors to the ballroom with Cameron beside her.

“Ready to go in?” Jenna asked.

“Are you actually speaking to me again?”

“I’ve made an exception for tonight. This is going to be an enlightening evening for you. Shall we?”

“Hello, Jenna, your dress is lovely. You look spectacular.”

Jenna didn’t respond to Shelly. She thought Shelly looked tacky in a black skintight gown with a deep V-neck, leaving her boobs barely covered. Her blond hair was so teased and fluffy, Jenna thought she might be hiding a bird’s nest inside.

“I hope you have your speech ready to welcome everyone and thank them for coming tonight,” she said to Cameron.

“You never said I was speaking tonight. I don’t even know half of what you’ve got planned. Who is Miss Fairchild? Why are there so many children here? How did you get all these people to attend? I see at least twice as many people as we normally have.”

“You’re an idiot. We have nearly three times as many people. They’re all here to see the Sofia Fairchild collection and Tina Fair, the author of the Tina’s Travels books Emma loves so much.”

“She does love those books. I read them to her all the time. How did you get the author to come tonight?”

“She fell in love with Emma and had her publisher contact me to set things up. Miss Fairchild asked the curator of Sofia Fairchild’s paintings to contact me and provide eight paintings by the master artist. They’re all of her granddaughter when she was little. The series is called Martina.”

“I can’t wait to see them.”

“Wait till you see Miss Fairchild herself and Tina Fair.”

“Fairchild? The same Fairchild as Fairchild Industries?”

“One and the same. Miss Fairchild is in charge of special projects at Fairchild Industries. She’s the one you hear on the conference calls between our team and hers.”

“Great, we can do some business while she’s here and get to know each other before the project really takes off.”

“Oh, you already know her,” Jenna said under her breath.

Cameron didn’t hear her.

“I can’t believe I get to meet a Fairchild tonight. She’s wealthy beyond belief.” Shelly squeezed Cameron’s arm and smiled hugely.

“I understand she’s the richest woman in the state.” Jenna smiled at the statement Anthony Fairchild had once made about Marti. Shelly could appreciate a statement like that.

“You’re kidding.”

“Her uncle claims she is, and he should know. He runs Fairchild Industries. You’ve met Anthony Fairchild, haven’t you Cameron?”

“Several times. The man is impossible to get along with. All he thinks about is money.”

“So Miss Fairchild tells me.”

They arrived at the table. Cameron helped Shelly into her seat next to Sam’s partner, Tyler, of all people.

“Nice to see you.” Tyler extended his hand and Cameron shook it.

“Long time no see,” Cameron responded. “This is Shelly.”

“I have heard a lot about you,” Tyler said, no smile or welcome in his voice.

Shelly beamed him a smile, but at the cool reception she leaned back in her seat and gave him a confused look.

“I’ve been working undercover. I heard I missed one hell of a fishing trip. You’ve been busy, I hear,” Tyler prompted.

Cameron didn’t want to talk about the fishing trip or his life the past few months. “What brings you here tonight?”

This wasn’t exactly Tyler’s scene, or affordable on his cop’s salary. Not that Cameron thought he shouldn’t be here, but the sly smiles on Jack and Sam’s faces told him something was up.

“Charity. For children. I’m in. Don’t worry, I paid my two hundred bucks. I love kids. Besides, Sam promised to introduce me to Marti. I’ve heard so much about her, I feel like I know her already.”

Cameron glared across the table at Sam, a silent warning not to set Tyler and Marti up together. The last thing he wanted was one of his friends dating the woman he loved.

“I thought you were hunting down Morgan,” Cameron tossed out to rile Tyler about his psychic ghost.

“Yeah, well, she doesn’t want to be caught. Tonight, it’s all about the kids and Marti.” Tyler shared a knowing look with Sam and Jack, one Cameron wished he understood.

One of the organizers brought Jenna a microphone, ending all conversation. Since Cameron wasn’t in the loop about tonight’s events, she made the opening announcement.

Jenna tapped her spoon to her water glass. Once the crowd quieted and shifted their focus to Jenna, she began. “Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming tonight. We are pleased to have you here with us to raise money for a very worthy cause. The Emma Shaw Foundation supports the children’s hospital’s neonatal unit where Emma was born more than five years ago.

“As a special treat, we have Emma’s favorite author, Tina Fair, with us tonight. We also have a collection of Sofia Fairchild’s masterful paintings on display, which depict her granddaughter, Martina, as a young girl. Martina will be here tonight to present a special gift to Emma.

“Before we start tonight’s activities, please enjoy your meal. Thank you for coming, and most of all thank you for your generous donations.”

Everyone clapped and Jenna took her seat at the table reserved for the Turner and Shaw families.

Cameron tore his mind from thoughts of Marti and Tyler together and glanced across the table at his daughter sitting next to Elizabeth. She held Elizabeth’s hand and stared at Shelly with such fear, Cameron’s gut tightened. He needed to find out what had Emma so spooked.

She looked beautiful in her golden gown with her ruby and diamond necklace crown. He thought about the night Marti and Emma had their tea party on top of the dining room table.

“Elizabeth, the dress you bought Emma is beautiful. Emma, did you pick it out?”

Emma sat silently watching Shelly. Elizabeth squeezed her hand. She still didn’t answer him.

Elizabeth stepped in. “Marti had the dress made for her. She asked that Emma wear it tonight with her necklace crown.”

Cameron didn’t know what to say. A waiter placed his dinner plate in front of him, but even the smell of prime rib and mashed potatoes didn’t entice his appetite. He’d lost it the second he discovered he’d lost his baby with Marti.

“Cameron, why is everyone ignoring us?” Shelly was finally sitting at the table with all the important people and no one even acknowledged her.

“They’re all mad at me. It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

Jenna thought she might see how big of a hole Shelly could dig herself into. “Shelly, it was terrible to hear Marti attacked you. I hope you and the baby are all right.”

“We’re just fine. Cameron has been wonderful taking care of us.”

“I’m sure he has. There’s nothing more important to him than the baby you are carrying.”

Cameron caught the wording and glared at Jenna. Completely untrue, his baby with Marti was a dream come true, and devastatingly a reality that would never be. He missed his baby, even though they’d never met. The grief hit him hard again and his throat clogged. He wondered where Marti was. Was she all right? After he’d lost his mind and yelled at her in the hospital, did she hate him?

“He’s so excited about the baby,” Shelly’s cheerful voice broke into his dismal thoughts.

“When exactly is the baby due?” Jenna asked.

“Um, December seventeenth.”

Funny, she’d told him December twenty-seventh. An alarm went off in his head, making him listen more carefully to the exchange.

“Just before Christmas. What a nice gift,” Jenna added.

“I told Cameron the same thing.”

“I can’t believe Marti fell while trying to push you. It must have been horrible to see her fall face first down the stairs.”

“It was terrible. She pushed me, I moved, and she fell forward.”

“Wow. I’m surprised she didn’t break an arm or something.”

“Cameron said she hurt her leg. She deserves a lot worse for trying to hurt me and the baby.”

“Well, no wonder Emma’s been so upset. Seeing Marti attack you must have been awful. I’ll bet you must have been a big help in consoling her.”

Cameron sat straight up in his chair and leaned forward on his elbows. “Emma wasn’t there. She was in her room.”

“No, she wasn’t,” Jenna replied.

Well, this was news to him. After what happened, he’d tried to talk to Emma, but she froze up and refused to speak about it. Now he knew why. “Emma, sweetheart, did you see what happened?”

Emma crawled up on her Uncle Sam’s lap and hid her face in his chest.

“It’s all right, baby girl. No one is upset with you. You don’t have to talk about it.” Sam put his arms around Emma and held her tight. “Your dad thinks he knows everything.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Cameron had enough of everyone telling him what he did and didn’t know. The problem was, he didn’t know what he knew. Everything was mixed up and the only thing that mattered was he’d lost his baby with Marti. He’d lost her too.

“You already know what happened. Shelly told you, so that’s it, right? I mean, you marched right into Marti’s hospital room and told her what went down. It must be true,” Sam finished.

Jack got in on the act now. “That’s right. I’ve never seen anyone sum up what happened so succinctly without ever asking for both sides of the story. It’s too bad Sam and Tyler can’t lock up every suspect by simply having someone say, ‘He did it.’ All that evidence and finding out the truth is highly overrated. It’s better to accuse people and find them guilty without determining the facts.”

“What the hell are you all talking about?” Angry and even more confused, Cameron tried to read between the lines, but came up with nothing as usual. Emma still hid her face in Sam’s chest. She wouldn’t even look at him.

“Did you ever find out her last name?” Elizabeth asked.

Cameron squirmed. One simple question. It haunted him because he still didn’t know.

“No. Why? Did you?”

“Yes. After you left her uncle came to visit her. It was quite enlightening. We found out all kinds of wonderful things about her.”

“So, what’s her last name? What did you find out?”

Jenna joined back in on the fun. “You know what’s the most interesting thing about finding out who she is? The fact that she never actually hid it. It was right there for all of us to see, especially you, Cameron. It was right there in front of you the whole time, and you missed it every time she showed you who she is.”

Cameron remained confused and angry. He worried about Emma.

Jack got back in the fun at his expense. “She told us she never actually came out with her last name because if she did, we’d only know her because of it. Once we knew, she was right, in a way. It’s really impressive and hard to get past the name and everything you know about the name in order to get down to the person she really is. I, for one, am glad I got to know her as Marti. Imagine all we would have missed if we’d gotten caught up in her name.”

“What is her last name?” Shelly asked, but everyone ignored her again.

“You know, her uncle calls her eccentric because she works three jobs and hardly ever goes into an office. She likes her freedom and can work wherever she is. It’s amazing the amount of work she’s accomplished in such a short amount of time. Hell, she got Emma’s room done in two days.”

“Emma’s room is amazing. She must have had a dozen people in there getting it done.” Cameron thought of Marti every time he went into Emma’s room. She’d made her dream come true.

“Did you ask her how she did Emma’s room?”

“Well, no. I didn’t. It was so amazing, and . . .” Cameron remembered she’d been exhausted and Shelly had come in and spoiled things. “She was exhausted and went to bed.”

“You must have thanked her profusely. I mean it’s not every day you get the granddaughter of such a famous artist to do your daughter’s bedroom.”

“Are you talking about the person who painted the room? The mural on top of the bed was signed by M. Fairchild,” he said and sat back and looked up at the ceiling. “She had Sofia Fairchild’s granddaughter paint the room,” Cameron realized.

“You’re an idiot. You come so close, and then you blow it,” Sam said, disgusted. He really thought Jenna had led him right to the truth.

Dinner was cleared away and people were starting to mill around. The curtain for the paintings was closed and people were moving in that direction, waiting for the display to be revealed.

Sam’s cell phone vibrated, and he looked at the caller ID. “I believe this call is for you, Emma.” He handed her the phone.

“Hello.”

“Hello, Sugar Bug.”

“Marti.” Emma sat up on her uncle’s lap.

“I’m coming to see you tonight, just like I promised.”

“You always keep your promise. I knew you’d be here tonight.”

“That’s right, Sugar Bug. Uncle Sam is going to come and get me. I’ll meet you by the paintings. You stay with Aunt Jenna. Okay?”

“Okay. I’ll see you by the paintings.”

She handed the phone back to Uncle Sam, jumped off his lap, and took Aunt Jenna’s hand.

“Jack and Tyler are going to make sure you behave yourself,” Sam warned. “You’re in for the shock of your life. Everything you know about Marti is about to be blown to shreds. She tried to show you who she is as a person. Now you’ve left her no choice but to show you who she is to the world. That hurts her more than anything you’ve already done to her. You’ve accused her of a lot of things. None of them were true. You’re an idiot, and she’s about to prove that to you too.”

Sam left the table and went to a side entrance and waited for Jenna and Emma to make their way to the curtain by the paintings.

The curtain opened and everyone in the room saw the display, a set of paintings depicting a child from the age of about three until about twelve. The little girl had dark, wavy brown hair and the greenest eyes. Each painting showed the girl in different poses and scenes.

Cameron thought the little girl looked familiar. Very familiar. A shiver danced up his spine, but before he could really put his finger on it, Jack leaned over and said, “You wanted to know who Marti is, watch Sam at the door. You’re about to get your answer.”