“The wedding’s going to cost at least half a mil.”
“He offered twenty.”
“Twen—? Well, that might be a little much, even for—”
Disapproval flickered in her gaze. “You know Jane’s family.”
Good god. What the hell was going on? He felt like he was stuck in a Twilight Zone episode. “Twenty thousand? I guess that’d be enough if they’re planning to get married in t-shirts and shorts out on somebody’s lawn.”
“Don’t be absurd.”
“Me? Absurd? Our wedding cost almost a million and that was thirty-six years ago.”
“It was your family’s decision to spend so much.”
Salazar studied her. There was an edge in her tone that bothered the hell out of him. “You were fine with it.” And he had been too. Her wedding gown alone had come close to a hundred thousand, but it had been worth it to get an outfit befitting the most ethereal bride.
“Did I have a say in the matter?”
What the hell? “Of course you did. It was your wedding.”
“No, Salazar. It was your wedding with your mother deciding how it should go.”
“Shirley had nothing to do with it.”
“She had everything to do with it. But please. Let’s not argue about her.”
He scowled. He wanted to argue about his mother. He knew she’d never approved of Ceinlys, but Shirley had softened quite a bit by the time Dane was born. She’d adored her first-born grandson. But from the way Ceinlys angled her body away, he knew the conversation was over. Damn it. “You’re really okay with this ridiculous situation?”
“Shouldn’t I be?”
“It’s going to embarrass the family.”
Her lips tightened. “That’s why I agreed to help, but even without me it wouldn’t embarrass anyone.”
He sighed, and started thinking. “I guess you’re gonna need a free venue for the wedding.”
“About that.” Ceinlys paused. “I was going to send a message to Kimberly.”
Kimberly Sanford was his assistant, the only one to have lasted for more than a few weeks. “Why?”
“I wanted to talk to her about using the grove.”
That rankled. “You can talk to me directly for something like that. Iain’s my son too.”
Ceinlys’s eyes shuttered. “Yes, I’m well aware of that. I simply didn’t want to bother you unnecessarily.”
“You know Mark and Hilary got married there.”
“A summer ceremony. This will be a holiday wedding, entirely different.”
If Ceinlys said so. She would know about such things. “In any case, you can’t use it,” he said.
“Salazar. That’s truly petty, even for you.”
His jaw tensed. Always expecting the worst of him. He didn’t know why it hurt so much. It wasn’t as though it mattered. They were divorced.
So why the hell was he even here?
She looked away. “At least you didn’t wait until the last possible minute to tell me. Very well. I’ll come up with something else.”
Each of her words hit him like a club. She couldn’t think any worse of him, could she? And it was infuriating—the cool way she tilted her head, the dismissive way her gaze slid off him, like he didn’t matter.
If he didn’t matter, she should’ve never said those things at the hospital.
He opened the passenger door to his Aston Martin. “Get in.”
“What?”
“I’m taking you to the grove. If you still want to hold the wedding there after seeing it, be my guest.”
Chapter Six
Vanessa Pryce Sterling almost wept when her future in-laws piled into her living room. “Thanks, guys. You can’t imagine how much this means to me.”
“Always happy to help out,” Jane said with a big grin. Sensible woman that she was, she was in a simple lime green shirt and navy blue jeans.
“What she said.” Ginger Maxwell knelt down and cooed over Ryan, who stared up at her from a thick blanket on the floor. Her blue baby tee said Keep Calm and Keep On Clicking, and the white shorts showed off a pair of lean, tanned legs. Vanessa hoped the pretty blonde knew how uncanny babies’ ability to dirty clothes was, especially when they were your favorites.
Vanessa almost sighed. She was lucky her brother Shane’s fiancée was so forgiving. The memory of her bitchy behavior toward Ginger earlier still made her cringe inwardly, even though Ginger said she’d forgotten all about it. Then there was what she’d lost—her unborn baby. Vanessa prayed every day that Shane and Ginger would have another after they got married. If anybody deserved a baby, it was Ginger, who adored children.
“Where’s Hilary?” Sophia asked, taking the seat next to Vanessa.
“Working,” she said. “Much to Mark’s displeasure.”
“Why is Mark upset?”
“He thinks Gavin’s overworking her, but what can you do? The boss man’s working so she has to, too. Besides, Mark should be grateful that he’s cut back so much. Otherwise Hilary would never be home.”
“When’s Justin coming back?” Ginger asked.
“Tomorrow.” This time Vanessa did sigh. “Apparently this just could not wait.”
“Even though it’s the weekend?” Jane said, her eyes glued to Ryan.
“Yeah. It seems that people in Tokyo work even harder on weekends because…somebody else is probably working? I don’t know.” Vanessa huffed. “I would’ve never bothered you guys like this, but the nanny’s off too, and I’m at my wits’ end.”
Ginger cuddled Ryan. “Did you get any sleep?”
“No. He’s been very fussy without his daddy.” Vanessa yawned. “I’m sure I look awful.”
“You look great,” Sophia said loyally.
“Thanks, but I do own a mirror or two.” Which showed her the dark circles, sallow complexion, and fatigue weighing on her every cell. “Nobody told me it would be this hard. How on earth did Mom do it? And five times!”
“Live-in nannies help,” Ginger offered. She would know; she’d been with Shane since high school and had undoubtedly heard stories.
“I guess. Now I wonder if we should have one.” Vanessa sighed. “Then I feel bad for even thinking that, because he’s my son and I should take care of him.”
“There’s no shame in asking for help. It’s better than burning yourself out,” Sophia said. “Besides, don’t you have to go back to work soon?”
“No. I’m taking a full year of leave. I just couldn’t make myself go back so soon. It’s probably going to derail my career trajectory, but I don’t care. I might even take more time, depending.”
“You should do what you feel is best.” Ginger rocked the baby. “It’s not like you have to work to make ends meet.”
“True enough.” Justin had billions, and he loved to spoil his wife and new baby. Vanessa pushed her hair out of the way, then stopped. “Wait a minute. Wait a minute! Somebody’s holding back!”
“What?” Jane, Ginger and Sophia all said at the same time.