Authors: Mia Caldwell
And how do you know
, I desperately wanted to ask but decided to stay on track. “His name is Andrew Rutledge. He wanted a child but couldn’t find the right woman to settle down with and start a family.”
Aileen pulled her phone from out of her purse and began moving her finger over its screen while my mother’s brow furrowed in disapproval. “And how did you meet this person? At work? What would make you agree to such a scheme? What’s going to happen to your job while you’re out on maternity leave?”
“NKL Laboratories suspended my job offer before I could begin working there, so taking maternity leave isn’t an issue.”
“You never began working there? Then where have you been working? What have you been doing all these months?”
Before I could answer, Aileen turned her phone around and stuck it in my face. “Is this your Andrew Rutledge?”
On the screen was a picture of
Fortune
magazine with Andrew on its cover. I nodded and said, “That’s him.”
She elbowed my mother. “I can tell you what Ryanna’s been doing all these months. She’s been securing her future! Ryanna’s hooked herself up with a billionaire! This guy is paid! P-A-I-D!”
My mother took the phone and flicked her finger over the screen. Her jaw dropped lower and lower the longer she stared at it. She finally dropped the phone into her lap and glared at me. “What have you done, Ryanna? Just what have you gotten yourself into?”
I returned her gaze but found myself at a loss for words. “I don’t know, Mom. I thought I knew what I was doing when I started, but now I’m not sure.”
She got up off the sofa and crossed over to me to give me a hug. A half-sob rose up in me as my mother embraced me, but she shushed it by stroking my hair. “Don’t cry, we’ll get through this.”
As impossible as the situation felt, my mother’s words comforted me. The tension and anxiety that had built up inside of me ebbed away as I took her words to heart.
We’ll get through this
.
It took four more times of my going over how I met Andrew and how we arrived at our deal before the reality of it sank in for my mother. But even now as we sat around the dining room table for a late lunch, she still occasionally shook her head, like she didn’t believe it.
On the other hand, my aunt inserted herself into the mix with great gusto. She grabbed my mother’s laptop and parked it beside her on the table to continue doing her “reconnaissance,” as she put it. We couldn’t even eat our soup and salad in peace without Aileen sharing little factoids she’d discovered about Andrew on the internet.
“According to this, Rutledge Electronics is worth well over twenty billion dollars and Andrew Rutledge’s personal net worth is close to five billion.” Aileen looked up from the computer screen. “Did you know this, Ryanna?”
“I know he’s rich, but I don’t know exact figures, no.”
She made a tsk-tsk sound. “You settled way too cheap. Your man probably makes three million dollars every five minutes. Ten or fifteen million should have been the jumping off point for negotiations. Too bad I wasn’t there to handle things.”
“I didn’t do this for the money. Well, not totally,” I added after a sharp look from my mother. “What I mean is that I’m not trying to be greedy. In fact, I’m not even planning on keeping the million I’ve already been paid. I’m going to pay Andrew back what I’ve already spent as soon as I line up a job.”
My mother sighed as Aileen’s jaw dropped open. “Are you nuts? That money is yours. You should think about how to get more of it, not giving it back.”
“The money has wound up causing more problems than it’s solved by putting Andrew’s job as CEO in jeopardy. Plus, the money binds me to him in a way that’s made me feel uncomfortable.”
Aileen pointed to my stomach. “That baby you’re carrying is what binds you to him, at least for the next eighteen years. I plan to make sure you’re compensated very properly during that time. I figure the baby will need at least a twenty million dollar trust fund after it’s born. Your mother and I can be the executors and administrators of it.”
With my aunt getting on my last nerve, I looked to my mother to see if she’d put Aileen in her place, or at least get her to dial down the naked greed. But Mom didn’t seem to pay attention to either one of us. She kept her eyes down on her plate and toyed with her salad.
Aileen turned her focus back to the computer screen. “It says here that Andrew Rutledge owns a twenty-five thousand acre estate outside of Philadelphia and that he has a thirty thousand square foot mansion on it. Is that where you’ve been living with him?”
“I don’t know the exact figures but yes, I’ve been staying in the guest rooms in the mansion on his very spacious estate.”
My aunt smiled and rubbed her hands together while my mother looked at me. “Guest rooms? So you aren’t intimately involved with this man?”
“Um . . . well . . . we were, but not now.”
“What does that even mean? I don’t . . .” Mom shook her head, leaving the thought unfinished.
“Rachelle, it doesn’t matter. Ryanna’s pregnant and that’s all that counts.” Aileen couldn’t keep the glee out of her voice. “We are all set for life. Ryanna, you should tell this billionaire CEO of yours that you and the baby would be much more comfortable if you had your family around you. Your mother, your uncle Donald, and I should all be able to live very comfortably in a ten or fifteen thousand square foot mansion on that estate of his. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy.”
“Let me see, a twenty million dollar trust fund to oversee and a fifteen thousand square foot mansion to live in. Is there anything else I should ask for, Aunt Aileen? What about a heated indoor swimming pool to go in that mansion? And surely you’ll need new cars to go along with the lifestyle upgrade. Should I tell Andrew to get you a Bentley or a Rolls Royce?”
Aileen put her finger up to her chin and her expression turned pensive, as if she was seriously considering the matter. “A Rolls Royce will do, but neither Donald nor I are into swimming. Could Andrew install a marble jet spa instead?”
The faint noise of my phone ringing from where I’d left it in the living room saved me from telling my aunt where she could shove the Rolls Royce and the marble jet spa. By the time I got to my purse and pulled out my phone, I’d missed the call. Apparently, it was the second call I missed, both from Andrew. He’d texted me too.
Hi, how’s it going?
Have you told your mother yet?
What did she say?
Are you okay?
A beep let me know he’d just left a voice mail. I pressed the screen to listen to it.
“Uh, hi, Ryanna, just wanted to check in. I know you were nervous about telling your mom about us and the baby and . . . uh, I was just wondering. Call me back when you get this. Bye.”
While I didn’t really feel like talking to Andrew, I needed a break from my aunt. I called him back and he answered the call before the first ring could finish.
“Ryanna, so glad to hear from you! Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, but not sure if I can say the same for my mother. I think she’s still in shock.”
“Which part? You being pregnant or my being the father?”
“Both. I think she’ll get used to the idea but it will take some time.”
“You think it would have been easier for her to get used to the idea if I’d been there?”
“Maybe,” I said, more to reassure him than actually believing it. “But I know you were busy with work. Don’t worry about it. I got this.”
I heard him sigh. “You don’t have to do this alone.
I want to be there
.”
The urgency in his tone convinced me of his sincerity. “You know, I kind of wish you could be here. Maybe seeing you in the flesh would help all of this sink in for my mother.”
“I’m glad you said that.” Andrew chuckled. “Now I know I was right to go with my instincts and come to you.”
“What are you talking about? Andrew?” Through the living room window, I could see an unfamiliar black SUV approach the house. Since my car and Aileen’s took up all the space in the driveway, the SUV had to awkwardly pull up onto the edge of the lawn.
I opened the door and walked outside to meet Andrew as he emerged from the driver’s seat. “What are you doing here? I thought you had an important meeting with your senior executives about how to deal with your board of directors?”
Andrew shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans and shrugged. “Nothing is more important than this. Besides, I wouldn’t get any work done meeting with them if I couldn’t think about anything but you.”
Although I’d said I wished he was here, not that he was, all of my tension and anxiety returned. “Are you sure you want to do this? My mother didn’t take the news that well so she’s not in the greatest mood. Plus, my aunt is here, and she’s kind of money hungry, but just ignore her, okay?”
“I’ll be fine.” He took one of his hands out of his pocket and entwined his fingers with mine. “
We’ll
be fine.”
I wasn’t so sure, but I led him into the house anyway, the two of us holding hands. My mother and Aileen were waiting for us in the living room. Mom’s arms were folded and her eyes narrowed in suspicion while my aunt smiled like she’d met the person who would give her a winning lottery ticket.
“Andrew, this is my mother, Rachelle Owens, and my aunt, Aileen Howard. Mom, Aunt Aileen, this is Andrew Rutledge.”
My aunt stepped forward, beaming and with her arms spread wide. She elbowed me out of the way and gave Andrew as big a hug as the one she gave her husband when he presented her with a Chanel bag at her surprise birthday party last year.
“Heeelllooo,” she said when she finally let him go. “It’s so nice to meet you. Ryanna’s told us all about you.”
“No, I didn’t. I only told you his name. You’ve been googling the rest of it for the last three hours.”
Aileen shot me a dirty look but quickly turned back to Andrew with her charm on full blast. “My niece likes to joke around. We’re very close and can kid each other like that. But Ryanna’s future is no joking matter. Her mother and I were very surprised by the baby news. We want to be assured ─”
“Aunt Aileen,” I interrupted. “Wouldn’t it be polite to at least offer Andrew something to drink and let him sit down before you start in on him?”
“Of course, of course.” Aileen led him to the sofa, where she sat beside him. I glanced over at my mother, who hadn’t said a word and her silence started to worry me.
She looked back at me with an inscrutable expression. “Go ahead and sit down. I’ll go to the kitchen and make coffee for all of us.”
I wanted to tell her I couldn’t drink coffee because of the baby but decided not to test her patience any further. Aileen had resumed her questioning of Andrew as I sat in the chair opposite them.
“You are the CEO? That means you’re the top guy in charge, right? No one tells you what to do.”
“I have a board of directors who would beg to differ.” Andrew shot me a wry grin. “Ryanna listens to me complain about them enough, so I’m sure she understands.”
“I do,” I said, though I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to be understanding. But if agreeing would get us through this awkward encounter, I’d play along.
Aileen’s smile remained in place, but her tone grew more strident. “Well, you might be used to bossing around thousands of people in your company, but Ryanna’s mother and I won’t let her be taken advantage of. I’m putting you on notice we are here to look out for her best interests and that of her baby’s.”
Andrew didn’t bat an eye but I was outraged enough for the both of us. “What the hell, Aunt Aileen? You know good and well I haven’t told you or Mom anything that indicated Andrew has taken advantage of me or hasn’t looked out for my interests or the baby’s.”
“She’s right,” my mother said as she entered the living room carrying a tray with a pot of coffee and four cups. Andrew stood up to take it from her and placed it down on the glass table separating him and Aileen from me. Mom sat in a chair adjacent to me as she continued.
“From what Ryanna has told us about your . . .” She seemed to struggle to find the right word. “. . . agreement, it sounds like you’ve been more than fair, Mr. Rutledge.”
“Please call me Andrew.” A small, hopeful smile crossed his face but my mother didn’t return it, only giving him the smallest of nods.
“I can’t say I approve of my daughter entering into such an agreement.” Mom turned and looked at me. “I wish you’d come to me after the job offer with NKL fell through. You didn’t need to be so desperate as to enter into something like this.”
“Mom, I wasn’t ─”
She held up a hand to silence me and turned back to Andrew. “I don’t approve but what’s done is done. Ryanna said you’ve agreed she can be part of the child’s life after it’s born. Does that extend to me as the grandmother?”
Andrew nodded his head vigorously. “I want our child to have as big of a support network as possible. That includes all of Ryanna’s relatives, especially grandparents and great-aunts,” he said, gesturing in Aileen’s direction.
My mother let out a small sigh and I watched the tension drain from her face. She’d been worried she wouldn’t get to see her grandchild! I was glad Andrew set her mind at ease on that score.
However, Aileen still had an impatient look on her face. She tapped her foot as she said, “Support systems are all well and good, but that still doesn’t tell us how you plan to take care of Ryanna and the baby. We need to talk hard numbers ─”
“Aileen,” my mother interrupted in an icy tone. “Give it a rest.”
My aunt sulked but Andrew nodded. “Ms. Owens, if you don’t mind my saying, I think Ms. Howard makes an excellent point. Ryanna means the world to me and I know she’s beyond precious to the two of you.”
Aileen leaned forward, invading his personal space. “That she is. So what do you intend to do to show what Ryanna means to you. Marriage seems to be in order.”
“Aunt Aileen, back off,” I told her in the meanest voice I could manage, though the shakiness of my tone undermined the effect.
“Actually, I asked Ryanna to marry me, but she turned me down.”
Both my mother and aunt looked at me with almost identical expressions of surprise, eyes widened and mouths slack-jawed. “Is this true?” Mom asked.
I nodded, and Andrew hurried to add, “And she was absolutely right to say no. I didn’t ask her in a way that expressed my true feelings. I put the marriage proposal in terms of how it would be good for me and Rutledge Electronics. She should have turned me down because I didn’t tell her how much I love her or how I don’t want to live without her.”
My heart pounded so loudly, I didn’t think I heard him correctly. Did he say
he loved me?
Before I could ask him to repeat himself, to make sure I wasn’t dreaming, Andrew stood up and walked over to where I sat. He kneeled in front of me, and the room began to spin while time seemed to come to a standstill.
Andrew wore a bulky gray fisherman’s sweater that concealed the small black velvet box he pulled out of his pocket. He opened it to reveal a perfect pear-shaped diamond ring. My left hand shook as he slid the ring on my fourth finger.