She nodded once, going from motherly to businesslike. “Stuart came from nothing. Paltry introductions from your father won’t give him instant credibility, but linking himself more firmly to the Winstead name will. He has a great fondness for you, Hayden. He’s agreed to pay off the loan only if you marry him.”
Hayden’s stomach bottomed out. Even though she’d seen the bombshell coming, it still hit like a well-placed blow. None of it seemed real. This morning, she’d woken up to her neatly ordered life. Before Brent had swaggered in and blasted holes in her perception of herself, of everything. Now, her freedom was in danger of being snatched away. A marriage of convenience. They still happened frequently in her world, but she’d never expected to be part of one. No, this couldn’t be happening.
“This came as a surprise to me, too, you know. I was blindsided when I saw our bank statement and realized how much of our family money he’s already sunk into fixing the problem. Millions upon millions. Gone. Of course, he refused to touch any of your charity accounts.”
Her mother watched her carefully. Hayden knew her horror must be showing on her face, because she finally went in for the kill. She spoke very quietly, but her words stung like little bees all over Hayden’s body. “Dear, I’m sure I don’t need to remind you what your father did for us all those years ago. Where we would be without him. Frankly, we owe him.” She clutched her purse in her lap. “Your father knows nothing of this, mind you, and we need to keep it that way. He’d be devastated if he knew I’d burdened you with this.”
Yes, Hayden thought dully, she did owe him. It was the only reason she’d even entertained the idea of marrying Stuart this long. Her father, her paternal father, was long dead. Two brothers had inherited millions of dollars and Winstead Investments, but only one had shouldered the responsibility of running it. The other had taken his half of the money and blown it on bad investments, partying, and women. She’d been the product of a one-night stand, back when her mother was a college student. Her father had overdosed before Hayden had been born, and her mother had been left behind with an unwanted pregnancy. She’d come to Hayden’s now-father, begging for help. After a paternity test, he’d taken them both in, adopting Hayden in the name of respectability. Blood is blood, she imagined he’d said. After all, she’d only been a baby at the time. But she knew this story by heart as her mother brought it up whenever it became necessary to keep her in line.
“Hayden?”
She stared at the floor. “How much time do I have to decide?”
“One week. You have one week.”
Chapter Eight
Hayden flopped back onto the cracked leather seat and signaled the bus driver to drive. Quickly. Before one of the three dozen kids behind her on the bus remembered they needed to pee or say another final goodbye to their parents. Deborah, the other volunteer for today’s expedition, dropped into the seat across the aisle, looking equally shell-shocked. Hayden had made this trip to a farm upstate as part of her Clean Air charity once a week throughout the entire summer, the goal being to take underprivileged kids out of the polluted city for the day, giving them a chance to experience life outside of Manhattan. Today marked their last trip of the season and she still hadn’t discovered a way to load the excited kids onto the bus without it turning into a three-ring circus. Did that make her the ringleader or a clown?
Her relieved exhale was lost among the shouting and laughter coming from the back of the bus, but she couldn’t deny feeling a sense of accomplishment. She’d watched the children flourish over the summer, working with animals and spending time around nature. While Hayden preferred the city, she’d never once felt trapped by limited financial resources, as if she couldn’t leave. Her family’s frequent vacations had made sure of that. Yet she was painfully aware that she could have easily been one of these kids if it weren’t for her father. As always, the reminder of her father’s selflessness caused an invisible weight to press down on her shoulders. Only now it felt twice as heavy.
She’d had a difficult time sleeping last night. After having her mother drop the Stuart bombshell on her, she’s been kept wide-awake by the possibility of an arranged marriage. It certainly didn’t help matters that she suddenly wanted a man she despised, or should despise, rather. Time had flown while she pondered her fate, tossing and turning in bed, the ticking clock on her decision already speeding by in a blur. Sometime around 3:00 a.m., Hayden thought she had the crisis solved. Her mother mentioned her father’s reluctance to use the money set aside in her name. She would just have to convince him otherwise.