Cassidy knew that. Emma's personality was a bit fierce and she didn't hesitate to speak her mind no matter what the circumstances. "What if you were afraid that you'd be bringing up something that would make Paul leave you?"
Emma nibbled on her lower lip. "Honestly, Cassidy?"
Cassidy nodded as she pulled her sunglasses from her Coach handbag. She hid her eyes behind the overlarge Gucci glasses.
"I'd do it. I'd probably be bitchy about it the whole time, though. I hate feeling unsure, you know?"
"Yes, I do. This entire relationship with Donovan has gone from nothing to everything in such a short span of time, I don't think I've had a chance to adjust." She hated how much she worried about everything with Donovan. Before, she'd known that she could make things right between them in bed, and now … that simply wasn't the case.
"He might be feeling the same way. I mean, he came back to you to try again, not expecting to have a baby and a wife so quickly. How is he adjusting to fatherhood?"
"I'm not sure. This morning he took care of Van so I could sleep in, and he does spend at least a half hour every morning with Van, talking to him and walking him around the house while I get ready."
"What does he say?"
Cassidy didn't know. She felt as if she was intruding and wanted to let Donovan have some alone time with their son. She knew the things she talked to Van about were personal. Things that were full of her love for her baby. And sometimes she talked to him about her dreams for him.
"Do you know?" Emma prodded her.
"Not really. But he does seem to be making time for Van. I mean, he's a busy executive and that's not going to change, but when I need him he's there."
Emma gave her a one-armed hug. "He's different than I thought he would be at this point. I don't know what happened when ya'll were apart, but he's not the same guy he was before."
That was what she kept telling herself. And a part of her was afraid to believe it. She wanted this new beginning to be what led them to happily-ever-after. But she knew she was steeling herself for the possibility that it might not work out. And that attitude was coloring everything, making it so much harder to just be happy in the moment.
Maybe because she was afraid to let herself believe in those dreams that she'd held for so long.
Paul pulled up but was on his cell phone so Emma gestured that she'd be another minute. "He talks so loudly when he's on that thing."
Cassidy laughed at that. Paul did talk loudly on his cell.
"Did you ask Donovan about Maxwell's will?" Emma asked.
"Yes. He said it wasn't a big deal. He's already aware of whatever it was that Sam was talking about."
"That's all he said?"
"Yes. Why, did you hear anything else?"
"No. I asked my father about it, but he said it was none of my business."
"Well he's right."
"He isn't. If it concerns Donovan then it concerns you and we're best friends."
"Uh-huh. Did that change your dad's opinion?"
"Absolutely not. But he can be a bit of a stickler when it comes to rules. Remember that time he went ballistic when we took his Mercedes for a test-drive?"
Cassidy did indeed remember the incident, which had happened when they'd both been thirteen. Emma's older brother, Eric, had been bragging about his abilities behind the wheel and Emma had had to prove she could drive as well as he did. To be fair, Emma was at least as good a driver as Eric. Unfortunately her father didn't care about that, he cared only that thirteen-year-olds weren't supposed to be behind the wheel.
They parted ways when Paul got off the phone. Cassidy left, wondering if she had let her reunion with Donovan change something essential inside of her. She'd never been a coward before this. From the moment she'd met Donovan she'd known she wanted to be his wife-why would she let anything intrude on her happiness now that she was?
She needed to take some action. No more waiting for Donovan to make the first move. Tonight, when he came home from work and Van was in bed, she was going to seduce her husband.
Chapter Seven
Donovan drove home with Van buckled in the backseat of his Porsche Cayenne. He'd bought the SUV the day after they'd brought Van home from the hospital. The Cayenne had the engine power he was used to in his Porsche 911, but the safety and room needed for an infant.
He hadn't met with Sam or anyone else after Theo had left. His family made the Machiavellis look like inhabitants of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. He was angry and frustrated and ready to take on the entire board. This mess was getting out of hand. Granddaddy had started this fiasco with his ridiculous will and the way he'd always pitted his sons and grandsons against each other.
He dialed his parents' number and got their housekeeper, Maria, who informed him that his mother was out for the evening with her bridge club and that his father was in his studio.
Without thinking twice Donovan drove to his parents' house. He needed to talk to his father. He took Van out of the car seat when they got there and found that the baby needed his diaper changed. Donovan took care of it and then carried the baby around the back of the mansion he'd grown up in to his father's studio.
He knocked on the door but then opened it and entered, knowing his father never answered the door. His dad held up one hand in a gesture that Donovan knew meant he'd be a minute.
So he took Van on a walk around his father's studio, showing his son the pictures that had been taken of his father at different exhibits.
"What can I do for you?" his dad asked.
"I'm not sure. Uncle Theo visited me today and warned me against marrying Cassidy … . Dad, what's up? I thought for sure Mom would have mentioned the wedding to more of the family."
His dad wiped his hands on the front of his shirt and then walked over to where Donovan stood.
"I have no idea. Your mother votes my shares and has the active seat on the board. I haven't said anything to anyone because I've been in the studio. I have a show in three months and really don't have time for any of the Tolley-Patterson business."
It was a familiar scenario. Donovan had never really had any of his father's attention or his father's time. Sculpting came first for his father, and then family.
He looked down at little Van sleeping so quietly in his arms.
"I remember when you were that size," his dad said, gesturing to Van. "I used to keep you in here with me during the day."
He didn't remember that. "Really?"
"Well your mother was still an active executive at the company so it made sense for me to keep you. I had a playpen for you over in that corner."
His father turned to look in the direction he'd indicated and Donovan stood there awkwardly, realizing that he and his father had never been close so he'd never considered that he might have had dreams for him to be an artist. He thought of it now only because he knew he wanted Van to follow in his footsteps and one day take over running the family company.
"I need to talk to Mom about this. Will you ask her to call me when she gets home?"
"Yes. What did Theo say?"
"That I needed to marry a proper girl. One from the right sort of family."
His dad chuffed. "Sometimes I think the Tolleys forget that they were carpetbaggers."
"Dad, watch out, that kind of talk will get you disinherited."
"Wouldn't be the first time that I was threatened with that. That might not be a bad thing. Always remember that you aren't a clone of your grandfather."
"I know that."
"Do you? I think you've always wanted to be better than he was, but you know he took the company from a nearly bankrupt run-down business to where it is today. He carved his own path, Donovan, and I think a part of you has always hungered to do the same."
"Did he want you to do that, too?"
"We had a big argument about it when I decided to go to the Art Institute of Chicago instead of Harvard. He said that I was letting him down by not following in his footsteps … called me weak."
"That sounds like Granddaddy. He never could understand anything that happened outside the walls of Tolley-Patterson."
"I told him I wasn't his clone and I couldn't follow his path. I needed to follow my own."
Donovan's family didn't just live in Charleston, they were steeped in the history of this town. He'd grown up surrounded by his past the same way his dad had. But instead of shunning what was all around him, Donovan had embraced it.