The Stolen Bride

For weeks, Erin had feared her mother was letting herself go. Today, her upswept strawberry-blond locks emphasized both her patrician features and the sharp protrusion of cheekbones. Her peach-colored dress with its pearl-seeded jacket clung to a figure that was much too thin.

“Mom, I’ve called off the wedding,” Erin blurted.

“What?” Alice, who’d been eyeing Joseph dubiously, turned her full attention on her daughter.

“I can’t marry Chet. I don’t love him.” The words poured out of her. “I never accepted his proposal. He lied to me about that. I trusted him because I couldn’t trust myself, if that makes any sense. It’s lucky I found out the truth in time.”

She braced herself for a needle-sharp rebuke. She knew full well that the cream of Sundown Valley society was gathering and that countless hours of hard work had gone into whipping up the wedding.

“Have you told Chet?” Alice asked.

Erin nodded. “Of course.”

“Well.” Her attention returned to Joseph. “What is this detective doing here?”

“I had a few questions for your daughter,” he said.

“Mom, I’m sorry,” Erin rushed on. “I don’t think I can face all those people. Is there any way…could someone else…”

Alice sighed. “Lance will tell them. You come home with us, sweetheart, and we’ll take care of you.”

Erin threw her arms around her mother and started to cry. “Thank you.” She should have known her mother would come through when her daughter needed her most.

“We’ll work this out.” Despite her casual tone, her mother’s tight smile seemed pained.

Fearing she might be hurting her, Erin let go. She hadn’t realized until she felt the delicate bones how frail Alice had become. Although she was only forty-nine, the events of the last few months had taken their toll.

Lance had done this to her. Erin couldn’t let Alice stay there alone with him.

“I’m not going home,” she said. “Neither are you.”

“Of course I am.”

“It isn’t safe,” she said. “Think about what’s happened to both of us. The accidents.”

“We’ve had a run of bad luck but it’s over.” Alice retreated into haughtiness. “You know your father never approved of running away from problems. What do you think he’d say about all this?”

A noise inside the suite made Erin’s heart leap into her throat. Her stepfather thrust his way out of the bedroom, tugging irritably at the bow tie of his tuxedo.

Although for the past few weeks he’d behaved courteously, today his fleshy face wore a peeved expression. “I heard voices. What the hell are you up to now?” he demanded. Erin had never heard anyone speak to her mother that way.

Alice took a shaky breath. “Erin’s called off the wedding. She’s got that policeman with her.”

Lance thrust forward with such fury that Erin retreated onto the doorstep. “I told you to get lost!” he roared at the detective. “You’ve got no business showing up on my stepdaughter’s wedding day.”

“It’s not my wedding day anymore,” she said.

The corner of Joseph’s mouth quirked as he joined her on the step. “She requested my assistance with the bridegroom.”

“Erin, get in here. If there’s a problem with Chet, we’ll deal with it,” Lance snapped.

“I’ve already dealt with it,” she said. “Mom, come with us.”

Her mother uttered a short, mirthless laugh. “I’m fine, believe me.”

“Mrs. Bolding, if you need assistance…” Joseph began.

Lance blocked their view of his wife. Arms folded, he glowered. “She doesn’t need help from either of you. Erin, you may not like it but I’m Alice’s husband now and I’m tired of your attitude. In the future, if you want to talk to her, you can go through the board secretary at the Marshall Company.” He slammed the door.

Erin stood there, too shocked to stir. Her stepfather had just banned her from talking to her mother, and Alice hadn’t said a word.

Desperately, she turned to Joseph. “She’s obviously terrified. Can’t you do anything?”

He made a frustrated noise. “Not unless I can demonstrate abuse.”

“He almost drowned her!”

“I can’t prove that, and believe me, I tried.” Joseph steered her away from the building. “Unless he does something overt or she asks for help, our options are limited.”

Erin could hardly bear to walk away, knowing that once again she was failing her mother. “She was always so strong until Dad died. I don’t know what’s happened to her.”

“You can’t predict how people will react to losing a spouse.” They kept to the edges of the country club as they circled toward the parking lot, avoiding the golf center where people might gawk at her bridal gown. “I thought my mother would fall apart when Dad died in prison. Instead, she went back to work as a legal secretary and made a new life for herself.”

Suzanne Lowery had been a full-time mom, devoted to her family and always kind to Erin. She’d suffered when her husband’s alcoholism ended his police career. She’d supported him through rehab and encouraged him to apply for a job at the Marshall Company, where he’d risen to chief of security.

Then, during Joseph’s senior year in high school, his father had been accused—falsely, Erin believed—of robbery and murder. She’d tried to stand by the Lowerys but Joseph had pushed her away. She wished now that she hadn’t let him.

“I’m glad she’s okay,” Erin said. “For my mom, Dad’s death was like the bottom dropped out of everything. I guess I should have let her lean on me, but I was selfish. I took a month’s leave and went back to work.”

“It isn’t selfish to grow up,” Joseph said. “You couldn’t have known what would happen.”

Erin wanted to accept his absolution, but she retained a brutish image of Lance storming at her mother. What good was being rich if she couldn’t protect the person she loved most?

Joseph had left his aging sedan in a side lot. “I figured my dent magnet would stand out like a sore thumb next to all the Lexuses and Cadillacs in front,” he said, unlocking it.

“Is this an undercover car?” Erin moved aside a couple of files and a fast-food bag before shifting into the seat. At least there was plenty of legroom for her full skirt.

“Nope, it’s mine. Not much to look at, but it’s paid for.” After tucking her inside, he closed the door.

In Tustin, Erin had driven a low-priced model bought with her own earnings, but she knew it wasn’t the same thing. In the hospital, realizing how much trouble it would be to deal with the car while recuperating, she’d donated it to charity. Once she got permission from the doctor to drive again, she could always buy a new model. Joseph didn’t have that option.

Money only made a difference if you let it, she thought. In essential ways, the two of them were equals.

When he settled behind the wheel and stretched his shoulder muscles, the vibrations traveled along the bench-style seat. Erin relaxed. She used to love riding beside him.

“Let’s stop by your parents’ house,” he said. “While they’re out, it’s a good time for you to pick up a few clothes. Then tell me where to take you.”

“I have no idea,” she said.