Bonds of Matrimony Read online

  Since then her dad had applied for every possible job going, all without success. She knew that he felt badly every time he came back from an interview with a ‘no’, but she was more concerned with how it was affecting his health. Ever since he’d lost his job his health had deteriorated. He’d been inundated with colds that seemed to take forever to shift, and he looked so incredibly worn.

  Add that to the fact that his spirits were low due to his employment status, and the man looked truly awful. Ellie had urged her father repeatedly to go to a doctor, but he kept refusing, claiming that it was about time that he had a cold; he’d spent forty years without so much as sneezing, it was bound to catch up with him.

  Ellie wasn’t convinced, but she knew her father well enough to know that she wouldn’t be able to change his mind or make him do something that he didn’t want to.

  “Well,” she said encouragingly, getting back to the topic at hand. “It’s good for you to have had a break. You spent so many years working hard to take care of us that it’s my turn now,” she said with a wide smile.

  “That’s not how it works, Ellie,” her dad said lowly.

  “We’ve never been conventional, Papa,” she said with a wider smile and finally got a real smile in return for her efforts.

  “I suppose we haven’t.”

  “Do you remember the time that Yvette stayed over?” she said as she settled back to reminisce with her father and smiled when he broke into a hearty laugh.

  “The poor girl,” her dad said with a shake of his head.

  “Her poor parents!” Ellie rejoined.

  “You’d think that at fourteen she’d have been well aware of the facts of life,” her dad said with another chuckle, and Ellie giggled.

  “I’m pretty sure that at fourteen Yvette was very much aware of the facts of life. I think the problem was more that she was completely unaware of the fact that people’s parents would be just as aware of them.”

  “From the way she went on about it all you’d think that her parents had never had sex.”

  “I think in her mind they hadn’t.”

  “Immaculate conception, was she? That’s only ever happened once, and it was a heck of a lot longer ago than when Yvette was conceived,” her dad teased, and Ellie smiled once again. “Anyway, it’s not like she saw anything,” he added with a shake of his head.

  “No, but sound travels in this apartment. She was just unfortunate to wake up in the middle of the night,” Ellie added with her own shake of her head as she recalled her friend’s horrified expression when she’d woken Ellie up in turn.

  Her dad’s smile dropped slightly, and Ellie eyed him cautiously, trying to figure out what had caused the change in him. “Did you ever resent us?” he asked, and Ellie found herself surprised at the question.

  “For?” she asked.

  “Being so open with you,” her dad explained. “Your ma and I never wanted you to feel uncomfortable coming to us, so decided to be open and frank from the start with you. I never thought that perhaps you would rather we hadn’t,” he said, and Ellie thought about it.

  “No. I never resented you, Papa. You never did anything inappropriate in front of me, but I wasn’t naïve to the fact that you showed your affections to each other behind closed doors. You and Mama never made it crude or illicit, you were just honest. I appreciated that. Especially in my teenage years when I could go to Mama with anything. It was never lurid, you taught me that relations between men and women were special, sacred, meant to express love and commitment. I got that. A lot sooner than my friends ever did.”

  “I’m glad,” he said with a sigh as he settled back.

  “What made you ask though?” she asked with a furrowed brow.

  Shrugging, her dad replied, “Just something from earlier today. A conversation that I was having with somebody who seemed uncomfortable and appalled at the idea that I’d be aware of your sexual activity.”

  “Well, a lot of people aren’t used to being able to turn to their parents, Papa. I’d never go into detail with you, but I always thought of you and Mama as my friends as well as my parents. Who better to get advice from?” she said with a smile.

  “I’m glad your ma was still about for those years that you needed her,” he said, and Ellie could hear the sadness that had crept into his words at thoughts of the woman he loved.

  “So am I,” she said with a smile.

  “Pity she couldn’t be with you now,” he said softly, and Ellie wondered what that comment meant.

  “She is with us, Papa. In our hearts and in our memories,” she explained and watched as he smiled while looking over at her.

  “And in that hair of yours,” he commented, referring to her fiery curls.

  “And matching temperament,” she teased with a smile, and her dad laughed again.

  “Aye, that too. Proper Scotch lass. Red hair, green eyes, and a warrior’s spirit,” he said proudly, and Ellie’s smile widened again.

  “I’m sure that’s why Nana liked me so much.”

  “Reminded you of her homeland.”

  “If I’d ever managed to don the accent I would have been the most perfect person in the world to her,” she said wistfully at thoughts of the old battleax.

  “You don’t need the accent,” her dad said tenderly and he sobered again. “You deserve more than this,” he added as he gestured at her maid’s uniform before swinging his hand around their small apartment. “You’re so young, you’ve got so much promise, you could have been anything under the right circumstances,” her dad lamented.

  “Hey,” she said with a furrowed brow. “Where’s this come from? We’re happy here. I’m happy here. Yes, I work hard, but it’s good honest work, Papa. I don’t mind it. And we’re lucky. We have each other. We have our home. We have a whole host of memories to enjoy. And we’ve got a grand future ahead of us,” she said with an encouraging smile.

  “You’re twenty-two, Ellie. You shouldn’t be working so hard. You should be enjoying your time. You shouldn’t have the responsibility of caring for a parent on your shoulders. You could be anything. You deserve the chance to have everything,” he said more firmly, and Ellie found her brow furrowing in concern. Her dad had never thought anything of the way that they lived before.

  She knew that plenty of people would pity them for their meagre possessions and tough lives, but Ellie knew that they had something that no amount of money could buy: they had love. Love and the true friendships that were formed over years of truly being there with one another.

  Yes, at times she wished that she didn’t have to work so hard. And yes, at times she wished that they had more money to take away the strain of financial uncertainty. But all in all theirs was a good life. A life that she was perfectly content with.

  As for taking care of a parent, her father had worked long hard hours when she was younger to provide for their family and allow her mother to stay at home with her, to be there for her. It was now Ellie’s chance to repay him for all of the sacrifices that he’d made for her. He deserved to enjoy his time, she only wished that she’d have been able to give him the opportunity while her mother had still been alive.

  Ultimately it didn’t matter though. Her parents had always made time for each other, had always put each other first. Yes, her father had worked long hours, but he’d always made sure that his wife knew that she was cherished and loved. Janet Kincaid had known that the long hours of work were necessary to provide for their family. She’d known that she was loved.

  Looking at her father though, Ellie could see the regret on his face and wondered if he knew that. Wondered if he knew how much his wife and daughter loved and respected him for how hard he’d always worked to take care of them.

  Just in case he didn’t though, Ellie thought it best to take the opportunity to tell him.

  “I do enjoy my life, Papa,” she reassured. “And I don’t ever consider you a responsibility or burden. It’s a privilege to be able to give back even a part of w
hat you’d always given me when I was younger. And with regards to having what I need? I do,” she said with a smile. “I have friends and family I love and who love me in return. I have a life that is good and honest. I enjoy myself enough, and work hard enough to feel productive and worthwhile. I’m not lacking in anything,” she finished with another smile.

  Getting up, Ellie gave her dad a hug and before he could say anything else, said, “Now. As much as I enjoy my job, I’m going to go and get myself changed. Then we can sit down for a nice dinner together. We’ve got that casserole from last night if you’d like?” she said and smiled when he nodded.

  “You’re a good girl,” he said with tears forming in his eyes.

  “I’m only as good as those who raised me, Papa,” she returned before giving him one more hug then heading off to get on with the evening’s routine. She wished her dad would find a job, if only to feel better about himself.

  It was hard watching the most important man in her life become so down and frail. With a heavy and heartfelt sigh, Ellie entered her small room and just shook away the gloomy thoughts. Things would get better. She just needed to be patient. Things would turn around. She was sure of it.

  * * *

  Looking up at the building in front of him, Zach sighed and gritted his teeth while questioning his sanity. Yet again. He wasn’t sure why he was even considering his current course of action, but he was. Seriously. And that was a worry.

  With another deep breath he pushed his way inside and shook his head. Not even a lock on the outside door of the building. He knew that West Park wasn’t exactly an affluent area, but he was surprised at how run-down it all was.

  Malcolm Kincaid was definitely an intriguing man. If he hadn’t tried to blackmail Zach, Zach could even find respect for the man and the audacity that he’d shown. He didn’t though. All he felt was resentment and anger at the person who had disrupted his day.

  Consulting the address he had once again, Zach made his way up the shabby interior staircase and headed for the third floor of the building. Apartment 3F, it said. There were six apartments per floor. Amazing to think that you could fit that many in such a small area.

  Shaking his head, Zach just determinedly continued on his way to get this whole fiasco done with as quickly as he could. Approaching the door of his destination, he inhaled deeply while questioning himself once again. Was he really going to do this? Really?

  Memories of the phone call that he’d received earlier in the day intruded, and Zach knew that he was. He couldn’t see any way out for the moment. If he’d had more time, more warning, then maybe he’d have been able to think of a solution, but as it stood he couldn’t risk it. If he was lucky maybe he’d be able to think of a way out afterwards, when everything with regards to his sister had been settled.

  As his resolve set, Zach raised his hand and knocked sharply on the door in front of him. He was here, he was going ahead with this farce, and he was not happy about it.

  The sound of somebody approaching from the other side caught his ears and Zach braced himself for another confrontation with the man from earlier. Instead of seeing the man he’d expected to, however, he found himself staring into the face of a young, and remarkably beautiful looking, woman. She had red hair and green eyes, and the palest skin he’d ever seen in his life. There were a few freckles spread across her nose, but considering her coloring, her complexion was surprisingly free of any other marks on her porcelain skin.

  As his gaze trailed down the rest of her figure, Zach couldn’t help but admire it. She wasn’t tall, but neither was she short, falling somewhere exactly around average height. Her figure was young, but toned and in all the right proportions for his tastes, and Zach was thrown momentarily. He hadn’t been expecting the vision in front of him.

  Checking the number on the door, Zach wondered if he had the right address. Or perhaps this was Malcolm Kincaid’s wife instead. This couldn’t be the daughter that was being foisted upon Zach. No man would need to force such a beautiful woman to wed a complete stranger. This woman could get anyone she set her mind to with her looks.

  Personality didn’t really matter if you just wanted a rich husband. Zach himself knew plenty of men who didn’t look any further than the outside package. And this girl had plenty outwardly to entice any man to marry her. Many a man would happily wed her, content for her to remain mute and in their beds. This didn’t make sense.

  “Can I help you?” she finally asked, after obviously deciding that enough time had passed enduring his silent stance on her threshold.

  “I need to speak to your father,” he said abruptly as he straightened himself up and noticed her leery look at his combative tone.

  “I’ll just get him for you,” she said with a furrowed brow as she turned to head back inside her small apartment. Before the door could close on him, Zach quickly stepped through and noticed her turn back towards him with a militant look on her face as he entered her home uninvited.

  “Believe me, your father will be only too happy to see me,” he said with a wolfish smile which obviously caught her off-guard as she regarded him curiously.

  “What’s this a–,” she started, but the sound of another voice stopped her in her tracks.

  “Mr McCormack,” the man from earlier said, and Zach noticed that although Malcolm Kincaid seemed slightly surprised, it wasn’t at the level that he’d expected. He’d known that Zach would turn up. He’d known that Zach would cave.

  That fact made Zach even angrier. He was being manipulated by this man and he cast his glance at the woman, wondering how involved she was in all of the man’s schemes.

  “I must say,” Malcolm Kincaid continued, “I didn’t expect to see you again. Especially not at my home,” he added, and Zach understood the surprise. Malcolm had given Zach perhaps a couple of days to take action, and he hadn’t thought that he’d turn up in his own personal space to confront him.

  “No. Well, here I am,” he said tightly and watched as the man’s daughter glanced between the pair of them questioningly.

  “Why don’t we go into the lounge?” the man said to Zach before turning to his daughter. “Ellie, give us a few minutes, will you?”

  “Papa, what’s –”

  “I’ll come talk to you in a minute,” the man said soothingly before gesturing for Zach to precede him into the small room. Entering through the doorway, Zach couldn’t help but be impressed at how well-maintained and welcoming the place seemed. Although in a rough neighborhood, it appeared as though the Kincaid family took pride in their home and appearance.

  The quality might be second-class, but everything seemed cared for and neat. It was all very homey, and Zach found himself surprised yet again. The man hadn’t lied when he’d said that family and their protection and care was important to him. It showed in his surroundings. They might not have been blessed with much, but what they had seemed to be valued and treasured.

  Zach shook his head at himself. The man didn’t need to be admired. He needed to be in prison for his actions. No matter how much Malcolm Kincaid cared for his possessions and family, he didn’t deserve Zach’s sympathy after everything that he was threatening to do, and everything that he was demanding from him.

  “What can I do for you, Mr McCormack?” the man said, and Zach raised an eyebrow at him.

  “You need to ask?”

  “Apparently I do. The last thing that you said to me was that you wouldn’t be agreeing to ‘this foolishness’, I believe your words were. You’ve come to try to change my mind about going to the press?” he asked, and Zach gritted his teeth at the innocent look on the man’s face.

  “I received a call from my sister earlier in the day, Malcolm,” he said, and the man raised an eyebrow at him.

  “I was always raised to call my elders by their last names, Mr McCormack. As a gesture of respect.”

  “Except, I don’t respect you, Malcolm. So that would be pointless,” Zach commented and watched as the man shrugged i
n apparent diffidence to it all.

  “What did your sister have to say then?” the man prompted.

  “She’d had a phone call. She was upset. She said that somebody had threatened her.”

  “Warned her, Mr McCormack,” he amended. “I warned her. I thought it only fair to let her know what to expect. Like I said, she seems a nice enough girl, I didn’t want her side-swiped by it all,” the man said nonchalantly, and Zach found his anger brewing again.

  “And you also told her that I refused to help her with it all,” he gritted out angrily as he thought back to his sister’s frantic wailings about what was going to happen, and about him letting it.

  “No. I told her that there was a solution to her problems. That all she needed to do was to talk to you. I never told her that you didn’t help, I never told her what we discussed,” the man corrected firmly.

  “Well, it appears as though your little ploy worked then. She was begging me to help her out. Begging me to stop it all. You’ve put me in a position that I don’t like, Malcolm.”

  “One where your choices have been taken away from you,” the man said ruefully as his eyes swept around his abode and lingered on a photo on the shelf. Zach couldn’t help but look at it himself and could see a picture of two women. Two very similar looking women with the exception of the difference in age.

  Clearly it was a photo of his wife and daughter, and Zach felt even angrier, knowing that this man understood and cherished familial bonds. Malcolm Kincaid knew the strength of them and was exploiting them for his own benefit.

  “Which brings us to why I’m here,” Zach said in an effort to get this all done with.

  “You’ve changed your mind then,” the man surmised.

  “I have some questions first,” Zach announced and watched as the man mulled that over before nodding at him to continue. “The woman who answered the door, that would be Miss Ellie Kincaid?”

  “My daughter. My only daughter, yes. How did you –?” he started before Zach cut him off.

  “The legal paperwork had her name included. That’s how I discovered your identity,” Zach said and watched as the man processed that in slight surprise. He obviously hadn’t realized that he’d left any clues as to his identity when he’d been at Zach’s office earlier in the day.