Heavenstone 02 - Secret Whispers

can’t hear myself think. It really is more like an invasion,” I said, and he laughed.
    “Well, it is the wedding of the century, isn’t it?” he asked.
    “To Lucille, it is. To me, it’s just a hectic, maddening commotion.”
    He nodded. “I bet. But don’t worry. I’m back. I’ll help you get away from it all. Let me get my bags. You know, I have a lot more than last time.”
    “I’ll help.” I followed him down to the car. A parade of trucks was coming up the driveway, bringing chairs and tables for eighteen hundred people. We paused to watch them park, the men jumping out to unload quickly. They cracked open doors and began piling chairs on carts, orders being shouted in every direction.
    “Wow, you’re right. This is an invasion,” Ethan said. His face lit up. “It’s quite exciting.”
    He handed me the smallest bag and seized the handles of the two large suitcases. Lucille must have been watching us from some window, because we didn’t get three steps up before she burst out of the entrance with two of her temporary wedding employees beside her. She muttered some orders and nodded at us. They rushed down to take the bags.
    “Welcome back, Ethan,” she said. He smiled up at her and quickly hurried to kiss her on both cheeks, something she loved men and even women to do. “Semantha, why don’t you show Bob and Steve where to take the bags?” she said. “I need to steal Ethan for ten minutes before you capture all of his attention. Let’s go to the office,” she told him.
    Ethan flashed a smile at me, shrugged, and followed her obediently. I had given Daddy and heronly a general idea of when Ethan would arrive, yet she pounced as if she had known the exact moment. It seemed nothing was going on in this house and on this estate without her involvement and control. It was as if she were deciding when we would all eat, sleep, and breathe. Whatever she had for Ethan surely could have waited until he was settled in and we had spent some time together. Fuming, I quickly realized that her two employees were standing there holding Ethan’s suitcases and waiting for me to give them instructions.
    “Oh, just follow me up the stairs,” I said briskly, and marched in and up to Ethan’s room. I told them to leave the suitcases next to the bed. They seemed to feel my rage, because they left instantly without glancing at me or saying a word. Then I sat on his bed and pouted like a child until I heard him rushing up the stairway and down the hall.
    “There you are,” he said.
    “What did she want? What could she possibly want from you immediately? What couldn’t wait until you settled in after so long a trip?” I demanded, firing all of my questions in one breath. I could feel the crimson heat in my face.
    “Oh, she was just nervous about my starting at the store because she’s too occupied with everything that’s going on here. She had some last-minute instructions,” he said, making it all seem innocent and unworthy of my displeasure.
    He kissed my cheek and brushed my hair back.
    “It could have waited,” I insisted. “You’re not going to work until after the wedding.”
    “No. She wants me to start tomorrow. She thinks it’s a waste of time for me not to get right in there.”
    “Tomorrow?”
    “I gotta say, she’s really rooting for me, hoping I’ll be a success. Besides, she wanted to know if I had a tux for the wedding. I didn’t realize that I needed one. It’s my first real black-tie event. She picked up the phone and immediately ordered Erickson to arrange for my fitting tomorrow morning before anything else. She went on and on about the wedding and the important businesspeople I’ll meet. So many dignitaries are attending, too. I had no idea. It’s a Who’s Who of Kentucky society and then some.”
    This was exactly what I didn’t want, the two of us so caught up in the wedding that we ignored each other. He saw the look on my face and added, “But I told her I just had to get back to you.”
    I didn’t believe him, but I didn’t say so. He put his suitcases on the bed and began to unload them. Without another word, I helped him organize and hang up his clothes. He must have been nervous about his decision to accept the offer, because he talked without taking a breath, describing his parents’ reactions to his career decision, what he had been doing with the time he had spent at home, the impatience he’d had waiting for his moment of departure, and the