Fortune for a Week, page 5
An hour later, Harris was sitting in a booth in Pauley’s restaurant, freshly showered and shaved, and feeling more like himself. Or as much like himself as he could feel after waking up in Vegas married.
What had gotten into him last night?
It didn’t matter now. Rather than beating himself up, he needed to focus on making things right.
Sofia had indicated she was on board with an annulment. That was good. Neither of them wanted to be married right now.
She had just gotten out of one marriage.
He certainly didn’t want his first marriage to end in divorce so soon after getting married. He wanted to fall in love and spend the rest of his life with the love of his life.
Right now, an annulment was the only way to go. To that end, when he’d gotten back to his room, he’d called his lawyer for advice. Unfortunately, the man had said that it wasn’t as easy to annul a Vegas wedding as it was to get hitched there. He’d added since family law wasn’t his specialty, Harris should consult an attorney who specialized in that practice. He promised Harris he’d give him a referral tomorrow since most law offices weren’t open on the weekend.
Family law.
The words ping-ponged around Harris’s brain as he sipped his coffee and waited for Sofia.
Family. Was that what they were now? A family?
How could they be a family when they barely knew each other?
When he’d sat down at the restaurant, he’d ordered two coffees before it had dawned on him that he didn’t even know if Sofia drank coffee.
Even though she’d been interesting and there was no doubt that he was attracted to her, he didn’t know her.
In fact, for all he knew, she could be another Amanda, who was simply after the Fortune name and money.
He’d dodged a bullet when that relationship had ended. If he’d learned nothing else from it, he thought it would’ve made him more careful.
In hindsight, he saw the red flags that should’ve been obvious last night: Sofia had protested too much. She’d been steadfast about not believing in love and marriage, yet by the end of the night, she’d married him.
However, in all fairness, she was the one who’d first brought up the annulment. His gut was telling him Sofia was no Amanda. Only time would tell.
As he poured the last of the coffee from the carafe into his cup, he glanced at his watch and realized he’d been waiting for nearly an hour. A queue was starting to form at the hostess stand.
He took out his cell phone and called the hotel’s front desk.
“Sofia Gomez Simon’s room, please.”
A moment later, the operator said, “I’m sorry, sir, but she has checked out.”
Checked out and then coming to breakfast? Or checked out, leaving him high and dry?
He had a feeling he knew the answer.
Doing his best to tamp down the irritation roiling in his gut, he pulled out his wallet and left some bills on the table—enough to cover the cost of the coffee and a generous tip since he’d occupied the table for so long.
Now what? he pondered as he stood in the lobby looking around, giving Sofia one last benefit of the doubt that she wouldn’t just ditch him like this. But he knew she was probably already on her way to the airport.
* * *
“What do you mean you don’t have any cars?” Sofia said to the harried-looking attendant behind the rental car desk. “Cars are your business. How can you not have any? I have waited in line for more than an hour.”
“I’m sorry, ma’am, a bunch of flights were canceled this morning. We’ve had more business than we anticipated.”
“I know about the canceled flights,” she huffed. “Mine was one of them. That’s why I’m here. I have to get home. Isn’t there anything you can do?”
The woman shot her a sympathetic look that Sofia figured masked the urge to say, You and everyone else. “I’m happy to add you to the waiting list. I can call you if we have cancellations.”
Before Sofia could answer the woman, her cell phone rang. She didn’t recognize the number, but in hopes that it might be the airline calling with the good news that they’d found a flight that took off before 11:00 p.m., she answered it.
“This is Sofia Gomez Simon.”
“It sure is,” said a familiar voice that made her already sensitive stomach lurch.
“Did you forget that we were meeting for breakfast this morning?” he asked.
“Hello, Harris. I’m sorry. I should’ve let you know that I decided to leave for the airport early. I sincerely apologize.”
“Ma’am, I’m sorry to interrupt,” said the rental car agent. “But could you please step aside so I can assist the next person in line?”
Sofia held up a finger. “I’m so sorry. Please just give me one minute because I would like to add my name to the waiting list. Or maybe you could check and see if another one of your offices has a car. I can take an Uber to get there.”
“Where are you Ubering to?” Harris asked.
“Look, I can’t talk right now. My flight was canceled—and apparently, everyone else’s was, too. The next flight is late tonight. I’m trying to rent a car so I can get home to my kids.”
“You do realize it’s a seventeen-hour drive from Las Vegas to Emerald Ridge, right?”
Sofia blinked. She hadn’t had time to look up the distance. She’d just joined the stampede from the gate to the rental car office. Well, clearly, driving wouldn’t work. If she took the 11:00 p.m. flight, she’d still get home sooner than if she drove.
She stepped aside and murmured her apologies to the family behind her before turning to the agent. “Looks like I won’t be needing a car after all. Thanks for your help.”
“Okay, Harris. I need to go. I’m going to see if I can get on that 11:00 p.m. flight. I’ll talk to you tomorrow about what we need to do to rectify this situ—”
As she turned with her suitcase, she ran into the very solid chest of Harris Fortune.
“What the—” Her cheeks flamed. “Harris, what are you doing here?”
She disconnected the call and stuffed her phone into her handbag, using it as an excuse to regain her composure. All she could think was that she was married to this man.
But not really. It didn’t count if she didn’t remember it, right?
Ah, but the problem was she did remember it. As the day had worn on and the fog from her hangover had lifted, bits and pieces of last night and their Great Experiment were coming into focus.
“I came to find you,” Harris said. “We left it that you were supposed to meet me at Pauley’s for breakfast. If you wanted to eat at the airport, you should’ve told me rather than ghosting me.”
“I didn’t ghost you. I… I needed some time to think. You were right. All the agencies that could undo this mess we’ve gotten ourselves into are closed on Sundays. Though that hardly seems fair since they leave the trap door to getting married wide open seven days a week so that anyone can unwittingly fall into it.” She knew she needed to stop talking, but she couldn’t seem to find a period. Harris was just standing there listening to her spew. He was nodding like he was taking it all in. “Anyhow, all of that is beside the point. I need to get home to my kids. Now that I know it’s a seventeen-hour drive, I need to get on that eleven o’clock flight and then call my husband and—”
“I’m your husband,” he reminded her. “Dan is your ex-husband. Or at least I assume you were talking about Dan since I’m standing right in front of you and there’s no need for you to call me.”
“Yes, he’s my ex-husband. I need to call Dan and let him know that my flight has been canceled.” She started walking, hoping that Harris would just leave her alone, but of course, he followed. When he caught up with her, she said, “And for the record, you are not my husband.”
“Au contraire, mon cheri. We’re legally married and that not only makes me your husband, but it also means you’re my wife. And one of the perks of being my wife is that you have access to a private plane, which could have you home in just under three hours once we’re airborne.”
She stopped walking. So did he.
“What are you talking about, Fortune?” she demanded.
He squinted at her. “Don’t tell me you don’t remember talking about my plane last night.”
“Of course I do. I said you could probably talk a woman into anything once you got her on board your private plane.”
“No, you said, I’ll bet you can talk most women into just about anything once they learn you have a private plane. I don’t invite many women onto my plane.”
She quirked her brow at him. “Right, you said, and I quote, What makes you think I’d be interested in a woman who was only interested in me for my plane? I’m not interested in your plane, Harris. So, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go get on that flight.”
He followed her to the ticketing desk. She ignored him. Maybe if she pretended like he wasn’t there, he’d go away.
By the time she’d waited in line and all was said and done, the eleven o’clock flight was full. The next available flight left seven hours later, at six o’clock in the morning.
They waited as the agent looked one more time for a better flight.
“Sofia, this is ridiculous. I’m leaving as soon as I know you’ve gotten your flight sorted, but my invitation still stands. I’m going to Dallas. There’s no reason you can’t fly with me. Unless you’re stubborn and you’d rather wait for that 6:00 a.m. flight.” He shrugged. “Your choice.”
She exhaled a weary sigh. With each click of the keyboard, the woman behind the counter shook her head. It wasn’t looking promising.
As he waited silently, Harris rubbed his chin with his left hand, and Sofia noticed the gold band on his ring finger. Dammit! He was still wearing that wedding ring. She’d yanked hers off and had stuck it in her purse before she’d left the hotel.
Would he still be so glib about this sham of a marriage once he fully realized she and the kids were a package deal?
“I’m sorry, Ms. Gomez Simon, the 6:00 a.m. flight is the best that I can do,” said the agent. “Storms in other parts of the country have grounded planes and there were mechanical issues with others. It’s caused quite a backlog. I’m happy to put you on this flight.”
“I really need to get home to my children today,” she insisted to Harris. “Dan said he has to be back in Austin by 6:00 p.m., which wouldn’t have been a problem if my flight had been on time.”
The fleeting thought of whether her ex was meeting the woman in the photo that Jacinta had texted her flitted through her mind, and she was tempted to make Dan wait, but she didn’t know that for sure. And her ex was free to date. Just like she was free to marry the first man who wasn’t Dan who’d taken her out to dinner.
“Look, I’m offering you a solution,” Harris said. “What’s it going to be?”
* * *
During the first hour of the flight back to Dallas, Sofia must’ve listed at least fifty reasons why love and marriage were for fools.
Harris let her talk and tried his best to keep his face neutral.
“And I’m no fool,” she finally concluded.
“I didn’t say you were,” Harris said as he refilled her glass with sparkling water from the blue glass bottle sitting on the table between them. “Yet, here we are legally married. Man and wife. Maybe you have a subconscious need to be married. Did you ever consider that?”
She sat ramrod-straight in her seat. Her mouth fell open and she scrunched up her pert little nose as if she smelled something vile.
“Are you saying I purposely misled you? That I tricked you into getting married?” She shook her head and looked up at the ceiling, gesturing emphatically with her hands. “I’ll bet I can show you that love really does exist, is what you said. You’re the one who—” Rather than finish the sentence, she made a growling noise in her throat and sat back with a hard umph.
He laughed. He couldn’t help it.
Was this woman this passionate about everything?
“And you think it’s funny?” She pointed a finger at him. “You know, I’ll bet you were the type of kid who, when your parents told you no, you badgered them until they gave in. You were that kid, weren’t you?”
It was strange how her words landed like an unexpected punch to the gut. His parents had been gone for twenty years now. While the grief over losing them in that horrific plane crash wasn’t fresh, every once in a while, in the most unexpected situations, it did sneak up and pull the rug out from under him.
Like now.
He’d finally gotten married—even if it wasn’t in the most conventional way—and it probably wouldn’t last. But his parents would never know his wife. And his kids—because he did want children someday—but they would never know their grandparents.
Still, he knew that the only way he would ever get back that sense of family he’d experienced before his parents had died was if he got married and had a family of his own. The realization washed over him that maybe he was more open to settling down and starting a family than he’d thought.
The problem was that finding the right person—a soulmate for life—had proven more difficult than he’d imagined.
He gazed at Sofia, who was staring at him intently, looking smug, as if her badgering kid label had put him in his place.
“My parents died when I was twelve,” he said gruffly. “Death does funny things to your memory. I don’t really remember if I was that kid, as you put it.”
She bit her bottom lip and her eyes went huge.
“Harris, I’m so sorry. I had no idea. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have said that.”
Her inadvertent jab seemed to soften her because the rest of the way home, she made a real effort to be polite and talk about neutral subjects.
While it was nice to see a softer side of her, he had to admit he kind of had a thing for that spirited personality.
When he pulled up in front of her home, a neat arts-and-crafts bungalow with a manicured lawn and an orange-and-black Halloween wreath hanging on the wooden front door, he had a moment when he wished she would invite him in so that he could see what lay on the other side of that barrier.
“Harris, thank you,” she said. “You really did save my life. I’m actually home early.”
“Let me help you with your bag.”
She protested, but he was out of the car, lifting it out of the trunk before she could stop him. He extended the retractable handle, ready to carry it up to the porch, when the front door flew open.
“Mommy!” cried a dark-haired little boy who looked young. Probably elementary school age, though Harris wasn’t good at guessing kids’ ages.
Sofia met him halfway, dropped down on one knee and enfolded the little kid in a hug.
“Is it already three o’clock?” he asked.
“No, sweetie, I caught an earlier flight because I missed you so much.”
“I missed you, too,” he said and hugged Sofia again. “I’m glad you’re home.”
Harris leaned on the suitcase handle and watched the scene unfold. It was touching to see how tender Sofia was with her child. Clearly, they shared a special bond.
A melancholy wistfulness pulled at his heart.
There was nothing like family.
While the boy was still in his mother’s embrace, he looked up and his gaze locked with Harris’s.
The boy pulled away and pointed. “Who’s that?”
At a loss for how to explain, Sofia hugged the boy tighter.
* * *
Harris kept reminding himself that he didn’t know much about Sofia except that she was divorced and owned a salon. She was fiercely protective of her children and talked about them with such pride. She was exactly the type of mother he wanted for his future children.
Wow. The irony of waking up married to a woman who seemed to tick so many of the boxes he wanted in a life partner, yet they both couldn’t get away from this marriage fast enough. If he didn’t know better, he might think that fate had brought them together.
He wheeled her suitcase up the walk and stopped next to Sofia. She stood and cast him a wary look. He tried to telegraph, Don’t worry, I’m not going to spill the beans.
“Jackson Carlos, please go inside, and I’ll be right along.”
The boy took off running up the walk, bounding onto the porch, yelling, “Mommy’s home! Mommy’s home!”
“Thank you, Harris, for getting me home. I’d still be stuck in Vegas if you hadn’t helped me out.”
“At your service.” He bowed his head respectfully.
Sofia cast a nervous glance at the front door. “I need to get inside, but the salon is closed tomorrow, and the kids will be in school. I’ll be in touch in the morning so we can figure out how to undo this mess we’re in. I…have your phone number since you called me.”
She offered him a half smile, took her suitcase and turned toward the house.
As Harris climbed into his Porsche and started the engine, he heard a little girl’s jubilant shouts of, Mommy! You’re home. He cast one last glance before he pulled away and saw a man standing on the porch, looking at his car.
So that was the man who’d let Sofia get away.
Well, his loss just might be Harris’s gain. Because he had a feeling he wasn’t quite done here.
The most confirmed bachelor in Texas suddenly had a deep urge to prove something to Sofia about love and marriage; that it could work when you found the right person.
How would they know if they were right for each other if they didn’t give it a try?
Clearly, she wasn’t the same twenty-two-year-old who’d married her first boyfriend.
But Harris still held the same deeply rooted belief that marriage was sacred. His parents had made it work through good times and bad, and after they’d died, he’d vowed that he would, too. It was his way to honor them. After the near disaster with Amanda, the woman he almost married, he’d vowed to be careful. Careful had turned into reticence toward marriage—toward trusting himself.
As a businessman, once he settled on a course of action, he didn’t abandon it because he thought it might be a mistake. He stood by his actions and gave it time to work before he changed course.
