As my heart thumped within my chest, I opened my purse and pulled out my phone. I wasn’t certain when I’d done it, but my phone was on silent. The missed call icon glowed from the bottom of the screen. “I-I missed two calls.”
“They’re from me.”
Swiping the screen, I saw Van’s name and exhaled. When I turned back, his hand was still extended. “Why did you call me?”
“I was worried when you weren’t to the car yet.”
“The bodyguard said he texted you.”
Van forced a grin. “What can I say? I’m impatient when it comes to you.”
Holding tightly to my phone, I tried to make heads or tails out of the recent development. There wasn’t anyone I wanted to call, no one I wanted to be with other than the man at my side. Wanting my full attention wasn’t unusual for Van. Perhaps I was letting my mind play tricks after all the warnings he’d given me.
“Trust me, Julia.”
Exhaling, I nodded. Trust was the one thing Van had asked for most. I had no reason not to give it. I laid the phone in the palm of his hand. Beyond the windows, I saw the neighborhood I recognized. “Are we going to my parents’?”
Taking my phone, Van depressed the button on the side, turning it off. Next, he unbuttoned his wool coat and slipped my phone into the inside pocket of his suit coat. Once his task was complete, he finally answered, “It’s a surprise.”
My nose scrunched. “What surprise? I want to go toourhome.”
“We will. First, we have an appointment with a judge.”
I shook my head. “This wasn’t the way we planned our wedding.”
“Something you may want to understand is that in all things, I have the final word.” As I sucked in a breath, Van laid his hand over mine. “Oh, Julia, I want to hear your thoughts. I’ll listen. But you need to trust that I know best.”
“What is best about this?” I asked.
“I know that if we wed without your family and friends, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life. I don’t want that. You may not realize it now, but one day you will, and you’ll be happy we made this change to our plans.”
“We were going to marry in front of friends, your friends.”
Van shook his head. “Your mother is expecting us, and Victoria is also waiting.”
Victoria?
She’d told Van to call her Vicki.
“No, I don’t want this.” I spoke to the man in the front seat. “Please take us to Mr. Sherman’s plane. It’s waiting.”
It was difficult to see the driver’s expression with his dark glasses. Nevertheless, it appeared my demands didn’t matter. The almost imperceptible shaking of Van’s head overruled my request, telling the driver to stay the course.
Before I could protest further, the driver turned the car down the street that led to my childhood home. The houses were the same. The snow-dusted yards and landscaping with the pristinely cleaned sidewalks were as they’d been my entire life. This was where I’d grown up, and yet instead of seeing Van’s new plan with the excitement of a new bride, I was racked with an unsettling sense of dread.
“What about Paula and Bruce?” I asked.
“Do you now believe in ghosts?”
Admittedly, my mention of Paula’s deceased husband was a test. Something felt off with Van, and I couldn’t put my finger on it. “No ghosts. I meant Jonathon.”
“They’ll watch our home while we’re away.”
The car turned into my parents’ driveway.
“Away?”
“Yes, Julia, you deserve a honeymoon, one better than Skylar had planned for you.”