Million Dollar Christmas Bride - Holly Rayner Page 0,58

finished looping her purse over her shoulder, and then she looked over at the man she’d confessed her feelings to earlier that day.

He was focused solely on her. They locked eyes.

“I’d better go,” Bianca said. “Your family needs some time together.”

“My mom would like to see you, too, Bianca,” Jackson said.

“Me?” Suddenly, Bianca felt nervous. For the past nearly six hours, since Mary’s collapse, Bianca had been worrying over the course of events. Mary forgot to take her medicine because the day was so busy and hectic—due to our wedding, she fretted. When she finds out it was all a sham, she’s going to be so angry!

Bianca placed a hand over her chest. “Are you sure?” she asked.

Jackson nodded. “She asked to see you, and I’d really like for you to come to her bedside, too. There’s something I have to say—to everyone.”

Bianca had no idea what that might be. Wordlessly, she followed Jackson and Danielle out of the family lounge, then through a set of heavy metal doors.

Once inside the ICU, Jackson walked quickly down one side of a U-shaped hallway. He paused in front of a room that was lined with glass walls.

Within the room, Bianca could see Mary lying on the complex hospital bed, surrounded by machines, tubes, and monitors.

Jackson pulled the door open and stepped inside, Danielle and Bianca following behind him.

Though Mary’s body looked frail, her expression was alert. Her dark eyes sparkled as they landed on her son.

Jackson reached her bedside. He turned his body, angling himself so that he was facing his mom as well as Danielle and Bianca.

“Mom,” he said. “I have to tell you something.” He reached for her hand.

“What is it, Jackson?” she said, furrowing her brow.

“It’s about the wedding.”

“The one I just ruined,” she said with a frown. “Will you be able to reschedule?”

Jackson shook his head. “No. We won’t. We won’t reschedule, because the wedding wasn’t real. It was fake. Bianca and I aren’t really getting married.”

Bianca frowned.

This was what she wanted. She’d been tired of lying. She wanted the truth to come out. But she didn’t expect it would feel so bad.

Jackson is finally telling the truth, she thought. Does this mean I’m never going to see him again? If we’re no longer bound by a contract, will that mean our lives are no longer connected?

Weariness overtook her. She wanted badly to sit. She looked around, but there were no chairs.

Chapter 20

Jackson

Jackson took a deep breath. He looked at Bianca and saw that she was frowning and searching the room, possibly for a seat. She looked tired, yet still so beautiful. Under the fluorescent hospital lights, her ivory skin looked almost as pale as the fabric of her wedding gown. Her green eyes looked darker than ever, and her hair shimmered in tousled waves.

Jackson spoke again. “We’re not engaged,” he said. “But we really are in love.”

Immediately, Bianca abandoned her search for a chair. She whipped her head up to look at Jackson. A stray strand of hair fell before her eyes, and she used her left hand to push it away.

As she did, he met her eyes and smiled. “I’m fairly certain we’ve been in love since we first met. That’s how I feel, anyway.” He felt an expansive sensation in his chest as he said this. It felt so good to finally tell the truth.

Bianca’s eyes glistened with tears. Jackson could tell, just like that, that she agreed with his statement.

Bianca nodded, ever so subtly. That small nod made Jackson’s heart soar.

A grin began to spread across Bianca’s lips. “Yes,” she murmured. “That’s right. Ever since we met each other.”

“I knew it!” Danielle said. “I knew when you talked about her, that’s how you felt, Jackson. You could have never feigned the emotion in your voice. So what was the deal with the fake wedding?”

“Fake wedding?” Mary repeated.

Jackson looked down at his mother. “I’m so sorry, Mom. We made up the wedding. I wanted you to be proud of me. I wanted you to approve of my life. I figured if you knew that I was settling down, you might see me in a new light.”

“I don’t understand,” Mary said.

Danielle stepped forward. “They lied,” she said. “The wedding wasn’t real, Mom. It was all a show—for you.”

“For me? But why?”

Jackson spoke up. “It was my fault,” he said. “I heard you were going to give the house away, and I couldn’t stand the thought of it. That’s the house we grew up in… I guess