with me. If it’s your favorite, we’ll have it every day.”
“I don’t think we need to go to that extreme.” She giggled. “Now, tell me what’s going on? You’ve kept me in suspense long enough.” She sat next to him.
“Sunny, I don’t know how to begin…” He looked her square in the eyes, took another sip of wine, and went on. “I told you a large chain is trying to take over my company, but I didn’t tell you everything. The company is owned by a man and his daughter, Lindy. Lindy has been trying to get me in her bed since before Brittney died. My guess is she plans to convince me to marry her. After she gets her claws in my company, she’ll divorce me, leaving me with nothing.”
“That’s horrible, are you sure that’s what she’s up to? Maybe she genuinely wants you.”
“There’s nothing genuine about Lindy, believe me. But being the sweet person that you are, you probably wouldn’t understand that. I’ve been on to her for a long time, hopefully she doesn’t realize that.”
“I see. Is there more? Where do I fit into this bizarre scene?”
“Ah…here comes the part I’m unsure of. I’m not unsure of the plan, or of my part in it. I’m just unsure of how to best present it to you. I don’t know how you’ll react to what I’m about to ask you.”
“I’m listening,” she said, gently urging him to continue.
“I need to get married.”
“I see,” Sunny said, shock not quite a strong enough word to describe her feelings.
“Sunny, did you think about what I’d asked you to? Did you think about what you wanted to do in your future?”
“Yes, I did, and I came up with nothing. The past few years were tough. I lost my dad, Scott broke up with me, he married someone else, and Dr. Rose retired. I was lost as to what to do next, when you showed up out of the blue and offered me a dream job. I accepted on the spot and have not regretted it for one minute. I love taking care of your children and I had no plans to move on anytime soon, but if you’re planning to get married, I guess I need to start thinking about what comes next.”
“Sunny, I don’t think you understand.” Chase set down his glass and took her hands in his.
“I want to marry you.”
“What?”
“It would be a marriage-of-convenience, so to speak, a business arrangement. I trust you, Sunny. I trust you with my children, with my business, and with my life. I can’t think of anyone more suited. Your name would immediately be added to the business, no one could get it away from you, should something ever happen to me. You and the children would be protected. I’ve drawn up all the paperwork and added you to my will, that’s what I was doing in Des Moines this week. You would want for nothing, Sunny. You would enjoy all the privileges of being Mrs. Chase Dupont. All the privileges you want, of course, I’m not expecting you to jump in my bed the first night. Over time, who knows? You would be protected and well taken care of for the rest of your life. But that’s the catch. It would be for the rest of your life, Sunny. I won’t put my children through a divorce after they’ve lost their natural mother. You’d have to agree to stay with me. You would be my wife and their mother. And in the eyes of the world, no matter what goes on behind closed doors, we would be the perfect newlywed couple, madly in love with each other. I will be faithful to you, no matter what and I would expect the same from you.”
“Wow…I never imagined this was the plan. How will this save your company?”
“For starters, Lindy won’t be able to continue with her plan. She’ll have to come up with a new one. And with your name on the company and with you on the Board of Directors, she and her father won’t only be fighting me, they’ll be fighting both of us. I want to share it all with you, Sunny. Do you think there’s any way you can consider it? I know I’m asking a lot, but I think we could make it work. I respect you, Sunny, and we get along well. The children love you. I’ll give you time to think about it, of course, but time