Chapter7
Swallowing hard, Jamaica pushed the button on the elevator and watched the doors as they closed. She hadn’t seen Cara Landers since the day she met her for coffee to be interviewed for the position. Cara had called her a few times during the pregnancy to check on her and see if there was anything that she needed, but there had been no other contact. The doctor and nurses had been good about sending all the information about the babies and the pregnancy to Cara and Henry Ellison, and there had been no need for her to contact them.
The elevator seemed to go upward forever and after a long while it finally came to a stop. She took a deep breath and walked through the doors, relying on her determination to get her through the conversation that she knew she was going to have to have with Cara.
The room she entered was luxuriously appointed. She couldn’t remember ever having been in an office that was so beautifully decorated. There was a large dark wooden desk across the room from the elevator, and on it sat a stained-glass Tiffany lamp, a telephone, and a desk blotter. No one was seated at the desk.
She looked around and saw that it was the only desk in the room. There was only one other door leading out of the room and it was slightly opened. She could hear someone talking in the room, and it sounded as if the conversation was on a telephone because she couldn’t hear anyone speaking in return to the first voice.
Jamaica thought about sitting down in one of the chairs and waiting for Cara to come back to her desk. Her name was stenciled in gold on a bar on the desk, so Jamaica knew that it was hers. She didn’t want to sit, and she definitely didn’t want to wait. She didn’t want to lose her nerve.
The only other option was to see if Cara was in the room with the open door. She heard the voice in the other room go silent and guessed that the phone call had ended. Tentatively she stepped up to the door and knocked. There was a momentary silence and then she heard a deep male voice call out for her to come in.
She swallowed again and walked through the door. The man sitting behind the desk lifted his head and looked up at her, and in that moment, she felt her breath catch in her chest. It was almost as if everything inside her stopped and froze instantly. She paused in mid-step and blinked.
He was staring at her. She felt as if he could see right through her. She realized as she stood there that the man she was staring at was Henry Ellison. It was the father of the two babies she was carrying in her.
She had seen photographs of him online, but nothing she had seen could have prepared her for what he looked like in person. He was beautiful. There was no other word for it. He was breathtaking and beautiful. She felt heat flush her cheeks as everything in her began to rush and her heart began to pound.
Blinking and trying to steady herself, she walked slowly toward his desk. “Henry?” she asked quietly, and he stood up and stared at her as realization dawned on his face. His eyes grew wide and his hand flew to his mouth, covering it as she reached him and he gasped quietly, staring at her.
“Are you… are you Jamaica Franklin?” he asked in a quiet whisper.
She nodded. “Yes, I am,” she answered with a slowly growing smile.
He laughed softly with sheer joy and his eyes fell to her belly. “That’s… those are…” he said quietly.
“Yes,” she said quietly. He lifted his eyes to meet hers again and shook his head once in amazement.
“I wasn’t expecting you! Cara didn’t tell me that you were coming in! Wow… it’s incredible to have you here! Please, have a seat,” he said as he hurried around his desk and reached for one of the chairs before it, pulling it out for her.
She sat down carefully in it and he reached for her to help her. It felt strange to have his warm soft hands on her arm. When she was seated, she looked up at him and saw that he was totally focused on her. It was almost as if everything in the universe had suddenly disappeared and all that remained was her and the two babies in her belly.
“Can I get you anything? Juice? Water? You should have some water. It’s important for you to stay hydrated.” He rushed over to the bar in the corner of his office and poured her a glass of ice water, bringing it back to her.
As she took it from him and thanked him, he sank into the chair beside hers, never taking his eyes from hers. “This is amazing,” he said quietly as he gazed at her.
Jamaica laughed a little, feeling some of the nervousness in her subside a little. “It’s really nice to meet you Henry,” she told him with a growing smile.
“It’s incredible to meet you, Jamaica,” he answered with a soft tone filled with wonder.
“You could call me Jami. My friends call me Jami,” she told him sweetly. She couldn’t get over how gorgeous he was, and how nice. She wondered why in the world a successful, wealthy, good-looking man like him would ever need anyone to have a surrogate child for him. There had to be women pining away left and right for him, and how he hadn’t married was beyond anything she could imagine.
He nodded. “Jami it is, then.”
She took a long drink and set the half empty glass on his desk. He kept his eyes on her face.
“I came in today to talk to Cara, but I guess it would probably be all right if I talk to you instead, wouldn’t it?” she asked politely.
He nodded emphatically. “Yes, of course! I’d be glad to talk with you. Whatever you need… It’s absolutely fine. What can I help you with?” He asked looking as if concern was edging into his thoughts.
Jamaica bit at her lower lip, and as she did she saw that his eyes dropped to her mouth and then back up to her eyes again as she began to speak.
“Well, you see the thing is this: I know that we have an agreement in place already. I am supposed to carry the babies to term and then give them to you and leave and not have any interaction at all with them after that, but something has changed. I really thought I could do it that way when I started, and give you what you originally wanted, but as this pregnancy has progressed, things have changed for me a bit. I’ve grown really close to the babies, and I tried not to connect with them, but I have. They are half mine at least biologically, and I don’t think that I can just let them go when they are born. I really want to be part of their lives. I really want to help take care of them all the time and watch them grow up and be there for them as their mom. I realize that’s not what we agreed to, and that you were going to take them and raise them on your own without me in the picture at all, but I’ve changed my mind, and I wanted to come to talk with you about it. I wanted to know if there is any way that we can work something out so I can be around the babies. I want it… no… I need it so much. I know it isn’t what we agreed to, but please consider it.” She had just poured her heart out to him and she was desperately hopeful that he would find a way to let her have at least some time with them.
He blinked and she saw deep puzzlement spread over his face. He seemed to fumble for words, trying to find the right ones to use for whatever it was that he was going to say to her. “Uh… Jamaica, I’m not sure what it is that you’re talking about. I’m sorry but, you were always supposed to help with the babies once they were born. That was the arrangement. You would take on the pregnancy, carry the babies, give birth to them, and then come to live either in the house with me and them, only in your own area of the house so you could maintain some independence, or you would be given a private house near mine where you could live, but you were supposed to help me raise them for the first two years of their lives, and then you were going to be done with the contract and you could leave. I was going to pay you five hundred thousand per year each of the first two years in addition to the original five hundred thousand that I was giving to you for carrying and delivering the babies.” He seemed totally astounded. “I’m not sure where the confusion came in. Why did you think I didn’t want you to be around after they were born?”
She stared at him. “You can’t be serious,” she said in a low voice. “This is the first I’ve heard about anything you just said, except for carrying the babies. Everything else you said is completely new to me. I haven’t heard anything about any of that before this moment.”
“How is that possible?” he asked in utter confusion. He was amazed that she thought she was going to deliver them and then leave, and that wasn’t the only thing that he was amazed by. Cara had never told him that Jamaica was black. He had never seen her photograph. He knew nothing about her, and he realized as he sat there that he should have been centrally active in choosing the mother of his children, and that he shouldn’t have left it all to Cara, but he had to admit to himself that Cara had gone far above and beyond the call of duty in choosing a woman who was arrestingly beautiful. He had no doubt in his mind that their babies were going to be gorgeous children.
“Well, that’s what Cara told me. That’s what was on the contract that I signed. I was to deliver them and then give them to you and never see them again. It was the last of it. A clean cut, I guess. You didn’t know that?” she asked, trying to wrap her mind around what it was that Henry was telling her.
He shook his head. “But that can’t be…” he said in a soft voice.
She shrugged. “I’m sorry, but that’s exactly what I agreed to. That’s why I’m here to talk to her. I want to be a part of their lives. I don’t want to stick to the original arrangement where I lose them as soon as they are born. I couldn’t take that. I really want to be a part of their lives. That’s why I am here to talk to Cara, or you I guess… To sort that out because I want to be with them.”
Henry sighed in exasperation and looked down at the floor as he raked his hand through the golden-brown waves of hair on his head. “This is so strange. This is the first I’ve heard about it from your side. I gave her explicit instructions that she was to do precisely what I just told you. Would you mind holding on for a moment please?” he asked her kindly as he looked at her with hopeful eyes.
“Yes, of course,” she answered.
Henry stood up and walked across the room, out of the office, and she heard him as he opened file drawers near where Cara’s desk would be in the other room. A few minutes later he walked back in with a file open and laying on his arms, his eyes scanning the pages in it as he crossed the room again and took his seat beside Jamaica.
His eyes widened and his mouth fell open slightly as he read through the contract that Jamaica had signed, and he saw all of the details.
“I can’t believe what I’m looking at. I mean, I know I’m looking at it, but this isn’t at all what I told her, and I know that she was clear about what I wanted, because we talked about whether you should stay in the house with me except in your own quarters, or if you should be given your own home a little distance away from mine.” His voice was quiet as he read and pondered it, shaking his head and trying to figure it out in his mind. “This is utterly bizarre,” he said almost under his breath.
Jamaica watched him as he read through it three times and then finally gave up on reasoning through it and closed the file, setting it on his desk. He looked back at her seriously and leaned forward, folding his hands in his lap as he looked at her.
“Well, it’s obvious that this is something that we need to work out and soon, because as I understand it, we only have about three weeks left, am I right?” The worry on his face was temporarily changed to a wide grin as he looked down at her belly, and then the shadow of concern slipped across his face again as he looked back up at her.
“That’s why I’m here,” she replied, feeling uncertain about the fact that she had signed a contract that was written one way when the father of the babies she was carrying was sure that it was written another way. It was an uncertain surprise.
“Yes, we do need to work it out. I want to be sure that we are all on the same page. So, I’ve explained to you just now what it is that I wanted from you after the babies are born. I want you to move into the house in your own quarters there, and nurse the babies and help to raise them. At some point, we’ll move you into your own home a short distance from the house. You can stay there to help raise them until they are two, and then you would be free to leave and go do whatever it is that you want to go do, and the children would stay with me. That was the original plan. That was what I initially wanted and was hiring for. I’m sorry it’s coming to you so late now, really late now, and as such a surprise.” He looked miserably sorry that she was finding out what he had originally wanted at such a late point.
She looked down and chewed on her bottom lip a little bit. “Well the whole thing sounds good except for the part where I give the kids up when they turn two. I mean, I didn’t think that I was going to be attached to them at all while they were growing inside me. I was so sure that I could just give them up to you and walk away when they were born, before I ever had a chance to build a bond with them or any kind of memories, and now that I’m talking about this with you and you’re telling me that you would want me to leave when the babies turn two years old, I don’t know if I can agree to that. By that point I feel like I’d be a lot closer to them. I wonder if that’s something that we can find a way to work out at some point.”
He pursed his lips thoughtfully and she saw a little dimple in his chin that appeared as he was thinking on what she had said. He looked back at her and gave her a nod. “That’s a good point. I’ll give it some thought and I promise you that we will work out a solution that has a benefit to the both of us. I don’t think that it’s anything that we will work out today or even before the babies are born, but will have time in the future to work it out.”
Jamaica didn’t know why, but she felt that she could trust him. There was honesty in his eyes, and a genuine tone in his voice that told her that he meant exactly what he said. “Okay,” she agreed. “We can work it out later. I’m going to hold you to that.”
She tilted her head a little and gave him a questioning look. “Can you tell me why Cara would have me sign a contract that stated that I was going to give the babies up immediately after their birth when you had other plans in mind? I mean, I wouldn’t have known that you wanted it this way if I hadn’t come in today. I’d never have known. I’d have handed them over to you and left and that would have been it. I had no idea that you wanted it any other way until just now, and I’m relieved to hear it, but why would Cara have me sign something like that, knowing that you wanted it another way?”
He couldn’t quite hide the consternation in his expression, but he looked away from her and shrugged. “I’m not sure. I am going to talk with her about it though. In the meantime,” he looked back up at her and his face softened into a smile again, “is there anything that you need? Anything that I can do for you?”
She smiled back and shook her head. “No, I’m just fine, thank you. I am ready to have these babies, I’ll tell you that much.” She laughed, and was just about to stand up when she looked back at him and added one more thing.
“I will let you in on a little secret though.” She winked at him.
He looked excited to hear it. “What’s that?” he asked curiously.
“I’ve already come up with names for them. Oh, I know you probably already have names chosen and that’s fine, but there are names that I call them by right now.” She laughed softly as she admitted her little secret to him.
Henry smiled widely. “I love that. I don’t have names chosen yet, actually, but I would be glad to hear what you call them.”
She felt surprisingly shy and giddy all at the same time, like she did when she developed her first crush in high school. She made herself ignore it. “I call the boy Casey, and the girl Beth,” she told him. “Those names came from a dream.”
He laughed softly and gave her a concentrated look, almost as if he was looking through her. “Was it a good dream?”
It surprised her that he asked her that. “Yes.” She laughed a little. “It was a very good dream.”
“I’m glad to hear that. They are sweet names,” he told her as he stood up and reached out to hold her arms and help her stand up.
“Thank you for seeing me today and for helping to work through this with me. I really appreciate that.” She gave him a nod and he gave her a little bow.
“It’s absolutely my pleasure,” he answered.
She turned and walked toward the door. Just as she reached it, she stopped and turned to look over her shoulder at him. “I would be glad to have you in the delivery room if you want to be there.” She surprised herself saying it, but the thought had crossed her mind, and even though it was a sudden and unexpected thought, she knew the moment that she thought it that she meant it. She would be glad if he could be there when the twins were born. She knew somehow that it would mean just as much to him as it did to her.
He stared at her for a moment. Trying not to stammer his answer as she pushed the surprise from the forefront of his mind, he nodded and answered enthusiastically, “Really? Yes! Definitely, I would love to be there! I didn’t ask that before because I wasn’t sure I’d be welcome in the delivery room, but if you’re all right with it, I would definitely be glad to be there and experience the twins being born! Thank you!” He was nearly glowing with pride and happiness, and he felt as if he was floating a foot off the ground.
“Thank you so much for coming in and talking to me today!” he called out as she walked out of the office. He couldn’t begin to imagine why Cara would have gotten the contract and the deal mixed up and wrong; she almost never made a mistake, but he thought to himself that Jamaica had been right. If she hadn’t made the mistake, Jamaica never would have come into the office, and she never would have talked to him, or invited him into the delivery room for the birth of the babies, and she would have just walked away and never helped him to raise the little ones during their first two years of life. He had thought to himself that he was going to have a long conversation with Cara when she got back into the office, but after reflecting upon all the good that came of her error, he realized that it was probably best just to let it go. He didn’t see much point in calling her out for her very rare error when it had done so much good in his life, in Jamaica’s life, and in the life of their babies.
***
As it happened, neither of them had to wait too long for the babies to come. Jamaica went into labor a week later, which the obstetrician told her could happen, as with multiple births they almost never went to full term.
Penny took Jamaica to the hospital and Henry met them there, almost beating them to the delivery room by ten minutes. His best friend David and David’s wife Marina showed up a short while later, and everyone waited as the labor progressed and the time drew nearer. Henry’s mother Georgia came, and sat with them all, as the long minutes passed.
Jamaica and Henry were only polite with each other in the delivery room until her first big contraction hit her hard and she cried out in pain. He rushed to her and took her hand in his, holding it tightly, calling for the nurse to bring in someone to give Jamaica some kind of anesthetic or drug to help take the edge off.
She was given an epidural, and the pain subsided, but by that time both Henry and she felt as if they were in the experience together and they were relying on each other to get through it. He never let go of her hand, except to give her ice chips and coax her through the contractions and the waiting, until she was finally fully dilated and the babies were born.
Their daughter came first, and their son second, less than ten minutes later. Henry and Jamaica both cried at the birth of their children, holding each other and holding the babies. He cut both of the cords for the little ones, and in no time they were each nursing from her and looking around the strange new world that they found themselves in.
Henry could only stare and watch in wonder at the mystifying beauty of new life in his children and in the woman who had carried them and brought them bravely into the world, nourishing them with food and love.
It was the most profound experience in both of their lives, and they were each well aware of it, thanking each other over and over for sharing the opportunity together.
She was resting and recovering in her private room when an older woman came into the room with a big grin on her face. She looked tired and as if she didn’t feel too well, but she also looked as if she might not have been happier in her life.
The woman walked up to Jamaica’s bedside and reached for her hand. “I’m Henry’s mother, my name is Georgia. You must be Jamaica.”
Jamaica did her best to try to sit up, but Georgia stopped her. “Oh honey, please don’t worry about that. You just lay there and relax. I can’t even begin to imagine what you’ve just been through. You rest. I wanted to come and meet you, and see the babies. I didn’t think I was ever going to see grandbabies, but I told Henry how much it meant to me to have them, and he found a way to make it happen. Now, I grant you this is the strangest most unconventional way I’ve ever heard of anyone having babies, but I’m so glad that he did, and I’m especially glad that it was you who helped us to have them. I’ve heard good things about you, and I can see already that they are true. Thank you, Jamaica, thank you for giving us the best gift that either of us has ever had.”
She leaned over and kissed Jamaica’s cheek, and Jamaica grinned and kissed her back on the cheek.
“It was my pleasure, Georgia,” she replied. “Please, call me Jami. I’ll tell you, this experience has been the greatest in my life, and I’m so grateful that I was chosen for it and that I took it. You’re right about it being strange, but it’s also one of the best things that’s ever happened to me. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
Georgia was thrilled to hear it, and went to the small bassinets in the room, picking up the babies one at a time and holding them, talking to them, and introducing herself to them. Jamaica loved to see her doing it.
“Why were you so anxious for him to have babies?” Jamaica asked. “I was told that time was really of the essence for this birth, but no one told me why.”
Henry’s mother turned toward Jamaica, holding one of the babies in her arms and her face grew sad and serious. “Well, my dear, it was time sensitive because I have cancer, and the doctors have given me a short lease on life from here forward. I wanted to see my grandchildren, and Henry was about as far from a relationship as a man could be, and I knew that if I didn’t push him, I was going to pass away from this world without ever seeing my grandbabies. It was so important to me. I can’t tell you how grateful I am that you agreed to this and made it happen. You really have done so much more good than you will ever know. You’ve given me one of the greatest blessings of my life, and I cannot ever thank you enough for that.”
Jamaica watched her in silence and felt the sting of tears at the back of her eyes. She forced a smile onto her face as she watched the older woman slowly swaying and rocking the babies, cooing to them, talking to them, and loving them just as much as she knew that she and Henry did. It was a profound and powerful experience for her, and she was even more glad that she had accepted the job and given life to the babies.
The little truth that Georgia had chosen to speak to her about Henry being so far from a relationship stuck in the back of her mind and she wondered again why it was that Henry was alone and not with some woman who could be his wife and the mother of his children.
Georgia stayed long after Jamaica fell asleep, and when Jamaica awoke a long while later, she saw that Georgia was gone and Henry was in the room with her, sleeping in another bed in his clothes as the babies slept in their bassinets in between the two of them.
She rested in her room and recovered for two days after the birth. The babies were declared healthy and fit to go home, and after the second day, they were all taken to Henry’s massive house by the sea.
Jamaica had never seen anything like it in her life, and she could not have been more amazed, especially because she was going to be living in the house. She was shown the entire home, but then she was taken to a section of it where she would have her own room and bathroom, and even a reading and sitting room with a fireplace and shelves fully lined with books.
She commented on the art all over the house, and Georgia was pleased to hear that she had a degree in arts, and that she taught it at a private school.
“What kind of art do you do on your own?” Georgia asked her as they sat at a table and talked over coffee.
Jamaica smiled. She loved to talk art, and she was finding quickly that Georgia was the same way. “I do lots of different styles of painting and drawing. I sculpt a little, and it’s something that I really enjoy. There are so many ways to express ourselves through art, and there is really no end of materials or styles that we can use to create anything we like.”
“Is your work up anywhere that people could see it?” Georgia asked with keen interest in her tone.
“No, not really. I mean, I have some pieces up at the school where I teach, but nothing anywhere else. I do want to have an art show sometime, but I feel like that might be a long way off,” she admitted with a smile and a slightly sad heart. She had wanted it for a long while, but it just seemed that it wasn’t likely to happen.
Georgia winked at her. “Well, you never know. It may happen at some point; you having your art at a show somewhere.” She tilted her head a little. “I would like to come to the school and see it sometime if you’d be all right with that.”
Jamaica felt a thrill shiver through her. “Oh! I’d love that, thank you!” She grinned at Georgia and felt again that she had managed to discover a very good friend that would be close to her for years and years to come, if not her whole life.
It was strange for Jamaica to try to learn how to fit into her new home. She had never even visited any place that had staff serving a family, and though it was a small staff of people, there were people who waited on her around the house and a cook who prepared all the meals for the family.
She discovered the cook on accident one morning when she made her way to the kitchen to make herself some breakfast. The cook, an older man named Franz, had been shocked to see her in the kitchen, and though he backed off quietly when he discovered who she was, he was obviously displeased when she began to poke around in the kitchen, pulling out frying pans and taking food out of the refrigerator.
The maid walked in and saw what was happening and went to find Henry to tell him. He walked into the kitchen at about the same time that Franz was about to pass out from stress that anyone was in his kitchen and using it the way that Jamaica was, and that Jamaica was irritated that there was someone trying desperately to stop her from something as simple and easy as walking into a kitchen and preparing her own breakfast.
Looking from one of them to the other he could easily see that the situation would need to be diffused, and he smiled kindly at Franz and asked him to take the morning off, and promised him that he would have his kitchen back in good working order in no time, or at least by lunch time. Franz left them in the kitchen in a huff, and Henry turned to look at Jamaica, who was holding eggs and a container of milk in her hands.
“Do you know what you’re doing in here?” he asked with a tongue-in-cheek smile.
She nodded and raised one eyebrow. “Do you know what I’m doing in here?” she asked pointedly. He looked at her in confusion.
“What do you mean?” he queried.
“I mean, do you know what I’m doing? Do you know what I’m cooking?” she asked, giving him a sweet and friendly smile.
He shook his head slowly. He’d been caught. One of the few things that he had no knowledge of was cooking.
“Do you know how to cook anything?” she asked, seemingly reading his mind.
He shook his head again. “Not really, no,” he admitted quietly.
“Well then, come here please, and I’ll be glad to show you.” She tipped her head toward the stove and his eyes grew wide and glazed over slightly. “Come on! You can do this. I promise.” She laughed lightly and it made him smile.
He stepped toward her and she began to direct him around the kitchen, asking him to bring bowls and spoons and spatulas, and a wide array of things as they began to put a good breakfast together.
Henry learned how to make coffee, how to cook bacon and eggs, how to mix and cook pancakes and how to use the toaster, although he did burn the first two pieces of toast, but he adamantly blamed the cook on that, pointing out that the heat dial on the toaster was set too high.
Jamaica laughed at him and took her time showing him each part of what they did that morning, enjoying being with him, talking and laughing with him, and creating what turned out to be one of the best meals that she had ever eaten, though he said that it was certainly not one of the best that he had ever had. She only laughed at him, but they sat together at a small table in the breakfast alcove and ate everything that they had cooked together.
It felt to them both that their friendship was growing stronger, and they found joy and comfort in it, much more than they had ever imagined that they would. She admitted to him how strange it was for her to have anyone waiting on her, and he shared that it was strange for him to not only have a woman living in his home, but one who was so independent as she was. They agreed that change was bound to happen as they both came from such different places, and that the changes were good, and were part of the growth that they were both going to go through in their new lifestyle.
The days began to pass and Cara came often. She seemed to try to make herself close and available to Jamaica, and it felt to Jamaica fairly early on that she didn’t know what she would do without Cara. She hadn’t expected it, but she was glad to have the other woman’s support, encouragement, and advice.
A month after the babies had come home, a welcoming party was arranged for friends and family of both Henry and Jamaica. She felt nervous about it, because she knew that she would not only be meeting people who had known Henry all of his life, but who also moved in wealthy social circles, and she was worried that she would feel out of place and simple among them.
She expressed her concerns to Cara, trusting in her to help find a way to alleviate her fears and worries. She wanted the party to go well not only for the babies, but for Henry and Georgia as well. She would be representing their family, and she was adamant that she would present a respectable image to anyone meeting her for the first time at the party.
Cara took her shopping and helped her to select a dress that Cara swore to her would be perfect for it. Jamaica wasn’t sure, as she stood in front of a three-way mirror at the dress store, turning and looking at her reflection, but Cara assured her that it was ideal. They bought the dress, and on the day of the party Jamaica stepped into it and looked in the mirror again.
It was a satin dress that hugged her form without showing off too much of it, and was finished at the back with a sheer white sweeping cape that hooked at the shoulders and fell to the floor, following behind her for about a foot.
She frowned, feeling that she was perhaps going a bit too far with it, but she remembered Cara’s words in the shop, telling her over and over that she had to get it and that it was perfect for the event and for Jamaica.
Jamaica went into the party, which was filled with guests all there to see and celebrate the babies, wearing her new gown. It took no more than a cursory sweeping look at all of the guests for her to realize that she was far too overdressed, and she felt enormously overdone.
All of the guests were in day dresses or slacks, and there she stood among them in white satin and a cape and five-inch white satin heels with diamond décor across them. Everyone stared when they saw her, and for a horrible moment she wished that she could fall right into a hole in the floor, but a moment after that, Henry seemed to materialize out of thin air, right at her side, and he took her hand in his and walked with her into the room, telling her quietly that she looked stunning, almost like an angel, and he was glad to have her at his side.
He was so glad that he kept her at his side during the entire party and Jamaica noticed that Cara left the event early. She was going to ask her why she had helped her to choose a dress that was so out of place, but she didn’t get the chance before the other woman was gone.
Henry was indeed glad to have her at his side. He saw that she was overdone, and he knew that there must have been some mistake made somewhere, by someone who had been advising Jamaica. He knew that she would not have ever been to anything like the party that they had hosted before, and he found himself admiring her bravery and strength as she held her head high and moved among the guests, introducing herself and talking with him, eventually making every one of them smile and fall in love with her. He smiled himself, thinking the same thing. She was easy to fall for.