added the clause to please Lila. He had certainly never expected that his granddaughter would strike out three times trying to get a man to the altar. A gay fiance; a sex-addicted fiance, and a con man.
'My luck with men just sucks,' Ashley said gloomily. 'What the hell am I going to do, guys, if we can't break the will? Can we prove that Lila took advantage of him? Used her wiles to cajole him into the clause so her cuckoo organization would profit?'
'Not a chance,' Rick replied. 'Edward was not senile or delusional at all. He was in full charge of himself when he added that clause, Ash. I'm sorry. There is no way around this. You'll have to get married in the next eighteen months, or you'll lose it all.'
Tiffany Pietro d'Angelo, Joe's wife, had been sitting in on the meeting. She had become his legal assistant a few years ago, when their children had left for college. 'The trouble with lawyers,' Tiffany said softly, 'is that you don't think outside the box.'
'You have a suggestion?' Ashley asked hopefully.
Tiffany nodded. 'What about an old-fashioned arranged marriage?'
'An arranged marriage? What's that?' Ashley wanted to know.
'You're crazy,' Joe said to his wife.
'No, I'm not,' Tiffany replied. 'What, you think in the twenty-first century things like arranged marriages no longer exist? Well, they do. And that would seem to be Ashley's only way out. Are you seriously proposing she turn up her toes and let SSEXL have everything? Let Lila Peabody, the old bitch, get it all? No way!'
'Somebody please tell me exactly what an arranged marriage is?' Ashley said.
'It's an old-fashioned way of matching people up by religion, economic background, ethnic similarities, that kind of thing,' Joe said.
'It's a legitimate possibility,' Rick said thoughtfully, 'but where are we going to find a match for Ashley, Tiff?'
'Yeah, Tiff!' Joe echoed sarcastically.
Tiffany Pietro d'Angelo was a slender, petite woman with champagne blond hair. No one had realized how very smart she was until she had gone into her husband's office ostensibly to help out after their last child had gone to college. But Tiffany had been listening to Joe for over thirty years, and once in the office she had learned quickly. Now she turned her blue eyes to look at the two partners. 'Your cousin, Joe. He has a client with the same problem as Ashley.' Now she focused on Ashley. 'Joe's cousin Raymond is a lawyer in the city. Some big fancy firm with three or four WASPy names. We had dinner with him and his wife, Rose, last week. He's got a client whose father put a similar clause in his will. The guy has got to marry soon or he loses everything.' She looked back at her husband. 'Remember now, stupido?'
Joe clapped his hand to his head. 'Tiff, baby! You're right! I should call him immediately and find out exactly what his client's problem is. Then we go from there.'
'You're suggesting that you arrange a marriage for me with a total stranger?' Ashley asked. 'No. I don't think so.'
'Listen, Ashley,' Tiffany said quietly, 'no one is suggesting we set a date and you two meet for the first time at the altar. This isn't India. Let Joe check it out with his cousin. If there is a possibility that you two might be a match, we'll arrange a meeting in our offices here. If you and the guy hit it off, then we can run with it from there. Hey, it takes all the fuss and muss out of looking for a guy. We'll have his background, because he's Ray's client. And he has to have a few bucks or his father wouldn't have put in such a clause trying to protect him and the family money. It could be an ideal setup for you.'
'Then if he's rich and relatively acceptable, why hasn't he found his own wife?' Ashley wanted to know. 'Sounds very fishy to me. What if the guy is weird or a perv?'
'Ray will know,' Tiffany said soothingly.
Ashley sat silent for several long moments while they waited for her to say something. Finally she spoke. 'Okay, check it out, Joe. And when you have all the facts-and I mean
'That man is a treasure,' Tiffany remarked. Then she got up too. 'I'll see you out,' she said, 'and Joe, get on the phone now with Ray.'
The two women walked arm in arm into the office's reception area.
'An arranged marriage sounds like it might be a good idea, Tiff,' Ashley said. 'Thanks for being so on-the-ball and thinking of it.'
'Don't think badly of the boys for not coming up with a solution,' Tiffany answered her. 'This is a thorny problem you've got, sweetie. They're guys. They think practical.' Then she grinned. 'And this is definitely a night for the Channel, huh?'
'I can never thank you enough for introducing me to it,' Ashley said, returning the grin. 'After the debacle with Carson I really needed a serious diversion. Everyone is always telling me how calm and levelheaded I am. Well, that's because I take my means out in the Channel.' She chuckled. 'And someone's cute butt is going to get strapped pink and hot tonight, I can assure you.'
'Glad I could help,' Tiffany replied, surprised at what she had just heard. She would never have considered that Ashley was into domination, but then, she had learned long ago never to judge a book by its cover. 'Have fun,' she said as she ushered Ashley out the door of the office. 'See you at the club.'
Ashley waved a diffident hand as she hurried down the stairs. Outside the June afternoon was a glorious one. Watching the light traffic she walked across Main Street to her own shop. 'Did the Devlin order come in?' she asked Nina, her assistant, as she entered the store.
'Yep, just while you were gone. I didn't open it. I thought you would want to do that,' Nina said with a smile. 'But I have to admit I'm dying to see it. It's in the back.'
'Have we been busy?' Ashley wanted to know.
'Sure we have,' Nina replied. 'Bridal season, and they all want sexy underwear.'
Ashley smiled and went into her office, where Nina had placed the small package. Carefully she tore off the paper wrapping. Then she opened the box and lifted the exquisite silk-and-lace nightgown from the tissue wrapping. It was the palest pink, with the most delicate lace Ashley had ever seen. Carson had discovered the lace while vacationing with Peter on the island of Madeira, ferreted out its source, and brought the information to her. She had paid the nuns for a year's supply of their lace, and put it with her seamstress to use on certain garments. Part of her shop's success was being able to offer unique, one-of-a-kind items. The nightgown in her hands was certainly beautiful.
'Nina, come and look,' she called out, and her assistant hurried in.
'God, it's beautiful!' Nina said. 'She's going to love it, but I wonder if he knows it will be Christmas before she can wear it. I mean, it isn't something you put on when you're nursing. Breast milk would really stain such delicate silk, and she'll nurse exclusively for six months, like they all do now.'
'It's the thought that counts,' Ashley said softly. 'And he thought of it. Now, why can't I find a guy like that?'
'You want to talk about it?' Nina asked sympathetically. She was a motherly but fashionable woman in her early fifties.
'What's to talk about?' Ashley said gloomily. 'Three weddings planned. Three weddings canceled. Three florists, three caterers, three bands, all paid for and canceled. Three wedding gowns and twelve attendants' dresses, all paid for and then donated to the hospital's secondhand shop. And let us not forget the hundreds of wedding gifts that have all had to be packed up and returned with a handwritten note of regret. 'Dear Mr. and Mrs. Van Buren: I'm so sorry to tell you that the wedding has had to be canceled because the groom turned out to be gay, dead, a con man. I am returning your beautiful and most thoughtful wedding gift via Federal Express. Fondly, Ashley Cordelia Kimbrough, who has sucky taste in men.' '
Nina couldn't help it: She laughed. 'Oh, honey,' she said. 'I'm sorry.'
'I'm sorrier,' Ashley replied. 'But it really is getting to be rather comical, isn't it? I wonder if 'three strikes and you're out' applies to situations like this?'
