Sudden Pleasures

remember, smiles, everyone.'

Now it was his turn to laugh. 'Fantasy Island my foot,' he said.

She flashed him a grin.

They stood on the portico of the house, arms about each other as the extra-large black limousine drew up before them in the drive. Bill, the chauffeur, was out of the vehicle immediately to open the door. First out was Angelina Mulcahy. Both Ryan and Ashley greeted her warmly, Ashley giving her a big hug.

'Be brave, cara ,” Lina murmured softly as one by one Ryan's older sisters were carefully handed out of the car. Their husbands had gotten out on the far side, and now stood bunched together, not quite certain what to do.

'Welcome to Kimbrough Hall, everyone,' Ashley said, smiling. 'I'm so glad the weather is perfect for you.'

'It's a long ride from the city. I am Bride,' a tall, dark-haired woman said. She smiled, but Ashley noticed that the smile didn't reach her eyes.

'But I hope it was at least comfortable for you,' Ashley answered.

'Oh, yes, very nice, but certainly expensive. We could have driven our own cars. I'm Elisabetta.' She was smaller than Bride, and her hair was quite red.

'Kathleen,' said a third woman, holding out her hand to Ashley. She was platinum blond, and her handshake was feeble and limp.

'Magdalena,' said the fourth woman. She was plump, and looked the most like her mother. Her gray hair made her look older than the others, although she was younger.

'I'm Deirdre,' the last of the sisters said. Like Bride her hair was dark.

None of the sisters made any move to kiss Ashley.

'Good morning, ladies,' Ryan said cheerfully. 'Nice to see you all together.'

'Yeah,' one of the men said with a grin. 'If you wanted to take them out, this would sure as hell be the time and place, Ryan.'

'It's a good thought, Kevin, but I know how much you guys would miss them,' Ryan joked with his brothers-in- law as, laughing, the men came forward, and Ryan introduced them to Ashley. On the whole the men seemed friendlier than Ryan's sisters.

'Come into the house,' Ashley invited them, then settled them in the living room. She turned to her butler. 'Byrnes, if anyone would like coffee, will you please bring it?'

'At once, Mrs. Mulcahy,' Byrnes replied with a slight bow.

'You have servants?' Bride asked as she settled herself in a large wing chair that allowed her a full view of the room and everyone in it.

'They came with the house,' Ashley joked, and the men laughed. 'Yes, I have servants. They helped raise me after my parents died. Thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Byrnes the house runs like clockwork. I couldn't do without them.'

'My daughters are striving to remain polite, Ashley, but they are dying to learn how you and Ryan met,' Lina said. 'I hope you'll tell them everything, cara.'

Ashley threw her mother-in-law a look of thanks. There were going to be no secrets now, and she was glad. 'We were introduced by our attorneys in my lawyer's offices several months ago. Because Ryan and I were faced with a similar problem, we decided to make a marriage of convenience. Actually, it was Lina and Frankie who spoke first with Ray Pietro d'Angelo, and asked him to find Ryan a wife. Ray mentioned this rather odd request to his cousin, Joe Pietro d'Angelo, who is my lawyer.'

'And just what problem did you have that was similar to our brother's?' Bride demanded to know. Her face was stony.

'Your father wanted to make certain Ryan married, because he knew that just being consumed by his business wasn't a good idea. A man ends up alone that way. And my grandfather thought a woman needed to be married to be happy and safe. And both of these old gentlemen added clauses to their wills. Ryan had to marry before he was forty. And I had to be married before I was thirty-five. If I didn't marry before that birthday, my father's old girlfriend's cocka-mamie organization, the Society Seeking Extraterrestial Life, or SSEXL, would get everything: my house, my investments, and my monies. For your brother the penalty was as bad. To lose the business he had built up would be terrible for Ryan. I'm sure that now that you've all had time to think about it you appreciate that.'

The five sisters all glared at Ashley, and then Bride said, 'Your marriage can't be real. I think you should know we've hired a lawyer, and we're going to be suing you, Ryan. You only married to spite us, damn it!'

'Bride, do you hear yourself?' Ryan asked her.

'Fin's will only said your brother had to marry, Bride,' Lina said quietly. 'It didn't say to who, or even what kind of a marriage. It just said he had to marry.'

'But it's a fraud!' Bride said angrily. 'It's nothing more than a business arrangement. It isn't a real marriage! They weren't even married in the church by a priest, so it can't be a marriage at all.'

'Our lawyer says we may have a case,' Kathleen chimed in.

'We were married under the laws of the state, and that makes it legal no matter your religious beliefs,' Ashley said quietly. 'We signed prenups, and even have a written agreement as to what our marriage is and how it should work.'

'There's a sex-is-optional clause,' Ryan said wickedly. 'And, of course, we exercised it immediately. I can't seem to keep my hands off of her.' He leered at his five sisters, who were briefly silent.

'Don't be vulgar!' Bride finally snapped. 'So you have sex. Everyone has sex today. That doesn't make it a real marriage in our eyes.'

'Sister dearest, I don't give a damn what you think. Or the rest of you, for that matter. Ashley and I are married. We have sex daily when I'm here. We-'

'When you're here? Just what does that mean, Ryan?' Deirdre asked.

'I'm in town two nights a week,' Ryan said. 'But my legal residence is now here in Egret Pointe. And yes, I still have the apartment. I'm trying to figure out a way to telecommute to the studio and only have to go in now and again. Give it up, girls. You are not going to sell R8cR. And you haven't a hope in hell of getting a court or a judge to say our marriage isn't legal. Besides, we love each other.'

'You love each other?' Bride said shrilly.

'Yes,' Ashley said. 'Isn't it wonderful? All the years Ryan and I looked for love, and only thanks to those silly wills were we fortunate enough to meet, marry, and then fall in love. It's a miracle, a fairy tale, a dream come true.'

'Ridiculous!' Magdelena, silent up to now, said. 'No one falls in love that quickly. Love at first sight is a myth. The pair of you are just doing this to cheat us.'

'Please,' Ashley said. 'You are guests in my home, and for us to get into a quarrel like this is terrible. I invited you so I might meet you and get to know you and your husbands. I've planned a lovely day. I want to show you Egret Pointe. My ancestors were among the group who founded it. My brother and I were the last Kimbroughs. Ryan and I have really fallen in love. We're happy, and I want you all to be happy too.'

'That's real nice of you,' Kevin McGuire, Kathleen's husband, said. 'I agree with Ashley. Ryan is married. The money wasn't ours to begin with, so let's cut the crap and be a family, like we should.'

'Kevin!' his wife exclaimed.

'Yeah, I agree with Kev,' Robert Napoli, Deirdre's husband, spoke up.

'We all do,' Frank Butler, Magdalena's husband, said, and the other men nodded.

'All very well and good for you men to say. It wasn't your father's money,' Bride responded sourly.

'It wasn't your father's money either,' Bride's husband, Pete Franklin, said. 'Your old man was a great craftsman, Bride, but his business couldn't have taken in more than a hundred thou a year until Ryan took over. Ryan made the money, and Ryan saw that Fin remembered each of you generously. The guys and I have had