Contracted Lover

Contracted Lover

Kimber Hack

Copyright © 2015 Kimber Hack

All rights reserved.

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Epilog

Chapter 1

Riley looked around the ballroom very satisfied with the results of her efforts. There were still 45 minutes left before the first guests were due to arrive and aside from changing into the new dress she bought, there was nothing more she could do to prepare for her Nan’s 85th birthday party. Just thinking about her Nan brought a smile to her face as she made her way towards the room she used to call hers before moving out recently. Even before both Riley’s parents died in a car accident during her first year of high school, her Nan played a huge roll in her life. Afterwards, she became her lifeline, her rock and there wasn’t a day that went by that Riley didn’t realize how fortunate she was to have Nan in her life. She was one of the strongest people Riley knew, losing not just one but two of her three sons in senseless accidents, her middle child Jonathan when he was just in his 20’s. John was always the reckless one, thumbing his nose as convention, and after finding out he was a father as a result of a brief affair, one of many if the rumors were true, he went a little wild and ended up drowning during a boating trip with friends. Unfortunately, they were all so intoxicated they didn’t even notice he had fallen over until it was too late to save him. His new found son, Justin, ended up living with Riley's Uncle Richard, her Nan's oldest son, after Justin's mother decided she was too young to be tied down with a small child. Riley didn't want to judge, but she guessed it might have had something to do with the fact she was only entitled to basic maintenance for child care and any money that was left from Jonathan’s estate would be held in a trust until Justin was old enough to be granted access. Suddenly, the life of a single parent didn’t hold much appeal for her and Justin was farmed back to the family. Riley’s parent’s had offered to take him in, but her Uncle Richard and Aunt Barbara had a daughter Jillian around the same age and they wanted her to have a playmate. As it turned out both Jillian and Justin became very close, often treating Riley like an outsider whenever she was around either of them, which was why when her own parents died, she was grateful to her Nan for stepping in and insisting on taking her in as opposed to having to live with Uncle Richard's family.

Riley’s father was the youngest child and the only one to not follow in the family business. His own father was a bit of a hard task master with very outdated chauvinistic beliefs that Riley’s father just didn’t agree with, so after graduating with a business degree, he married his college sweetheart and went on to work his way up in her family’s manufacturing business, turning it into a very successful enterprise and leaving Riley very well off. The exact amount was somewhat of a family secret between her Nan and herself. Nan felt it was for he best to keep it private, considering her Uncle Richard and his family liked to live the high life mostly on someone else's dime. Namely, her Nan. Riley didn’t have too much to do with her grandfather or uncle’s family growing up but she did remember the arguments and harsh words spoken on the few occasions they did get together as a family. Eventually, her parents must have decided it was better to stay away from them than to continue to try and justify her father’s decision to not be involved in the family shipping business built by her great-great grandfather.

After the tragic car accident that killed her parents, Riley moved in with her Nan to finish high school. While she went away for college, she always returned to spend time at Shorewood, her Nan’s family home. It was hard for both of them last year when right before the holidays Riley moved into her water front condo after completing some major renovations. Even though she was busy, she always made sure she came by frequently to catch up and visit. That was just another reason was why tonight was so important, she would never be able to thank her Nan for everything she did for her and if throwing this party made her happy, then she was glad she was able to accommodate.

At the top of the stairs she ran into Maria, her Nan’s best friend and constant companion for the last 55 years. After Maria’s husband died when she was 30 she moved into Shorewood to help her Grandmother with running the large household and raising 3 young boys, and even after the boys no longer needed a nanny, Maria stayed. She was a constant in both her and her Nan’s life and Riley was glad for their friendship. It certainly made branching out on her own a little easier knowing her Nan would not be all alone in the huge estate, especially since her Uncle Richard had been putting a lot of pressure on her to sell the family home and move into someplace smaller. Thankfully, her Nan would not hear of it, Shorewood had been in her family for several generations and she wanted to make sure it stayed that way.

Riley remembered the huge legal fight that occurred after her grandfather’s death. Being the chauvinist that he was, he tried leaving the estate and all monies to his oldest son since he didn’t believe that women should have assets of their own. Her Uncle Richard immediately salivated over the opportunity to sell to a developer for a huge profit, but legally it was decreed that since the family home and the majority of the marital assets were included in a pre-nuptial trust, her grandfather never actually owned what he left to Uncle Richard since her Nan was still living, and therefore, he was only entitled to a fraction of what he thought he was getting. A pittance really, since even the shipping business where he was acting CEO was part of her grandmother’s trust. The whole situation left a very bad taste in her mouth and had it been Riley, it would have been a cold day in hell before she would have forgiven her son for trying to sell her beloved home to developers and take away everything she held dear. Her Nan on the other hand, while not happy with the situation, said that life was too short and after losing two of her other sons, she didn’t want to lose Richard as well. Against everyone's better judgement, her Nan allowed him to still be involved in managing her funds and taking care of the responsibility for the daily expenses for staff and home maintenance without too much fuss. Plus, she privately thought her Nan got even after changing her own will to stipulate that even after her death the estate would be left to her surviving grandchildren, not her son or his wife. Even if they choose to sell it, they would have to agree unanimously or the deal could not go through. It also stipulated that if one of the three wanted to purchase it from the remaining survivors, it was to be done at fair market value and not at an inflated price so as to not make it impossible for Shorewood to stay in the family. Any money left from her estate would continue to go toward the upkeep of Shorewood and not be split equally until the estate was either sold privately or to one of the remaining beneficiaries. Riley couldn’t imagine not having Shorewood in the family not just because of her sentimental attachment to the home, but because it would mean that her Nan was no longer around. She already knew exactly what her cousins wanted and that was the money. When her Nan informed the family of the changes in her new will, both Jillian and Justin were quite vocal about their feelings immediately pressing Riley for her agreement to sell. Her Uncle and his wife were equally put out by the change and thus the campaign to get her Nan to change her mind and sell before she died began. Riley just hoped they would all have to wait a long time for that day. She also knew that with the money left to her by her parents, Shorewood would in fact stay in the family and she would happily be writing out two checks to her greedy cousins.

Just thinking about her Uncle and his family left a bad taste in her mouth. Shaking it off she greeted Maria with a small hug, asking if she needed anything before she went into get ready for the party.

No, I’m ready to kick up my heels and dance the night away, but I am so glad I caught you, I really wanted to thank you for everything you set up for tonight, I know your Nan was so excited she couldn’t sleep this afternoon. Maria smiled warmly. I was just coming to see if you had a few minutes, your Nan wanted to see you before everyone arrived.

Knowing that she just needed to change quickly she nodded her agreement and followed the hallway over to her grandmother’s suite of rooms. Knocking softly she opened the door to see her Nan sitting at her vanity like she did so many times in the past.

You look so lovely Nan, need help getting your dancing shoes on? Riley leaned over and kissed the soft wrinkled cheek.

Oh no my dear, my dancing days are long over, but I better see you out there enjoying yourself. Are any of your friends coming tonight?

Shaking her head in the affirmative, Yes, Liz and Lisa are coming and they are bringing their brother Bryan and a few of his friends. It should be a great time. Lisa and Liz were 24 year old bookend twins that Riley had the good fortune to meet on her first day of kindergarten. They all became best friends after Roger Martin tried looking up Riley’s skirt during play time and the twins let him have it. Growing up in a family of 4 brothers, the girls were a let’s try one more time for a girl bonus for their parents. After meeting their parents, it was obvious they would have been just as happy if they would have had another son, but the girls had the whole family wrapped around their fingers from day one.

Both blonde, with green cat’s eyes, the twins had most everyone they met wrapped around their fingers, but Riley found it hard to be jealous since they were as sweet and kind as they were beautiful. Lisa being the more outgoing of the two, found her calling in public relations. Her bubbly personality allowed her to be successful handling events, publicity and personal appearances for the pro athletes that were represented by the marketing firm she worked for.

Her sister Liz though slightly less outgoing, was no slouch in the personality department, chose to follow their father’s footsteps and study architecture and then joined his firm right out of college. The trio of friends were separated briefly during their university days, but were able to stay in touch and remain close during time apart. After getting her degree in administrative support, Riley was offered a position at the largest hospital in town, supporting one of the hospital’s vice presidents. While it didn’t sound as exciting as working with athletes or designing beautiful structures, it was exactly what Riley enjoyed and her organizational skills helped her out tremendously. She was grateful both of her friends realized how important tonight was for Riley and promised they wouldn’t miss it for the world.

Good, though I doubt spending the evening at a birthday party for an 85 year old qualifies as a great time, I appreciate they are coming for you. I really like your friends. They have been very good for you. Riley couldn’t help but notice though her Nan was smiling, it didn’t quite reach her eyes.

Is everything alright Nan, you’re feeling good aren’t you? We don’t have to go all out tonight, we can keep it low key, I can personally ask the band to only play ballads. Riley said it with a teasing voice but if her Nan gave her any indication that is what she wanted, Riley would make it happen.

Oh no, I am fine, just a lot on this old mind lately. Tell me, what are you wearing tonight? Of course you would look beautiful in a sack cloth but I am assuming you are going a bit fancier than that.

I did pick up a dress last week that I think has the right amount of flair, I just have to go and slip it on. I bought it with you in mind, so I really hope you like it. Riley fell in love with the white flapper style satin dress the minute she saw it in the window of Saks. It reminded her of the picture of her Nan and Maria at their own graduation from college.

I’m sure you will be the belle of the ball. I suppose I better get downstairs and let you guild the lilly, I would hate to have the guests start showing up and have to make small talk with your Uncle Richard and Aunt Barbara, two of the most pompous, boring, narcissistic… oh dear, there goes my New Year’s resolution, I promised to try and not speak unkindly of them. I must say though, it has been about 7 weeks and this is only my first slip up. Winking at Riley she smiled.

Oh, I almost forgot, your cousin Jillian called to ask if it was ok if she brought a very special guest. Seems he is quite well known and she didn’t want to steal my thunder. Do you have any idea what she is up to now?

Not a clue, we don’t exactly socialize. Talk about a complete understatement; the fact was that neither girl ever cared to hang out with the other one. Jillian was exactly like her mother and was not overly fond of any type of female companionship. She was a part-time model slash actress slash socialite and all of her friends were as shallow as she was. The one time Riley did give her the benefit of the doubt and filled in at the last minute to a dinner party, was one of the most miserable nights of Riley's life, with all of these beautiful people at the table just talking about everyone else and running them down. Even the people at the table were not safe from the venom when they stepped away from the group. How could you live like that? Jillian of course was the ring leader of sorts and apart from being one of the most uncomfortable nights of her life, it was a real eye opener as to the type of person her cousin was.

As if that wasn't bad enough, a few months ago her Nan had asked if she would reach