~ Bargained Vows ~

by

Allison Knight

Finally, the day arrived. They were scheduled to see Mr. Lapworthie at ten in the morning at his downtown office.

Sam hissed at the name. "Mr. Lapworthie? You’ve got to be kidding. With a name like that no wonder he became a lawyer."

Mr. Lapworthie was also late.

Tori sat in the reception room turning the pages of an old magazine and Sam sat beside her and stared off into space. She was nervous. She tossed the magazine aside and crossed and uncrossed her legs, then picked up the magazine again.

Once this morning’s business was completed, Sam would leave Indiana. That thought sent a spear of unease through her that she couldn’t, wouldn’t analyze. It’s only business she repeated to herself.

Suddenly, the office door swung open and a man as tall as Sam, with curly white hair stepped forward.

"I’m Paul Lapworthie. Sorry to be so late but a wreck had the interstate tied up. Please, come in."

Tori proceeded Sam with her mouth as dry as cotton candy at the county fair. Her knees shook and she wondered if she could manage to walk across the carpeted floor.

Sam leaned forward and breathed into her ear, "Take deep breaths. Inhale. Exhale!"

She glanced at him, amazed that he seemed able to read her mind. She acknowledged Sam’s reassuring smile and eased into the seat across from the lawyer.

"Congratulations on your marriage, Ms. Harlow, ah--Mrs. Benson. From the information faxed to me by Tim O’Rourke, Mr. Benson fulfills his part of your aunt’s conditions."

Tori smiled at Sam and relaxed a bit.

"However," the lawyer continued, "right before her death, your aunt added several additional stipulations to her original will, the details to be read after her death. Since you’ve married only one applies."

Tori’s stomach went to the floor.

"Additional ...?" Suddenly, she wondered if she was going to be sick.

The lawyer shuffled through a stack of papers, then selected one and turned back to Tori. "I’m afraid your aunt didn’t trust you, Victoria. She told me she was certain that if you got the chance, you would pay someone to pose as your husband." He looked over at Sam. "You were married by Judge McCarthy?"

Sam nodded and withdrew the signed wedding certificate from his suit jacket. He handed it to the lawyer who glanced at it, handed it back to Sam and turned back to her. Tori noticed the small twitch of a smile on the lawyer’s face. She started to unwind. She knew all about that requirement. Other stipulations she could handle. "All of the proceeds of your aunt’s estate, Victoria, along with the large house on Fairfield Street will be yours. I have a complete breakdown here." Mr. Lapworthie said.

"Now about the other condition. While she was in that nursing home, your aunt insisted I come to Indianapolis. She added this only a couple of weeks before her death, but now that I’ve met you both, I don’t see it as much of a problem."

Tori experienced a trickle of alarm. What else had Aunt Sophia added?

"The other condition your aunt insisted upon is that both her money and the house remain in trust until you and your husband have lived together for one full year."

A buzzing hissed through her brain and she moved her head from side to side to dispel it. He couldn’t have said what she thought he said. "Live together, in the same house, for a year?"

Mr. Lapworthie looked perplexed. "Yes, my dear. Live together for a year. Oh, the trust from your father is already available to you and the day care center can continue. Arrangements for emergency funds are available with a proper request from the trustees. Now, I’ll make copies of these papers..." The lawyer stood, then disappeared into another office.

Tori sat paralyzed, the pounding words going around and around in her head. Live together for a year, together for a year, a year. No, she cried silently; she couldn’t live with Sam Benson for a year. She was having all kinds of trouble living with him for the weeks they’d had together. Not together, never together.

She finally glanced at Sam whose face was now a furious red. Suddenly a new fear careened through her. He was going to call the whole thing off.

"This sure changes things," Sam said, his voice soft and hard. He looked like he’d been hit in the stomach, as if she’d betrayed him.

She stared into eyes as cold as a mountain lake and just as blue. "I--I didn’t know about this."

They sat in silence until the attorney returned. Sam leaned across the table, "We need to know more about the last stipulation. We had planned to each manage our own businesses. That meant that we’d spend some time apart." Tori watched the lawyer’s lips thin.

"Oh, no! That won’t do. Sophia intended for the two of you to live under the same roof for a period of one year."

"My wi--wife and I planned to pursue our respective careers while we are married. I have that ranch, Tori the day care center. I won’t give up my ranch and I’ll not ask her to leave her day care center. Not when she’s worked so hard to get it." His smirk was sarcastic.

She glanced over at Sam. She read him loud and clear.

"This certainly doesn’t sound like a love match to me," the lawyer commented. "Perhaps I was wrong to talk your aunt out of her other stipulation."

"Which was?" Sam’s voice rang out in the quiet office.

"Victoria wasn’t to get the house or her aunt’s money until she gave birth to your child."

Tori felt the color drain from her face. "A child?"

"I talked her out of that. However, she was adamant that the two of you live together for a year."

"Even if we planned on spending a lot of time together?" Tori wasn’t ready to give up just yet.

The lawyer looked indigent, "Obviously, you and Mr. Benson have entered into some kind of agreement. Therefore, I’ll have to proceed with my client’s wishes."

Tori glanced at Sam. She was about to lose everything.

"All right. I’ll find a manager for the day care center and I’ll live at Sam’s ranch for a year. After the year, we’ll commute like we planned."

Tori leaned toward the older man. "Will I be allowed to visit my center to check on it?"

The lawyer gave her a grim smile, "Oh, I suppose an occasional weekend would not violate the intent of the will. Now," the lawyer reached for his briefcase, "If you think of anything else call my secretary and I’ll get back with you." Tori watched him leave the room. It was finished and she was stuck with a husband she didn’t want. She stood and stumbled toward the door. Sam followed.

Neither one of them said a word until they were a block from the office. Sam broke the stillness.

"You conniving witch!"

"What?"

"You heard me." Sam stopped on the pavement and glared down at her.

Hell, she was just like all the other women he’d known. He’d seen her reaction at the thought of losing her money. The image of the caring woman giving her heart and soul to others was a lie, a damned lie.

"Well, you managed to get what you wanted. Now, it’s a done deal and I’m stuck."

"I didn’t know about that condition."

"And, I don’t believe you. You were so all fired up about getting your hands on your aunt’s money..."

"I told you the only thing I wanted was that house, my home, the site of the center. I don’t want her damned money." Tori shouted at him.

"I’m not staying in this town." He stomped off, leaving her to chase after him.

"I’ve already said I’d find a manager. I’ll come out to your ranch. You don’t have to stay here."

He spun around. "Don’t you get it? I don’t want you on my ranch. I’ve got enough problems of my own. I should never have gotten involved in any of this."

"Sam, listen. I’ll stay out of your way. I won’t be any trouble. I’ll fly back to the child care center and stay away as long as I can. It will work. It has to work." Sam heard the desperation in her voice and he smirked. Money! It always came down to money.

"Look." She grabbed his arm. "I’ll give you more than just the tax money, okay?"

"I have to stay married and share a house with you. I didn’t bargain for this kind of marriage. You’re damned right! You’ll give me more than just the tax money. Oh, yes, Lady, the price just went up."