This father is going to play the game straight, Zack, he beamed at his son.
‘And so,’ the celebrant continued, ‘not knowing what is before you, you take each other for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death. Truly then, these words are most serious, and it is a beautiful tribute to your undoubted faith in each other, that recognising their full import, you are willing and ready to pronounce them.’
He bestowed an approving smile on the two of them and asked them to join hands, nodding to Nick first as he proceeded with the ceremony. ‘Please repeat after me…’
Listening to Nick repeat the old marriage vows in a solemn tone—with no hesitation nor the slightest hint of cynical humour—was precisely what Tess needed to feed the hope that somehow this marriage would be held together.
The celebrant had shown her many modern variations of the marriage service, giving different versions of speeches that could be made by the bride and groom. They were prettily dressed up with pleasing promises, but what they boiled down to was signing up for a partnership contract that would only be kept as long as conditions remained agreeable.
Tess had deliberately chosen the traditional lifelong commitment vows, not consulting Nick over them since he’d given her free rein on making all the decisions about their wedding. They conveyed what she wanted, what she wished with all her heart, and she felt her heart swelling with a wild joy in Nick’s sombre recitation of them.
While he could merely be giving an appropriate performance, the hand holding hers seemed to be transmitting genuine feeling, reinforcing the warm assurance pulsing through his voice. Rightly or wrongly, it imbued her with a happy confidence as she spoke herself, a confidence secretly bolstered by the knowledge she would never break these vows. To her they were very real, and if they weren’t real for Nick…she didn’t want to know.
When they were finally pronounced ‘Husband and wife,’ the kiss they shared felt like a kiss of love to Tess…tender, caring, the sweet caress of souls touching and entwining in recognition of belonging together. Whether it was her own deep need fuelling pure fantasy she couldn’t tell, but as they moved on to the table to put their signatures to this marriage, the lyrics being sung by the wedding singer about always remembering these feelings and never letting them end found instant echoes in her mind.
CHAPTER NINE
‘WHAT’S going on, Tessa?’ her father demanded, his sharp blue gaze assessing her new home as she ushered him through it to the patio overlooking Sydney Harbour. ‘I heard Nick Ramirez snapped this property up when it came on the market a month or so ago. Paid fifteen million for it.’
‘Yes, he did,’ she agreed, anxiously wondering if this get-together here for morning tea was the best lead-in to the news she had to impart.
‘So how much did he take off you to sell it on?’ Her father’s tone was both belligerent and suspicious, hating the idea that Nick might have ripped off his daughter on a property deal. ‘Not that it would be a bad buy in any event,’ he added, not wanting to demean her business sense. ‘Dress circle location at Point Piper. Can’t go wrong with it. But it’s a hell of a quick turnover from him to you.’
‘It wasn’t like that, Dad,’ she stated quietly.
Shaggy white eyebrows beetled down. ‘What are you saying? He was fronting for you in buying this place?’
‘Well, yes. He bought it for me. And Zack. As a home for us.’
‘Why use him?’
Tess’s heart sank at the distaste and disapproval in his voice.
‘If you wanted to employ an agent to buy you a new home…’
‘Dad, please stop,’ she begged. ‘I just want to show you…’
‘Okay…okay…’ He held up a hand, halting himself from any further outpouring of prejudice from past personal circumstances. He swept his gaze around some more. ‘It’s a fine house, Tessa.’
At last they stepped out onto the patio facing a view that swept right down the wide expanse of middle harbour to the opera house at Bennelong Point and beyond, with Sydney’s huge coathanger bridge forming a fabulous backdrop. It was a beautiful sunny morning, blue sky, sparkling water, and Tess desperately wanted her father to be warmly influenced by positive elements.
‘Going to need quite a few staff to maintain all this for you,’ he observed, gesturing to the grounds which had been terraced down to the foreshore; beautifully manicured lawns and perfectly planned gardens sweeping out from the patio, a swimming pool surrounded by a colonnaded pavilion on a lower level, a tennis court below that, and finally a boatshed and wharf.
‘That’s been taken care of, Dad,’ she assured him, walking on to the entertainment bar under the side pergola, and waving to the table and chairs she’d set up for their use. ‘Sit down and relax while I brew us a pot of tea.’
‘Hard to get good reliable people,’ he warned, following her to sit on a stool on the other side of the bar while she boiled water for the pot. ‘Did you get their credentials vetted properly? Having made the decision to set up home here, you’ve got to think more about security, Tessa. It’s not just you now, you know. There’s my grandchild to think of. Not that kidnapping has been a common crime in Australia, but…where is Zack?’ He swung around on the stool to look for a pram or some other baby container. ‘I was expecting to see him.’
Tess took a deep breath and feeling there really was no way to blunt the shock, simply said, ‘Zack is with his father.’
‘Father!’ He swung back very sharply, eyes lasering Tess’s for a lot more information than that.
‘You advised telling him about his son and I did,’ she hastily declared.
‘I didn’t advise giving up any custodial rights,’ was snapped back at her. ‘Just who is this guy, Tessa? I thought you said he wouldn’t be interested.’
‘I was wrong.’
‘But Zack is still only a baby. How could you let him out of your care? My grandson…’
‘He’s not out of my care. We’re…we’re a family, Dad.’ She screwed her courage to the sticking point and blurted out, ‘I married Zack’s father three weeks ago.’
His jaw dropped in shock.
‘I didn’t want a big fussy wedding,’ she rattled out as quickly as she could. ‘We flew up to Cairns and…’