Three Times a Lady

  Three Times A Lady

  Copyright © October 2018 Dahlia Rose

  Cover Art by EDH Graphics

  All rights are reserved. No part of this e-book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  Table of Contents

  Copyright Page

  Three Times A Lady | By Dahlia Rose | Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Three Times A Lady

  By Dahlia Rose

  Chapter One

  It was always cold in Northumberland. Even in the summer months there was a chill in the air when the evening came in. It was late September, and it was downright cold. Twilight started at four, and it was completely dark by five. The mist hung low down to the roads, some paved with asphalt and the cobblestone from when the town was young. Tonight was no different from any other as Haile drove home. He’d gone to dinner at the manor house, invited by Jasper and Zeva.

  Two years into marriage, and they were more in love than ever. Zeva was glowing in the final weeks of her pregnancy while Jasper was frantic. The crib he made was already set up in the nursery, but Jasper was building a set of drawers that he didn’t think would be finished in time. Zeva was suffering Braxton Hicks contractions, and every time she made even a small sigh, Jasper was out the chair with a wild look in his eyes. To Haile, it was hilarious to watch, but he felt a tinge of sadness. This would never be a part of his life.

  When the mist was like this, stores usually closed early. And combined with the rain that had just started to fall, it was a miserable night. Haile was tempted to drive all the way to his house but knowing it would probably get worse before it got better, he decided to stay in his apartment over the pub.

  When he turned the corner, his lights almost missed the small figure standing under the awning of Zeva’s charity house, The Northumberland Hope Center. Two bags were next to the person who seemed to try to huddle into the wall when the headlights from his Land Rover hit them. Haile trusted his instincts, and he slowed his vehicle and rolled the window down. It was a she, and she was shivering. Fear rolled off her in waves, and her demeanor reminded him of a scared rabbit, any sudden sounds or movement, she’d be ready to run.

  “Good evening, are you okay?” Haile asked gently. “It’s getting ready to pour down buckets of rain. You shouldn’t be out here.”

  “I-is there a hotel or motel—cheap—around here?” she asked hesitantly.

  American, even stranger, Haile thought before answering.

  “Unfortunately, the bed and breakfast is closed up for the winter and any the chain hotels are pretty far away from here,” Haile answered. “You’re American.” She didn’t answer, and her shoulders slumped in defeat. “Listen, you are obviously in trouble. Let’s get you loaded up and someplace warm.”

  “I would be stupid to get into a car with someone I don’t know,” she answered. “My name is Haile Buchannan. I own the Celtic Cross Pub right up the street,” Haile said. “I won’t hurt you, I swear it, and tomorrow I can take you to the Duchess. She is American and runs the center where you are standing now.”

  “The American Duchess, she lives here?” she asked tentatively. She wiped her eyes, confirming the fact that she was crying.

  “Not at the center, but she lives on a property outside of town with her husband and my good friend Jasper,” Haile explained. “I’ll call them, and they can give you my references of being a great guy.”

  “After the day I’ve had, if I end up dead in a swamp for trusting you it would be my fault,” she muttered. “They say British people are nice, not so much.”

  “We’re not all bad.” Haile smiled. “If I wanted to hurt you, I could’ve grabbed you by now. Look, I swear I’m not going to harm you in any way. We can call the police and have them escort us to my pub if you want.”

  She pulled her phone out quickly and snapped a picture of him. The light blinded Haile for a moment.

  “What was that for?” Haile questioned.

  “I sent your picture with a note to the cloud on my phone. If my friend in Texas doesn’t hear from me, she can access it, and you’ll be the prime suspect,” she announced firmly.

  Haile grinned and looked up as thunder rolled. “Good idea. This downpour is about to get going. Let me help you get your bags in the boot and we’ll go someplace warm.”

  “Thank you,” she said gratefully. “I don’t mean to seem like a terrible person, but I’ve had a hell of a day, and I just got here last night.”

  “You can tell me all about it over a hot meal, yes?” Haile put her hard cases in the back of the rover and helped her inside the passenger seat before closing the door.

  “I appreciate that. I honestly think the last thing I ate was peanuts on the plane,” she admitted and held out her hand. “My name is Marisol Elliot, but people call me Mari.”

  “Nice to meet you Mari. People call me Haile or Red when they’re drunk.” He grinned and shook her hand.

  The sky opened up, and the downpour came down quickly. It was a good thing he’d convinced her to get in his vehicle, because while she was slightly damp standing there for only a little while she would have been soaked in less than a minute with this rain. She pulled the hood of her sweatshirt down, and he was finally able to see her in the dim light. She had a sweet, round face under a short pixie cut. Her nose was a cute button in the center of her face, and her lips were a soft pink with the bottom lip being fuller and delectable.

  She wasn’t tall—he put her height around five two or three. Compared to Zeva, she was an elf and a cute one at that. He recalled the fear and anxiety in those wide brown eyes as she stood in the rain, and Haile’s curiosity was piqued about what had brought her to Northumberland. He parked in front of the pub and rushed to unlock the heavy mahogany and glass door before she got out and rushed inside. He followed her in and closed the barrier against the rain and then turned on the lights.

  “You weren’t lying, it is a pub,” she murmured looking around.

  “I’ll grab your bags when it lets up out there a bit.” Haile smiled. “Sit anywhere you want, and I’ll grab us some food. Mrs. Humphrey always leaves something warming after they lock up for the night.”

  “Is that your mom?” Mari laughed. “Of course not, why would you call her Mrs. Humphrey if she was.”

  “She could be my mum, she certainly acts like it.” Haile chuckled. “You know what, sit in the booth next to the fireplace. I’ll put it on for you.”

  “Please don’t trouble yourself to build a fire for me,” she gasped.

  “Don’t fret at all, it’s gas.” He laughed.

  He flipped a switch, and the flames leapt to life from within the stone hearth. Haile heard Mari sigh as she scooted closer, and without a word he turned and went to the kitchen. “Bless your big heart, Mrs. Humphrey,” he murmured. His cook had left mini chicken potpies in the warming oven, expecting him to be hungry or if someone needed a meal. The menu said mini but after eating half of one you were ready to pop. Haile readied the meal and made a large cup of tea. She had the look of someone who needed to be warmed up from the inside out. When he returned to the booth, Mari’s feet were tucked up beneath her, and she stared into the fire.

  “How about a personal chicken potpie for dinner?” Haile announced and put the plate on the table.

  “That’s meant for three people,” Mari said and eagerly moved forward. She took the spoon, broke into the flaky brown crust, and brought a big bit
e to her mouth. She closed her eyes as she chewed and sighed. “This is the best thing I ever had.”

  “Mrs. Humphrey can cook for angels as far as I’m concerned,” Haile answered.

  “I hear them singing now.” Mari ate eagerly.

  Haile waited until she was about halfway done and drank some of her tea before asking, “Mari, why were you alone in the rain with your luggage? Northumberland is quite a ways from London to be lost.”

  “I’m an idiot, that’s why. I was telling you I can’t get in a car with a stranger and I left America for one,” she muttered. “I met a guy online, Jeffery Moermond.”

  The name made the muscle in Haile’s jaw tick, and he clenched his teeth. But he kept his face as impassive as possible. “Moermond is married.” Haile didn’t elaborate further and waited for her to continue.

  “I wasn’t under that impression for the six months we were talking on the phone, texting, video chatting. I was catfished,” Mari explained.

  “What does a fish have to do with this?” Haile asked.

  Mari sighed. “It’s an American term for being duped. After six months he said, ‘move to London,’ and since I had nothing in Lumberton, Texas to hold me there, I took a leap of faith and landed on my ass.”

  “What happened?” Haile asked gently.

  “I flew into Heathrow, thinking I was moving to London. He wasn’t there,” Mari started her story. “I get a text from him saying I need to take the train to Northumberland, he is there on business, and we will be staying at his mansion while we are here. Okay... I buy a ticket and take a car service to this house. Nice house but certainly no mansion.”

  “I know where he lives,” Haile said. “Sorry to say the only mansion around is the Manor house where Jasper and Zeva live.”

  “The Duke and Duchess,” she assessed.

  “Jeffery.” The name made the bile rise in his throat. “Is from this area and lives on the teat of his wife’s money.”

  “I figured that when I showed up with my suitcases, and she wrote me off as the new nanny for their son,” Mari said. “He thought I would live there and pretend to work, and when his wife as asleep he would sneak to my room and...” She took a deep breath but tears seeped out. “I’m sorry, but I’m so mad and hurt because I thought I was so dumb to think this would work and to believe in love and happy endings.”

  “This is not your fault, Marisol. He deceived you, and I’m sorry to say that’s his method in this town.” Haile ran his hand through his hair. “I’m sorry to say there is some serious bad blood between me and him, so I’m not a fan of him at all.”

  “He told his wife I got the wrong impression, and I wanted to sleep with him,” Mari said. “Even when I offered to show her the texts where he contacted me first and his profile on the dating app, she refused. Called me a whore and kicked me out in the rain. Now I’m stuck. There is no way for me to get back home, and hell, there is nothing to go back to. I wanted a new life here, and now I don’t know what to do.”

  “Zeva can help, she can get you home if you want or help you get settled here,” Haile tried to soothe her.

  “I’m totally unsure of what I want anymore. If I stay, I’ll have to hear the gossip about the American girl who tried to ruin a marriage,” Mari said. “His wife said as much, that she would tell everyone how much of a trollop I was. I don’t even understand what a trollop is.”

  “Joslyn can hardly say a thing, she isn’t a person anyone listens to anyway, only her phony cronies would entertain her words,” Haile commented. “Listen, nothing can be solved tonight. I have an extra room upstairs you can sleep in, and tomorrow we will work on this.”

  “Are you sure I’m not imposing? I have a few bucks I can pay for the night stay,” Mari said.

  “I’ll have none of that. Zeva would kill me if I didn’t seem hospitable.” Haile stood. “If you’re done eating, I’ll show you to the apartment and you can get some rest. It seems you went from traveling to a train to standing in the rain with nowhere to go.”

  “That’s essentially it, I spent fourteen hundred dollars to get here.” Mari followed him up the stairs. “Fuck my life.”

  “Now don’t be down on yourself. You were lied to, but we will take care of it.” Haile opened a door. “You never can tell when you may have a surprise guest or a regular who has tied one on a bit too much, and we are a hospitable lot here in Northumberland. The place is clean there are extra blankets in the chest by the bed and a bathroom through the door in the hallway on the left.”

  “Thank you so much, Mr. Haile. I was completely lost and thinking what should I do? Then you show up and give me a place to sleep and food...” Mari’s words ended when she impulsively stood on her tiptoes and put her arms around his neck.

  “Thank you,” she whispered, and he heard the tears in her voice.

  He squeezed her, quickly uncomfortable with the closeness and the way his heart tripped. “Not a problem at all. You rest, and we’ll talk tomorrow.”

  Mari closed the door, and he looked at the barrier for a moment before heading back downstairs. He pulled the phone from his pocket and pressed the button to dial Jasper’s number.

  “Why are you still up?” Jasper asked after answering the phone on the first ring.

  “It’s ten and I’m not a senior, plus I run a pub,” Haile replied. “Why are you up?”

  “Trying to finish these drawers for the baby,” Jasper answered. “It’s a Tuesday and raining. It’s well known by now that Mrs. Humphrey closed the door and kicked everyone out to go home at nine.”

  Haile laughed. “Very true, but on my way home I came upon a situation—an American girl, Marisol Elliot. She was under the awning of the Hope center, crying with her luggage. I brought her to the pub with me.”

  “What the hell is that about?” Jasper asked curiously.

  “Two words: Jeffery Moermond,” Haile said grimly.

  “Fuck,” Jasper spat the words out. “Tell me everything.”

  Haile recounted the story, including what Joslyn had threatened, and Jasper listened silently until the end.

  “She is lucky to be alive,” Jasper murmured. “Jeffery is a fucking maniac, and I have no doubt Joslyn’s money has helped keep his crimes a secret. Her and Cornelia were hand and glove buddies before she left.”

  “We could never prove it but if he sees Mari is staying here. He’ll try to pick at the scab, and I can’t say that I’ll be able to restrain myself,” Haile said.

  “Bring her here. Jeffery won’t dare try a thing,” Jasper said.

  “I’ll take care of her. I already plan to offer a job, and she’s asleep upstairs,” Haile replied. “I’ll protect her.”

  “Haile, it’s not the same as before...” Jasper began.

  “I understand that, I... she needs my help,” Haile answered.

  “Hmmmm,” Jasper said.

  “What?” Haile heard the note of irritation in his own voice.

  “Nothing at all,” Jasper said. “Still, bring her around tomorrow and let Zeva start some paperwork on her for a work visa and papers to cover all our bases. I’ll give her an update tomorrow when she wakes up.”

  “I don’t want to bother her, she is pretty much due any day now,” Haile replied.

  “It gives her something to do so she doesn’t go crazy again and try to clean the entire manor house,” Jasper said. “We’ll make sure that this doesn’t end with a missing person due to Moermond..”

  “It won’t. I’d kill him first,” Haile said bluntly. “See you tomorrow, Jasper.”

  He hung up and walked behind the bar and poured himself an Irish whiskey neat. He stayed away from Moermond. They lived in the same town and gave each other a wide berth. Jeffery knew what he did and what he got away with, and when Haile came home from deployment, his only thought was to kill the fucker. Jasper saved him that day, and while there was no proof, Jeffery taunted him, hoping he would slip. This would be slow and steady, and his patience seemed to have paid off. Ma
ri would be safe with him and Jeffery wouldn’t be able to touch her.

  He would make sure of it.

  Chapter Two

  There was so much more to her story, but one she couldn’t quite tell, not yet, maybe never. Mari sat in a lavishly decorated sitting room-slash-office with a fire crackling merrily in the background. A very pregnant Duchess Zeva McTavish sat at the desk typing quickly at her computer while her husband rubbed her shoulders. She smiled as the Duchess slapped at his hand in irritation more than once and it never fazed her husband. He would start right back up again, and she would sigh, letting him continue. It was beautiful to watch.

  Haile sat close by, looking in her direction every once in a while as if making sure she was okay. All the while these people were trying to help her, and she bit the inside of her cheek to keep her mouth closed. She had run toward Jeffery Moermond and a new life because nothing held her in Texas, and if she were still there, she’d probably be dead by now. They listened to her story while feeding her scones and tea, Zeva printing the screenshots of the conversations and his profile she saved before he sanitized his life and deleted the accounts. They needed a record in case Jeffery or his wife chose to take the issue any further. God, Mari hoped not, because all she wanted was to find some peace in her life.

  “We need a job offer for her Tier 2 Visa,” Zeva said. “These get accepted quicker when there is a solid job offer on the table and a salary involved. It wouldn’t hurt to have an address where Mari will be living.”

  “She’ll be my new bar manager, and she can take the apartment over the pub,” Haile announced.

  Mari looked at him in surprise. “You don’t have to do that. You don’t even know if I have the skills or anything.”

  “Can you order beer, food, and keep my suppliers in order, sometimes bartend or waitress in a pinch?” Haile asked.

  Mari nodded. “Bartended before, waitressed before, I was running the concessions at the bowling alley in Lumberton before I left.”