Page 2 of Secrets of the Past (Secrets of Mustang Island #3)

Oh, Maria had known his mother was a snotty bitch the moment she’d met her. The woman gazed down her long, perfectly shaped nose at Maria, and she had to resist the urge to keep from breaking it.

“And we’ve been trying to make our daughter see that your family is not a good fit for her,” Francisco said.

The woman rolled her eyes at him.

“She’s pregnant, obviously,” Suzanne said with such utter disgust that it was all Maria could do not to slap the woman. “Why else rush into marriage at their age?”

“She’s not,” Maria said automatically, but the words felt thin. What if she were?

Maria watched George Masterson frown at his wife, as if signaling her to shut up, but the woman had a sharp tongue, and she wouldn’t be quiet.

“Why else rush into this? Unless she’s trapping him for our money?”

Good grief. Was everything about money with this crazy woman? Maybe she needed to lose some of her precious cash.

George ran a hand through his hair. “Look. We all can agree that this marriage can’t happen. Our kids are making a mistake.”

Francisco crossed his arms. “Yes, we agree. He’s not good enough for her.”

Oh, how Maria loved this man.

Suzanne sputtered.

“Our daughter is brilliant,” Maria said. “She has a full scholarship. She’s going to be a lawyer. She doesn’t need a husband.”

Especially, that boy. He was nothing but trouble.

“Then she doesn’t need to ruin her life chasing my son,” Suzanne snapped.

“Your son is the one chasing her,” Maria said. “I’ve seen the way he looks at her.”

“We’re not here to argue,” George said, exasperated. “We’re here to fix the problem – our kids getting married.”

Spoken like a true lawyer.

They all stood in tense silence. Maria was not going to offer them a chance to sit down. She’d seen the way Suzanne had gazed at their furniture. She could stand all night in her spiky heels for all she cared.

“She’s seventeen,” George said. “The marriage isn’t valid without parental consent.”

“We didn’t sign anything,” Francisco said. “I would’ve said no.”

Absolutely, they would have told Nicole no and probably locked her in her room.

“Then we file for an annulment.”

“And keep them apart,” Suzanne added.

Deep in her heart, Maria knew that would not be enough to keep these two kids separated. “Not enough. Once they leave for college, they’ll get in touch with one another.”

It was true, she knew her daughter, and the girl kept saying she was going to be a lawyer, and Maria could see that stubborn determination in her child. And these two would find a way to be together.

“Not if we’re smart,” George said. “We’re taking Tripp to Europe in the morning. No contact. No phones. It will look like he abandoned her.”

These two must never have experienced true love.

“She’ll still wait for him,” Maria said softly. “She loves him.”

Maria knew that look in her daughter's eyes. It was the same way she’d felt about Francisco all those years ago. It was young love, and it was dangerous.

“Love. Those kids don’t know the meaning,” Suzanne said.

Maria glanced at Suzanne and glared at her. Nicole was her pride and joy, and she didn’t deserve the hatred radiating from this woman.

“We have to end this permanently,” Suzanne said.

“Another woman,” George said.

“Another man,” Francisco said.

“A realization that he doesn’t love her,” Suzanne replied.

“The realization that he’s not good enough for her,” Maria said.

There was a moment of silence as they all stood there thinking about how to put their plan into action.

“What if Tripp were to send her an email saying that he realizes they’ve made a mistake. That he wants to spend his college years chasing other women,” George said.

“Why does it have to be Tripp’s fault? Why can’t Nicole do the breaking up?” Suzanne said. “Our son has put up with so much.”

Her son had put up with what? He’d married her daughter, taken her virginity, and now he was going to break her heart. Thank goodness, the parents were ending this marriage, because her daughter deserved a much better family. One that would see her brilliance and appreciate her.

“What if we do an email from each one. You send one from Nicole to Tripp, and we’ll send one from Tripp to Nicole,” George, the practical one, said. “Can you get into your daughter’s email?”

That was one thing that Maria had insisted on with all her children. Occasionally, she glanced at their emails and texts to ensure they were safe.

“Yes, I can get into Nicole’s email,” she said. “What about you? Can you get into your son’s?”

“Yes,” George said. “He doesn’t know it, but I can. So here’s the plan. We’ll each send an email from the other one saying that they’ve had second thoughts. Then we’re going to whisk our son off to Europe until he goes to college. By then, your daughter will be in school.”

Shaking her head, Maria knew they were missing out on the opportunity to help Nicole. “No. I’m not going to do this. We’ll just let the kids work things out between themselves.”

Francisco glanced at her like she was crazy.

George sighed and shook his head. “I’ll give you fifty thousand dollars to help with your daughter’s education and to keep her away from my son.”

They were desperate. And that’s what Maria wanted to hear. “Make it seventy-five and you have a deal.”

Suzanne gasped. “Trash. You’re nothing but trash.”

It was all Maria could do to keep from yanking the woman’s hair out, but instead she smiled at her. The woman was going to lose some of her precious gold and Maria would use it to help her daughter get through school.

“And you’re going to be so lucky that our trashy daughter is not going to be in your family.”

Nicole had received a full scholarship, but this would cover everything and then some.

“We’ll send messages, one from each family. Make them both believe the other had second thoughts.”

Maria stared at the floor. “And they’ll never know?”

“No,” Suzanne said. “It’ll be like it never happened.”

Maria closed her eyes.

“I want the money agreed to in writing. A contract.”

“You’ll have it by the morning.”

Was she being mean? Yes, but in the long run, it would help Nicole. She was doing this for her daughter. Now her education would be paid for. And she had saved her from this horrible family.

“I’ll get the contract drawn up and the annulment started,” George said. “We’ll be leaving for Europe tomorrow. By the time we get back, the kids will be in separate schools and have new friends.”

With a sigh, Tripp’s parents walked to the door.

Thank goodness, they were leaving, never to darken their door again.

“Let’s hope this is the last time we have to meet over our children,” Suzanne said.

“Don’t ever come back here,” Maria said. “We don’t want your family here.”

Tripp’s parents walked out. Maria closed the door.

Francisco sighed. “What have we done?”

“Saved our daughter from that family,” Maria said.

She stood in the room long after they’d gone, staring out into the moonlight, clutching her robe, wondering where her daughter was.

She thought about her husband Francisco.

Their own start had been rocky and yet, she loved him with her heart and soul.

Had she just robbed her daughter of that kind of love?

“We just sold our daughter’s heart,” she whispered, guilt ripping through her.

What if her own parents had done this to her and Francisco? How would she have felt?