CHAPTER NINE

It was a moment from hell that seemed to be frozen in time as Abigail stood in the doorway of the loft staring at the very stunned and very naked Laura and Remington.  Out of utter shock, no one made a move.  As if it couldn’t get any worse than that, Laura heard footsteps and a familiar voice.

“We never should have let her come up here alone.  Mother, any sign of…”  Frances and Donald walked through the door and stopped dead in their tracks.  “LAURA!”  Donald quickly turned to face the hallway. 

Without thinking, Remington dropped his head. It fell on Laura’s abdomen and she nudged his shoulders.  Panicked, she scrambled to reach any kind of cover, while pushing him off of her.  “Get off of me…” she whispered.  She found her underwear and his shirt and slipped them on.

Becoming fully aware of the moment, Remington immediately reached for anything to cover himself with and unfortunately came up with Laura’s lace peignoir.  Abigail’s and Frances’ expressions told him that he was in trouble and he tossed the lingerie aside and tore the fitted sheet from the bottom end of the bed. 

The magnitude of the shock finally kicked in and as Laura made her way across the room to close the loft’s door, she had tears of embarrassment running down her cheeks.  “Mother, I can explain.  This isn’t…”

All three of them turned to face Laura and then looked to Remington, who by then had found his pants, and then back to Laura.  Abigail took a deep breath, walked to a chair and sat down.  “Laura.  I cannot begin to tell you how completely appalled I am.  Frances and I were worried sick because no one had heard from you in weeks.  We called here countless times, we called the office and when that failed we called Mr. Steele and heard nothing from anyone.  I got on an airplane and flew all the way out here to try to find you, spent an entire day scouring Los Angeles for any clue of where you might be and when I do find you, you’re in bed very obviously having sex with your employer!  Now what do you have to say for yourself young lady?”

“And by all means Laura, tell us how this isn’t what it looks like?”  Frances tossed in.

Remington looked at Donald as he walked down the steps into the living room.  He sat down on the sofa next to Laura and reached for Abigail’s hand.  Gently patting the top of her hand he began to speak.  “Abigail, Frances, I think I can clear this up for you rather quickly.  You see it all started at my wedding…”

Abigail’s eyes grew wide and furious and she jerked her hand away from him.  “Mr. Steele!  You’re married AND sleeping with my daughter!” 

Laura buried her face in her hands and moaned.  Remington suddenly realized what he had said and quickly tried to cover his tracks.  “No, no, no Abigail!  I’m not married!  I swear I’m not!  Laura interrupted the ceremony and before we knew it, we were off on a honeymoon together!”

“You took my daughter on a honeymoon meant for another woman?!”

“Good heavens no!  Mildred sent the two of us to Mexico on a honeymoon, then we went to London and then to Ireland and we just got back yesterday.”

Laura could tell things weren’t getting any better.  “Mr. Steele, perhaps you should stop trying to explain this.”

Abigail threw her hands in the air.  “This is every mother’s worst nightmare.  My daughter is sleeping with her employer and they aren’t even on a first name basis!  Laura, how could you?!  I thought I raised you better than this!”

She was about to answer when Donald added, “You know, this whole thing is a little odd.  Maybe it was just me, but I always thought the two of you were an item.”

Frances looked at her husband and then at Laura.  “Well now that you mention it, I always thought so too.”

Abigail, now totally in the dark, looked at the Pipers and then back to the sofa.  “The two of you have been seeing each other and I knew nothing about it?  Exactly how long has this sort of thing been going on?”

Laura and Remington looked at each other and then turned back to her.  In unison, both gave an answer.  Laura: “Three days” – Remington: “Four years”. Laura again put her hands to her head and closed her eyes wishing someone would just shoot her then. 

She lowered her hands and opened her mouth to speak but Abigail stopped her.  “I don’t want to hear another word about this.”

“But Mother…We’re eng…” 

“Laura, I am shocked, I’m appalled, I’m disappointed and I honestly don’t think there’s anything that either one of you will ever be able to say that will change my feelings about your inexcusable actions.”  She stood and looked at Frances and Donald.  “I think we should be going now.”

The three of them headed for the door and Laura and Remington followed close behind.  “Mother, really.  If you’ll just sit back down and listen, all of this can be cleared up.  Mr. Stee… Remington and I are getting…”  Abigail pulled the door open just as Mildred was about to knock. 

Remington breathed a sigh of relief.  “Oh thank heavens, Mildred.  Please, please come in and help us straighten out this mess.” 

“Mrs. Holt, Dr. and Mrs. Piper, what a nice surprise!”  Looking at a topless Remington and Laura in nothing but underwear and his shirt, Mildred immediately knew what had happened.

“Would you excuse us please?  We were just leaving.”  Abigail tried to move past Mildred.

“You mean you’re not staying to help plan the wedding?”  Mildred asked.

Abigail and Frances spun around.  “Wedding!  What wedding?”  

“The one that would explain what you walked in on this morning.”  Laura held out her left hand and the two women gasped when they saw the size of the diamond in the center of the ring. 

Going back into the living room, Abigail beamed from ear to ear as Mildred put a stack of bridal magazines on the coffee table.  As the three women started going the magazines, Mildred glanced up at Laura.  “Ooh, Miss Holt!  I found the most beautiful dress with a train long enough to have an initial monogrammed into it.”

Remington wrapped an arm around Laura’s waist.  She leaned back and rested her head against his chest and sighed.  He lightly kissed the top of her head and lowered it to her ear.  “I’ve never been so happy to see Mildred in my life.  Looks like we’ve dodged another bullet Laura.”

“Hmmm, yes I suppose.  But tell me Mr. Steele.  Do you think we’ll ever be able to spend an entire day and night making love without someone getting in the way?”

He quietly laughed.  “I don’t know Laura, I don’t know, but just think of all the possibilities while we’re trying to find out!”