Death Benefits. Hannah Alexander
Ginger steadied herself, sure she’d felt the jet shift, though the door remained open and people continued to enter.
She blinked and tried to refocus, but still he was there. No mistake about it. It was Dr. Ray Clyde. As usual, he stood taller than every other man by at least a couple of inches. His size, his voice, his rugged-but-attractive face and demeanor all drew attention to his commanding presence.
He’d been her director when she was on the mission field in Belarus. At one time, she’d believed they had a special relationship—not romantic, perhaps, but she’d thought they were the best of friends. He seemed to be such a caring man, and at one time she’d thought he’d cared deeply about her—at least as a friend.
Then came the betrayal.
The line of passengers entering the jet came to a standstill while an elderly woman asked for help placing her luggage in an overhead compartment. Ray helped her, of course. Ray was always jumping to someone’s aid. Everyone’s but Ginger’s.
After easily lifting the piece of luggage for the lady, he accepted her thanks with a silent nod, then looked up and caught Ginger’s gaze. Ginger could not look away. All the pain and fury of his betrayal surfaced, and her hands clenched at her sides.
She broke the connection at last, and unbuckled her seat belt. She stood and turned to glare at Graham across the aisle.
As if he’d been waiting for her to react, he looked up at her, then winced at the look on her face. Willow, seated beside him, saw her, too, and her blue-gray eyes filled with compassion—but not surprise.
Both of them had known Ray would be here.
Ginger felt doubly betrayed. Whatever was going on, Willow was obviously as involved as Graham.
Ginger could say nothing in this crowd, in front of the girls, with several strangers within earshot. She couldn’t protest, couldn’t threaten to take the girls and deplane, as much as the idea tempted her at this moment. But her anger continued to grow. How dare they?
Graham sighed, got up, and stepped across the aisle, leaning close to Ginger’s ear. “I gather there’s a problem.”
“How insightful of you,” she hissed through gritted teeth. “Don’t you try to tell me Ray Clyde’s presence on this jet is coincidence.”
“I wouldn’t dare.”
“What’s he doing here?”
There was a hesitation, then Graham said softly, “He’s going with us to Hawaii.”
Though she’d already guessed what her brother would say, she caught her breath sharply. Betrayal, indeed. “Did you tell him to wait and board at the last moment so I couldn’t change my mind about going?”
Graham winced again. “I knew the timing would be tight, since he had to drive down from Columbia after a meeting this morning.”
“I’m sure you counted on it.” A wave of heat spread over her face and neck, and for once, it wasn’t a hot flash. How dare he?
“Sorry, Ginger,” he said softly. “I wanted to discuss it with you, but I knew you would find some reason to back out if you discovered he was coming.”
“You’ve got that right.” She looked down at Brittany, who sat happily playing with her bear, and then glanced around at Lucy, who was watching her with curiosity.
She must not lose her temper further. Graham obviously had used the seating arrangements for his purpose, as well.
Ginger was going to have to torture her brother at a later date.
“Ray has been a good friend of mine for many years.” Graham kept his voice low. “I couldn’t exclude him from this wedding. It’s too important. He was there for me when I needed a friend after the divorce.”
Ginger gritted her teeth. “I was there for you, too. Just because I was halfway around the world—”
“I know you were there in spirit. Ray let me stay at his place until I could find my own. Ray gave me references when I needed a new job. He’s been supportive from the—”
“Please stop.” Ginger closed her eyes. It hurt to hear her beloved brother singing the praises of a manipulative, hard hearted…
“He isn’t the jerk you believe him to be,” Graham said.
For Ginger, two nightmares were coming true in a few short hours. Rick Fenrow was out of prison, and her backstabbing ex-director was undermining her relationship with her brother. How could Graham do this to her?
“So he’s in the wedding party,” she said.
Graham nodded.
“And what part does he play?”
Graham looked over his shoulder at Willow, then back at Ginger. “He’s going to be best man.”
Ginger caught her breath. Of course. She was going to be matron of honor, and Ray would be best man. “What a wonderful way to begin a marriage, when the main witnesses to the wedding hate each other.”
“That isn’t true, Ginger. Ray holds no animosity toward you at all. In fact, he’s eager to make amends.”
“I thought Preston was going to be best man,” she said. After all, Willow’s brother should hold that place of honor.
“I had initially asked Ray to do the honors, and then there was a glitch, and he thought he was going to have to fly to Africa. That was when I asked Preston. The situation changed, and Ray was able to join us, after all. I think Preston was glad to be relieved of any responsibility.”
“You’d better find yourself another matron of honor, then, Graham.”
“Please, sis, don’t be this way.”
Ginger turned to look at Ray once more. He was advancing slowly down the aisle, waiting patiently as people in front of him took their time stowing their carry-on luggage.
He caught her gaze again, his dark blue eyes probing—perhaps to gauge the force of her reaction? How could he not know what it would be? Did he expect her to welcome him with open arms?
“Ginger,” Willow called, patting the seat beside her. “Come sit with me a minute. We need to talk.”
Ginger hesitated. She didn’t want to talk, she wanted to scream. If it were anyone but Willow…
She crossed the aisle and sat in the seat Graham had vacated. “Don’t you think this is an awkward time to be explaining things? Am I a child who has to be manipulated?”
Willow spread her hands. “Well, in this instance—”
“Don’t you start with me, too. Graham is bad enough, but I know he’s a control freak. I’d have thought better of you.”
“Give it some time, okay?” Willow said. “Preston’s been willing to stand in as best man for Graham, but he knew Graham had asked Ray. Believe me, I know my brother. Preston wasn’t disappointed to be given the chance to step down.”
“No one thought about giving me the chance to step down.”
“I wanted you to be there for me.”
Ginger didn’t want to argue, especially with Willow. Graham and Willow deserved their wedding trip to go smoothly. After all the suffering they had gone through in the past years, Willow and Graham needed something to go right.
But this…this was far from acceptable.
“This was what you and Graham and Preston were talking about on Christmas Day when I walked into the room and everyone fell silent,” Ginger said.
“Sorry. I really hated keeping it from you.”
“Then you shouldn’t have.”
“That