She never had been a gracious loser and she discovered she was even a more gloating winner, because she laughed and murmured, “And they call women the weaker sex.”
Chapter Fifty-Eight
You can marry more money in a minute than you can make in a lifetime.
—Anonymous
Less than a week later, Eachann and Georgina were married in a simple white clapboard church that sat on a barren stretch of coastline just outside the small town of Rockland.
Had any of her old crowd seen her, they’d have never thought this was the same Georgina Bayard. She wore a pale green silk dress. No Worth gown. There weren’t five hundred guests. Only the groom’s small family.
No one would have believed it was the same Georgina Bayard that stood in that simple church with the crisp winter afternoon sunlight falling through the clear glass church windows.
Kirsty and Graham stood on either side of their father and walked him down the short aisle to where his bride was waiting for them. At this wedding it was the children who had someone to give away.
When the ceremony was over, they walked down a stark pine floor instead of a white satin carpet. There were no diamond rings set in precious platinum. No champagne or caviar. There was no pageantry. No grandeur. Just love and laughter and happiness.
An hour later Georgina stood in the crisp winter air as the coaster cut through the sea, heading for the island and home. She held up her hand with the plain gold band Eachann had given her. Eachann came up behind her, linked his arms around her waist, and whispered in her ear. “Did you want diamonds, George?”
She shook her head and looked up at him. “All I want is you.”
He kissed her and the children came over and danced around them as if they were a maypole while Calum and Amy laughed and did some kissing of their own.
Georgina looked at her husband and said, “Since I couldn’t marry for money, I married for love.”
Kirsty looked up at Georgina. “But Father has a whole lot of money.”
“Yes, dear,” Georgina said. “I’m certain to you he does. Lots and lots of pennies.” Then she laughed.
“Not pennies,” Graham said. “Dollars.”
She looked up at Eachann.
He grinned down at her and handed her an envelope. “It’s your wedding present.”
She opened it and just stood there. Inside was the deed to her estate. She looked up at him. “You bought my home back for me?”
“Aye.”
“Oh, Eachann. This must have cost you everything. It’s too much. It’s very thoughtful, but we’ll sell it. You can’t spend all your money on this. It’s not practical.”
Everyone was watching her with such funny looks that she looked back at Eachann in confusion.
“Slide the wedding ring off, George.”
“Why?”
“Just do it.”
She took off the ring.
“Now look inside.”
She turned the ring.To G from Eand there were some numbers engraved on the inside. She frowned up at him. “Two, three, seven, one, four? That’s not the date. What is it?”
“A bank account number.”
“A bank account? Oh, that’s sweet.” She put the ring back on. “Just how much money is in it?”
“I don’t know.” He scratched his head and turned to Calum. “How much is in the bank?”
“Together? Both accounts? Or just yours?”
“Just mine.”
Calum stood there thinking a second, then looked from Eachann to Georgina. “Over two million dollars.”
She stared at Eachann in utter silence. Then, for the second time in her life, Georgina Bayard MacLachlan fainted.
