"No. I had my eye on law school, but I knew the cost would prohibit my efforts. I was searching for an investment with a quick return when I met Blake. He was starting up a shipping company and wanted investors. I took a half a year off school and gave Blake my tuition money."

"That had to be hard."

"It was. But Blake was...Blake. He didn't try to sell me on the idea, just said that he would triple my money. He was determined to screw his father by being successful, and I believed he could do it."

They both knew how that turned out. Blake's shipping business bloomed and turned into millions.

"So, are you partners with Blake?"

"Silent. I took what I needed to finish college and gave him full run of the rest of my investment."

"Wow. I had no idea. I thought you guys were only friends."

"Friends first, business associates second. I've never questioned what he does with the money, how he invests it, or anything."

"Makes me wish I had money to invest."

Carter shook his head. "His company isn't public, but I'm sure Sam will put a good word in for you."

"What about my fiancee? Shouldn't the wife of a silent partner count for something?" she teased.

He liked the sound of that. His wife. "I might be able to arrange something."

They laughed and when the pilot said they could walk about the cabin, Carter stepped over to the mini bar and opened a bottle of wine.

"What about your mother? What's she like?"

"My mom's great. Funny. Doesn't take herself too seriously. She gave up a lot to marry my dad but has never looked back."

"Gave up a lot? What do you mean?"

Carter handed her a glass of Pinot Grigio and sat back down.

For anyone who bothered to look, Carter's family was public record. However, he didn't go out of his way to announce what he told Eliza next.

"My mother is a Hammond. As in Senator Hammond."

A brief blank expression on Eliza's face faded as she realized who Carter meant.

"Maxwell Hammond?"

"Right."

Eliza blew a whistle through her lips. "That's some big money and influence."

Carter took a drink of the wine and let the crisp flavor float over his tongue. "They used all of it to try and break up my mom and dad. It didn't work."

"That's sweet. I mean...it sucks that your extended family would go through those efforts, but cool that it didn't work."

"It was ugly from what I'm told. She never really mended her relationship with her brother, and he's been anything but loving every time I've ever seen him. Outside of big family functions, weddings, funerals, we don't see him or my mom's side of the family." In a way, Carter running for office was exactly what his mother's family would have wanted. But he wasn't doing it for them. He was doing it for his father. The joke was on the Hammonds.

Eliza asked a few things about his family and his years in New York.

He told her about Roger and Beverly. He suggested they visit them and the baby girl who'd been born the week prior, once things settled.

"Mr. Billings, Miss Havens, we are on approach, please fasten your seatbelts."

Carter moved to the seat beside Eliza and belted in. She glanced out the window and started to bite her nails. He grasped her hand and held it between them. "They're going to love you."

"I'm not nervous," she said, defensively.

Yeah, right.

Eliza wasn't sure what she expected, but the people responsible for Carter's existence weren't it.

Abigail Billings was a young sixty with only minimal lines on her face to give away her age. Her strawberry blonde hair looked as if she spent time every month in a stylist's chair.

Carter's father went by the name of Cash, and Eliza could see the humor behind the man's gaze when he sized her up at the door.

"So you're the woman tying my son down," he said with a cocky grin after their brief introduction.

Abigail swatted her husband in a playful manner, and Eliza took the opportunity to see just how much like Carter the Billings were. "I think we should wait until after we're married before I break out the restraints."

Cash burst out in laughter, and Carter's face grew red.

"Oh, I like her, Carter," Cash said as he placed a hand behind Eliza's back and led her into their modest living room. Their Arizona home sat beside one of the many golf courses peppering the landscape. It wasn't a mansion, but it wasn't typical suburbia either.

"We've been so excited to meet you, Eliza. We didn't know Carter was seeing anyone seriously." Abigail offered refreshments and Carter sat beside Eliza on the sofa.

"Eliza and I have known each other for years."

"So you said on the phone," Cash said.

"It's only recently that we started dating." Eliza could see that Carter's parents were going to drive this question so she did her best to keep things as honest as possible. Although their faces were filled with excitement, there was a small measure of apprehension there, too. Carter was their only child. Eliza didn't think it would be normal for any parents not to question a child's swiftness to the altar.

"Eliza is a close friend of Samantha," Carter explained. "I think we both avoided dating because of our mutual friends."

She caught Carter smiling her way and grinned back. What he said was certainly true for her. Of course, he left out the part where they argued most of the time when they were in the same room.

"It appears you overcame those concerns."

Carter lifted his chin. "You can see why," he told his father.

Eliza felt her cheeks grow warm with Carter's praise. He sounded convincing, even to her ears.

"So why the rush wedding?"

The need to nibble on her nails grew strong, but Eliza squelched it and tried to relax and let Carter answer his father's direct question.

"A couple of reasons, really. First is because I want to claim Eliza as my wife to the world."

"How very caveman of you," Eliza teased. Claiming her meant protecting her. She did her best not to read any deeper meaning into his words.

Carter grasped her hand and held it.

"And the second reason?" Abigail asked.

Carter's face softened as his eyes searched Eliza's. "I would think that is obvious."

Wow. Eliza's heart flipped in her chest. Carter really had missed his call to Hollywood. If she wasn't aware of his real reasons for marrying her, she'd believe he was a man desperately in love.

Abigail released a long sigh.

Cash stood and moved to his son's side.

Carter pulled Eliza to her feet before accepting his father's handshake and bear hug. "Congratulations, son."

Eliza felt a small pang of guilt when Cash hugged her and welcomed her to their family.

They ate dinner in comfortable conversation. Abigail asked about Eliza's family and she told her they'd died when she was young. There was only a moment of sadness that passed over the other woman's face, but then Carter turned the conversation to other things.

Eliza couldn't help thinking about her parents while seated alongside Carter's. They would have loved Carter and applauded his desire to protect her. Then again, if it wasn't for their death, Eliza wouldn't be marrying the man at her side.

Abigail addressed Eliza and pulled her out of her thoughts. "Has Carter warned you about my brother?"

"He's said a few things."

"He's a typical politician. Believe none of what he says."

"Hey!" Carter scolded his father.

"Present company excluded."

"He's right, Eliza. Max believes he is the authority on everything and everyone. If you show him a weakness he'll exploit it." Abigail was serving coffee in the living room while she delivered her warning about her brother. "He's managed to overshadow my father after years of trying."

"Is he really that bad?"

"Worse. The only thing I can praise him for is my sister-in-law, Sally. Truth be told, I don't know why she stays with the man. She's undeniably sweet and an utter pushover. Perfect for Max."

"That's sad." Eliza couldn't imagine not having a backbone and allowing a man to rule over her.

"If given the opportunity, you'd get along fine with her. Chances are Max won't allow a friendship to develop, so please don't think it's you."

"Are they all coming to the wedding?" Cash asked.

Eliza knew that Carter had invited his grandparents, and Max and Sally. After learning more about his uncle, she couldn't help but hope the last minute invitation wouldn't be accepted.

"Max and Sally are coming. I haven't heard from John and Carol." John and Carol were Carter's grandparents. She found it odd that he addressed them by their first names.

"I'll pin my mother down for an answer tomorrow and phone you with the information."

By the end of the evening, Eliza felt as if she'd known Carter's parents for a long time. She looked forward to seeing them at the wedding and knew they would be the anchor of sanity while navigating Carter's family.

"Your parents were surprisingly real," Eliza told Carter once they were alone in the car on the way back to the airport.

"You were expecting blow up dolls?"

"You know what I mean."

Carter switched lanes and navigated onto the freeway.

"Everyone says the same thing. My dad was a cop for years. It's hard to not be real after that. People anticipate a Kennedy when they consider my mother's upbringing."

Eliza could see how that would be expected. Abigail might be polished, but she wasn't pretentious at all. "You're lucky to have them."

Carter glanced her way and his expression shifted into sorrow. He grasped her hand and gave a gentle squeeze. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be."

"I am. I should have realized that meeting my parents would remind you of yours."

"My parents were happy, too. Spending time with your parents reminded me of the good times."

"I wish they could be here for the wedding," Carter told her.

"If they were alive we wouldn't be getting married." Her attempt to correct Carter resulted in his frown.

"I guess," he mumbled.

What does that mean?

Their flight home was uneventful and quiet. Eliza wasn't sure what she'd said to upset him, but she could feel his mood shift. Between the silence, the wine, and the late hour, Eliza found herself nodding off on the plane.

Security followed them from the airport to her house where Carter dropped her off without even a hug.

Sleeping was impossible. Memories of the good times with her parents morphed into the time following their deaths. The empty shell of her life twisted into bitter feelings and a hard shell around her heart. For years, she didn't let anyone in.

That had changed, somehow. Her deep friendship with Samantha and the affection for the people in her life, for Carter, made her vulnerable.

She once again questioned if she was doing the right thing. Curled up in a ball on the side of the bed was Zod. Outside of guard dogs, Eliza never had owned a pet. Pets equaled roots and she knew better than to plant those.

Yet here she was forty-eight hours from her wedding with thick wooded roots growing everywhere.

What happens when it falls apart? She held no illusion that it wouldn't at some point. Happiness didn't last forever.

Stop thinking, Lisa! She twisted her pillow so the cool side hit her face and curled into a fetal position. Stop thinking!