To have and to Hold

meet the Maxwells pt 2

So do tell us about this charity you are involved in, and why you ended up needing Adam's help?" Lynn then enquired

"Well it's a refuge for battered and homeless women," Rachel replied, once again glancing at Adam uncertainly; needing to find out if it was ok for her to continue.

"Yes," Adam joined in, "Unfortunately the premises was situated in the area which my company had just bought up, so it meant it was going to be flattened. It was during our meetings and discussions over how I could help solve the problem, and finally find a new place for the Refuge; that we became closer. Then I realised Rachel was the girl for me"

"How sweet," Lynn replied drolly, "I take the feelings were reciprocated?" she turned her attention on Rachel again "You must be something special to weave your spell over Adam. It's not like him to act so impulsively, wanting to rush into marriage this way, in fact it's the last thing I thought he would ever do"

"Well I am not getting any younger, so why waste time," Adam replied easily. He slipped his arm around Rachel and pulling her close, she forced herself to try and relax against him as if it was the most natural thing in the world, and found it was easier than she thought.

"I know what I wanted, and I got it" he then stated

"And what do your parents think of your sudden engagement ?" it was Adam's father who addressed her now

"Well," Rachel shifted uneasily, hoping she didn't have to go into too much detail, "I haven't seen father since I was about four and my mother died quite a while back ago when I was young"

"Oh I am sorry to hear that," Robert Maxwell replied, "I guess that is one thing you have in common with Adam though, he lost his mother when he was young as well" he then pointed out

"True," Rachel glanced up at Adam realising his father was right, it was not something she had thought about before.

"Then there was the loss of his brother Kevin and his family recently.. just too much tragedy lately" Robert Maxwell frowned

"Yes Adam told me about the awful accident. It must have been very hard for you." It was Rachel's turn to sound sympathetic

"Its been hard on all of us," Robert Maxwell nodded and Rachel could see a weariness in his eyes, she then recalled Adam's concern about his father's health since his brothers death

But then Robert Maxwell perked up a little as the uneasy silence grew.

Shaking of his maudlin thoughts, he turned to her again, "But let us not ruin the night thinking about the sad things that has happened. This is a night for happier news, Adam getting engaged and planning on getting married, we should be celebrating, not mourning," and with that, he lifted up his glass as if toasting it to them, "To happier times," he announced before knocking back the contents

Rachel manage to smile, she liked Adam's father so far, and felt a little uneasy that in a small way, they were deceiving him.

"Oh and of course Adam, lets hope this marriage works better than your last one," Sandra spoke up shooting him a sly smile, before addressing Rachel,

"I just hope you know what you are letting yourself in for my dear. I hope you are prepared to be second best to his precious business. Adam is an absolute workaholic, you are going to have to have some special tricks up your sleeve once the novelty of his devotion for you, wears off.. I discovered that for myself.. So much so, his own step brother ended up snatching me from him from right under his nose, because he wasn't paying enough attention"

"Yes," Darren, who had stood by the hearth next to the sofa where Sandra and Lynn sat, spoke up, looking a little smugly over at Adam, "You don't want to go making that blunder again"