To Make a Marriage (10 page)

She always wanted the same thing. Money. And like a fool, because of some deeply buried memories of having once loved her, he always gave her what she came for.

He knew, now that Andie was to be his wife, one day he would have to tell her about the other woman, of what she had once been to him. But he wanted Andie already safely established as his wife before he did that.

Coward, an inner voice taunted him.

Yes, he was a coward. But if being a coward now meant he kept Andie in the future, then he would choose being a coward every time!

He sat forward in his seat, attempting a smile that he knew didn't quite come off. But how could it? He had been
churned up with conflicting emotions ever since he'd returned to his office this afternoon and found that wretched woman there. Half of him was looking forward to having Andie as his wife, and to being her husband, and the other half of him was terrified, after this afternoon, that the wedding would never take place!

‘I'll make sure I'm back in time for our appointment with Jonas on Monday afternoon,' he promised.

Andie swallowed hard, her expression bland—deliberately so, it seemed to Adam. ‘Of course you must go. I understand completely. After all, it's your work.' She smiled.

But her eyes didn't. Those beautiful sparkling green eyes were completely emotionless.

Adam just wanted to sweep her up into his arms, tell her everything, plead for her patience and understanding over a situation that had caused him much heartache over the years. But he knew he couldn't do that, that he had kept his own counsel for too long. He had only ever spoken to one person about Glenda, and he had known Barbara well enough to trust that she had taken his secret to the grave with her.

How he wished Barbara were here now!

‘I really am rather tired now, Adam.' Andie spoke quietly, her gaze not quite meeting his. ‘And I'm sure you must have things to do if you intend flying to Germany tomorrow,' she added pointedly.

He could feel the distance between them, a distance that seemed to be widening, not lessening. He didn't know what to do or say to stop it happening…!

‘What will you do while I'm away?' he questioned, knowing by the way her eyes widened indignantly that he had once again said the wrong thing.

‘I believe I managed to keep myself occupied before you
came into my life, Adam,' she replied scornfully. ‘And that I will continue to do so,' she continued, green gaze flashing a warning.

He winced. ‘I didn't mean—I was just taking an interest—I—'

He had sounded patronising! When, in reality, he was desperately trying to find some common ground between them before he took his departure. He didn't want to go away for three or four days feeling that things weren't right between them.

Andie stood up, moving to lightly stroke his arm. ‘It's all right, Adam,' she told him. ‘I do understand. This is going to take time to get used to. For both of us.'

His expression softened as he looked up at her. She really was so very much like Barbara. Perhaps if he just explained everything to Andie—

No!

It was a risk he dared not take. Not until after they were married, anyway. When he would have no choice.

He stood up, aware of Andie's move away from him as he did so, his smile slightly tinged with bitterness. If Andie didn't love him now, shied away from being close to him, how much more difficult was this going to be once they were married?

‘I'll call you from Germany,' he said as the two of them walked to the door.

‘You will?' Andie sounded doubtful.

‘Of course I will.' He turned and grasped her arms, bending slightly so that he could look into the magnolia beauty of her face. ‘I'll need to know that my fiancée is well,' he teased.

‘Your pregnant fiancée,' Andie amended.

Implying that was the only reason he would be tele
phoning, to make sure that their baby, rather than Andie herself, was still well!

Adam wanted to assure her that it was her he cared about, her health and welfare that concerned him. But he knew she wouldn't believe him even if he tried to tell her that. Because without the existence of that baby, Andie would never have agreed to marry him…

The next three weeks, until he could make Andie his wife, stretched out before him like a minefield. And each step he took could be the one that made his future with Andie blow up in his face…!

‘T
HIS
is what you've always wanted, isn't it?' Harrie asked indulgently as Andie paraded in front of her in yet another wedding dress.

Andie pulled a face. ‘To find a wedding dress that hides the fact I'll be almost four months pregnant when I walk down the aisle on Rome's arm as the blushing bride?'

‘Good try, Andie,' her sister replied. ‘But you know very well that isn't what I'm referring to.'

Of course she knew. But had she really been that transparent in her feelings towards Adam? She had thought, over the years, that she had hidden them rather well. But not, it seemed, from her eldest sister, who knew her so well…

Harrie had telephoned her yesterday and suggested the two of them went shopping today to look for a wedding dress, and, feeling Adam's absence in Germany as deeply as she was, Andie had been only too happy for the suggested diversion from her own troubled thoughts.

Adam had telephoned her yesterday evening, as he had promised he would, but their conversation had been stilted and brief, Adam finally giving her the name and telephone number of his hotel in Berlin, in case she should need to contact him over the weekend. Andie knew it was a telephone number she would never use.

She blandly met Harrie's affectionate gaze. ‘I don't think I've ever given marriage too much thought, either,' she said truthfully. Mainly, because she had never been able to envisage marrying the man she loved!

‘You're being deliberately obtuse, Andie,' her sister commented.

Andie sighed, giving up all pretence of studying this latest silk and satin wedding dress in the full-length mirror provided. ‘Harrie, I'm sure you must have realised at the engagement luncheon that this isn't exactly a love—'

‘I think I preferred the cream satin,' Harrie cut in, turning to the assistant who had just entered the large private fitting-room. ‘My sister would like to fit the cream satin again,' she told the other woman lightly.

‘Of course, Mrs McBride.' The middle-aged woman smiled politely before leaving in search of the cream dress.

Harrie grinned. ‘I still get a delicious thrill down my spine every time someone calls me that!'

Mrs Munroe. Mrs Adam Munroe. Yes, Andie felt a similar thrill at the thought of being Adam's wife.

‘It will all work out, you know,' Harrie continued, watching her intensely.

Andie gave her a sharp look. ‘Will it?'

Harrie stood up, moving to put her arms about Andie and give her a hug. ‘Adam is a kind and considerate man.' She held Andie at arm's length.

She swallowed hard. ‘I know that. It's just—'

‘I don't think this is the place to talk about this,' Harrie warned as the assistant returned with the requested wedding dress. ‘We'll go and have some tea somewhere once we've finished here, hmm?' She gave Andie's arms an understanding squeeze before moving away.

The cream satin dress, with its Empire line that did much to hide her pregnancy, was beautiful, Andie agreed a few minutes later, the choice of matching veil and satin shoes much easier to make.

‘We'll go back to my house for tea,' Harrie decided as
they stepped into a waiting taxi. ‘It will be much more private there.'

Andie wasn't sure she wanted to have a private chat with Harrie. Her sister knew her far too well, was sure to get the truth of this sudden engagement out of her without too much trouble.

Harrie observed Andie as they waited for the tea things to be brought through to her luxuriously comfortable sitting-room. ‘You look as if you're sitting in the waiting room of the dentist—or, in your case, doctor!' she commented affectionately.

Andie knew she looked far from relaxed as she perched on the edge of one of Harrie's armchairs. But she and Adam had an agreement, and confiding the truth to her sister was not part of that agreement.

‘Are you missing him very much?' Harrie prompted softly.

Strangely, yes, she was. Her life so far had been one of independence, making her own decisions, answerable to no one. Yet, in a very short time, Adam's absence, even for a few days, had left a huge gulf in her life…

‘Don't answer that; I can see that you are,' Harrie told her as the tea things were brought in and placed on the table between them. ‘Andie, I'm not going to pry,' she assured once they were alone again. ‘Your relationship with Adam is your own affair, and no one else's. Not even a big sister's! I do have one thing I want to say to you, though…'

‘I thought you might have.' Andie sighed, accepting her cup of tea.

Her sister shook her head, dark hair loose around her shoulders. ‘I doubt it's anything like you think it is,' she said gently. ‘It's something Quinn said to me a week after we were married.'

Andie smiled. She liked and approved of her brother-in-law.

Harrie nodded. ‘He was almost Adam's age when we got married, and I wondered—stupidly, as it turned out—whether he would regret it, whether he would long for his freedom, resent the ties of marriage—'

‘But Quinn loves you!' Andie protested.

Her sister shrugged. ‘He had still been a bachelor for almost forty years. But when I said those things to him, do you know what his reply was…?'

Andie couldn't even begin to guess. Just as she didn't see what bearing this had on her impending marriage to Adam.

Harrie sipped her tea before answering. ‘Quinn told me that men of his age do not marry unless they are absolutely sure they're doing the right thing—that they are marrying the right person,' she qualified.

Andie gave another humourless smile. ‘That doesn't exactly apply in this case, does it?' she said in reply.

Her sister looked sympathetic. ‘Well, of course, I realise that story about the two of you dating in secret isn't true—we've always been close, Andie; you would have told me if you were seeing Adam. But that doesn't change the fact that it's Adam's baby you're expecting. Or that you are marrying the person you love.' She looked challengingly across at Andie.

She sighed. ‘And Adam?'

‘He wouldn't marry you either if he didn't feel you could both make a success of it,' Harrie said with certainty.

‘But he doesn't love me!' Andie heard herself groan, the relief of at last being able to talk to someone about this surprise engagement and hasty marriage proving too much for her. ‘He's only marrying me because of the baby.'

Harrie looked startled momentarily. ‘Has he said that…?'

Andie avoided her sister's compassionate gaze. She-did-not-want-to-cry. If she started, she might not be able to stop!

‘He doesn't need to.' She shook her head. ‘I—he—he's in love with someone else!' The words came out in a flood, as quickly shocking her into silence as she heard their stark reality.

She had told herself that she wouldn't think of Adam's feelings for her mother, that it could only lead to unhappiness. But, without Adam's confident support, those doubts had set in once again.

Harrie looked at her with assessing eyes. ‘Are you sure?'

Andie easily remembered Adam's devastation when her mother had died, his continued bachelor state as the years had passed. ‘Oh, yes, I'm sure.'

Close as she was to both her sisters, Adam's feelings for her mother were something she had never discussed with either of them. It had somehow seemed disloyal. To her mother—because she knew, fond as her mother had been of Adam, that she had not returned his feelings, that she had been totally in love with Rome. And to Adam—because it had been a futile love that must have caused him deep pain over the years.

Her sister stood up. ‘I don't believe it, Andie. I've seen the way Adam looks at you—'

‘Well, he doesn't find me unattractive, if that's what you mean!' She put her arms protectively about the slight swelling that was their child.

‘It isn't,' Harrie said reprovingly. ‘You were always his favourite. When we were all little—'

‘Harrie, you're talking about twenty years ago,' she interrupted wearily. ‘We're big girls now—remember?'

Her sister paused. ‘He has to have remained a bachelor all these years for a reason.'

‘And you think I'm it?' Andie asked incredulously.

‘I think it's a possibility,' Harrie said slowly.

She shouldn't have spoken, should never have confided her doubts to her sister, could see that Harrie was really worried now. If Harrie became worried enough, then she would discuss this with their father. If Rome got in on the act…!

Andie made a concerted effort to erase the frown from between her eyes, her expression altogether brighter as she gave a slightly self-conscious laugh. ‘I think I'm having a touch of wedding nerves,' she excused lightly.

Harrie gave her a searching look, but Andie managed to meet that gaze unwaveringly. She shouldn't have said anything, should never have voiced her fears to Harrie. Because Harrie had always been the big protective sister, and her own marriage to Quinn hadn't changed that.

‘A husband and a baby!' Andie reflected. ‘Is it any wonder I'm panicking?'

‘No…'

But Harrie still wasn't convinced!

She laughed softly. ‘Didn't you have any nerves before you and Quinn were married?'

‘I've just told you that I did…' Harrie still looked serious.

‘I'll be fine once Adam is back home again,' Andie told her decisively. ‘I miss him, that's all.'

And, surprisingly, she did. How quickly he had become a part of her life, and how easily those doubts set in when his physical presence wasn't here to reassure her!

‘I had better go now.' She picked up her shoulder-bag.

‘He said he would ring me this evening.'

‘It's only five o'clock,' Harrie teased.

‘He may try and ring me before he goes out this evening,' Andie insisted determinedly.

In fact, she knew it was doubts about what Adam was actually doing in Germany that had fuelled her uncertainties. They had agreed they would be faithful in their marriage to each other—but they weren't married yet! With the sudden way Adam's circumstances had changed, he could have a few loose ends in his life to tie up. A few women he had to break the sad news to!

Although he sounded cheerful enough when he rang her at seven o'clock. Early enough to still allow him to go out to dinner?

Stop this, Andie, she told herself firmly. She had never been jealous in her life—and she wasn't about to start now!

‘I'm coming home tomorrow,' he told her cheerfully.

‘Do you feel like meeting me at the airport?'

He was coming home a day earlier than expected! She was so thrilled by this news that she almost missed what he had said next. Almost…

‘You want me to meet you off the plane?' she said uncertainly.

‘Well, only if you want to. Of course, it's a long way to go. And you probably have other plans. Forget I even suggested—'

‘What time does your plane land?' she cut in excitedly. Adam wanted her to meet him at the airport! Which meant he was coming back alone.

One of her imaginings in the last couple of days Adam had been away was that this business trip was perhaps a little too convenient, that perhaps Adam had taken someone else away with him, with the idea of softening the blow when he told the woman of his impending marriage. As far as she was aware Adam had never been seriously involved in any of the relationships he had indulged in over the years. But if there were someone in his life at the moment… He wasn't cruel either.

However, if he wanted her to meet him at the airport…!

‘Some time in the afternoon,' he supplied distractedly. ‘But it was a stupid idea, Andie. An hour's journey out to the airport, the stuffy atmosphere there. And then I could be delayed—'

‘I'll be there, Adam,' she declared, knowing she needed to see him. If only to reassure herself he really was going to be her husband.

‘You will…?'

She almost laughed at his own uncertainty. But she didn't. Because she had a feeling Adam was as insecure in their present relationship as she was. Hopefully it would be different once they were married.

‘I will,' she told him steadfastly. ‘I'll be the one that slightly resembles a balloon!'

Adam laughed softly. ‘You look absolutely beautiful—and you know it!'

She knew no such thing. But if Adam thought so, that was all that mattered. ‘I'll see you tomorrow afternoon,' she assured him before ringing off.

Now get a grip, Andie Summer, she told herself. She was one of the Summer sisters, Jerome Summer's youngest daughter, had never lacked for confidence in her life.

And she couldn't start now.

 

Adam felt like a giddy schoolboy. Anticipation tinged with excitement. And all because Andie was going to be waiting at the airport for him.

He wasn't sure what had prompted him to suggest she meet him off the plane. In all the years he had been travelling all over the world, for pleasure as well as work, there had never been anyone waiting for him to arrive home before.

But now he had Andie. His fiancée. Shortly to be his wife. How good that sounded!

His had been a relatively lonely life, the Summer family the closest he had ever come to having one of his own. But now he would have a wife. And shortly a child too. He had never realised before how good it felt to belong with someone, to someone.

Which made Andie and their child all the more precious…

No, he wouldn't think of Glenda today, wouldn't let her spoil this for him. As she had spoilt so many things in the past.

Andie looked absolutely gorgeous as she waited in Arrivals for him; her hair was an abundance of loose gold curls, just as he liked to see it, green eyes sparkling, her face flushed and beautiful. So much so that he noticed several other men looking at her admiringly.