Wife in Public (16 page)

‘Okay. Call your dogs off,’ he snarled. ‘I won’t bother you again.’

‘Oh, I think I’ll have them stay on your tail, at least until you move to another city and make a life for yourself away from all of us,’ Jordan said to reinforce what he was prepared to do to ensure freedom from this man’s poison. Having cast the con-man a look of towering contempt, he addressed the guards. ‘Take this man to wherever he is currently housed and arrange to have him kept under constant surveillance until further notice.’

‘I told you I won’t bother you again,’ Thornton cried in panicky protest.

‘No, you won’t. I’ll see that you don’t,’ Jordan promised him. ‘I’d advise you to go quietly now. The idea of putting you on trial and sending you to jail is becoming more compelling by the moment. In fact…’

‘I’m going! I’m going!’

He went, closely escorted by the two security guards. Jordan was confident that Thornton would drop out of their lives as abruptly as he’d come into them. Nevertheless, he would keep a check on the con-man’s movements, just for extra assurance.

As soon as the door closed behind them he turned to his mother. ‘Mum, you and Sacha should return to the party now, preferably arm in arm, presenting a united front. I suggest you indicate you’ve had a happy chat about the forthcoming wedding. Any questions about Dick Thornton you dismiss by saying he was simply a brash party-crasher pretending to be someone he wasn’t. Which is true. Robert Thornton was Ivy’s father.’

‘Yes, he was,’ Sacha agreed with feeling, turning an apologetic face to Nonie. ‘I’m sorry this was all such
a shock, Nonie, but the past is the past and I’ve put it behind me for so many years, I never imagined it would…’

‘We’ll move on,’ his mother cut in with her lofty air. ‘We must do as Jordan says to save any unpleasant tattle.’

His mother was well-practised at sweeping unpleasantness under the mat and keeping it there. He had no doubt she would handle the situation with her usual queen ly aplomb and guide Ivy’s mother into following her lead.

‘Yes. Yes, of course,’ Sacha agreed distractedly. She threw an anxious look back at Ivy as they moved towards the door. ‘Robert and I…we never meant you to know how you came to be born. I’m so sorry you’ve heard about it like this, but it doesn’t really matter, Ivy. You’ve always been loved. Very much.’

Ivy nodded. She couldn’t speak. Tears had welled in to her eyes again and emotional turmoil was still churning through her. The horror of Dick Thornton, the circumstances of her birth, the background of her parents’ marriage, her upbringing on the farm, Jordan’s determination to rid her of the nightmare of her biological father and fix every problem that could mar their life together…her mind was jammed with so many feelings it was impossible to think of what she should say or how to say it.

The two mothers made their exit together.

Jordan turned her towards him. ‘And you’re loved even more now,’ he said in his richly charming voice, the bedroom-blue eyes promising her it was true as he gently stroked the wetness from her cheeks. ‘I love you, Ivy, and come what may in our lives, I’ll never let you down.’

The sickening sense that what she had believed about her life had shifted into something else, and was still shifting as she gained a clearer understanding of how everything had come about, lost its grip on her. Jordan was making the present and what they shared in it far more important.

Faced with a situation that could have shattered everything between them, he had not let her down.

She believed he never would. He was a rock of solid support. She could trust him to be always there for her, no matter what.

Their relationship wasn’t a mistake.

It wasn’t a fantasy that would come crashing down to earth.

Her heart trembled at the amazing commitment Jordan was giving her. Had given her throughout this terrible showdown with Dick Thornton. Had been giving her all along, from his patient waiting in the coffee shop. She lifted a hand to stroke his cheek in awe of his masterful determination to make what felt right…really right.

‘I love you, too,’ she said huskily. ‘Thank you for…for standing by me. I’ll always stand by you in the future. I promise you that, Jordan.’

He smiled teasingly. ‘No more giving me up to save me from trouble.’

‘No.’ She managed a shaky smile back. ‘Wild horses won’t tear me away.’

‘Good!’

A lingering niggle of anxiety remained in her mind. ‘I didn’t tell Sacha about Olivia’s blackmail problem. Please trust me on that, Jordan. I wouldn’t gossip about anything so private and hurtful. Your mother obviously
thought I had, and you looked at me as though you wondered.’

He shook his head. ‘Not because I was wondering about that, Ivy. I was thinking how very wrong about you my mother was, and how very much you suited me, in every sense.’

‘Oh! ‘It was wonderful to have the trust issue so summarily dismissed. Jordan believed her as absolutely as she believed him.

‘And don’t be worrying about our respective mothers coming to open blows about their differences,’ he went on, speaking very dryly as he added, ‘I’m sure they’re both strong-minded enough to put them aside as it suits them. They’ll think about the future and they’ll want to be part of our lives when the grandchildren come along.’

She laughed in sweet relief, realising how well he’d read their mothers’ characters. ‘How many children would you like to have?’

‘As many as you want, my love.’ He grinned and added, ‘I’m certain to have immense pleasure in making them with you.’

Keeping the rose farm on didn’t seem important any more. She would, though, at least through Heather and Graham, but becoming a mother, sharing parenthood with Jordan…that was the future she most wanted…a world of their own making.

‘Now let’s go and dance,’ he said. ‘Show the whole world we are one, you and I. Because we are, Ivy. You’re my woman and I’m your man and we’re going to celebrate our union in front of everyone. That’s what this party is about and we’re not going to let anyone spoil it.’

‘No, we’re not,’ she agreed, winding her arms around
his neck, her tears completely dried up by the warmth of his pleasure in her, the warmth of his love so manifestly shown to her tonight. ‘But kiss me first, Jordan.’

He did.

If eyes followed them to the dance floor, Ivy was to tally unaware of them. She was blind to anything but her love for the man who was partnering her…her
life
partner, whose world was her world, just as her world was his. They fitted together. And nothing—nothing whatsoever—was ever going to part them.