To Make A Marriage

‘I’m very busy, Adam.’ She gave a weary look at the layout on her desk.

‘You still have to eat,’ he persisted.

‘Not at eleven-thirty in the morning, I don’t!’ she rejoined.

Adam gave an impatient sigh. ‘I don’t usually have this much trouble getting a woman to have lunch with me!’

Andie laughed throatily. ‘A little denial is good for the soul!’

‘It’s my soul,’ he returned. ‘Please allow me to know what is and isn’t good for it—and almost having to beg you to have lunch with me is not good for it!’ he assured her scathingly.

If he weren’t a mature self-assured man of almost forty, Andie would have said he had the look of a petulant little boy at that moment—one that couldn’t get his own way!

She shook her head. ‘You aren’t begging, Adam. And I wouldn’t allow you to, either,’ she added seriously. ‘But I’m not being deliberately difficult; I really am extremely busy.’ She indicated the photographs scattered over her desk-top.

‘Rome is of the opinion that you work too hard—and I have to agree with him when you can’t even take the customary hour for lunch,’ Adam told her, eyes narrowed on the slenderness of her frame in the silky plum-coloured trouser suit and pale cream blouse.

She had lost weight the last few months, Andie inwardly acknowledged. But she also knew it was a weight she would shortly regain. And more!

That thought sobered her somewhat, and looking up at Adam, ‘Just when did you and my father have this cosy discussion concerning the amount of work I do or don’t do?’ she prompted.

‘At Danie’s wedding on Saturday,’ Adam drawled challengingly. ‘And there was nothing cosy—or underhand—about it; I merely remarked that you were looking at little pale, and Rome said that you’re working too hard. That was the extent of our conversation concerning you,’ he finished decisively.

‘So you thought you would take pity on me today and invite me out to lunch.’ Andie nodded, green eyes sparkling with anger now. ‘It’s very kind of you, Adam—’

‘Don’t get all polite on me, young lady,’ he came back.

‘For one thing—I wouldn’t recognise you if you did! And for another—I’m not being in the least polite.’

‘You just hate to eat alone,’ she guessed.

Adam gave a reluctant smile, shaking his head as he raised his gaze exasperatedly to the ceiling. ‘Either this used to be easier, or I’m just getting old!’

It wasn’t either of those things, but she was busy—and, more to the point, she did not want to go out to lunch with Adam. Her life was complicated enough already at the moment, without that!

‘It was a lovely wedding on Saturday, wasn’t it?’ She changed the subject—to one she knew he would find distasteful. Weddings and Adam Munroe just did not mix!

‘Lovely,’ he echoed with predictable sarcasm. ‘First Harrie took the plunge, and then Danie on Saturday; I expect it will be your turn next!’ he added disgustedly.

Andie looked down at her ringless left hand—knowing it would remain that way too. The man she loved, she just couldn’t have…

‘I doubt that very much,’ she answered gruffly, blinking back sudden, unaccustomed tears. She had become so emotional lately! Definitely one of the symptoms of her condition that she wasn’t too happy about. ‘I’m destined to be an old maid, I’m afraid,’ she explained self-derisively.

‘Hey, I was only teasing.’ Adam seemed to have seen that glitter of tears in her eyes, coming around the desk to put his arm about her narrow shoulders. ‘There’s plenty of time yet for you to fall in love and get married; you’re only twenty-five, Andie—’

‘Twenty-six in a couple of months’ time,’ she put in huskily, knowing he had completely misunderstood the reason for her emotion. It wasn’t a question of falling in love and getting married; if she couldn’t have the man she loved—which she most certainly couldn’t!—then she wouldn’t marry at all. Ever.

‘That old, hmm?’ Adam murmured softly, raising her chin to look into her face. ‘Almost ancient, in fact.’

Andie shook her head, straightening away from him. ‘You misunderstood the reason for my—emotion, I’m afraid, Adam,’ she spoke firmly. ‘I just find it very odd to realise that Harrie and Danie are no longer just my sisters, but are now Quinn and Jonas’s wives.’

And she did find it strange. Three months ago none of the sisters had shown signs of marrying anyone, the three of them extremely close, so much so that they had never particularly needed other friends. And now to share not one of her sisters with a husband, but both of them, within the space of two months, was a little hard to take. Especially now…

Adam looked sympathetic. ‘Harrie’s the wife of a banker. And Danie—madcap Danie—’ he shook his head a little dazedly ‘is now the wife of a doctor. Amazing!’

It did take some adjusting to, Andie agreed. But there would be a lot more adjusting for Andie to do in her own life in the near future, than just to that of her sisters’ marriages…

‘Andie, come and have lunch with me?’ Adam cajolled.

‘If for no other reason than it will do wonders for my reputation to be seen with a very beautiful young woman!’ he added encouragingly.

Andie looked sceptical. ‘Another one?’ she parried, knowing Adam had a succession of beautiful young women in his life.

He gave an irritated sigh, moving back impatiently. ‘You know, I think Rome should have smacked your backside more when you were young enough to take notice!’ He stood up.

‘Mummy would never have let him.’ Andie spoke confidently on behalf of her gentle-natured mother.

Adam sobered. ‘True,’ he agreed distractedly.

Andie knew the reason for that distraction. Had known it for some time. Adam had been in love with her mother…

He had been around a lot when Andie and her sisters had been children, appearing at the estate most weekends. Despite a dislike of the countryside and all things connected to it… It had only been as Andie had grown older that she’d realised the reason Adam had put aside his aversion and visited them anyway. Ten years ago her mother had died, and if the three sisters and their father had been heartbroken at the loss, then Adam had been inconsolable.

Because he had been in love with Barbara…!

Andie had been stunned by the realisation at the time, although it hadn’t been a realisation she’d shared with her sisters, somehow finding the subject too difficult to discuss with her already distressed siblings. But she had wondered how her father would react, knowing Rome couldn’t help but see the younger man’s emotional state. Strangely enough Rome had seemed to draw comfort from the fact that Adam had loved Barbara too, an unbreakable bond developing between the two men, and now, ten years later, their friendship was stronger than ever.

Andie shot Adam a questioning look. ‘Does this mean you’ve withdrawn your invitation to lunch?’

Adam looked crossly at her. ‘No, it doesn’t,’ he snapped. ‘And I’m no longer asking—I’m telling! Whatever that stuff is—’ he waved an uninterested hand over the fashion layout she had been working on ‘—you’ll deal with it much more efficiently once you’ve had something to eat.’

The fact that he was right didn’t make the invitation any more palatable; she did not take kindly to being ordered about. By anyone!

She shook her head. ‘The answer is still no, I’m afraid, Adam—’

‘You aren’t afraid at all,’ he cut in harshly. ‘Damn it, Andie, you and I used to be friends—’

‘We still are,’ she assured him coolly, completely unruffled by his loss of temper. Her father had a quiet way of doing the same thing when he couldn’t get his own way, too… ‘But as I’ve already stated—several times—I’m busy.’

‘Fine,’ Adam bit back, his jaw clenched. ‘Perhaps I’ll see if April wants to join me instead.’

Andie gave a grin. ‘I have no doubt she would love to. But I’m also sure her fiancé would have a few things to say about it!’

Adam frowned darkly. ‘You never used to be this difficult, Andie,’ he said slowly.

She straightened in her high-backed chair, the sunshine coming in the window behind her giving her long hair the colour of ripe corn as it lay in a loose plait down her back, fine tendrils curling beside her ears and over her smooth brow.

‘I never used to be a lot of things, Adam,’ she told him tautly, the words tinged with an unhappiness she hoped he couldn’t detect; the last thing she needed in her life at the moment was an over-curious Adam Munroe. It had been difficult enough, initially, to deal with an over-anxious Rome, without having Adam on her case now, too!