To Make A Marriage. Carole Mortimer

can take a little aggression,’ Adam assured Andie lightly; in fact, he would relish it. His relationship with all of the Summer family had changed over recent months, necessarily so with Harrie and Danie, now that they were both married. But he had a feeling that if he were to speak as plainly to Rome as he wished to concerning Audrey, then he might jeopardise his friendship with the older man to such a degree that it would be irretrievable. Which meant his visits here would be a thing of the past…

      Did he really want that?

      Of course he didn’t! His friendship with the Summer family had been his anchor for more years than he cared to think about!

      But he couldn’t just stand by and watch Rome make the biggest mistake of his life, either. He, perhaps more than most people, knew what it was like to love a woman who was completely out of your reach. As Audrey would be to Rome if he should let her leave…

      ‘Let’s walk back to the house,’ he suggested to Rome as he walked over to join the other man in the doorway.

      ‘There are a few things I need to discuss with you anyway.’

      ‘And I thought you just came down to visit with all of us,’ Andie put in with hard derision. ‘How silly of me!’

      Adam glanced back at her, sighing heavily at the sparks in her eyes as they easily held his.

      His own friendship with Andie, it seemed, was already irretrievable…

      CHAPTER THREE

      SHE didn’t have too much of an appetite at the moment, Andie thought—her morning sickness seemed to start in the late afternoon and continue until she went to bed! But the strained silence around this dinner table certainly wasn’t helping to improve that situation!

      Adam and Rome didn’t appear to be talking to each other—indeed, Rome wasn’t particularly talking to any of them!—and any remarks that passed between Andie and Adam were politely strained. In fact, the only person who seemed to be talking naturally and easily, to everyone, was Audrey!

      The older woman looked dazzlingly beautiful this evening, her knee-length black dress shot through with silver, her smile warm and charming, her manner as friendly as usual.

      But Andie wasn’t fooled for a minute by the other woman’s charming ease, could still see that sadness in the deep blue of her eyes…

      ‘I thought salmon was a favourite of yours?’ Adam was the one to break the awkward silence, looking at Andie as she pushed the grilled fish around on her plate.

      It had been—but as with so many other foods she had once liked, now the mere smell of it only seemed to increase her nausea! The thought of actually eating any of it was complete anathema to her…

      She put down her knife and fork, giving up all effort to try and hide the uneaten fish under the salad—she obviously hadn’t been succeeding, anyway! ‘I’m really not very hungry,’ she dismissed. ‘In fact, if you’ll all excuse me, I think I may just disappear outside for some fresh air.’ She didn’t wait for their response, standing up to let herself out of the French doors into the garden, breathing the air in deeply, hoping to eliminate even the smell of the salmon from her already quivering senses.

      ‘Not exactly a lot of fun in there, is it?’

      Andie turned sharply at the sound of Adam’s voice; his hair looking almost silver in the half-light of this late-summer evening. She hadn’t realised he had followed her—and she couldn’t say she was altogether pleased at the realisation now!

      She gave a rueful shrug. ‘Rome has been like this for days,’ she replied, wishing Adam would go back into the dining-room and leave her alone. She might have made her decision concerning having the baby, but there were still a lot of things for her to think over, and that was something she couldn’t do around Adam!

      Adam strolled across the patio to join her where she stood against the metal balustrade that looked out over the gardens. ‘I don’t think I’ve exactly helped,’ he admitted. ‘I told him earlier that he must be a fool if he’s seriously going to let Audrey just walk out of his life in this way,’ he explained.

      Andie raised her eyebrows. ‘And you’re still alive to tell the tale?’ she responded mockingly, well aware of how volatile her father was at the moment; she wouldn’t have even dared to broach the subject with him herself! Although obviously Adam felt no such qualms…

      He seemed relaxed about it. ‘And to have dinner. Although from the way Rome is stabbing at his food rather than eating it, I think he wishes the salmon were me!’ he joked.

      Andie giggled. ‘So you just left poor Audrey to face his moodiness alone!’

      Adam sobered, his gaze intent on the half-shadow of her face. ‘I was concerned about you.’

      She stiffened. ‘Me?’ she echoed sharply, a pulse beating erratically in her throat. ‘Why on earth should you be concerned about me?’

      He gave a slight shake of his head. ‘I don’t know… There’s something different about you.’

      She turned away, swallowing hard. She was sure her pregnancy still didn’t show; her black silk trouser suit, with its mid-thigh-length jacket, completely hid the thickening of her waistline and slightly larger breasts.

      The latter had been quite unexpected, and were a bonus as far as Andie was concerned; she had always thought herself lacking in that particular area!

      So in what way was she ‘different’…?

      ‘That bad dose of flu took a lot out of me,’ she excused.

      Adam disagreed. ‘It isn’t just that. Andie—’

      ‘Leave it, Adam,’ she cut in sharply, sure she knew what he was about to say. She didn’t want to hear it!

      This man had been, and probably still was, in love with her mother, and, while she might be deeply in love with Adam herself, she was not willing to be a substitute for another woman—not even her own mother!

      Adam turned, reaching out to lightly grasp her shoulders as he gently turned her to face him. ‘I think we need to talk—’

      Her eyes flashed deeply green in the moonlight. ‘Why?’ she challenged, her head held back proudly.

      He looked grim. ‘You know why, damn it!’

      ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about,’ she returned. ‘Now if you don’t mind, I came out here to appreciate the peace and quiet—not to engage in a verbal fencing match with you!’ She glared at him. ‘Besides,’ she added, ‘we both know how much you hate all this clean country air!’

      Adam came down to the estate most weekends when he wasn’t busy elsewhere, but he had never made any secret of the fact that he simply did not understand the liking Rome and his family had for country life.

      ‘I could grow to like it, if I had to,’ he said quietly.

      Her mouth tightened. ‘There’s absolutely no reason why you should,’ she responded hardly. ‘I think one of us should do the decent thing—and go back inside and rescue Audrey from my father’s foul temper!’

      Why didn’t he just let her go? She cried inwardly. His grasp wasn’t tight on her arms, and yet she still tingled from his touch, warmth spreading through the whole of her body, her legs starting to feel as if they couldn’t support her weight.

      She still turned to liquid gold at his merest touch? After all that had happened? Despite all the complications her baby was going to cause in her life? In spite of the fact that Adam would never—could never—return her feelings!

      She gave a self-disgusted shake of her head. Adam was way beyond her reach—even more so now!—and always would be…

      ‘I—’ Adam abruptly broke off any reply he might have been going to make to her suggestion as the sound of shattering glass was clearly