Last Chance Marriage. Rosemary Gibson

Lisa were married six months ago,’ she finished steadily. It was completely irrational but it had still hurt.

      ‘A happy ending for Simon.’ The blue eyes moved over her face. ‘And you, Clemency? Are you happy?’ he enquired softly.

      Was she? ‘I like living on my own,’ she said slowly, occurring to her only then just how much she did value her independence, just how reluctant she would be to give it up. Okay she did get lonely occasionally, but that was a small price to pay for the advantages of her single status. Never again would her personal happiness be reliant on someone else.

      ‘And you enjoy your job?’ He lifted a quizzical eyebrow.

      ‘Yes, I do,’ she acknowledged, and frowned, not wholly comfortable with the image she was presenting of a self-sufficient, independent career woman. Well, it was an apt one, wasn’t it? This was the second time in as many days that Joshua Harrington had triggered off this introspection, stirred up some tiny core of dissatisfaction within her, she realised uneasily.

      ‘At least my career is proving to be more rewarding and fulfilling than my marriage,’ she said with a rare touch of bitterness, and could have bitten off her tongue as she saw the shutters slam down over the blue eyes.

      ‘A view apparently shared by my ex-wife,’ he observed caustically.

      How could she have been so unbelievably thoughtless? Clemency opened her mouth and closed it again, knowing that to start apologising would only compound her gaffe. Unhappily she watched as he took a sip of coffee, her gaze moving over the hard features, the cynicism once again pronounced.

      ‘Laura resented her pregnancy for its entire duration.’ He raised his head abruptly. ‘She returned to work full-time almost immediately the twins were born, leaving them in charge of a nanny. As her reputation grew, she spent more and more time travelling overseas. Our home became little more than her base in England. On the occasions she was at home, we were like strangers, sharing nothing but the same roof.’

      Clemency’s eyes didn’t waver from his face. His voice was even, devoid of all emotion, but it was all too easy to fill in the gaps left by the skeleton account of the disintegration of his marriage.

      ‘Prolonging the marriage for the sake of the children hardly seemed appropriate under the circumstances. In fact,’ he said wryly, ‘I think Laura saw more of the boys once we were separated. They used to think it was a great adventure, going to stay the night at her flat.’

      Past tense, Clemency registered.

      ‘We were divorced eighteen months ago and Laura now lives in the States. She sees the boys whenever she comes to England, phones them, never forgets their birthday.’ He paused. ‘In her own way, I think she does care about them.’

      ‘Do the twins miss her?’

      ‘They did a little at first but they rarely mention her now, seem to have accepted the situation quite easily, though no doubt when they’re older they’ll start asking more questions.’ He shrugged. ‘I don’t think Laura was ever a large enough part of their lives for them to really feel the loss. In fact they were far more upset when Sue, their nanny, left a year ago. Unfortunately due to a family crisis she had to leave very suddenly, giving them no time to get used to the idea.’ He paused. ‘I didn’t replace Sue with another full-time nanny.’

      Clemency nodded. He hadn’t wanted to run the risk of the twins becoming attached to yet another woman who might disappear from their lives. That Tommy and Jamie appeared to be such happy, well-adjusted small boys despite the two emotional upheavals in their short lives was in no small way attributable to their father, she conceded thoughtfully.

      Her eyes moved speculatively over the strong face. Had the ban on women been applied just as rigorously to his own life? It was difficult to believe that he’d been completely devoid of feminine company since his divorce, though his evident determination not to allow anyone into his domestic life must have placed severe limitations on any relationship.

      ‘Can I get off the couch now?’ the deep voice enquired dryly.

      ‘Sorry?’ Clemency blinked at him innocently. ‘Miles away,’ she murmured airily, starting to rise to her feet automatically as she heard the doorbell ring.

      ‘Don’t get up,’ Joshua drawled, unfurling his long frame with deceptive speed from his chair. ‘It’ll probably be for me.’

      To her disbelief Clemency found herself instantly obeying the commanding hand as it waved her back to her seat. He was giving her orders in her own home now?

      ‘I’m expecting some fencing this morning, and left a note explaining where I was,’ he added casually, striding into the hall. ‘Thanks for the coffee.’

      There was the murmur of male voices followed a few seconds later by the slam of her front door.

      Well, really! Clemency felt a gurgle of laughter rising in her throat as she surveyed the chair opposite her. She had wished for his departure, but hadn’t expected it to be quite so abrupt.

      Permission to stand up in my own house? She inclined her head towards the empty chair and, gathering up the two empty mugs, carried them across to the sink, heaving a sigh as her eyes encountered the brown parcel.