Lacey became aware of footsteps running down the stairs. And realizing, with dismay, that she’d been eavesdropping, she hurried back to the foyer and arrived there just as Felicity reached the foot of the stairs.
“You’ve set the table?” her sister-in-law asked.
“Mmm. Come along and see my swans!”
But though she managed to put on a cheerful face, Lacey felt edgy and upset.
What was going on in her brother-in-law’s life that required him to ask Jordan for support?
It was clear he didn’t want her to know anything about it. And that made her furious. She was a Maxwell, too, and if it was a family matter concerning Alice, then Dermid McTaggart had no business trying to shut her out!
One way or another, she promised herself, she would get to the bottom of it!
CHAPTER TWO
THE christening took place outdoors at Deerhaven, the sunken rose garden made a perfect setting and Jordan and Felicity looked blissfully happy.
“I think,” the minister said later in the afternoon, before he left, “that everything went off rather well.” His eyes twinkled. “Baby Verity is blessed with a remarkable pair of lungs.”
Jordan laughed, saying “She may well be a budding opera singer!” as he walked the minister into the house from the patio, where the adults had enjoyed champagne and tea and a slice of Felicity’s delicious homemade white-chocolate christening cake after the ceremony.
Felicity had gone upstairs to put the baby down for a nap and the other children were having a picnic in the play area…which left Dermid alone on the patio with Lacey.
He noticed that though she’d taken an active part in the conversation while the minister was present, now she lay back in her cushioned lounger and closed her eyes.
Shutting him out.
And he could hardly blame her. Ever since she’d picked him up at the ferry, some perverse impulse had driven him to snipe at her. That comment he’d made, about her job being a “3-2” had been totally uncalled for. So what if she lived an easy glamorous life, one that was shallow and useless? Just because he despised that kind of nonproductive existence was no excuse for taking potshots at her. But what had impelled him into goading her further today had been the fact that she hadn’t responded with her usual acerbity. And what satisfaction was there in needling someone who refused to be needled!
She looked, right now, totally oblivious to him. She also looked as if she were posing for some fashion spread. Elegance personified.
But her silk dress, which she’d changed into before the ceremony—black with a pattern of tiny white flowers—probably cost more than one of his prize alpacas!
“I can see,” she drawled, “by the derisive curl of your lip, that you’re thinking a nasty thought about me.”
She’d barely raised her eyelids but he could detect a challenging glitter from beneath the coal-dark lashes.
She tilted her head, provocatively. “Go ahead,” she said. “Spit it out. It can’t be good for you, to keep all that poison bubbling inside.”
He decided to accept the challenge. “I was just thinking,” he said lazily, “that your dress probably cost more than one of my prize alpacas.”
“Yes,” she said, “I shouldn’t be surprised if it did. And you were probably thinking, also, what a useless life I lead, compared with one of your beloved beasts.”
He glanced at the table. “It did occur to me,” he murmured, “that if Alice had still been here, she’d have whipped all these dishes and glasses inside and be cleaning up in the kitchen, to take some of the load off Felicity.”
Now he was being mean, and he didn’t like it—or himself—one bit. He saw her stiffen. But when she spoke, instead of an angry retort, he got a restrained reply.
“I know you miss Alice, but you won’t ever get to me by holding her up as an example—I’m in total agreement that she was one in a million. I know she meant the world to you, and I know how unhappy you’ve been since she died. And I’m guessing you’re stuck at the ‘anger’ stage of your grief. If it helps to use me as a whipping boy, feel free to continue.”
The patio doors behind her slid open and Felicity came out, with Jordan following.
As casually as if she and Dermid hadn’t been spatting, Lacey looked up at Felicity and said in a pleasant tone, “Did you get the baby settled?”
“Mmm, she’s out like a light. Wasn’t she sweet, in her christening gown?”
“She was adorable.” Lacey swung herself gracefully up from her chaise. “Now I’m going out to the car to fetch the presents I brought for the children. Will you come and give me a hand?”
“Of course. But you shouldn’t have—”
“I know, I spoil them…but since I have no children of my own, just indulge me!”
“By the way,” her brother said, “what happened with that English guy who chased you all over Europe? The one with the castle in Wiltshire.”
“Sir Harry? Oh, I ditched him when he told me he expected me to give up my career when we married, and start having babies—lots of ’em!—right away. Male chauvinism run riot! Besides, can you imagine yours truly coping with dirty diapers and bottles of formula and sleepless nights…not to mention having to lumber around like an elephant for the best part of nine months!” She gave an elegant shudder. “I think not!”
“Being pregnant is wonderful!” Felicity protested. “I adored it…and would have quite happily gone on and had another new baby every couple of years till I was too old to have anymore!”
“Which is why after Verity was born,” her husband reminded her with a warm chuckle, “we both agreed that four were enough!”
Dermid had remained quiet during the talk of babies, but after Lacey and Felicity left the patio, he said,
“Jordan, do you think we could discuss that matter now, the one I mentioned earlier?”
“Sure,” Jordan said. “Let’s go into my study, where we won’t be disturbed.”
Lacey had brought new swimsuits for the children, and a colorful beach ball for each of them.
“Can we go in the pool now, Mom?” Eight-year-old Mandy waved her new lemon-yellow bikini in the air.
“Can we, Mom?” echoed Todd, two, and Andrew, four, as they gleefully rolled their new blue-and-green striped balls across the carpet in the den, setting RJ, the cat, scurrying for cover.
“Please, Aunt Felicity?” Jack loved to swim with his Dad in the swimming hole on their property, but it was always a treat to swim in the blue-tiled pool at Deerhaven.
“Let’s all go for a swim!” Lacey said. “It’s so hot today, it’ll be fabulous to cool off. Do let’s,” she urged Felicity. “You can take the baby monitor with you.”
“I really should clean up first,” Felicity said.
“I’ll help,” Lacey offered, but Felicity shook her head.
“No you go ahead, I’ll come out when I’m finished.”
“My bikini’s still in the laundry room?”
“Mmm, where you left it last time. And could you bring up the beach towels?” Felicity turned to Mandy. “Honey, will you get the sunscreen and then all of you wait here till Aunt Lacey comes back, and she’ll take you outside to the