with a careless smile. She stared at him. He was wearing a dark business suit with a dark tie and a white shirt. She’d have bet that he had a closet full of them, all alike.
“More eggs, Cameron?” Lila asked quickly as Merlyn sat down and helped herself to toast and coffee.
“No, thanks,” he said, and his eyes never left Merlyn. His face was broad and hard, his nose was formidable, and he had a jaw as square as the way he dressed.
“Sizing me up?” Merlyn asked “I wear size ten slacks and a medium T-shirt. And there’s nothing underneath,” she whispered, leaning forward.
He came as close to a flush as she’d ever seen a man come, and his black eyes glittered at her. “I don’t find your attitude amusing,” he said curtly. “And I won’t have my daughter subjected to remarks like that.”
“Amanda isn’t downstairs yet,” Merlyn told him, “and you’re hardly a child.” She studied him. “Mrs. Thorpe said you were a banker.”
“Yes,” he said, sounding as if he found speaking to her distasteful.
“How exciting,” she murmured, stifling a yawn.
“Where did you take your degree?” he asked out of the blue.
“The University of Georgia.”
“Did you specialize?” he persisted, as he sipped his coffee.
“Not really,” she returned. “I enjoy ancient history as well as other periods.”
“What qualifies you to be a research assistant?” he chided. “Do you have references?”
“Are you the reincarnation of the Spanish Inquisition?” she shot back. “Really, Mr. Thorpe, my qualifications satisfied your mother.”
“They certainly did,” Lila seconded. She frowned. “Cameron, I’ve never known you to be so rude to a guest!”
“We’ve never had a guest like this,” he said, glancing up and down Merlyn’s figure.
“How sad for you.” Merlyn smiled. “But, at long last, here I am!”
“I’ve got to make a phone call,” he muttered, glaring at Merlyn as he got to his feet. “Five more minutes of Jane Eyre there, and I’ll be searching for a blunt instrument.”
“How kinky,” Merlyn said, grinning. “Usually men are wildly excited when they get to that point. Are you by any chance trying to seduce me over the scrambled eggs?”
His mother had already turned away with a napkin over her mouth.
“If I were eighty with terminal acne, I wouldn’t be so desperate,” he replied.
“You’ll be heartbroken when you realize what you’re passing up,” Merlyn called after him.
The hall door slammed behind him, and Lila made strangled sounds in her napkin.
“Poor Cameron,” Lila said finally. “He’s so domineering with women.”
“Not this one,” Merlyn informed her smugly. “I’m a free spirit. Basically, I hate men.”
“Is there a reason?”
Merlyn smiled. “Yes. A fiancé who turned out to be Dracula. I broke the engagement, and now I’m trying to get myself back together.”
“I’m sorry.”
“So am I,” Merlyn said. “I was ready to settle down. I’m twenty-six, after all. I wouldn’t mind a husband and children. But it’s going to take some time to forget what happened.”
“You’re still young, my dear,” Lila said with a smile.
“So I am,” Merlyn agreed. Then she changed the subject. “Where are we going to work? Inside?” she asked, casting a wary eye toward the house.
“That wouldn’t be intelligent, would it?” Lila laughed. “I can see you now, hurling things at Cameron!”
“Only a few sticks of furniture,” Merlyn protested. She sighed. “Don’t worry, Mrs. Thorpe, I’ll get used to him. After all, I got used to asparagus and squash casserole.”
Lila laughed merrily. “Call me Lila, not Mrs. Thorpe. And, yes, I think you’ll get used to my son, and he to you, in time. It will do him good to learn that not every woman thinks he’s the final authority.” She got to her feet. “Since it’s so warm, we’ll hash out some preliminaries here on the patio,” she added. “I’ll get my legal pad, and you can fetch those history books I watched you lug up the staircase yesterday.”
“I’ll get them right now,” Merlyn said.
Minutes later she came back downstairs with an armload of books, fortunately without running into the lord of the manor.
“Amanda’s late this morning,” Merlyn remarked as she seated herself at the little white table.
“Yes, but not unusually so,” Lila said with a smile. She sat down across from Merlyn. “With school out for spring holidays, she doesn’t get up until eleven.” She sighed, and the smile faded. “Poor child, she’s so lonely. Cameron has very little time.…”
“He could make time, if he wanted to,” Merlyn said quietly. “My own childhood was lonely. My mother died when I was about Amanda’s age, and my father missed her terribly. Instead of turning to me, he turned to his work. It wasn’t until I was well into my teens that he suddenly discovered he was a parent. We’ve grown closer, but there was quite a gulf between us during those first few years without Mama.”
“I’m afraid that Cameron’s work is his whole life,” Lila said. She stared at her slender, elegant hand on the table. “His late wife was not the kind of person he needed. Marcia was wildly exciting, I suppose, but not at all domestic. She hated children. If Cameron hadn’t threatened to toss her to the press, she’d have had an abortion. She left him just after Amanda was born. She was killed several years later in an automobile accident. A tragic affair, all around.”
“Did Amanda know her at all?” Merlyn asked.
“No. Marcia considered Amanda a liability, not an asset. She’s not the most beautiful child in the world, despite her sweet nature and kind heart. Although I doubt Marcia would have wanted her anyway. She just didn’t have any maternal instinct at all.”
“How sad,” Merlyn said quietly. “And it’s even sadder that her father gives her so little of himself. He’ll regret that one day.”
“He probably will. But he doesn’t listen to advice, my dear.”
“I noticed,” Merlyn replied dryly.
“Keep right on ruffling him, Merlyn,” the older woman said. “Maybe it will help.”
“Oh, that doesn’t take much effort—ruffling him,” she assured her colleague. “I have a feeling my very existence is enough to do the trick.”
***
