reached for his wallet. “I can lend you some money if—”
Lisa shook her head adamantly. “No, Leo! That’s very kind of you, but I won’t take your money.” Aside from his design-firm income, Leo lived off a trust fund left to him by his deceased parents. He was generous to a fault, and Lisa drew the line at accepting his money.
“I still have a little cash left to tide me over until I can find a job. What I need is a place to live. I will not spend one more night under my mother’s roof. That woman is a nightmare. Can you believe she accused me of trying to ruin her life?”
An impossibility, since Lisa was too busy ruining her own.
Leo refilled their glasses and set the bottle of wine back down on the coffee table, and being careful to use a coaster. “From nightmarish mother-in-law to nightmarish mother in one fell swoop, huh?”
“Something like that. I was hoping to find Francie home, so I could beg a room for a few days.” Lisa sipped her wine thoughtfully, wondering if she had enough cash for a cheap hotel room. Her credit cards were maxed to the hilt, due to the exorbitant airfare she’d purchased at the last minute to fly home from Florida. Of course, at that point she’d have paid any amount of money to leave Alex and his family. In fact, she would have walked home.
“But she’s just married, sweetie. I doubt Mark would be thrilled by that idea. And you couldn’t really blame him. Third wheels suck when you’re in love and doing the dirty on a regular basis.”
Lisa nodded, knowing what Leo said was true. As in love as Francie was with Mark, and vice versa, she doubted the couple would welcome her into their love nest with open arms. “Well, I’ll live on the street before going back to my parents’ house. It’s only January. It can’t be that cold at night.”
Leo looked horrified by her suggestion. “Don’t be stupid! You can bunk here until Francie gets back. Her old room is still pretty much intact.”
Breathing a huge sigh of relief, Lisa smiled gratefully. “Are you sure, Leo? I wouldn’t want to put you out or anything.”
It was a bald-faced lie. She might not take his money, but Lisa didn’t mind putting Leo out, circumstances being what they were. She didn’t relish using Leo, or anyone else for that matter, but Lisa was an opportunist, and if an opportunity presented itself, she’d be foolish not to act on it.
“It’ll only be for a couple of days, right? So you won’t be putting me out.”
“Right,” Lisa agreed, but her mind was already working overtime, trying to figure out how to turn temporary into permanent.
“I WANT YOU to stop packing that suitcase right now, young man, and think about what you’re doing.”
Alex’s gaze lifted to his mother. Miriam Mackenzie was still an attractive woman, though the former Miss Mint Julep was definitely starting to show her age. She’d been looking tired and wrinkled lately, despite her many face-lifts and the strawberry-blond hair color from an expensive salon to hide the gray.
He used to tease his mother that she could give Michael Jackson a run for his money in the plastic-surgery department, which had never gone over well. His mother didn’t have a sense of humor when it came to her fading looks.
Alex and his mother had always shared a close relationship, though at times she was smothering and bossy, like now. Still, as much as he loved her, he loved his wife more.
“I’ve thought a great deal about what I’m doing, Mother, and I’m leaving. I’ve got to try and win Lisa back. I love her, and I don’t want to live my life without her.”
Clearly distressed, Miriam walked farther into her son’s room and took a seat on the edge of the antique tester bed, folding her hands primly in her lap, as any good Southern woman was wont to do. Her voice softened. “Lisa isn’t right for you, Alex. She doesn’t fit into our…your way of life. I thought that had become quite apparent these past few months. You can’t turn a sow’s ear into a silk purse, as the saying goes. Lord knows we tried.”
Alex’s voice reflected his anger. “What’s apparent is that I’m a fool. I know Lisa isn’t perfect or acceptable by your standards, Mother, but she’s perfect for me. She’s like a breath of fresh air. You and father never took the time to really get to know her. If you had, you would have loved her as much as I do.”
“But she has no social graces, Alex. Surely you realize that. She balked at every opportunity—to purchase a more appropriate wardrobe, to have dance lessons so we could take her to the country club, to—”
“You tried to change her. I don’t know why I was so blind in seeing what your motives were from the beginning. I never should have brought her here, I can see that now. We were happy in Philadelphia. We should have just stayed there.”
Miriam stood, a steely look of determination on her face. “That wasn’t the real world, Alexander—your world. You come from wealth and privilege. Nothing, including a change of geography, is going to change what you are or where you come from.”
“Well, maybe I need to change. I’m not saying that I’m not grateful for everything you and Father have given me—the excellent Ivy League education and the opportunity to work in the family banking business. But it’s time I became my own man, made my own mistakes.”
“You’ve certainly done that, son, now haven’t you?” Pausing in his packing, Alex looked back over his shoulder to find his father standing there. Gray-haired, broad-shouldered and as intimidating as ever, Rupert Mackenzie was a formidable force in the world of banking and commerce—and in his own family. And though Alex loved his father, loved both his parents, he wasn’t about to let them ruin his life.
He’d already done a good job of that himself.
“I’m twenty-nine years old. It’s high time I made my own mistakes. And I don’t consider having married Lisa to be one. You and Mother were very hard on her, criticizing every little thing she said or did. I tried to keep silent, to avoid confrontation, in the hope that you’d accept her in time. I never expected you to chase her away.”
“A woman with backbone wouldn’t have been scared off like a frightened rabbit, Alex. You know that as well as I do.”
Zipping his black-leather carry-on bag shut, Alex stood up and faced both his parents. “Lisa’s got more courage than most people I know. She’s not afraid of the world, hasn’t been cosseted and fawned over like a favored family pet, as I have. And she’s managed to survive, to do all right for herself. I admire that about her. I love her. And I intend to have her for my wife, one way or another.”
“Tread carefully, son. There’s a lot at stake that you could be throwing away.”
Eyes narrowed, Alex stared down his father. “If you’re threatening me with my inheritance, don’t bother. I know enough about the mortgage-banking business to start my own firm, and I doubt I’ll have any trouble finding a job in Philadelphia. Now that my assignment there has ended for Mackenzie Enterprises, I’m free to pursue my own interests.”
“Are you resigning from the firm?” Alex’s father looked shocked, which was a shock in itself. Few things ever threw the old man. “I built that firm as a legacy for you.”
“It appears that I am.” And no one was more surprised
