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of a mirror.
Why are you downstairs at this hour of the night? he asked.
I couldn t sleep, she replied, and was suddenly vulnerable. She hated having it show. My
father was buried today, she drawled, in case you forgot.
We can do without the sarcasm, he said. Wait a minute. He reached into her father s top desk
drawer and extracted a bottle. Come here.
She stopped with the width of the desk between them and held her hand out. He shook two
capsules into her hand and recapped the bottle.
Don t trust me with the whole bottle? she taunted.
That was exactly how he felt, although he wasn t going to admit it. She d had one too many
upsets in the past few weeks. Normally as sound as a rock, even Tiffany could be pushed over the
edge by grief and worry. He couldn t add the fear of bankruptcy to her store of problems. That one he
could spare her. Let her think him a philanderer, if it helped. When she was strong enough, he d tell
her the truth.
Take those and try to sleep, he said. Things will look brighter in the morning.
She stared at the capsules with wounded wet eyes. He was my rudder, she said in a husky
whisper. No matter how bad things got, he was always here to run to.
His face hardened. Once, he d been there to run to, before they married and became enemies.
You ll never know how sorry I am, he said tightly. If you believe nothing else, believe that I didn t
cause him to have that heart attack. I didn t argue with him over Carla.
She glanced at him and saw the pain in his eyes for the first time. It took most of the fight out of
her. She seemed to slump. I know you cared about my father, King, she said heavily.
And in case you re wondering, he added with a mocking smile, she s gone. She has her
severance pay and some sort of reference. You won t see her again.
She studied him silently. Why?
Why, what?
Why did my father fire her?
It was like walking on eggshells, but he had to tell her the truth. Because she dragged me home
from Jamaica with a nonexistent emergency, just to interfere with our honeymoon, and he knew it. He
said he d had enough of her meddling.
So had I, she returned.
Not half as much as I had, he said curtly. Harrison beat me to the punch by five minutes.
He did?
Come here.
He looked faintly violent, and he d been drinking. She hesitated.
He got up and came around the desk, watching her back away. Oh, hell, no, you don t, he said
in a voice like silk. His arms slid under her and he lifted her clear of the floor. I ve listened to you
until I m deaf. Now you can listen to me.
He went back to his chair and sat down with Tiffany cradled stiffly in his arms.
No need to do your imitation of a plank, he chided, making himself comfortable. Drunk men
make bad lovers. I m not in the mood, anyway. Now, you listen!
She squirmed, but he held her still.
Carla wasn t supposed to have anything to do with the flowers for our wedding, he said
shortly. I gave that task to Edna, who heads the personnel department, because she grew up in a
florist s shop. But I was out of the office and Carla went to her with a forged letter that said I wanted
Carla to do it instead.
Tiffany actually gasped.
He nodded curtly. And she didn t get those arrangements from a florist, she did them herself
with wilted flowers that she either got from a florist, or from a florist s trash can! She never had any
intention of bringing you a bouquet, either. The whole thing was deliberate.
How did you find out?
I went to see Edna when I flew back from Jamaica and found there was no emergency. I gave
her hell about the flowers, he said. She gave it back, with interest. Then she told me what had really
happened. I was livid. I d gone straight to my office to have it out with Carla when I found your father
there.
Oh.
He searched her stunned eyes. You don t think much of me, do you? he asked quietly.
Regardless of how I felt about the wedding, I wouldn t have deliberately hurt you like that.
She grimaced. I should have known.
You wore a suit to be married in, he added. That was a blow to my pride. I thought you were
telling me in a nonverbal way that you were just going through the motions.
And I thought that you wouldn t mind what I wore, because you didn t want to marry me in the
first place.
The arm behind her shoulders contracted, and the big, warm hand at the end of it smoothed over
her upper arm in an absent, comforting motion. I drew away from you at a time when we should
have been talking about our insecurities, he said after a minute. We had too many secrets. In fact, we
still have them. He took a quick breath. Tiffany, your father s personal accountant just did a flit with
the majority of your inheritance. I ll bet that s what really set your father off, not Carla, although she
helped. He was upset because he knew he d have to tell you what had happened when you came
home.
Tiffany s eyes widened. You mean, Daddy was robbed?
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