Substitute Daddy. Kate Welsh

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СКАЧАТЬ one of the big wicker rockers, the one Uncle Ed used to sit in for hours. She could almost feel his comforting presence surround her.

      Brett followed and pulled the mate to her chair so it faced hers more directly. He leaned forward, propped his elbows on his knees and laced the long fingers of his beautiful hands. He was such an incredibly handsome man. No wonder women nearly swooned at his feet—the rat.

      “I needed to know why you lied to me,” the rat asked.

      Melissa sat back in the chair and crossed her arms, pinning him with a hostile glare. “I told you, I didn’t lie. I left. My stay with Gary and Leigh was temporary. I was under no obligation to walk in the front door of Bellfield again or to remain in Pennsylvania. But you know all that.”

      “No. That isn’t what I mean. I’m talking about the lie five years ago when you almost destroyed my relationship with my brother.”

      She could feel and hear his suppressed anger. The fingers which had looked graceful and relaxed only moments ago were now clenched tightly. Had she nearly come between the brothers? It had never been her intention. Had Leigh not felt her pain and anger at the wedding reception, Melissa would never have told her sister what had happened with Brett.

      Melissa told Brett all of that now, adding, “But I don’t understand how you think I lied to you.”

      “You aren’t the same person. This you is the real you. The person I met shouldn’t have been so upset when one night was all I could offer. She wouldn’t have been hurt because our stolen moments in the pool house weren’t about happily ever after. The person I met lived in the real world, not the back of beyond with rocking chairs and porches and barns. She was a designer. She had plans to open an antique store. She was glamorous and worldly and cosmopolitan. She wasn’t you.”

      Melissa nodded, seeing for the first time that Brett hadn’t been unaffected by that night or the masquerade. “Oh what a tangled web we weave…” she thought.

      “The way I was dressed was the facade. One Leigh and Gary created. It shouldn’t have been necessary, but, because all your family cares about are appearances and bank accounts, it was necessary for Gary. He was sure they’d use Leigh’s upbringing after our parents died as a new source of ridicule. He didn’t want the love of his life used as a weapon against him. He knew it would hurt her. Leigh and I knew it would hurt him. And Gary had been hurt enough.”

      Brett sat back in his chair slowly, taking the words in, thinking about them solemnly. “I agree and I understand what and who prompted it. They’re my parents too. But Gary lied to me. Then he was furious with me for treating you like the person you pretended to be without bothering to tell me you’d been playing dress up.”

      She could see beyond his anger to the hurt in his light-gray eyes. They were filled with pain.

      “What I don’t understand—” he continued “—is why he kept it from me. We didn’t keep secrets from each other. Why do you think I’m the only one who knows for sure that there’s a baby on the way?”

      Melissa leaned back in her chair also, letting her face rest in the shadows as she spoke. “He said the two of you were always having to keep secrets from your parents. He wanted to let you off the hook with this one. That’s all it was, Brett. His commitment to Leigh was a lifetime one. If Gary had told you, he felt he would be forcing you to keep his secret for just as long. We’d originally come up with a scenario in which I would pretend to move to the farm I’d inherited from a distant relative. I was going to say I enjoyed the area and had decided to stay. Since it turned out that I preferred not to visit when you’d be around, he decided updating you and your parents with the story no longer mattered.”

      Brett pursed his lips and nodded, then looked off, staring at the barn closest to the house. “I would never have touched you if I’d known the truth. I wish to God he’d told me.”

      “Well, you aren’t the only one,” she snapped. She still smarted from his incredulous look when she’d found him in the arms of another woman not twenty-four hours after he’d held her, kissing her in the same way. He’d so dazzled her that she’d almost compromised her principles for him. And that had hurt.

      “I didn’t mean to hurt you,” he said quietly.

      Melissa hated that he saw the truth. “Don’t flatter yourself. You infuriated me. That’s all there was to it,” she lied.

      “I didn’t mean to do that either,” Brett said, his voice solemn. “But I know I hurt you. I saw your tears before you turned away. Plus Gary had a lot to say on the subject.” He grimaced. “And I’m sorry, but I was misinformed.”

      “Only about my clothing. I’m not a country bump-kin just because intimacy means something to me.”

      He nodded. “Fine. I think, considering present circumstances, it’s time we bury the hatchet somewhere other than in each other’s backs.”

      She hoped she would never see him again so what did it matter? Forgiving him wouldn’t change anything but there was something to be said for a lack of enemies. Melissa nodded.

      Brett sighed, clearly relieved. “Now, about help.”

      Melissa stood. “I don’t want your money. Money comes with strings and I don’t want anything tying us to your family.”

      She realized her error when he looked up at her, his hair stirring in the breeze. Standing had put her in closer proximity to him. He was too damn handsome by half. She sat back down, hating that his nearness could still affect her.

      “I didn’t say anything about strings or conditions,” he said softly. “I offered help.”

      “Charity always has conditions, Brett. And there’s another thing about money you don’t seem to understand. Money doesn’t fix your threat. Money doesn’t buy trust. I accepted your apology for the way you treated me at the wedding because I think it was sincerely given, but I haven’t forgiven your threat to me or my child’s happiness. And I won’t, because money also doesn’t buy forgiveness.”

      Chapter Three

      Stung by the truth of what Melissa had said, Brett nodded, ready to leave for the time being, but determined to find some other way to reach her. He refused to do it with legal threats or by scaring her with the very real worry that his mother could turn out to be a threat all her own.

      Still he had to do something. He couldn’t let it go at this. Maybe he’d been a lawyer too long. Maybe, as Melissa said, he’d been a Costain too long. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry I frightened you. I only came here to offer help. There should be a little left in Gary’s estate, and his child is entitled to it. I’ll be in touch.” He sighed and stood, grappling to say the right thing. Instead he settled for neutrality. “In the meantime, take care of yourself until I see you again.”

      He turned away and left her there on the porch. He looked back at her before climbing into his car. She looked like the heroine of an old movie. Sitting in a rocker on the porch of the dilapidated farmhouse with the breeze ruffling her fine golden hair so it shimmered in the dying sunlight, she was too beautiful for words.

      Hesitating, Brett fingered his keys before starting his car, forcing his mind into numbness. It was only when he turned onto Route 5 again, that he remembered passing a shopping center with a rather large grocery store. Food was something everyone needed. СКАЧАТЬ