Fire and Ice. Diana Palmer
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Название: Fire and Ice
Автор: Diana Palmer
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Эротическая литература
Серия: Mills & Boon M&B
isbn: 9781474012973
isbn:
“We?” Margie asked with raised eyebrows. She smoothed the gown over her hips and rested her hands on them. “Okay, shrimp, what have you got me into this time?”
Jan sat down on the bed, running a nervous hand through her short hair. “Margie, you love me, don’t you?”
Margie melted at the nervous young voice. “Oh, darling, you know I do,” she said, sitting down to hug her sister affectionately. “You’re all I’ve got in the world. Don’t you know what you mean to me?”
Jan bit her lip, returning the hug. “I hope you know that I feel the same,” she murmured. “Without you to hold on to, I don’t know how I would have survived. Mother dead, Dad drinking himself to death while he made a public spectacle of all of us, Granny McPherson fighting to keep us….” She looked up. “Granny was good to us, but she wasn’t a warm person. The only affection I ever remember came from you.”
Margie sighed. “Same here.”
“I’ll never forget the way you took me in after Granny died—despite Larry’s objections.” Jan had never liked Larry; he’d always made her feel like an outsider. She’d had no place to go except to Margie. There were no other relatives who could have taken her. Boarding school was out because of the expense, so Margie had pleaded and begged until Larry gave in and let Jan live with them. But he’d never liked the arrangement, and he’d been cruelly vocal about it.
Jan had never pried into Margie’s marriage. And her sister had put on a very convincing face for the world, but Jan saw through it. It was impossible to live in the same house with two people and not sense the undercurrents.
“I never should have married him,” Margie admitted, remembering. “He seemed so different than he really was. And we married far too soon. Three weeks isn’t nearly enough time to decide something so important.”
Jan touched Margie’s shoulder gently. “We were almost destitute, and at the end of Granny’s legacy,” Jan said gently. “I think that surely influenced you. Larry seemed to be able to support you…us.” She lowered her eyes. “I put a terrible strain on your marriage, didn’t I?”
“No!” Margie said vehemently. “No, the strain was there from the beginning. And what did he expect me to do, throw you out in the street? You’re my sister. I love you.”
“I love you, too,” Jan said, leaning on Margie’s shoulder.
“Anyway, he seemed to be such a nice man. I didn’t know that he liked to drink and party every night. He never seemed to overindulge before we were married.”
“And you would rather have been walking in the woods or fighting the government over conservation measures.” Jan laughed. “But Margie, all men aren’t like Larry, you know.”
Margie’s expression was wistful. “How can you be sure about a man until you live with him?” she asked. “I don’t trust my own judgment anymore.”
Jan’s eyes were faintly troubled as she studied her sister. Few people were privileged to see Margie like this, with the mask lowered, the uncertainty showing. It hurt her terribly to think that Margie might go through life like this because of her failed marriage. Like most people in love, Jan wanted everyone to be as happy as she was. But she didn’t know how to help her sister.
“We’ve gotten off the track,” Margie murmured, the smile back on her face like magic. “What were you so excited about? A chance to make Mount Rushmore change his mind?”
Jan blinked. “Mount Rushmore?”
“Cannon Van Dyne.”
“Uh, yes, actually.” Her eyes were wary after the long conversation, and she hesitated. “Andy’s made a dinner reservation for four at Louis Dane’s tomorrow night.”
Margie straightened and walked over to the curtains, her back as stiff as old Mrs. McPherson’s. “Four?”
Jan nodded. “You, me, Andy…”
“And…?”
Jan swallowed. “Cannon Van Dyne.”
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