'Well, she is! She has plenty of common sense-a lot more than her father, if you ask me.'
'I did not ask you, however, and I want you to stop undermining my authority with my daughter.'
'You mean, don't encourage her to differ from you,' Lee said indignantly. 'No one's allowed to express an opinion that contradicts yours in case your daughter starts to suspect that you could be wrong. But she already knows that. She's only gone through this academic charade to please you. And that's as traditional,as anything I ever heard.'
'That is utter nonsense!'
'For heaven's sake!' she cried. 'Let the girl do what she likes with her life. That's what freedom means.'
'My daughter has total freedom, but she's not old enough to make the best use of it and so-'
'In other words, she has freedom to do what you want her to. Real freedom means making her own decisions. It's not wanting to become a judge; it's being able to become a judge if she wants to. It must be her choice.'
'So it will be, when she's old enough to make one.'
'If modelling's the right career for her, she'll do as well starting at sixteen as any other age.'
'You made your decision at sixteen, didn't you?' he snapped. 'Was that the right one?'
She drew a long, painful breath. 'That's unforgivable, Daniel. To drag up private matters that I told you about because I trusted you-'
'I trusted you as well, Lee, and I think you've betrayed that trust. Because of your interference Phoebe can defy me. At sixteen she's legally entitled to leave home as long as she can show that she can support herself. She won't have any trouble proving that now she's on this agency's books, will she? Plus all the work she'll be getting from you.'
'She won't necessarily get any work from me-'
'Oh, come on,' he cried derisively. 'You're not going to let the others use your discovery while you-'
Daniel's voice trailed into silence as he found himself confronting empty air. Lee had walked out.
CHAPTER SEVEN
So now she knew what she'd wanted to know about Daniel Raife, Lee thought sadly as she lay awake that night. And the answer was at least as unpleasant as she'd feared.
Daniel was used to having his own way in all things, and subconsciously he'd come to expect it as a right. Now Phoebe, with Lee's unwitting help, had stood up to him and said no. The facade of sweet reason had cracked with a swiftness that would have been comic in any other circumstances. Behind it stood revealed an old-fashioned bull male, bellowing with rage at being defied.
Lee sighed and told herself that she ought to be reasonable. She herself was far from perfect, and it wasn't fair of her to demand perfection from Daniel But she found that reason was useless to ease an aching heart. She wondered if Daniel was managing any better.
She had some sort of answer the next afternoon, when she was interrupted in the middle of work by a messenger. He carried a long box containing one exquisite orchid. There was no card.
Lee contemplated the orchid at home that evening, wondering why she hadn't just picked up the phone and called Daniel. Even without a card the flower's perfection was a message in itself. Twice she put out her hand to the phone, but each time she pulled back,
The following afternoon she was in the middle of a stormy session with Roxanne when Gillian came over to interrupt.
'Not now,' Lee said impatiently.
'Lee, I think you'd better come.' Gillian's voice was urgent but she was struggling to hold back her laughter. 'There's been a special delivery.'
'Another orchid?'
'You could put it that way,' Gillian said cautiously.
At the door to her office Lee halted, unable to move further for the profusion of orchids. They covered everything, including the desk and chair. A large basketful stood on the floor by the far wall and another one blocked the entrance. Lee had to squeeze past it to get to the phone. Daniel answered so quickly that she knew he'd been sitting there, waiting for it to ring.
'You great clown,' she said tenderly.
'I thought you'd call me yesterday. When you didn't, I was sure you'd never forgive me.'
'There was no card. It might not have been you.'
'Who else sends you flowers? Tell me his name. I'll kill him!'
She joined in his laughter, but through the joking she could sense his nervousness.
'I'm sorry,' he said at last. 'I shouldn't have lost my temper and said the things I did. Forgive me, darling, please.'
'Of course,' she said at once, feeling joy flood through her. It was as though the man she loved had gone away for a time, but now he'd come back to her and she remembered afresh all the things that made him indescribably dear.
'Can you come here tonight?' he pleaded. 'I want to see you as soon as possible.'
'I'll come as soon as I've finished,' she said eagerly.
Everything was forgotten, including the sad and bitter thoughts that had tormented her. She hardly knew how she got through the rest of her work, but at last she was out of the door, hurrying to her car, her heart beating with anticipation as she threaded her way through the streets to Daniel's house.
The last time she'd come here he'd watched for her and opened the door, ready to do battle. Now it happened again, but this time everything was different. There was no anger in his eyes, but something else that stopped her heart. As soon as he'd pulled her inside his arms were around her, his lips on hers, and nothing else existed.
'Tell me everything's all right,' he begged. 'Say that you still love me.'
'Yes-yes-' The words became lost.
He kissed her with irresistible force, crushing her against him in an enveloping embrace. She kissed him back, swept by the need to reassure herself that he was still there, still Daniel, still hers.
'Never frighten me like that again,' he growled against her mouth, and immediately the pressure off his lips cut off her reply.
They clung to each other as if they'd been apart for years, as in a way they had. Their estrangement had been a great chasm across which they hadn't yet fully passed. The first quarrel had been a bitter shock to them both, and they were asking anxious questions about how they'd survived. The problems still lay in waiting for them, like rocks beneath the water, but for the moment they wouldn't think of them. It was hard to remember that she'd ever been the unhappy woman of the last few days, the woman who'd pretended that she was still safe. Daniel's words, 'there's no safe place in love', came hazily back to her. She'd tried to love him without leaving her safe place and discovered that it wasn't possible.
She tightened her arms round him and felt his answering embrace.
'It's all right,' he murmured. 'I'm here.'
'I'm so glad,' she said softly. 'Everything's all right if you're here.'
'Everything's all right,' he repeated. 'We're back together. We've had our first and last quarrel. It's over now and it'll never happen again.'
'No,' she said, holding him. 'It'll never happen again.'
He swept her up into his arms and began to mount the stairs. 'No more words, woman,' he growled in mock caveman style.
'Suppose Phoebe-?'
'She's out with your brother. I loaned him my car for the evening.'
'You shameless manipulator.'
'Yes, aren't I?' he said against her mouth. 'Now I don't want to think about either of them for a long time.' He kicked the door of the bedroom closed and laid her down gently on the bed. 'Lee, my darling…'
They undressed and fell onto the bed, seeking each other urgently, eager to find that the love which had always been so perfect before was a magic talisman to make trouble disappear.
