“Can I?” Delia asked.
“Of course,” Miranda answered, laughing as Delia skittered off. “You want a drink? Somebody might as well enjoy a glass of wine since I can’t.” Miranda pressed her hand to her pregnant belly, which was only a slight protrusion. She was a little shy of four months along, so that would soon change. Single parenthood was another life detail Miranda and Clay shared now. Miranda had been about to announce the pregnancy to her husband, Johnathon, on the day he was killed by a line drive on the golf course.
“No, thank you. I’m fine.” He wanted to keep a clear head when discussing Astrid, plus he needed to drive Delia home. “How are you feeling?”
“Good, but definitely like my stomach is starting to pooch out. I already have a little bump.”
Clay slung his arm around his sister’s shoulder. “I didn’t want to say anything, but...”
Miranda gently elbowed him in the ribs. “You’re welcome to keep your mouth shut, mister. Come on. Let’s go sit in the living room.” She led the way, taking the end of one of the comfortable sectional couches. “So, you wanted to talk? We should probably do it now while Delia is in the other room.”
Clay found himself feeling uncertain about discussing the topic of Astrid with his sister, but he knew he could trust Miranda with his life, so if he had any chance of setting his mind straight about this, she was his best shot. “It’s Astrid.”
Miranda narrowed her eyes, seeming confused. “Okay. And we’re not talking about your work relationship?”
“Yes and no. It’s a mix of work and personal and I don’t know how to deal with it.”
“You’re going to have to be a lot more specific or I can’t help you at all.” Miranda’s eyes lit up as if she was putting it all together. “You two aren’t involved, are you?” she whispered.
“No. We aren’t. But if our situation was completely different and if I didn’t have Delia to think about or have any worries about the past repeating itself, I might want to be.” He felt foolish to make that admission, like he was a teenager. Why did Astrid make him so unsure of himself?
“Interesting.” Miranda sat back, seeming satisfied with the leap she’d taken.
“What?”
“I’ve been wondering when you would finally want to get out there again. It’s been four years since the divorce, so I guess the timing is about right.”
“No. That’s not what this is. I am not out anywhere. Not at all.”
“Then why don’t you tell me what it is?”
He sighed heavily and just came out with it. “I can’t stop thinking about her.” He went on to explain that he was hopelessly attracted to Astrid, and not just because she was beautiful, but because everything she did only seemed to confirm that she was too good to be true. Clay reminded Miranda that he had fallen prey to that very idea when he met his ex-wife, Delia’s mom. Of course, Miranda had been there for the whole disaster. She’d helped him pick up the pieces. “I asked to be taken off the Seaport project, just in the hopes that distance would make it easier to stay away from her. But Tara and Grant disagreed, and now they want the two of us to attend the Architect of the Year awards together.”
“I heard.”
“You did?”
Miranda nodded. “Yep. She wants Tara and me to go dress shopping with her. I’d say your plan backfired.”
“Spectacularly.” He laughed quietly, trying not to take this situation too seriously. “You’ve spent more time with Astrid than I have. What do you think of her?”
“You do realize this is an odd situation for me to comment on, right? She was married to Johnathon before I was. I see why men would be attracted to her, but I don’t like to think about it too much.”
Clay could appreciate that he’d put his sister in an awkward spot. “Fair enough. I get it.”
“I don’t really know what you want me to say anyway. Are you asking for my blessing?”
“No. I was hoping you would tell me that I’m right to want to stay away from her. At least as far as anything outside our professional relationship.”
“Well, I don’t know her that well. I’d like to think that Johnathon would never have married a woman who was anything less than amazing and wonderful, but I don’t know for sure, and no person is perfect. Everyone has faults. And we might have mutual interests in Sterling Enterprises, but I don’t trust her unconditionally.”
Somehow, these negatives weren’t nearly the comfort Clay had hoped they might be. “Okay. That’s good to know.”
“But...”
Clay hadn’t bargained on a but.
“I do trust her somewhat,” Miranda continued. “There’s something about her that makes you want to give her whatever she asks for.”
It was as if his sister had pulled the words straight out of his mouth. “Yes. How does she do that?”
“I don’t know. Although I will say that she has a good heart. She had every reason to be horribly jealous of my pregnancy. She and Johnathon suffered through years of infertility. That’s what drove them apart.”
“It did?” This was the first he’d heard about the conditions under which Johnathon and Astrid had split up.
“Yes. She wanted a baby with Johnathon and I’m the one who got what she didn’t.” Miranda’s sights fell to her belly.
“I had no idea.”
“She doesn’t exactly go around chatting about that part of her life. She might be very open, but some things are too painful to share.” Miranda sat a little straighter and reached for Clay’s hand. “She’s been very sweet to me about the baby. She didn’t even hesitate to congratulate me when she found out. That takes a big heart. And I’d like to think that anyone with such a generous nature would be
