“There must have been more to it than that.” That simply didn’t sound like the man she’d come to know.
“Our Duncan is a simple man,” Lana said, bitterness edging her. words. “The baby meant everything to him, and once the baby was no more—” She snapped her fingers. “We were finished.”
Sam stood up. If Lana was looking to undermine her self-confidence, she’d succeeded. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going upstairs to lie down for a while.”
“I’m not trying to upset you, dear,” Lana said. “I’m just telling you the truth, one Stewart wife to another.”
“I’m not a Stewart wife,” Sam said as the truth finally sank in. “I’m not a wife at all.”
She stepped into the hallway. There was no sign of Duncan anywhere. She was halfway between the library and the staircase when she heard him and ducked behind the stairwell. Then Duncan’s footsteps faded.
“Lassie, we need the Other One to move her car.”
Sam jumped as Old Mag appeared at her side.
“What?” she asked, placing a hand over her rapidly pounding heart.
“The Other One’s car is blocking the caterer. Would you ask her to do it? I wouldn’t lower myself to talk with the likes of her.”
“I don’t want to talk to her either, Mag,” Sam said honestly. “Why don’t I move it myself? If I remember right, they left the keys in the car.”
“Aye,” said Mag. “That would do.” She looked closely at Sam. “Trouble, lassie?”
Sam nodded. “Trouble.”
“Ach.” Old Mag looked furious enough to commit murder. “Never thought I’d see the day she set foot in this house again.”
The housekeeper’s words seemed unbearably harsh to Sam. What had Lana done but lose a child? Was that all it took in this place to fall from grace? The thought sent a terrible chill up Sam’s spine.
With one sentence, Lana had turned Sam’s life inside out. Or had she just exposed Sam’s life for what it really was? There had been no declarations of love between Sam and Duncan, only that miserable legal document that spelled out the details of their marriage.
So you’ll marry him again, Sam. As soon as his divorce is legal.
They could ask the local priest or deacon to perform the ceremony. Maybe even invite a few guests. But why bother? It was only a business arrangement, after all. It had nothing whatever to do with love and never would. They could marry each other ten times over, and the result would always be the same—a marriage of convenience and nothing more.
He didn’t love her. If he loved her, he would have told her so the day they heard their baby’s heartbeat for the first time. If he loved her, he would have told her so last night, when she lay naked and sleepy in his arms. If he loved her, he could have told her so in the library when Lana broke the news.
But he didn’t tell her he loved her, and for good reason.
Lana was right. Their marriage was about the baby and nothing else, and that was all it ever would be.
And, dear God, that wasn’t enough.
She couldn’t pretend any longer that it was. She wanted the whole package. She wanted passion. She wanted tenderness. She wanted someone whose eyes lit up with delight each time she walked into the room.
And she wanted it all with Duncan.
“I’ll be out in a second to move the car, Mag,” she said, then waited until the old woman went to the kitchen. She grabbed her purse from the desk drawer, made sure she had her passport and credit cards, then headed outside to the car.
Most of the partygoers had gone home, their enthusiasm dampened by Lana’s unexpected arrival. A few people were gathered around the table where the whiskey bottles rested, but they didn’t notice Sam as she slipped by and hurried toward Lana’s car.
“I’ll be paying my sitter overtime,” the caterer called out through the open window of her truck. “I’ve been waiting forever to get out of here.”
“Sorry,” Sam said, forcing a smile. “Please add it to the bill.”
She opened the door then slid behind the wheel of Lana’s rental car. The keys were there, and the engine started up on the first try. A folded map lay on the dash with the road.to Glasgow clearly highlighted in yellow. Omens didn’t come any clearer than that.
Don’t think, she told herself. Just get as far away from here as you possibly can.
She was an unmarried woman, after all. She could go anywhere she wanted.
DUNCAN PUSHED OPEN the door to the library. “Where’s Samantha?” he asked Lana as he glanced around the room.
Lana was curled in the corner of the leather couch, her small feet tucked under her. “Your almost-bride said she was going upstairs to lie down.”
“How did she seem?”
Lana shrugged. “Fine. As well as any pregnant woman who just found out she wasn’t married.”
“How in bloody hell did you find out she was pregnant?”
“Duncan, darling, I have eyes. She’s ripe as a peach, in case you haven’t noticed.”
Noticed? He’d memorized her curves with his fingertips, the palms of his hands, his tongue.
“Is this some trick of yours, Lana?” he asked. “Is there something you want besides the divorce?”
“Not a thing,” she shot back so quickly that it left no doubt in his mind about her sincerity. “I want a divorce so I can marry Bryce.”
“I’ll call my lawyer after I check on Samantha.”
“Your Samantha is fine, Duncan. She walked out of here under her own power. If you want to do something for her, let’s get this thing resolved now.”
He hesitated. What he wanted was to get Lana and her latest victim out of his house as fast as possible. He’d seen Samantha faint often enough to know how quickly she recovered. The fact that she’d felt well enough to leave the room proved that. Reluctantly he decided to stay.
“I’m calling my lawyer right now,” he said
