“Haven’t you heard?” Sam asked. “I don’t have a husband. Now will you please let me in?”
“No husband!” The door swung wide open. “Darling, that’s the best thing I’ve heard in weeks.”
“You’re a wonder, Mother,” Sam muttered as she stepped into the hallway. She tossed her purse on the small mahogany table positioned beneath a rococo mirror. Even in the middle of the night with her face still bruised from cosmetic surgery, Julia managed to look better than most women did on their best days. “I thought you said you looked too terrible to come to our party.”
“I do,” Julia said, locking the door behind Sam. “Now what was that you said about no husband?”
“You heard me.” Sam stalked in the general direction of the living room. “Your prayers were answered. I am no longer a married woman.”
Julia claimed one end of the flowery chintz sofa and gestured for Sam to claim the other end. “That doesn’t happen in one day, darling. What’s the story?”
Sam sat down for a split second then jumped up again. Her adrenaline was flowing too fast for her to stay still. “It’s actually quite a simple story, Mother. You can’t have two wives at one time.”
“Two wives?”
“You remember Lana, don’t you? After all, you were the one who told me all about how much my husband loved her.”
“Oh, my God,” Julia exclaimed. “They’re back together?”
Sam made a face of disgust. “Only in the legal sense. You see, Mother, Lana wants to marry a man named Bryce and she can’t do that if she’s still married to one named Duncan.”
“What a wonderful mess,” Julia said, looking positively delighted. “I was praying you’d come to your senses and now you don’t have to. Your marriage is over.”
With that Sam burst into loud tears.
“Darling!” Julia was beside her in an instant. “Whatever are you crying about? That was a marriage of convenience, not a love match. You don’t need a man to help you bring up your baby. You have me and you have your father and your sisters. We’ll help you.”
Sam sank onto the edge of the sofa and cried all the harder.
“Now, now,” said Julia awkwardly. Her maternal skills were practically nonexistent. For Julia, this was the equivalent of twenty years of mothering crammed into one ten-minute period. “He wasn’t right for you anyway, darling. I’m sure he and that terrible Lana creature are right now—”
“Mother!” The word tore from Sam’s throat in desperation. “Haven’t you understood one single word I’ve said? I love Duncan Stewart.”
Julia sighed. “I wish you wouldn’t say things like that.”
“I love Duncan,” Sam repeated, amazed at how easy it was to say the words.
“And when did you come to this amazing conclusion?”
“I don’t know,” she said honestly. “All I know is that I do.”
“I hope to heaven he doesn’t know anything about this.”
“I should have told him,” Sam murmured, more to herself than to her mother.
“Never tell a man something like that,” Julia cried out. “My God, Samantha, don’t you know anything about being a woman? You can’t give a man the advantage that way.”
“You never told Daddy that you loved him?”
“My one mistake,” Julia said, “and see how it ended. Divorced before I knew it.”
“Mother,” said Sam, “you also had a boyfriend. I think that might have contributed to the situation.”
“A symptom, not a cause,” Julia said, unmoved by Sam’s logic. “I’m older than you, darling. I understand the way it is between men and women better than you ever could. The best thing you did was to keep your emotions to yourself. Now, at least, you don’t have to worry about being embarrassed.”
“I wouldn’t be embarrassed.”
Julia looked at her in horror. “Well, now I understand why you’ve been single so long.”
“No, you don’t, Mother,” Sam said. “You haven’t the foggiest idea.”
Julia was not a woman comfortable with confrontation. “Darling, you look exhausted,” she said, rising to her feet. “Why don’t I make you some warm milk then tuck you in for a nice long nap? You must think about the baby.”
Tears sprang to Sam’s eyes. “You don’t have to do that, Mother,” she said.
“Indulge me,” Julia said. “I know I haven’t been a very good mother to you, Samantha. At least let me try to learn how to be a good grandmother.”
Sam nodded, too emotional to speak. What a strange twenty-four hours it had been. She watched as her mother left the room, wondering what bizarre twist of fate had decided to bestow maternal instincts on Julia at this late date. Or make Sam feel like her daughter.
She leaned her head back against the sofa and closed her eyes. She saw Glenraven rising up from the Scottish mist. She saw Old Mag and Robby. She saw their wonderful friends and neighbors toasting their happiness.
But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t quite see Duncan.
She supposed she should be grateful to Lana for forcing her to take a clear-eyed look at the situation. She loved Duncan and he didn’t love her.
And nothing on heaven or earth would ever change that.
JULIA’S FLAT was less than two blocks from Kensington Palace, one of London’s better areas. Duncan, however, was not in the mood to be impressed by its royal ambience. The only thing he cared about was finding Samantha.
The doorman to Julia’s building blocked his entrance. “May I ask who you’re here to see, sir?”
“Julia,” Duncan said. Bloody hell. He couldn’t remember her last name. He manufactured a man-to-man smile. “The one and only Julia.”
The doorman smiled at him. “And you are?”
“Expected,” Duncan said.
“I’ll need a name.”
“Tell her Duncan Stewart is here.”
The doorman nodded then went off to use the house phone.
Minutes later Duncan stood in front of Julia’s door. The gold and silver wedding ring was in his pocket. His heart, however, was on his sleeve.
Samantha’s mother took her sweet time opening up for him. For a moment Duncan wondered if he’d missed
