Playing All the Angles (30 page)

Patrick began trailing his lips down her neck, making her quiver with pleasure, and she lay back, pulling him with her, wanting the weight of him, his strength taking her over, his body pressing against hers.

They made love with sudden intensity that flared brightly and then burned slowly, carrying them both over the edge together and leaving them in a comfortable tangle as it receded.

“I’ve been thinking—” she sighed, kissing his shoulder “—about us moving in together.”

“Yeah?” he said, lifting his head slightly to look into her eyes.

“Mm-hmm. I know I said we should wait, but ever since you suggested it, I’ve been trying to think of reasons why we shouldn’t do it, and I can’t come up with a single one. And I hate being away from you any more than I have to be.”

“Then let’s do it.”

Chapter 18

F
EELING
S
TRONG
, H
EALTHY
, A
ND
G
ENEROUS
, Isabelle invited her mother and Alora over to brunch at her flat. She told them she had a surprise and great news. It seemed to come as no surprise to hear that she and Patrick were moving up to the next level in their relationship, though both expressed some disappointment that he hadn’t already proposed.

“Although,” Alora said, beaming, “I’m sure Patrick is the romantic proposal sort. Likely, he’s working out his plan as we speak. This time—” she laid her hand firmly on top of Isabelle’s “—you get married properly, hmm? Church. Attendants. Olive and Una will be your flower girls. Oh! We’ll get them tiny versions of your dress and—”

Isabelle laughed. “Cart before the horse! Let him propose first, at least.”

“At least.” Their mother smiled between them.

“That’s not my only news,” Isabelle said.

Alora squealed and clapped her hands. “Are you preggers?”

“No! Why would you even think that?”

“Oh, don’t look so horrified. It’s been known to happen when a boy and a girl love each other very much.” Alora patted her own belly.

“I do love Patrick very much, but it’s going to be a while before that happens. I’d like the whole proposal first. But—” she reached for a stack she had in a chair beside her “—it
is
regarding a baby.”

She handed the black linen photo album Eve had given her to her mother and piled the magazine from Christmas and two more in front of Alora. “I saw Eve,” she said. At Alora’s exclamation, she added, “I phoned her. I saw the
OK!
spread, and…I missed her. So, I phoned her, and when she got back from Japan, we met.”

“After everything she did to you?”

“Darling, you’re too generous,” her mother agreed.

Isabelle took a deep breath. “If she’d been having an affair with him while we were married, or if—”

“She was sleeping with him while you dated!” Alora cried. “She got pregnant with his baby! You aren’t required to forgive that. You certainly shouldn’t forget it.”

“I know. I know. And I won’t forget it. I told her that. And I told her I was still angry about it. I am. But I also believe she wasn’t being malicious, and she was always very blunt with me about who he was and why I shouldn’t be with him. Anyway—” she waved “—it’s done. He’s gone, I’m back with Patrick as it always should have been, and Eve is still my sister.”

“Well, she’s not mine.” Alora crossed her arms. “I’m just surprised she hasn’t tried to have her way with Doyle.”

Isabelle and her mother exchanged a glance at that, and Isabelle rolled her eyes. “At any rate, there’s a full editorial of the XRodes maternity and children’s line here.” She indicated the sticky note that bookmarked the magazine’s pages. “Eve and her baby are the models. Xandra. Xandra is the baby. Eve’s got another spread in
Vogue
and a short interview in
Elle
as well. And this is the photo album she gave me.”

Their mother’s face was inscrutable, her fingers hovering over the album, as though afraid to touch it.

Alora pushed the magazines back across the table. “You think I haven’t seen these? My friends ring me every time she uses that poor little bastard for publicity.”

“Alora!” Isabelle cried.

“Well? Where’s Dominic now?” She wriggled her shoulders like a hen settling back on her nest and huffed.

“In LA, actually, though Eve said he has contact. He’s asked to be part of Xandra’s life, and they’ve worked out an agreement. Listen, I’ve moved past this. Can’t you both?”

“I can’t believe this! She shags your husband behind your back, gets herself pregnant with his baby, and you’re defending her? Did she put you up to this?” Alora demanded.

“No! She has no idea. She said she knew you all had every right to disown her.”

“Damned right we did!”

“But, Lora…she’s been all alone. She was alone when she went into labor, and she had to go through the delivery by herself. None of us were there.”

“Why couldn’t one of her men go be with her?” Alora asked, her voice venomous.

“Tad was out of the country, and by the time she knew she was truly in labor, it was an emergency delivery. I thought you saw the article?”

“Of course I’m not going to
read
that trash. I just saw the pictures.”

Their mother’s voice was thready when she spoke. “Eve made the choice to be alone.”

“No.” Isabelle shook her head. “Eve made the choice to tell me the truth about Dominic so that I could free myself of him. She never had to say a word, and I shouldn’t ever have told you all. She was well past him, and he’d have found someone else in no time. God knows what would have happened to me, to our marriage, if she hadn’t told me. He was already being awful. Eve made a mistake, but she tried to fix it—as best she could, anyway.

“Besides,” she appealed to her sister, “you’ve had two full deliveries, and we’ve all been there for you. Even Eve. And you’ve said how painful, and horrible, and terrifying it all is. Just imagine if you were alone. No Doyle, no Mum or Dad, no me, no one at all—imagine that. You can’t tell me you’d wish that on her. More, you can’t tell me you’d wish that on one of your own! What if Una ever does something awful to Olive? Are you going to shut her out in the cold?”

Alora’s mouth opened and shut, and she had the good grace to look ashamed, but she managed to say, “My daughters would never behave that way.”

“No one ever likes to think their children will do wrong,” Isabelle said.

The two stared hard at each other a long moment until their mother said, “Eve made the choice to be alone. She made that choice a long time ago. She’s had no use for us as a family since her childhood, and she’s made that clear time and time again.”

Alora raised her eyebrows and nodded. “See?”

“No, I don’t see. Aside from the whole Dominic thing, which is more complicated than just Eve shagging my boyfriend, she’s only been good to me. And she’s tried to show you all that she wants to mend things. Alora, you know that’s true. She’s not stayed away because she doesn’t want to be part of this family; she’s stayed away because she knows this family doesn’t want her.”

Her mother pushed the photo album away. “There are limits to even a mother’s love, Isabelle.”

Isabelle narrowed her eyes. “There are?” She looked to her sister. “Are there?”

“I…well, I can’t even imagine having a child like Eve, so I suppose we have to take Mother’s word,” Alora stammered.

“All because of what happened when she was a child?” Isabelle asked.

“What she did to you was the last straw, Issie,” her mother said, steepling her fingers, eyes still on the black linen cover of the album. “How could we ever welcome her back into our home? How could we welcome that child of hers? Every time we’d look at her, we would just see her mother’s mistakes.”

“Xandra isn’t a mistake!” Isabelle cried. “No baby is a mistake! How can you say that about your own grandchild?”

“That is not my grandchild. That is a mistake. Sometimes, children are mistakes.” She shook her head. “You were planned and perfect. Alora was a pleasant, wonderful surprise. Eve was a mistake. That child of hers is a mistake. Eve was nothing but heartbreak from the day we brought her home. From the day I knew I was expecting, she was trouble. If there had been a way, I’d have let her up for adoption.”

Even Alora’s eyes widened at their mother’s tone, and she whispered, “Mother…”

“You are the two daughters I wanted. You are the daughters your father wanted. Trust me that a child can be a mistake.”

“Have you always felt that way?” Alora asked. “Just like that?”

“You were such a joy, Alora. So pleasant and sweet, and you cooed and laughed all the time. I loved every second of you. I loved every toenail. Then, this screaming, squalling thing came along, and I couldn’t have five minutes of snuggle with you for having to pat away colic. She was stealing my attention from you then, just as she strives to steal all the attention now. Even now. She hasn’t gone away in shame! She’s put her shame on the covers of magazines and dared us to react. She wrecked your marriage, Isabelle. She ruined your life, had the baby that should have been yours, and instead of going away quietly, she’s shining a spotlight on everything she stole from you!”

“She’s in fashion, Mum,” Isabelle reminded dumbly, it being the only part of what her mother had said that she could get her head around enough for response. “That’s her job.”

“Una had colic,” Alora said slowly. “A baby can’t help having colic. I mean—I’m not defending Eve, but a baby can’t help that.”

Their mother rose from her seat, her face looking pinched. “You have no idea what that child could and could not help.”

“Mum…” Isabelle rose with her. “She’s not the devil.”

“You think not? Do you think it was wonderful for me to have to ignore my firstborn because of her neediness, or to nearly lose my marriage over it? Do you think I enjoyed telling your father she’d gotten herself pregnant before she was old enough to drive a car? Do you think it was great fun having to answer to all the issues coming out of her boarding school? Do you think it has been a picnic when my friends have asked about her since she ruined your life?”

“Eve did not ruin my life, Mother.”

“Well, she ruined mine!” she cried, grabbing for her bag. “I’m going home. And when the two of you can apologize, I will be ready to listen.” She slammed the door on her daughters’ protests, leaving the two of them gaping after her.

“Well, I guess she’s finally gone round the bend,” Isabelle murmured, sinking back into her seat.

“You’re one to talk,” Alora said.

“Lora…she’s sorry. She’s really sorry. Genuinely and sincerely. She didn’t have to tell me. Just remember that. Remember that if she’d wanted, she could have kept it a secret. That’s what I keep thinking. She did something terrible, but she tried to at least put the legs back on it.”

“Mother’s right that she chose to be alone, though. She made the choices, Issie. She did the things.”

“Mother’s wrong about her being the devil, though. Eve’s not a monster.”

Alora let out a breath. “I can’t talk to you about her anymore. We’ll just have to agree to disagree, and I’ll be here to pick up the pieces when she steals your job, or you house, or your car, or whatever else she’s got her eye on.”

“That’s incredibly unfair.”

“Fine. Let’s not talk about her.”

“Fine.” Isabelle crossed her arms.

“I’ll bet Mother’s mood has everything to do with the gossip I heard.”

“Oh? What’s that?”

“Uncle Bobby.”

“What of him?”

“Cousin Sarah’s youngest accused him of bad-touching her. We weren’t going to bring it up to you today because we just wanted to hear your good news. Anyway, Mother’s worried.”

“Oh, that’s terrible!”

“Yes, and Sarah’s insisting that it can’t be something he’s just done for the first time because it was so practiced. She said that in retrospect, he’d been grooming Elizabeth for it for a while. Grooming! Good Lord. Can you imagine? Sarah’s been asking everyone in the family if he’s ever hurt one of theirs, and she and Mother had a very nasty conversation about it. Mum was aghast that Sarah would suggest she’d let Bobby touch one of her daughters and get away with it. I agreed it was insane. Why, he lived with us, for goodness sake! If something had happened to you or I, she’d have gone…”

“What?”

Alora blinked and sat perfectly still. “Ugh. Issie, Uncle Bobby did make a little pass at you. I remember. It was right after they sent Eve away. Do you remember?”

“No. Not really.”

“He did! I remember. You were by the swimming pool. You must have been, what, nine or so? And he came out and untied your little swim top and tried to give you a tweak. I was coming out the back door, and Dad was right behind me.”

“Oh! I remember that. I loved that little suit—pink with daisies on it. Yes. Dad took care of it right then. That was swift justice, but I never thought anything of it.”