جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 160

There was no point denying it now.“Yes,” Wanda said. “I have a child.”“Whose child?”The question came out slowly.Some part of Joren still clung to an impossible hope.Wanda needed to end that hope before it grew.“I am married. Of course I have a child.”The answer dropped through him.His heart seemed to fall with it, straight into some bottomless place.“You are married.”He could barely force the next words out.“To whom?”Then, quieter, “What does your husband do?”He needed to know.Needed to picture the man she had chosen and decide whether that man had given her the happiness Joren never had.“He owns a clothing company.”Wanda kept her voice calm.“When I first went abroad, I knew no one. I was alone in a strange place, and he helped me through a l

Joren stood against the front of the car, a cigarette burning between his fingers.Under the streetlamp, his shadow stretched far across the pavement.Wanda watched from behind the curtain.She had felt something in that kiss. There was no point lying to herself about that.But feeling it changed nothing.With Meryl and Nola now tied so closely to the Rook family, there was no future left for her and Joren.She had fallen once in the same place.She would not do it again.Outside, Joren remained by the car.His thoughts were tangled beyond sorting.Wanda.Her child.The cigarette shook between his fingers.He lifted his head toward the Avery residence and caught what looked like a figure near one of the windows.Was it her?The curtain closed.Then the light went out.He smoked until the pavement around him was scattered with cigarette ends, but the pressure i

Once Calder learned she was going to meet her teacher, he had Wayne prepare a car for the airport.He did not want to let her go.But if they wanted any chance of staying together in the long run, he had to.The airport arrivals hall was crowded when Nola reached it.Her timing was good. Norchester’s flight had landed not long before.She waited nearly forty minutes before spotting him among the stream of passengers.He was in his sixties now, dressed in a dark coat cut to fit him perfectly. A few threads of silver ran through the hair swept neatly back from his forehead. Age had not dimmed his eyes or bent his posture.He still carried himself with the polished ease of an English gentleman.Norchester was not alone.Assistants and guards moved around him in a sizeable group.As an internationally celebrated musician, his return had already been announced in the news. Officially, he had come back to ho

Nola and Norchester had kept up the act for nearly a week.By then, even Norchester had begun to wonder whether her plan was going anywhere.They were discussing whether to try something else when a Rook family car finally arrived.Quill had come in person.“Miss Nola, Sir Samuel would like to see you. Please come with me.”That alone told her how impatient Samuel had become.Nola lifted her chin.“What does he want?”“I still need to see my teacher. The music festival is coming up, and I will be performing with him. We have rehearsals.”She made sure to sound reluctant.“It will not take long,” Quill promised. “I will bring you back afterward.”Then he lowered his voice.“Please. If you refuse, I will have a difficult time explaining it when I return.”Nola rubbed her chin as though giving the matter serious thought

Norchester’s performance ended to a hall full of applause.Whatever history lay between the two older men, no one could deny what they had just heard. An internationally renowned musician had performed before them, and the audience responded with genuine admiration.The entire banquet had been built around Samuel.Once Norchester finished, Samuel deliberately had him seated in a distant corner of the hall.It was not a serious inconvenience.The insult was unmistakable.Norchester endured it without a word.By the time the celebration finally ended, the guests had begun leaving in groups.Soon, only members of the Rook family remained, along with Nola, Wanda, and Norchester.Samuel looked across the room and laughed with open satisfaction.“This may be the most meaningful birthday I have ever had.”He slapped one hand against his thigh.“What a wonderful evening.”