Page 4 of Zane

"We haven't had dessert!" he protested.

"I'm full." Pushing back her chair, she rose.

With a distressed look on his face, he rose with her. "You're leaving because we had an argument. I expect you to be more mature."

"Your expectations are too high. Please sit and enjoy the rest of the meal. I will find my way out."

"Kara, please don't leave upset. Let's sit like a normal couple and figure this out."

She almost wavered. In the past, she would have, but over the last couple of months, she had started to feel the vague dissatisfaction and the awful feeling that there was something missing, that she deserved more than a man she liked and respected. There had to be more than this.

Her expression softened at the look of distress on his face. "I'm not upset, William. I just need to do some thinking."

He reached for her hand, his alarm evident. "I hope you're not having second thoughts. I know we've been putting off the nuptials for a while, but it's just that I wanted everything to be perfect."

"Nothing ever is," she told him softly, patting his hand.

"You cannot blame me for wanting to take care of you." He held on when she moved away.

"No, I certainly cannot." She finally succeeded in breaking his hold. "And I'm not making a decision right now. I just have to go. Thanks for the meal and let Christoff know that it was delicious as usual. I just wasn't very hungry."

"May I call you tomorrow?"

"Of course." Leaning over, she kissed his smoothly shaven cheek. "Good night, William."

As she walked away, Kara felt a sense of peace that hadn't been there when she sat down to the meal.

*****

She decided to have that glass of wine and sit outside on the porch swing after all. The scent of sweet peas, blossoming zinnias, and cabbage roses mixed with rosemary and thyme made for a very pleasant ambiance indeed. Her gardens were blooming. The cottage had been passed down to her by her paternal grandmother, who had relished tending to her gardens. She had passed on her green thumb to her only grandchild.

Grams had taught her so much and offered her stability when her world had been tossed and turned backward and forward. She was from a military background. Being brought up in a household where she had been forced to move from place to place had left her untethered. She had lived in too many states to count and at one point spent a year in Italy, where her navy dad had been stationed.

Taking a sip of the wine, she wondered if some small part of her resented the instability. They had finally settled down when she was eighteen years old, just in time to go to college. Her career path had been charted for her, by her mother.

"You'll apply to law school, of course," Katherine Saunders had told her firmly, expecting her wishes to be honored. And being the obedient daughter, Kara had acquiesced. It had been simpler to agree than to argue. She had never won an argument with her mother and realized she never would.

But law school had been the right choice as she had gravitated to it like a duck to the pond. She loved the law and the intricate workings of it. The only thing she had stood firm on was the fact that she would work for the state. She wanted to be on the side of justice. Her mother was a criminal lawyer and very good at it. Kara could not see herself representing high-paying criminals who thought that because they had the resources, they could do whatever they wanted and pay an enormous fee to get them off.

She could not stomach even thinking of it. She did not judge the ones who did the representing, including her mother, but she was simply not cut out for it. Leaning back in the swing, she went over the conversation with William.

Shaking her head, she wondered why she was settling, because that was exactly what was happening here. She had allowed her mother and William to dictate her life. Growing up in a very strict home had molded her and made it almost impossible to say no for fear of causing a scene.

"We're Saunders and as such, we have a standard to uphold. We don't air our dirty laundry in public, like common people. It's just not done." Her parents had drummed that certainty into her head.

Shaking away the disturbing memories, she pushed the swing gently and sipped her wine, determined to enjoy what was left of the evening.

Chapter 2

“I’m grateful you showed up, even though it took your sister to strong-arm you to present yourself.” Geoffry Stanhope glanced over at his son and watched as he paced over to the window. Raring to get out of here, he thought with a wry inward smile. He had seen the bored look on his face during the interminably long meeting, the effort to contribute to the various questions, and the obvious relief when the meeting was over.

“Drink?”

“I really have to go—”

“One drink. I don’t get to see you much, even though you live on the property.” It wasn’t meant to be an accusation, but the words had guilt spilling into him. Because of it, Zane reluctantly agreed to the offer of a drink. “One.”

With a nod, Geoffry poured from the decanter into two glasses. It was barely nine in the morning, but he decided one drink wouldn’t do them any harm. Besides, he did not have another meeting until noon. It was a rare occasion to have the boy in his office. Reading him like a book, Geoffry had intercepted him just as he was headed towards the door.