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She gave him a watery smile. “He’s stronger than he looks.”
“He looks pretty strong, but I have muscles. Your mother married me for my muscles. And my good looks and charm.” Stewart gave her a squeeze and then let her go. “What do you want to do, sweetheart?”
“I don’t know. I wanted time to think about this and work out how to handle it. I wanted to plan.”
“Maybe the two of you could work it out together. For what it’s worth, I like the fact that he came here in person.”
She found a tissue and blew her nose. “You don’t think that makes him a stalker?”
“I think it makes him a man who doesn’t give up easily, and who cares enough to make an effort. And maybe also a man who knows you better than you think.”
“He knows me pretty well.” She scrunched the tissue into a ball. “He says he loves me.”
“I suspect a man like Adam says what he means. Doesn’t strike me as the type to play games.”
“I believe he thinks he does, but love isn’t reliable. Love breaks down all the time, doesn’t it? People are happy one minute and divorced the next. It’s the most unpredictable, unreliable emotion.”
“Sometimes things go wrong, that’s true, but often they go right. Suzanne and I have been together for a long time.”
“That’s different. You’re perfect together.”
“We’re not perfect and we’ve had our difficult moments, like any couple, but I don’t think a relationship has to be all roses and kisses to be love. At least I hope it doesn’t.” He scratched his jaw. “Good job Suzanne can’t hear me say this, because she’d roll her eyes. Come to think of it I don’t think I’ve ever bought her roses, although I’ve done all right with the kisses.”
It made her smile. “You stood by her side when she became guardian to three kids. You were right there for her, even though you didn’t have to be. You weren’t even married. You could have walked away.” It still amazed her that he hadn’t.
“I wanted to be with Suzanne. Getting you was a bonus, but if she’d inherited a zoo, I would still have been there.”
Hannah had a lump in her throat. “I’m no expert, but I’m guessing that means more than roses.”
“I’m no expert, either, but it seems to me that a man doesn’t travel that far to see a woman unless his feelings are strong. Of course, you’d be better off talking to Suzanne or one of your sisters about this. Or you could talk to Adam. That seems to make the most sense. If you’d like to do that, I’ll send him up. If not, I’ll send him away.”
“Don’t send him away.” He’d come all this way, the least she owed him was a conversation.
“If you change your mind, I’ll be downstairs.”
She stopped him when he reached the door. “Stewart? Is Suzanne okay after that conversation with Luke?”
“Better than okay. It was unexpected, but life is full of the unexpected and it did her good to finally talk about it. I’ve never been sure that her determination never to discuss it was a good thing.” He paused, his hand on the door. “We’re pleased you came home. It’s the best Christmas gift you could have given us. I’m going to send Adam up now.”
Hannah wondered if she had time to rush to the bathroom and wash her face, but already she could hear male voices at the bottom of the stairs and the sound of Adam’s firm tread.
Aware that he didn’t know which room was hers, she walked to the door.
Their eyes met.
She felt that little shock of elec
tricity that she always felt when Adam was near. It was a reminder that she wasn’t quite in control of everything, and it unsettled her.
She couldn’t believe he was actually here, in the wilds of Scotland.
He walked into the room and closed the door behind him, firmly, as if he wanted to make sure that whatever they said to each other remained private.
“I owe you an apology.”
It was the last thing she expected him to say.
Surely, she was the one who owed him an apology. “I didn’t expect to see you. I didn’t expect you to come.”
