AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Zane reached for a piece of toast and evenly spread Mrs. Applegate’s strawberry preserves over the surface. “It looks like there’s going to be another wedding soon,” he announced to no one in particular.
Mrs. Applegate delivered a plate of scrambled eggs to Zane.
“Carl and Candy?” Lesley asked. Those were her first words to him all morning.
Zane nodded.
Mrs. Applegate smiled broadly. “I was wondering about those two. I imagine marriage will greatly improve that man’s disposition.”
Zane didn’t mention that Carl seemed downright miserable at the prospect of becoming a husband.
His housekeeper chuckled softly and murmured, “You know, the first baby can come anytime, but the rest take nine months.” Having said that, she returned to the kitchen, the door swinging in her wake.
Lesley’s gaze found his. “What did she mean by that?”
Zane shrugged. He’d given up trying to decipher his housekeeper a long time ago.
“Could Candy be pregnant?”
“I doubt it,” Zane said automatically. Carl wasn’t foolish enough to get physically involved with a woman without using protection. But on second thought it made a crazy kind of sense. Carl had mumbled something about shooting himself for being so stupid.
“Maybe she is.” He revised his earlier statement. Laughter tickled Zane’s throat. He had a difficult time picturing Carl as a doting father, but guessed that once his friend became accustomed to the idea, he’d like it just fine.
Zane searched his wife’s face. She looked pale and drawn and he acknowledged that his jealousy had hurt her. He silently cursed himself for behaving like an idiot. He wasn’t a man accustomed to apologizing. Even though he recognized he’d been in the wrong, the words didn’t come easy.
“About what I said last night…” he muttered, prepared to eat dirt if necessary in order to repair the damage. “I was wrong.”
Lesley seemed to find it important all at once to smooth the napkin in her lap. When she did glance up, he noticed the pain in her eyes. His insides twisted with regret.
“Is that an apology?” she asked.
He didn’t hesitate. “Yes. I realize now that you’d never have married me if you loved Larabee. I don’t make any excuses for the question. Plain and simple, I was jealous.”
“And…” she prompted.
“And?” He frowned, not understanding what she wanted from him. Whatever it was, he’d say it, do it, buy it, but he had to know whatitwas.
Lesley scooted back her chair. “I have to be in the office early this morning.” Zane was well aware she was using that as an excuse to leave him and avoid his question.
She stood, put down her napkin and walked out of the dining room.
Stunned, Zane sat at the table, wondering what he’d done wrong now. He’d never been good at dealing with women, and he seemed at an even greater loss when said woman was his wife.
Tossing his napkin aside, he stood and followed her. “Lesley,” he shouted, stopping her at the front door. “Tell me, what did I do now that was so terrible?”
She shook her head, as if she didn’t know herself. “Nothing,” she whispered with such misery that Zane felt his heart twist.
“Tell me what it is you want me to do,” he ordered. “Just tell me.” Heaven knew he’d walk over hot coals if she asked, if that was what she wanted from him.
“I…thought—hoped—you had something you wanted to say to me,” she whispered miserably.
“Like?”
She shook her head. “If I have to ask you, then it means nothing.”
It dawned on him then. She was looking for him to say he loved her. Heaven knew he did, although this was something of a disaster, in light of what he planned. The words burned his lips, but he found it impossible to speak.
She recovered quickly, and offered him a weak smile. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. You apologized…That’s enough.”
