CHAPTER FOUR
it was Friday. It was in the middle of Sophia's living- room. It was the moment of truth. There was only one thing Damon hadn't got right: they hadn't had to go anywhere to see his mother. She had arrived at Sophia's, with Marina in tow, only moments before Kate was expecting him. Now she stood quaking in the family-room, knotting her fingers together, not knowing what to do or say. "You mean he hasn't told her you're married?" Sophia demanded, when Kate insisted on staying there by herself instead of coming in with the twins to see their grandmother. "Not yet. At least I don't think he has. He's been gone, you know, and. . and he's had a lot on his mind." "More important things than his marriage?" Sophia grumbled. "I know my brother. He wanted to hit her with a fait accompli. That way Marina--' She broke off suddenly and shot Kate a guilty look. "That's all right. He's mentioned Marina." "And that Mama has been expecting him to marry her?" Kate nodded, unsure whether she should be admitting it, but needing to be as truthful as possible. "I should have known. To be honest, I'm glad he met you when he did. It's always been such a big thing, this business of finding 'the Alexakis Bride'. It's so much better to marry for love. " She gave Kate a quick hug. Kate smiled uneasily, feeling guiltier than ever. "I wish my clever brother had handled things better. I mean, what's he going to do, walk right past Mama and Marina, grab your hand and say, "This is my wife" " Kate didn't know what he was going to do. She couldn't imagine how he was going to explain her to Mrs Alexakis. She was waiting with trepidation when suddenly she heard the front doorbell and Sophia went to answer it. "Ah, Damon," she heard Sophia say. "Here you are at last. Mama and Marina have been waiting." "Where's Kate?" A second later he was beside her, grasping her hand, pulling her into the living-room. "Mama," he said to the woman sitting on the sofa, "I'd like you to meet Kate." Kate had tried to imagine what Damon's mother looked like, dreaming up varying combinations of all the formidable women she'd ever met. The reality was something less. Helena Alexakis was not really very large at all-. She wore her greying black hair in a matronly style. Her dress was more comfortable-looking than of the latest style. Kate found herself thinking that her mother-in-law looked as if she might be friendly. Or would have been until she heard the next words out of Damon's mouth. "She has done me the honour of becoming my bride." The world stopped. Damon's mother's smile froze on her face. She looked in the first instant as if she hadn't grasped the word. And Kate wondered if she even spoke English. It didn't matter for the next moment Damon repeated it once more, this time in Greek. "Your brideT Helena Alexakis said at last. She looked at her son, then at Kate. Kate swallowed carefully, standing very still, not even breathing, as if any move would cause the room to explode. "Your bride," Helena Alexakis said again, and this time she sounded less shocked than bemused. A tiny quizzical smile played about the corners of her mouth. She considered Kate slowly and carefully and Kate felt as if the yardstick measuring 'the Alexakis Bride' had been taken out and laid alongside her. Kate didn't doubt she'd come up short. She tried to remain calm. It was, after all, nothing she hadn't expected. She'd known. She'd been warned. But as the seconds stretched into minutes, Kate thought again that she'd made a very big mistake. Helena Alexakis looked like a kind woman, a loving, caring woman. The sort of woman Kate had always wanted for a mother. Not the sort of woman she'd want to dupe. And then there was the little matter of the gorgeous young woman still seated on the couch beside her mother-in-law. The young woman who apparently fit Helena Alexakis's requirements for 'the Alexakis Bride'. Marina still looked shocked by Damon's revelation even if his mother no longer did. Her gaze moved from Kate to Damon and back again. Her eyes were wide and bewildered. Kate didn't blame her a bit. Helena's gaze shifted to Damon and Kate felt minutely relieved, even though an instant later he slipped an arm around her shoulders and drew her closer. At last after another minute of silence and one more consideration of Kate, Helena looked at her son and said, "So why are you here?" Damon frowned. "Why am I here?" "You just got married, yes? So why are you in New York dancing attendance on your mother? You should be on your honeymoon." Kate gaped. She felt Damon stiffen next to her. "Don't be silly. Mama. We don't need a honeymoon." "Everyone needs a honeymoon, Damon. To be together, to bond your relationship, it is important. Especially important since you must not have known each other long?" One thin brow lifted as she gave them a speculative, knowing look. Damon ground his teeth. "Long enough." "He did rather urn sweep me off my feet," Kate put in lightly. Her mother-in-law smiled for the first time. She got up off the sofa and put her hand out to Kate, drawing her close, away from Damon, looking at her again, smiling more broadly. "A sweeper, is he? My Damon? And I always thought he was so calculating. Good." Once more she looked at Damon. "You need a honeymoon." "Mama, I have a business." "You have a bride, Damon." "Yes, but ' " A bride of your own choosing, yes? One that you love, obviously. So show her. " "Mama, I -' " You have Stephanos. You have Arete. Alexakis Enterprises isn't one man, Damon. You have hundreds of people to make business while you are gone. What do I always tell you? You are too busy. You work too hard. " Helena shook her head. Her ample bosom shook slightly as well. She gave her son a look of fond exasperation. "You just got married. Go away. " "No." "Yes." They stared at each other, stalemated. "Even if I could get away, which I can't," Damon said at last, "Kate is helping out here. She's Sophia's nanny." Helena's eyes got wide. "Her nanny?" Damon's chin jutted. "Something wrong with that?" "As long as you love her, Damon, nothing is wrong with it." Damon swallowed. Kate expected him to deny it. She was surprised when he said roughly, "Of course I love her, but I can't take her on a honeymoon. She takes care of the girls!" "I will." "You? Mama, you never--' Helena Alexakis stiffened. "Damon! Do not argue with your mother." She paused. "Have you been married before?" He shifted uneasily, then slid a finger inside his shirt collar. "No, of course not," he muttered. "Of course not," she mimicked. "So you don't argue with experience. In business you listen to the experts, don't you? " . "Yes, but--' " I am the expert. I know how important it is to have time together. Your father and I --' "Kate and I are nothing like you and Papa." "You work too hard, same as your papa. You swept Kate off her feet same as your papa. You need what your papa and I needed--to be together. Alone. We spent a month on Sifnos. That is too far," of course. Let's see. Where can you two go. . . " "We'll take a weekend in the Hamptons if it'll make you happy." "A weekend!" His mother wrinkled her nose. "Nonsense. A marriage takes nourishment, care, tending, Damon. You can't begin to start a marriage in a weekend. Even when you are in love it takes time. Besides," she added knowledgeably, 'if you only go so far as the Hamptons, yoi^. . on the phone all the time. I know! Buccaneer's ", by' " No, Mama-' Damon s^^'most as fast as Sophia ;^ ^id al' said, "What a good idea. Y. ,n go down early and make sure everything is r^" ^r Thanksgiving. " "I have things to do her^Y Want things." "More important than ^- ^'(narriage?" His mother looked at him, scandalise^01"" "Damn it , . "Don't swear, Damon. ^ ^ perfect solution. We will all be down for the h^" s In the meantime, you will have a chance to spend ^ alone together. " "We don't need time ak^ ^gether!" "What Damon means," ^ ^said hastily, 'is that we don't want to shut you out want you to share our happiness. " . W Helena squeezed her i "And so we will, my dear. We always go (^" ^aneer's Cay in late November if there isn't ^ ^p go home to Greece. Hasn't Damon told you? " xme Kate shook her head. Helena frowned at her ^ ill's a small island in the Bahamas. We have d si^o^-^mily compound there that Aristotle bought ye^'111 ao. My husband loved island living, said it gave h^ e proper focus. " Helena smiled a nostalgic smile. '^m " p, do say you'll go. " She gave Kate a look of such " ^treaty that Kate could think of nothing to say ^" e She looked at Damon helplessly. She could see a1 " ^le ticking in his temple, could imagine the wheels "" ^tig in his brain, looking for an escape route. tur' ' Apparently he didn't f^ ^e, for a moment later she felt him let out his ^nd h slowly and carefully, "All right." w^ > Helena beamed. "Don't worry, dear. Stephanos and Arete can take care of things here." Damon's expression grew e
ven grimmer. He gave his brother-in-law a stony glare which had Stephanos taking a step backwards. "Stephanos had better," he said icily. "Arete isn't working for us any more." "WhatT " She's gone over to Strahan Brothers. " "Strahans? Why? What did you do to her? Damon, if you hurt her feelings--' Obviously all thought of Damon's honeymoon was gone. Arete was the one who mattered now. Damon's teeth snapped together. "You'll have to talk to her about that. Mama." Kate felt herself being towed towards the door. "Come on, Kate. If we're going on honeymoon--' he came down with lead feet on the word- I've got work to do." They were almost out of the room, when he turned back and looked at the girl still standing behind his mother. "Nice to see you again, Marina. What brings you here?" "I can't believe you did that!" Damon couldn't either, but he didn't need some elfin termagant flinging herself around his living-room berating him for his manners. He already knew they were appalling. He put it down to stress. Normally he was the most tactful of men. "You're lucky she didn't kill you," Kate raged on, casting longing glances at anything she might throw at him. Damon was glad he didn. "t have knickknacks. She had to settle for glowering instead. "Should I have ignored her?" "In the circumstances, you probably should have. Good heavens, Damon, the girl was mortified! Have far as the Hamptons, you'll be on the phone all the time. I know! Buccaneer's Cay. " "No, Mama." Damon said almost as fast as Sophia said, "What a good idea. You can go down early and make sure everything is ready for Thanksgiving." "I have things to do here. Important things." "More important than your marriage?" His mother looked at him, scandalised. "Damn it ' " Don't swear, Damon. It's a perfect solution. We will all be down for the holiday. In the meantime, you will have a chance to spend time alone together. " "We don't need time alone together!" "What Damon means," Kate said hastily, 'is that we don't want to shut you out. We want you to share our happiness. " Helena squeezed her hand. "And so we will, my dear. We always go to Buccaneer's Cay in late November if there isn't time to go home to Greece. Hasn't Damon told you?" Kate shook her head. Helena frowned at her son. "It's a small island in the Bahamas. We have a small family compound there that Aristotle bought years ago. My husband loved island living, said it gave him the proper focus. " Helena smiled a nostalgic smile. "Please, do say you'll go." She gave Kate a look of such entreaty that Kate could think of nothing to say at all. She looked at Damon helplessly. She could see a muscle ticking in his temple, could imagine the wheels turning in his brain, looking for an escape route. Apparently he didn't find one, for a moment later she felt him let out his breath slowly and carefully. "All right." . Helena beamed. "Don't worry, dear. Stephanos and Arete can take care of things here." Damon's expression grew even grimmer. He gave his brother-in-law a stony glare which had Stephanos taking a step backwards. "Stephanos had better," he said icily. "Arete isn't working for us any more." "WhatT " She's gone over to Strahan Brothers. " "Strahans? Why? What did you do to her? Damon, if you hurt her feelings---' Obviously all thought of Damon's honeymoon was gone. Arete was the one who mattered now. Damon's teeth snapped together. "You'll have to talk to her about that. Mama." Kate felt herself being towed towards the door. "Come on, Kate. If we're going on honeymoon--' he came down with lead feet on the word '--I've got work to do." They were almost out of the room, when he turned back and looked at the girl still standing behind his mother. "Nice to see you again, Marina. What brings you here?" "I can't believe you did that!" Damon couldn't either, but he didn't need some elfin termagant flinging herself around his living-room berating him for his manners. He already knew they were appalling. He put it down to stress. Normally he was the most tactful of men. "You're lucky she didn't kill you," Kate raged on, casting longing glances at anything she might throw at him. Damon was glad he didn't have knickknacks. She had to settle for glowering instead. "Should I have ignored her?" "In the circumstances, you probably should have. Good heavens, Damon, the girl was mortified! Have you no compassion? She came all the way from Greece to marry you!" "I'm already married." "That doesn't signify. You should apologise! You should have been a little more sensitive to her feelings!" "I was trying to be sensitive to yours." Kate snorted. "If you'd ever thought I had any feelings you wouldn't have asked me to marry you." He grinned. "You're probably right." "Stop smiling. This isn't funny. I don't know why I agreed to this! It's a disaster! And now a honeymoon, for heaven's sake! " She grabbed a pillow and flung it at him. Damon caught the pillow. She thought it was a disaster, too? He felt curiously nettled hearing it. "What are you complaining about? My mother's taking care of the girls." "I don't simply take care of the girls. I run the agency. Or have you forgotten?" He had, as a matter of fact. He'd watched Kate taking care of Sophia's girls and had thought what a good mother she'd make. He hadn't been thinking about her as a career woman. "What do you expect me to do about it?" "You could have said no." "You heard her. Honeymoons are sacrosanct. If we declined, she'd know the marriage wasn't real." "We have the certificate." "But we could still get an annulment. We haven't consummated it," he reminded her. His gaze shifted to the bedroom door. "Unless, perhaps, you want He gave her a suggestive leer. Kate grabbed another pillow and flung it. He fielded it, too. "Then I guess we go to the Bahamas and make them think it's real." Kate muttered something distinctly unladylike. Damon grinned, unsure exactly why he was enjoying this. It wasn't as if he wanted to go on a honeymoon with her, for heaven's sake. Was it? The thought gave his stomach a curious queasy lurch. "When?" she asked sullenly after a moment. He tried to shake off the feeling. "Huh? Oh, the sooner the better. If my mother thinks Stephanos can handle the business, she's out of her mind. But if I can spend tonight and tomorrow wrapping up what I absolutely can't trust to anyone else, we can go Sunday and be back the following weekend. " "What about the Thanksgiving business your mother mentioned?" "We don't have to stay for that." "But your mother said-' " She can only push so far. I'm damned if I'm going to stay around for family bonding time. " "Family bonding time?" Kate looked puzzled. He grimaced. "My father started it when he came to America, dragging everyone out to the island to spend time together. He was busy always. Never home. So once a year he would insist. And the American Thanksgiving was a natural." "It sounds nice," Kate said almost wistfully. He stared at her. "Nice?" "I only meant-' she gave a helpless shrug- that it's nice when a family want to be together." Damon looked at her more closely. Was that yearning he saw on her face? He couldn't imagine it. If she wanted a family, she ought to get married and have one. She never should have married a guy like him. "Stay if you want," he said gruffly. "No." Kate shook her head quickly. "That would be ridiculous. Why should I bond with your family when I'll be out of it in three hundred and fifty-seven days?" She gave Damon a brisk nod, turned and headed towards the bedroom. "Goodnight." She'd sounded--she hoped--considerably more sanguine than she felt. A week in the Bahamas with Damon? Kate wasn't sure it bore thinking about, but as she undressed for bed she couldn't seem to stop. It's not as if it's a real honeymoon, she reminded herself, as she tugged her shirt over her head. She probably wouldn't even see him. Once they got there, naturally they could go their separate ways. And would. But something had been happening to her since she'd married Damon, something she'd never expected. She was remembering all the dreams and fantasies about marriage she'd had before she'd wed Bryce. In those days she'd been an incurable romantic--a starry-eyed child who'd had dreams of her prince coming to carry her off to his castle, far from her uninterested father and his economic empire. And one of those dreams, she recalled now, had been a honeymoon on a beach. She reached for her bathrobe. That particular fantasy hadn't even been rooted in the far reaches of darkest adolescence. Right after she'd agreed to marry Bryce, she'd read a magazine article about honeymoons in the Bahamas. She knew these articles were nothing more than travel come-ons. She knew the happy couples were not newlyweds, but really professional models from New York. Still, she'd seen the photos of them frolicking on pink sand beaches, standing waist-deep in turquoise water, their arms around each other, smiling, kissing. She'd smiled at the
sight of them strolling through the foamy surf at sunset. And she'd dreamed. Bryce had taken her to Atlantic City where he'd lost seven hundred dollars at the tables and she'd broken out in hives. So much, Kate thought, for dreams. The door opened suddenly. Kate jerked around, clutching the robe against her breasts. "What do you want?" Damon looked puzzled. "To go to sleep?" Her eT She knew it was a yelp of indignation, but she couldn't help it. He scowled. "Hell, yes, here. And don't try to send me out to the sofa, either. We've been through that. Mrs Vincent lives in. She knows what goes on. I'm sleeping here." They glared at each other. In the five days he'd been gone, Kate had got used to having the bedroom to herself. There was so little of Damon apparent in its very stark furnishings that she had managed to put him out of her mind. Big mistake. She edged towards the bathroom and scooted behind the door. Then she gave an airy wave of the hand that wasn't still clutching the robe. "Fine," she said, poking her head around the door to look at him. "Sleep. You can have the floor." "The floor! Like hell!" "We've been through this before, too, Damon, and you're not sleeping with me. This is a marriage of convenience, nothing else. We never agreed to. . . to. . ." She couldn't seem to say the words. "Make love?" Damon suggested, smiling. Kate scowled. "Have sex." "We didn't agree not to, either." She stared at him, outraged. "You said " in name only"." "That doesn't mean it has to be that way." "For me it does." He cocked his head. "Why?" "Because. . because we aren't in love!" Were all men so obtuse? Damon seemed unfazed. "Well, no, but--' " I don't have sex with men I don't love. And I don't sleep with them, either. As I said, you can sleep on the floor. " "It's my room," he reminded her. "Yes, but I'm sharing it, and if you don't like it, I won't." His eyes narrowed. "Is that a threat?" Kate licked her lips, then swallowed. "It's a statement of fact." "This marriage is as important to you as it is to me." Kate deliberately refused to think about how he could affect the future of her business. "I can handle Jeffrey if I have to. Can you handle Mama and Marina?" Damon muttered something rude under his breath. He raked a hand through his hair. He stalked to the cupboard and took out a quilt and flung it on the floor. "You're all heart," he growled. Probably, Kate thought. Getting into this mess certainly proved she didn't have a brain. Torture took many forms and Damon felt as if he were discovering new and varied ones every day since he'd been married to Kate. Lying there listening to Kate's soft humming in the bathroom as she got ready for bed, Damon felt as if he'd found yet another. Nothing about this damnable marriage was working the way it was supposed to! He was supposed to have spent the hours he was in Paris trying to close a deal, not thinking about Kate. [-Ie was supposed to maintain a disinterested distance, lot hurry back to her, ready to propose a cosy candle- ight dinner strategy session for dealing with his Tiother, and be disappointed when his mother was il ready there. He was supposed to ignore her, not use whatever excuse he could come up with to touch her and taste her lips. And he certainly was supposed to fall asleep without i thought of her, not lie on the floor of his own ^edroom wanting to creep into her bed! What the hell had he done, proposing this marriage my way It was supposed to be a business deal- pure and simple. It was turning out to be anything but! And his mother, blast her, seemed intent on making t worse. A honeymoon in the Bahamas! She knew how he loved Buccaneer's Cay. She knew it was the one place n the world where he could kick back and relax, where he quit worrying about the business and enjoyed nimself. The one spot where there were no tensions and no pressures. Ever. And his mother wanted him to take Kate? He closed his eyes and groaned. With no distractions, with only sun and sand and surf, he would have nothing to keep him from getting to know his new wife, and his mother knew it. Damon didn't want to know his new wife. He already knew far too much. He knew that her cheeks turned bright red when she got angry and that she had one tiny off-centre dimple in the left one when she laughed. He knew that she looked as fresh as a daisy with the wind in her hair. He knew she could laugh with the exuberance of a seven-year-old. He knew she could charm the pout off an unhappy child and bring a smile to the face of another with a newly skinned knee. He knew she could stop a fight that had been brewing, could make Sophia nap when no one else could, could keep his brother-in-law in line. He knew that her lips felt soft and full beneath his, that her curves fitted snugly against the hard lines of his own frame. He'd learned those curves when he'd held her against him this evening as they'd stood in front of his mother. And now he knew she sang soft snatches of romantic songs while she got ready for bed. She was driving him insane. And all the while the damned woman sounded as if she didn't have a care in the world! Probably she didn't, he thought, his fingers tightening on a fistful of crumpled quilt. She didn't have a multinational corporation to oversee. She didn't have a mother and six sisters determined to drive her crazy. She didn't have a philandering brother-in-law to keep on the straight and narrow. Mostly, he thought irritably, she didn't have a delightful, delectable wife she wasn't allowed to touch! Thoughts about her upcoming week in the Bahamas with Damon would have been enough to bedevil Kate throughout the weekend. Helena Alexakis complicated matters further. "She's invited me to lunch tomorrow," Kate told Damon on Monday afternoon when he picked her up from Sophia's. "She and Sophia." Damon grimaced. "So be busy." "It's not as simple as that. For one thing, my busyness at midday generally involves the twins, who happen to be going to a birthday party. But even more important, I'm not sure I should beg off." Damon looked at her, aghast. "You want to get the third degree?" "Not particularly. But I'm afraid it will be worse if I ivoid her. I mean, right now she sort of seems to like the." This last astonishing fact had been borne in on Kate iver the weekend. At the family dinner on Saturday light, Helena had been quite genial, asking Kate about her father, about her schooling, about her plans for Kid Kare. And when Sophia had her mother and Damon and his new wife over for brunch on Sunday, Helena had shooed the twins away so she could once igain converse with Kate. This time they had talked about Kate's first mari age and, rather than resenting Damon's mother's probing, Kate found herself telling Helena more about t than she'd ever told anyone. At first, of course, Kate had been wary. But Helena was calm and kind and not given to the snap judge- nents that Kate had always been used to on the parental front. Anyway, it was difficult to keep up the's guard all the time. Particularly in the face of in expected acceptance. Damon grunted. "I'm glad she likes you, at least." "Has she said anything negative to you?" Kate wanted to know. "She hasn't said anything at all to me. She smiles ike the cat in that children's story." "The Cheshire cat?" Damon grimaced. "That's the one." Kate didn't know if it was worry about his mother ar something else, but Damon had been increasingly . ton ny and irritable. At first she thought it was a result of his night on the hard wood floor. But he'd slept on the floor of the bedroom for three nights now without comment, declining her suggestion that they add a futon so it would look like a sofa, but would provide him with a bed. "Don't bother," he'd muttered. "I only want to help," Kate had replied, miffed by his irritable tone. "Do you?" Damon had asked sarcastically. "Do you really?" And without giving her a chance to reply to that, he'd stalked out. Kate watched him go and wondered about how they'd cope for the next three hundred and fifty-four days. She was still wondering when she met his mother for lunch. Helena had reserved them a table in a small French restaurant not far from Damon's office. She was already there, waiting, when Kate arrived, apologising. "No, you are not late. I am early. I stopped to see Damon on my way downtown. I had hoped we'd have time to talk, but, as always, he is too busy." She gave Kate a conspiratorial smile. "It is a good thing you are going on this honeymoon. You can straighten out his priorities." The waitress led them to their table in an alcove on the second floor. It was a cosy, intimate setting the sort that seemed to call for secrets shared and hearts bared. Kate took a mental inventory, making sure all her de fences were in place. Then, once they had ordered, Helena undermined them all. "I can't tell you how happy I am that at last Damon has found his bride." Kate, about to take a sip of her wine, set it down, grate
ful she wasn't choking on it. Helena laughed at the expression on her face. "You are surprised?" "Well," Kate hedged, 'he urn wasn't quite sure low you'd feel about urn me. I mean, since he ^adn't told you and simply foisted me on you. " "I admit I would have liked to have come to your wedding," Helena said. "One doesn't get to see one's only son married every day. But. as long as he has ound the right woman. . . " Her voice trailed off. She smiled benevolently at Kate, who felt as if she should lisclaim all right to being any such thing. "I'm sorry," she said in a small voice. "The wedding, it is a small thing. The marriage, that is what is important," Helena said. "Don't be sorry, my lear. Everything is wonderful. Damon has found his ride. I tell you, I was about to give up hope. I was if raid I would have to do it for him." "I thought I mean, he thought I mean Jnable to say what it was either of them had thought, Gate took a quick, desperate gulp of her wine. The waitress brought their meals. Helena dug right into her bowl of bouillabaisse. "I was getting desperate, I don't need to tell you," Helena went on. "For years I have been talking to him ibout what he should look for in a bride. She must be trong-willed, I tell him. She must have integrity and trength of character, and a certain sense of joy. All these things she will need to deal with you, I tell him. ^nd I never know if he listens." Helena stabbed a hr imp "He grunts. He mumbles. He goes to meetings in the middle of what I say. "I know women. Mama," tie tells me. "I got sisters." And I tell him, Damon, sisters aren't the same. " Kate laid her fork down and simply listened. "I never thought he took it seriously. Every time I brought it up, he would get this look on his face and he would say, "More advice about the Alexakis iride?" and I would say, "Damon, it's important, the most important decision of your life." And he would ignore me. So I told him last time I came to New York, you can't do it yourself. I will help. " Helena crunched down the shrimp with considerable relish. Kate sat mesmerised. "I will find you a bride, I tell him. And you know what he says? He says to me, "Go ahead. I have a business to run" " Helena shook her head and smiled at Kate. "And all the while he was listening to me. He married you. " Kate wanted to sink right through the floor. "I couldn't have done better myself." Kate hesitated, then had to ask, "What about Marina?" ' Helena made a tsking sound and shook her head. "Marina is a lovely girl. Spirited. Charming. She would have made a passable Alexakis Bride I think. But she is so young, so untried in the trials of life. I told Damon I would find him a bride, and so I brought Marina with me Helena chuckled more to irritate him than anything else. " "Then. . you didn't intend him to marry her?" Helena sopped up some of the stew with a piece of French bread. "If he loved her, of course. Mostly I wanted him to sit up and take notice. To think about marriage, about what he wanted in a bride. And all the time I was worrying, he had done much better than think. He had fallen in love!" Kate closed her eyes and prayed for divine intervention. "I worried a little when I first met you. Damon is a strong man. A stubborn man." Helena sighed. "But now that we have talked, I feel much better. You, too, are strong. You would have to be, to grow up with your father, to resist his will and marry without his permission. You are strong in other ways, too. You are making your own business. I envy you your independence. It will be good for Damon not to be the only business person she said cheerfully. "You must keep your hand in after the children." "Children?" Kate croaked. "Surely you want children?" For the first time Helena looked worried. "Of course I want children! But---' " I was sure you would. Seeing you with Leda and Christina was enough to tell me you will be a wonderful mother. " Helena beamed. "I'm sure Damon saw that, too. I must give my son credit. He has done well indeed." She finished her bread, then cocked her head and looked at Kate. "Is there something wrong with your meal, dear? You aren't eating."
THE ALEXAKIS BRIDE by Anne McAllister Page 4