Chapter Five
Gazing at her reflection, Sam straightened the wide-brimmed black hat. Her appearance gave her little pleasure, even though she knew she looked like a model in the suit with narrow black and white vertical stripes. Its padded shoulders and pencil slim skirt suited her figure perfectly. When she’d tried it on in the Melbourne shop, while choosing an outfit suitable for the funeral, Peter whistled appreciatively. The salesgirls also raved she looked stunning.
Fingering the gold bracelet on her wrist, she sighed. What impulse impelled her to drag it from her drawer this morning? It had lain there since Mac gave it to her—buried along with all her memories.
Until last night, when she’d resurrected them.
Now her mind was a riot of doubts. Had she ever given him a proper chance to explain his actions that night? There was little to be gained by tormenting herself now. It was old news, and the sooner she returned to the mainland and her life there, the better. Best to put those heated kisses from her mind.
Just what had he been trying to prove? That he was still irresistible to her?
“Ready?” Barbara dragged Sam out of her reverie.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.” She followed her mother and a friend who’d come over from Launceston for the service. Marie was going to stay for a day or two.
Barbara looked good in a grey and black spotted silk two piece. At forty-four she was still very attractive and Sam realized as they entered the church it had been a while since she’d really looked at her mother. By anyone’s standards she was a beautiful woman.
The vicar who conducted the service was a close friend of Robert’s. Most of his words went over Sam’s head, for she was painfully aware of the man who sat in the pew behind her. Her nape bristled with awareness. Mac had nodded briefly to Sam outside the church and then bent to kiss Barbara’s cheek. In a conservative suit he looked a stranger; she’d only ever seen him in casual clothes.
Tall and commanding, he stood out from every other man in attendance. As if his body projected an energy force her skin pulsed with the waves he exuded, and all the old feelings she was sure were long buried returned to plague her.
The churchyard was hot. Sam stood stiffly by her mother’s side to accept the exchanged words of sympathy from the mourners. Sam had known these people all her life, and most kissed her cheek as well as Barbara’s as they offered kind words.
When Mac stood before her, Sam stared at the strong callused hand he held out. As if he willed it, her head came up and with a jolt she realized she’d never seen him in a tie before. How many other things had she missed out on? The contact as he closed his fingers about hers was astounding. His high cheekbones and tough jawline seemed accentuated by the sunlight striking his tanned skin.
Time seemed suspended and the air around her seemed to vibrate and pulse. He reached out and with one finger touched the bracelet. A smile curved his mouth and everything and everybody was reduced to a buzzing blur. Sam felt as if she stood in an incandescent sphere, and through an opening, there was just this tall, lean and work-toughened man.
When Barbara tapped her on the arm and suggested quietly, “Shall we leave?” Sam jumped as if she’d been caught out doing something she had no right to be doing.
“Oh...yes.” Tearing her gaze from Mac’s, she linked her arm through her mother’s and walked her to the car that was to take them to the cemetery outside town where Robert received the last rites.
Sam used that time to evaluate her emotions. One thing was patently clear. The force that drew her to Mac was stronger than ever. It was inevitable she would end up scarred and tattered if she prolonged a relationship with him now, for she wasn’t a lovesick teenager any more. Now her desires were those of a woman. And nothing had changed as far as she could see. Clare was back in town, working alongside him, and probably still making claims on him.
Lonely Pride Page 17