Family Merger - By Leigh Greenwood Page 0,84

and leaned against it before the sobs that had been building up erupted. She should have known not to let herself get involved with Ron. She also knew the old saying that a tiger can't change his strips. If ever a man was a tiger, Ron Egan was it. He went after life, got it in a throat latch, and shook it hard.

It was time she realized she'd allowed herself to get caught up in a dream that was impossible. It had been stupid, she knew it, but she'd done it anyway. Maybe this would help her remember next time.

She wasn't sure there would ever be a next time. You can't break a heart that's already broken.

"Are you sure you want to go home?" Kathryn asked Cynthia. "I'm not trying to keep you here, understand, but I know your father can be very persuasive."

It was three days later, and Kathryn had come upstairs to Cynthia's bedroom when Julia informed her Cynthia was packing to go home. In the short time she'd been there, Cynthia's room had become where the girls gathered when they wanted to talk.

"Daddy didn't talk me into it. I want to go home. I made a lot of mistakes, one of which was running away from everybody - Daddy, Arthur, Leigh and all my friends. I thought people only liked me because Daddy was famous."

"I told you from the beginning you were a very likable girl. Everybody here liked you immediately."

Cynthia hung her head. "I was acting like a baby. I wanted something I didn't get so I threw a tantrum. Only I threw the kind of tantrum you can't fix."

"You'll fix it. It'll just be hard. Who's going to help you move?"

"Daddy and Arthur."

"They're coming at the same time?"

"Daddy said they're going to see a lot of each other in the future, so they might as well start now. I think they actually like each other."

"How do you feel about that?"

Cynthia wrinkled her nose. "I don't know. Arthur's a nice guy, but I don't love him. Besides, even if I did, I don't want to get married now. I don't know what I want to do, but I'll have my hands full with a baby and school. I don't need a husband even if I did love him so desperately I couldn't live without him."

Kathryn didn't want to hear words like that. They made her think of Ron and the realization she loved him so desperately she didn't know how she was going to live without him. She hadn't thought of anything else for the last three days. She dreaded going out of the house for fear she might run into him. She checked the driveway before she went out. She listened for any car pulling up while she was with the girls. She couldn't decide whether she was more afraid he would find her or that he wouldn't want to.

"Then I think you're wise not to consider marriage at this point. Lots of women are single mothers."

"It might be good for the mother, but it can't be good for the baby. I guess I'm glad Arthur wants to take an active part in the baby's life."

Kathryn thought she heard a car pulling into the driveway, but when she looked out the window, it was pulling in across the street. "I'd better go."

"You don't have to run away."

The words stung. "I'm not running away."

"Daddy says you've been running away from him ever since the night your sister came here. He said you were furious at him for saying your sister was a mooch, that she tried to get money out of you by making you feel sorry for her."

"Your father shouldn't have said that."

"Why not? All the girls know it. We think she's hateful. It was Julia who sent Daddy in there to keep her from making you buy her that car." Cynthia made a rude noise. "I can just see what those heathens of hers would have done to a Jaguar."

"Cynthia! I'm surprised at you."

"You ought to hear Julia. She spent half the night trying to figure a way to get the police to arrest her."

"Elizabeth has had a difficult life. You don't understand - "

"What don't I understand? Having a father who doesn't understand me, didn't even know I was alive half the time, having my mother die when I was seven? Your sister is completely selfish. She isn't trying to make her life better. She's doing what I wanted to do in the