Family Merger - By Leigh Greenwood Page 0,86

resist him. She never had been able to, not even in the beginning when she thought he was the personification of everything wrong with modern men.

Besides, she loved him. He didn't have to know. She had fallen in love with him weeks ago, probably the day he took her to the trailer park and she got a glimpse of the little boy who had decided right then to become a man. There was so much about him to admire, but every admirable trait was mirrored by something she couldn't accept. She knew it would never work. Why didn't he?

So she kissed him to make up for the days she hadn't seen him but thought of him constantly, for the evenings she wouldn't take his calls but lay awake thinking about him, for the nights she tossed in her bed dreaming of him. She kissed for all the years of happiness they would never have, for all the dreams that would never come true.

And she kissed him for himself, just in case he really did love her as much as he said.

"Why don't you call her again?" Cynthia asked her father as they sat eating dinner.

"She still won't talk to me."

Cynthia had been home for a week. With Ron not traveling to Geneva, they'd quickly developed a routine. He worked when she was at school. When she came home, they spent time together until after dinner when she had to do her homework. Afterward, they watched TV or talked until time to go to bed. They talked about Cynthia's future, Arthur and the baby. They talked about Kathryn, too.

Ron hadn't expected her to be pleased with the information he gathered on her sister. He'd known when he did it he was taking a chance. Pretty much everything Kathryn had done in the last ten years was predicated on her belief her sister had been cruelly treated by their parents.

To believe what he'd discovered about Elizabeth would mean she'd misjudged her parents, that her behavior and attitude for the last ten years was unfounded. That would throw her into even deeper guilt. Ron loved Kathryn enough to try to set her free from the misconceptions and guilt that had kept her prisoner for so long, but he also knew he risked losing her. Not every prisoner loved the person who set them free.

"Then go over to the shelter," Cynthia suggested. "She can't avoid you then."

"It wouldn't change the way she feels about me."

They were seated at the breakfast table which looked out onto a patio and the back lawn. They'd decided the dining room was too big and formal.

"I don't see why she can't see her sister is mean."

"For the same reason you feel free to criticize me but get angry when anybody else does. She loves her sister. She might admit she isn't perfect - "

"She's a witch!"

" - but she doesn't want anybody criticizing her."

"But you want to marry her."

"All the more reason she has to want to see me before I go back. She's got to want me for myself, not because she feels motivated by guilt. She's lived with that too long."

"Are grown-ups always this stupid?"

Considering the mess they'd both gotten themselves into, he had to laugh. "A lot of the time. We're so sure we have the answers we don't listen. Speaking of having answers, those idiots in Geneva have decided maybe I do know what I'm talking about. Don't look like that. I won't go back unless you come with me."

"Me? What would I do in Geneva?"

"Enjoy being spoiled in a fancy hotel. Go shopping. Maybe even go to a meeting so you can see what your old man does for a living."

Cynthia looked confused. He didn't know if she was happy he had invited her or whether she was reluctant to leave school now that she'd settled back into classes.

"Won't they object to a kid being in the room?"

"They won't have any choice. If they want me, they get you, too."

"You'd do that for me?"

"I already gave up on this deal because of you. Either you go with me or I won't go. The bank wants me to start working with them right away. And I've got that new program I want to set up. I've got more than enough work to do right here. I don't need Geneva. They can make do with Ben and Ted. They'll have to from now on. I'm giving up international negotiations."

"But you like doing that."

"I like being here