sigh. Was that an insult? He felt his face heating again.
“I can manage Annabelle, but I don’t know about Toni.”
“You’ll soon be the lady of the house, Lily. You need to learn to manage her, and you can start now.”
There was a blistering silence, and then a click. She’d hung up on him! He couldn’t believe it. His face flamed so hot he had to go into the bathroom and splash water over it to cool down. This wouldn’t do. Stephen never let his emotions take control. He had a lot of work to do to bring Lily back into line.
Clive had preached this lesson all Stephen’s life.
An Allistair wife is always obedient. It’s a cardinal rule, Stephen. Remember that.
The knock on his office door was tentative. “Mr. Allistair?” It was Glenda Jane, sounding contrite. She knew what she’d done. And she knew he wouldn’t pull any punches when he dealt with her.
Stephen felt a glow of satisfaction. That was the way to deal with business and family alike.
“Come in and close the door behind you.”
Stephen clutched the engagement pictures that had been delivered to his office late that afternoon. They would be the perfect way to bridge the gap with Lily. But when he walked into the library for the evening ritual, sharing photos of his and Lily’s momentous occasion became the last thing on his mind. He simply couldn’t believe his eyes.
Lily was seated in his chair, her hands outstretched toward the fire and her face as unconcerned as if she didn’t know she’d broken a cardinal rule. Every person has a place in the family, and every person knows his rightful place.
To make matters worse, she was the only person in the room. Stephen already knew Clive wouldn’t be there. He’d explicitly told his grandfather not to come, to go straight to his apartment on the third floor and rest. He didn’t want the stress in the greenhouse and the soaking Clive had endured to make him sick, especially not before the wedding. But there was no excuse for the others to be absent.
“Where are Annabelle and Toni?”
“Annabelle is in her room, and I don’t know where Toni is.”
“You don’t know?”
“It’s not my job to keep tabs on her, and it’s not yours, either.”
As he sat in his grandfather’s chair, Stephen held onto his temper by a thread. He couldn’t let this setback ruin his evening.
“I’m going to ignore that remark, Lily.”
“I don’t want you to ignore it. I want you to react.”
“Why?”
“You’re always in control, even when we kiss. Why is that, Stephen? Why is there never a single moment when you don’t let your passion overrule this ridiculous thing you have about no sex before marriage?”
“Is that what this is all about? You want me to besmirch your name again, and give this town something to gossip about?”
She looked horrified, then bent over with her hands covering her face. Normally he’d have called her darling and raced over to comfort her. He’d have used every ounce of his Allistair charm to cajole her out of her current mood.
“If that’s your problem,” he added, “I’m willing to discuss it like adults.” Her shoulders heaved. Was she crying? “Look at me, Lily.”
She flung herself to her feet and glared at him, hands on her hips. “No! That is not my problem. Do you think I’m so shallow I’d build my future entirely on passion?”
Was this a harbinger of things to come in his marriage? If that was the case, he’d have been better off to pay somebody to carry his child.
“I didn’t say that, Lily. You did.”
“My problem is that you lied to me about the woman in the garden, Stephen. And don’t you dare act like you don’t know what I’m talking about.”
Who had told her? Surely not Toni. His evil mother hated Lily. She hated anybody who was younger and more beautiful.
“I never act, Lily. I said she was Graden’s mother because I didn’t want you to find out the truth about the fire and worry. You’re already overly stressed about Cee Cee.”
She stood there, undecided, while the clock chimed the half hour. Graden appeared in the doorway with the hot chocolate, but Stephen waved him off. Tonight’s soothing ritual was already ruined. There was no need to waste further time he could put to better use.
Stephen stood, too, but he made no attempt to take his fiancée into his embrace. Let her feel the consequences of her actions. Let her learn that emotional outbursts