The Inheritance

“Yeah, but people are going to ask that.” He thought for a moment. “How about Valentine’s Day? Sounds like a good day to get married.”

Valentine’s Day. Could he have come up with a more romantic thought? Not in her estimation. She looked at the man in amazement.

“Yes, sure. Perfect day.”

The words emerged in muted staccato beats as she looked back down at the gleaming globe of fire-light on her finger. The sunlight that filled the room pushed itself into the stone, shooting out beams of yellow, white and blue as she moved her outstretched hand.

His mouth curved. To look at her, you would have thought that she’d never…

Maybe she never had, he suddenly thought. Maybe there’d never been anyone special in this woman’s life, to make her feel special. Looking at Greer, he could believe it. The woman was plain, though he had to admit she had beautiful eyes.

Well, whether or not she’d ever been engaged or married didn’t make any difference to him. He just needed her services long enough for the family court hearing—or until he got Megan Maitland to throw her support his way. He had a feeling her name could open up a lot of doors, make things easier. If that sounded a little cold, maybe it was, but he’d learned a long time ago that it was best to leave his conscience and emotions at the door when it came to getting necessary things done. They only got in the way in the long run.

Trying hard to get this strange, unsettled feeling traveling through her under some kind of control, Greer dropped her hand to her side. But she fisted it so that she could run her thumb along the edge of the band just to assure herself that the ring was actually there.

Part of her still felt that this was all just a little surreal. She looked at Rafe, summoning her best corporate demeanor, knowing that it was best to keep to business.

“So if I go through with this, pretend to be your fiancée, you’re really going to come back to Austin with me? For Mrs. Maitland’s reunion?” she added.

She knew she was repeating herself, but she wanted to make absolutely certain that there was no room for a misunderstanding. Or grounds for him to back down.

With a sensible-looking woman like this at his side, the judge was certain to think he would make a stable home for Bethany, Rafe thought. “How soon would I have to leave?”

Greer hesitated for a moment. She knew Mrs. Maitland’s preferences, but she wasn’t sure how they would go over with Rafe. “Actually, she was hoping to meet you as soon as possible.”

Was the woman crazy? “This is September. Just how long a celebration was she planning?”

But then, he supposed cynically, what else did rich people who didn’t have to work for a living have to do with themselves? She probably partied continually.

Greer did her best to ignore the sarcasm in Rafe’s voice.

“Mrs. Maitland realizes that you can’t just pick up and go somewhere for three months, but she was hoping you might be able to come to Austin for a short visit and then return for the reunion in December. She’d like you to meet the rest of the family.”

Having pulled herself up onto her feet, Bethany was rattling the sides of her playpen, signaling that she thought she’d been ignored long enough. Rafe crossed to the little girl and bent over the playpen to pick her up. Only then did he turn to Greer.

“Why?”

He was being antagonistic again. She had thought they’d gotten past this part. Obviously not. Greer reverted to her role of chief assistant, leaving behind her own persona, the one that caused her to appear so ineffectual. It was a great deal easier for her to operate as if she were devoid of feelings.

“Because family has always been extremely important to Mrs. Maitland. She understands what it’s like to be alone…”

Rafe looked at her sharply. He had absolutely no patience with people who were given to pretense. “Yeah, right.”

Greer immediately leaped to the defense of the woman she’d grown to admire so deeply in such a short amount of time. Megan Maitland was everything she’d ever wanted to be: confident, kind, generous and well respected in addition to being well liked.

“No, really.” She followed Rafe and the baby to the sofa. “She’s lived through a great deal in her life and she didn’t always have it easy—”

Rafe raised his eyebrows in mock sympathy. “What, the dilemma of which party to go to, what dress to wear to what ball?”

The smirk on his face irritated her beyond words. Greer was surprised by her own reaction. She didn’t ordinarily become incensed so quickly. “You always ride around with that chip on your shoulder?”

He began to tell her what she could do with her opinion but caught himself just in time. There was a baby present and he wasn’t about to use strong language around her. “Hey, any chips I have, I came by honestly.”

“So did your aunt, except she doesn’t wear them.” Because he didn’t immediately jump in with a retort, she hurried to continue. “At seventeen, she was poorer than dirt and working for a living….”

He was certain that this woman’s definition of poor differed from his own. Despite her colorful description, he had his doubts about how poor his aunt had been. After all, William Maitland wouldn’t have thrown his lot in with some waif or bimbo.

“Well, she certainly has worked her way up into the lap of luxury, hasn’t she?”

The irritated look on her face gave way to a knowing one. Rafe had lied to her when he’d claimed that he didn’t know who Megan Maitland or any of the Maitlands were. He’d just proved it.

“Then you really do know who she is.”

He didn’t like her tone. It insinuated that he’d been caught doing something he shouldn’t have. “I’ve already said so. And what if I have heard of Megan Maitland? It doesn’t change anything in my life.”

That was just the point behind this reunion. “It might if you let it.”

“Why?” he asked with a sneer, shifting Bethany to his other side. It was getting late and he had to get her to bed. “Is ‘Aunt’ Megan going to adopt me?”

He knew it was counterproductive to his cause to assume the attitude he was taking, but he couldn’t help feeling somewhat contemptuous of the aunt who was summoning him now like a queen summoning some poor relation or peasant. What was her angle? In the world he’d grown up in, everyone had always had an angle or was looking to skim something off the top. His father had taught him that by word and example.

Maybe it was her imagination, but Greer thought she detected just a strain of hurt beneath the contempt. It surprised her that Rafe and she could actually relate on some level. She knew all about being ignored.

“No, but your aunt will make you feel as if you’re a part of something if you let her.”