She gave a sudden moan and pushed her head back into the sofa she'd so lovingly re-upholstered. 'This is such a mess. I know I should have told you about the baby,' she admitted with a rush. 'Marty kept nagging me to, but—'
'Who's Marty?' The ferocity was palpable.
She blinked. 'I'm having a baby…our baby.' It was the first time she'd said it and it felt right, good on her tongue, even though she knew it shouldn't. 'That doesn't give you the right to interrogate me about my friends.'
'Has he been here with you?' He looked around the room which had once seemed bright and cheerful but suddenly seemed cheap and sordid. Did he have to ruin everything?
'Marty is a female,' she said with a superior smile. 'Or had you hoped to have me labelled an unfit mother too?'
Luke seemed suddenly too pleased. The tension that had been part of him had been tight to snapping-point. It was still there, but he seemed more in control. 'I think you'll make an excellent mother, as a matter of fact. What I think is that you've got a generous heart that is longing to love, but no one's been around to return it, so you've hoarded it up until you've almost forgotten how to let it go. Until…' His eyes were on her stricken face in which the colour welled and receded dramatically.
'Don't!' she begged. He knew she loved him. Her last defence was crumbling before her eyes.
'Emmy, my dear, stupid, blind infant.' He spoke in such a tender, loving tone that her eyes grew round in response to the trauma of the endearing insult to her nervous system. 'You ran out on me because you imagined Beth and I were in love.'
'I heard—' she began indignantly. He wasn't going to dismiss the weeks of suffering with some glib comment. This was some plan to take away her baby.
'You heard part of a conversation,' he interrupted, the anger close again to the surface. 'As always, you believed what you wanted about me. If you'd stayed around to eavesdrop further----'
'You kissed her!' Emily exploded wrathfully. My God, do I really sound that jealous? she thought, hearing the sound of her own voice with subdued shock. 'I saw you,' she added in a more moderate tone.
'What you saw was me being kissed.'
'In fact, you were overcome and taken by force,' she snapped. 'All six feet three of you!'
A strange smile lurked around the corners of his mouth. "This jealousy is something of a revelation, Emmy. Now just shut up and listen for a moment.' He pressed a finger to her lips and something in his eyes made her grow still. 'I've known Beth since she married Martin, several years ago. They enjoyed a stormy relationship but were, despite the intermittent volcanic disturbances, very happy. When Martin was killed Beth went totally off the rails. For weeks she refused even to believe Martin was dead. The anger and the guilt that followed in its wake were frightening to watch. I was a friend, nothing more.' He glanced at her intent face, his expression uncomfortable for the first time. 'It seems—and I blame myself for not realising it—that I became more to Beth than an outlet for the pain that was tearing her apart. I've been encouraging her for the last twelve months to do what she really wants and move back to London. She ran her own advertising company until she made the move up north. I was pleased that she felt able to make the break, rebuild her life, but I hadn't bargained on being part of the package.'
Relief was swimming through her veins. It was the truth, a truth that suddenly made the present difficult to evaluate accurately. Concepts were shifting. 'You were with her tonight.'
'You were with Gavin,' he reminded her with compelling anger.
'We have settled our differences,' she agreed. 'We're friends, and we'll never be anything else— unless he's my brother-in-law. I was a last-minute sub for Charlotte tonight. They had a slight disagreement.'
'And I was there because your father sent me a very terse missive strictly forbidding me to put in an appearance,' he told her, a flare of satisfaction curving his mouth at her explanation. 'Beth, on the other hand, was present because she is involved with the charity that organised the damned thing. In the circumstances she has taken it very well. I think seeing you at the flat cleared her vision—she was just reluctant to let go of the fantasy. There never were any sparks between us, and you can't manufacture that sort of thing. I was a crutch for Beth and possibly I let her lean on me too heavily,' he said, his voice filled with self-doubt. 'It was a pretty delicate half-hour, but I think we salvaged our friendship.' With a sudden violent movement he grabbed Emily's hands and drew her towards him on the small sofa. 'And then I came to find you packing your bags,' he told her grimly.
'Luke,' she said suddenly, a dazed expression in her eyes, 'why did you let me go?' Her voice became hoarse with urgency. Her eyes, the dark brown speckled with golden highlights, were fixed unblinkingly on his face.