A Proper Wife

“Who?” Ryan growled. “Who is she seeing? Did Bettina say?”

James sighed and leaned back in his chair. “How would Bettina know? I just told you, the girl hardly speaks to her.”

“Well, then how do you know she’s seeing somebody?”

“I don’t.”

Ryan went very still. “Excuse me?”

“I don’t know,” his grandfather said, and chuckled. “But I certainly got your dander up, didn’t I, boy?”

“Dammit,” Ryan said softly, “if you weren’t my grandfather, I’d...I’d—”

“Stop blathering, Ryan, and try admitting the truth for a change. You fell in love with Devon and you’re still in love with her.”

Ryan glowered at the old man and then he sighed and dropped back into his chair.

“All right,” he said softly. “If you must know—yes. I loved her. But she never knew. Thank God for that, anyway.”

“You’re pleased she never knew?”

“You’re damned right I am!” Ryan shot to his feet, his temper at the boiling level. “Listen, you crafty old man, you’d better just stop playing God. Hell, you got me—and Devon—into one hell of a mess.”

“Falling in love is never simple,” James said.

“Simple? It’s hell! How do you think I feel, knowing I fell head over heels for a woman who was playing me for a sucker?”

“Ryan. Ryan, my boy. What happened? You’ve only told me you quarreled the last time you saw each other, never what you quarreled about.”

“Hell,” Ryan muttered, slashing his fingers through his hair. “Hell, how do I know what it was about? She accused me of not having been faithful to her and I got angry and I said some things...” He took a deep breath. “I could feel the walls closing in. I know you don’t understand, but—”

“Of course I understand,” James said. “It’s how I felt just before I proposed to your grandmother, sixty-three years ago.” He laughed. “It’s how I feel now, knowing I’m going to pop the question to that miserable old hag in the kitchen.”

Ryan’s eyes widened. “Brimley?” he said. “Are you serious?”

James smiled. “A man needs a good woman at his side, Ryan, one with spirit and determination, one who loves him enough to take his bad temper and throw it right back in his teeth.”

“Devon scored in all those departments.” Ryan’s mouth thinned. “She also played me for a fool. She admitted—well, never mind what she admitted. The bottom line was that she’d only pretended to care for me in hopes of having me agree to extend our marriage contract.”

“For what reason?”

“What reason do you think? For money.”

“Ah.” James nodded. “Of course. So she could have access to even more money she would never touch. Yes, indeed. That makes perfect sense.”

Ryan shook his head. “Listen,” he said gently, “I know what you’re trying to do. And I’m grateful, Grandfather. Really. But... but even if I eliminate the profit angle, what happened that last day only proves she didn’t love me.”

“For instance.”

“Well, for one thing, we bumped into an old girlfriend of mine.” His mouth tightened. “Devon turned right around and accused me of cheating on her.”

“Did she have any cause to think you’d been cheating?”

“Of course not. Sharon—the old girlfriend—put on an interesting performance, but—”

“Devon was jealous, then.”

“Jealous? Why should she have been jealous?”