Lifelong Affair (7 page)

"Of
course not,' she snapped. She knew exactly how her father was; she had
telephoned America several tones since her arrival here. The closeness she had
felt
•d
Alex while they were with
Courtney had completely gone, and the resentment was now back with a vengeance.
'You should have let me tell them.'

'It wasn't necessary
       
'

"They're
my parents, damn it!'

'Why
do you always resort to swearing when you lose your temper?' he bit out.

"Why
do you always
make
me lose my temper?' she said.

'I
have no idea,' he said grimly.

'I
do!' she glared at him, her eyes sparkling deeply green. 'You have to be the
most arrogant, bossy individual I've ever had the misfortune to meet. You had
no right to talk to my parents about the funerals— I should have done
it!'

I didn't want to cause you any more pain
     

'You
mean you were too busy organising everyone to consider anyone else's feelings
but your own,' she dismissed scathingly. 'I've been in control of my own Efe
since I left home at eighteen to go to college, and then you come along, with
your dictatorial ways and expect everyone to jump on command. Well, I
don't
jump, Mr Hammond, and
quite frankly I never will!'

He
listened to her tirade in stony silence, a man who ran and owned an empire, who
made decisions every day that affected thousands of lives, and the fact that
one mere woman, one
unwelcome
woman in his home, dared to question his
authority obviously came as a great and unexpected shock to him.

'I
intend returning to the States after—after the
funerals,' she told him coldly. 'But only for
a
couple of
weeks
at most. And then I'll be back. And I'll right for
custody of Courtney
with every weapon I can think of.

Alex
shook his head. 'I can't let you have him.'

'Because
you consider my morals aren't good enough?' she taunted. 'You'll find nothing
wrong with
them, no matter how deeply you
dig into my past. I've
been too busy with my career the last few years
to
want to complicate my life with
emotional entangle
ment, especially with Glenna's marriage as an
example! She loved your brother, and yet she was
still
unhappy. I didn't want that for myself.'

'Glenna mentioned someone called Sam.' He looked
at her with narrowed
eyes.

She flushed. 'It would seem you spent a considerable
amount of time talking
to my sister.'

He
nodded distandy. 'She was an intelligent woman, and Mark wasn't always here.
Glenna naturally told me about you, your parents—Sam.'

'I've
been seeing him for several months. But I certainly don't intend marrying him.'

'I
trust he knows that?

'None
of your business, Mr Hammond,' she snapped.

'No,'
he sighed, 'I don't suppose it is. All right,
Morgan,
have your time back in the States. But when
you get back here don't
expect to take Courtney away from me. He's a Hammond, he'll stay here where he
belongs.'

We'll
see about that!'

'Indeed
we will,' he drawled confidendy, and left her to go to his bedroom to change
his shirt.

It
was his confidence that worried her the most. He
almost
too
confident,
as if she didn't have a chance erf getting Courtney. And maybe she didn't. She
had a
fat against her—her job, her single state, the fact that
Courtney had been born a British citizen. But she wouldn't give up without a
fight, wouldn't be her feher's daughter if she did that!

Morgan
decided she hated funerals. She had never
been
to one before, had never had reason to, and those
two coffins standing side by side in the church,
all that
remained of Glenna and Mark,
seemed all the more
heartrending.

Alex stood at her side, had supported his mother all
through the service as she seemed about to collapse.
Morgan had driven to
the church with them, Janet aid Charles Fairchild travelling in the car behind
them, their two little girls being left with Charles' mother for the day.

Morgan
hated being in this cold emotionless
church,
hated the curious looks Mark's family directed
at her, and she wondered
why she didn't cry when it was her sister lying in one of those boxes.

She
refused to cry, refused to believe that any part of Glenna, the laughing
beautiful woman that
mattered, was anywhere
near this sterile service, this
Mark church. None of these people here
had loved Glenna, none had tried to understand her—and her
sister wouldn't give them the satisfaction of
knowing
how deeply she mourned her.

By
the time they got back to the house Rita
Hammond
seemed to have recovered her composure,
and was acting the gracious
hostess as the family began to arrive from the church.

To
Morgan it was just another part of the charade.
How could these people genuinely feel the loss of two
beautiful young people when they could stand
around
drinking sherry and eating the trays of food the staff were
circulating with? Morgan couldn't have eaten a thing and, quite frankly, the
whole thing made her feel sick.

She
wanted to escape, to get away from here, and yet pride kept her standing in the
room, that and her love for Glenna. Her sister hadn't been one to run away from
a fight, and neither would she.

'She
finally got her wish.'

Morgan
spun round to confront Janet Fairchild, instantly tensing. Janet was as cold
and calculating as her mother. She even looked like her with her cold blue eyes
and tightly drawn back black hair, and Morgan knew any attempt at conversation
with her owed nothing to politeness.

'I
beg your pardon?' she said warily.

'Glenna,'
Janet drawled, dressed completely in black as was her mother; Morgan had chosen
a less dramatic navy blue dress, not being out to make any impressions. 'She
always wanted to get away from the family,' she taunted. 'She got her wish—although
hardly in the way she expected.'

Morgan
drew in a harsh breath of pain. 'That's a disgusting thing to say!'

Janet
raised dark brows, coolly knocking the ash from her cigarette into the ashtray.
'Is it? Perhaps. But it's the truth, isn't it?' she shrugged.

'Glenna was unhappy here, yes. But
  
'

'You
knew about that?'

She
frowned. 'I don't think Glenna ever made any secret of the fact that she was—dissatisfied,
with her life here.'

'She
wanted her career,' Janet scorned. 'Mark should never have married an actress.
It was obvious a woman like that could only be interested in his money.'

Morgan
gasped. Janet was more like her mother than
  
she
 
had
  
previously
  
realised,
  
both
  
of thern

seeming
to take delight in insulting the dead Glenna. 'Must I remind you that Glenna is—was—my
sister?' her voice shook a little, and she saw the other woman's Mouth twist
derisively at this show of weakness.

Janet
gave a dismissive snort. 'You don't need to remind me of anything; you're like
Glenna in a lot of ways.'

This
time the insult was a personal attack, and Morgan didn't hesitate to retaliate.
'Did she also think you were a vicious bitch?' she asked coolly.

Angry
colour flooded the other woman's cheeks. •Glenna had more sense than to be
openly hostile,' she snapped.

She
raised her brows, the brightness of her hair secured at her nape. 'And I
don't?' she drawled. 'I'm sorry, Mrs Fairchild, I thought this was honesty
time.'

'It
is.' Blue eyes flashed their dislike. 'I don't like you any more than I did
Glenna. We'll certainly never make the mistake of letting another McKay into
the family!'

'Courtney
is half McKay.'

'I
meant you, Morgan.' Janet looked at her with dislike. 'I'm telling you this in
case you got the wrong idea from the newspapers.'

'That
I marry Alex!' she gasped.

'Exactly.'
                                                      
,
 
   
,

'Wouldn't
he have some say as to who he married?' she derided.

'Of
course,' Janet snapped her impatience. 'And I can tell you now that he doesn't
intend marrying anvone.'

Morgan
gave a bored shrug.
 
'You're safe
then, aren't you?'