Lifelong Affair (19 page)

'How
useful!' Rita said disdainfully.

'Yes.
Would you like me to bring Courtney down now?'

'Well,
that is why I'm here!

She
raised mocking brows. 'I thought you were here for tea,' she derided before
going upstairs to get Courtney as he awakened from his nap. She was glad she
could find something amusing about Rita's attitude; she had a feeling she was
going to need a sense of humour during this visit from her mother-in-law.

Luckily
Courtney managed to bridge some of the awkwardness, both women obviously doting
on him. They watched in amusement as he lay on the floor moving his arms and
legs about in an effort to crawl, becoming red-faced with anger as he didn't
move a fraction of an inch.

'The
exercise is good for him,' Morgan said laughingly as she gathered the baby up
in her arms, soothing his indignant wails, almost as if he had been sure he had
been about to crawl if she hadn't picked him up. 'It will strengthen his
muscles, the health visitor told me.' She nuzzled into Courtney's neck, soon
hearing his delighted gurgles.

'I
have no doubt about Courtney's health,' Rita said haughtily. 'I'm just
wondering when you're going to tire of this latest role.'

Morgan
blinked her surprise. 'Role?'

'As
doting wife and mother,' the other woman derided. Tfou may be a competent
actress, but how much longer do you think you'll be able to keep up the act?'

She
drew in a steadying breath. 'Mrs Hammond, I invited you here today to have tea
and visit Courtney, that doesn't entitle you to insult me.'

'I
merely asked——'

'An
impertinent and ridiculous question!' Morgan stood up in her agitation,
Courtney clinging to her hair as he sensed her anger. 'I am not
acting
as Alex's wife and
Courtney's mother, I
am
both those things. I would have thought that by now you
would have been able to forget your prejudice and accept me as such.'

'I've suffered you only because my son has
chosen
to ruin his life by marrying you,' Rita
scorned haughtily, 'and because you have joint I of my only grandson. Otherwise
I wouldn't give yxw the time of day!' Two bright spots of colour flared in her
cheeks as she glared her dislike. 'I'm well aware that it's been your influence
that has prevented my son inviting me to his own home, that you have also
prevented my seeing Courtney as often as I would like
 
'

'Alex
brings him over every week!' she gasped.

'For
half an hour,' the other woman dismissed. 'Not nearly long enough.'

'Too
long, I think,' remarked a dangerously soft voice.

Both
women turned in the direction of that voice, Alex standing in the open doorway.

'Alex darling
--
'
his mother held out pleading hands to him.

'Mother,'
he bit out a cold greeting, crossing the room to Morgan's side, putting an arm
possessively about her shoulders, drawing her against his side as he felt her
tremble.

'Your
mother was just leaving,' Morgan told him challengingly.

He
nodded grimly. 'So I gathered,' he said tautly.

'Alex, you can't mean it!' his mother gasped
her
outrage. 'I'm your mother! I
         
'

'And
Morgan is my wife,' he rasped harshly. 'I will not have you or anyone else
insulting her—and you might as well pass that on to Janet too.'

'Janet?'
his mother frowned.

'You're
two of a kind, Mother,' he derided harshly. 'But this lime you've gone too far—you've
voiced your insults against Morgan in front of me. Morgan has done her best to
protect both you and Janet from my knowing the exact nature of your
vindictiveness—Oh yes, she's done that,' he nodded grimly at his mother's
snort
of disbelief. 'But after listening to you just now, to the lies you actually
believe, I think she was wrong to do that. I made no mistake when I married
Morgan, Mother,' he told her coldly. 'And it had nothing to do with Morgan that
you haven't been invited here before, / didn't want it."

'You?' his mother gasped again. 'I can't
believe that,
Alex
----
'

'Believe
it,' he bit out ruthlessly. 'And believe this too, Mother. My marriage to
Morgan is completely successful. Completely,' he repeated harshly. 'The last
thing I wanted was your coming here and disrupting that. But you have,' his
fingers bit painfully into Morgan's shoulder in his anger. 'Now I second
Morgan's request that you leave. He seemed not to notice Morgan's gasp of
surprise. 'And I don't want to see you here again until you feel you can
apologise to my wife for the insults you've given her both today and in the
past.'

'Never!'
came his mother's instant—and expected— reply.

He
turned away from her, to ring for Mrs Whitney. 'Then we have nothing more to
say to each other. Ah, Mrs Whitney,' his voice softened to politeness as the
housekeeper came in answer to his call. 'My mother is just leaving.'

'Alex
---
'

'Goodbye,
Mother. His voice was uncompromising.

She
shot an impatient glance at the waiting housekeeper. 'You'll regret this,' was
all she could bring herself to say in front of a servant.

'I
don't think so, he replied confidently as his mother marched out of the room
and out of the house.

'God
. ..!' Morgan shuddered as reaction began to set in, the scene the ugliest yet.

'Give
Courtney to me,' Alex prompted gently.

She
gave him the baby, then buried her face in her
shaking hands. 'Why does
she hate me so much?' she choked.

He
shrugged. 'She just can't bear to see anyone else happy.'

'You
mean no woman is good enough for her sons!' Morgan snapped.

Alex
grinned. 'There's that too . . .' He sobered. 'Look, I can't ever guess the
reason she dislikes you. But she will apologise to you.'

'You
heard her! Never, she said.'

'She
will,' he repeated grimly. 'And if she doesn't then it's her loss.' His eyes
darkened. 'Can you leave Courtney with Mrs Whitney for an hour—or two?'
he asked throatily.

She
looked at him with a frown, wondering why on earth she should want to leave
Courtney with the housekeeper. At the warmth in his gaze she knew. 'Alex!' she
exclaimed in a shocked voice.

He
laughed huskily. 'You were magnificent, darling. And I want to feel the fire
that's built up in you. Do you mind?'

She
took Courtney from him. ' just go and ask Mrs Whitney to take care of him for a
while.'

'Don't
be long,' Alex requested throatily as she reached the door.

'Two
minutes,' she promised eagerly.

She
was less than that, and hurried upstairs to their bedroom to find Alex waiting
for her in his bathrobe.

'I
thought we could shower together,' he explained softly.

'Oh
yes!' She eagerly took off her own clothes.

Alex
watched her with appreciative eyes. 'What did you tell Mrs Whitney?'

Morgan
moved about the bedroom with unconscious grace, knowing that Alex loved to see
her nakedness. 'I told her we have a few things to discuss and that the baby
might be a distraction, she laughed softly.

 
Alex returned that smile, curving her
nakedness against him, murmuring his agreement as she untied the belt to his
robe, then stepping inside the garment to press herself against him. 'I have
quite a lot of things I would like to—discuss with you,' he said softly.
'And I'm not sure I can wait for the shower,' he groaned urgently, hi body
already hardened to passion.

'Then
we won't.' She drew his head down to hers, revelling in his mastery of her,
giving herself to him completely each time they made love, and knowing that
little by little, Alex was slowly coming to give himself to her in return
without even realising it. He always gave her pleasure, always accepted the
pleasure she gave him in return, but now it was more than that, now he was
starting to give some of his inner self, to reveal more and more of himself to
her as they grew closer da}' by day.

'I
wasn't expecting you home so early.' She lay on his sweat-dampened chest some
time later, unwilling to break the oneness with him as she looked down at him.

'Are
you complaining?' he taunted with lazy satisfaction, pushing back a damp
tendril from her forehead.

'Are
you?' she mocked from her dominant position above him.

Alex
laughed throatily. 'I never complain when you become aggressive. I love it!'

She
wished he could have been saying that he loved her, but maybe in time that
would come too. 'Why did you come home so early?" she persisted. 'It was
only five o'clock, and you don't usually get home until at least six o'clock.'

'I
was thinking of you, and had to get home before I raped my secretary in my
frustration!'

'Alex,
Miss Kingsley is fifty years old!'

He
grinned. 'I know. Think how shocked
k
have been!'

'Alex
. ..!' She gave him a stem look as he once again evaded her question.

'Okay,'
he sighed. 'I had a feeling my mother might try her Lady of the Manor act.' He
shrugged. 'I had no intention of letting her get away with it again.'

The
light died out of Morgan's face as she thought of the ugly scene that had taken
place just over an hour ago. ' really thought she would be all right this
time,' she sighed.

'I
knew she wouldn't,' Alex drawled. 'She probably never will be.'

She
remembered the determination on the other woman's face. 'She'll never apologise
to me, Alex. She dislikes me too much.'

'Then
as I said, she isn't welcome here again.' His tone was implacable, 'And I have
no intention of going there either.'

Alex
kept to his word, and during the two weeks that followed they didn't see or
hear from his mother, something that didn't seem to bother him in the least,
but which worried her. There was already enough friction in this family, and
she didn't like being the reason for causing more. Finally it was Janet
Fairchild who came to see them. Morgan hadn't forgotten that the last time the
two of them had met she had struck the other woman. Janet gave no indication of
remembering the incident, but Morgan had come to know the other woman well enough
to know she hadn't forgotten a thing.

The
three of them sat in the lounge, with the fire lit on this Saturday afternoon
in early December. 'Don't you think you've punished Mother enough?' Janet
drawled bluntly.

Alex raised dark brows at the description. 'Punished?' he
repeated softly, 'There's no punishment intended.'

His
sister gave an impatient sigh. 'Then why do you persist in staving away, in
keeping Courtney from her?'

'I
don't "persist" in anything,' he replied confidently. 'If Mother
wants to see him all she has to do is apologise to his mother.'

Janet's
eyes flashed angrily. 'Morgan is not Courtney's mother!' she snapped.

'Janet,'
he drawled in a softly warning voice, 'I would hate to have to ask you to leave
too.' He raised dark brows questioningly.

'Alex,
please!' Morgan touched his chest pleadingly as they sat side by side on the
sofa, Courtney having fallen asleep on a cushion at her other side.

Janet's
mouth tightened even more. 'I don't need you to defend met' she rasped
insultingly.

Morgan
knew that Alex's eyes darkened dangerously, and she turned to give the
other woman a smile. 'I'm sure you don't,' she said smoothly. 'And your mother
is welcome here at any time.' She felt the feud had gone on long enough.

'Not
until she apologises,' Alex said harshly.

"Alex
--
'

'I
mean it, Morgan,' he told her softly. 'Mark may have been too weak to defend
his wife against his family, but I am not.'

'Mark
was too weak to stop a lot of things,' Janet taunted.

Morgan
stiffened, glancing anxiously at Alex. Surely the other woman wasn't going to
bring up the question of Courtney's paternity in front of Alex? She would swear
Alex didn't even suspect such a thing about Glenna; he always spoke of her so
warmly, so without the prejudice of his mother and sister.

'Well,
I'm not.' He stood up forcefully. 'So you can go home and tell Mother that this
touching little plea didn't work. An apology for Morgan is what I want, and an
apology is what I shall have. It's what I demand, damn it!'

His
anger stayed with him for the rest of the day, but as soon as they were in bed
together it gentled to exquisite adoration, and he made love to her with his
usual consideration and passion.

Alex
showed no surprise when his mother arrived the next day, although Morgan's
heart somersaulted wildly as Mrs Whitney came into the lounge to announce her.