Lifelong Affair (20 page)

'Show
her in,' Alex nodded, moving to stand with his foot on the hearth, an indulgent
smile curving his lips as he saw Morgan's nervousness. 'Relax,' he soothed.
'She can't hurt you.'

'She
can try!' she grimaced

Rita
Hammond certainly didn't have the look of a woman about to apologise for
anything as she swept regally into the room seconds later, her eyes flashing
angrily as she looked ready to do battle.

'Good
afternoon, Mother,' Alex drawled.

'Alex,'
she nodded coolly. 'Morgan.' Her voice hardened even more.

The
silence seemed to stretch out after these curt greetings. Alex was unwilling to
bridge the awkwardness, Rita Hammond was unlikely to, and Morgan was
unable to. She knew Alex was determined his mother should apologise or leave.
Hard
blue eyes were finally turned on Morgan, the words seeming forced out of Rita
Hammond's red-painted lips. 'I believe I owe you an apology, that you took
exception to something I said
    
'

'I
took exception to it,' Alex corrected hardly.

His
mother flushed her displeasure. 'Very well. I'm sorry, Morgan,' she ground out,
'if anything I said to you seemed rude.'

'It
didn't "seem" it, Mother,' Alex bit out. 'It was. I heard it all,
remember?'

For
a brief moment Morgan saw the older woman's bottom lip tremble precariously,
and she realised that Rita Hammond wasn't as in control of herself as she
wanted to appear. 'That's perfectly all right,' she rushed into speech, unable
to bear the other woman's humiliation any longer. Alex could still be a very
hard man, despite his apparent satisfaction with their marriage. 'Would you
like to come up to the nursery and see how well Courtney is doing? He should be
awake now.'

'Thank
you,' her mother-in-law accepted huskily.

If
she expected the other woman to take back her apology as soon as they were out
of the room then she was disappointed, pleasantly so. They discussed only
Courtney, and that in a friendly way too.

'He's
grown so much in just two weeks.' Rita lifted the baby up into her arms as he
lay gurgling up at them from his cot.

'Yes.' Morgan at once felt guilty, knowing it
was her fault the other woman had been denied access to her grandson. 'Mrs
Hammond
           

'Rita,'
the other woman invited, laughing softly at Morgan's shocked expression. 'Oh,
don't worry, I'm not suddenly going to turn from the Wicked Witch into the Good
Fairy,' she drawled. 'I'm just wise enough to know that Alex has made the
choice everyone has to make one day, that between family and a new spouse. Mark
never did seem to make the transition, and that was probably my fault, but Alex
is more like me than any of my children. He has made a decision, that you and
Courtney come first in his life now, and I either accept that or lose you all.
I'll accept it,' she added dryly.

It was the nearest to an acceptance into the Hammond
family
she
was ever likely to get, and she knew that. As for coming first in
Alex's life, she knew the baby did that, that despite the physical attraction
between
Alex and herself that he still didn't love her, that he probably never would.

Her
parents flew over for Christmas, and stayed on for Courtney's christening in
January. Her father was much stronger now, Courtney was all he needed to make
the recovery a hundred per cent.

The
christening was the first real formal occasion Morgan had hosted for Alex, and
she wanted everything to be perfect for him, wanted him to be proud she was his
wife. Rita had been a lot of help in the organisation of the party. The older
woman had been right—they hadn't suddenly become friends, but they did
tolerate each other, and Rita Hammond was much more helpful as a mother-in-law
than an enemy.

The
church service was short and beautiful, and even when the water was dribbled
over his head Courtney didn't cry.

'He
reminded me so much of you at that moment, Alex,' Morgan's mother laughed
softly later at the house, her parents and Alex having become good friends the
last three weeks during their visit. 'He looked positively indignant!' she
chuckled.

Morgan
held back her "own smile as Alex's brows rose, knowing that her husband
had been the recipient of a lot of teasing while her parents had been here, his
English reserve amusing them. It amused her too, and yet she knew that when it
came to making love Alex wasn't reserved at all.

'He
probably wondered what on earth was going on,' he drawled, glancing at the
sleeping baby in his carrycot. 'He isn't even going to know that we're about to
toast him in champagne.

'We
are?' Morgan's eyes widened.

'A
gift from your father,' he nodded. 'I'll go and organise it.'

He strode off towards the kitchen, tall and attractive in
a navy blue suit and constrasting lighter blue shirt.

Morgan
watched
him
with pride—she would give up a hundred parts like
Mary-Beth to be his wife. The series had been shown over here
the
last few months, and
her death as Mary-Beth had shocked a lot of the public. What they couldn't
realise was the happiness she had found as Morgan Hammond. She shivered with
the anticipation of sharing a bed with Alex that night, knowing that tonight,
as every other night since they were married, Alex would make love to her until
she was mindless.

She
looked around the room with the critical eye of the hostess, checking that
everyone had food and drink, that no one was sitting in a corner being bored.
Everyone looked happy enough—

Her
gaze was caught and held by belligerent blue eyes—Janet Fairchild's eyes!
The other woman stood slightly across the room from her, her mouth twisted
sardonically.

Morgan
never felt comfortable about Alex's sister; she always sensed that the other
woman was just waiting for something, the right time, and she was going to
strike, and strike hard. It was a ridiculous feeling, the other woman's manner
was always pleasant, and the day they had spent with them over Christmas had
been enjoyable. And yet that unease persisted . . .

Janet
was smiling at her now, the dislike gone from her face, making Morgan wonder if
she had just imagined the venom there to start with.

'Champagne,
darling?

She
turned to look at her husband, accepting the champagne he held out to her, used
to the casual words of endearment he gave her now. She smiled at him warmly,
Janet forgotten as the toast was given to Courtney.
     

When
Courtney woke up he was passed from guest to guest to be duly admired, looking
quite affronted by all these different people admiring him; as if he needed
anyone else's opinion on how wonderful he was!

'Your
mother was right.' Janet suddenly stood at Morgan's side, still sipping at her
glass of champagne. 'Courtney does have Alex's air of breeding. And that wasn't
meant to be insulting,' she drawled with amusement. 'Heaven forbid that Alex
should order me from the house!

Morgan
felt that feeling of unease return. 'I'm sure it wasn't,' she returned
smoothly.

Janet
strolled over to the window, looking up at the grey sky. 'They forecast snow
for today,' she murmured thoughtfully. It looks as if they might actually be
right for once!'

Morgan
moved to stand next to the other woman. 'Yes,' she agreed softly, still wary.

Hard
blue eyes were turned on her. 'Your parents return home soon, don't they?'

She
felt a sense of sadness, and nodded slowly. 'In two days' time.'

'Obviously
you'll miss them.'

'Obviously,'
she agreed, more than ever wary of this seemingly pleasant conversation with a
woman who seemed to dislike her intensely.

'Still,
you have Alex—and my mother.'

'Yes,'
Morgan was frowning now. Janet hadn't spoke to her this much since her wedding
day, and they both knew how that conversation had ended!

'My
mother came round beautifully, didn't she ? ' said Janet with humour—only
Morgan doubted the other woman was genuinely amused. The humour was hard,
mocking, not friendly at all. 'But then you have her grandson,' she added
softly.

'Janet,
 
don't think
-
'

'This
is the place to discuss this,' Janet finished dryly. 'Are you happy with my
brother, Morgan?'

Her
gaze went instinctively to her husband, love lighting her eyes as she watched
him charming her parents, looking up as if he sensed her gaze on him, giving
her a warm smile before Courtney attracted his attention from his position of
pride in his grandmother's arms.

'Of
course you are,' Janet answered her own question. 'And he and Courtney look so
right together, don't they, almost like father and son.'

'Janet
--
'

'But
then maybe that's because they probably are,' Janet continued softly.

Morgan's
face was suddenly pale as the words sank in, her eyes huge with disbelief.
'Wh-what did you say?' Her mouth felt dry, her tongue cleaved to the roof of
her mouth, she was sure that she couldn't have heard the other woman properly.
What she was saying was insane!

'You
want me to say the words again?' the other woman scorned. 'I won't bother to
say it, Morgan, I don't need to—just look at the two of them together.
Look!' she ordered sharply as Morgan averted her face. 'The same wavy hair, the
same grey eyes, the same high cheekbones, even the same determined chin,' she
listed the similarity in features that was all too obvious now to even the most
casual observer.

And
Morgan was far from being that! The similarities were all too obvious to her
too—now that this vindictive woman had pointed them out! Except for the
colour of his hair, that soft red down, at four months Courtney was almost a
mirror image of Alex. But his
son?
No, she couldn't believe that,
wouldn't
believe it.

CHAPTER
NINE

'I
SHOULD, Morgan,' Janet drawled, guessing her thoughts. 'Because it's the
truth.'

'No.
..!' Morgan choked, so white now she was almost grey, her eyes like huge
emeralds in her face, the black of her dress making her skin appear
translucent.

'Morgan?'
Alex suddenly appeared at her side, looking down at her anxiously. 'Darling,
what is it?' he frowned, clasping her hands in his.

'She
isn't feeling too well.' Janet was the one to answer hum. 'It's very warm in
here, with the fire going and all these people. I'll take her upstairs and she
can lie down for a while.'

His
arm went about Morgan's shoulders. 'I'll take her.'

'No!'
she wrenched away from him. 'I—No,' she moved away from him, looking at
him as if she had never seen him before.

'I'll
take her,' Janet offered smoothly. 'You have your guests to take care of, Alex,
you can't both desert them.'

Alex
seemed undecided, looking from his sister to Morgan with a puzzled frown.

'Graham
and Sheila are just leaving,' Janet urged him to stay.

He
glanced round. 'I'll have to go to them.' He looked down at Morgan. 'Will you
be all right for a while? I'll come up to you as soon as everyone has gone.'

'I—I'll be fine.' She just had to get out of here
before she made a fool of herself and asked him straight out if what Janet had
told her was the truth. 'I'll just go and lie down.' She turned and almost ran
out of the room, not giving Alex a second look in her need to escape.

It
wasn't until she reached the bedroom she shared with Alex that she realised
Janet had followed her. 'I'd rather be alone,' she halted the other woman at
the door, her expression determined.

Janet
raised dark brows. 'Don't you want to know the rest of it, of Alex's affair
with Glenna?'

'I don't believe you
'

'Then
why did you flinch away from Alex a few seconds ago?' the other woman taunted,
and pushed the door open with ease, following Morgan into the room as she
backed dazedly to the bed, sitting down abruptly. 'I told you there'd been
another man, Morgan,' she continued in that mocking voice. 'Didn't you ever
think of Alex? He was so convenient, and Glenna was so beautiful.'

'No
. . .' Morgan groaned, closing her eyes as if to block out this nightmare.

'Yes!' Janet hissed.

'Why do you think Alex was so determined to
keep Courtney in England? Why do you
think he married
you?'
she added scornfully. 'You're beautiful enough, I grant
you that. You even have a surface resemblance to Glenna. Why, in the dark I
don't suppose
 
'

'Stop
it!
Stop it!'
Morgan stood up fiercely, her hands clenched at her sides. 'I
don't want to hear anymore.'

'Well,
that's too bad, because I intend telling you all of it. You see, Glenna was
very unhappy here, and Alex was always kind to her. It was inevitable that
Glenna would turn to him when Mark looked like becoming bored with her.'