The Marriage Secret (5 page)

Hand clamped across her mouth to prevent herself crying out, Emily ran back to their bedroom, heedless of the noise her bare feet made on the polished-oak boards.

She doused the light and flung herself headlong on the bed, only to discover that although she could hide her head beneath a pillow there was no place to hide from the misery coursing through her body.

After all the scorn and disgust she'd felt for her poor mother, who couldn't handle the truth about her husband's infidelity, and chose instead to believe his pathetic lies, it was particularly ironic to find herself in a similar situation. All Emily wanted to do was close her eyes and pretend she hadn't heard the raw anguish in Finn's voice as he contemplated being parted from Maeve.

Emily had no concept of how long she lay there curled up in a fetal ball of denial, but part of her had subconsciously registered that the house had gone very quiet—and stayed that way for some time before the bedroom door finally opened.

Still and tense, hardly daring to breath, she listened to the sounds of Finn shedding his clothes in the dark. Was he going to come to bed and act as if nothing had happened? Was
she
going to wake up in the morning and act as if nothing had happened…?

The antique brass bed-frame was suddenly shaken as Finn, who must have walked into it in the dark, swore softly. Nerves stretched tight, Emily let out a startled yelp and sat up.

“Sorry, baby, I didn't mean to wake you.”

“I wasn't asleep,” Emily admitted. “Was it a good party?” she heard herself ask brightly of the shadowy outline beside the bed.

“It was all right.” The mattress dipped as he sat down on the edge of the bed. “Did the noise wake you?”

Was he sitting there wondering how much she knew?

“I did hear something.”

She felt the draft as Finn pulled back the quilt and slid beneath. “Come here.” Emily didn't resist as he reached for her, slotting her soft body comfortably against the hard angles of his naked body.

She felt him shudder as he pressed soft kisses into her hair and then not so soft kisses against her mouth. “You smell so good!” he sighed.

His kiss tasted of brandy, Finn who rarely drank. Well if he'd drunk to forget or relax, it hadn't worked; she could feel the tension coiled in his lean frame.

“Are you going to tell me what's wrong, Finn?”

He released her and rolled over onto his back.

“Maeve and I had—we fought. You don't want to hear this. I'll tell you about it in the morning.”

Emily took a deep breath. “No, Finn, tell me about it now.” She sat up and reached for the light.

“No!”
An urgent hand curled around her wrist. “Don't turn on the light, Emily. Please.”

“Okay.” Perhaps he doesn't want to see my face when he tells me…?

“Maeve told me tonight that's she going to New Zealand with this guy she's been seeing—the baby's father. They're talking marriage….”

“New Zealand—that's a long way away.” Emily felt physically sick anticipating what was coming next.

His laugh was bitter. “Tell me about it. God, Emily!” he groaned suddenly. “She's taking Adam to the other side of the world and I'll never see him again!”

“Adam!”
Of
course,
Adam.

Emily's misery dissolved, leaving behind only the memory of how bad it would be to lose Finn.

Why hadn't that element of Maeve leaving the country even occurred to her? In her eagerness to think of the very worst scenario, she'd totally failed to consider how traumatic it would be for a dedicated father like Finn to be deprived of his son—not to mention what it would do to the little boy!

An image of Finn and Adam, their two dark heads close together as they discussed the finer points of penalty-taking came into her head, and she blinked back the rush of hot emotional tears that stung her eyes. The total
wrongness
of separating them hit her.

She reached for the light once more and blinking, turned to her husband. The haggard expression on his handsome face shocked her deeply and increased her escalating sense of outrage.

“She can't take Adam away!” Emily declared hotly. “You can't let her, Finn.” A militant light entered her narrowed eyes. “We must fight her.”

Finn listened with fascination to this unexpected declaration of war from his wife. “You're amazing, totally amazing!” he exclaimed wonderingly. The more he thought about his five-feet-two-inch wife being prepared to take on all comers on his behalf, the more he liked it. “My tigress,” he teased. “And you present such a gentle, mild-mannered image to the world.”

Catching hold of her slim wrists he drew her down until she lay on top of him, her hands resting on the pillow on either side of his face. Her hair brushed against his chest and, against all odds after what had happened, he felt himself becoming aroused.

“She can't do it,
can she?
” Emily wondered, her smooth brow furrowed as she wriggled against him. “I mean, you're Adam's father, you have rights. Surely, legally…?”

An expression she couldn't work out flickered across Finn's face. “Actually, there might be problems.” He cupped her face between his hands.

“Problems?” Emily turned her head to kiss the inside of his palm.

“Unfortunately, I didn't contest Maeve's sole custody when we got divorced.”

“But you're not just going to let her…!”

“No, I'm not just going to let her,” Finn confirmed, his expression implacable as he contemplated the fight ahead. “But you have to understand, Emily, that things might get—
ugly.
Stuff might come out that I'd prefer didn't, things that…God, this couldn't come at a worse time.”

“For the business?”

“For us personally!” he corrected. “The last thing you need right now is to get embroiled in a legal slanging match.

“You mustn't let my being pregnant influence your decision!”

“Adam's not your child, I thought you might resent…”

Emily's eyes widened indignantly. “As if I would! No, you must do whatever it takes to keep him in the country.”

“I will, Emily, I will.” Emily was relieved to see the chilling expression on his face fade as his eyes slid to hers. “But, right now…” He slid a hand under the hem of the short night-dress she was wearing and spread his fingers over the firm resilient roundness of her bottom.
“Yes?”

She nodded her head eagerly. “Yes, please.”

The next morning, slipping quietly from her sleeping husband's side, Emily crept into the bathroom. She sat on the edge of the deep bathtub and punched in a number on the cell phone.

“Hello, Maeve, this is Emily. I think we should talk.”

“Can we go to the park, Dad?” Adam Lynch bounced his football on the pavement and looked hopefully up at his father.

Finn intercepted the ball before it bounced into the road. He squatted down to look sternly into a pair of eyes very similar to his own. “What have I told you about playing with the ball in the street?”

“Sorry, Dad.”

Finn grinned and ruffled the boy's dark hair; it was impossible to stay mad with Adam for long. “What'll your mom say if you get muddy in the park?”

“I don't expect she'll notice. James said she's not very well—she must be sick, because I heard her crying this morning.”

“Is that right. What do you think of James?”

Finn wondered how Adam was going to feel caught in the middle of two warring parents. It was hard not to question whether there wasn't an element of truth in the accusations of selfishness Maeve had flung at him.

Adam's freckled nose wrinkled thoughtfully as he considered the matter. “Oh, he's all right,” he conceded. “He can't play football as good as you, though,” he added loyally, giving his father's hand a comforting squeeze.

 

Maeve opened the door to Emily minutes after she'd closed it behind Finn.

“You'd better come in.”

Defensive rather than hostile, Emily decided as she followed Maeve through to the drawing room of the elegant Regency terrace.

“Did Finn ask you to come? Because if…”

“No, he doesn't know I'm here.”

Emily soothed her conscience with the thought that she hadn't lied to Finn. She had just let him assume, when they'd arranged to meet at the hospital before lunch, that she was going to spend the morning in bed.

One of Maeve's arched brows rose. “Are you feeling better?”

“I didn't come to talk about me.”

“Somehow I didn't think you did.” Maeve smiled edgily. “Stand if you like, but I'm going to sit down.”

Emily didn't follow her example. “How could you do it to him, Maeve?” she exclaimed glaring at the older woman. “You
know
how much he loves Adam!”

Maeve flushed and lowered her eyes. “Of
course
I know,” she gritted. She lifted her head and Emily was amazed to see the sparkle of tears on her pale lashes. “But I'm allowed a life of my own! It's all right for you to look sneery!” she cried. “You've got Finn, and don't tell me you wouldn't do whatever it takes to keep him!”

Emily shook her head. “Finn would never ask me to do this,” she proclaimed with total conviction. “I still don't see how you…Did you
ever
love him, Maeve?”

The blonde sniffed. “Not when we got married,” she admitted, much to Emily's amazement. “But it's hard to live with Finn and not fall in love with him a bit…well, maybe more than a bit. But,” she said drawing a deep breath, “it wasn't to be.”

“I sympathize with your position, but taking a child away from his father, no matter what the courts say, is a wicked thing to do.”

The doorbell started chiming, but neither woman took any notice.

“That may be so, Emily, but Finn
isn't
Adam's father, is he?” She saw Emily's face and paled. “God, I didn't mean…Forget I said anything.”

“Forget?”
Emily echoed hoarsely.

Maeve gave a sigh of annoyance. “I'll have to answer that, Emily,” Maeve said, referring to the doorbell. “They're not going away.”

The next couple of minutes were a total blur for Emily, who stood there wondering if it was her or Maeve who had gone mad. How could Finn
not
be Adam's father?

“Maeve said you were here.” Finn's eyes were fixed warily on his wife's face. “
Why
are you here?”

Like someone punch-drunk, Emily focused her eyes on the tall figure that had entered the room. “You were taking Adam out for the morning.”

“Adam fell and grazed his knees,” he explained tersely. “Maeve's doing the necessary.”

“Are you Adam's father, Finn?”

Finn took a deep breath before meeting her bewildered eyes. “I'm glad you know. I feel as if it's always been there between us.”

“Then it's true! I always knew you were holding something back.” But not this, never this! “I thought that you and Maeve were still…” She shook her head. “I don't understand…
How?
”

“Liam, my younger brother…”

“The one who died in the climbing accident?”

Finn nodded. “Maeve's family only lived a couple of streets away from ours in Dublin. But it wasn't until they both came over here to university that she and Liam got together. Nobody back home knew about it, and neither did I until Maeve came to me after she discovered she was pregnant.”

“So…” She shook her head. Her brain seemed to be functioning very slowly. “You married Maeve, she came to work with you, and you let everyone think that Adam was yours.”

Finn nodded. “It seemed the obvious thing to do. The baby was a Lynch, he needed a father, and Maeve had no money, no job, and a family that would very likely disown her.”

“Surely not!” Emily gasped horrified.

“Maeve's family have very strong views about sex outside marriage.”

“Poor Maeve,” Emily said, and meant it. “In a really good romance I suppose you'd have fallen in love….” Not if I had any influence with the author, Emily added silently.

“Me and Maeve!” Finn looked amused and shook his head. “We agreed early on that for Adam's sake, absolutely nobody should ever know the truth,” he continued gravely. “How would Adam feel if he discovered one day that his loving parents had never even shared a bed?”

“You were never even lovers!”

“Never, but discreet liaisons were permitted in our rules,” he revealed dryly. “I was no monk.”

“And
love
?” she whispered vulnerably.

“That was discussed, though when it happened, I wasn't really prepared.” He couldn't recall those months of raw frustration without an inner shudder.

“
When
did it happen, Finn?”

“I've told you, the moment I saw you.”

“I didn't think you meant it literally! It was the same for me,” she revealed shyly. “And I felt terribly guilty because you were married. I don't think I
stopped
being guilty until just now. It's such a relief!” She sighed.

“Then you forgive me, Emily?” he asked warily.

“What's to forgive?” She stepped into his open arms. “Promise me one thing, Finn—no more secrets?”

“How,” he began, “do you feel about sealing the deal with a kiss?”

“Don't stop on my account,” Maeve said dryly as the entwined couple drew apart. “I just wanted to say that you were right. I'll be telling James that I'm staying here. I know he loves me, and I know he'll stay. We're happy together—and Adam will be happy, too. We'll all make sure of it.” As Finn aimed a smile at Maeve, she continued, “No, Finn, don't thank me, thank Emily.”

Finn turned to Emily, his eyes blazing with love. “I can't wait to start,” he admitted. “My first, last, and only love,” he whispered.