Lady Love by Diana Palmer Read Free Book Online Page A

but it was.
    “I ought to resign,” she told Lila finally, as they sat together at the kitchen table and had coffee after Amanda had gone to bed. “Amanda told me about the argument you had with your son.”
    Lila grinned. “Did she? Don’t worry about Cam, I can handle him.”
    “I don’t want to cause trouble.” Merlyn stared into her black coffee. “He antagonizes me, though. Sometimes I can’t help it. But I’ll do my best to be pleasant to him, if it will keep the peace.”
    “But I don’t want you to be pleasant to him,” Lila said surprisingly, with a twinkle in her eyes. “He was angry when he left here. Angrier than I’ve see him in years. It was a pleasant change from his usual indifference. You’ve shaken him, Merlyn. Keep it up.”
    “That would be risky,” Merlyn murmured with a delicate shudder, remembering his threat.
    “I’ll protect you,” Lila promised. She searched Merlyn’s eyes. “Merlyn, did you feel the undercurrents, when the Radners were here?”
    Merlyn shifted restlessly. “It’s really none of my affair.”
    “Delle’s father has a very profitable investment corporation. She’ll inherit it. Cam has decided, in a coldblooded way, that she’ll make him a good wife.” She sighed miserably. “You see, dear, my husband left us deeply in debt. He borrowed too much, and he had friends who were too kind to refuse him credit. When he died, there were insurmountable bills. We even sold the family estate, which our ancestors built over a hundred years ago, to defray the debt. But it still wasn’t enough. Cam is slowly getting us back on our feet, and what I make with my writing helps.” She laughed softly. “I won’t deny that having money in the family again would be a tremendous boost to our small assets, but I don’t want Cam to ruin his whole life just to get out of debt.”
    Merlyn studied her hands. “He doesn’t seem the kind of man who’d marry solely for money,” she murmured, looking up into Lila’s sur prised face.
    “It isn’t just that,” Lila returned. “You’re very perceptive, Merlyn. No, it isn’t only money. He wants a home and a mother for Amanda. He wants permanence.” She shrugged. “He’s rather rootless right now. He lives and works in Charleston, but he’s always out looking for new investors. He’s spent a lot of time in Atlanta lately, courting the head of a new corporation that’s locating back home. Beating out the competition way ahead of time,” she explained with a grin.
    “Why Delle?” Merlyn asked with genuine curiosity.
    Lila grimaced. “He met her at a party, liked her poise, and set out to court her. I don’t know what he sees in her. She’s so fussy about her hair and clothes that I don’t imagine he even gets to touch her, and she’s years too young for him. But,” she sighed, “he doesn’t listen to me anymore.”
    ***
    During the next three days they worked at a comfortable, steady pace, while Amanda fished and played on the lake.
    “I love this,” Merlyn said on Friday, as she lounged on the dock with her legs hanging off the side and a fishing pole in her hand. She was wearing a blue tube top, cut-offs that showed her tanned, slender legs to their best advantage, and a floppy hat on her head.
    “What, fishing?” Lila asked as she sunbathed nearby. It was the first real break they’d taken, and they felt they both deserved it. They’d gotten through a tremendous amount of work.
    “Fishing. Working. Being here on the lake.” Merlyn shifted her pole experimentally to make sure the bait was still on the hook, and tossed it back in. “I hadn’t realized how pleasant it could be.”
    “Why do you think I come here to work?” Lila laughed. “Of course, I’m usually alone with Tilly and Amanda. Cameron doesn’t often come here.”
    With the pole in hand, Merlyn leaned back against the warm boards, hoping Cameron would indeed stay away. The sun felt good, and the only sounds were of birds and