He looked at her long and hard, and Sienna began to wonder whether he recognised her, before he said gruffly, ‘What are you doing here?’
Not a very auspicious beginning, thought Sienna, not the welcome she would have liked, but she ignored his beady stare and smiled instead. ‘I thought you might be in need of some company.’
A snort followed her words. ‘It depends who the company is.’
Meaning that she was not on his list of favourite people!
“Adam’s at work. I thought—’
Another loud exclamation of disgust, a flash of pale eyes. ‘So you’ve wheedled your way back into his life? How the hell did you manage that? He’s a very busy man, he can do without distractions like you.’
Sienna was beginning to see why Adam had found it difficult to tell his grandfather about Ethan. James Farley had become more obstreperous with old age. He’d always been difficult but…
What did she do now? Did she blurt out the fact that she had borne Adam a son and that’s why they were back together? Or did she try to get him onside first?
‘I guess we never really stopped loving each other.’ What a lie that was, but perhaps he didn’t know about his grandson’s incapacity to love.
‘And it took you five years to discover that?’
James Farley might be old but his mind was still sharp. It hadn’t taken him long to work out how long they’d been apart.
Sienna shrugged. ‘We were both busy.’
‘He’s a fool.’
‘I’m sorry if that’s your opinion,’ she said quietly. ‘May I sit down?’
‘Are you staying?’
‘I’d like to.’
‘Why?’
‘Because we’ve never really got to know each other. I thought that—’
‘You thought that you’d wheedle your way into my good books so that I’d leave you something in my will, is that it?’
Sienna shot her eyes wide. ‘Of course not.’
‘Good, because you’re not getting anything.’
Such bitterness. Didn’t old people usually mellow? Why was he like this? And would she be doing more harm than good if she told him about Ethan now? But this was her mission and he deserved to know. It might turn him around, give him something nice to think about, give him an incentive for living. It couldn’t be easy, sitting here day after day with no company. Perhaps it was loneliness that was making him bad-tempered.
‘If you really don’t want my company, I’ll go,’ she said, thinking carefully as she spoke, already turning back towards the door. ‘I was going to tell you something I really feel you ought to know, but—’
‘Wait!’ His voice wasn’t strong but it was a command nevertheless. ‘If you’ve come here for a specific purpose—apparently not simply to see me—then for pity’s sake have the decency to tell me. Don’t walk away like a coward.’
Sienna turned and fixed her blue eyes on James Farley’s rheumy grey ones. Swallowing hard, she said, ‘It’s something Adam should have told you, but felt he couldn’t. We have a son, Mr Farley. His name is Ethan and he’s four years old.’
Silence followed. A long silence. And Sienna was afraid that she had gone too far, that he wasn’t ready for such information. But amazingly his lips quivered, a smile followed. A weak one, a ghostly one, but a smile nevertheless.
‘I have a great-grandson?’
Sienna nodded. And waited.
‘Is he why you came back?’
‘Yes,’ she whispered.
‘What took you so long?’
‘Adam always put his work first. He’s a driven man. I thought he would be angry and send me away again. At the very least he would have accused me of holding up his chances of success.’
‘Which you would have done,’ he announced bluntly.
‘I’m aware of your feelings,’ answered Sienna, keeping her chin high. ‘It’s why you’ve never liked me.’
‘Adam told you that?’ he asked, a frown now adding to the other creases on his brow.
She nodded.
‘But it didn’t stop you coming here today? You have guts, girl. In the end you thought Adam deserved to know. The same as you felt that I should know. I’ve underestimated you, Sienna. It must have taken a great deal of courage to come here. Does Adam know?’
‘No,’ she said softly.
‘Why didn’t he tell me himself?’
‘Do you have to ask?’ she questioned with a wry smile.
‘I guess I wasn’t very well disposed towards him. I’m in shock, Sienna. How about I ring for a pot of tea?’
Sienna was amazed at how well he had taken her news. She had expected to be shooed out. She had thought he would show no interest in his great-grandson, just as he’d had no interest in her. Instead, it appeared that finding out about Ethan had performed a miracle.
She stayed another hour, telling him about Ethan and the life they’d had together, and she promised that she would bring him on a visit one day.
When she got back to the house Sienna felt pleased with herself. She had actually achieved something today. But her happiness was short-lived when Adam came home and she told him where she had been.
‘You did what?’
‘I went to see your grandfather,’ she repeated.
Adam groaned and closed his eyes and she knew exactly what he was thinking. ‘Did he throw you out?’
‘He wanted to at first when he found out that we were back together, but once I’d told him about Ethan we got on like a house on fire.’ She almost laughed at the expression on Adam’s face. ‘Don’t you believe me?’
‘He wasn’t angry?’
‘Why should he be? When he learned that he had a great-grandson he went all soft.’
Adam’s eyed widened. ‘My grandfather soft? I don’t believe you.’
‘Well, perhaps not quite soft and mushy,’ she agreed with a laugh, ‘but he warmed towards me and he’s looking forward to meeting Ethan. I thought perhaps we’d go at the weekend. What do you think?’
Adam did not know what to think. He had been horrified when Sienna had told him where she’d been, he had imagined all sorts of repercussions. And when she’d confessed to telling him about Ethan he’d gone cold all over. Much as he wasn’t overly fond of his grandfather he had no wish to see him further displeased.
And yet here she was, saying that James Farley actually wanted to meet Ethan. The very thought sent his mind spinning out of control. Ethan had brought him and Sienna back together, now it looked as if he was going to do the same with his grandfather.
Did the boy have magic powers? Or were children naturally good ambassadors?
He shook his head. ‘I cannot believe all that I am hearing.’
‘Believe me, it’s true,’ Sienna told him with one of her incredible smiles. She slid her arms about his waist and turned her face up to his. ‘This is one happy day.’
But her happiness did not last.
She said nothing to Ethan about his great-grandfather, she wanted it to be a surprise. She could imagine his pleasure, his whoop of joy, and if she told him too soon he’d be so excited that he would not sleep, and he’d keep pestering her as to when they were going to see him.
In the end Ethan never got to see his grandfather. Adam had a phone call on Friday evening to say that his grandfather had died. He’d suffered another heart attack.
Chapter Twelve
TEARS slid down Sienna’s cheeks. She had been looking forward to getting to know Adam’s grandfather, seeing more of him, introducing Ethan, watching the two of them interact and bond.
Now it was too late, it would never be. It was so sad and she couldn’t help wondering whether her visit had had anything to do with it. Her heart felt heavy at the thought.
Adam turned away and Sienna wondered whether he was blaming her, as well. Or if he was wishing that he had tried long before now to make amends. The old man hadn’t treated him fairly but even so he was Adam’s only blood relative. She saw the way
his shoulders sagged and she wanted to comfort him but didn’t know how, whether it would even be welcome.
At least it had been quick, that was one consolation. James wouldn’t suffer any more. But the sadness remained with them, and Adam had the job in the days that followed of arranging the funeral.
It was a quiet affair. His grandfather had outlived all of his cronies so there was no one except Adam and Sienna to stand by his graveside and wish him a last farewell. More tears rolled down Sienna’s cheeks. What a sad ending to his life. She held Adam’s hand tightly as they walked away. He didn’t know it but she had seen a tear in his eye too.
Later that evening, after Ethan was in bed, unaware of the traumatic day they had had—Sienna hadn’t thought it fitting to tell him about the death of someone he had never known—Sienna asked Adam why his grandfather had never liked her. ‘It came across in waves when I went to see him, it was only after I told him about Ethan that he melted. It wasn’t a comfortable feeling to be hated so much.’
Adam drew in a deep sigh and shook his head. ‘It’s not a story that you’d want to hear, not today anyway.’ His lips thinned, his thoughts clearly flying back over the years.
But Sienna insisted. ‘It can’t make any difference now. I thought he was a lonely old man. I actually felt sorry for him.’ And she knew that she wouldn’t rest until Adam told her the whole story.
‘You wouldn’t feel sorry if you’d known him properly,’ asserted Adam, jumping to his feet and striding across the room. He looked out across the gardens and Sienna knew he was fighting his demons.
The air was very still outside, the sky even at this hour an intense blue. It felt as though the world was holding its breath, waiting to hear about his grandfather.
‘And since I didn’t get to know him, I’m looking to you to tell me about him,’ she added softly.
He turned then and looked at her with eyes that were filled with immense sorrow. Which Sienna found odd considering he had never liked the old man. Clearly a lot had gone on between them that she knew nothing about.
Finally he spoke. ‘He said that you reminded him of my mother.’ Adam’s voice was so quiet that she had to strain to hear. ‘And he wanted no reminders. He actually blamed her for dying, for the way my father went to pieces afterwards.’
Sienna saw raw emotion on his face, his eyes once again moist with unshed tears. Was she asking too much of him too soon? He had never spoken much about his mother but she knew that he had loved her dearly and had never got over her death. And his grandfather’s attitude must have made it far worse.
Several long seconds passed. So many unhappy memories were flooding his mind that it was painful to watch and yet she knew that she had to ask the crucial question. ‘So you went the opposite way and married me because I reminded you of your mother? You did it to spite your grandfather.’
His denial was instant and emphatic. ‘That was not my reason.’
Of course he would say that. He wouldn’t admit to such derisory grounds for asking her to marry him. There wasn’t a cat in hell’s chance of him admitting the truth. Sienna curled her fingers into her palms. This was not a day when they should be arguing and yet she could not help herself. He couldn’t make such a profound statement and then expect her not to react.
‘No?’ she asked, her eyes wide. ‘And yet you fell out with your grandfather because of me. It doesn’t make sense, Adam.’ None of it made sense. The whole thing was growing more bizarre by the second.
Adam drew in a deep breath, compressing his lips until they were almost non-existent, his whole being as still as the calm before a storm, and what he said next blew Sienna away.
‘I fell out with him because he said that if I married you he would disinherit me.’
She stopped breathing.
‘I couldn’t believe he had said that.’ Adam shook his head as if reliving the scene. ‘Did he think I couldn’t stand on my own two feet? That I couldn’t make a go of my life without his money? And you can bet your life that I wasn’t going to let him tell me who I could or could not marry.’
His words were suddenly harsh, his face flooded with anger.
Silence filled the air between them. A loud silence.
Sienna felt her head spin and thought she might faint.
Adam had married her simply to prove to his grandfather that he could do whatever he wanted! That he would not be dictated to.
Unbelievable!
It meant that there was no truth in his statement that he was unable to love because of what had happened to his father. The fact was he simply didn’t love her!
The only reason he had married her was to prove himself to his grandfather. It had been a war between the two men.
She had been stuck in the middle!
And now she had marched right back into his life!
Adam closed his eyes, needing to block from his view Sienna’s shocked face. It had been wrong to have this discussion today of all days. Today should have been a day of mourning, not disclosures.
He felt truly sorry now for having told her. He should have waited, he should have left it. He shouldn’t have mentioned it at all.
He hadn’t realised all those years ago that his grandfather had been trying to protect him when he had declared that Sienna was wrong for him. That his grandfather simply hadn’t wanted history repeating itself. He hadn’t wanted Adam to love Sienna so much that if anything happened to her he would fall into the same trap as his father.
In that moment Adam realised that the incredible had happened. He was truly and deeply in love with Sienna. He was in that trap. He wouldn’t be able to function without her.
But Sienna looked at him with eyes of stone. ‘I cannot believe that I am hearing this. I rue the day I ever met you, Adam. I thought that we had married for love. I know I accused you of loving your work more than me but deep down in my heart I didn’t mean it. I truly thought that you loved me. What a fool I was. I loved you more deeply than you’ll ever know. But it’s gone now. We’re over, Adam. I wish that I’d never come to see you.’
‘You cannot walk out, I will not let you.’
His voice was immediately strong and a fierce light shone from his eyes, a light that warned her, told her, that if she dared to attempt it he would be there to stop her. Well, let him try. He would soon discover how serious she was.
‘Sienna…’ Adam closed the space between them, ignoring the signs in her eyes, knowing only that somehow he had to make amends.
But Sienna was quicker, sidestepping away from him, darting to the other side of the room. Near the doorway. ‘It’s over, Adam. You have no idea how much I’m hurting. In fact, I don’t think the hurt will ever go away. Not that you’re worthy of such pain. I hate you, Adam, with the whole of my breaking heart.’
She ran out of the door and up the stairs, intent only on escaping him. She needed to be alone with her thoughts. Her heart was indeed breaking in two. Her whole world was crumbling around her. Hot, plump tears slid down her cheeks as she threw herself down on the bed.
It was amazing how one short declaration could change everything. She found it hard to believe that Adam had married her simply to spite his grandfather. What sort of a man did that? And what woman in her right mind would carry on living with someone who had made such an admission?
He hadn’t been backwards in using her body. It had been the best part of their relationship. It was ironic that he had made her feel so very special when all the time it had been part of his devious plot to get one over on James.
Sienna clamped her lips tightly together, her mind going over and over the events of the last weeks. It had actually seemed as though everything was coming together, the future had looked rosy. And yet in an instant it had been shattered. It lay around her feet like shards of glass, like petals dashed from a rosebush by heavy rain. Never in her life had she felt so worthless.
The realisation dawned that Adam never actually kissed or cuddled her except when they were ma
king love. Why hadn’t she put two and two together and recognised that all he needed was a bed partner? It saddened her to accept that this was all he had ever wanted her for.
There was no doubt in her mind now that it was imperative she get out of here. Where she would go she had no idea. But escape was her goal. She had Ethan to think about too. He would be devastated if he thought he was losing the father he had only just found. All of this needed to be taken into consideration.
She expected Adam to come after her, was surprised when he didn’t. But at least it gave her thinking time, planning time. How long she lay on the bed Sienna had no idea. At some stage she must have fallen asleep because she awoke shivering. She pulled the covers over her, still fully dressed, but did not go back to sleep.
The green glow from the clock told her that it was almost midnight—and the bed beside her was empty. Not that she cared. Adam could go to hell. She would never forgive him for the way he had treated her. Never!
The night was long and cruel, her mind tormented, but when morning came she had made her plans. Thankfully Adam had left for work by the time she got up, and after taking Ethan to school she began making phone calls.
For a few days they barely spoke. She slept in one of the other rooms, getting up early so that Ethan would not know there was anything wrong. Even Adam acted normally in front of Ethan, swimming with him, promising to take him out on his boat again, reading him bedtime stories, including Sienna in everything he did.
Sienna was suspicious. If he thought that by pretending nothing had happened it would all go away, he could think again. She kept cheerful for Ethan’s sake but as soon as he was in bed and asleep she ignored Adam totally, usually shutting herself in her room, watching TV or reading a book.
Until the night Adam came to see her. He pushed the door open without even knocking. ‘Things have gone on for long enough, Sienna. We need to talk.’
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