Ah, now they reached the heart of her mother’s objections.
“I’m not interested in James.”
A sharp inhalation filtered down the line. “James is an eligible bachelor.”
Her mother’s determination rang in her voice, her words, and Laura scowled. “I’m not interested in James. I’ll speak with him, act with politeness, but I won’t marry him. Next time I see him, I’ll make my feelings on the subject clear. I refuse to marry a man to give him respectability. Quite frankly, if he’s willing to go along with marriage talk, he’s lying to himself. It’s a recipe for disaster, and I want no part of it.”
“Laura.” The sharp note carried displeasure, a silent demand for her to behave in a manner befitting the Drummond name.
“Mother, I am an adult.”
“Then start behaving like one.”
Laura bit down on her lip—hard—to stem her instinctive argument. Despite her mother’s lack of faith, she was an adult. It was their definition of the word that differed. “I’ll leave you to enjoy the festivities, Mother.”
“I’ll send the helicopter for you.”
“No, I’ll try to come when the pass clears. It will be a short visit because I have work commitments.”
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll speak to Sheila and explain we need you here.”
“No.” This time she didn’t bother to hide her terseness. Footsteps behind her made her realize the phone call was taking longer than she’d expected.
Dallas bore a passive expression as he pointed to her coffee cup. She nodded.
“I need to go, Mother. Since I’m stuck in Napier, I’m going out with some of the girls at work.”
“You’re the most ungrateful child.”
Laura fingered her temple, hoping to rub away the beginnings of her headache. “Yes, Mother. Please do not send the helicopter to pick me up and force the pilot out in the cold because I won’t be waiting at the heliport. I will be with my friends. See you when the pass reopens.” Laura paused a beat, listened to the start of her mother’s indignant diatribe and broke in, speaking loudly to drown out her parent. “Goodbye, Mother.”
She clicked the phone down and rubbed the side of her head again. Her mother was out of control. Somehow Laura had to halt her interference.
“Headache?”
“Yeah. It’s called parents.” She rubbed her temples again and swung around to face Dallas. “When I have children, I’m going to support them and help them become decent human beings, but I am not going to treat them like chess pieces on a board.”
“Do you want kids?”
She stopped to consider her words and nodded. “Yeah, I do. Maybe in a few years, after I’ve explored the world a little and become comfortable in my own skin.”
“You don’t like the fit of your skin?” He took the two steps separating them and snaked a hand around her waist.
“Not all the time. As you said last night, I’m still young.”
“I think you know what you want. You know what to do to change your life. You’ve already taken the first steps.”
“You’re a know-all smart-ass.”
“My brothers would agree.”
But he was right. She’d prevaricated about facing-off with her mother for a long time. Lately, she’d tried taking a stand on small things. Her mother wasn’t paying the slightest bit of notice, bulldozing each one of Laura’s objections. Today would be the official start of her independence campaign. No doubt there’d be tantrums before she gained her freedom.
Dallas dropped a kiss on her nose. “I’m sure you’ll manage your mother.”
“She’s still rabbiting on about James and his suitability rating as a husband.”
“What would you like for breakfast?”
