“She’s still at the college.”
Liam shot to his feet. “You shouldn’t have to put up with that. Tell me who she is, and I’ll go clear her out.”
Liam’s brute gallantry broke the tension. Imagining how he might unceremoniously dump Vivian off campus caused laughter to bubble up, but she soon sobered.
“I learned plenty from the sorry affair. After trying to make myself over into someone else to win Jasper’s affection, I gave up and vowed to be true to myself.” She held out her arms, facing them. Strands of hair escaped the messy bun at her nape. She was grubby from working outdoors and without a hint of cosmetics. “This is who I am. This is the real me.”
“It’s exactly how God made you,” Patrick said with gentle affection. “You’re beautiful. You look like something out of the Garden of Eden.”
His words were a balm to her battered spirit. Trying to make herself prettier for Jasper had been humiliating and futile, but the gentle heat in Patrick’s eyes blasted that inadequacy to pieces.
“You’re pretty enough,” Liam conceded. “Except for that floaty dress you’re wearing. It makes you look like you’ve got a pea in the pod.”
She threw a clump of pigweed at him, and he caught it with a grin. For a moment Liam had been the protective older brother she’d always longed for. It had been nice for the ten seconds it lasted.
She stooped to pick up the hoe. “I’m telling you my sorry tale so you don’t walk down the same path. Fortune hunters are everywhere. They can be hard to spot. Many people tried to warn me about Jasper because when an impoverished college professor marries an heiress, tongues wag. Jasper created a respected scientific journal, but jealous people claimed it was only because I paid for it.”
“Did you?” Liam asked, and she wanted to explode in frustration.
“Yes, but that shouldn’t have mattered! Why should anyone care who funded it? It was an excellent journal that advanced scientific understanding all over the world.”
Patrick abruptly stood. A book fell off his lap and splatted on the ground, but he didn’t pick it up. “I have some errands I need to run. If you’ll excuse me.”
Odd. He didn’t smile or meet her eyes as he strode away. He headed toward the main street, his back stiff.
“Patrick?” she called after him. “Did I say something wrong?”
He held up a hand to acknowledge that he’d heard but didn’t break his pace as he walked away. She looked at Liam, baffled by Patrick’s odd behavior.
Liam frowned. “For a smart woman, sometimes you can be dumber than a stump.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she demanded. After baring her soul, leave it to Liam to start acting like a lout again.
“Patrick is street-smart and book-smart, but he’s soft when it comes to you,” Liam said. “He swallows his pride and lets you lord it over everyone. Hey, don’t look at me like that. You probably can’t help being an uptight Mother Superior, but go easy on him, okay?”
“Was it because I talked about Jasper?” It couldn’t be. Patrick already knew about how badly her marriage had failed and why.
“It’s because you talked about how Jasper was your dolly boy, and Patrick doesn’t want to be your next one.”
“Dolly boy?” she gasped. She’d never heard that expression but could guess what it meant. “I don’t think that way about Patrick. He’s my hero. I dream about him at night. He knows that.”
Liam held up his hand. “I don’t want to hear your seedy dreams about Patrick. All I’m saying is that he’s been a true friend to me, and I won’t stand aside if you toy with him. They say that blood is thicker than water, but it’s not. If push comes to shove, I’d side with Patrick over you and the rest of the Blackstones any day of the week.”
Her mouth went dry, and it felt like the ground was crumbling beneath her feet. There was no time to waste. If she had somehow offended Patrick, she didn’t want another minute to pass before she tried to set it right.
Patrick strode down the street, eyes straight ahead as he plowed through the crowds of people on the sidewalk. It was late in the afternoon, and he needed to get to the tailor’s before they closed. He ought to feel guilty for the way people parted to let him pass, but he was too angry. The story of Gwen’s fortune-hunting husband was seared on his mind. Were they to marry, that would be the assumption everyone made about Patrick too. No matter what he accomplished in life, no matter how true their feelings for each other, people would brand him a fortune hunter until the day he died.
He needed to cancel the order on the suit she’d bought for him. He never should have let her buy it in the first place. The suit he bought last month was fine. Better than fine! It was custom-made to his size, and anyone who looked down their nose at it could take a flying leap into the sea.
“Patrick!”
Gwen’s shout came from a block or two away. He didn’t want to see her and quickened his steps.
“Patrick, wait!”
Her pleading tone scorched him. He hated hurting her, but unless she gave him the breathing room to be his own man, their relationship was doomed. He paused in front of a millinery shop and waited for her to catch up. She was breathless as she grabbed onto his arm.
“What’s wrong?” she asked. “What did I do wrong?”
