“Exactly.”
“I don’t know, Father. Lucas is more straightforward than that. He would just barge right in here and—”
“Then why hasn’t he?”
“Oh, how should I know what’s on his mind!”
“I’m sure you can guess. He’s going to want to know why you’re still married, Rissy. Are you going to tell him?”
“No,” she replied adamantly, “absolutely not.”
“Then you better think of something pretty soon, because I don’t think it’ll be much longer before you meet Lucas Holt again.”
Thirty-nine
Sharisse was just finishing lunch when her sister came into the dining room, moving faster than Sharisse had seen her move in a long time, though slowly by any normal standards. Stephanie, five months pregnant, was barely showing yet, but from the moment she’d learned of her condition, she’d begun to pamper herself, just as their mother had done. No matter how often Sharisse tried to tell her it would be healthier if she wouldn’t treat herself like an invalid, her younger sister wouldn’t listen.
Today Stephanie was downright animated as she made a quick glance around the room to be sure she and Sharisse were alone.
“What brings you here, Steph? I’d have thought you’d be riding roughshod over your servants all day in preparation for your party tonight.”
“Honestly, Rissy, wherever did you pick up such funny expressions? ‘Roughshod’ indeed.” Stephanie sat down, making an elaborate show of getting comfortable before she said, “Father isn’t in the house, is he?”
“On a Saturday? You know he always has lunch with your father-in-law on Saturdays.”
“I just wanted to make sure. I wouldn’t want him to overhear this.”
“I don’t keep secrets from Father anymore, Steph.”
“You didn’t tell him about my part in—”
Sharisse hastened to calm her. “No, no, relax. But I have nothing to hide from him now, anyway.”
“Not even that Lucas Holt is in New York?”
Stephanie believed she was delivering monumental news, and her face fell as Sharisse said, “We know that.”
“You do? Well good heavens, why didn’t someone tell me? I had to hear it from Trudi today. She heard it from Barbara Stewart, and you know what Barbara—?”
“I get the picture, Steph,” Sharisse cut in dryly. “I think Sheila is making sure everyone knows. She met him, you see. At the Stewarts’.”
“Well?”
“What?”
Stephanie waved her hands impatiently. “Well, what’s he doing here?”
“I don’t know.”
Stephanie was reaching the boiling point. “You’re just not going to tell me, are you?”
“I’m not hiding anything from you, Steph. I really don’t know why Lucas came here. I haven’t seen him.”
Sharisse wouldn’t admit how vexed she was that Lucas hadn’t come to see her. What did he mean by playing this hide-and-seek game with her?
“I thought I heard my girls,” Marcus called as he walked into the room.
Sharisse was surprised to see him. “Didn’t you have lunch with Edward?”
