It was easy to believe that he’d made enemies, fought them, crushed them, seldom been defeated. Formidable as a foe, perhaps formidable as a friend, certainly formidable as a father.

At the sight of Travis he nodded, speaking gruffly but cordially. ‘Glad to see you. Wasn’t sure you’d make the journey, such a distance.’

‘You don’t think I’d let Marcel tie the knot without being there to chuck things at him, do you?’ Travis grinned.

Then Amos did something that took everyone by surprise. Laying a hand on his son’s shoulder, he said, ‘Just make sure your aim is good.’

The others looked at each other, startled. Amos had actually made a joke, and with his least favourite son. Whatever was the world coming to?

To cap it all, when he made his way to a seat it was Travis he urged to come with him.

‘Haven’t seen you in a long time, except on television, of course. Can’t get away from you there.’

‘Sorry if that bothers you,’ Travis said, knowing Amos had never been a fan of his career.

But his father surprised him again.

‘Doesn’t bother me. Good to see you doing well. Show business is like anything else. If you climb high you become somebody. There’s profit to be had.’

‘I think I’m beginning to understand this,’ Harriet murmured. ‘Somebody’s told Poppa Falcon that Travis’s career prospects have suddenly leapt up to the heights.’

‘Right,’ Cassie agreed. ‘It’s one thing to have a TV series, but quite another to be a big film star.’

‘But does he know anything about film stars?’ Charlene asked. ‘I wouldn’t think he acknowledged their existence.’

‘I think I may be responsible for that,’ Freya said with a laugh. ‘I’ve always been a big fan of Alaric Lanley.’

‘I’m not surprised. He’s gorgeous.’ Harriet sighed.

Darius glanced up. ‘Did you say something?’

‘Not a thing,’ she told him cheekily. ‘Never mind me. Go back to making money.’

‘Yes, dear.’

For a moment his severe aspect faded and he exchanged a conspiratorial smile with his wife that revealed a hidden world beneath their conventional exteriors.

How lucky they are, Charlene thought. Would it ever be the same for herself and Travis? They exchanged many smiles, even spoke with affection, but there was still a barrier that they hadn’t brought down.

‘Amos saw me reading stuff about Lanley,’ Freya continued, ‘and he started looking through it. That’s how he discovered how big he is, how much money he’s making, how he can take his pick of the roles.’

‘Ah, I see,’ Harriet murmured. ‘So when he discovered that Travis was challenging him and was expected to win, suddenly Travis looked different.’

‘Someone he might actually be proud of,’ Charlene added. ‘Even boast about.’

‘And who’d make an amount of money that even Amos would have to take seriously,’ Cassie added.

The three women nodded solemnly.

At last Travis drew his father in Charlene’s direction.

‘Father, there’s someone I’d like you to meet.’

Amos knew her at once, she realised. Clearly he’d been following the press reports and needed nobody to tell him who she was or what part she played in Travis’s public persona. He looked her up and down, nodding in a satisfied way. After that he spared her few words. If she’d been concerned for herself she might have been offended, but she cared only how this affected Travis, so she said what was necessary and retreated to leave him with his father.

The other women did the same, drifting to the far end of the room for a final coffee before bed.

‘They’ll probably talk all night,’ Harriet muttered. ‘I need a good sleep to get ready for tomorrow, and I’m sure Cassie does.’

‘What about poor Charlene?’ Cassie said. ‘She must be so jet-lagged after that long flight.’

Yet, far from being jet-lagged, she felt vibrantly alive. At this moment she badly wanted to be with Travis, but she knew he would probably be a long time. At least, she hoped so. The longer Amos kept him there the better.

They were joined by Janine, Amos’s current wife and Freya’s mother. Charlene liked her at once, especially when she gave a humorous account of how she’d persuaded her husband to attend the wedding.

‘He snubbed Darius’s wedding. If he’d snubbed this one too he’d have looked ridiculous. Amos couldn’t bear that.’

‘He can’t snub them all just because they don’t marry me.’ Freya chuckled. ‘He’ll run out of sons to snub. Silly man.’

‘Don’t let him hear you say that,’ her mother warned. ‘He’s very fond of you. That’s why he wants you in the family. But there’s only Jackson and Leonid left, so you’d better make a choice soon.’

Freya glanced over to the corner, where Jackson and Leonid could both be seen.

‘Perhaps I’ve already made it,’ she said mysteriously.

They began to drift away. Charlene gave Travis a wave, then flapped her hand, indicating for him to go back to his father. He smiled.

She was feeling good as she went up to their suite. There she had a shower, donned a nightdress and settled down to watch television. By mysterious luck one channel had just begun to show The Man From Heaven with French subtitles, which she enjoyed enormously.

‘Something funny?’ Travis asked, coming in a couple of hours later and finding her laughing.

‘You,’ she said, pointing at the screen. ‘There’s no getting away from you, is there?’

He grinned. ‘My father said something like that, but he actually seemed to think it might be a good thing.’

‘It’s really going well, isn’t it?’

‘Well, he’s listening to what I say, which makes a change.’

‘I’m so happy for you.’ She threw herself back on the bed. ‘Oh, it was a great night, even before he came. A real family occasion!’

‘You mean with my brothers sending me up something rotten?’ he said, grinning.

‘Yes, exactly. That’s what families do, send each other up rotten, but still be there for each other.’ She was helping him undress and hanging up his clothes.

‘Isn’t it lovely that your father’s here?’ she remarked.

‘It’s good for Marcel that he didn’t snub him,’ Travis conceded slowly.

‘And you?’

‘And me, yes. But-’ he dropped down beside her and gently brushed the hair back from her forehead ‘-right this minute-’

‘You know I’m here if you need me.’

‘I do need you. You know that. You point the way for me, and somehow it always turns out to be the right way. I’m only afraid-’ he stopped uneasily ‘-I’m afraid you’ve got the wrong idea now.’

‘How have I done that?’

‘This suite. I should have asked you first but I didn’t tell them to put us together, they just assumed. Everyone thinks…I’m sorry if I’ve put you in an awkward position.’

She had hoped for much from this night, but now she sensed that emotionally he was backing away again, reminding her how shocked he’d been at the suggestion of marriage. But she concealed her disappointment.

‘How have you put me in an awkward position?’ she demanded. ‘Everyone knows we’re living under the same roof in Los Angeles. This was bound to happen. Now stop talking like a Victorian parson and come to bed, because the jet lag has caught up with me and I’m about to zonk out.’

‘Me too,’ he said, getting in beside her. ‘As long as you’re not offended.’

‘Go to sleep!’


* * *

Next morning they were up early to prepare for the wedding. All around them they could hear the family in the other suites and sometimes outside in the corridor, where Freya was having a lively argument with her mother.

‘If you really want to please your father, the answer’s simple,’ Charlene said as lightly as she could manage. ‘Just marry Freya.’

He was sitting on the bed. Now he put his head on one side, seeming to consider.

‘Really?’ he mused. ‘I don’t think so. The fact is-I’d rather marry you.’

She hoped he didn’t hear the little gasp that burst from her. She knew he didn’t really want to marry her. She’d been prepared for rejection, polite excuses as to why their relationship could go no further. This sudden reversal sent a jolt through her like a burst of lightning, but she controlled herself, assumed a smile, then her most cheerful tone to say, ‘I’m serious.’

‘So am I,’ he said.

‘No, you’re not. It’s one of your daft jokes. I blame Jackson. The pair of you are like a couple of school kids.’

‘Then obviously I need a good teacher to keep me in line. But I take it you don’t fancy the job.’

‘I don’t think I’d be up to it. It would take more than me to keep you in line.’

‘No, just you. You’re the only one who’s ever come close. Even Mom admits that.’

‘Oh, she wants to hand over the job of being your mother, does she? Thus freeing her for a succession of toy boys.’

His smile almost made her heart turn over. ‘Something like that.’

She could hardly breathe. Beneath the teasing atmosphere, something serious was happening.

‘Well?’ he murmured.

‘Well…the fact is…I’m not sure I’m up to the job.’

‘You mean you don’t think you could put up with me?’

‘Maybe yes, maybe no. I never rush big decisions.’

‘Then take your time.’ He kissed her cheek. ‘We’ll talk again later.’

He vanished into the shower, leaving her stunned, not only by him but by herself.

Why hadn’t she leapt at his offer of marriage? She loved him deeply. She wanted nothing more than to be with him for the rest of her life.

But his own feelings fell short of hers. That was the fact that she must face. He’d asked her because he’d decided to take Joe’s advice. His career was going well. His relationship with Amos was going well, and he wanted to consolidate everything by making a sensible marriage to a woman who could care for him as no other woman could.

The temptation was fierce. Seize the chance. Make the best of it. What else does life offer?

If possible, she would have dismissed her sensible side, but it hammered on her brain for admittance, reminding her how devastating was the decision she must make.

To marry him, knowing that her feelings were far greater than his, and his merely practical affection could never reach the heights of her passionate adoration. Or refuse him, walk away, knowing she had left this vulnerable man at the mercy of what life would do to him.

Nonsense! This is a grown man. He doesn’t need you to protect him.

But he does.

OK, so he marries you and you give him the children he wants. He’s grateful and affectionate, and for a while everything is lovely. But then he gets infatuated with some sexy little bimbo. Maybe he won’t leave you, but will he be faithful to you?

I don’t know.

Yes, you do. Admit it.

I don’t know!

CHAPTER TWELVE

LIKE everything else in La Couronne, the wedding area was magnificent. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling, gilt decoration adorned the walls.

‘It’s glorious,’ Harriet said to Charlene, ‘but I still prefer the ceremony Darius and I had on the beach at Herringdean.’

‘That sounds lovely,’ Charlene agreed.

‘It was lovely,’ Travis said. ‘Especially with the dog there. How is Phantom, Harry? I know everyone was afraid he wouldn’t live much longer.’

‘He’s managing to hold on. Every day is precious.’

‘I’m longing to see what Cassie looks like in her wedding dress,’ Freya said. ‘She’s so beautiful that I could hate her if I didn’t like her so much.’

The room was packed. Marcel had few friends but many business acquaintances who appreciated the invitation, and much the same could be said for Cassie.

At last Jackson and Leonid entered, then Amos and Janine. Amos looked proud and magnificent. Nobody, Charlene thought, would have dreamt that he’d come to this wedding against his will.

Now Marcel appeared, taking his place at the front, with Darius, his best man. At last everything was in place for the bride’s arrival.

As Freya had predicted, she was astonishingly beautiful. Charlene knew a pang. It wasn’t fair that one woman could be like that and another… She looked down disparagingly at herself.

Marcel turned to watch his bride approach, and Charlene drew a sharp breath at his expression. It was possessive, adoring and slightly incredulous, as though he couldn’t quite understand how such good fortune was his. That was how a man ought to regard his bride, she thought. It was how Travis would never regard her.

The voice of common sense echoed in her mind.

Time to face facts. Yes, I know you hate the thought, but listen. He doesn’t really love you. Not as you love him. And he’s never going to, you know that, don’t you?