Brenda Joyce - [Francesca Cahill 06] by Deadly Promise Page B

slightly. “I always wanted children. But when Rick and I separated, I assumed it would never be.”
    Francesca hadn’t known that. “Did he know?”
    “Of course. When he was courting me we discussed our dreams and made so many plans.” She became somber. “It feels like a bad but fading dream. How can two people fall in love, share so much—and then have it all vanish almost overnight?”
    “I don’t know,” Francesca said hoarsely, because thatwas exactly how her brief and unrequited love affair with Bragg could be described.
    Leigh Anne glanced again at Francesca’s hand. “You and Calder make a stunning couple.”
    “Do we?” Francesca didn’t believe it, and she was almost certain Leigh Anne was being polite.
    “Yes, you do. He’s so strikingly dark, you’re so golden, it’s almost magical,” she said.
    Francesca looked her in the eye. “You didn’t seem surprised when he announced our engagement.” What she really wanted to say was,
You didn’t seem pleased
.
    “I was surprised. Every single person in that room was surprised.” Leigh Anne then smiled. “There are a hundred women in this city who are green with jealousy, Francesca.”
    Francesca shrugged. “I truly doubt anyone is jealous of me.”
    “Hart is a catch. You know, it’s almost incredible that he is in love, that he wants to marry. The man I met four years ago was a sworn bachelor.”
    Francesca wasn’t about to tell her that love was not involved.
    Now Leigh Anne appeared ever so slightly anxious. “May I ask you something? It’s personal and impertinent.”
    “At least you are honest.” She hesitated. “Only if I may ask you something in return.”
    Leigh Anne smiled genuinely then. “A barter. Very well.”
    “You first?” Francesca also smiled.
    Leigh Anne nodded. “Do you love Calder Hart?”
    “That is personal.” She hesitated, knowing she did not have to answer. “I enjoy being with him. Very much so. And . . . ” She stopped. “Marrying him seems like the right thing to do.” She did not add,
Given the circumstances I now find myself in
.
    “But you were in love with Rick, not so long ago.”
    Francesca tensed.
    When Leigh Anne had first come to the city in February,she had confronted Francesca immediately, making it clear that she would not abandon her husband after all. The interview had been terribly unpleasant. To this day, Francesca was not certain how Leigh Anne had learned of her romantic entanglement with Bragg. But they had been seen together frequently, in the most public places, and the world knew how closely they were working on the various cases they had solved. Once, at the theater, a friend of Julia had been observing them quite closely. Celia Thornton resided in Boston, as did Leigh Anne’s family, and Francesca felt certain that it was Mrs. Thornton who had alerted Leigh Anne to the romance. “I fell in love with him before I even knew he was married. The day I found that out, why, it changed my life forever.”
    Leigh Anne nodded. “I understand why you love him. You are so much alike. But you know the old saying—opposites attract. I am very different from Rick—and that, I believe, is why he is so greatly attracted to me. I see the same thing with you and Calder.”
    Francesca tried not to think about the scrap of a negligee. “Do you love him?”
    Leigh Anne smiled softly. “Very much,” she said.
    She seemed so sincere. “Then why did you stay away for four years?”
    She raised her brows but spoke with great calm. “Now that is impertinent. And frankly, that is my business—and Rick’s.”
    Francesca wasn’t surprised by her answer. They started downstairs. Leigh Anne said, “Have you set a wedding date yet?”
    “We are thinking of August.”
    Leigh Anne nodded. “It will be hot. June would be better.”
    Francesca stared, thinking about the divorce Bragg insisted he would have that August. Was the woman a masterful poker player? Did she manipulate and scheme, as