food and shelter.
No business to run. No people standing by awaiting decisions.
No wife.
No heart to break.
Brandon sat forward bracing his elbows on his knees and tossed popcorn onto the water. The two ducks quacked and paddled over, scooping it up in their bills.
After last night and his discussion with Jana, he’d gone to his office this morning with the intention of shutting out the whole matter and catching up on several things he’d let slide these past few days. But he couldn’t concentrate, so he had left his office and came to the lake. He liked it here, especially on weekdays when it was quiet. It was a good place to think.
And Brandon had a great deal of thinking to do.
He tossed more popcorn onto the water, a little farther out this time, and it attracted the attention of three other ducks. They honked and swam over.
He supposed he should have been hurt by Jana’s actions last night. Her apparent disregard for his attempt to share his feelings with her, her blatant refusal to tell him why, exactly, she left him in the first place and give him a blueprint, of sorts, on how to improve himself for her should have crushed him. He wasn’t given to displays of emotion. He knew that.
But he wasn’t hurt. Not really. Because Jana had told him, in a roundabout way, that she loved him.
Brandon sat back on the bench feeling considerably lighter today than at any time in the past fourteen months. Jana loved him. Still. After all that had happened, she loved him.
And if she loved him, other problems could be overcome. He’d just have to figure out how.
Since Jana herself was offering no clue, even after his emotional outpouring last night, Brandon would have to uncover the reasons himself.
He sank a little lower on the bench, mentally toying with some possibilities of where their troubles might lie.
Could it have been his lovemaking?
No, of course not. What a preposterous idea. Brandon banished the thought from his mind.
Was he too rigid in his wants? Home by six, only certain meals, specific menus. Seldom any guests. Had hebeen too insistent on having things his own way? Ignored what Jana wanted?
She’d never said anything, but she’d been a little timid back then—nothing like the woman who had returned to him from Europe.
Should he have noticed that? What else was right in front of him that he’d not picked up on?
Rising from the bench, Brandon walked to the shoreline and flung the last of the popcorn onto the water. The ducks quacked and honked, swimming quickly and jockeying to scoop up the kernels.
Brandon closed his fist around the bag, giving in to the cold ache that had long lurked in the corners of his heart. His chest tightened with determination.
He wouldn’t let Jana leave. Not again. He couldn’t bear it. He couldn’t survive it another time. He would find a way to make her stay.
Hardly an impossible situation. Brandon drew in a deep breath willing away the old pain, finding solace in the formulation of a plan, as he always did.
He’d built an empire of railroads, manufacturing, real estate and agriculture with little help from anyone. Surely he could figure out how to make one woman happy.
How hard could it be?
Chapter Eleven
L eona Albright wanted to see her? Regarding a “highly confidential and deeply personal matter”?
As the carriage swayed, carrying her through the streets of Los Angeles, Jana glanced down at the handwritten note that had been delivered to the house first thing this morning. She wished she could console herself with the notion that she had no idea what Leona Albright intended to tell her today. But, really, she thought she knew.
There was something between Leona and Brandon. Upon first meeting the woman shortly after arriving in Los Angeles as Brandon’s new bride, Jana had sensed it. Yet she didn’t know what it was, exactly.
Initially, she suspected a love affair between the two of them. Though Leona was more than ten years older than
No business to run. No people standing by awaiting decisions.
No wife.
No heart to break.
Brandon sat forward bracing his elbows on his knees and tossed popcorn onto the water. The two ducks quacked and paddled over, scooping it up in their bills.
After last night and his discussion with Jana, he’d gone to his office this morning with the intention of shutting out the whole matter and catching up on several things he’d let slide these past few days. But he couldn’t concentrate, so he had left his office and came to the lake. He liked it here, especially on weekdays when it was quiet. It was a good place to think.
And Brandon had a great deal of thinking to do.
He tossed more popcorn onto the water, a little farther out this time, and it attracted the attention of three other ducks. They honked and swam over.
He supposed he should have been hurt by Jana’s actions last night. Her apparent disregard for his attempt to share his feelings with her, her blatant refusal to tell him why, exactly, she left him in the first place and give him a blueprint, of sorts, on how to improve himself for her should have crushed him. He wasn’t given to displays of emotion. He knew that.
But he wasn’t hurt. Not really. Because Jana had told him, in a roundabout way, that she loved him.
Brandon sat back on the bench feeling considerably lighter today than at any time in the past fourteen months. Jana loved him. Still. After all that had happened, she loved him.
And if she loved him, other problems could be overcome. He’d just have to figure out how.
Since Jana herself was offering no clue, even after his emotional outpouring last night, Brandon would have to uncover the reasons himself.
He sank a little lower on the bench, mentally toying with some possibilities of where their troubles might lie.
Could it have been his lovemaking?
No, of course not. What a preposterous idea. Brandon banished the thought from his mind.
Was he too rigid in his wants? Home by six, only certain meals, specific menus. Seldom any guests. Had hebeen too insistent on having things his own way? Ignored what Jana wanted?
She’d never said anything, but she’d been a little timid back then—nothing like the woman who had returned to him from Europe.
Should he have noticed that? What else was right in front of him that he’d not picked up on?
Rising from the bench, Brandon walked to the shoreline and flung the last of the popcorn onto the water. The ducks quacked and honked, swimming quickly and jockeying to scoop up the kernels.
Brandon closed his fist around the bag, giving in to the cold ache that had long lurked in the corners of his heart. His chest tightened with determination.
He wouldn’t let Jana leave. Not again. He couldn’t bear it. He couldn’t survive it another time. He would find a way to make her stay.
Hardly an impossible situation. Brandon drew in a deep breath willing away the old pain, finding solace in the formulation of a plan, as he always did.
He’d built an empire of railroads, manufacturing, real estate and agriculture with little help from anyone. Surely he could figure out how to make one woman happy.
How hard could it be?
Chapter Eleven
L eona Albright wanted to see her? Regarding a “highly confidential and deeply personal matter”?
As the carriage swayed, carrying her through the streets of Los Angeles, Jana glanced down at the handwritten note that had been delivered to the house first thing this morning. She wished she could console herself with the notion that she had no idea what Leona Albright intended to tell her today. But, really, she thought she knew.
There was something between Leona and Brandon. Upon first meeting the woman shortly after arriving in Los Angeles as Brandon’s new bride, Jana had sensed it. Yet she didn’t know what it was, exactly.
Initially, she suspected a love affair between the two of them. Though Leona was more than ten years older than
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