Lady Love by Diana Palmer

Author:Diana Palmer [Palmer, Diana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781460345368
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2014-09-16T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

That evening, while Merlyn and Lila worked in the living room, Cameron and his daughter played chess nearby. But, all the while, his black eyes wandered restlessly to Merlyn. She met that searching gaze once, and it took her breath away. He smiled, secretively, and went back to his game.

***

The next morning he showed up in casual slacks and a black and tan shirt and proceeded, with Amanda’s help, to talk Merlyn into going for a walk with them. Lila was delighted to take a break, and told her so, adding her coaxing voice to theirs.

Merlyn was herded out the door with Amanda in tow.

“You like to walk, don’t you?” Cameron asked, as they started down a wooded path that led around the lakeshore.

“Well, yes, but there’s still a lot of research to do before the end of the week,” she protested.

“Mother can use the break,” he said.

Amanda was ecstatic. Apparently this was something her father didn’t do often. The little girl walked beside him with a shy smile, and he smiled down at her.

“Having fun?” he murmured.

She grinned. “Oh, yes, Daddy,” she said. “It’s been ages since we did anything together.”

He ruffled her hair. “It’s been ages since I took any time off.”

“We used to go fishing when I was little,” Amanda said. “Merlyn, did your mother and father take you fishing when you were a kid?”

Merlyn sighed. “No, dear. My parents weren’t the type. Dad was very much wrapped up in his work, and Mother…” She smiled at the memory. “Mother was a butterfly. She wouldn’t have known which end of the pole to put in the water.”

Cameron studied her curiously. “What did she do?”

“She was a housewife,” she said, avoiding that hard look. “What did your father do?” she countered.

He grinned. “He raised hell, mostly.”

“Was he a banker, too?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“Grandaddy used to take me fishing,” Amanda volunteered. “He got the hook caught in his trousers once, and another time he got his line tangled in a tree.”

“And Amanda learned some new words,” Cameron murmured dryly.

“Do you look like him?” she said.

He shook his head. “My father was slight. Brown hair, brown eyes. I take after my grandfather. He was French-Canadian.”

The youngster’s eyes darted up. “Merlyn, what did your ancestors do?”

She smiled slowly. “One of them was a soldier,” she murmured, remembering Richard and the Crusades. “He did a lot of traveling.”

“You speak of your mother in the past tense,” Cameron observed. “Is she dead now?”

“Yes.”

“And your father?”

“He lives in Atlanta. We’re great friends.”

“But you weren’t always?” he said with a sharp glance, and she knew he was remembering what she’d said before about her father’s negligence.

“No,” she agreed. “We weren’t always. We grew closer after my mother died. He grieved for a long time.”

“Was she like you?” he asked suddenly.

She smiled. “She was beautiful,” she said. “Blue-eyed, with black hair and skin like peaches and cream. I used to lose boyfriends to her, despite the fact that she was twenty-five years my senior. She was always laughing.

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