At the Brazilian's Command by Susan Stephens

Author:Susan Stephens [Stephens, Susan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2014-02-28T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

‘OH.’ DANNY’S VOICE was flat. The shock of what Tiago had told her cut deep. She couldn’t blame him for his candour after she’d pressed him for an answer. She guessed he’d thought a clean cut would be the best. The news that her mother wasn’t interested in Danny was old, but it hurt all the same. The fact that her mother didn’t even care that she was getting married was brutal.

‘You tried, Danny. At least you tried.’

Yes, she was certainly a trier, Danny reflected dryly. How stupid she felt now, imagining her mother would want to wish her well.

‘I can’t honestly say I expected her to be here for the wedding,’ she admitted, pinning a smile to her face.

She glanced up to find Tiago staring down at her with concern. Maybe she was wrong about him. Maybe he did have feelings but, having spent a lifetime hiding them, now found them impossible to express.

‘Don’t feel sorry for me, Tiago. I’m not a child.’

‘Maybe not,’ he agreed, ‘but my people show you more affection than your own mother. If she had been born with a title, and then squandered an old man’s fortune, I would say that your mother and mine must have been twins.’

The bitterness in his voice told her that Tiago had experience of loving someone and being rejected. She knew that that could lead down one of two roads: the road she trod, where she never stopped trying, or the road Tiago had taken, where he simply turned his back. It was another thought to unsettle her.

‘I can’t bear to see you hurt like this,’ he raged.

‘I’m not hurt. I’m—’

‘Accustomed to it?’ he spat out. ‘Why should you be accustomed to it? This is wrong, Danny. You should cut her out of your life.’

‘She’s my mother. I can’t.’

‘She’s no mother to you.’

With an impatient gesture, Tiago ground his jaw, but thankfully said nothing more on the subject.

‘Don’t worry,’ he said at last. ‘Everyone on the ranch will be here to cheer you on.’

‘And that’s all that matters,’ she said with conviction.

She only had to remember how touched she’d been when a selection of treasured veils and wedding dresses had been brought out of lavender-scented storage for her to choose from to know how much Tiago’s people meant to her.

‘They’re your people now, Danny,’ he said, reading her.

‘Our people.’

That thought made her feel strong. Whatever happened in the future, the bond she was building here with the people of Fazenda Santos would support her as surely as any strong family could.

‘They’ve done so much in the short time they’ve known me to make me feel welcome,’ she said, glancing round the courtyard, which was already dressed for the wedding, ‘and I’m honoured to have been accepted here.’

‘You’ll be happy. I’ll make sure of it,’ he said.

But when Tiago put his arm around her shoulders and drew her close she thought, Yes, but for just one year.

She was certain that Tiago would do his best to make her time in Brazil trouble-free.

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