Family Resemblance by Margot Early

Author:Margot Early
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2006-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

THE NEXT MORNING, Lucy sat cross-legged on the ugly plaid couch in the living room of Greg’s rented house and told Sabine the details of her brush with death. Sabine listened with half of her attention, the rest focused on her own daydreams of a racing career like Lucy’s or of climbing mountains as she used to. Daydreams only. The danger Lucy had faced was something to which she couldn’t expose her children.

“You seem friendly with Victor’s brother.”

Sabine blinked, became alert. “Oh. Well, I thought Victor would want me to treat him nicely.”

Lucy lifted an eyebrow.

No frostbite, even. Sabine was surprised at herself for a bitterness mingled with jealousy. Was it the same voice that spoke next, spoke too sharply? “I’m not falling for him or anything, if that’s what you’re implying.”

“He’s nice-looking.”

“You can have him,” said Sabine, knowing perfectly well that her sister was completely committed to Greg. “I’m never going to fall in love again. Not like before. Whenever I try and get involved with somebody, I end up feeling as though I’ve devalued what Victor and I shared. Like I’ve settled for something cheap.”

Lucy said, “Maybe you need to raise the bar on what you believe is possible.”

“What does that mean?”

“Stop being so prickly,” Lucy suggested. “I don’t think I really believed in good relationships, love relationships, relationships based on love instead of—” She stopped. “Anyhow, I didn’t until I saw you and Victor together, until I saw how happy you both were. Then I believed in it, and once I believed, Greg came along.”

“Yes, but he didn’t know he’d have to stay up three nights in a row looking for you in a snowstorm.” The voice came from the doorway. Greg Lord, Lucy’s boyfriend and rescuer, stood silhouetted in the kitchen door frame in Gore-Tex running clothes. But he gave Sabine a wink and came over to rumple Lucy’s hair. “Tell you what. I won’t make you return the favor today, how’s that?”

Lucy laughed.

As Greg headed out for a training run, Lucy said, “Maybe if you believe you can fall in love again, that you can love another man even more than you loved Victor, it’ll become possible for you.”

“I’ll believe it when it happens,” Sabine said stubbornly. “And what were you going to say? A relationship based on love instead of—what?”

Lucy shrugged. “I think Mom and Dad just wanted to climb mountains. I’m surprised they didn’t give us up for adoption.”

“They wanted us,” Sabine said firmly.

“You think?” Lucy’s look was cynical.

Sabine thought with horror of how her own life had changed with Victor’s death and how what she often wanted more than anything else was time to herself.

Still, she remembered the pleasure her father had shown in trekking with her and Lucy—and his pride in both of them. Her mother… Well, okay, she hadn’t been as happy, undoubtedly because a mountaineer who was also a mother was treated differently from a mountaineer who was also a father. She’d been happy in the mountains, however, happy as departure for an expedition drew near.

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