She swallowed, blinking fast. But work would see her through. After all she’d endured, she was no longer afraid of failure.
She just hadn’t been thinking big enough. Instead of opening a boutique, she was starting her own line of handmade, unique jewelry art, as Vladimir Xendzov had called it. After Alessandro had effectively ended their marriage, Lilley had spent days weeping in her old housekeeper’s suite in her cousin’s castle before she’d resurfaced to play with her cousin’s baby. Théo’s wife had demanded, “Where did you get that fabulous necklace?”
“I made it myself,” Lilley had replied, turning away. Then something inside her made her pause. Made her turn back around. With a deep breath, she’d added, “I’ve decided to start my own business. I’m going to sell handcrafted jewelry to luxury boutiques and exclusive department stores across the world. I’m going back to the States to try for a business loan.”
Carrie had shaken her head vehemently. “No!” she’d cried, and for a moment Lilley was taken aback. Then her friend smiled. “Don’t take out a loan with some banker, please. Let me do it! This is just the investment I was looking for.”
Closing her eyes, Lilley took a deep breath. Her dream was coming true in a way she’d never imagined. She had her financing now and was dependent on no one, not even Carrie. She’d finally been brave enough to take a risk. Alessandro had helped her do that, she admitted quietly to herself. He’d taught her how to have the confidence to follow her dreams. Her business might succeed or fail, but either way, it was all up to her.
She’d finally become strong enough to stand up for what was right, even if it terrified her. And she would rather be alone than be with a husband who didn’t love or trust her.
Lilley was no man’s housekeeper. No man’s helpless wife. And apparently, no man’s daughter.
As the sun started to set, scattering pink light over the snow beneath a black lattice of trees, Lilley finally gave up and turned for the door.
“What do you want?” Her father’s voice was low and hard. Lilley saw him in the doorway, and her mouth fell open with shock.
Walton Hainsbury seemed to have aged decades in the three years since her mother’s funeral. His beady eyes glared at her through his wire-rimmed glasses, but his face looked pale as he took a long suck of his cigar.
Her nose wrinkled at the smell. Cigars had become her least favorite smell in the world. He’d been smoking the day he’d left Lilley and her mother, when he’d announced he would go and build a mansion on Lake Minnetonka for his far younger mistress. Eighteen-year-old Lilley had cared for her mother at their family home in Minneapolis for two years, until she died.#p#分页标题#e#
“What are you doing here?” Walton rasped, looking contemptuously at the powder-blue coat and dark, fitted jeans. “Have you come crawling here to try to worm your way back into my will? It’s too late, missy! I’ve left everything to charity!”
Lilley stiffened. “I didn’t come for money.”
“Likely story.”
The accusation stung. “I’ve never asked you for money. Not once. You know I haven’t.” Lifting her chin, she looked at him. “I just came to tell you you’re going to be a grandfather.”
He stared at her. She noticed that the color of his skin was ashy, his jowls flabby, as if he’d lost weight. He took several puffs of his cigar before he said in a low voice, “You’re pregnant?”
She nodded.
His eyes narrowed at her bare left hand. “And no husband.” He glared at her. “You couldn’t marry the man I chose for you. Had to throw yourself away!”
“The man you chose for me was twice my age.”
“If you’d married him, I could have left him my company. I would have known you’d always have someone to take care of you. But you wouldn’t see sense, as usual. And now it’s too late.”
She heard a wistfulness in his voice. A lump rose in her throat. “I’ll be all right. I can take care of myself.”
“You can’t,” he barked. “You’ve just come back with another mouth to feed, expecting me to solve things for you as I always do.”
The accusation was so unjust, she sucked in her breath.
“You’ve never solved anything for me! You just made me feel helpless and stupid as a kid. The instant you knew about my dyslexia, you treated me differently. Same as you did when Mom got sick!”
“I loved your mother,” he said harshly. “As I loved you. I tried to take care of you both—”