“Did they meet again, Dad and your mother?”
“No. She didn’t want to, and neither did he. It was all in the past. They both decided to leave it there.”
“Very wise. Has your mother remarried?”
“No.” She turned around and grinned at him. “You’re a very inquisitive man, David Frampton. Why don’t you make yourself useful and lay the table. Plates are in there,” she said, pointing to a dresser. “Cutlery in the drawer, and glasses above. There’s water in the fridge, assuming you’re going to dilute your wine before you drive home.”
“I’d stay at Eaton Square if it wasn’t for Rufus.”
“Rufus being a dog, I presume.”
“Right. A big yellow dog who’d be very upset if I didn’t come home tonight.”
“Have you left him all on his own?”
“The farm manager looks after him when I’m away. But he’ll have brought him back and shut him in the kitchen at six.”
“Then you must drive home.” She looked at her watch. It was seven forty-five. “I’ll kick you out at nine-thirty.”
When the spaghetti was ready, they sat at the table to enjoy it. Phaedra had made a thick, sticky tomato and basil sauce, cooking the spaghetti in it for the last few minutes. “You’re a terrific cook,” David complimented her.
“Thank you.” He noticed her glass was empty and refilled it. “Well, isn’t this nice, having dinner with my brother.”
“I can’t say this is something I ever imagined I’d be doing.”
“Did you ever wish for a sister when you were growing up?”
“Not really. Mother wished for a daughter, though. I think all women want a daughter, and my mother is very feminine. She would have loved a little girl to share girlie things with. Instead, she got three rambunctious boys. Not a whiff of pink in the entire house.”
“I love pink.” She laughed bitterly. “When I was little, I had a blue bedroom because my mother loved blue. I wanted pink, like all little girls, but she insisted that blue was the best color for me. Actually, it was just the best color for her. But she filled the room with soft toys and a ridiculously grown-up doll’s house that was too fragile to play with.”
“It sounds like she tried her best.”
“Not at all. She gave me everything I could want materially, but not what I needed emotionally.”
“Why?”
“Because she never had time for me. She wasn’t maternal. In fact, I’d go as far as saying that she was interested only in herself and the next man who could look after her. She was desperately insecure, and I was in the way. The field of potential suitors is greatly reduced if you have a daughter in tow. So she’d pass me around her friends and throw money at me—anything to be rid of me.” She shrugged as if it didn’t really matter.
“That’s sad, Phaedra.”
“Oh, don’t think I feel sorry for myself. By most people’s standards, I had a privileged childhood. Anyway, I left as soon as I was old enough. Life got better as soon as I was in the driving seat. My mother’s only a memory now.”
David drained his glass. “Is there anyone special in your life?”
She grinned. “By that you mean, am I in a relationship?”
“I’d hate to think of you being lonely.”
She stared into her glass a moment. “I’m far too self-sufficient to be lonely,” she replied boldly, but there was something about the way she dropped her shoulders that made him disbelieve her.
“So, do you have someone?” he persisted.
“No, I’m unattached.”
“That surprises me,” he said, but he felt his spirits lift.
“Why?”
“Because you’re very beautiful. I’d imagine someone would have snapped you up by now.”
“Oh, someone did. For a brief time I was desperately, deliriously, and overwhelmingly in love.”
David’s inflated spirits were punctured with jealousy. “Really?”
“Yes. But I lost him.” Her eyes glistened, and she seemed to shrink with sorrow.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”
“You weren’t to know.”
“What happened?”
She smiled at him in an attempt to brush off the sting that smarted constantly. “I don’t want to talk about it. But I’m not sure I can ever love like that again. I invested everything in it: my heart, my soul, my future. But there wasn’t to be a future. I won’t ever let anyone hurt me like that again.” She sighed deeply and took a gulp of wine. “How about you? Have you ever been in a serious relationship?”