To Make a Marriage(20)

Despite the fact that Andie had known this man for most of her life, she  realised that they really knew very little about each other's private  lives. For one thing, she had no idea whether Adam usually ate at home  in the evenings, or whether he went out to a restaurant. There was no  doubting the fact that he could afford to do the latter if he chose to,  but restaurant food, although enjoyable, could become tiresome on a  regular basis.

At least, that was what she told herself as she served the lamb chops,  baby potatoes and peas that were their main course, knowing she had only  provided cheeses to follow.

Maybe she was expecting too much of Adam. Maybe it was a little early in  their new relationship to be bombarding him with domesticity!

The thing was, she actually quite enjoyed cooking, although it was her  sister Danie who was the trained cook. Amongst other things.

'I hope you like lamb,' Andie said awkwardly as she served the sauce to go with it.

'I'll eat anything,' Adam replied distractedly. 'Sorry-I didn't mean  that quite the way it sounded.' He groaned as he realised what he had  just said. 'I'm sure the meal is going to be just fine,' he added  reassuringly.

She frowned across at him. 'Adam-'

'Would you like me to open the wine?' he prompted, holding up the bottle  that stood on the side, his expression once again unreadable.

She had forgotten all about serving the wine earlier! Not that she would  drink any herself, but she had put out a nice bottle of red wine for  Adam to enjoy-and promptly forgotten all about it.

She knew why she had, of course; Adam's distant behaviour when he'd arrived having thrown her into a state of confusion …

In fact, this evening wasn't going at all as she had thought it would.  They had seemed so relaxed with each other earlier today, the engagement  lunch with most of her family a complete success.

She had been touched that Adam had gone to so much trouble on her  behalf, and this evening's meal came in the form of a thank-you for that  thoughtfulness. But since his arrival half an hour ago Adam had given  every impression that this was the last place he wanted to be.

Was she the last person he wanted to be with?

Well, what else had she expected? Until a few days ago, Adam hadn't even  thought about having a wife, let alone taking on a baby as well. She  had been in shock herself for weeks after realising she was pregnant,  had denied it to herself for the same amount of time; it was going to  take Adam time to get used to this idea too …

'I hope you don't mind if I opt for an early night once we've had our  meal.' She spoke brightly once they were seated back at the  dining-table. 'It's been rather an-exciting day, one way or another,'  she said with a rueful glance at the engagement ring that twinkled and  glittered on her left hand.                       
       
           



       

Adam's ring. A ring she had thought never to own.

She had dreamt of one day being with Adam. Of course she had. She  couldn't be in love with him and not have her dreams. But those dreams  had involved Adam realising that he was in love with her too, that he  wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. Even in her wildest  dreams she had never envisaged being with him under these circumstances!

Adam paused in the act of sipping his red wine, giving her a sharp look.  'You're feeling okay, aren't you? Today hasn't been too much for you?'

Poor Adam; he was the one who had found today too much!

'Not at all,' she reassured him soothingly. 'I just tire easily still.  Jonas assures me that soon I'm going to blossom with vitality and good  health,' she added dryly. 'I keep waiting for the day!'

There was no answering smile on Adam's face. 'I'll feel better myself once I've spoken to him on Monday.'

She shrugged. 'He isn't going to tell you much more than I already have.  I was nauseous to the point of incapacity to begin with,' she recalled  with a grimace. 'But that's mainly passed,' she added quickly as she saw  Adam's dark frown. 'There really is no problem with the pregnancy,  Adam.' She reached out and lightly touched his hand, hastily removing it  again when she felt the tingling sensation that ran heatedly up her  arm.

Adam still looked grim. 'So you keep telling me. I'll just feel better once Jonas has confirmed that for me.'

Andie looked at him beneath lowered lashes. 'I hope you aren't going to  be an over-protective father-to-be,' she remonstrated playfully.

Adam gave up any pretence of eating the lamb, carefully placing his  knife and fork on the plate before looking across at her. 'I'm sorry.'  He indicated the half-eaten food. 'I think I'm still full from lunch.'

Andie believed that, for the moment, he had taken as much of the Summer  family as he could take. But especially her and their baby …

'Me too.' She put down her own cutlery and stood up, unaware of the fact  that she was nervously twisting her engagement ring round and round her  finger. 'I really am rather tired, Adam … ' she told him, her nerves  stretched out almost to breaking point now.

She had thought earlier, when they'd chosen the rings together, during  the lunch with her family, that perhaps this was going to work out after  all. But alone with Adam like this, with him so obviously finding the  situation such a strain, she wasn't so sure …

'Of course.' He nodded abruptly. 'I-let's go back to the sitting-room  for a while, hmm? I know you're tired, but it is only eight-fifteen.'

Though the last hour, since his arrival, had seemed more like eight!

'We still have a few things to discuss,' he said gruffly.

Andie stiffened warily, making no effort to move into the sitting-room, as he suggested. 'Such as?'

'Such as where we're going to live once we're married, for one thing,' he pointed out.

She stopped to think. Where they were going to live? Why, London, of  course. Her own work was here, and, although Adam travelled extensively  in his work as a film producer, his office was based here. Besides, as  they all knew in the Summer family, Adam hated the countryside, had  never made any secret of the fact that visiting the family there was  something of a chore. She didn't understand what he meant about where  they would live once they were married. Maybe they did have things to  discuss, after all …

'Perhaps we should go through to the sitting-room,' she agreed.

'I'll make us some coffee. You can still drink coffee, can't you?' Adam paused on his way to the kitchen.

'I can now,' she acknowledged distractedly, still thinking as she followed him into the kitchen with their used plates.

'You don't know where anything is,' she explained at his questioning look.

'I can find it.' He took a firm hold of her shoulders and turned her  back towards the sitting-room. 'You've done enough for one day,' he  declared as he gave her a gentle push towards the adjoining room.

She might have done, but the next few minutes alone in the sitting-room,  still with only her thoughts, was something she could have done without  at the moment.

No one had said this was going to be easy, she told herself impatiently.  As long as she and Adam at last kept talking they should be all right.

'This is good,' she said to him once she had sipped the strong coffee he had just made.

'Don't sound so surprised.' He smiled, stretching out his own length in  the chair opposite hers. 'A man who has lived on his own for as long as I  have should at least have learnt how to make good coffee!'                       
       
           



       

She swallowed hard, wondering if that were the point here; a man who had lived on his own for as long as Adam had …

She moistened dry lips. 'Adam-'

'Don't take that comment any further than it was meant,' he said  astutely. 'I'm sure you're as aware as I am that living alone isn't all  it's made out to be.' He looked at her with narrowed grey eyes.

Of course she was aware of that. Sometimes the hours she wasn't working  could be too lonely, the silence in her apartment too heavy and still.  But she had always had the Summer estate to return to if she felt in the  need of company. As had Adam himself …

'But-'

'No buts, Andie. I've lived on my own most of my life,' he explained  grimly. 'And I'm sure you're going to find I have some annoying habits,  such as leaving the bathroom untidy, or squeezing the toothpaste from  the middle rather than the bottom of the tube-'

'I always use the dispenser type myself,' she put in quickly.

'You see,' Adam rejoined. 'That's one problem solved already.'

But, like Adam, she realised it was a minor one in comparison with some  of the others they were going to come up against. Such as where they  were going to live!

'I'm sure we're both going to have to make adjustments,' she accepted.

'But … ?' he guessed.

'Where do you want to live once we're married?' she asked guardedly.

'In a house. With a garden,' he came back unhesitantly.

'And preferably somewhere our son or daughter can breathe fresh air,' he added.