Adam would be perfectly happy with Andie staying at home to care for their children. In fact, he would prefer it. But there was no way he would ever make that decision for her. 'Wait and see how you feel,' he advised cautiously. 'You may find you miss all that glamour after a few months.' After all, Andie had always been extremely fashion-conscious herself.
'Motherhood may not be glamourous, but I'm sure the twins will keep me more than busy. In fact, it will probably be infinitely more fun than a job that now seems frivolous and unimportant.'
'We could always employ a nanny-'
'No way,' Andie told him determinedly. 'None of us ever had a nanny, Mummy always looked after us herself, and she said that, no matter how hard and difficult it could sometimes be, it was worth it, if only in the fact that we each knew we were totally loved.' A slightly wistful look came over her beautiful face. 'She also said that no matter how many children you have there's always enough love to go round.'
Barbara would say something like that, Adam realised sadly. She would also have been overjoyed at the prospect of grandchildren.
'Do you still miss her?' Adam heard himself ask. And then wished he hadn't, as Andie's beautiful face clouded over. 'Forget I said that,' he told her hastily. 'It was a stupid question. What I suggest we do now, if you have no other plans,' he added softly, aware that he could be domineering in his decisions without actually meaning to be; he had been in charge of just his own destiny too long, it would take time to adjust to the three-no, four-of them, as a unit!
'I have no other plans, Adam,' Andie answered him, obviously fully aware of what he was endeavouring to do.
'I just have to pop back to my office to check on a contract my secretary was preparing when I left earlier, and I thought you could come with me. Once I've dealt with the contract we could perhaps go on to an estate agent and make some enquiries about houses?' He looked at Andie questioningly.
She nodded. 'That space and garden you mentioned seems all the more appealing now that we know there will be two babies and not one. A visit to an estate agent's sounds like a very good idea,' she agreed happily.
Adam felt such a sense of ecstatic happiness himself, at the thought of their future life together, that for a moment he couldn't speak. He could see the four of them now, out in the garden together, Andie laughingly happy, the two babies gurgling merrily on a blanket on the lawn.
But, as always happened when he imagined that complete happiness, a shadow loomed. A dark, ugly shadow that he wanted nowhere near his future life with Andie.
The same shadow that loomed as they approached his offices!
Once again there was that familiar figure, patiently waiting, a newspaper tucked under one arm!
Adam didn't need to be told that Glenda had seen the announcement. He had spoken to her only last week, dealt with that situation-for what he had hoped at the time would be several months; there was absolutely no reason for Glenda to be here now, other than the fact she had seen the marriage announcement in the newspaper she so conspicuously carried.
'Adam … ?' Andie looked up at him uncertainly as she seemed to sense his sudden tension.
What did he do now? He could hardly turn tail and run. But to actually speak to Glenda, with Andie at his side, was even more unacceptable.
Why was there never a bus to walk under when you needed one?
CHAPTER ELEVEN
THEY had come to an abrupt halt on the pavement after getting out of Adam's car outside his offices, Adam's sudden tension a tangible thing as Andie looked up at him worriedly.
She followed his line of vision, but there was really nothing to see, just a blonde woman in a poppy-red suit, reading some notices in an office window.
But Adam was staring at the woman as if he had seen a ghost!
Andie turned back to look at the woman herself. Tall and very slender, that blonde hair resting silkily on her shoulders, she had a sensual beauty that sometimes came with age, a beauty Andie was sure men would find attractive.
That Adam had found attractive?
It suddenly occurred to Andie that this woman could be one of those loose ends she had expected Adam to deal with now that he was marrying her.
She felt tense herself now. The last thing she wanted, today of all days-the incredible news of their twins still uppermost in her feelings!-was to have to deal with one of the legion of women who had at some time been part of Adam's life!
Although it seemed, as Adam tightly gripped her arm as they slowly began to walk towards the building that housed his offices, that she was going to have little choice in the matter.
The woman had turned now, was watching their approach with speculatively narrowed eyes.
Andie instantly felt an unexplained animosity welling up inside her!
She hadn't even spoken to the other woman. She had no proof that she was someone Adam had been involved with. Nevertheless, Andie knew that she disliked the other woman intensely.
'Adam,' the woman greeted.
'Glenda,' he bit out harshly, his hand falling away from Andie's arm now.
Andie watched the two of them, swallowing hard, knowing that if Adam ever looked at her with such contempt she could want to curl up in a corner and die.
'Aren't you going to introduce me to your fiancée, Adam?' the woman Glenda said archly. 'I take it this is your future wife?' She looked speculatively at Andie.
'I'm Andrea Summer, yes,' Andie was the one to answer stiffly, reaching out to curl her fingers about Adam's hand. A hand that was surprisingly very cold. Or perhaps not so surprising; Adam looked as if he were carved out of ice at this moment.
The woman Glenda gave her a sweeping glance before turning her attention back to Adam. 'Adam … ?' she said pointedly.
His expression was grim, his mouth a thin angry line, grey eyes narrowed chillingly. Andie felt a shiver down her own spine just looking at him. Although the woman Glenda seemed unperturbed by Adam's lack of welcome, smiling at him confidently …
He drew in a harshly angry breath. 'Andrea Summer. Glenda-Howarth.'
Was it her imagination, or had there been the slightest hesitation in Adam's voice before he'd stated the other woman's surname? As if he would rather not have said it!
Although Andie couldn't imagine why not. As far as she was aware, the other woman's name meant nothing to her. Although the same obviously wasn't true of Adam …
'Mrs Howarth,' Andie responded stiltedly, actually having no idea of the other woman's married state. The too-slender hands were bare of rings, but in this day and age that didn't mean anything; lots of women chose not to wear a wedding ring.
'Miss Summer,' the other woman drawled derisively before once again turning back to Adam. 'And the wedding is to be two weeks on Saturday, I believe?'
Adam's nostrils flared as he looked at the newspaper tucked beneath the woman's arm. 'That is one of the few newspapers I know that actually print the truth,' he replied tautly.
The woman continued to smile undauntedly. 'I trust I will be receiving an invitation?' she queried.
Andie saw raw anger flare in Adam's tightly set features, that silver gaze sending out shards of light. Whoever this woman was-whatever she had once been to Adam-he obviously did not want her at their wedding!
'It's going to be a very quiet wedding.' Andie was the one to answer the other woman. And not exactly truthfully; their guest list had added up to fifty at the last count. 'With family and only a few very close friends,' she finished firmly.
Blonde brows arched. 'Really? In that case-'
'We're actually in rather a hurry, Glenda.' Adam cut her short, fingers tightening about Andie's hand. 'So if you wouldn't mind-'
'So it would seem.' The woman looked at him for several seconds before her slightly contemptuous eyes passed on to Andie.
This woman knew, or had at least guessed, that Andie was pregnant!
Andie didn't know how she was so sure the other woman knew, she just knew that she did. Because Adam had told her? Had he excused his sudden marriage by explaining that he really had little choice in the matter, that it was literally a shotgun wedding; Rome would have taken a shotgun to Adam if they weren't married and Rome recognised the baby as being the other man's!
Andie felt slightly sick, those moments of deep emotional intimacy she and Adam had shared, as they'd gazed at their babies, disappearing like a puff of smoke.
Adam was being forced into marrying her by the circumstances of his long-standing friendship with her family, her father in particular, and, no matter how much she loved Adam, she knew she must never lose sight of that fact.
She turned blindly to Adam. Blindly, because of the tears threatening to fall. Something she would not allow to happen in front of Adam, let alone this brittle, but beautiful woman.