To Make a Marriage Read Online Free PDF Page B

hair was loose today, falling silkily down her back, framing the loveliness of her face, a face dominated by those beautiful green eyes, her skin having attained a light golden tan from the summer months.
    Yet as he continued to look at her he realised there was something different about her…
    But as he stood up to accompany her out to the hothouse at the back of the house, where Barbara had spent so much of her time tending her beloved roses, he couldn’t quite decide what it was.
    The heady perfume of the beautiful blooms assailed them as they entered the heated greenhouse, bringing back vivid memories to Adam of the woman who had first grown and tended them. Barbara had been such a lovely woman, inside as well as out, and her death ten years ago, from cancer, had been yet another blow in Adam’s life. He—
    Now he knew what was different about Andie! Like her mother before her, Andie always looked perfect, her make-up in place, no matter what the time of day, her clothesalways beautifully tailored. Andie’s make-up was still perfect, but for once she wasn’t wearing any of her designer label clothes. Instead, she had on a loose green shirt over fitted denims, the former so big it looked as if it could be one of Rome’s cast-offs!
    Not that Andie didn’t look as gorgeous as always; in fact, the casual clothing gave her a more approachable appearance, Adam decided thoughtfully. He was just surprised at the change in her, that was all…
    She paused in the act of dead-heading roses, turning as she seemed to sense his gaze on her, a slight blush colouring her cheeks as she looked at him—warily, it almost seemed to him…? Had their friendship really come to that?
    Probably, he acknowledged with a regretful sigh for the easy camaraderie they had once shared. But what had he expected? Nothing stayed the same. The fact that Harrie and Danie were now both married was testament to that.
    â€˜I was just thinking how much like your mother you are.’ He spoke quietly, knowing, with this newfound strain between them, that Andie would not welcome any comment he might make concerning her personal appearance.
    Andie’s expression changed from guarded to noncommittal. ‘She would have approved of Harrie and Danie’s choice of husbands,’ she commented huskily.
    Yes, she probably would. Barbara, like Rome, had adored all of her daughters, wanted only the best for them. From the little he had seen of Quinn and Jonas, he had a feeling Barbara would not have been disappointed.
    But what about Andie—would Barbara have approved of her lifestyle…? Andie was a career woman, had been the senior editor of Gloss for three years now, and showed no signs of wanting to change that for a husband and family of her own.
    Yes, Barbara would have approved, he decided; Barbara would approve of anything that made her daughters happy.
    Besides, Harrie and Danie still had their respective careers, as well as their husbands!
    â€˜I’m—’
    â€˜So here you are, Adam,’ Rome’s rasped comment as he entered the greenhouse interrupted what Adam had been about to say. ‘Audrey said you were around somewhere.’
    Adam briefly studied the older man, and he did not like what he saw. Rome’s boyish good looks—blonde-haired, blue-eyed—were still the same, but there was a look of strain about those eyes and his mouth, a hardness to the latter that boded ill for anyone who got in his way.
    â€˜And, as usual, she was right,’ Adam returned lightly.
    â€˜How on earth are you going to manage without her, Rome?’
    Rome glared at him through narrowed lids. ‘No one is indispensable, Adam,’ he responded coldly.
    Adam raised blond brows. ‘No employee, possibly,’ he returned acidly. ‘But I always thought of Audrey as being more than that,’ he added challengingly, aware that Andie was listening to the verbal exchange with a