Page 472 of Conveniently Wed
“Goodness, yes,” Doris said. “It’s all coming back to me now. The drama. The performance. You were a master at using tears at will, weren’t you? I see nothing has changed. Don’t even bother. We’re all just a tad too old and too wise for that sort of nonsense.”
The coldness in Ma’s voice seemed to make Emmaline cry all the harder.Oh God, help us.Could there be any hope for reconciliation?
“Ma, can we not even try to settle the past?”
Emmaline stood with a practiced grace. A look of hesitant vulnerability streamed from her beautiful teary eyes. “All I wanted was a chance to visit my sister again, to meet my nieces and my daughter…” She choked out the last word as if overcome by emotion.
“Katherine is not your daughter,” Doris spat. “And you will not be meeting my family.”
“How can you be so cruel, Doris? What happened to you? I came to say I was sorry.”
“That would be a first.”
“I don’t want to take your place as Katherine’s mother. All I want is a chance to get to know the fine woman you raised. Is that asking too much?” Emmaline stared at Ma with the same set of iridescent blue eyes Katie had always wondered how she possessed.
Ma eyed her sister. “I want nothing more than to believe you, Emmaline. But truthfully, I can’t.”
Ma turned toward Katie with a plea in her gaze. “I’m sorry you’re caught in the middle of this, but Emmaline is not welcome in my home. After hearing more of her trail of destruction over the years when I visited my mother and father, I don’t trust her. I don’t believe she’s changed one bit. I hope you’ll send her packing.” She turned and walked out the door, slamming it behind her.
Katie looked at the stranger across from her, not at all sure how to navigate the day. Should she throw her out? Could she?
Josiah hurried in from the barn after seeing Doris stomp across the yard. Had there already been an altercation before he could even get the animals fed? He took the portico steps two at a time and slipped into the house.
Katherine’s eyes spoke a thousand words as she met him at the door. “There you are.” Her stiff shoulders dropped, and she placed her arm on his. “Ma insists we should send her away.”
“I figured.”
The woman, who could only be Katherine’s mother, stepped from the parlor.
Help. Katherine mouthed the plea.
“I’m here now.” He murmured the words just loud enough for her to hear. Just one look at Emmaline told him he didn’t like her.
Behind her daughter’s back, her eyebrows rose at the sight of him, and a coy, inviting smile pursed her lips. The minute Katherine turned to introduce them, her eyes demurely glanced to the floor.
Had he imagined it? As the day wore on and he stayed close to Katherine, the scene played and replayed. She showed utmost interest in all Katherine said, but when Katherine turned away, the older woman kept staring at him as if he were a fresh piece of apple pie.
It wasn’t hard to see what kind of woman she was. He’d met her type many times in the past. The gold-digger, the marriage wrecker, a woman who used her beauty to get anything and anyone she desired.
Well, he didn’t want her, but neither did he want to squelch his wife’s effort to get to know her mother. Maybe there was an outside chance he was wrong.
Josiah was about to round the corner into the parlor when he stopped short at the sound of Katherine’s name on Emmaline’s lips. That woman had worked her stay into a full week with no end in sight.
“Katherine was wondering why you haven’t changed the sheets in her bedroom.” He couldn’t see her from where he stood, nor could he see who she spoke to.
“But, I did just yesterday, ma’am.” That was Annie’s voice. “My lady likes them done every week, and I never miss.”
“My mistake.” Emmaline’s laughter filled the room. “At my age, the hearing must be going. Maybe Katherine said pick the beets, not clean the sheets. Never you mind. I’ll get it sorted.”
Josiah ground his teeth. She was digging for information about whether they slept together. He stepped forward and rounded the corner.
“Josiah. How lovely to see you this morning.”
He ignored Emmaline’s flirtatious smile. “Annie, can you go find Katherine? Ask her to please come to the parlor straightaway.”
Annie wasn’t a second out of the room before Emmaline turned her attention his way with a look that made his skin crawl.
“Sit, Emmaline.” He pointed to the nearest chair. It wasn’t hard to make his voice stern.
