LITMIR.BIZ

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already running late.

      Was she even at home? He’d heard about the staff dinner at a restaurant being planned and, when there was no response to his knock other than a warning bark from Houston, he hoped that was exactly where she was.

      Out having fun.

      More fun than he was likely to have tonight, with his mother still stressed about renewed media interest in the family and the necessity of trying to keep two three-year-old boys behaving themselves at a very formal dining table.

      Maria had got the boys dressed and said she didn’t mind waiting while he got changed himself. A quick shower was needed and then Charles found his dinner jacket and bow tie. The formality was a family tradition, like getting the annual Davenport photograph that would be made available to the media to remind them that this family was still together. Still strong enough to survive anything.

      Charles rummaged in the top drawer of his dresser, to find the box that contained his silver cufflinks. He didn’t know how many of the family members would be there tonight but hopefully the table would be full. Elijah would definitely be there. And Zac, who was about to start his new job at Manhattan Mercy.

      His fingers closed around a velvet box and he opened it, only to have his breath catch in his throat.

      This wasn’t the box that contained his cufflinks. It was the box that contained the Davenport ring. The astonishing pink diamond that Nina had accepted when she had accepted his proposal of marriage. A symbol of the continuation of the Davenport name. A symbol of their position in New York society, even, given the value and rarity of this famous stone.

      As the oldest son, it had been given to Charles for his wife-to-be and there was only one person in the world who could have worn it.

      Nina.

      Shadows of old grief enclosed Charles as he stared at the ring. He could never give it to anyone else.

      It wouldn’t even suit Grace...

      Oh, help...where had that come from?

      Memories of how he’d felt waking up this morning came back to him in a rush. That excitement. The pleasure.

      The...longing...

      And right now, those feelings were at war with remnants of grief. With the weight of all the responsibilities he had been trying so hard to focus on.

      The battle was leaving him even more confused.

      Drained, even.

      He left the ring in its opened box on top of the dresser as he found and inserted his cufflinks and then slipped on his silk-lined jacket.

      He closed the box on the ring then, and was about to put it back where he’d found it but his hand stopped in mid-air.

      He had no right to keep this ring shut away in a drawer when he had no intention of ever using it again himself. It could be hidden for decades if he waited to hand it on to his firstborn, Cameron.

      He should give it to the next Davenport in line. Elijah.

      Charles let his breath out in a sigh. He knew perfectly well how his twin felt about marriage. With his bitterness about the marriage of their parents and scepticism about its value in general, he wouldn’t want anything to do with the Davenport ring.

      He couldn’t give it to Penelope, because it was traditional for it to go to a son who would be carrying on the family name. Miranda was out of the question, even if she hadn’t been another female, because of the distress that could cause to his mother, given her reluctance to absorb his half-sister into the family.

      Zac. Was that his answer? The youngest Davenport male in his own generation. Okay, Zac had always had a tendency to rebel against Davenport traditions but he was making an effort now, wasn’t he? Coming back into the fold. Trying to rebuild bridges? Was it possible that could even extend to taking an interest in Dr Ella Lockwood, the daughter of family friends and the woman who everyone had once expected Zac to marry? Though he’d noticed Ella hadn’t seemed too pleased to learn that Zac was joining the team, so maybe not. But whatever happened, he hoped his youngest brother would find the happiness he deserved.

      Yes. Charles slipped the ring box into his pocket. Even if Zac wasn’t ready to accept it yet, he would know that it would be waiting for him.

      He’d have a word with Elijah, first, of course. And then Zac. Maybe with his parents as well. If he could handle it all diplomatically, it could actually be a focus for this evening that would bring them all a little closer together and distract them from directing any attention on his own life. It would also be a symbol that he was moving on from his past, too. For himself as much as his family.

      Yes. This felt like the next step in dealing with this unexpected intrusion into their lives. And maybe it would help settle the confusing boundaries between his responsibilities and his desires. Between the determination to protect everyone he had cared about in his life so far and the longing to just be somewhere alone with the new person in his life that he also wanted to protect?

      * * *

      Grace heard the knock on her door.

      But what could she do? Her father had just answered her Skype call and he was so delighted to see her.

      If there’d been a second knock, she might have excused herself for a moment but, after a single bark, Houston came and settled himself with his head on her feet. There was obviously no one on the other side of the door now. Maybe it had been someone else who lived in this apartment block. After all, Charles had had an entire day in which he could have called or texted her. Or he could have found her at work this afternoon because she’d certainly hung around long enough.

      And he hadn’t.

      History was clearly repeating itself.

      She had offered him everything she had to give and he had accepted it and then simply walked away without a backward glance.

      ‘Sorry—what was that, Dad?’

      ‘Just saying we hit the national high again today. Blue skies and sunshine here in Florida. How’s it looking in the big smoke?’

      ‘Grey. And freezing. They’re predicting snow tomorrow. It could be heavy.’

      Her father laughed. ‘We have hospitals in this neck of the woods, you know. You don’t have to suffer!’

      ‘Maybe I’ll see what’s being advertised.’

      The comment was light-hearted but, as they chatted about other things, the thought stayed in the back of her mind.

      She could walk away from New York, couldn’t she? She didn’t have to stay here and feel...rejected...

      Grace had to swallow a sudden lump in her throat. ‘I feel a long way away at the moment. I miss you, Dad.’

      ‘Miss you, too, honey.’ Her father’s smile wobbled a bit. ‘So tell me, what are you doing for Thanksgiving dinner? Have you got yourself some turkey?’

      ‘No. Work’s been really busy and, anyway, it seemed a bit silly buying a turkey for one person.’

      ‘I’ll bet that dog you’re living with could have helped you out there.’

      Grace laughed but her brain was racing down another track. It couldn’t have been Charles knocking at her door because wasn’t he going to some big Davenport family dinner tonight? A dinner that he had suggested she could also go to but then he’d made a face as if the idea was distasteful.

      Why? Did he not enjoy the family gathering himself or was it more the idea that she would hate it because she wouldn’t fit in?

      Of course she wouldn’t. As Helena had reminded her so recently, the Davenports were New York royalty and she wasn’t even American by birth. She was a foreigner. A divorced foreigner. A divorced foreigner with a scarred body who wasn’t even capable of becoming a mother.

      Oh, help... Going down this track any further when

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