Always - Iris Johansen [55]
“Kira, she shouldn’t be out here in this sun listening to you chatter,” Marna interrupted. “I will go prepare your room, and you take her inside and get her a cool drink. Make sure she takes her iron pill with it.” She turned away and walked briskly across the courtyard.
“I’m sorry.” Kira looked stricken. “I didn’t know you were that fragile.”
“I’m not,” Lisa said with a sigh. “She acts as if I’m made of glass. I had a little difficulty with the baby during my second month and she’s been wrapping me in cotton wool ever since.”
Kira nodded, her affectionate gaze following Marna. “She has a very loving heart, and she likes you. I can tell. She’s very protective of the people she cares about.”
“And I believe you are, too,” Lisa said, her eyes on the girl’s face.
“I love her,” Kira said simply. “She raised me. My parents and Stefan never had any time for me, and Lance couldn’t stand Tamrovia and was always in Sedikhan. She’s been my mother, teacher, and friend.” She shrugged. “Everything. That’s why I can’t let her be exiled like this. Marna is a gypsy and they have very close tribal ties. She hates being away from her people. I thought maybe she’d adjust to Sedikhan, but she’s been miserably unhappy here.”
“And that’s why you went back to Tamrovia?”
“What else could I do? I thought if I put up with all that courtship bull for a while, I could talk Stefan into a pardon for Marna.” She grimaced. “I blew it. Maybe if I’d stuck it out just a little longer …”
“You’re going back?”
“I can’t do anything else. I have to try again.” Her shoulders shifted as if she were throwing off a burden. “But that’s not for a while. I’m free now and I’m going to enjoy myself.” She smiled. “Come on, I have to get you that cool drink and your pill or Marna will have my head.”
In the hours that followed, Lisa found she was having a wonderful time. Kira Rubinoff had the facility of throwing herself into every situation and relationship with a lovable enthusiasm. The girl herself was lovable, and by the end of the evening Lisa felt as close to her as if they’d been friends for years.
They were having coffee in the library after dinner when Lisa first began to have a niggling sense of uneasiness. It was almost ten o’clock. Surely Clancy should be home by now.
“You’re frowning,” Kira said, eyes narrowing. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I was just thinking about Clancy.” Lisa smiled with an effort. “I know you said he might be late. I guess I worry too much.”
“You worry about him. He worries about you.” Kira’s expression was suddenly wistful. “It must be nice to be in love like that.”
“Very nice,” Lisa said softly.
She frowned. “Then why in the devil don’t you marry him?” Her gaze touched on Lisa’s abdomen. “You’re pregnant with his child, and Clancy’s too old-fashioned not to want to legitimize it as soon as possible. It’s probably bothering the hell out of him.”
“You think so?” Lisa asked. Clancy hadn’t mentioned marriage since that night on Paradise Cay. Even then he’d assumed she wouldn’t want to go through with a ceremony that would bind her to him.
“I know so,” Kira said positively. “Don’t you two ever talk? He’s not liberated enough to embrace the concept of illegitimacy with open arms. I’m surprised he hasn’t forced you before a magistrate at gunpoint.”
But he wouldn’t have done that, Lisa thought with a pang of tenderness. Clancy had promised her freedom, and he would never go back on his word, even if it was hurting him.
“There I go again. I know it’s none of my business. I just don’t like to see Clancy unhappy. Forget it.”
“I won’t forget it,” Lisa said slowly. “Because I don’t like to see Clancy unhappy, either.”
And she couldn’t forget about it, even after she’d left Kira and retired to her room for the night. She showered, put on a nightgown, and slipped into bed but didn’t bother to turn out the bedside lamp. She knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway while she was worried about Clancy. Had she been too blind to notice Clancy’s unhappiness with the situation? She hoped she hadn’t been that self-centered, but there was