An Engagement in Seattle - Debbie Macomber [8]
“I’m disappointed. We would’ve had fine children.”
She stared at him as if he’d spoken in his native tongue and she didn’t understand a word he’d said. “Children?” she repeated. A sadness seemed to steal over her; she shook her head, perhaps to dispel the image.
“I will think good things for your grandmother,” Alek told her.
She nodded. “Thank you.” With what looked like hard-won poise, she turned and left the office.
Alek watched her go, and the proud way in which she carried herself tugged at his heart. He wished her grandmother well, but more importantly, he wished Julia a happy life.
Knowing his time in the States was limited to mere days, Aleksandr worked well past five, when his colleagues had all gone home. He felt it was his moral obligation to do everything within his power to see that the next series of experiments was performed to the standards he’d set for the earlier ones. He wouldn’t be with Conrad Industries to oversee the ongoing research, and that bothered him, but he had no choice.
The laboratory was silent, and the footsteps echoing down the wide corridor outside his office were louder than they would otherwise have been.
He raised his eyes expectantly when Julia Conrad opened the door without knocking and walked inside. She was pale, her eyes darker than he’d ever seen them before.
“Julia,” he said, standing abruptly. “Is something wrong?”
She looked sightlessly around, as though she didn’t know where she was or how she got there.
“Your grandmother?”
Julia nodded and gnawed on her bottom lip. “She…she had another heart attack.”
“I’m sorry.”
Her eyes flew upward as if to gauge the sincerity of his words. For a lengthy moment she said nothing. Then she inhaled a shaky breath and bit her lip so hard, Aleksandr was afraid she’d draw blood.
“I…I’ve reconsidered, Mr. Berinski. I’ll marry you under the conditions you’ve set.”
Two
“I don’t want an elaborate wedding.” Julia folded her arms, moving to the far side of her office. Her brother was being impossible. “How could there even be time to arrange one?”
“Julia, you’re not listening to me.”
“I’m listening,” she said sharply. “I just don’t happen to like what I’m hearing.”
“A reception at the Four Seasons isn’t so much to ask.”
“But a wedding with guests and this whole thing about wearing a fancy wedding dress is ridiculous! Jerry, please, this is getting out of hand. I understand marriage is the best solution, but I didn’t realize I’d be forced to endure the mockery of a formal wedding.”
Jerry gestured helplessly. “We’ve got to make this as credible as we can. Apparently you don’t understand how important this is—and not just the wedding, either. That’s only the first hurdle. You have to make everything appear as though you’re madly in love. Nothing less will convince the Immigration people. If you fail… I don’t even want to think about that.”
“You’ve already gone through this.” More times than she cared to count.
“Alek has to live with you, too.”
This was the part that disturbed Julia most. Her condo was her private haven, the one place where she could be completely herself. She was about to lose that, too. “But why?” She knew the answer, had argued until Jerry was seething with exasperation. Julia didn’t blame him, but this marriage was becoming far more complicated than she’d ever thought it would.
“Why?” Jerry shouted, throwing his hands in the air. “I’ve made everything as plain as I can. Alek isn’t the problem, it’s you. What I don’t understand, Julia, is why you’re being so difficult when we’re the ones who stand to benefit from this arrangement.”
“You’re making Alek sound like a saint for marrying me.” She frowned. “And I don’t see you running for the altar.” Jerry had recently ended yet another brief liaison.
He didn’t answer right away, which irritated her even more. “Let