She was his P.A.
He wasn’t in love with her.
He probably wasn’t the type to fall in love since he’d never brought any other woman to a family Christmas. Brief affairs was his style when it came to women. She probably wouldn’t be here if she was still one of his “brief” affairs. He undoubtedly thought she was safe, not expecting anything of him.
After the feast had been devoured to everyone’s satisfaction, they drifted out to the patio. Nathan had set up a badminton net beside the pool, and the two older brothers challenged Jake and Ruth to a game. The rest of the family took up spectator positions, ready to barrack for their team. The children sat around the pool, making up their own competition about diving in to retrieve the shuttlecock should it be hit into the water. Elizabeth Carter invited Amy to sit with her under the pergola.
Here comes the conversation, Amy thought, and wondered why Jake’s mother was bothering. Didn’t she know her own son?
“I hope you’ve been enjoying yourself,” she started.
“Immensely,” Amy returned with a smile.
“This badminton match is something of a tradition. Jake started it years ago. They’ll play on for a while. It’s the best of five games.”
“Closely fought, I’d imagine.”
She actually unbent enough to laugh. “Very. And they use outrageous tactics. Which is why their father has to umpire.”
“But all done in the spirit of fun, I’m sure,” Amy commented.
“Oh, yes.” The amusement faded into a shrewd look. “Though life isn’t all fun. I’ve found it’s a lot less complicated if one follows a straight path.”
“How do you mean?” Amy prompted, thinking they might as well get to the meat of this talk.
“Well, as I understand it from Jake,” she started tentatively, “You’ve been...attached...to a relationship for many years.”
“Most people do get attached,” Amy said dryly. Not counting Jake, she could have added even more dryly.
Elizabeth Carter gathered herself to spit out what was on her mind. “I must say I don’t hold with this modern custom of moving in together,” she plunged in, her expression implying she was giving Amy the benefit of her wisdom. “I don’t think it does anyone any good in the long run. No clear-cut commitment to a shared future. No emotional security. It’s not the right way to go, Amy. Your mother would have told you that,” she declared with confidence.
“You didn’t know my mother, Mrs. Carter,” Amy said quietly. “Nor what she suffered in her marriage. What we all suffered. You may see marriage as a safe haven where people can grow happily. It’s not always so.”
Silence.
Amy watched the badminton game, her stomach churning over the judgement Jake’s mother had made on her—a loose-living woman without commitment. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right. And her defences were very brittle today. She didn’t need this. She needed...support.
“I’m sorry. I can only assume your mother made a bad character judgement in her husband,” came the gentle rejoinder.
The criticism hit Amy on the raw. One didn’t have a clear-minded choice over everything. She hadn’t chosen to get pregnant. Especially to a man who didn’t love her!
“Perhaps you’d like to give me a reading of Jake’s character, Mrs. Carter.” Amy swung a hard gaze on her, giving no quarter. “From where I’ve sat over the past two years, he’s a rake with women. A very good boss, a very charming man, but not someone I’d trust to make me happy in the long run, as you so succinctly put it. His turnover rate hardly makes him a good choice, does it? Or do you see it differently?”
The recoil of shock was written all over Elizabeth Carter’s face. Being hit by a such a direct and pertinent challenge had certainly not been anticipated. Do her good, Amy thought grimly. Stop her from thinking her youngest son was a glittering prize any woman would love to snatch.
Shock was followed by bewilderment. “Why did you come here today, Amy?”
“I wanted to see what Jake’s family is like,” she answered bluntly. “It can tell you a lot about a person.”
“Then you must understand Jake is looking for the complement to what we have here. He’ll keep on looking for it because he won’t settle for anything less.”
Amy gave her an ironic look. “He’s been looking a long time, Mrs. Carter, without success. I may have moved in with a man but at least I was constant for five years, which I’m sure Jake told you, and it was my partner’s infidelity that broke up the relationship. Infidelity does not appeal to me.”
She frowned. “I did not mean to offend you, Amy.”
In that case, tact certainly wasn’t her strong point, Amy thought
The frown deepened. “I know Jake wouldn’t cheat on anyone. It isn’t in his nature.”
He’d said as much himself, on the balcony after...but that didn’t mean he’d stay with one woman for the rest of his life. And Amy suddenly realised it was what she’d want of him... a commitment to her and their child...and it wouldn’t happen...so to tell him she was pregnant would almost certainly result in an intolerable situation for both of them. It wouldn’t be happy families. It would be emotional hell.
“Don’t worry, Mrs. Carter,” she said ruefully. “I will not embroil your son in a relationship you wouldn’t like.”
“Amy...” She shook her head in distress. “Oh, dear... I just wanted to help. I know you’ve been hurt. Sometimes people just don’t see straight and they keep repeating their mistakes instead of learning from them. Moving in together is so...so messy.”
So is divorce, Amy thought, but she held her tongue. The couples in the Carter family looked far too solid for her to make that sour comment.
“I have no intention of moving in with your son,” she stated flatly. “I work for Jake. We get on well. This invitation to join you for Christmas was a kindness on his part. It’s unnecessary to make more of it than that, believe me.”
And I won’t intrude again.
“Jake is kind,” his mother said, as though preparing to build a case for her son’s good character.
“Yes, he is,” Amy agreed.
“Underneath all his wild ways, he has a heart of gold. He wouldn’t hurt anyone. He goes out of his way not to hurt anyone.”
Amy sighed. “You don’t have to defend him to me, Mrs. Carter. I guess I don’t like being put in a position where I’m pushed to defend myself. Shall we leave it at that?”