A Woman's Touch

Heather would collapse like a hothouse rose in the first major storm.“
    „Sounds like everyone was a hell of a lot more farsighted than I was,“ Kyle growled.
    „Alice saw things, all right. Did you know she thought of Stockbridges as a nest of fire-breathing dragons?“
    Kyle winced. „Alice called me a dragon?“
    „She said you were the latest in a long line of green-eyed monsters.“
    „Is that right?“ he demanded with familiar aggression. „What did she call the Ballard family?“
    Rebecca’s mouth curved slightly as she remembered that section of the journal. „A clan of sorcerers. She thought they used their charms to seduce and destroy others.“
    „Alice may have hit the nail on the head with that one.“ Kyle looked vaguely placated.
    „She may have hit the nail on the head with both observations,“ Rebecca retorted. „She had a lot of time to consider the various aspects of the two families. Tell me about your engagement.“
    Kyle poured himself another cup of coffee. „You just won’t quit, will you?“
    „No.“
    „Well, since you’ve heard about the marriage, I guess there’s no reason not to tell you about Darla. Not all that much to tell, really. Darla is a nice person. I’d always liked her in a vague kind of way. The way a man would like a younger sister, I guess. We lost track of each other for a few years after college. But when I met her again in Denver four years ago, I took one look at her and knew she was just what I needed. She wasn’t the type of woman who would give me any trouble. She wasn’t after my money. She wouldn’t be too demanding. She would make a good hostess.
    She had no objections to giving me a son. To top it all off, she was pretty. What more could a man want?“
    „In other words, you were going through a practical phase.“
    „Probably.“ Kyle capped the thermos and sat staring broodingly out over Harmony Valley. „But I managed to screw up that relationship, too.“
    „Your temper again?“ Rebecca asked softly.
    Kyle drummed his fingers on the granite. „That was part of it, I think. But not all. By the time I met Darla, I had learned to control my temper.“
    „Really?“ Rebecca let her skepticism show in her voice.
    Kyle shot her an aggrieved glance. „It’s true. I’m a hell of a lot mellower now than I was in my younger days.
    People do change, you know.“
    „I’ve certainly seen lots of examples of the new, mellow Kyle Stockbridge,“ Rebecca pointed out meaningfully.
    „Damn it. I’ve never lost my temper with you, Becky.“
    Rebecca slid him a sidelong glance and realized he was telling the truth. From his point of view, he’d never lost his temper with her. The moments of impatience and minor annoyance she had witnessed during the past couple of months clearly did not count as far as he was concerned. The realization that she’d never been the victim of one of Kyle’s full-blown rages was somewhat unnerving. She wondered just how bad the storm could be.
    „Who ended the engagement?“ Rebecca asked quietly. „You or Darla?“
    „Glen Ballard ended the engagement.“ Kyle said shortly. „Darla didn’t have the guts to tell me herself.“
    Rebecca sighed. „I can just imagine that little scene.“
    „I doubt it.“ Kyle turned to look at her, his expression one of challenge. „Okay. You’ve heard all the sordid details.
    Now you know just how lousy my track record is when it comes to marriage. It’s a typical Stockbridge record. My father didn’t do any better and neither did my grandfather. My grandmother didn’t leave because in those days people just didn’t get divorced. But I remember how sullen and quiet she was all the time. She was obviously one miserable female and she didn’t care who knew it. When I was eight, she told me she envied my mother for having the courage to walk out.“

    „What a pleasant old lady,“ Rebecca said grimly. Just the sort of sweet, grandmotherly type a motherless boy needed, she thought with sarcasm. But then she realized how trapped and bitter the woman must have been. „Sounds to me like the Stockbridge men do a lousy job of picking their women.“
    „Most people would say it wouldn’t matter what woman a Stockbridge picked. The marriage would be doomed right from the start,“ Kyle said quietly.
    „You mean because of the infamous Stockbridge temper?“
    Kyle shrugged. „I guess you could say the Stockbridge men have trouble relating.“
    „Don’t lump