Copper Beach

vowed.

    “The thing is, I don’t want your mother’s money,” Abby said quietly.

    “Because you think you’ve landed on your feet with Sam Coppersmith? Don’t fool yourself, Abby. It won’t last.” Diana went to the door and wrenched it open. She paused in the opening and looked back over her shoulder. “Money doesn’t just follow blood. When it comes to marriage, it usually follows other money. There are occasional exceptions, but they rarely end well. Witness my marriage to your father.”

    Abby looked at her. “There’s just one thing here I don’t understand. If you wanted to leave Dad and you didn’t feel compelled to stick with the marriage because of Dawson and the twins, why in heaven’s name didn’t you file for divorce a long time ago?”

    Bitterness edged Diana’s mouth. “In a word? Mother.”

    “Why was she a factor? She never approved of Dad, anyway. I would have thought she would have been delighted to see you split.”

    “Oh, yes,” Diana said. “She would have been thrilled. You want the truth? I didn’t leave Brandon years ago when I should have because I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of proving that she was right. Again.”

    Diana went out into the hall. Abby listened to the fading echo of high heels on the tile floor.

    Sam materialized in the doorway. “Everything okay in here?”

    “Sure,” Abby said. “Just a little family chat. But I learned something tonight.”

    “What’s that?”

    “Even for a Strickland, it’s not always about the money.”

    “Funny you should mention that. I just had a talk with your father and came to the conclusion that it’s not always about the money for him, either.”

    “What do you mean?”

    “He wanted to make sure that I knew you weren’t going to inherit a dime from the Strickland trust. He was trying to protect you from being married for your nonexistent money.”

    “Oh.” Startled, Abby took a moment to process that. “Huh.”

    “Can we leave now?”

    “Yes,” Abby said. “We can leave. In fact, I can’t wait to get out of here.”

31

    SAM GOT BEHIND THE WHEEL, BUT HE DID NOT IMMEDIATELY fire up the engine. He contemplated the warmly lit windows of the auditorium across the street. There was still a large crowd inside.
    “Tell me about Kane Thurston,” he said.

    Startled, Abby gave him a quick, searching look. “There’s not much to tell.” She buckled her seat belt. “He wasn’t the first man I’ve dated who thought I was in line for a share of the Strickland money. People make that mistake all the time.”

    “Because everyone makes a show of pretending that you’re all just one big happy family?”

    “The power of branding.”

    “Who told Kane that you weren’t fated to inherit the Strickland family fortune?”

    “I did,” Abby said. “As soon as I realized what he was after. Felt like an idiot for a while, because I can usually spot the con artists right away. But to give Kane his due, he is a very, very good con artist. He didn’t fool Gwen and Nick, though. They saw right through him the first time they met him and warned me.”

    “You didn’t doubt their verdict?”

    “No, although I went into denial for a while before I admitted to myself that they were right. In the end, I knew I had to trust Nick and Gwen. And once I started looking at Kane with clear eyes, I realized they were right. Sorry you got the lecture from Dad. I’ve tried to make it clear to everyone in the family that you are just a client, but they all seem to be assuming the worst-case scenario.”

    “The worst-case scenario being that I might actually want to marry you?”

    She winced. “I didn’t mean it quite like that. Sorry. It’s been a difficult evening.”

    “I assume your stepmother wanted to talk to you about Dawson’s financial problems?”

    “What else? She’s desperate to recover the family fortune, in part because she wants to end the marriage to Dad. She figures my father already has one foot out the door, which is a logical assumption. If the book and the TV series do take off, he’ll probably move on.”

    “He did say something about that. I think he’s given up on plan A.”

    “Which was?”

    “Hoping that Orinda Strickland would kick the bucket first. He seems to think that if she wasn’t in the picture, he would be able to convince Diana to tear up the prenup.”

    “Maybe once upon a time he could have done that. Dad has occasionally been known