Perfect Partners

come up against anyone quite like Blackstone before. Tread carefully around him until you know what you’re doing.”
    Letty relaxed. “Okay.”
    “On the whole,” Morgan said, “I’m glad you’ve decided to give it a whirl. You need a major change in your life even more than I did, my dear. If nothing else, the move to Seattle will shake you out of your routine, expose you to new influences, and open up your world. If running Thornquist Gear doesn’t suit you, you can always sell it to Blackstone in a year or so. In the meantime, the experience will be good for you. Just be careful.”
    “You’re a fine one to talk. The changes I’m making are petty compared to the ones you’ve made, Dad.” Letty bit her lip. “I still can’t quite believe I’m going to have a little brother.”
    Morgan raised his brows. “I knew we were going to get around to that sooner or later. You still haven’t gotten over the shock of my marriage to Stephanie, either, have you?”
    “That’s not true. I’ve adjusted to the idea,” Letty said, picking her words carefully. “But I’ll admit that at times it still seems strange. Everything has happened so fast.”
    “At my age I can’t afford to waste a lot of time,” Morgan said gently.
    “You’re only fifty-three, Dad.”
    “Stephanie makes me feel thirty again.”
    Letty sighed. “I guess that says it all, doesn’t it?”
    “Yes, my dear, it does.”
    “She’s so unlike mother.”
    “Letty, your mother was a wonderful woman, and I loved her for nearly thirty good years. But she’s gone, and I know she would have wanted me to be happy again.”
    “Yes, but with someone like
Stephanie
?” Letty broke off, horrified that she had gone too far.
    Morgan’s brows drew together, forming a solid line above his sea green eyes. “Stephanie is my wife now, Letty. She is about to become the mother of my son. I can’t force you to develop any real affection for her, but I can and will make certain you treat her with respect.”
    Guilt swamped Letty. “I’m sorry, Dad. You know I would never be rude to her. For your sake, I’m trying to think of her as a member of the family.”
    “Do that. Because she
is
a member of the family.”
    Letty lifted her chin. “You know what the real problem between Stephanie and me is?”
    “You think she’s trying to take your mother’s place.”
    “No, not at all. The truth is, she intimidates me.”
    Morgan narrowed his eyes in astonishment. “Intimidates you? What do you mean by that?”
    “It’s hard to explain,” Letty admitted, wishing she had not even tried. “She’s only eleven years older than me.”
    “You’re not going to lecture me for having married a woman you think is too young for me, are you?”
    Letty shook her head. Stephanie
was
too young for her father, of course, but there was no sense pointing that out now. The deed was done. “No. What I’m trying to say is that although she’s only a few years older than I am, she makes me feel unsophisticated.”
    “Unsophisticated?”
    Letty scowled. “Maybe that’s not quite the right word. Unworldly. Gauche. Dad, she makes me feel like a small-town hick. Now do you understand?”
    Morgan’s face softened. “I think so. If it’s any consolation, she made me feel the same way at first. But underneath that glossy exterior is a charming, very genuine person. I want you to get to know the real Stephanie. I want you to be friends with her.”
    “I’m trying, Dad.”
    “I want you to try a little harder.”
    Letty eyed him. “How am I supposed to do that?”
    “I want to ask a favor of you, Letty. Stephanie has signed up for a series of seminars dealing with pregnancy and infancy. I’d appreciate it if you’d accompany her to some of the classes. I think it would help if the two of you spent some time together.”
    Letty stared at him. “You want me to take a bunch of baby classes?”
    “For my sake, Letty. And for the sake of Matthew Christopher.”

    Two days later Letty found herself back in Seattle sitting next to Stephanie in a roomful of pregnant ladies. The speaker, Professor Harold Blanchford, was an expert on fetal development, and his subject was not without some interest. Letty noticed that Stephanie was sitting very erect in her chair, her attention focused completely on the talk. She was taking notes with military precision.
    “There is ample evidence,” Professor Blanchford said, “that the third trimester fetus hears and