The Ashtons - Cole, Abigail & Megan

him? “Anyway, Anna came to the estate looking for—I don’t know. Money? Help? Recognition?”
    “What happened?”
    “About what you’d expect.” She sighed and felt the cold, damp fingers of shame reach out for her again as she remembered. “Father wasn’t home. But my mother was.”
    “And?”
    She watched his face in the glass. Somehow it was easier talking to his reflection than to turn and face him. “And my mother practically threw her out. God.” She closed her eyes, suddenly unable to face even the mirror image of Simon’s face. But as soon as her eyes were closed, she saw her mother again. Saw the hard expression on her tight features and heard the withering tone of her voice.
    Megan had long known that her mother wasn’t a tower of warmth. But seeing her like that…“Hervoice was like ice. She dismissed Anna Sheridan and the—and here I quote—‘bastard’ child. She told Anna that if she tried to come to the estate again, she’d bring charges of extortion against her.”
    “I don’t even know what to say.”
    “That’s okay,” she said, finally opening her eyes. “Neither did I.” She wrapped her arms around her own middle and finally forced herself to turn around and face her husband. “At first, all I could think was, oh boy, another scandal. Won’t Simon be pleased. You married me to avoid scandal touching your family, your business.”
    “Life happens, Megan. Scandals blow over.”
    She cocked her head to one side and stared at him. “That’s not what you said a week ago.”
    He shrugged. “I’m growing as a person?”
    She laughed shortly and shook her head. “Fine. Maybe my father’s scandals won’t rub off on you. That’s something to hope for, I guess.”
    “There’s something else, Megan. Something that’s bothering you more than worrying about tabloid reporters.”
    “Yeah,” she said and met his smoky-gray eyes. “There is.” And it had been torturing her all day. She could hardly say the words, but she had to. “Simon, I watched my mother turn that woman away and I couldn’t take it. Just couldn’t. Mother’s never been what you’d call a really warm person. But somehow I never thought of her as completely cold, either. Buttoday…” She shook her head and swallowed hard. “There was a part of me that was absolutely terrified that I could be like her. That one day I’d wake up and my voice would be just like hers. That I’d get swallowed up by the cold. That because she’s my mother, I’m capable of that kind of callousness.”
    “You’re not.”
    She choked out a laugh. “You said that too fast. You didn’t think about it.”
    “Didn’t have to.”
    Oh God, she wanted to believe him. But if a person could inherit the color of her parents’ eyes or hair, couldn’t she also inherit a cold heart? Or an empty soul? And why was she being so damned poetic?
    She smiled wistfully. “I hope you’re right. But because of my own fears, I caught up with Anna outside. I told her to go to Caroline Sheppard for help.” She laughed shortly, harshly. “If ever there was a woman to help another with my father’s cruelty, it would be Caroline.”
    “I’m not following.”
    “Not surprising. Caroline used to be married to my father. The estate originally belonged to her family. Then my father divorced her to marry my mother and—” She threw both hands up and let them slap against her sides again. “Now Caroline’s married to Lucas Sheppard—”
    “And they run Louret Vineyards,” Simon put in, obviously catching on.
    “Right,” Megan said, “Ashton Estates and Winery’s archenemy.” Megan sighed, shook her head and said, “Listen to me. It sounds like a soap opera, doesn’t it?”
    He stepped up to her and settled both hands on her shoulders again, then slowly, he rubbed her upper arms as if trying to drive away a chill. “Families are complicated.”
    “Some more than others.”
    “What you did for Anna?” He dipped his head until he could look into her eyes. “That was kind, Megan.”
    “Maybe,” she said and shook her head. “I hope Caroline can help her. But the bottom line is, I’m not even sure if I did it because it was the right thing to do or if I was trying to convince myself that I’m nicer than my mother. Sad, huh?” She looked away from his eyes, unable to meet that steady gray stare. “I just don’t know. The only thing I do know is, what I did wasn’t enough. That little boy is my father’s son,