A Suitable Wife: A Sweetwater Springs Novel by Carol Burnside, Emily Sewell, Kim Killion Page B

medical procedures. As a young girl, she watched her mother die from some long debilitating illness. Just the hint of someone coming down with a cold was enough to make her flee the room.”
    Rosie looked away, her expression thoughtful. “Now that’s melodrama. It seems odd, though, that labor and delivery didn’t bother her.”
    “I don’t think that detail occurred to her until it was too late. Once she announced the pregnancy, she was too busy enjoying the attention her condition brought on. Believe me, she milked it.”
    “Maybe she was just shocked to learn she was pregnant and it was a knee-jerk reaction. Lorelei seems to be a little quiet and reserved for a two-year-old, but overall she’s happy and well taken care of. Jasmine must have had something to do with her well being.”
    Sam had to admit, Rosie wasn’t a pushover. She stood her ground, defended her position, and demanded answers. He’d always admired that about her.
    “No. She didn’t, and that’s precisely the point. I know you think I’m looking at things one-sided, but I’m not. You’re looking at this from your perspective—how you’d feel and react—but Jasmine isn’t like you. She’s totally without maternal instincts.”
    “Oh, come on, Sam!” Rosie protested. “It’s one thing to carry a grudge against your ex-wife. It’s another to let it carry over into Lorelei’s relationship with her mother. Frankly, I’m surprised at you.”
    The words tumbled from him, unchecked. “Jasmine changed one diaper—one!—and then declared it too gross for her delicate constitution. She refused to breastfeed, even though Lorelei couldn’t tolerate most formulas, because she wanted her body back in shape for her next magazine layout.”
    He lowered his voice but couldn’t stop the venom welling inside him. “The first time Lorelei spit up on her, she handed her to me like a piece of garbage and told me, ‘You wanted this brat. You take care of her.’ To my knowledge, she’s never held her since.” He paused, seeing images he wished he could erase, regret heavy in his heart.
    “Lorelei was all of five days old. If Jasmine gets her hands on that child, she’ll put on a show in public and hand her off to strangers when the cameras shut off.”
    Neither of them spoke for several minutes.
    Rosie sat perfectly still, unable to grasp how anyone could be so uncaring. Especially regarding a precious newborn.
    Poor Lorelei, rejected by her own mother. No wonder Sam hadn’t contested the divorce as the tabloids had stated. She glanced at him, surprised to discover how much it hurt to see the haunted expression in his eyes. Like in the park, she experienced another bout of that warm, overflowing feeling, and her eyes prickled hot.
    “I’m sorry, Sam. I didn’t know. You must have been very hurt, loving someone like that.” Rosie lightly squeezed his forearm, the hair coarse under her fingers.
    His laugh sounded harsh, and he waved off her touch. “Love had nothing to do with my marriage. I don’t even know if I believe in such a thing.”
    “You can’t mean that. You love Lorelei.” She squelched the sting from his rejection.
    “Of course, but that’s different. I don’t know if I believe that the romantic love stuff we see in the movies can survive in our current society.”
    This from a man who’d proposed—more or less—earlier in the evening. Obviously, he’d never been in love.
    She could argue the point, using her parents and his grandparents as examples, but why? He wasn’t asking for hearts and flowers. He wanted to purchase a wife, and a temporary one at that.
    Rosie had no idea what to say in response. After his parents unhappy marriage, then his own, he had a right to his feelings. She’d much rather the whole thing be a lame attempt at a joke, but Sam was deadly serious.
    Marriage. To Sam.
    A flush swept over her again. Probably a mini-adrenaline rush due to the idea, even if it was a brief, in-name-only kind of