Page 2 of Love Affair in London (Once Again #12)

She’d never told Roger what to do about his daughters.

Even if she’d thought it. She’d only made a few stray comments.

Of course, they’d bounced right off Roger, and she stopped making any comment at all.

Well, except about Desmond’s latest idiotic scheme.

Her priority was peace in the family. Her peace.

Roger could do whatever he wanted for his daughters, pay their rent, their bills, buy them cars, whatever.

Even if Piper had her private thoughts about that.

While her relationship with the girls had never been like Maria’s with the von Trapp children, it hadn’t been as openly hostile as this.

They’d excluded her from holiday festivities and made nasty digs about how much Roger had adored their mother and that he’d never find anyone who could ever replace her in his heart.

Which, of course, meant that Piper would never replace Helena, who’d passed ten years ago of cancer.

It wasn’t as if Piper was his first girlfriend since Helena died.

In fact, there’d been two other fiancées. Both engagements had ended.

Piper thought the three reasons why were seated at this table.

The salad plates were whisked away and their entrees laid in front of them. Bethany had poached salmon, no sauce. She was always watching her weight. Though Piper had never said anything, she thought the girl was too thin.

Megan ordered the black squid over a bed of black rice, which fit the goth demeanor perfectly. Piper held back a smile at the thought. Any smile would only earn her a caustic comment.

She wondered why they chose this day, only two days before the wedding, to go at her like this.

Ashley cut a slice of her filet mignon, taking it daintily off her fork, chewing. The silence gave Piper a chance to spear a shrimp from her salad. She couldn’t afford to gain even an ounce if she wanted to get into her chic, tightly fitted wedding dress.

“And just where do you get off,” Ashley growled, as if she’d been waiting for the other two to lay their complaints on the table, “telling our father that he shouldn’t be paying our credit card bills? Or our rent?”

Her menacing tone shot a chill down Piper’s spine, and she dropped her fork to her plate.

“Or our utilities and car payments?” Megan speared her with those goth eyes.

“Or funding perfectly reasonable investments?” Bethany’s callous smile darted out like an eel shooting out of coral rocks.

So that’s what this was all about. Why on earth had Roger told them what she’d said?

If she hadn’t been upset about the prenup, she never would have said anything.

She stayed out of his business with his daughters.

But when he admitted it was his daughters who’d prompted him to draw up the prenup because they were worried about their inheritance, she couldn’t help letting loose with a few choice words.

About the credit cards, the rent, the car payments, the investments, about everything Roger paid for his daughters.

It was no wonder Ashley was always trying to get a job, and Megan’s auditions never actually got her a part, and Bethany’s husband always came to Roger for financing.

She’d stopped short of telling Roger he spoiled the girls, that they were incapable of taking care of themselves because he took care of everything for them.

She should have apologized to him for butting in.

It wasn’t her business. She couldn’t walk into a family and try to change all the boundaries.

But pain lanced her heart that Roger would actually tell his daughters what she’d said.

She knew, without a doubt, that she was fourth in line in his affections.

And always would be. Maybe she’d known all along, but she’d been living in the land of The Sound of Music .

She thought she could fix everything for the Richmond family.

It was clear she would never fix anything, especially not for herself.

Leaving the restaurant after that disastrous brunch, Piper went immediately to Roger’s headquarters in downtown Palo Alto. He owned a major San Francisco Bay Area construction company.

His secretary, Ms. Olsen, a crisply dressed woman with a tight black bun that made her look ten years older than the forty Piper knew she was, said in a tone as crisp as her suit, “I’m sorry, he’s busy right now, ma’am. He can’t see you.”

It never bothered her when someone called her ma’am , which seemed a term of respect to her. It didn’t make her feel old. Not until Ms. Olsen, fifteen years her junior, said it that way. Now Piper had to put up a fight. “It’s imperative that I see him now. Please tell him I’m here.”

Ms. Olsen didn’t even stand up. “I told you, he can’t be interrupted. Not for anyone.”

Piper had gotten it wrong earlier. She wasn’t fourth on the list, she was fifth. Even Roger’s secretary was ahead of her. Piper knew she was beaten. Unless she wanted to storm the door. But making a scene was even worse. “Please have him call me as soon as he gets out of his meeting.”

She stopped in the bathroom on her way out. Looking at herself in the mirror, she patted her red cheeks. She might have lost this battle, but she wasn’t about to lose the war.

Then she stepped out of the restroom just in time to see Ms. Olsen let Roger’s three daughters into his office.

It was clear she would lose the war no matter what she did.