Page 5 of Conail

"He should be moving on."

"It's the betrayal. She would have married him to get to his money, if that man who was supposed to be his best friend hadn't decided to do the right thing." She exhaled slowly, trying for calm. "Anyway, he has finally decided to go with surrogacy."

Maeve's eyes sharpened and she leaned forward. "Has he?"

Eleanor nodded. She had discussed the possibility with her friend and now the time had come for a decision. "What do you think Yasmine will say?"

"She's coming home for a bit and wants to do her part." A sigh escaped Maeve's lips. "That girl is buried in her work and after that disastrous relationship with that painter two years ago, she's been alone." Her eyes wandered over to the corral wheretheir two horses wandered listlessly as if trying to get away from the afternoon heat. She could remember when it was filled with horses. Now they had only two left and very soon, they would be put to pasture. "It's going to take some talking to for her to agree, but she wants to do what's right for the farm. And she knows we're on the brink of losing parcels of land."

"And we're agreed on how to go about it?"

She swung her gaze back to her friend and smiled. "To get those two together."

Eleanor nodded. "My son is bent on staying out of the entire thing, but that's not going to happen. He told me he does not want to know who the surrogate is, and I pretended to agree."

"I will do my part." She folded her hands on the table, expression wistful. "You have children and hope that they will take the right path when they are grown. My Colin is set in his ways. He had his heart crushed when Madeline went to Chicago to practice law. I had high hopes those two would be married and raising a family by now. And Yasmine--" She shook her head. "My daughter wanted the city, and I could not stop her."

"When's she coming?"

"By the end of the week. Time enough for me to put plans into place. It will be good to have her back where she belongs."

The two women, separated by social status, sat across from each other -- bonded by years of friendship and mutual needs. Hope flared inside their hearts as they looked towards the future. A future they hoped would bring their two families together.

*****

He was crossing the road towards the post office. He had left his dad in the cooling shade of the outdoor café sipping on an iced tea. And thinking that he should have refused the offer to accompany him. He tired too easily and had started to drag his feet as soon as they left the farm store.

"Oh, excuse me." He murmured, automatically reaching his hands out to steady the person he had almost mowed down."I..." The rest of the words petered off in stunned surprise as he recognized who it was.

Stepping back quickly, he felt the familiar ache inside his chest as he gazed at the beautiful face. One that had been in his dreams from the day she left and shattered his heart to pieces. "Madeline." Fighting for composure, he managed a cool smile as she stepped towards him.

"Hi Colin." Her smile was tentative and had his heart tripping.

"Here for a visit?"

They were attracting attention of course. Their romance had been the talk of the town and people had expected the banns to be read in church. After she left, people had avoided talking about her to his face.

"Aunt Shelly is ill." She folded her hands in front of her and stared at him longingly. She had left after a very nasty fight thatleft them both reeling. He had wanted her to stay, and she had accused him of not loving her enough to leave.

"I have some things to mail off. Good to see you." He started to step past her when she touched a hand to his arm. Even through the cotton shirt, he felt as if she had branded him.

Keeping her hand on his arm even when he gave her a pointed look, she pressed on. "I have been meaning to come to the farm."

"What for?"

Lifting her chin, she was determined not to be deterred by the icy disdain and the people giving them curious looks. She plunged on. "To see your parents. Your mother has kept in touch with me."

He shook off her hold and took a step back, not surprised to hear that his mother had been in contact. They all loved Maddy like a daughter. It had broken their hearts too when she left.

"Suit yourself." He turned to leave when her soft voice stopped him.

"How have you been?"

He wanted to laugh at that. No, he wanted to hit something. To shout at her to leave him the hell alone. But he was brought up right and proper. He could be polite to someone who had turned his life into a fireball of hell.

"Never better. How's Chicago?"

"Too cold." She managed a tentative smile. "I am back home."

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