Eli missed her. He missed holding her close, missed her flamboyancy and spirit. She’d been a little ray of happiness and had lightened his heart. Bright, colorful and cheerful, she’d pulled him out of a slump and made him want something: her. He wanted her more than anything. He couldn’t help it. He knew he didn’t deserve her, and that his being with her would ruin their child’s life, but Eli had never been good at letting go of something he wanted.

The phone rang, and his heart leapt. He snatched it off the bedside table, hoping to hear Aria’s soft voice on the other end, but he was disappointed.

“Elijah, it’s Frances here.”

“Mother, why are you ringing at”—he checked his watch— “seven in the morning?”

“Did I wake you?”

“No,” he sighed.

“Good. Any respectable businessman would have started his day by now.”

Eli fought the urge to say something rude. He found he cared less and less for what respectable businessmen did. It was the weekend, for god’s sake. “I’m sure they would, Mother.”

“Frankly, I’m appalled at you,” Frances said. “The house where you’re staying is in a state of disrepair, and you allowed Therese to keep an animal and run wild with the local boys.”

Eli wasn’t brave enough to tell her he’d decided to keep the kitten. Well, actually, now a full-grown cat. The damn thing reminded him of Aria, and he enjoyed stroking it while sitting alone in his office late at night.

“Therese’s teacher rang yesterday. It seems she’s been more difficult than usual. When I spoke to her, she demanded to go back to Itirangi and attend public school. I had hoped you would be a good influence on her, but I do wonder if it didn’t work out the other way around.”

The flood of criticisms reminded Eli of his childhood. Nothing he’d done had ever been good enough. Damn, listening to her exhausted him.

“I won’t be in Itirangi much longer,” he replied. “But as far as I’m concerned, Therese is welcome here for as long as I am. And honestly, Frances, what I do with myself really isn’t your concern.”

“As your mother, everything you do is my concern.”

Eli held on to his patience. “What did you ring for, exactly?”

“You’ve been absent from the social scene for too long. There’s a charity ball for the Breast Cancer Society next Saturday evening, eight o’clock, at the Herne Bay Yacht Club. Pick up Therese from school and bring her along. We need to restore your personal image, as well as my faith in you.”