Love and Triumph: The Coltrane Saga, Book 8 Read Free

a slightly plunging neckline, pouf sleeves, a wide satin belt, and a gently billowing skirt that daintily touched her ankles above silver shoes with the highest heels she’d ever worn. Yet she knew that despite everything, she would still look dull, colorless.
    There was a knock, and she heard Jade calling to her. When she opened the door, she could not help thinking that the look of disappointment in her aunt’s eyes matched her own in the mirror.
    With a forced smile, Jade said, “Well, I see you’re up and ready for the breakfast, and since we’ve got a few minutes, I’d like to talk to you, if I may.”
    Marilee shrugged, gestured to the chairs in front of the fireplace. They sat down, and Jade got straight to the point.
    “We’re worried about you, dear,” she began gently. “All of us. You seem so unhappy.”
    “I’m sorry if I’m making everyone uncomfortable,” Marilee coolly said, not looking at her but staring down at her folded hands.
    “Oh, no, dear. It’s not that. We care. We really do. I just wanted to know if there’s anything I can do, if there’s anything you want to talk about. Heavens, I know you’re worried about your father. We all are, but for the moment, there’s nothing we can do but pray for his safety.”
    “I wish I could go look for him,” Marilee said miserably. “I feel so helpless.”
    “If I thought it would help, I’d encourage you to do just that.”
    Jade absently gave her hand a flutter, as though to wave away unpleasant thoughts on a day that was supposed to be a celebration. “Back to you, my dear. What about that young man you wrote to me about? The Austrian lad? You haven’t said anything about him since you got here, and I had a feeling you might be getting serious about him.”
    Marilee told her about Rudolf’s invitation to visit his family and was not surprised that Jade urged her to go.
    “There’s no need for you to just sit around here worrying about your father. There’s nothing you can do. Go to Switzerland, dear. It’s safe there, and it might just lead to a proposal.”
    Marilee swallowed against the bitterness, the hurt. Jade had not even asked if a proposal was what Marilee wanted. As far as the Coltranes were concerned, it didn’t matter. They just wanted her married and out of their way. “You did say you’d go, didn’t you?” Jade prodded.
    “I haven’t decided exactly what I want to do.” Marilee saw Jade’s look of disappointment and quickly added, “But I won’t be staying on here after the wedding. I’ll travel, do something…”
    “Nonsense! I’m going to be worried enough about Travis and Colt without having to worry about you, too. You’ll either go and visit this young man or you’ll stay here with me.”
    “Wait a minute. What are you talking about? What about Travis and Uncle, Colt?”
    “It seems,” Jade began, “that my son and my husband think that after all these years they can keep something from me. They forget that I love them so much, know them so well, that I can feel instinctively their every emotion. Travis is going to the front in France because he feels called upon to do his duty to his country. Colt is doing the same in his own way, by serving in the diplomatic corps.”
    “Oh, I’m so sorry,” Marilee said, touched that despite her own worries, her aunt found time to care about Marilee’s.
    “Enough gloomy conversation,” Jade said too brightly. “I came here to talk to you about your future. I think you should accept Rudolf’s invitation. It’d be good for you.”
    Jade then left, and Marilee stared after her, knowing she would quickly spread the word to the rest of the family that they should also encourage her to go. Now she wished she hadn’t told her aunt.
    She went to the mirror once more to stare dismally at her reflection.
    Would it have made any difference in her life, she wondered with abject misery, had she been born beautiful? Would she have had a different outlook on