Free Her Favorite Temptation by Sarah Mayberry Page A

changed. Audrey was no longer cowed or repentant, but the face she presented to her family was smooth, impermeable. A smiling, pleasant facade that kept them all at arm’s length. Leah didn’t blame her. Having endured a sustained burst of her mother’s disapproval, she could fully understand why her sister might pull up the drawbridge and conduct all negotiations from a distance. Only a fool wouldn’t protect herself, and Audrey was no fool.
    The conversation had moved on when Leah tuned in, and she did her best to keep it flowing.
    “I meant to tell you, Leah,” her mother said casually. “I ran into Professor Stenlake the other day.”
    Leah eyed her mother’s butter-wouldn’t-melt expression across the table and suppressed a sigh. It was almost inevitable that this would happen, despite the fact that her father had assured her that the subject of her career switch was verboten. “Mum. Can we please not get into this today?” she said firmly.
    “Get into what? I simply want to pass on the fact that he said hello and that you were greatly missed. Which suggests to me that if you asked nicely, he’d be more than happy to accept you back into the program before too much damage has been done.”
    Leah was aware of her sister glancing around the table, trying to fathom what they were talking about.
    “I’ve made my decision, Mum. Can we leave it?”
    “What’s going on?” Audrey asked.
    “Your sister has dropped out of the surgical program. She’s decided she wants to be a clinical immunologist,” her father explained, his tone flat and uninflected.
    Playing Switzerland, as usual.
    “Even though she has poured years of her life into a highly prestigious specialty that will ensure she has a brilliant future,” her mother said.
    Leah gritted her teeth, refusing to let her mother get to her. Refusing to prosecute this argument yet again.
    “Immunology. That’s a bit of a change of pace.” Audrey’s voice was calm and clear, and Leah grasped on to it like a life buoy.
    “I enjoy it. I have some ideas I want to explore. It’s an exciting field with lots of challenges.”
    “Well, good. Congratulations,” Audrey said.
    For some reason, the simple sincerity in her sister’s words hit home.
    “Thank you,” Leah said, meaning it from the bottom of her heart.
    Her mother leaned across the table, one hand pressing down onto the surface as she strained to make her point. “I understand you’re infatuated with immunology at the moment. But there is so much more opportunity for you in cardiothoracic surgery, Leah. So many more chances for you to make your mark.”
    Things spiraled downhill from there as her mother trotted out the same arguments she’d been peddling for weeks, and Leah countered with the same responses, the whole disaster coming to a head when she knew she couldn’t hold back her angry tears a moment longer.
    “It’s not what I want, Mum. It’s what you want, and I can’t live my life for you. Not anymore.” She stood abruptly, her chair legs scraping across the parquet floor. Blinking away furious tears, she headed for the ladies’ room.
    It was all dark surfaces and luxurious lighting, and she paced the small space a few times before coming to a dead stop in the middle of the room.
    She shouldn’t have risen to the bait. She’d given too much energy to her mother’s negativity already, and she refused to be bullied into feeling guilty about living her own life. She let her breath out on a sigh, then turned to the mirror to check her makeup. She may not have actually cried, but her makeup was smudged anyway. Awesome. She looked like Alice Cooper.
    She shoved her hands into her jacket pocket, searching for a tissue, and frowned as she discovered a bumpy, plastic object. She pulled it out, confused.
    Jelly beans. Right.
    She stared at the orange and green and purple beans, remembering the way Will had pressed them into her hand, remembering the soft, private note in his voice when