Possessions by Judith Michael Page A

find him and help him—” She stopped briefly. “If we can; if he’s still alive. I don’t know what’s happened to him, he may be in trouble, or hurt, but you act as if you’re the ones who are hurt, that he’s insulted you because he—” She stopped again. No one had mentioned embezzlement and she would not be the one to bring it up. “He’s been—he is a wonderful husband and a wonderful father and I love him and I won’t turn my back on him, even if you do, and I don’t understand how you can talk about flower gardens and wood carvings and orchids when Craig—”
    Victoria raised an imperious hand. “We do not need you to tell us how to behave. You know very little about us—”
    â€œI’d know more if you’d tell me!”
    â€œDo not interrupt me! We opened our home to you and your children; you have little cause to criticize us.”
    â€œI didn’t want to.” Katherine’s eyes filled with tears. “But I think you’d be happier if you’d never heard of Craig Fraser at all.”
    â€œKatherine,” Tobias chided, looking at Victoria’s tight lips. “Too much, too much. Don’t say more than we can forget.”
    â€œYou don’t want us here,” she went on doggedly. “You don’t want me and you don’t want Craig. But of course it was very kind of you to invite us.” She hesitated, then turned to leave.
    â€œYoung woman!” Victoria’s icy voice stopped her. She heard Tobias lament, “Oh, Katherine,” and Melanie murmur, “How charming; no one walks out on—” as Victoria said, “How dare you turn your back on me! And where do you think you are going? You have no one else to help you.”
    Katherine half-turned to see her—so beautiful in her regal anger it seemed nothing could touch her. “You don’t want to help and I don’t need you. Craig and I have gotten along byourselves for ten years, you haven’t existed for us, so why should I come to you now? I’ll find him . . . and we’ll be all right.” Quickly she left the room, trembling so violently she thought she would fall.
    But suddenly Ross was there, his arm lightly around her shoulders as they walked through the drawing room. “I think you should stay,” he told her. “What you said about us was partly true, but Victoria was right: there are many things you don’t know about us. And there’s no question that we’ll help you financially. I apologize for my wife’s insinuations—”
    â€œYou have nothing to apologize for. But I don’t want any help from your family. All I want to do is go home, where I belong, and find my husband.”
    He started to say something, then changed his mind as they came to the library. Jennifer and Carrie were locked in a computerized race with Todd and Jon on the television screen and it was a few minutes before Katherine was able to pry them loose. “They have a million games, Mom!” Todd said as they all walked down a long gallery.
    â€œThey aren’t ours,” said Jon. “They’re Great-Grandma’s. But she lets us play any time we want, and when you come back—”
    â€œAre we coming back?” Jennifer asked, squinting as she tried to read her mother’s face.
    â€œNo—” Katherine began and that single word, louder than she had intended, met Victoria and Tobias, who were waiting in the entry hall.
    Tobias took Katherine’s hands in his. “We’ve all behaved badly; I’m quite ashamed of everyone. But you will come back, of course you will, now that we’ve met, now that we consider you part of the family—”
    But it was clear he wasn’t asking them to stay. Katherine stepped back. “Goodbye,” she said to Victoria. “I’m sorry.”
    â€œSo am I,” Victoria