same solid, steady sort who could be counted upon no matter how difficult the situation became. He had a handsome build and looked good in khakis and a polo shirt, but she didn't love him and had to look away before he recognized that sorry truth in her eyes.
He cleared his throat with a nervous cough. "I've made no secret of the fact I want more than you're willing to give, but I don't believe you'll ever be able to love any man while you've such a huge emotional investment in Miguel Aragon."
"I despise him!"
He recoiled from her vicious outburst. "It's indifference that's the opposite of love, not hate. Your father is a part of you, certainly the most significant part. You need to go to him, and not just for yourself but for all of us who love you. Do it for us."
She bristled. "Is that an ultimatum?"
"I've always admired your spirit, and I know you've had other relationships. They've all been as one-sided as ours, haven't they? You shrug off men like old coats. Tell me if I'm wrong. It doesn't matter if it doesn't work out for us, but how many men have you truly loved?"
The setting sun left the jagged mountain range silhouetted against a vermillion blaze. Maggie sucked in a breath and exhaled slowly as the night smeared the sky with red-violet streamers. "Do you want names?"
"No, damn it, I want the truth." When she didn't reply, he got up and pushed away from the couch. "You always brush off my counseling skills, but I actually believed I possessed the necessary insights to make things work for us. How's that for a colossal ego?"
She heard the hurt in his voice and offered the only reassurance she could. "Craig, please. This isn't about us."
His shoulders hunched as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "The hell it isn't. I never stood a chance with you, and if you don't go to Spain and confront your father for abandoning you, the next man won't either."
He walked out of the room, and while he deserved at least a token pursuit, she remained where she sat and flinched when he slammed the door. Her father's letter lay on the coffee table, and she reached for it but found no tender message left unread. The bastard had simply issued an order, but that didn't mean she had to meekly comply. Then again, Craig's advice, no matter how unwanted, was sound.
He had a master's degree in psychology and had worked with high school students and their families for more than ten years. He had a clear understanding of troubled families, while she'd grown up on the margin of a happy one. She might have stubbornly refused to admit she had unfinished business with Miguel Aragon, but didn't she owe it to herself to at least meet him in person? She laughed as she thought while he'd faced many a ferocious bull, he wouldn't be ready for her.
There were only a couple of weeks left in the spring semester and if she cited a family emergency, she could arrange for a substitute to cover her classes and leave early. She owed Craig an apology, but knowing he'd much rather hear the whole story, she'd wait until she returned home.
"Home," she whispered softly, for it had never been her father's luxurious estate. Once made, the decision seemed to have come easily, but the trip could be the most difficult of her life. She looked out toward the night where the sky had darkened to a deep mysterious blue and the mountains were no more than serrated shadows.
Chapter Two
Magdalena's flight landed at Barcelona's El Prat airport on Saturday afternoon. She'd sent her father her flight information, but with the harried effort to end the school year early and write lesson plans for her sub, there'd been no time to consider her arrival before boarding the plane. Now as she left customs to enter the passenger arrival lounge, she paused and surveyed the waiting crowd with an anxious glance.
A couple of men were in the right age range, but neither even remotely resembled Miguel Aragon. That she'd foolishly assumed he would be there to meet her struck her as not merely na?ve but unbelievably stupid. A mist of anguished tears had already begun to blur her vision before she noticed a chauffeur in a muted gray uniform making his way toward her.
Her fellow passengers surged forward, but Maggie hung back and agilely shifted her balance