‘I thought we were always welcome here?’ Tom said, sneering.
‘Not when you talk to her like that, you’re not,’ Dolly said, grabbing his arm. ‘Come on—time to go. Mum, I think you might be better off at home this afternoon, too. We’ll see you soon.’
Luce collapsed back in her chair as she heard Dolly bundle their relatives out of the house. Reaching for a piece of ginger cake, she said, ‘I can’t believe I just kicked them out.’
‘I can’t believe it took you this long,’ Dolly said cheerfully as she sat down and helped herself to her own slice. ‘Buck up, sis. You know they’ll be back. Tom will calm down and beg for forgiveness, then pretend he never said that stuff. But they need to stand on their own four feet for a while. You did the right thing. And besides, you still have me!’
‘Yes, I do,’ Luce said. ‘And everyone needs an adoring sister to run them a bubble bath from time to time...’
Dolly rolled her eyes. ‘Another bath? Really? Okay. But only because you’re pregnant. This stuff stops once the baby’s here.’
‘That’s okay. You can bath the baby then, instead.’
Dolly laughed as she headed off to the bathroom, and Luce thought that maybe, just maybe, things would be okay after all. Not great, perhaps. They couldn’t be—not without Ben. But she’d be okay. And that was enough for now.
* * *
Just one more try. Ben stared at the phone in his hand for a minute before taking a deep breath and pressing ‘call’. Just because she’d ignored his last four phone calls, that didn’t mean she’d definitely ignore this one, did it?
Still, as the phone rang and rang, Ben started to have his doubts.
‘Hello?’
‘Luce?’ The voice didn’t sound quite right, but international phone lines did that sometimes.
‘No, it’s Dolly.’ The sister. Great. ‘You must be the “old university friend”.’
‘Ben Hampton. Is Luce there?’
‘She’s in the bath. In there all the time now she’s pregnant.’
‘She was bad enough before.’ Ben took a breath, and took a chance. ‘Look, I know she’s avoiding my calls. I was...’
‘An idiot?’
‘Last time we spoke. Yes. But I was jet-lagged and exhausted—and stupid, mostly. I’ve had a chance to let the news sink in, and I’m ready to make it up to her.’ Ready to make her the centre of his world if she’d let him.
‘Convince me,’ Dolly said, her voice firm.
Ben blinked at the phone. ‘What?’
‘Convince me you’re worthy of my sister. Make me want to help you.’
Dolly spoke slowly, as if she thought he was an idiot. Which, actually, she probably did.
‘I don’t know how.’
‘Then try. Or you’re on your own.’
Ben stared out across the gardens of the château and thought. He needed this. Needed Dolly’s help if he was ever going to get Luce out here and convince her that they could be a real family. But convince her he was worthy of Luce? Impossible.
‘I’m not,’ he said, finally. ‘I’m not worthy of her. Nobody could be.’
‘Right answer,’ Dolly said. ‘Now, tell me your plans and I’ll see what I can do. Because, I’m telling you, she’s absolutely miserable without you.’
Ben smiled for the first time in a week and told Dolly his plan.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
‘AT LEAST TELL me where I’m going,’ Luce said as Dolly threw more clothes into her suitcase. ‘And how long I’ll be gone. I need to call work...’ Which would be fun. Dennis was still speechless over the pregnancy thing.
‘Already done,’ Dolly said. ‘I told them you’d be back next week. If you decide not to... Well, call them once you’re there.’
‘Where, exactly?’ Luce asked, frustrated. ‘And if I’m there longer than a few days that skirt won’t fit me any more. Three months and I’m already starting to show.’
‘You’re glowing,’ Dolly said. Then she stopped and looked at her. ‘Well, sort of. Right now you just look stressed.’
‘I can’t imagine why.’
Dolly slammed the lid of the suitcase shut and fastened it, leaning hard on it with her elbow to keep it closed. ‘Look, just trust me on this one. It’s for the best, and everything’s going to work out fine. You need a break. You need looking after. And, most importantly, you need to not be in the house while they’re fixing the attic. God only knows what they’re going to find up there, and all that dust would be bad for the baby. Even the builder’s told you to get out for a few days.’
‘I could have just booked into a hotel round the corner for the weekend,’ Luce pointed out.
‘Except I know you.’ Dolly gave her a look. ‘You’d be back here every five minutes, wanting to check on things. No. This is my first chance to be the grown-up and in-charge sister, and I’m taking it. I have booked you a long weekend and you are going. End of story. I’ll take care of everything here, so you don’t need to worry at all.’
Luce opened her mouth to speak, and then closed it again. Telling Dolly she couldn’t go, that she’d worry too much, was tantamount to telling her she didn’t trust her to look after things. How could she do that when Dolly was trying so hard?
‘And, look,’ Dolly said, pointing to the carry-on bag next to the suitcase. ‘I’m letting you take your research notes and your laptop, aren’t I? I know how close you are to finishing the revisions on your book. So it can be a working holiday. Perfect.’
Luce bit her lip at the memory of her last accidental, snowy working holiday. ‘Thanks, Doll. I just...’
‘You just need to relax. Come on—let’s get you to the airport.’
In the end Luce decided it was easier just to cave in to Dolly’s boundless enthusiasm and go. A weekend away did sound wonderful, and it was nice to have someone else take care of the planning for a change.
Or so she thought until her plane landed in Nice and there was no one there to meet her.
This was why she took care of things herself. As hard as Dolly was trying, organisation and responsibility still didn’t come naturally to her. And now Luce was stuck in an airport with no idea where she was supposed to be going.
Fishing her phone out of her bag, she called Dolly. ‘I thought you said there’d be a car here to meet me? With, you know, a driver? To take me to the hotel?’
‘He’s not there?’ Dolly’s incredulous voice screeched down the line. ‘Hang on. I’ll call you back.’
Luce took her bags and sat down on a nearby bench to wait. The Arrivals lounge began to empty out a bit, waiting for the next influx of passengers from the following flight, and she glanced around her, trying to see if she’d missed a sign with her name on it or something. Dolly had been so sure it was all arranged...
The doors in front of her opened with a bang, and Luce looked up to see Ben Hampton—paint on his face, jeans, shirt and in his hair—running towards her just as her phone rang.
‘Dolly.’
‘He’s on his way,’ Dolly said quickly. ‘There was a mix-up—’
‘He’s already here.’
‘Oh.’ Dolly paused. ‘Are you cross?’
‘Possibly. I’ll let you know later.’
‘Okay.’
Luce hung up. ‘You and Dolly came up with a plan. You and Dolly. Together.’ The two people least likely to work together or to come up with a coherent, responsible plan.
Wincing, Ben said, ‘Yeah. Guess it’s no surprise it didn’t quite work. I thought you weren’t due in for another hour.’
‘And you still dressed for the occasion?’
Ben glanced down at his paint-splattered clothes. ‘I lost track of time. Come on—let me take your bags.’
‘Where are we going?’ Luce
asked as she followed him out to where his car was parked at a wildly illegal angle on the kerb. ‘Another hotel?’
Ben shook his head. ‘We’re going home.’
* * *
She looked incredible. Three months pregnant, straight off an aeroplane, annoyed with him—and she was still, by far, the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
‘Where is home, exactly?’ Luce asked as they pulled out of the airport.
‘I told you about my grandmother’s château?’
‘That’s where we’re going? So—what? You’re moving to France?’
Ben sighed. ‘If you just wait—just a little bit—I promise I can do grand apologies and romantic gestures in style once we get there. And maybe once I’ve changed clothes.’
‘It’s not your clothes I’m worried about you changing. And I’m not interested in romantic gestures.’
She had her arms crossed over her chest, her creamy breasts pushing against the silk of her top. Were they bigger? Not the time, Hampton.
‘Just the apology, then?’
Luce nodded. ‘And I’d rather have that sooner than later.’
Ben smiled despite himself. ‘No patience at all, have you?’
‘Oh, I don’t know. I think I’ve waited quite long enough.’
She had a point. ‘I made a plan and everything, you know. There was a list.’
‘Dolly’s been telling me for weeks that plans need to be flexible. That’s why we’re painting the nursery yellow.’
‘You and Dolly?’
‘She’s moved in. She’s paying rent so we can fix up the house and make it baby-safe. And it means I won’t have to be alone when the baby comes.’
Ben clenched his jaw. She wouldn’t be alone. She shouldn’t ever have thought she had to be alone. Never mind the plan.
‘I’m sorry, Luce. For reacting the way I did.’ Ben glanced across at her. She stared out of the window, intently focusing on something in the distance, or maybe on nothing at all. Either way, she wasn’t looking at him, which was all Ben cared about. ‘I was an idiot. I know that. Seb told me, and Dolly told me.’
‘She wrote a song about how much of an idiot you are, you know.’
Ben laughed. He was starting to actually like Dolly, against the odds.
‘The thing is, I knew I was wrong. I knew losing you, and our baby, would be the worst decision I ever made. I just couldn’t see any way out of it.’
Now Luce looked at him, eyebrows raised, and Ben looked away and concentrated on the road again, just to avoid the anger in her gaze.
‘You couldn’t just say, We’ll figure it out together?’
Ben winced. ‘Apparently not. I was jet-lagged, tired, not thinking straight. But mostly I just didn’t want to turn into my father.’
‘You can’t let your parents’ marriage define your life.’
‘I know. But Seb wanted me to take on this new work, travelling all the time, and I couldn’t drag you and a kid around with me—hell, you’d never let me. And even if you did you’d hate it so much you’d leave me eventually. But I couldn’t see myself staying in one place either. And I don’t want to be one of those dads who’s never around and then shows up for a couple of days in a whirlwind before disappearing again.’
‘So you made all these decisions for me and our child without talking to me about it?’
Luce’s words were cold and hard, and Ben turned off the autoroute with relief. Nearly home. If he could just get her to the château...
‘I’m trying to make up for it now,’ he said. ‘Just give me the chance.’
Luce shook her head. ‘I’m not sure that you can, Ben.’
The pain in her voice made his heart clench. ‘Let me try.’
They drove the rest of the way in silence, and by the time Ben pulled up in front of the château the sky was growing dark. Grabbing her bag from the boot, he opened the door to help her out, and watched her as she stared up at the building.
‘It’s beautiful,’ she said.
‘It’s nothing compared to you.’ She turned to him in surprise, and he shrugged, moving away towards the front door.
‘You know flattery isn’t going to win this one for you?’
‘It’s not flattery if it’s true,’ Ben called back. And besides, he’d try every trick he could think of if it meant getting Luce to stay.
* * *
Inside, the château was cool and dark. The spring evening had turned chilly, and Luce wrapped her cardigan tighter around her as Ben flicked on the lights. Lamps around the walls flared into life, lighting the wide entrance hall and sweeping staircase.
‘You want the tour?’ Ben asked, and Luce nodded.
She followed him through the first door on the left.
‘Drawing room,’ Ben said, waiting while Luce looked around.
Everything looked dusty, unloved. Sheets lay over the chairs and sofas and the candlesticks and brassware were tarnished. There was none of the careful design of his hotel rooms, or even the cosy decoration of his cottage. This was somebody else’s home—not Ben’s. Not yet, anyway.
‘When did you get here?’ she asked as he led her back into the hall and through the next door.
‘A week ago,’ Ben said. He flipped on the light switch, revealing case after case of dusty leather books. ‘Library, obviously.’
‘You flew straight here the day after I told you?’
‘I had work to do.’
Of course. For someone who said he didn’t want to turn into his father, Ben seemed to be doing his damnedest to become exactly the same sort of workaholic.
He led her across the hallway to show her a front sitting room and a formal dining room. More antique furniture, more dustsheets. More floral wallpaper and heavy curtains.
‘This place doesn’t seem very you,’ she commented.
‘It isn’t yet. Lot of work to do.’
‘Is that why you came straight here as soon as you got back from your work trip? Or is there a hotel nearby you’re looking at acquiring?’
‘Always with the questions...’ Ben took her arm, tucking her hand into the crook of his arm just as he had that night in Chester. ‘Come see the kitchen, then I’ll explain everything.’
The kitchen stretched across the back of the house, with huge full-length windows leading out to the garden. The units were old and battered, but Luce could see what a fabulous space it could be, redone properly. The whole house had huge potential. Small for a château, she supposed, but plenty big enough for any modern family.
Not that she would be moving to France, of course. Ben hadn’t even suggested it. In fact she had no idea at all what he wanted from her.
‘It’s a lovely kitchen,’ she said, rounding on him. ‘Now, talk.’
Ben smiled, and the love in his eyes as he looked at her shocked her. He looked...open. Free.
‘I spoke to Seb,’ he started. ‘The morning after I saw you. Told him what an idiot I’d been. Told him I couldn’t see how I could fix it—having you and a family—with my job. But without the job I couldn’t support you, and being stuck in an office five days a week would drive me crazy.’
‘I know that. I’d never ask you to do that.’ Luce pulled away from him. ‘I told you—you don’t have to be involved if you don’t want to be. But why you dragged me out here to tell me this again—’
‘I didn’t,’ Ben said, grabbing her hands. ‘Just listen—please. Actually, come upstairs with me.’
‘Only if you talk as we go,’ Luce said, hating the burning tears she could feel forming in her eyes. Damn hormones. They confused everything. She just wanted answers. No need to get upset.
‘Okay,’ Ben said with a laugh. ‘You’ve been very patient with me.’
Holding her hand, he wa
lked them back into the hallway and up the staircase.
‘Seb asked me what I really wanted,’ he said. ‘And I realised it was the same question I’d kept asking you. You hadn’t been able to answer it. But suddenly I could. The only thing in the world I wanted that morning, and every morning since, was you in my life. You and our child. No one-night rules. No running away. Just you. Always. However you’ll have me.’
Luce looked up in surprise and the stair carpet slipped under her foot. Ben wrapped a strong arm around her waist and she grabbed at his shoulders as she found her balance and tried to get her heartbeat back under control.
Ben smiled at her, carrying on as if nothing had happened. ‘So Seb ordered coffee, and we worked out a plan to make it all work. A long-term, lasting plan. You’d have been so proud of us.’
‘I already am,’ Luce murmured. He’d made the right choice. It had taken him a couple of days, maybe, but he’d chosen to stay, to fight. Chosen responsibility and grown-up life over running away like a teenager. ‘So, what was the plan?’
‘We tackled work first, because I was so worried about making the same mistakes Dad did. I offered to quit, but Seb had a better plan. I’m going to keep developing our new hotel line—family-friendly, boutique business hotels—but I’m going to get help to do it. You can come with me, whenever you want, and we’ll structure it so I’m not away more than two weeks in every month.’
Luce blinked. ‘So—wait. You want to be with me—with us—when you’re in the country?’
Ben grinned and pulled her up the rest of the stairs. ‘I love you, Luce. I want to be with you all the time. Did I miss that part out?’
‘Yes.’
‘Well, I do. I want to be a real family with you. And I know now what a real family needs.’
‘What’s that?’
‘A home. Or, in our case, several.’ He threw open a door off the landing and Luce looked in to see sunny yellow walls and boxes of nursery furniture piled in the centre of the room. ‘I’d hoped to get at least the crib put together before you arrived. Painting took longer than I remembered.’
Stranded with the Tycoon (Mills & Boon Cherish) Page 16
