by Donna Vitek
"I did," Juliet interrupted emphatically. "But he wouldn't listen and Uncle Will wouldn't listen and…"
Raul's hand dropped away from her face while some of the warmth faded from those mesmerizing green eyes. "Running away was no answer though," he said icily. "You could have discussed the problem with me."
Juliet stared at him disbelievingly. "And what good would that have done? Pablo told me you were all for our marriage, so talking to you about my problem would have been like talking to the moon."
Raul pushed back his chair and stood towering over her, thrusting his hands into the pockets of his trousers. "Pablo tends to interpret other people's words and actions the way he wants to. I never agreed to an arranged marriage between you and him, Juliet. He told me he had proposed and you had accepted so there was nothing I could do except offer my congratulations. Contrary to what you think of me, I don't think I'm an all-powerful lord. Pablo is my younger brother but I don't control his life. I wouldn't presume to arrange a marriage for him."
Juliet rose slowly to stand on legs suddenly quite weak with relief. "You mean you didn't…"
"Nothing changes the fact that you decided running away was far easier than simply refusing to marry Pablo," Raul interrupted coldly, buttoning his suit coat over the matching tan vest. "And I'm still disappointed in you for making such an immature decision. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some business at the gallery."
Juliet watched as he strode out of the dining room, then she sank back down on her chair, knowing she really couldn't defend herself. What he had said was true. It had been foolish to run away from her problem last year. She already regretted having done it since it made him see her as a silly child who chose to evade disagreements rather than to resolve them. She might have to admit to herself that one of the main reasons she had left with Benny last year was her mistaken idea that Raul approved of her arranged marriage to Pablo but she could hardly tell Raul that. Such a revelation would only embarrass him and humiliate her, so she supposed she would simply have to resign herself to his low opinion of her or try to change it by proving she was now more mature than she had been last year. No easy accomplishment, she thought with a sigh as she rested one elbow on the table and cupped her chin in her palm. Even so, she couldn't feel totally disheartened. At least she now knew that Raul was not as unfeeling as she had presumed. He hadn't approved of an arranged marriage between Pablo and her and that realization somewhat eased the nagging feeling that she had been betrayed by Raul last year.
Three days later, Juliet turned the Esprit between white stone gateposts and onto the winding drive that led to Casa Valaquez. Endless rows of gnarl-trunked olive trees stretched out on each side, their leaf-laden branches spreading out wide beneath the hot sun. Life sustaining water from the Sierra Nevadas became silvery ribbons in irrigation ditches and sparkled in the molten gold sunlight.
Beside Juliet, in the passenger seat, Rosita clasped her hands together and sighed with sheer happiness as she gazed out her window. "It is so beautiful, niña. It was always my wish to work in a house in the country like this but…" She shrugged resignedly. "I became the maid in a house in Granada when I was fourteen and the city has been where I live always. But coming to care for Señor Will in a place like this will be like a vacacion. Si?"
"Si," Juliet murmured, smiling at the housekeeper. Then she turned her attention to the road again, hoping Rosita wouldn't detect the uncertainty she herself was feeling. Although she could understand Rosita's excitement, she felt far less confident that this little visit to Casa Valaquez would be like a vacation. Considering Raul's unflattering opinion of her and his grandmother's haughty disapproval, Juliet feared her time here might seem more like a term in a penitentiary than a holiday. She had made the commitment, however, so there was no turning back now.
After a sharp bend in the pebbled road, they approached Casa Valaquez, a white, rambling two-storied stucco structure set in a circle of shading cypress trees. To the side of the house, toward the back, were the stables and Juliet smiled as she saw a lanky yellow dog wriggle beneath the bottom rail of the paddock fence, then lope off into the distance across the lush green grass. Twice before, she had visited Raul's home, once with her uncle for dinner and once when Pablo had dragged her out here one afternoon to go riding. Though the house was lovely and the grounds exotic, she hadn't felt comfortable here on those two occasions, mostly because Pablo had been driving her crazy with his unwanted declarations of undying love and also because of Señora Valaquez. Though Raul's grandmother had been polite, Juliet had sensed a certain reservation in her manner and since she expected the same sort of reception today, she certainly wasn't eager to move in with a pile of luggage, as if she meant to put down roots here.
Staring at the house with great misgivings, Juliet gulped as she parked the car on the circle drive. "I don't see why we had to bring everything we own," she muttered to Rosita as she cut the engine. "Señora Valaquez will probably faint when she sees all this luggage. She'll think we've decided to spend the rest of our lives here."
"Is not so much," the housekeeper argued with a careless wave of her hand. "Is just Señor Will's clothes and yours and mine. Why you worry?"
"Who's worried?" Juliet retorted wryly, then shrugged. "Well, I suppose we might as well get this over with. Why don't you go knock on the door?"
As Rosita hopped spryly out of the car and disappeared into the shadows beyond the fretted arch entrance, Juliet got out also and began taking suitcases out of the back. She was halted in her task by a manservant dressed all in black.
"Allow me, señorita," he murmured without smiling. "I will see to your luggage. The señora awaits you inside."
Just my luck, Juliet thought with a wry smile as she reluctantly walked across the mosaic tiled patio supported by fluted columns festooned with trailing bougainvillaea vines laden with fragrant scarlet blooms. Going on beneath the fretted arch, she entered the inner courtyard and stopped for a moment to admire the central stone fountain and the hanging baskets of brightly colored flowers that decorated the wrought iron railing of the second floor balcony. An orange tree in each corner of the courtyard provided shade and a sweet citrus fragrance and Juliet appreciatively inhaled the faintly perfumed air.
At that moment, paneled double doors that opened onto the huge main hall of the house were opened and Señora Valaquez stepped into the courtyard, forcing her patrician features into a stiff smile. "Welcome to Casa Valaquez, Señorita McKay."
Juliet stepped forward hesitantly. "My uncle and I appreciate your hospitality, señora."
"De nada," the señora said with a grand, dismissive wave of her hand. "It is nothing. Mi nieto, my grandson, thought that the fresh air here would hasten your uncle's recuperation. I hope that it will prove so. Now, if you will come inside, I will show you to your room."
Juliet gestured uncertainly. "Uh, our housekeeper, Rosita…"
"She is being shown to her room by our house-keeper. We have put her next to Señor McKay down here on the first floor, where he can move around easily in his wheelchair."
"A good idea," Juliet agreed in a murmur as she stepped past Raul's grandmother into the immense main hall. Marble tiles of white and gold covered the floor and the white plastered walls were met with intricately carved mahogany wainscoting. The ceiling was domed and embellished with plaster moldings. Ancient brass lamps were mounted on the walls beside huge gilt framed mirrors on each side of the hall that reflected the foot of the marble staircase that curved upward to the second floor. A tracery of delicate wrought iron comprised the balustrade and banister and stepping up along the staircase, narrow window embrasures in the wall were covered by more wrought iron, shaped into a matching scroll design.
Though Juliet had seen it all before, she looked around again with a certain amount of awe. Then she caught a glance of sharp jet black eyes sweeping over her denim skirt and casual yet neat pale blue knit shirt but she pretended not to notice the slight distaste those eyes co
nveyed. "You have such a beautiful home, señora," she said instead. "I've always admired it."
Alicia Valaquez acknowledged the compliment with only a curt nod. "Now, señorita, I will show you to your room. It is upstairs."
"Oh, but I thought I'd be close to Uncle Will," Juliet blurted out, then gestured apologetically. "I mean, since his room is on the first floor, shouldn't mine be too?"
"I thought that too," Señora Valaquez informed her coolly. "But Raul insisted that you would be more comfortable upstairs. He said your uncle would be fine with the maid and the nurse."
"Nurse?" Juliet exclaimed softly. "I didn't realize Raul intended to hire a nurse for Uncle Will. Was that really necessary?"
The señora stroked her thick silver hair which was coiled into a smooth coronet on her crown and stared down her thin aristocratic nose at Juliet. "If my grandson did not think a nurse was necessary, I am certain he would not have hired one. If you do not agree with his decision, then you should speak to him."
"Could I? I mean, it's not that I disagree, exactly. I just think I should discuss the matter with him. Is he here right now? Could I speak to him?"
"He is here, yes, but he is very busy in his office. I would suggest you wait until dinner tonight to speak with him. He is working now and you would not wish to disturb him, would you?"
"That's the last thing I wish to do, I assure you," Juliet answered with a wry smile that unfortunately wasn't returned. Heaving a silent sigh then, she followed the señora up the marble stairs and along a wide carpeted hall into the north wing of the house.
Raul's grandmother stopped at last and opened double doors to the most beautiful bedroom Juliet had ever seen. As she stepped inside, her espadrilles sinking down in thick white carpet, her eyes widened in pleasant surprise. Though the furniture was heavy and dark, typically Spanish, the room's overall decor was light and airy. Aquamarine silk drapes billowed in the breeze that drifted through the French windows that led to the flower-bedecked balcony and they matched the quilted satin coverlet that covered the high wide bed. Cut-glass vases containing fresh red rosebuds graced the gleaming tops of the bureau and ivory-inlaid vanity.
"How lovely," Juliet said softly. "It is magnificent, señora."
"I am pleased you like it," Alicia Valaquez responded with another of her stiff unenthusiastic smiles. "Now, I will leave you. Fernando will be up with your luggage in a moment and I will send your maid to help you unpack."
Juliet nodded, then sighed with relief as Señora Valaquez went out and closed the double doors behind her. Without her dampening presence, Juliet felt free to explore her new accommodations and after a quick look at the original painting of an orange grove that hung on one wall, she wandered out onto the balcony which overlooked another larger courtyard. Potted palms lined the tiled apron of a huge swimming pool, with its azure waters sparkling invitingly in the sunlight.
"Is nice here, eh, niña?" Rosita asked as she stepped onto the balcony to join Juliet. "You like to swim, si? Maybe you wear a teeny little bikini and catch Señor Raul's eye, eh?"
As Rosita cackled gleefully, Juliet dodged the elbow that tried to poke her ribs, then shook her head admonishingly. "You're impossible, Rosita. I don't have a teeny little bikini and even if I did, I wouldn't wear it to catch any man's eye, especially Raul's."
"But you would like for him to see you as a woman, eh, niña?" Rosita persisted too perceptively. "If you do not wish to wear the teeny bikini, then you will have to catch his eye in another way. Si?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Juliet lied, spinning around on one heel to walk back into the room. Spotting her luggage sitting on the carpeted floor, she used it to temporarily divert Rosita's attention.
Unpacking was the perfect diversion. During the next twenty minutes, Rosita was far more concerned with shaking wrinkles out of Juliet's dresses than she was in discussing Raul Valaquez. When the last pair of shoes had been tucked neatly into the vast closet, she placed her gnarled hands on scrawny hips and smiled with satisfaction. "Now, Señor Will is settled in; you are settled in. So I will go downstairs and unpack my own clothes."
"And I think I'll go visit Uncle Will. Maybe he'd like for me to push his chair out into the courtyard. I'll walk downstairs with you and you can show me exactly where his room is."
"Señor Will is sleeping," Rosita informed her. "The nurse say the ride here tired him."
"Oh. Well, he needs all the rest he can get." Staring out the balcony doors, Juliet tapped her forefinger thoughtfully against her cheek. "I think maybe I'll take a walk then, until he wakes up from his nap."
After walking down the balcony stairs with Rosita, Juliet strolled across the flower-studded courtyard, past the swimming pool, beyond the far border of verdant cypress trees. As she walked across the drive, the glaring sun bore down relentlessly on her bare head so it was a pleasure to reach the shade provided by a sprawling chestnut tree growing by the paddock fence. Leaning on the railing, Juliet rested her chin on her hands and smiled at the lanky yellow dog chasing an equally lanky, long-legged black colt around the grassy paddock, a game both animals seemed to enjoy immensely.
Suddenly, heavy hands descended on Juliet's shoulders and turned her and found herself staring up into a dark face, similar to Raul's and perhaps more classically handsome, though not nearly as intriguing. "Hello, Pablo," she murmured with a gentle smile. "How have you been?"
"How can you ask me that, mi amante?" he answered in a dramatic whisper, his black eyes reproachful and heavy lidded. "You have broken my heart and you ask me how I've been. I have been miserable this past year; that is how I have been."
Juliet fought a smile. "I bet your misery didn't stop you from taking out other girls the past eleven months, did it?"
"There have been girls, yes," he admitted with a careless shrug. "But I only went out with them to help me forget you, help me forget how you hurt me by leaving the way you did."
As his hands went down to clamp around her waist, Juliet sighed and placed her own hands on his arms. "Look, Pablo, I think maybe you're exaggerating how much I hurt you last year," she said kindly but firmly. "I had told you often enough I wasn't interested in a romantic relationship and frankly I think you only wanted me because I didn't fall at your feet and worship you the way all the other señoritas seem to do."
"That isn't true, mi amante," he muttered, releasing her to turn and rake his fingers through his hair. After adopting a tragic pose by bending his head and staring morosely at the ground, he glanced sideways at her as if to see if this performance was being taken seriously. "I loved you, querida. And now that you're here again, I realize I still do. I'll love you forever."
"You're being overly dramatic again," she said flatly. "You've tried all these tricks on me before and they've never worked. I know you're not in love with me because you're too much a playboy to be in love with anyone. Why don't you just admit that you want me because I'm the first girl you've ever met who wasn't eager to marry you? If I accepted your proposal, you'd run like a scared rabbit but since I refuse, you find me intriguing."
"Try accepting and see what I do, amada," he bluffed outrageously, turning swiftly to haul her into his arms. "See how fast I run if you say you'll marry me."
Juliet had to laugh up at him. "Pablo, you're impossible," she said, spreading her hands open against his chest to maintain a protective distance between them. Then when an answering smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, she reached up to pat his cheek affectionately. "Even if you do drive me crazy sometimes, I can't help but like you. So why don't we stop all this silly nonsense and just be friends."
"Because it isn't friendship I want from you," he muttered, his smile fading to be replaced by a petulant downcurving of his lips. Throwing her off-balance momentarily by yanking her closer, he proceeded to clamp his mouth down over hers.
Since she had been the unwilling recipient of his kisses before, Juliet knew just what to do. She held herself stiffly in the circle o
f his arms, her lips pressed firmly together until her lack of response made him so impatient that his kiss became furiously rough, in his vain attempt to use sheer force to part her lips. Infuriated, Juliet dragged her lips away from his, her eyes glittering with irritation as she glared up at him. "Enough is enough,", she said tersely. "Let me go right now, Pablo."
Amazingly, he did. But his black eyes conveyed a sullen, almost childlike stubbornness as they met hers. "I don't understand you," he muttered sulkily, thrusting his hands deep into his trouser pockets and kicking at the exposed root of a tree with his toe. A cloud of dust rose, then settled on the highly glossed leather of his Gucci shoe but he didn't seem to notice. "Why are you being so difficult? Other girls don't mind my kisses."
He looked so much like a spoiled little boy who had dropped his candy that Juliet almost felt sorry for him. "Other girls are romantically interested in you but I've told you and told you I don't feel that way," she said gently. "If you'd just stop pretending you're madly in love with me, maybe we could be friends."
"No, never," he retorted peevishly. "I won't give up until you agree to marry me. If you'd just give me half a chance, I know I could make you forget that stupid singer you ran off with last year. You've been wasting yourself on him, Juliet. He's a no-talent, impoverished…"
"You happen to be talking about someone very dear to me," she interrupted, angry color flooding her cheeks. "Now, I think you'd better go, Pablo, before I really lose my temper with you."
He suddenly chuckled confidently and leaned down to brush a kiss across her lips. "You are so stubborn, amada, but you don't fool me. You wouldn't be here at Casa Valaquez right now if you hadn't decided you prefer me to that singer of yours."
Juliet could only lift her eyes heavenward in disgust, then breathe a disgruntled sigh as Pablo strode blithely away. He hadn't matured one bit in the past year but she had, and this time she wouldn't run away to escape his unwanted attention. If necessary, she would stop trying to be so nice to him and tell him in no uncertain terms why he never would appeal to her. She didn't want to be so blunt but it looked as if he might force her to be. What a stupid, irritating situation, she thought as she slipped her hands into the pockets of her denim skirt. As she turned to stare across the paddock again, a rueful little smile hovered on her lips. Now, if it were only Raul instead of Pablo who was so eager to make her fall in love with him…
