The Diamond Bride

by Carole Mortimer

  Annie looked at Jessica, and then to the cakes, and then back to Jessica again. ‘I know!’ She put the tray of cakes on the side to cool. ‘We’ll offer one to your father when he gets home.’

  ‘That’s mean.’ Jessica giggled again, although she didn’t reject the idea.

  Perhaps it was. But, in all honesty, Annie couldn’t say she was feeling very charitable towards Rufus right at this moment. He—

  She turned with a puzzled frown as the apartment door slammed shut with a resounding bang. What on earth—? Who on earth…? It couldn’t be Rufus—could it?—he had barely left an hour ago.

  Rufus stormed into the kitchen, his expression thunderous as he glared across the room at them both. ‘Women!’ he pronounced disgustedly. ‘They’re all illogical, of course,’ he said to himself, throwing his jacket over one of the kitchen chairs. ‘The only time any of you make any sense is when you’re asleep!’ He glared at Annie and Jessica again. ‘And even then you’re all damned enigmas!’ He turned sharply on his heel. ‘I’ll be in my study making a telephone call,’ was his parting comment.

  And I don’t want to be disturbed, he could have added, but didn’t. Although his wish to be left alone was all too obvious, even to these two ‘damned enigmas’.

  ‘I wonder who’s upset him?’ Jessica murmured in an awestruck voice. ‘I’ve rarely seen Daddy that angry,’ she explained.

  Indeed, who had rattled his cage? as Rufus had once asked her!

  But Annie didn’t need to wonder who or what had annoyed him; he had gone out to see Margaret—it was obvious that meeting was what had upset him. It obviously hadn’t gone well.

  And, for all that it had made Rufus so angry, Annie couldn’t help her own elation that it hadn’t!

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  ‘I SOMEHOW don’t think just now is the time to offer him one of our burnt cakes, do you?’ Jessica very wisely threw all of them away in the bin. ‘I don’t think he’s in the mood to see the joke.’

  Strangely enough, Rufus’s obvious bad humour had brought a return of Annie’s good one! Whatever had transpired between him and Margaret, it hadn’t gone well. Annie couldn’t have been more pleased.

  Perhaps that was slightly wicked of her, maybe even more than slightly, but she couldn’t help the way she felt. She didn’t want him reunited with Margaret. She loved Rufus herself; how could she possibly want that?

  ‘Let’s start preparing lunch,’ she suggested breezily. ‘It looks as if your father will be joining us, after all.’

  Although whether or not he would actually feel like eating was another matter!

  When Rufus didn’t appear back in the kitchen by the time twelve-thirty came round, and lunch was ready, Annie decided to go in search of him.

  He was still in his study, didn’t appear to have moved as he bade Annie to enter after her knock, sitting back in the chair behind the desk, his feet actually up on the desktop.

  Annie’s brows rose. ‘Comfortable?’

  ‘Moderately,’ he snapped, his expression as glowering as it had been when he’d arrived back earlier, his elbows resting on the arms of his brown leather chair, his hands linked together under his chin as he looked at Annie over the top of them.

  ‘Lunch is ready,’ she told him cordially.

  ‘I’m not particularly hungry,’ he returned, still making no effort to move.

  Annie didn’t move either, remaining exactly where she was. ‘Jessica says it’s your favourite.’

  His mouth contorted. ‘Does she? What, exactly, is it?’ he asked uninterestedly.

  ‘Bacon omelette with lots of toast.’ It didn’t exactly sound exciting to her own ears, but Jessica had insisted it definitely was her father’s favourite meal.

  It was really too bad if it wasn’t; there were provisions in the refrigerator, but they weren’t exactly extensive. Obviously Rufus lived very simply when he was here.

  ‘It is my favourite meal.’ Rufus swung his legs off the desktop, sitting forward in his chair, the dark gloom that had been emanating from him, and filling the room, dispelled as he grinned at her. ‘Jessica is going to make some lucky man a good wife some day,’ he told Annie as he stood up to follow her back to the kitchen.

  Annie turned as she heard him chuckling softly behind her. ‘Is something funny?’ she said slowly; she certainly couldn’t see any joke.

  ‘Your face just now when I made that remark about Jess.’ Laughter danced in the darkness of his eyes. ‘Go on, tell me what remark you instinctively wanted to make back.’

  She gave him a reproving look. ‘You said it just to annoy me!’

  ‘And I succeeded.’ He still grinned, his bad humour of a few minutes ago apparently forgotten.

  ‘Okay.’ She nodded. ‘I thought your remark extremely chauvinistic. And I’m surprised you don’t want more for Jessica,’ she added challengingly; two could play at his game!

  ‘That’s an interesting comment,’ Rufus said. ‘You don’t think a successful marriage is enough for a woman?’

  ‘Is it enough for a man?’ she instantly responded.

  He paused at the kitchen door. ‘I suggest, as Jessica’s lunch will spoil, if we don’t soon eat, that we continue this conversation some other time. And no, I’m not avoiding an answer,’ he stated at her derisive expression. ‘It’s just too wide a subject to dispense with in two minutes.’

  Annie was already regretting the challenge she had thrown out. Oh, not because she didn’t mean what she said, because she did; it was just that she realised now that when Rufus had something on his mind he could be deliberately provocative. She didn’t for a moment believe he had meant what he’d just said; he was just spoiling for an argument! And if he couldn’t get anywhere where Margaret was concerned he was going to argue with someone else—namely Annie!

  After claiming he wasn’t particularly hungry, he certainly did full justice to the omelette and toast, even asking for more of the latter. His bad temper seemed to have disappeared too as he teased and joked with both of them throughout the meal. Not that Annie was fooled by this for a moment, knowing he would return to their earlier conversation once they were on their own again.

  ‘That was excellent.’ Rufus sat back, replete after his meal. ‘What more could a man ask for than two women pandering to his every whim?’ He looked at Annie as she made them all coffee.

  He was still baiting her. But she wasn’t about to bite, not this time. ‘Coffee.’ She smiled at him sweetly as she put the steaming mug down next to him.

  His mouth twitched as he easily guessed that she was inwardly seething at his taunting. ‘Thank you,’ he returned just as politely.

  ‘You know something, Rufus…?’ Annie continued to smile at him as she gave Jessica her drink before picking up her own mug of coffee and resuming her seat. ‘You have a lousy temper!’ she told him pleasantly before calmly sipping her coffee.

  He continued to look at her for several stunned seconds, and then he began to laugh, that loud shout of laughter that showed he was enjoying himself. And he wasn’t laughing at her this time, but with her.

  ‘You’re right, Annie.’ He finally sobered enough to be able to speak. ‘I do have a lousy temper. But for some reason you seem to be able to get me out of it’ He looked at her consideringly. ‘I wonder why that is?’

  Her bravado of a few minutes ago vanished as he continued to look at her, his gaze warm. After a few seconds of this Annie began to wish he had stayed angry—he was less dangerous that way! To her peace of mind…

  ‘What are we going to do this afternoon?’

  It took Annie a couple of seconds to realise Jessica had asked the question, and then, even when she did realise the little girl had addressed the question to her, she was so flustered by the directness of Rufus’s stare that she still couldn’t answer her!

  Rufus was finally the one to turn to his daughter. ‘What would you like to do?’

  ‘Well. judging by the little there is left in the fridge for us to eat, I
think we should all go food shopping,’ Jessica told him ruefully.

  ‘I think the two of you should go.’ Rufus stood up abruptly, taking some money out of his pocket and putting it down on the breakfast-bar. ‘I have some work to do. Take a taxi there and back, and don’t overstock; we’re probably only going to be here another couple of days.’ He paused at the door. ‘And don’t worry about food for this evening; I’m sure Jessica would be very disappointed if we didn’t go to her favourite restaurant for pizza.’

  ‘Thank you, Daddy.’ Jessica grinned at him, that familiar grin turning to a giggle once her father had left the room. ‘Don’t worry Annie.’ She laughed at Annie’s perplexed expression. ‘I’m not sure what was going on between you and Daddy during lunch, but I think he wasn’t being very kind to you—and I knew if I said we wanted to go shopping he would run away! You’re right, Annie.’ She shook her head with affection. ‘He does have a bad temper!’

  For one so young in years, Jessica was very astute. Rufus hadn’t exactly been unkind to her earlier, but he had certainly been spoiling for a fight. And as the only other adult within touching distance she was the most likely candidate. Annie had to admit that without Jessica’s calming presence she would probably have been only too happy to be his opponent!

  Annie laughed softly, her tension instantly easing. ‘Let’s go and do that shopping.’

  Jessica stood up, her ankle hardly troubling her at all now. ‘We could get all the ingredients to make a nice hot curry tomorrow; that should steam Daddy’s temper out of him!’

  ‘Now, that isn’t nice,’ Annie reproved her lightly, but she couldn’t help but smile at the thought of Rufus with steam coming out of his ears…

  Rufus wasn’t in that deliberately provocative mood any more when they went out for dinner later that evening; in fact he barely spoke at all, seeming totally distracted. Annie wasn’t sure which was worse—a taunting Rufus or an almost silent one!

  ‘Bad-tempered, and now he’s very quiet,’ Jessica ruminated as she climbed into bed later. ‘I’ve never, ever seen Daddy be quite like this…’

  Annie shrugged dismissively, although she had to admit it hadn’t been a very comfortable evening for any of them. ‘He obviously has something on his mind.’ Or someone! The problem of the elusive Margaret was obviously still with him. But she couldn’t exactly tell Jessica that!

  In fact, it suited her that Rufus didn’t want to discuss Margaret in front of his daughter; feeling about him as she did, it would be too painful for her to talk about his preoccupation with another woman!

  ‘I hope he isn’t going to leave again,’ Jessica said wistfully, sitting up in bed, her arms wrapped about her knees.

  Annie felt her stomach lurch at the thought of it. Rufus go away again… He had been gone for three months the last time!

  The thought of not seeing him for another three months made her feel sick. She couldn’t imagine not having him around, whether he be teasing or deliberately baiting her. How different were her feelings towards him now from when he had first arrived home—was it only three days ago? Then she had believed herself in love with his brother. How weak and insipid were the emotions she had felt towards Anthony compared to what she now felt for Rufus. She could hardly wait to get away from Anthony yesterday, whereas the mere thought of Rufus leaving made her feel physically ill.

  ‘Do you think he is?’ She looked anxiously at Jessica, her lips feeling stiff and unmoving as she spoke.

  The young girl shrugged. ‘It’s difficult to tell,’ she sighed. ‘When he goes, he just goes.’

  Which was probably the real reason why he had brought Annie along this weekend—he couldn’t just abandon Jessica here on her own if he was called away suddenly. Annie’s heart felt even heavier at this realisation.

  She smoothed back Jessica’s hair as she settled her down onto the pillows. ‘Well, I wouldn’t worry about it until it happens,’ she soothed—she would do enough worrying about it for both of them! ‘Just enjoy the time you do have with him.’ As she intended to.

  Rufus was sitting in the lounge, staring morosely into the glass of whisky he cradled in his hands, when Annie returned from putting Jessica to bed. He didn’t look as if he was in the mood to enjoy anything!

  ‘Jessica is worried about you,’ Annie told him bluntly as she stood in the open doorway.

  She at once had his attention as he looked across at her. ‘Jess is?’ He looked troubled.

  ‘Mmm.’ Annie moved further into the room. ‘She thinks you may be going away again.’

  ‘Well, I’m not,’ he said flatly.

  ‘I didn’t say you were.’ Although she couldn’t help but feel relieved that he wasn’t. ‘Only that Jessica thinks you are.’

  He looked irritated. ‘And why should she think that?’

  Probably because he hadn’t really been here all day! ‘I have no idea,’ she replied. ‘You would have to ask Jessica that.’

  ‘Is this your roundabout way of telling me to go up and reassure Jess?’ he ventured.

  He obviously wasn’t a man who liked to feel he had been manoeuvred into anything! ‘I don’t use roundabout ways, Rufus,’ Annie told him evenly. ‘I am merely relating to you what Jessica said to me—’

  ‘Okay. Okay!’ he bit back impatiently, putting his glass down heavily on the coffee table as he stood up. ‘I’m going.’ He held up his hands defensively. ‘God save me from a woman trying to be reasonable,’ he said as he crossed the room to the door. ‘It isn’t in the nature of the beast,’ he added insultingly as he left the room.

  He was the one being completely unreasonable. Annie didn’t doubt for a moment that she was the recipient of his redirected anger. Rufus was again going out of his way to pick a fight with her, and if this carried on much longer he was going to get one!

  ‘I thought we could have a game of chess.’ Annie looked up and smiled at him when he returned a few minutes later.

  The chess set was already set up in the comer of the room; she had merely moved the table over so that it stood between the two armchairs.

  If Rufus wanted a fight, this was the safest way of having one. Besides, if he was concentrating on the game, then he couldn’t sit and brood…

  ‘Unless you have something else to do this evening?’ she added as an afterthought. Although one thing she was sure of: he wasn’t going to see Margaret!

  ‘Nothing that can’t wait,’ he answered as he sat down opposite her. ‘Are you any good at this?’ he rasped, eyes darkly probing.

  ‘I haven’t played for a while.’ There hadn’t been too much time in between working and taking care of herself.

  ‘Great!’ he responded bad-temperedly. ‘You had better go first, then.’ He hunched over in his seat.

  Annie felt the warmth of angry colour in her cheeks. ‘It’s customary to toss a coin for it,’ she said softly.

  He opened his mouth to give her another sharp reply, but something in her expression seemed to stop him. He closed his mouth again, sighing deeply. ‘I’m being a moody bast—swine aren’t I?’ he realised self-disgustedly.

  ‘Yes,’ she replied without hesitation, grateful to him for changing the word he had been going to use to describe himself.

  He chuckled softly, some of the humour returning to his eyes. ‘At least you’re honest!’ He grinned.

  She looked across at him defiantly. ‘For a woman?’

  ‘God, I have been an insulting swine today, haven’t I?’ He shook his head. ‘Will one apology suffice, or shall I go through each and every one of them?’ he cajoled.

  Annie couldn’t help her lips curving upwards at his remorseful expression. ‘Why don’t we play the game of chess first—and then see if you still feel like apologising?’

  His brows rose. ‘Are you that good…?’

  She gave him an enigmatic smile in reply. Although, in truth, she was no longer sure how good she was; she hadn’t played for such a long time. She wanted to beat him; she knew that.

&
nbsp; She won the toss of the coin, and began the game. And for the next half an hour there was barely a word spoken by either of them as they concentrated on their moves. But Annie could tell they were pretty evenly matched.

  ‘You are good,’ Rufus murmured appreciatively as Annie took yet another one of his pawns.

  ‘Thank you.’ She accepted the compliment for exactly what it was.

  He sat back, looking across at her. ‘I really am sorry for the way I’ve been behaving today. ‘I just—Look, Annie, you’re a woman—Did I say something funny?’ He reacted as she gave a choked laugh.

  ‘Not at all.’ Her eyes glowed with repressed humour.

  ‘Considering I’ve thrown every insult at you today that I could think of concerning women!’ he acknowledged knowingly.

  ‘Not every insult, surely?’ she teased; there were certainly one or two she could think of that he hadn’t mentioned.

  ‘All the ones that are relevant to my particular problem. Tell me, why would a woman agree to talk to you on the telephone, but when you turn up in person instead refuse to see you?’ His brow furrowed.

  Margaret had refused to see him this morning! And he had been stamping around like a bear with a sore head ever since!

  Annie raised her shoulders indifferently. ‘Any number of reasons.’ She moved one of her pieces on the board.

  His eyes were narrowed. ‘Such as?’ He made an answering move.

  She looked across at him consideringly. ‘Would you be the person this woman refused to see?’ she asked—knowing, of course, that he was…

  ‘What the hell does that have to do—? Yes,’ he confirmed impatiently as she arched questioning brows.

  ‘Well, in that case, I can think of a very good reason why I would refuse to see you.’

  ‘Yes?’ he prompted curtly.

  She moved uncomfortably, wondering if she was going too far. But he had asked, and she could only answer him truthfully. ‘You’re very—You can be—’ She stopped awkwardly.

  ‘What?’ he snapped. ‘What am I?’ he looked at her exasperatedly.