by Lucy Gordon
A soft noise from under the table told him that this was appreciated.
‘And I’m not glued to the computer all the time,’ he continued.
‘No, I’m sure you read the Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal-’
‘I’ve been reading up about Herringdean and its history. It’s fascinating.’
‘You’ll find that this island is two places,’ she said. ‘We’re not behind the times. There’s plenty of dot-com. But it’s the wildness that makes Herringdean stand out, and draws people.’
‘Have you always lived on the island?’
‘Yes, I was born here.’
‘And your husband?’
‘No, he came over because he worked for a tourist firm, and they were setting up a branch.’
‘And you met, fell in love and married quickly?’
‘A couple of months.’
‘Wow! A decisive lady! How long were you married?’
‘Nearly eight years.’
‘Any children?’
‘No,’ she said quietly.
‘And he died quite recently?’
‘Last year.’ Suddenly she became animated. ‘You know, this coffee is really delicious. Kate is a wonderful cook.’
He was silent. Walter was there in his mind, talking about Harriet’s husband, saying, ‘When he died we thought she might die too, she was so crushed…I don’t reckon she’ll ever really get over him…’
Now the way she’d swerved off the subject seemed to suggest that Walter was right. It was a warning to him to be cautious.
‘What about your children?’ Harriet asked. ‘Have you managed to call them again?’
‘Yes, several times. There’s a dangerous situation building up. Mary’s going to remarry soon, and if I’m not careful I could be elbowed aside.’
‘But you won’t let that happen.’
‘No, I won’t. I had time to do a lot of thinking while I was resting. It’s incredible how being half-awake, half-asleep can make things clear to you.’
Harriet nodded, and for a moment there was a faraway look in her eyes that roused his curiosity. But it vanished before he could speak, and now he thought he understood. Beneath her cheeky schoolgirl charm lurked a woman who kept her true feelings, and even her true self, safely hidden away. In fact, she was mysteriously like himself.
‘So what conclusions have you come to?’ she asked.
‘Not to let myself be sidelined. I try to call them every day.’
‘I’m sure they’re glad of that.’
He made a face. ‘They’re not. I made a hash of it the night of the accident and things haven’t really improved.’
‘Well, you weren’t at ease on the phone, I could hear that, but surely they understood what a state you were in.’
‘Maybe, but I’m seldom much better than I was then. I don’t know what to talk about. It was easier when we were living in the same house, but I’m not really part of their lives any more. Perhaps I never really was. Mary accused me of never putting them first.’
She nodded. ‘Children really do like to feel that they have all your attention,’ she mused.
Suddenly he saw her as she’d been that day in the shop, talking to the little boy as though only he existed in the entire world. And the child had responded with delight. When had he seen such a look on the faces of his own children?
‘You’ve got a fight on your hands,’ she said, ‘but you’ve got to go about it the right way. Do you want some advice from a friend?’
‘If the friend is you, yes.’
‘That night when you called them after the accident I heard her voice on the other end. I couldn’t make out every word but I heard enough to show me an unhappy situation. You told her you’d been “held up” and she said, “You always get held up. The children went to bed crying because you didn’t keep your word.”
‘And then she said, “I’m not going to let you hurt them by putting them last again.”’
She waited to see if he would say anything, but he only clasped his hands on the table and stared at them.
‘Again?’ she asked.
‘Yes, I can’t deny it. I would plan to spend time with them, but a crisis would come up, someone I urgently needed to meet would be passing through London for just a few hours.’
‘Oh, you idiot!’ she breathed.
‘I guess I am, but I didn’t see it then. I always thought there was time to put things right.’
‘Yes, we always think that,’ she murmured. ‘There never is.’
‘You sound as though you really know.’
‘I guess we all know one way or another.’
‘Sure, but the way you said it sounded as though-’
‘The thing is-’ she interrupted him quickly ‘-that you have to find a new way to put things right. Concentrate on that.’
‘All right,’ he said, retreating before the warning she was sending out. ‘But how? One minute I thought I was in control. The next minute they were all gone, and if I was a hopeless father before I’m even worse now. When we talk on the phone I can sense them trying to get away. I’m becoming an irrelevance to them.’
‘Then do something about it,’ she said urgently. ‘Put a stop to it now. Never forget that cunning is better than aggression. Above all, don’t lose heart, don’t even think of giving in. Remember, you’re a match for anyone.’
‘If you’re going to start on that “mighty man of business” stuff again I’m out of here.’
‘Don’t worry,’ she said wryly. ‘I can’t take it seriously any more.’
‘Thanks. That about says it all.’
‘Friends have to be frank with each other,’ she reminded him.
‘I know.’ He suddenly became more urgent. ‘Harriet, I wish I could make you understand how much I need your friendship. From the moment I stepped onto that beach I knew I was in a different world, and now I know that it’s your world. All the vital things that have happened to me since I came here are connected with you.’
‘You never know what fate has in store.’
‘Yes, after we got off to such a bad start, who could have guessed that you’d be the one who’d save me?’
‘Be fair. It was Kate who really saved you, not just by raising the alarm, but by explaining that you’d probably gone to the wind farm, so that we knew where to look.’
‘I know that, and I’ve shown her my gratitude.’
Harriet nodded. Kate had told her about the huge bonus he’d given her.
‘And I didn’t pull you out of the water on my own. There were a few hefty fellers there, doing the heavy work.’
‘I know. But yours was the hand that stretched out to me first, the hand that I clasped, and when I think of that moment that’s what I see.’
It was also what he felt in the night, feeling a firm, reassuring grip on his hand, knowing it was her in the last moment before he awoke to find himself alone. Only a dream, yet his hand still seemed to tingle.
‘I’ve just become a sort of symbol, that’s all,’ she told him.
‘If you say so.’
‘But if you want a friend, you’ve got one in me.’
‘Promise?’
‘Promise. Call on me any time.’
As long as you’re here, she thought. But how long will that be? Are we a financial asset to you, or a financial disaster? And won’t it be the same in the long run?
It would have been sensible to say this outright and remind him of the reality of the situation, yet something held her silent. There was an intensity in his eyes that she’d never seen before in any man-not the passionate intensity of a lover, but the desperate yearning for help of a man who needed friendship. It had been her hand he’d first seized in the water and that had set matters between them for all time.
‘You may regret saying that,’ he said. ‘I’ll call on you more often than you think.’
‘I’ll never regret saying it. I’m here for you.’
‘Shake on
it?’
She took the hand he offered, and felt her own hand engulfed. She could sense the power, as she’d sensed it that other time when he’d held her against her will to study her face. But now she also felt the gentleness deep within him, knowing instinctively that few people were ever allowed to know about it.
He touched her heart-not as a lover, she assured herself. That part of her life had died a year ago. But his need spoke to her, making it impossible for her to turn her back on him.
‘Shake,’ she said.
A couple of days later she resumed bathing on his beach. After splashing around with Phantom for half an hour she gasped, ‘All right, boy. Time we were going.’
But as she turned towards the shore she was halted by the sight of Darius, striding onto the beach wearing a dark blue towel bathrobe, which he stripped off, showing his black bathing gear beneath.
Instead of tight-fitting trunks he wore shorts, looser and less revealing, leaving many of her questions still unanswered. Even so, she could see that he was more powerfully built than a mere businessman had any right to be. If there was any justice in the world he would be scrawny, not taut and lean, with long muscular arms and legs.
He saw her and waved. Next moment he was running into the water and powering towards her. She laughed and swam away, swerving this way and that until he caught up, reaching out his hands. She seized them and he immediately began to back-pedal, drawing her with him. As they reached the shore she slipped away, laughing, and he chased her up the beach to where he’d dropped his bathrobe next to her towel.
Phantom galloped after them, delighted at the prospect of a rematch, but this time Darius was ready for him, dropping to one knee, greeting his ‘opponent’ with outstretched arms and rolling on the sand with him.
‘I reckon that’s about even,’ he said, getting up at last.
‘Now you really are a mess,’ she said, regarding the sand that covered him.
‘Yes, I am, aren’t I?’ he agreed with something that sounded suspiciously like satisfaction. ‘All right, play’s over. Time for the serious stuff. See you tomorrow.’
So it went on for several days-pleasant, undemanding friendship with almost the innocence of childhood. It seemed strange to think of this man in such a light, but when she saw him fooling with Phantom it was hard to remember his harsh reputation, and the power he held over them all.
Then he vanished.
‘He just took off without a word,’ Kate said when they bumped into each other while shopping. ‘He was sitting at the computer when I took in his morning coffee. I don’t know what he saw there but it made him say a very rude word. Then he made a phone call. I got out fast but I could hear a lot more rude words.’
Walter, who also happened to be there, said, ‘Only rude words?’
‘I heard him say, “I don’t care; it mustn’t be allowed to happen,” and “Do you realise what this would mean if-?” and “When I get my hands on him I’ll-” and then more rude words.’
‘Sounds like a disaster,’ Walter observed.
‘Nah,’ Kate said. ‘Not him. He’s too big for disaster. You mark my words, they can’t touch him.’
‘That’s not what the papers say,’ Walter insisted. ‘This “credit crunch” thing has hit all the big shots. Next thing you know he’ll have to sell this place and we’ll have someone new to worry about.’
‘Oh, stop panicking!’ Harriet said, trying to sound amused and not quite succeeding. ‘He’s better than Rancing. The furniture shops love him now he’s started kitting out Giant’s Beacon, and he’s given quite a bit to charity.’
‘Yes, I heard about that donation to the animal shelter,’ Walter said. ‘I wondered how he knew about it-unless you told him.’
‘I may have mentioned it. He likes to be told about things.’
‘Yes, everyone’s talking about how you and he swim together in the mornings. You’re a clever lass, getting on his right side.’ He added significantly, ‘You probably know more than anyone.’
‘I know he looks fantastic in swimming gear,’ she agreed.
‘That’s not what I meant.’
Yes, she thought, she knew what he meant. This was the moment a less loyal friend would tell how he’d been tricked by Rancing, exposing him to ridicule. For the first time she appreciated how vulnerable Darius had left himself by confiding in her.
‘We don’t discuss business,’ she said. ‘I wouldn’t understand it if we did. I’ve no idea where he’s gone, why he’s gone or when he’ll be back.’
Or if he’ll ever be back, she thought sadly.
She didn’t doubt that another financial calamity had befallen him, and that he’d gone to try to head off trouble. It must be urgent because, despite their friendship, he hadn’t left her a word. Still she was sure he would call her.
But he didn’t. Days passed without a word. Wryly, she decided that this was a lesson in reality. When his real world called she simply ceased to exist, that was something to remember in the future.
If there was a future.
Harriet tried to follow the financial news and learned of the sudden collapse of a property company with global tentacles, but she could only guess whether he had had an interest there.
Then, just when she’d decided that he’d gone for good, Darius turned her world upside down yet again. As she and Phantom headed for their morning swim he suddenly gave a bark of joy and charged onto the beach to where a figure lay stretched out on the sand. Fending off the dog, who was trying to lick him to death, Darius rose on one elbow and watched her approach.
‘Hello, stranger,’ she said when she could speak through her emotion.
‘I hoped you’d be here,’ he said as she dropped beside him. ‘I got back at three in the morning and came out here so as not to miss you. I dozed off for a while, but I knew someone would wake me. All right, Phantom, cool it, there’s a good fellow.’
‘Did things go as you’d hoped?’ she asked.
‘More or less. I averted disaster-until next time.’
‘You mean we’re safe-here on the island?’
‘You’re safe. This is the last place in the world that I’d give up. Now, I need to ask a huge favour from you, an act of friendship. It’s very important to me.’
‘Then consider it done.’
‘I told you Mary left me for another man, and they were planning marriage. Well, the date has been set, and I’ve been invited.’
‘To your ex-wife’s wedding?’
‘Yes, it took a bit of manoeuvring, but I managed it. I told her we should seem friendly for the sake of the children. They’ll be there so we’ll get some time together and they’ll know their parents are on good terms. You see, I really took your advice.’
‘I advised this?’
‘You said cunning was better than aggression, and it took all my cunning to manipulate myself an invitation. Mary finished by saying she completely agreed with me and she praised me for thinking of it. She even said I must be improving.’ He gave a self-deprecating grin. ‘And I owe it all to you.’
He spread his hands in a gesture of finality, his expression radiating such cheerful triumph that she chuckled and said, ‘You’re telling me that I instructed you in cunning?’
‘There’s cunning and cunning,’ he said. ‘Some kinds I’m better at than others. Manipulating share prices is easy, but-’
‘But a child’s heart is more complicated than a share price,’ she supplied.
‘You see how right I was to listen to you. The best friend and adviser I have.’
‘Stop buttering me up,’ she said severely, ‘and tell me what you want me to do.’
‘Come with me to the wedding, of course. How can I turn up alone when my ex-wife is marrying another guy? I’d look like a prat.’
‘And we can’t have that,’ she said in mock horror. ‘If the markets got to hear-’
‘All right, make fun of me. I wouldn’t put up with it from anyone else, but with you I gues
s it’s the price of friendship. OK, I’ll pay it.
‘And there’s another thing. I told you about my father and how he likes to control everyone’s life. His latest mad idea is to marry me off to Freya, my stepsister. Either me or one of my brothers, but at the moment it’s my head he’s trying to put on the block.
‘Luckily, Freya’s no more keen than I am. We get on all right, but that’s all. If I can convince my father that it’s not going to happen then he’ll turn his attention to one of the others.’
‘Poor Freya.’
‘That’s what I think. You’ll like her.’
‘But will she be at the wedding? And your father? Isn’t he furious with Mary for leaving you?’
‘Yes, he is. He’s even more furious because she managed to get a decent divorce settlement out of me, but he’ll want to see his grandchildren. They’re Falcons, which means that in his mind they’re his property. He doesn’t have much contact with them because they live in London and he can’t leave Monte Carlo very often.’
‘For tax reasons?’ she hazarded.
‘That’s right. He’s only allowed to be in England for ninety-one days. Any more and he’d be counted as an English resident and liable for English tax. He’s nearly used up his allowance for this year so he has to dash to London for the wedding, and get back very quickly.’
How casually he spoke, she realised. How normal he seemed to consider this. It was a reminder that his life was centred around money, just in case she was in danger of forgetting.
‘And your brothers?’ she asked. ‘Will they be there?’
‘As many as can manage it. They all like Mary, rather more than they like me, actually. And the kids are fascinated by them coming from so many different countries. To them it’s like a circus. So we’re all going to bury our differences, but you won’t send me into the lion’s den alone, will you?’
Harriet regarded him sardonically. ‘You really don’t feel you can face it without me?’
‘Definitely not. I’m shaking in my shoes at the prospect.’
There it was in his eyes, the teasing humour that linked with her own mind in a contact sweeter than she had ever known.
‘In that case, I’ll just have to come along and protect you,’ she sighed. ‘It’s a dreadful responsibility, but I guess I’ll manage.’
