All Night Long

by Anne Mather

  She had rung Ryan, too, but her son was much more laid back about the situation. As far as he was concerned, he didn’t particularly care where his father lived—or with whom. He had his own life to lead, he said, and if Ally thought his reaction smacked a little of Jeff’s own, it wasn’t something she felt equipped to complain about.

  She hadn’t spoken to Raul since that night at Finisterre. He had visited the hotel. A couple of times. She’d glimpsed him once, on his own, going into the lift while she was crossing the lobby. But she’d deliberately slowed her steps so that the lift was gone by the time she reached it.

  She didn’t know how often he’d seen Julia. The girl was often absent, but it was a subject that she considered taboo. Whenever she was with Suzanne or Peter, she carefully avoided anything of a controversial nature. That way, they succeeded in maintaining their friendship, even if it had created a certain distance between them.

  However, it was the evening that Mike Mclean came to supper at the hotel that had persuaded Ally that staying here wasn’t going to work. She’d almost forgotten that Suzanne had said she would invite the pilot to join them one evening while Ally was there. But, although Ally quite liked the man, she hardly knew him, and his appearance had been another reminder that, as far as Suzanne was concerned, Ally was someone to whom the admiration of a man like Mike Mclean should be flattering.

  And it should be, thought Ally unhappily, even though she knew she wasn’t attracted to him in that way. She’d been spoilt, she reflected ruefully. She’d tasted heaven and she wanted more. Only that was just a fantasy. Being with Raul was not a choice she was allowed to make.

  Nevertheless, the invitation had been an indication that Suzanne hadn’t given up on finding her friend an escort while she was on the island. The situation with Tom Adams hadn’t worked out, so Suzanne had moved on to her next target.

  Maybe she felt more of a need to fix her up with a suitable suitor now, Ally considered wryly. Although Suzanne could have no idea of how well Ally knew her daughter’s boyfriend, she had evidently decided that encouraging them to spend time together hadn’t been the most sensible thing to do.

  Mike Mclean had obviously assumed Ally had encouraged Suzanne to invite him. He’d made a beeline for her and it had been difficult to appear friendly without giving him the wrong impression. It hadn’t helped when Suzanne had mentioned that she thought Ally was feeling homesick. That because she and Peter didn’t have much time to spend with her, Ally was often left to entertain herself.

  In consequence, as he’d been leaving—the Davises had conveniently found something else to do, leaving Ally to see him off—Mike had asked her to go out with him the following evening. Ally had quickly made up a story about agreeing to help Suzanne with her accounts to avoid hurting him, but they had exchanged phone numbers, and Mike had said he would ring in the next couple of days. Which meant she would have to think of something else. If she was still here…

  She supposed that was when the idea of leaving really took hold. It would create problems, no doubt, but it would solve a whole lot more. She was tired of deceiving people, tired of living a lie, and even the thought of facing Jeff was more attractive than making excuses to Suzanne as to why she didn’t want any more introductions to men her friend thought were eligible. She wasn’t available, she thought bitterly. She simply wasn’t interested in anyone else.

  She tried to speak to Suzanne at breakfast the next morning but her friend was too busy placating a guest, whose air-conditioning wasn’t working, to sit down and listen to what Ally had to say. Instead, she promised to free up some time at lunchtime, and Ally had to be content with that.

  But, in the event, Raul arrived just before lunch to discuss a business matter with both Davises, and Ally, who had spent the morning on the beach, was more than happy to keep out of the way.

  Going up to her room, she took a shower before ordering a sandwich she didn’t particularly want from Room Service, and she was sitting on her balcony, waiting for it to come, when the phone rang.

  Despite some misgivings, Ally felt obliged to answer it. It could be Suzanne, after all, she told herself, aware of the prickle of anticipation on her flesh. Just because Raul was in the hotel was no reason to suspect it might be him. On the contrary, he was hardly likely to ring her while he was here.

  ‘H—hello?’

  ‘Mum!’ It was Sam, and Ally was glad to sink down onto the side of the bed. ‘Mum? Am I glad to reach you. Where have you been?’

  ‘Where have I been?’ Ally frowned. ‘I haven’t been anywhere. I spent the morning on the beach, that’s all.’ She had thought it might be her last morning and she’d tried to make the most of it. ‘Why? What’s wrong?’

  ‘Oh, Mum!’ Sam made a frustrated sound, and Ally’s stomach churned. What could be wrong? ‘God, I don’t know how to tell you. He’s going to arrive shortly. I know, because I phoned the airline and asked what time their flight was due to land in Nassau.’

  ‘Who? Who’s going to arrive shortly?’ asked Ally anxiously, but she knew. ‘Is it your father? Is that what you’re saying? Is he on his way out here?’

  ‘Oh, Mum, I tried to stop him. He said he had to speak to you and I said he could do that when you got back. But he wouldn’t listen. When I phoned him this morning, his landlady said he’d gone.’

  Ally tried to understand what her daughter was saying. ‘His landlady?’ she echoed, latching on to the last thing Sam had said, and Sam sniffed.

  ‘He moved into a bed-and-breakfast a couple of days ago,’ she agreed unhappily. ‘I should have known something was going on. He’d been staying at the Post House, but I guess he thought there was no point in paying for a room there when he was planning on going away.’

  Ally took a deep breath. ‘So he didn’t actually tell you he was coming here?’

  ‘Well, he’d talked about it, of course,’ admitted Sam ruefully. ‘But, like I say, I thought I’d persuaded him to wait until you got back.’ She sighed. ‘That’s why I’ve been trying to get in touch with you. I wanted to give you some warning. But the receptionist said there was no reply from your room.’

  ‘No.’ Ally shook her head a little dazedly. ‘No, there wouldn’t be. As a matter of fact, I’ve been thinking of coming home.’

  ‘Because of Dad?’ Sam sounded disgusted. ‘Oh, Mum!’

  ‘No. Not because of your father,’ said Ally firmly. ‘Suzanne and me—well, I’m afraid it’s not working out.’

  ‘Why?’ Sam was dismayed. ‘I thought you and she were such good friends.’

  ‘We were. We are.’ Ally wondered how much to tell her daughter. ‘It’s just that—well, she thinks I need—male companionship.’

  ‘You do.’ Sam was indignant. ‘Don’t tell me you’ve turned all prudish in your old age?’

  ‘Excuse me.’ Ally was stung by the way her daughter apparently thought of her. ‘It’s nothing to do with being prudish.’ If Sam only knew! ‘I just don’t need anyone to pick my dates for me.’

  ‘Oh.’ Sam sniggered. ‘Don’t tell me you’ve been making assignations behind my back.’

  ‘What if I have?’ Ally was getting impatient. ‘I’m a single woman, aren’t I? I don’t have to ask your permission to go out with someone other than your father.’

  Sam sounded a little less smug now. ‘I know,’ she said defensively. ‘So?’ She hesitated. ‘Is it anyone I know?’

  ‘What?’ Ally swallowed and then, realising she had said more than she should, she continued, ‘No. No one you know. Now, when is your dad due to arrive?’

  ‘Then it’s someone you’ve met while you’ve been on holiday,’ persisted her daughter, clearly unwilling to leave the subject without something more positive to report. ‘Who is he? Is he nice? Will I like him? More to the point, is he on holiday, too?’

  ‘Sam!’ Ally decided she had said all she was going to on that score. ‘We’re wasting time. Do you know what time your father is likely to get here?’

  �
��The same time as you did, I suppose,’ responded Sam grudgingly. Then, ‘You are mean, Mum. If you have met someone, I would have thought I had a right to know.’

  Ally groaned. ‘Sam, I haven’t met anyone. No one important, anyway,’ she appended, wishing that were true. ‘God, I don’t know what Suzanne’s going to say when I tell her your father’s coming. She may refuse to let him stay.’

  ‘That’s not your problem,’ retorted Sam, regaining a little of her belligerence. ‘I don’t suppose Aunt Suzanne’s hotel is the only one on the island. He’ll have to find somewhere else.’

  ‘Y—e—s.’ But Ally was doubtful. If there were other hotels on the island, she didn’t know of them, and she doubted Jeff would want to stay at an unlicensed guesthouse. ‘Well, we’ll see.’

  ‘You won’t let him intimidate you, will you, Mum?’ Sam sounded anxious now. ‘I mean, don’t forget he walked out on you, not the other way about. I know he’s my father, and I suppose I still love him, but he is a selfish—beggar, isn’t he?’

  Ally’s lips twitched. ‘Don’t worry, sweetheart,’ she said reassuringly. ‘I haven’t forgotten anything.’ She took a breath. ‘I’ll ring you as soon as I know what I’m doing, right?’

  ‘Right.’ But Sam seemed curiously reluctant to hang up. ‘Er—Mum?’

  Ally tensed. What now? ‘Yes?’

  ‘Whoever he is, I hope he makes you happier than Dad ever did.’

  Ally realised there was no way she could avoid telling Suzanne that Jeff was likely to turn up in the next few hours. The idea that her ex-husband thought he could interrupt her holiday without even asking her how she felt about it was bad enough, but he must know that Suzanne and Peter didn’t like him and would not be best pleased to have him as an uninvited guest.

  The sandwich she had ordered from Room Service was still lying untouched on the tray, but a glance at her watch reminded her that she didn’t have a lot of time if she wanted to speak to Suzanne before Jeff arrived. Raul must have left the hotel by now, and warning her friend was more important than trying to swallow a sandwich she didn’t want any more.

  Beige shorts and a cropped tee shirt that just skimmed her waist were the first garments she came to, and, tucking her still damp hair behind her ears, she slipped deck shoes on her feet and left her room. She pressed the button for the lift and waited. It was just on its way down from the upper floor and she breathed a sigh of relief when it stopped at hers.

  But when the doors opened, her heart climbed into her throat. Raul was its sole occupant and she had an uneasy sense of déjà vu. Like her, he was wearing shorts and deck shoes and a black polo shirt that accentuated the olive cast of his skin. He looked tired, she thought, and the eyes that looked straight into hers revealed a weary resignation.

  Ally didn’t know what to do. The obvious thing would be to get into the lift with him, but she remembered too well what had happened before and she was wary.

  ‘Are you going down?’ he asked flatly, straightening away from the wall where he’d been lounging. ‘Make up your mind.’

  Ally’s lips tightened. ‘I’m going down,’ she said, but she still didn’t move and a look of irritation crossed Raul’s lean face.

  ‘Then get in,’ he said, raising a hand to press the button that prevented the doors from closing. ‘Or do you want to wait for it to come back up again?’

  Ally squared her shoulders. ‘That would be stupid.’

  ‘Yes, it would.’ Raul agreed with her, and, with some misgivings, Ally stepped inside. The doors closed behind her, as he added, ‘But then, you seem to enjoy doing stupid things.’

  Ally caught her breath. ‘There’s no need to be rude about it. If—if you must know, I was wondering if Suzanne was still upstairs in the office.’ That wasn’t entirely true, but he didn’t know that. ‘As she said that she and Peter were having a business meeting—’

  ‘I wasn’t talking about your hesitation in getting into the lift,’ Raul interrupted her shortly. Then, after allowing himself a disturbing appraisal of her upper body, he looked away. ‘Ground floor?’

  Ally tried to control her breathing. ‘Yes,’ she said, a little breathlessly. ‘The ground floor. Thank you.’

  Raul shrugged and resumed his position against the wall of the lift and it continued downward. But the atmosphere in the small cubicle was tense and Ally knew she had to do something to try and ease it.

  ‘How is your mother?’ she asked, choosing what she thought was the least controversial of topics, and his dark eyes flicked her way.

  ‘Do you care?’

  ‘Of course I care.’ Ally was stung. ‘I—I liked her. And I liked your father.’

  ‘Oh, yes. My father.’ Raul’s voice was sardonic. ‘I understand you and he had quite a conversation after I left the party.’

  ‘We—spoke together, yes.’

  ‘And did you tell him what we’d been talking about?’

  ‘I don’t think so.’

  ‘Did you tell him how I felt about you?’

  ‘No!’ Ally was horrified now. Then, realising how her words could be misconstrued, she added, ‘I don’t think you know how you feel about me, let alone anyone else.’ The lift shuddered as it reached its destination. ‘Oh, we’re here.’

  ‘Wait!’ Raul followed her out of the lift and she was forced to turn and face him or risk him trailing her across the lobby. ‘I do know how I feel about you,’ he told her harshly. ‘I’d just like to know how you feel about me.’

  Ally glanced about her. ‘Raul…’

  ‘Ally, please!’ His eyes were pleading with her. His hand fastened round her wrist, his knuckles brushing the underside of her breast as he reached for her. ‘Talk to me,’ he said huskily. ‘Put me out of my misery. Tell me you’re not still in love with that bastard back in England?’

  ‘Ally!’

  The voice was amazingly familiar, considering she hadn’t heard it for so long, but no less unwelcome because of that. Glancing round, she saw her ex-husband advancing across the lobby and her heart sank. In a short-sleeved cotton shirt and twill trousers, his jacket looped nonchalantly over one shoulder, Ally guessed Jeff considered he looked suave and stylish, but to her eyes he represented everything she’d learned to despise.

  ‘Surprise, surprise,’ he said, his tone not quite so confident now as he took in Ally’s closeness to the man at her side. ‘I guess you never expected to see me.’

  Ally swallowed, casting an anxious look into Raul’s frowning face. He didn’t know who Jeff was yet, but he suspected it, and, after what he had just asked her, it was doubly distressing to see his hardening expression.

  ‘I—as a matter of fact, I did,’ Ally got out jerkily as Raul’s hand fell away from her arm. ‘Sam phoned me. She’d guessed where you’d gone.’

  Jeff grimaced. ‘She would,’ he said irritably. Then, with another speculative glance at Raul, ‘Aren’t you going to say you’re glad to see me, at least?’ He hesitated for a moment, as if gauging what her relationship to the other man might be. But then, as if deciding that there could be nothing between them, he continued, ‘I came all this way to see you.’

  Raul stiffened. Although they weren’t touching one another, Ally sensed his increasing withdrawal and her heart bled. Sensed, too, his increasing antipathy towards Jeff, and she wished with all her soul that she could reassure him. She wanted to tell him that she hadn’t invited Jeff out here; that, in fact, she’d have done anything to avoid it happening. But she didn’t have that right. Despite what he said, she had no rights where Raul was concerned. Anything there might have been between them would always be defeated by her age and his responsibilities…

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  BUT nothing was stopping her from telling Jeff how she felt about this unwarranted intrusion into her holiday, Ally realised suddenly. She owed him no consideration. When had he ever considered her feelings? When had he ever cared about anyone but himself?

  ‘I’m sorry but I’m not glad to see you
, Jeff,’ she said clearly, stepping back when he would have bent to kiss her cheek. The action brought her up against Raul’s unyielding body and she was sorry about that, but when she tried to move away again, his hand on her hip kept her where she was. ‘I—I didn’t ask you to come here,’ she continued, feeling the colour deepen in her throat. The heat of Raul’s fingers was penetrating the thin layers of cloth and she was intensely aware of it. ‘In—in fact,’ she added unsteadily, ‘I don’t know why you’ve come.’

  Jeff’s blue eyes hardened and she wondered why she’d never noticed how closely set they were before. ‘You know exactly why I’m here,’ he insisted. ‘God, if Sam warned you I was coming, she must have told you how disappointed I was when I got back and you weren’t there.’

  ‘Waiting for you, you mean?’ asked Ally tightly, as Raul’s hand tightened on her hip, his fingers slipping between the cropped top and her shorts, warm against her skin. ‘It doesn’t matter what Sam told me, Jeff. What you do has nothing to do with me any longer. We’re divorced, in case you’ve forgotten. You made your life and I’ve made mine.’

  ‘With him?’ Jeff sneered, his eyes moving past his wife to fasten contemptuously on the man standing just behind her. ‘Come off it, Ally. Who is he? One of the waiters? Someone who’s latched onto a lonely woman in the hope of getting something out of it, I bet.’

  ‘You will take that back.’

  Before Ally could react, she was moved unceremoniously aside, and Raul himself stepped forward. His anger fairly emanated from every pore and although Jeff must have been taken aback, his face took on a belligerent scowl.

  ‘Who says?’

  ‘I say,’ said Raul, stepping nearer, his superior height and lean athletic build more than a match for the other man’s much broader physique. ‘Do you want to make something of it?’