by Natalie Fox
He stepped back from her and took up a position leaning against the work surface across from her. Karis was suddenly aware of the slight whirring of the electric clock on the wall and briefly wondered if she was looking for distractions—anything but face this unnerving man with his mysterious suggestions.
‘I suppose it is really,’ he said quietly, holding her gaze as if trying to read her innermost thoughts. ‘You see, the way to my heart is through my son, the boy you love so dearly. Simone doesn’t know that yet. In time she might pick up on it; we’ll see. But you, you are a sharp little lady. You already have the devotion of my son and that is halfway to my heart. Perhaps you’ll take it into your head to go all the way. Perhaps that is what I’m trying to find out—if you are mercenary enough to use my son to win me.’
Eyes as wide as the coffee-saucer she had just put down, Karis stared at him in disbelief. Then she started to laugh because his rather bizarre suggestions could only be construed as a huge joke.
‘This has all come about because I suggested you move into the cottage with us, hasn’t it? You think I might be more interested in you, You think, because of the situation I’m in—a widow with a small daughter, obviously doing this job because I’ve hit hard times—that…that I’m a…a fortune hunter. And…and in with a chance because I’m so close to your son.’
She shook her head and couldn’t stop spluttering. ‘Daniel Kennedy, you are something else. If I ever came on to you, which I would never,’ she emphasised strongly, thinking that was a contradiction in terms anyway, ‘it would be for love and not for Josh or your fortune or anything. No, nothing but love and…and…’
She stopped because suddenly it wasn’t even faintly amusing any more. Suddenly everything had gone topsyturvy.
Suddenly he was standing in front of her, close enough for her to feel the heat of his body. He tilted her chin up and kissed her very lightly on the lips and it was so quick it was over in the blink of an eye, which made her wonder if it had actually happened.
But it had. She knew for sure because her lips still tingled. And it wasn’t fair that he should do such a thing. She stepped back from him. ‘You shouldn’t have done that,’ she said in a small voice, but made up for the lack of strength behind the words by rubbing at her mouth as if she had tasted poison.
‘I couldn’t resist it.’ He smiled down at her. ‘It doesn’t take much to arouse your indignation and it amuses me but I shouldn’t wind you up so. The kiss was a sorry.’
So it was just a joke to him, a wind-up. She was a little temptation to be teased. ‘Well, do resist it in future,’ Karis stated determinedly. ‘Because if you don’t…’
‘Ah, a threat?’
‘No. Yes, actually, yes. A threat.’ She squared her shoulders. ‘I don’t need complications in my life, thank you,’ she said strongly. ‘I don’t need Simone causing trouble for me thinking I’m making some sort of play for you.’ Her eyes narrowed, challenging him, her voice lowering to an accusing tone. ‘And she would think that, wouldn’t she? Because, after all, you are engaged to be married and I’m sure she wouldn’t believe that you were making the advances.’
‘So that’s my warning, is it? Keep off or you’ll tell my fiancée that I am coming on to you?’ He laughed. ‘How did we get this far, Karis? I believe it started with you inviting me to move in with you. An innocent enough request. For the sake of Josh, true, but already we have come up against a few problems. I think we both need to exercise a degree of caution, don’t you? Hot, tropical nights and all that.’
Karis stared at him in stunned silence as he gave her a last enigmatic look with those damned enigmatic eyes of his and then strolled out of the door and along the verandah.
She couldn’t believe him. All of that was down to him. She hadn’t led him on, given him any reason to say such things and yet he had—said all sorts of weird and suggestive things. Oh, he was impossible and she was impossible for taking him seriously. He’d said he couldn’t resist teasing her—something like that anyway. So to hell with him. She stacked the dirty coffee-cups in the sink and headed for Saffron’s sister’s cottage beyond the main house. Somehow children’s company was far safer, and more enjoyable, than that of arrogant grown-ups who talked in riddles and innuendoes.
* * *
‘I’ve taken the liberty of rearranging the hours Saffron spends here. I’ve cut them down in fact,’ Daniel told her later.
Karis was on her knees on the verandah, tossing pieces of Duplo bricks into a box and generally winding down after the activities of the day with the children. They were in bed now and this was usually Karis’s time. Time to cook herself a light supper and sit on the verandah and read by candlelight till she was exhausted enough for sleep. Those days were gone now that Daniel had moved in, she supposed.
She sat back on her haunches and looked up at him. He’d just sat down in one of the cane chairs, the squeak of the dry wicker alerting her to his presence. She hadn’t seen him since the morning, when he had moved his things into the cottage. She’d gone about her usual routine with the children and this time she had been sure he hadn’t been watching her as before. She had checked, looking over her shoulder so many times she thought she must be heading for some sort of persecution obsession. She’d come to the conclusion that he was spending his last hours of freedom with Simone.
‘I wondered why I hadn’t seen Saffron all afternoon. I had to make the children’s supper myself,’ she murmured absently, wondering what the loving couple had been doing all afternoon—swimming, snorkelling, making love?
‘Did you mind?’
‘Mind about what?’ she snapped. She brushed the back of her hand across her hot brow, impatient with herself for snapping at him. ‘Oh, cooking the supper?’ she said more softly. ‘No, not at all. I expected to when I took the job on. Saffron was an unexpected bonus when I arrived. I hadn’t expected my own home help.’ Thinking of it now, she supposed Saffron had been hired by Daniel and not Fiesta as she had always assumed.
She got up from the wooden deck, shoved the box inside and sat down across the cane table from him, wearily pushing the weight of her dark hair back from her forehead. Another few weeks and the rainy season would be upon the islands. Already the air was getting thicker and more humid, the nights were darker with cloud obscuring the moon. It would be a difficult time with movement restricted to the cottage because of the rains. With Daniel in residence it promised to be even more stressful; they would be tripping over each other.
‘You’re taking this surprisingly calmly,’ Daniel commented.
She looked at him and smiled ruefully. ‘What did you expect—hysterics? If I have objected to some of your ideas I’ve had good reason.’ Though she wondered what reason he’d had to cut Saffron’s hours. She was too hot and weary to ask.
He turned his eyes to gaze out over the verandah rail and thrummed his fingertips on the arm of his chair and Karis watched him. He was dressed in a dark green silk shirt and lighter green linen trousers, casually elegant but not casually elegant enough for dining at the main house tonight. It prompted a host of queries she hadn’t clarified with him.
‘When I suggested you moved in with us I didn’t really give it much thought other than it was a good idea for Josh’s sake. We haven’t discussed—well, you know, domestic issues. I mean, do you want to eat here in the evenings when Josh is in bed or will you dine at the house with Simone and sort of come back later?’
He didn’t seem to be in too much of a hurry to answer that one and it gave Karis time to think about the strain all this might put her under if he did expect to live with them as a family. She’d never experienced a proper family life herself. Her parents were professional people and home life had never been their top priority and her marriage to Aiden had been tragically cut short by his death. Now here she was about to venture forth into something she had no experience of—playing at happy families. It could be a minefield, with her past and Daniel’s obviously shadowy past.
>
He smiled, not directly at her as he was gazing out beyond the verandah to the darkness of the gardens where fireflies hovered, sparkling like minuscule torches and then switching off as if they’d seen enough. Beyond, the gentle swish of the sea on the shore soothed the sound of the constant croak, croak of tree frogs.
‘I think it’s best I’m here constantly. You did say day and night and night and day. We should be able to re-create a true family atmosphere for Josh.’
So she was to act Simone’s part for her, was she? He was back in the role of father and they were to play happy families till it was time for them to leave. Karis screwed her fists into balls. She wouldn’t be able to bear the day of parting when it came. How could she go through this charade, preparing Josh for a new life with a father he hardly knew and didn’t like very much and a new mother who Karis knew, just knew, Josh wouldn’t like?
‘I realise cutting Saffron’s hours will mean more work for you but it will be better for Josh in the long run. Do you agree?’
Karis shrugged. ‘He is your son. It’s nothing to do with me.’
As soon as she had said that she thought it was a pretty dumb thing to say. She knew he would jump on it immediately and he did.
‘It has everything to do with you!’ he insisted. ‘I’ve told you before,’ he went on, ‘I need your co-operation and I’m willing to help you as much as I’m able. I don’t want Saffron cluttering the atmosphere here. She’ll come in in the mornings to clean and that is as far as I want her duties to go.’
‘Look, I’m not objecting to the extra work…’ Karis sighed. ‘But do you really think it’s a good idea to cut her out this way? Saffron is part of Josh’s life, part of all our lives. She’s there for us all when we need her.’
He narrowed his eyes at her and Karis could guess what he was thinking—that she was being pushy again. ‘I’m here from now on and before you make some sort of disparaging remark to that let me tell you that Saffron might have been a part of Josh’s life here but she certainly won’t be in the future. She’s expendable.’
And so am I, Karis thought in dismay. Her throat tightened painfully.
‘You know this integration into my son’s life needs to be made as simply as possible,’ he continued. ‘I won’t introduce Simone till I think the time is right, and Saffron needs to be faded out. He needs a man around now, not a gaggle of women.’
‘A gaggle of women’? Karis was stung by that. Just when she thought it was going to be all right he’d come out with a misogynistic remark like that. She got to her feet, too tired to argue. ‘He needed a man around a long time ago,’ she muttered under her breath.
Oh, heavens, she thought wearily, she hoped he hadn’t heard that because she didn’t want to prolong this conversation with an argument. She didn’t know the circumstances of their past and why father and son were so deeply estranged. And he was in no hurry to tell her so it was as it always had been—nothing to do with her because she was expendable. First Saffron, then herself? It was only a matter of time.
‘I…I’m going to my room,’ she told him. ‘I’m too tired to argue with you. I’ll go along with you, Daniel. I’ll try and meet your demands but don’t expect miracles from any of us, especially not Josh. He’s a small boy who needs loving care and remember that is where my heart lies—in his future happiness and well-being.’
She turned away, ‘Goodnight.’
‘Sit down,’ he ordered thickly.
‘No, Daniel, I won’t,’ she told him, pausing at the back of his chair. ‘This is my time now. I’m your son’s carer and—’
‘And you answer to me because I’m Josh’s father—’
‘And pay my wages!’ she finished for him. She leaned towards him. ‘Yes, an employee, just like Saffron and as expendable as she is!’
His eyes glittered in the darkness. ‘Yes, you are expendable, Karis,’ he told her quietly. ‘Is that why you argue with me, make inane remarks under your breath, attack me for something you know nothing about—because you know you have nothing to lose?’
Slowly he stood up; tall and forbidding, he towered over her. ‘Sit down, Karis. I’m going inside to make us some supper. Sit there and reflect on this conversation and your attitude to me. When I come back I expect some answers from you. Why you dislike me so intensely to start with.’
In defeat Karis slumped back down into her chair, her head throbbing, the heat of the night making her skin clammy. Did she give the impression of disliking him? Perhaps so by arguing with him, but to her it seemed they were all justified comments. Perhaps it would be far more prudent to put up with his idiosyncrasies and do as he said. But he had asked for her help and when she tried he took umbrage. He was no ordinary man, that was for sure. He was sharp and appeared to have everything going for him but why had he abandoned Josh? Surely he ought to tell her because it was important if she was to help him?
‘I don’t dislike you,’ she told him when he came back with a tray of food. ‘I did at first because I had a preconceived idea about you because of the way you have treated your son in the past. You no doubt had your reasons but till you tell me what they are you can’t expect me to fully understand. I appreciate you are doing your very best for Josh but sometimes you say things that really make me cross, like just now, saying Saffron is expendable when she has devoted so much time to your son and to me. And you said I was expendable too and that hurts.’
Oh, what was the point? He was right. They were all expendable.
‘Point taken,’ he said quietly, but offered nothing more as he unloaded the food from the tray to the table. Salad and seafood and a bottle of chilled white wine to go with it.
Karis had to admit that, for all her failings, Fiesta never skimped on food and wine. Karis had always been provided with the best at the cottage. She wondered again if it was all down to Daniel, if he insisted on the best for his son even if he couldn’t give him spiritual support.
‘Tell me about your husband,’ he said unexpectedly.
Karis narrowed her eyes in surprise.
‘Is it necessary for you to know anything about my private life?’ she ventured as he uncorked the wine. He sat down and poured two glasses before speaking.
‘I think it very necessary. We are going to be living together and I need to be able to excuse your behaviour and moods which are certainly going to ruffle an otherwise quiet life.’
Karis smiled thinly. ‘Getting to know your son is not going to assure you a quiet life.’
He smiled softly. ‘Don’t try and evade the question I asked, Karis. Shall we forget Josh for a while and get to know each other a bit better? And don’t ask for what reason again. I’ve just given you one.’
‘To make allowances for my moods, you said. I wasn’t aware I was moody.’
He made a funny sort of snort in his throat, so reminiscent of Josh. She had to try, she really did, for Josh. She sighed and sipped her wine and it was delicious and made her relax a little. OK, she’d meet him halfway. They would trade pasts for Josh’s sake.
‘He died six months before Tara was born,’ she told him quietly, lowering her head and staring down at the green salad and assortment of shellfish he had dished up for her.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said softly and genuinely. ‘It must have been a shock for you. Were you expecting it?’
Her head shot up. ‘Hardly,’ she blurted, and then realised he must think Aiden had died of some terminal illness they’d been able to prepare for. She muted her tone. ‘It…it wasn’t cancer or anything.’
‘Accident?’
She nodded. She’d never talked about it before and it was hard to bring the right words to her lips to express herself.
‘Go on.’
Karis picked at a prawn, pulled at the head and left it lying on the plate, her appetite waning. She reached for her wineglass but Daniel’s fingers on hers stopped her from lifting it to her lips. She glanced up at him in surprise.
‘You don’t need that, no
t yet. Go on.’ His voice was calming and not at all accusing. He smiled encouragingly.
She drew her hand back and clasped both in her lap and took a shaky breath. ‘He drowned in a sailing accident in the Mediterranean,’ she told him, rushing the words out because she didn’t want to linger on them
Daniel waited for her to go on but Karis simply stared at him blindly.
‘Is that it?’ he asked at last.
Karis took another shaky breath. ‘You asked about my husband and I’ve told you; isn’t that enough?’
‘Not nearly enough. You’re reticent about it so there must be more. Death needs to be talked about. It’s the only way to deal with it.’
‘I’ve dealt with it,’ she asserted tightly. ‘It happened. It’s history now.’
‘Your flippancy gives you away, Karis. It’s a cover-up for how you still feel about it—devastated. But you said you were an emotion-weary widow,’ he persisted. ‘And that suggests that you haven’t dealt with it and fully come to terms with it yet. And correct me if I’m wrong but I get the impression that all was not well with the marriage before your husband’s untimely death,’ he added. ‘Am I right?’
Karis stared at him. How very perceptive he was. She couldn’t think of anything she had said that had hinted at it. She reached for her glass of wine and this time Daniel didn’t stop her. She sipped at it. No, she didn’t need it. She put it down and gave him a small smile. ‘You’re very knowing,’ she whispered.
There was a long silence before Daniel spoke again, softly and sincerely. ‘Yes, I recognise the symptoms. Did you love him very much?’
There was another yawning, reflective silence before Karis could reply to that. It was such a complex question. She didn’t know if her love had qualified as very much or just a little. Aiden had been snatched from her so early in their marriage and the shock had thrown her into such a deep turmoil that even now she was finding it difficult to assess her feelings. She thought deeply about it before answering him.
