by Susan Napier;Kathryn Ross;Kelly Hunter;Sandra Marton;Katherine Garbera;Margaret Mayo
‘Ray! You scared the life out of me!’ She shone her torch onto him and he held a hand up to shield his eyes from the glare. The yellow beam glinted over the raindrops in his short dark hair and she noticed he wore a heavy oilskin jacket over jeans. It was a far cry from the way he had dressed when she’d seen him in England—back then he’d always worn smart suits. ‘What on earth are you doing here?’ she asked, lowering the beam of light from his face.
‘I was on my way up to the house and saw your car.’
‘Up to the house?’ She was truly mystified.
‘My house.’ His voice was acerbic now. ‘I live about six kilometres further on up this road.’
‘Oh! I didn’t know…Well, I knew you lived in France, of course…’ She felt flustered and confused. ‘But Murdo told me you had an apartment in Paris now, so I assumed you had moved from around here.’
‘I do have an apartment in Paris—I use it for work—but my home is here in the south.’
There was an edge to those words that she didn’t understand. Why did she always feel out of kilter when she was talking to him? Caitlin wondered. Why did he unnerve her so much? Was he telling her that she was on his territory and she wasn’t welcome?
The rain seemed to be increasing outside and a bright flash of lightning lit the room, followed a few moments later by the distant rumble of thunder. And suddenly it didn’t really matter that Ray’s manner was unwelcoming; at least he was another human being, and in the unknown surroundings a familiar face was reassuring. ‘Well, I’m glad I’ll have a neighbour I know,’ she said cheerfully. ‘I’ll be able to pop over if I run out of sugar. That’s an unexpected bonus.’
‘You are not thinking of staying here…are you?’
The shocked incredulity in his voice made Caitlin hesitate; she didn’t honestly know what she was going to do. The plans she had made back in England now seemed absurd. She had dreamed of turning this place into a small guest-house. A vision she had unwisely shared with a few colleagues and friends who had all delightedly assured her they wanted to be the first to book themselves in.
Caitlin cringed as she imagined the expression on their faces if they could see this property. And when word travelled around the circle of their friends and David heard…he would probably laugh. The thought of David laughing at her was almost the last straw.
He had accused her of being too impulsive when she had finished with him and his tone had been patronising. He had honestly believed that she wouldn’t call the wedding off. He’d thought that she would make a token visit to her mother down in London and then return to him, her common sense restored.
And then she had inherited this house and it had been like a lifeline…
Another flash of lightning lit the room and for a second Ray had a clear view of Caitlin, dark hair bedraggled around a face that looked far too pale and eyes that shimmered intensely green.
‘I’ll decide what I’m going to do once I can look at the place properly in the daylight.’ She angled her chin up stubbornly; she wasn’t going to give up on her dream that easily.
‘But you can’t stay here tonight,’ he continued softly.
The sudden gentleness of his tone took her aback.
‘Well, I suppose I’ll go down to the village and book into a hotel.’
‘I don’t think so.’ He turned away and glanced out of the door. ‘The roads further down the mountain will be flooded now. Plus I think you’ll find it hard to go anywhere in your car.’
‘What do you mean?’ She crossed to stand beside him at the door. The sky was a forbidding shade of deep indigo lit every now and then with several jagged streaks of fork lightning that illuminated the trees on the hills with unnatural brilliance. Almost immediately the light was followed by a fierce crash of thunder that reverberated and echoed through the mountains like cannon fire.
‘Flash floods come out of nowhere when the weather is like this,’ Ray said matter-of-factly.
Caitlin could see for herself that water was now flowing like a river down the narrow winding road she had driven up.
‘Plus you’ve parked your car off the road; the tyres will be stuck in the mud by now.’
Following his gaze towards her old estate car, she could see that he was right.
‘I’ll just have to stay here then.’ She tried to sound undaunted, but truthfully the thought of staying in this house, in this storm was making her panic levels rise.
‘Don’t be absurd.’
The scornful remark chafed on raw nerves. ‘Well, have you got a better suggestion?’ She turned and looked up at him.
He didn’t answer immediately and in the pause a brutal roar of thunder tore through the air again.
Then he shrugged. ‘Well, I suppose you’ll have to come home with me, won’t you?’
It wasn’t the most gracious of invitations and there was a part of Caitlin that instantly wanted to refuse out of pride and say, No, thanks, I’ll be fine here. But she was too tired to pretend, so instead she inclined her head. ’Thanks, I’d appreciate that,’ she said.
‘And anyway, I suppose it will give us a chance to talk.’
‘Talk about what?’ She frowned.
For a second his features were illuminated by the lightning, the dark eyes were cool, and there was something about the rugged set of his square jaw that was unyielding.
‘About Murdo leaving you this place, what else? Now let’s get out of here before the roads are completely impassable and we’re both stuck here for the night.’
That thought galvanised Caitlin into following him back out into the rain. Carefully she locked the door behind her and hurried down the steps.
Why did Ray want to talk about Murdo’s will? she wondered as she trailed behind him. But no explanation came to mind and she pushed the question away under more pressing immediate problems. The rain was cold against her face and she realised she hadn’t zipped her coat up again or put her hood up. She felt water striking straight through to her skin and dripping down her back. ‘I’ll just get some belongings out of my car,’ she called after Ray, but he didn’t seem to hear her.
As she struggled to find her overnight case in the dark amidst the chaos of her other belongings Caitlin suddenly thought about the warmth and security of her old life. The apartment she had rented with David had been in a trendy area of Manchester and they had put a lot of time and effort into the furnishings and the decoration. It had been a lovely home. Then she thought about her wedding dress, which still hung in the spare wardrobe. It had been her dream dress, yards of exquisite cream silk with tiny rosebuds around the neckline. In another couple of weeks’ time she would have been Mrs Caitlin Cramer. A sudden knot formed in her throat.
Caitlin found her bag and tugged it out with some impatience. Marrying David would have been a huge mistake, she told herself fiercely. Their relationship was over and she had no regrets because he wasn’t the man she had thought he was.
As she swung around she was surprised to find Ray standing behind her. He reached to take the bag from her. ‘Be careful around here—it’s treacherous underfoot.’
‘Thanks.’ She smiled at him hesitantly. She was glad he’d taken the bag from her but she wasn’t going to take the hand he held out to help her. ‘I’ll manage…’ The words were no sooner out of her mouth than she lost her balance in the mud and stumbled. Only for Ray’s quick reflex action, his arm catching her around the waist, she would have been on the ground. She found herself held close against him, her body pressed against the powerful contours of his. The enforced intimacy was the strangest sensation. For a moment the cold rain beating down over them was forgotten and all she was aware of was his arm holding her securely and the warm, almost electric feeling that his closeness generated.
She extricated herself from him with a feeling of awkwardness. ’Sorry about that.’ She felt breathless as she met his eyes, as if the air was knocked out of her body.
He smiled. ‘I told you the ground was slippery.’
&n
bsp; Caitlin looked away from the amused glint in his eyes. She hated it when people said I told you so. And why had she imagined it pleasurable to be close to him? He was the most irritating type of man you could wish to meet.
She walked ahead of him towards his car, picking her way with care, determined not to need any further assistance. The water on the road flooded over her shoes, penetrating inside to her feet, making them squelch as she stepped up onto the running board of his silver fourwheel drive.
‘Is this really the sunny south of France?’ she muttered once they were safely inside the car.
Ray smiled. ‘When it rains here it usually does the job properly. That’s why it’s lush and beautiful.’
‘Is it?’ Caitlin stared out of the windscreen at the dark watery surroundings. ‘I’ll have to take your word for it.’
There was a certain feeling of security being inside this car, it was higher off the ground than Caitlin’s and the leather interior was warm and comfortable. She watched as Ray engaged the gears before negotiating a steep turn in the road. Then as the narrow track widened their way was barred by a gate.
‘This marks the boundary between your land and mine,’ he said, stopping the vehicle.
‘So to get to your property you have to drive through mine?’ she asked frowning. ‘Isn’t that a bit unusual?’
‘There are several entrances to my estate—this is just a back route—but I do have a right of way,’ Ray muttered. ‘However it is an inconvenience…and that is one of the reasons I wanted to buy Murdo’s property from him last year. I made him a very generous offer, in fact, when I was visiting him in England. But then I suppose you already know all about that.’
‘No.’ Caitlin frowned. ‘I had no idea.’
‘Well, my offer was substantial, which was why I was very surprised when he turned it down and then left the place to you instead.’
Caitlin suddenly understood the barbed note in his tone. Ray had wanted Murdo’s land. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. ‘His will came as a surprise to me as well.’
‘Really.’
‘Yes, really.’ Caitlin frowned. ‘I don’t know what you are trying to imply but I don’t much care for your tone, Ray.’
He made no reply to that, but instead got out of the car. She watched him in the beam from the headlights as he opened the five-bar gate that blocked their way.
Was he insinuating that she had somehow persuaded Murdo into leaving his house to her? The idea was abhorrent.
Caitlin didn’t know why Murdo had left her his property. She had been stunned when the letter had arrived from the solicitor. But the fact that it had happened at a time when she had reached a crossroads in her life had been like a pointer sent from above and she hadn’t spent a lot of time analysing it.
Yes, it was an overly generous gift, but she certainly hadn’t influenced him into giving her anything. The suggestion was insulting.
Ray got back into the car and drove on through the gates. There was a tense silence between them as they continued on up the long winding road, until suddenly Caitlin couldn’t stand it any longer. ‘Look, I don’t blame you for being a bit miffed that Murdo left his land to me instead of selling it to you. I know your friendship with him goes back years and I’m a stranger by comparison, but I assure you that the decision had nothing to do with me and I certainly didn’t entice Murdo to leave me anything.’
‘I never said you did,’ Ray said quietly. ‘Although the word entice is an interesting choice. And you were…shall we say…rather unsuitably dressed for work when I first saw you…’
Remembering the scanty top and shorts that she had been wearing when she’d answered the door that day made Caitlin’s face flare with colour. ‘You’ve completely misread the situation. That was my day off.’
‘And you usually went around to Murdo’s house on your day off dressed like that…did you?’
The calm question sent Caitlin’s temper soaring. ‘No, I did not! I was around there like that because I had been summoned urgently and I thought it was an emergency. But in fact he’d only sent for me because you were there.’
‘Because I was there?’ Ray sounded baffled.
‘Well…yes…He had this weird idea that…’ Caitlin trailed off, too embarrassed to go any further.
‘Weird idea about what?’ Ray glanced over at her.
She shrugged. ‘Well, you must have known…he thought that…you and I would make a good couple.’
‘You’re not serious!’ There was silence for a moment and then Ray started to laugh. The warm sound of complete amusement grated on Caitlin’s nerves.
‘Yes, all right, Ray, we both know it’s absurd. I don’t much like you and you don’t like me.’
‘No, in fairness I have never disliked you, Caitlin,’ Ray said, shaking his head. ‘I’ve always thought you were very attractive, in fact…for a little gold-digger.’
‘Right, that’s it, turn the car around,’ Caitlin demanded furiously.
‘Why?’
The calm question made Caitlin fizz inside like a firecracker ready to explode. ‘Why? Because I would rather spend the night in a rundown house with no electricity than one more moment with you in this car, let alone the night under your roof. You are rude and and…insensitive and I absolutely detest you. That’s why.’
‘I’m not turning the car around,’ he said, without losing a shred of his cool detachment. ‘So if you want to go back to Murdo’s house you’ll have to walk.’
Caitlin stared out at the dark wild night lit every now and then by the bright flicker of lightning and, as much as she didn’t like Ray, she decided that walking wasn’t an option. ‘I’ll phone for a taxi, then.’
‘Please yourself. But no taxi will come up here in this weather. So I think you are stuck with me for tonight.’
Caitlin’s hands curved into tight fists and she felt her nails digging into her skin. ‘Well, I suppose I’ll have to put up with you, then,’ she muttered tightly.
‘I suppose you will,’ he said with a hint of amusement in his tone.
The drive turned and through the rain an impressive building came into view, its windows spilling welcoming light out into the darkness. It was the kind of château that you would see in the pages of glossy magazines, quintessentially French with fairy-tale turrets at either side of the long straight edifice. Caitlin couldn’t help wondering why he was so bothered about the dilapidated house down the road when he owned this palatial spread.
He parked by the front door. ‘I’ll get your case. You run ahead, the door will be unlocked.’
Caitlin did as he asked and hurried through the rain, almost tumbling in through the front door as an almighty roar of thunder cracked the air. It was a relief to be out of that weather and away from the close proximity of Ray Pascal. How dared he suggest that she was some kind of gold-digger? She was still reeling with shock at the horrible accusation.
Apprehensively she glanced around at her surroundings. The house was as impressive inside as it had been outside. She was standing in a wide flagged entrance hall and through an archway she could see a stone fireplace where a log fire crackled invitingly. Drawn towards the warmth of the fire, she went into the room. It was like something out of a film set. Pale orange sofas were placed strategically at either side of the huge fireplace and a staircase led up to a wooden gallery that encircled the room. Caitlin walked over and stood with her back to the fire as she admired the antique furniture, the crystal lamps that sent out a delicate warm glow, the vases of fresh flowers, the writing bureau placed by the window.
It was a large house for one man to live in alone and Caitlin wondered fleetingly if there was a serious woman in his life. Murdo hadn’t seemed to think so, but then Murdo couldn’t know everything. All right Ray had been widowed in his twenties, but he was about thirty-eight now she reckoned. It was a long time for a man to be on his own.
One thing was certain: Murdo had been absolutely crazy to think she and Ray were su
ited.
Ray came into the house carrying her case. She watched as he put it down to hang up his jacket, muscles rippling through the thin cotton of his shirt. She was willing to bet her last penny that there was no shortage of women falling into his arms or his bed…
‘Have you eaten?’ he asked, turning and catching her eye.
She shook her head.
‘Okay, I’ll show you up to your room and you can get out of those wet things while I rummage through the kitchen and see what is in the cupboards. Unfortunately my housekeeper is having some time off so you’ll have to suffer my cooking.’
‘I don’t want anything to eat,’ she said with stiff politeness. ’So if you don’t mind I think I’ll just turn in.’
‘Of course you want something to eat. You must be starving.’ He came closer. ‘I’m sorry I said I thought you were a gold-digger, okay, so can we just drop the Ms Iceberg act now?’
The casual tone of his apology did little to cool her annoyance with him. ‘No, it’s not okay actually,’ she said stonily. ‘That was a very insulting remark.’
He shrugged. ‘You know you can’t blame me for thinking what I did. Murdo never stopped extolling your virtues and telling me how beautiful you were. I wanted to talk to him about business and all he could talk about was you. I thought he was in love with you.’
‘He was sixty-five. I’m twenty-nine,’ Caitlin said rigidly.
‘Your point being?’ Ray enquired lightly.
‘That’s disgusting.’
Ray shrugged. ‘You wouldn’t be the first twenty-nine year old to capture an older—rich—man’s heart.’
‘I was engaged to be married,’ Caitlin said furiously.
‘Murdo made no secret of the fact that he didn’t like your fiancé.’
Caitlin’s heart thumped uncomfortably against her chest. She had always thought Murdo’s dislike of David had been irrational—after all, he’d hardly known the guy. But in light of recent discoveries it seemed Murdo had been right all along.
‘You can’t blame me for wondering what was going on,’ Ray said.
‘That’s your suspicious mind; there was nothing going on!’
