* * *
Chloe stepped back from the door and tried to think of a suitable reaction to the screaming girl. Fortunately, an older woman appeared in the foyer. She too seemed taken aback for a moment at the sight of Chloe but at least didn't start to scream. She looped a strong arm around the girl. "Stop that, child. You'll rub me nerves right raw!" The girl stopped instantly, but she stayed within the protective circle of the woman's arms, regarding Chloe now with a mixture of interest and distrust.
"Can I help you?" the woman asked Chloe. Chloe couldn't even begin to guess her age. She was a large woman and wore what Chloe's mother always called a "housedress," a shapeless garment of printed cotton for doing housework. She had thick white hair that was pulled back into a bun at the nape of her neck, and her florid face was criss-crossed with deep wrinkles. She had a bright smile, and her eyes twinkled with good humour.
Chloe gave them both her bravest smile. "Hi. My name is Chloe," she said in her brightest school-teacher voice. "I don't know whether I've arrived on the right day or not, but I'm Sophia's new teacher."
"Goodness gracious, girl!" the woman exclaimed, opening the door wider, letting out a seductive flood of warmth. Behind her, Chloe glimpsed a huge wood-panelled hall, adding to the impression that Widow's Peak was indeed a castle. "You are early. We weren't expecting you for another week and a half!"
"I think I got my dates mixed up," Chloe said weakly.
"Well never you mind, you come right in."
"Thank you," Chloe said gratefully. She picked up her bags and set them down inside the door. "You must be Sophia," she said to the little girl.
Sophia nodded her head vigorously, all signs of distrust melting like an icicle in the sun.
"I'm sorry I frightened you," Chloe said.
Sophia smiled. "I was just playing," she said.
Chloe glanced at the housekeeper.
"Like I say, she rubs me nerves," she said without any sign of irritation. She spoke with a distinctive Newfoundland accent, musical and lilting, reminiscent of her Irish ancestors. "She probably saw you there with your hair like a birch broom in fits and thought you was a ghost or something."
Chloe laughed as much at the housekeeper's expressions as at the idea of Sophia thinking she was a ghost. "Is that what you thought?"
Sophia shook her head, and Chloe smiled at her. She liked her already.
The housekeeper started to pick up the bags, but Chloe stopped her. "Please, don't pick them up, I'll move them. Maybe Sophia can show me my room." Silently she prayed it would still be her room tomorrow and that Gaelan Byrne would not send her back on the first plane out of St. John’s!
"Okay, okay," said the woman. "But first, we'll have a cup'a tea. You look tired and froze right through."
"A cup of tea sounds lovely," Chloe said. The housekeeper took her coat and hung it on a hall stand before leading the way to the kitchen.
"I should introduce myself," she said. "My name is Windy."
"I'm pleased to meet you Windy. I like your name. It's very pretty."
"It suits me. I was born in a gale, my husband died when his fishing boat went down in a gale, and I'm sure I'll be blown to heaven on a gale." She laughed at her own joke, and Chloe joined in.
The kitchen was beautiful and warm. At one end of the room a fire blazed in a large fireplace, while the other end held state-of-the-art appliances that would be the delight of any cook. In between was a long harvest table surrounded by cane-seated chairs. Spread across the table were several children's books, a newspaper, and some children's drawings.
"Did you draw this?" Chloe asked, picking up one of the sheets of paper and holding it out to Sophia. A picture of a house on a cliff, it was dark and brooding-looking with storm clouds gathering above it and a wild sea smashing below.
Sophia nodded a bit hesitantly, as if wondering whether she was about to get in trouble.
"It's very good," Chloe said sincerely. Actually, the drawings were excellent for a child of six. Sophia was obviously very talented. "Is it Widow's Cliff?"
Sophia nodded, more enthusiastically this time. She picked up a picture of a cat and handed it to Chloe. "I drew this one too. It's my cat, Cookies. He's upstairs in my room right now. You can come up and meet him."
Chloe took it from the child. "I'd love to. Do you draw a lot?"
Sophia shrugged. "Sometimes."
Windy placed steaming mugs of tea and a plate of homemade chocolate chip cookies on the table. Chloe was pleased when Sophia chose to sit next to her. She felt warm and happy. Oh please, don't send me away! she prayed silently, not knowing if it was a higher power or Gaelan Byrne she was praying to.
"Can I have two cookies, Windy?" Sophia asked.
"Yes, dear," Windy said.
"Can Chloe?" she said.
Windy laughed. "Chloe is the guest, and she can have as many as she wants."
Chloe complimented Windy on the cookies and tea and listened attentively to Sophia as she talked about her drawings. Except for the house picture, they were all of animals, and Chloe concluded that Sophia's true passion was animals, not drawing. Nonetheless, the girl was talented, and Chloe vowed to encourage her. That is, if she were allowed to stay.
"Do we start school tomorrow?" Sophia asked hopefully.
Chloe suppressed a sigh with a sip of tea. "I don't know Sophia. I still have to talk to your father. I'm not sure I’ll be your new teacher. I'd like to be, but it's up to him."
Windy looked like she was about to object, but Chloe shot her what she hoped was a warning glance.
"You are my new teacher! He promised!" Sophia objected. She crossed her arms and stuck out her bottom lip in the universal sign of sulkiness.
Chloe put her arm around the girl's shoulders and gave her a quick hug. "Well, you keep your fingers crossed then that everything works out." Chloe always found it difficult to explain the foibles of adults to children. It was a hard lesson for them to learn that adults could not always be relied on to keep their promises. "How about you show me my room? I could use some help with my suitcases."
Sophia immediately brightened. "Okay," she said pulling away from Chloe and heading out into the hall. Chloe and Windy followed.
"Do you not want to stay here?" Windy asked Chloe in a low voice.
"Of course I do," Chloe said earnestly, casting a glance at Sophia. "I already love it here. I just don't know about Mr. Byrne. I met him on the road on the way in, and he didn't seem very happy to see me."
"Oh, that's just Gaelan. He’s an odd duck for sure. Doesn't know what is good for him anymore. Ever since his wife…" Windy stopped short as Sophia picked up the heaviest of Chloe's bags. "Sophia, put that down! It’s much too heavy for you."
"I can carry it," Sophia insisted.
"Windy’s right," Chloe said, taking the bag from the girl. "You carry this one." She pointed to the bag whose contents had so recently been dumped on the road. "It isn't so heavy."
Windy picked up the remaining bag that held the books and school supplies she had brought. "How did you carry this all yourself?"
"It wasn't too bad," Chloe lied. She didn't want to explain how she had expected to be picked up at the airport and how Gaelan had left her standing there with all of her bags.
An open staircase wound up one side of the hallway to a second-floor landing that looked over the hallway. Long halls branched off on either side of the landing, confirming Chloe's suspicion that the house was more like a castle. "Do you clean this house all by yourself?"
"No, thank heavens," Windy said as she led the way down one of these halls. "Two women come in every day. Really I just look after the cooking and washing up. And Sophia of course." They reached the end of the hall, and Windy opened the last door on the right.
The room was huge, and out of one corner jutted a circular area surrounded by windows. "A turret!" Chloe exclaimed. She couldn't believe this was her room - it was like something out of a romance novel! Her and Shawn’s old apartment in Boston
was a broom closet next to this. Windy went over and lit the fireplace. Facing the fireplace was a chintz-covered love seat, and Chloe imagined herself curled up with a good book. The floors were dark plank covered with excellent Middle Eastern carpets. But the icing on the cake was an antique canopy bed complete with bed curtains! Not in her wildest dreams did Chloe imagine herself in surroundings like this. She went to the turret windows and pulled back the drapes, but there was only blackness. "The view is beautiful," Windy said, setting the fireplace screen before the fire. "Hopefully the fog will clear tonight, and you'll get a chance to enjoy it by and by in the morning." Chloe hoped so too, but she was sure Gaelan Byrne was a bigger barrier than the fog to enjoying the view. The fog would eventually clear, but whether she would be here when that happened was the bigger question.
"Can I put your clothes away?" Sophia asked.
"Not tonight, sweetie," Chloe said. "I’m really too tired tonight." She didn't want to bring up the possibility she wouldn't be around long enough to make it worth their while.
"I think we should leave Chloe in peace for a while," Windy added. She turned to Chloe. "Your bathroom is directly across the hall. Why don't you have a nice hot bath?"
"I don't want to miss Mr. Byrne when he comes back," Chloe said. She didn't really want to be in the bathtub when he booted her out. It would be so undignified, to say the least!
Windy looked at her watch. "He won't be home for at least another hour. You have time."
"Okay then, I will." A bath would feel good. She would put on something nice and do her makeup. Perhaps she could convince Gaelan to give her a chance to prove herself.
"And you," Windy said to Sophia, who had climbed up on the bed and was rearranging all the many pillows and cushions. "You should have your own bath and get ready for bed."
"I want to see Daddy too," Sophia insisted.
"Okay, but you're still going to have your bath."
"Alright," she agreed, as if she were doing Windy a favour, and jumped down off the bed.
After they had left, Chloe opened her suitcases. She blushed at the thought of Gaelan Byrne seeing her underthings spread out of the road. Some of them now had smudges from the dirt. She sighed, stuffing the soiled bras and panties into a pocket in the lining of the suitcase, and searched for something clean. She would have all the time in the world to do laundry when she got sent back to Boston. Then suddenly, the full implications of losing this job hit home. She had moved out of her and Shawn’s apartment in Boston and couldn’t bear the thought of staying again on her cousin’s couch, she had virtually no income beyond her small savings, her parents had their own financial problems that she didn’t want to bother them with, and she had no other job prospects! She had to keep this job. Dream job or not, this was a matter of survival.
She picked out a simple black wool dress that she knew was flattering and a pair of black stockings. From the underthings that had survived the mishap, she chose a pair of lacy white panties and a bra. If she had to appeal to the sensual side of Gaelan Byrne to keep this job, she would do it, no matter how loudly the feminist in her objected.
She headed across the hall to her bathroom. It was every bit as luxurious as her room, with antique fixtures and polished brass taps, but as she soaked in the deep old-fashioned claw-foot tub, she found it hard to relax and enjoy her surroundings - she was too focused on her upcoming meeting with Gaelan.
Perhaps she had just caught him at a bad moment. Windy had said he was an "odd duck," but her tone seemed to indicate that everything would be fine. It was important not to panic. Meeting him again would be like going on another job interview. She would be polite and calm. She would shake his hand and introduce herself formally. Perhaps it would be better not to make any reference to their meeting on the road. Just start at the beginning. Surely once he spoke to her he would realize she was perfect for the job. Plus, she had the vote of Sophia. Surely once he saw how much his child liked her…
She washed her hair and got out of the tub, wrapping herself in a thick white towel. She blow-dried her hair, letting it fall in natural waves around her shoulders. Her hair, she felt, was her best feature, thick and shiny and strawberry blond. Back in the bedroom, she dressed and put on some lipstick. She was as prepared as she ever would be.
Gaelan Byrne opened the door just as Chloe reached the landing overlooking the entrance hall. Wanting a moment to gather her courage before meeting him, she stepped back into the shadows of the hall. Just then, Sophia, dressed in her nightgown, ran out of the kitchen toward her father. "Daddy!" she called, running toward him. "Chloe's here!"
"I know, Sophia," he said, pulling off his gloves and throwing them onto a chair. He took off his coat and tossed it on the chair as well. "And how many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me Daddy? Gaelan will do just fine. You’re not a baby anymore."
"Sorry," Sophia said sheepishly.
Chloe was shocked. Where were the hugs and kisses fathers were supposed to greet their children with when they came home? And what was this about not calling him Daddy? Chloe still called her father Dad and always would. She couldn’t even imagine Shawn being this cold. How could Gaelan Byrne have so little affection for his own child?
"Why aren't you in bed?" he asked sharply.
"Windy said I could stay up 'cause Chloe's here."
"Okay, so now that you've told me she's here, it's time you went to bed. Where's Windy?"
"She's in the kitchen."
"Then let's tell her it's time for you to go to your room."
Defiantly, Sophia crossed her arms over her chest. "No. I want Chloe to put me to bed!"
"Sophia," he said impatiently. “Be reasonable, please.”
"I don't want you to send Chloe away," she said stubbornly. "I want her to be my teacher."
"Who said I was going to send Chloe away?" he demanded.
"Chloe did."
"She did, did she? And where is Chloe now?"
Chloe decided this was her cue. She stepped out of the shadows of the hall onto the landing toward the stairs. "I'm here," she said.
She felt Gaelan's eyes on her as she walked down the stairs. Sophia ran over to her and held her arms up. Chloe gave her a quick hug. "Go find Windy and tell her it's time for bed. I need to talk with your daddy." She emphasized the word daddy, hoping Gaelan would notice.
"I don't want you to go!" Sophia sounded desperate and close to tears.
"That's what I have to talk to your daddy about. So go to bed and try not to worry, okay? I'll come in and say goodnight in a little while."
"But what if I'm asleep?"
"I'll say goodnight anyway, and you'll hear me in your dreams." Certainly Gaelan would allow that much.
That seemed to satisfy Sophia, and she went off meekly to find Windy. No hugs or kisses from her father, Chloe observed grimly. He didn't even say goodnight! Chloe strengthened her resolve to stay. What a poor little rich girl Sophia was! Isolated in this great big house with no school friends, no mother, and a father who was so cold he did not even allow her to call him Daddy. If the child were prone to temper tantrums, it was no surprise - she was starved for affection!
"I overheard you speaking with Sophia," Chloe said in the neutral professional voice she used in parent-teacher interviews. "I thought it best not to get her hopes up that I was staying."
"I see. Well, you turned her into a good advocate on your behalf," he said cynically.
"I can assure you that was not the intention. I was simply trying to spare her feelings."
The Billionaire's Secrets Page 2
