Wearily she pulled the band from her hair. She could feel the beginnings of a headache coming on and, closing her eyes, she ran her hands through her hair. Actually, she was pretty near tearing it out in frustration at her own stupidity.
She opened her eyes and rose to her feet. There was no point sitting here fearing the worst. She might as well go to bed…
But would being pregnant be the worst thing in the world? she mused lying in bed half an hour later, praying for the oblivion of sleep. Ben would be delighted to have a brother or sister—being an only child herself, she knew it could be lonely. Under normal circumstances, secure in a loving marriage, she would have liked two or three children. But her circumstances were not normal, and never could be with Jed Sabbides…
Her weakness for Jed’s body did not cloud her mind to the sort of man he really was. He didn’t do love—he had told her so quite emphatically on one unforgettable occasion. He might possibly feel love for a child—she could not deny he was great with Ben—but heaven help any woman he married, because without love she was pretty certain he wouldn’t do fidelity either…
Getting Ben his breakfast the next morning, she mentioned to him the possibility of going to Greece for a holiday some time and he was all for it. But Phoebe was still not convinced, still undecided…
The day got worse when she and Ben walked down to the village, where he told everyone they met he had a daddy. Not that it was necessary. The hospital receptionist and the local grapevine had already done their work well, and when she walked into the post office the postmistress asked her when the wedding was.
Chapter Ten
AS IT happened, in the end Phoebe did not have to make the decision as it was made for her…
She gave up trying to sleep at six the next morning, and got out of bed and checked on Ben. He was still asleep—probably because she had let him stay up late last night. She had not wanted to be alone with her thoughts.
Not that it had done her much good. She was no nearer reaching a decision even as she took a long shower. She lathered the soap down over her body and slowly back up to her throat, then raked her fingers through her long hair. She tilted her head back and felt the warm jets pound against her overheated flesh, and a vivid image of Jed nuzzling her breasts filled her mind. With a low groan she grasped the bottle of shampoo and washed her hair with more vigour than necessary. Then, turning the water to cold, she stood under the freezing spray.
When she was sure the heat and the sensual hunger that had invaded her body since the reappearance of Jed Sabbides in her life was finally extinguished, she turned off the water and stepped out of the shower.
Damn! She could hear the distant ring of the telephone. Snatching a bathtowel from the cupboard, she wrapped it around her shivering body and rushed downstairs, wondering who on earth could be calling this early.
Phoebe picked up the receiver, and before she could utter a word Jed’s deep dark voice resonated in her ear.
‘Where the hell have you been? I have been trying to call you for twenty minutes.’
‘I was in the shower, and now I am standing shivering in the hall with only a towel for warmth, so—’
He cut her off. ‘Hell and damnation, Phoebe! I need a picture of you near naked in my mind like a hole in the head right now,’ he growled in a deep frustrated tone, and the calming effect of her cold shower disappeared.
‘Just be quiet and listen. My father had a heart attack last night. He is in hospital, in Intensive Care, and I arrived in Greece at three this morning.’
‘I’m so sorry,’ Phoebe said, her heart touched. Even Jed, hard as he was, had to feel bad when it came to his father’s health.
‘I don’t want your sympathy. I just want you to do as I say. I’ve spoken to his consultant and the next forty-eight hours are crucial. He is in and out of consciousness, but I have told him about Ben and he wants to meet him. There is no way I am going to let my father die without seeing his grandson. A car will be arriving at your door at nine, to take you both to the airport. I’ve arranged for Sid to accompany you, and he will bring you to the hospital—understand?’
‘Yes—no. Wait,’ she stammered, her heart no longer aching with sympathy but racing in panic.
‘I have no time to argue. Just do as I say.’ And he hung up.
Phoebe took Ben’s hand in hers and gave him a reassuring smile as they walked down the hospital corridor to Intensive Care. ‘You will see Daddy soon, and you are going to meet your grandfather, who is not very well. But don’t be afraid—he will be fine.’
‘Sid said I’m a big boy and not afraid of anything,’ Ben said. ‘Isn’t that right, Sid?’
‘Sure thing.’ Sid smiled at Phoebe over the top of his head. ‘Don’t worry—take a seat.’ He indicated the chairs against one wall. ‘I’ll tell Mr Sabbides you are here.’ And he walked through the door opposite.
Phoebe watched the door swing closed and sank gratefully down on a chair, urging Ben to sit down beside her. She was scared. Events had moved so fast she felt as if she had lost all control, and it terrified her.
After Jed had called she had woken Ben up and told him they were going to Greece in a plane to see his daddy. He’d been thrilled. Reluctantly she had packed a few things, knowing she could not ignore the wishes of a dying man.
That was if the man was dying! She would not put it past Jed to use his father to get his own way. He’d had no trouble in using Ben over the daddy issue on Sunday, she had reminded herself, and she’d still not been certain about their going. But when a grim-faced Sid had arrived on her doorstep and confirmed the facts she’d locked up the house and got into the car.
Phoebe glanced around. It was hard to believe that after answering the telephone at home that morning she was now sitting in a hospital corridor in Athens this afternoon, not knowing what to expect next.
Suddenly the door opposite swung open and Sid walked out. ‘Mr Sabbides will be here in a second, so I’ll leave you now,’ he said, and left.
Warily Phoebe watched the still swinging door, her nerves knotting painfully in the pit of her stomach as Jed appeared.
‘Phoebe—you came,’ he said, in an unfamiliar hoarse tone.
She looked up at his grim face ‘Yes.’ Their eyes held for tense, interminable seconds, the shadows of their past intimacy melding with the present to create a rare moment of mutual understanding.
‘I wasn’t sure you would,’ he admitted. ‘But I am glad you did.’
Phoebe tore her eyes from his and let her gaze sweep over him. He had shed the jacket of his suit somewhere, and his pants were crumpled. The open-necked shirt he wore was equally crumpled. His dark hair lay in dishevelled strands across his forehead, as if he had combed his fingers through it countless times, and his heavy-lidded eyes were strained in a face that looked oddly grey.
Concern for him flooded over her, and she had an impulsive desire to leap to her feet and take him in her arms. But she fought to control the impulse, determined not to let him see it.
‘You did not give me a lot of choice,’ she rebuked, mildly but softened it with a faint smile. Now was not the time to argue. ‘As for Ben—he couldn’t get on the plane fast enough. He has never flown before, and was totally fascinated.’
‘I’m going to be a pilot when I grow up, Daddy,’ Ben said.
The glimmer of a smile curved the tight line of Jed’s mouth as he bent down and swept Ben up into his arms. ‘You can be anything you like when you grow up, but right now I want you to meet your grandfather.’ And, glancing at Phoebe, he added, ‘My father wants to see you as well, Phoebe. The doctor has given him something and he is awake at the moment, but for how long…’ He shrugged his broad shoulders. ‘Come,’ he said, and, rising to her feet, she followed Jed and Ben into the other room.
A small dark-haired woman walked towards her. ‘I am Jed’s sister Cora,’ she said, and with a smile and a hello for Ben she looked up at Phoebe. ‘You must be Phoebe. I have heard so much abo
ut you, and it is lovely to finally meet you, but I wish it was in happier circumstances. You must come to dinner tonight and meet the rest of the family.’
‘No, not tonight,’ Jed cut in, putting Ben down on his feet. ‘You go and get a coffee or something. We won’t be long here, and then you can take over for a few hours while I take Phoebe and Ben home.’
With a roll of her huge dark eyes his sister murmured, ‘The oracle has spoken,’ and put her hand on Phoebe’s arm. ‘I love my brother, but I know him. Don’t let him bully you. I’ll bring the children over tomorrow morning—they will be company for Ben. Whatever Jed thinks, a sickroom is no place for young children,’ she said with a sad smile. ‘I’ll see you later.’
Phoebe smiled back, feeling marginally better. Cora seemed friendly, though her comment about having heard a lot about her had been odd, she thought as Cora left the room. Then, taking a deep steadying breath, she turned and froze as she took in the tableau before her.
A white-haired man lay on the bed, his head propped up by pillows, a discarded oxygen mask around his neck, and lines attached to his wrist and chest leading to a drip. A bank of monitors was recording all his vital functions. His face was lined with age and pain, but there was no mistaking his distinctive features.
Ben, who was just big enough to see over the bed, was looking curiously at his grandfather as Jed said something in Greek to his father, and then switched to English to introduce Ben.
She saw the old man’s dull eyes light up with such joy it brought a lump to her throat, and she saw Ben hold out his hand and the old man take it. She was looking at three generations of a family—all male, all with the same deep brown eyes, all smiling, all with the same thick slightly curling hair. They looked incredibly alike—no one could ever mistake them for anything other than family. Suddenly it hit Phoebe like a punch in the stomach. Ben fitted in seamlessly with these men. This was his family, however much she wished it wasn’t, and she had no right to deny him the benefits of his paternal family.
‘You are a very old man,’ she heard Ben say.
‘Really, Ben—it is bad manners to make personal comments.’ But her admonishment was drowned by Jed’s laugh and his father’s chuckle.
‘The truth does not hurt,’ Jed’s father said in a weak rasping voice. ‘Come closer, where I can see you.’
Phoebe moved to stand by Ben and Jed, and glanced warily down at the bed’s occupant, not quite sure what to expect.
‘You are the mother of my wonderful grandson,’ he said, eyes glistening with moisture meeting hers. ‘I thank you with my heart so very much for bringing him to me.’
‘My pleasure,’ Phoebe murmured. ‘I am pleased to meet you,’ she continued rather formally, ‘and I hope you recover soon.’ She did not trust herself to say any more, and swallowed down the emotion welling up inside her. His English was heavily accented, and nowhere near as fluent as Jed’s, and she could tell he was struggling to breathe, but there was no mistaking the genuine delight and the wealth of emotion in his tone.
His gaze swept slowly over her, and then he looked at Jed and spoke in Greek for a couple of minutes while she watched. She was amazed to see a dark flush spread over Jed’s high cheekbones, and he actually looked embarrassed when he finally responded.
Then his father turned his eyes on Phoebe, a determined gleam in the dark depths. ‘You are beautiful, Phoebe.’ He grasped her hand with a strength she would not have thought possible in his condition. ‘My son is an idiot. You must excuse him. His mother and I taught him better. He will marry you immediately, and I—’
‘Enough Father! This is not the time,’ Jed commanded, and she saw him glance and frown at the bank of monitors before looking back at his father. ‘These things can wait. You must rest.’
‘You have waited too long already,’ his father sighed, letting go of Phoebe’s hand as he sank deeper into the pillows. The small burst of strength he seemed to have had was fading as his eyes closed. ‘I no longer have time, and you would not deny an old man’s last wish to see you wed.’
Talk about emotional blackmail! The old man was a master. That was Phoebe’s first thought, but watching Jed lean forward to place the oxygen mask on his father’s face, murmuring something in his own language and then pressing a kiss on the lined brow before straightening up, she suddenly felt terribly guilty for her unkind thought. The old man really was fighting for his life…But what made warmth flow through her and moisture haze her eyes was seeing the hard, emotionless Jed she had tried for so long to hate carefully tending to his father.
‘He is asleep.’ Jed smiled down at Ben and, taking the boy’s hand, glanced at Phoebe. ‘Cora is going to sit with him. We can go now.’
He looped an arm around her shoulder and ushered them out of the room. To any onlooker she realised they must look like a real family—and would it really be so bad if they were? Shocked at where her thoughts were leading, she stiffened—and was suddenly conscious of the subtle brush of Jed’s long leg against her thigh as he ushered them along the corridor.
Self-disgust at the ease with which he could affect her physically—in a hospital of all places!—mingled with the confusion and resentment she felt towards Jed. He knew her too well in some respects. In the past he had told her often enough she was too soft-hearted for her own good with her friends, beggars and stray animals…It was all his fault she was in this almost helpless position in a foreign country.
She shrugged his hand from her shoulder and turned to look at him.
‘Not now, Phoebe. Recriminations can wait,’ he said, accurately reading her mind. ‘I have had a hell of a night and the day isn’t getting any better. As for my father…’ He shook his head. ‘Damn him—he is unbelievable.’
She glanced at him in surprise ‘That isn’t a very nice thing to say.’
‘Phoebe, all I want to do is get you two home and have a shower and a change of clothes.’ He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers, then opened them again. ‘Maybe an hour’s sleep.’
She looked at him—really looked at him—and realised with a sense of shock that Jed the dynamic, powerful man she had thought indefatigable actually looked almost exhausted…
‘You look like you could use it,’ she responded as they left the building.
Jed dropped into the front passenger seat of the car and let his head fall back against the rest. His son and Phoebe were here, and he felt relief flow through him. His father had met Ben and the old man was content. But the anger he felt because it had taken his father’s near death to bring about the meeting simmered inside him. Whatever the outcome of the next forty-eight hours—no thirty hours now—his father’s lifespan would be drastically reduced. Weary though he was, the knowledge that Phoebe had kept his son’s existence from him for years was never far from his mind. He still had plenty of time to get to know his son, but his father probably did not.
Thinking of his father’s last order, he pulled out his cellphone and called his lawyer. He had to admire the old man—he was not done yet.
The house was some way out of the city on the coast, and stood in acres of grounds—a veritable mansion, with panoramic views of the sea. Ben was awestruck, as was Phoebe when Jed led them into a huge hall. A worried-looking woman appeared and Jed introduced them both to the housekeeper, Maria, who luckily spoke a little English and then spoke rapidly in Greek to Jed, while Phoebe glanced interestedly around.
An extravagant curving staircase was the centrepiece of the huge marble-floored reception hall, which had at least half a dozen rooms leading off. Suddenly one of the doors opened and a woman appeared…Sophia! Phoebe recognised her immediately as she dashed past her to grab Jed’s arm, her dark eyes fixed on his as she spoke hurriedly in Greek.
Phoebe stood like a block of wood, her eyes darting from one to the other in amazement. That they were intimate friends was obvious by the way Sophia held Jed’s arm and then placed her other hand on his chest. But then she had alway
s known that—so why did she feel so sick inside at the sight of the pair of them together, and so betrayed all over again…?
Because she still loved Jed…The unwanted thought popped into her head. No. She could not—would not—succumb again to something that had hurt her so dreadfully in the past. She doubted she had the strength to survive it again. One night of sex and a weekend together had left her aching for more, but it was lust, not love. Probably seeing a tender side of Jed with Ben and his father was addling her brain, she told herself, and took a step back—both figuratively and mentally.
She reminded herself that only a few days ago Sophia had been a woman supposedly no longer speaking to him, according to Jed—the low-life rat…The woman who was now in his home and rattling away in Greek. The woman he was gently clasping by the shoulders and easing away from him with a smile…
‘Thank you for your concern, Sophia, but I’m sure my father will be fine. Speak English, please—I have guests.’ Propelling Ben forward with one hand, he said, ‘My son Benjamin.’ As an afterthought he added, ‘His mother Phoebe you have met.’
‘Your son!’ Sophia exclaimed, but quickly recovered and said, ‘Hello, Benjamin,’ before turning to look at her. ‘Of course I remember you, Phoebe,’ Sophia said. ‘How could I forget?’ She gave a polite smile that did not reach her eyes, and then looked down at Ben again, then back to her, and frowned. ‘Though I seem to recall you did not remember Jed at the time—and now you are in his house with your child. How bizarre.’ And she spoke to Jed again in her own language.
Phoebe saw Jed stiffen as he replied, and saw the flash of some emotion in Sophia’s eyes. A moment later she shook her head, a wry smile on her scarlet lips.
Then Jed reverted to English. ‘Thank your father for his concern, but now you will have to excuse us, Sophia—it has been a long day. Maria will show you out.’
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