by Sharon Booth
'It doesn't have to be,' he said, cupping her face. 'Beth, you and I have waited for the chance to be parents for so long. We can't throw it away now. We love each other, right? We can make a great life together.'
'But if the baby's James's?'
'Then — then obviously he has access. We wouldn't stop the guy from seeing his kid, would we? But that's no reason to give up our relationship. Wouldn't it be better for a child to be with two people who love each other, even if one of them isn't his or her real dad?'
'I suppose so.' Beth shook her head. 'What am I saying? Of course it is. It's just that James has already lost one child, and I feel so responsible for that. To take away another child ... But then, the baby may be yours, and if I stay with James until we can find out for sure, you're going to miss out on all the exciting pregnancy stuff that you missed out on before.'
Jed was quiet for a moment, thinking it through. He saw the anxiety in her face and knew the only honourable thing to do was to put his own feelings to one side. 'Look, Beth, you have enough pressure on you. Forget me. Forget James. You have to do what's right for you, and for the baby, now. Whatever it takes. You need calm and peace, and no pressure. Do what you have to do. If that means things stay as they are until the baby's born, then we'll do it. Just please, don't shut me out, okay?'
'I'll never shut you out, Jed,' she promised. 'I don't know what's going to happen yet but thank you for saying that. It seems I have a lot of thinking to do.'
'Just know I love you, no matter what,' he murmured.
'I know that,' she said, smiling. 'Believe me. I know.'
****
Emerald flung her suitcase on the bed and began to stuff her belongings into it. She was raging inside, after having a violent argument with Eden. That cow had accused her of all sorts, saying she'd manipulated Eliot from the start, and that she was a liar and a cheat, and a spoilt little brat. Spoilt! How the hell did she work that one out? Eden had no idea what her life had been like. None at all. She had some weird illusion that Emerald had been a rich little princess like Honey. As if!
She sank onto the bed, her anger ebbing away to be replaced with an overwhelming sorrow. She'd been far from a princess. Cain may have sent her an allowance every month, but she'd never been able to spend any of it. It had gone on paying rent and buying food. Keeping a roof over her head, and her mother's head.
If Honey hadn't reluctantly invited her to the wedding, if Cassandra hadn't insisted that she attend, and if she hadn't been so desperate to see her father again, she might still be with Cassandra now. Instead, events had conspired to lead her into Eliot Harland's path, and to Fleetsthorpe, where she'd begun to see how a real family operated. She had continued to send every penny of her allowance to her mother, however, so the allegation that Eden had hurled at her infuriated her.
Where did she go now? Taking out her phone, she stared at it for a moment, then pressed James Fuller's number. If anyone could help her, it had to be him.
'This is a pleasant surprise,' he said, his voice soothing her frazzled nerves. 'How are things on the farm? Still World War Three, I hope?'
Emerald sniffed. 'It's awful. Eliot and Eden have made up and I'm getting all the blame and they said I've got to go. Dad will be furious with me and I have nowhere to stay and —'
'The Harlands have made up?' James sounded disgusted. 'For God's sake! What does it take to destroy their sodding world? You did tell Harland that you and he slept together?'
Emerald clutched the phone. He was obsessed with Eliot and Eden. Hadn't he heard what she'd just said? 'Don't you understand?' she said. 'I'm homeless and all my family will hate me. What do I do?'
As the tears fell, she tried desperately to keep her voice steady. The last thing she wanted was to come across all needy and clinging. The trouble was, without James what did she have? She was needy. He was her last hope.
He seemed to sense it, too, because his tone changed. 'Oh, darling Emerald, I'm so sorry,' he said. 'I never thought. Forgive me?'
'I don't know what to do,' she whimpered, feeling totally out of her depth and hoping he could wave a magic wand and make everything all right again somehow.
He seemed to hesitate a moment, then he said, 'I have several properties, you know. I could put you up in one?'
Emerald wiped her eyes. 'Really? But how much would you charge?' She thought about her father's allowance. It was needed by her mother. She would have to get a job. Could she get some sort of help from the state to cover her rent and food until she found one? Where would she get a job? Who would take on someone as useless as she was? 'I can't afford much,' she admitted.
'I'm sure we could come to some sort of arrangement,' he assured her. 'You know.'
No, she didn't know, and she wanted to be clear. She didn't want to move into a flat somewhere and then find out she couldn't afford the rent, did she? 'What do you mean?' she said. 'If you could just give me a figure …'
'Darling, there's no need to pay at all,' he said, his voice as thick and sweet as treacle. 'If I were to spend a few nights each week with you, I could hardly charge you rent, could I?'
Emerald felt nauseated. 'Spend a few nights a week with me? What do you mean?'
'It could be our little secret,' he told her. 'You get to live rent-free and I get to spend time with you. I'd never be so unappreciative of your beauty, you know. You wouldn't catch me sleeping beside you and not paying the slightest bit of attention to you. Believe me, Emerald, I'll show you how a real man treats a woman. I'm not Eliot Harland.'
Emerald stared at the phone in her hand, her mind whirling in horror. How had she been so stupid?
'Emerald?'
'No,' she said faintly, 'you're not Eliot Harland. And you never will be.'
She threw the phone on the bed, making Bella jump. Emerald reached for the cat immediately, disgusted with herself and with James Fuller. How had she got it so wrong?
She thought about Eliot, who had shown her nothing but kindness, apart from that one night when he'd snapped at her, and how that one little argument had wiped out all the good things he'd done for her and sent her scuttling off to James Fuller. She'd convinced herself that James was the good one, the innocent one, and she'd worked with him to hurt the Harlands any way she could. How childish and petty it seemed. And for what?
Tears rolled down Emerald's cheeks, dropping into Bella's fur, as she contemplated the future. Now Eden had made it clear she had to leave, wedding or no wedding, she would have to go back to Cassandra. Back to her mother's tantrums, her tears, her days of reproachful silence. Back to never knowing what mood she would be in when Emerald walked through the door. Back to that tight knot of anxiety in her chest when she woke each morning, wondering what the day would bring. How would she bear it?
Yet, what choice did she have? She couldn't afford to stay at The Paradise, and her father wouldn't want her. In fact, when he found out about her behaviour from Eden, he would probably never speak to her again. All the hopes she'd had of making him proud of her, of finally showing him she was worth paying attention to, worth loving, had come to nothing.
Bella nudged her softly and Emerald gazed into the cat's blue eyes, her own so blurry she could barely see. She would even have to leave this beautiful creature behind — probably her best friend in the world. At least Bella never judged her. She let out a strangled sob of despair, then jumped at a knock on the bedroom door.
As the door pushed open, she wiped her tears away with the back of her hand.
Jed looked down at her, his face full of concern. 'Hey, honey.' He rushed over to her and put his arm around her. 'I heard what happened. Are you okay?'
The fact that her big brother cared enough to enquire after her, despite Eden's undoubted efforts to make her sound like evil personified, just about finished Emerald off. 'Oh, Jed,' she sobbed. 'I've been so stupid.'
Bella made a leap for freedom as Jed held Emerald tightly while she cried noisily into his chest. It was a relief to stop pre
tending, to admit openly that things were dire, that her life was a train crash and she felt totally out of control. Jed listened patiently as she poured it all out, stroking her hair as she revealed the truth about her sense of woeful inadequacy, her appalling behaviour, and the shame she was now feeling. 'What can I do? I don't want to go home to Mother, and Dad's not going to want to know,' she finished, her throat sore and her eyes stinging from the unfamiliar outpouring of emotion.
'Wow, you really have got yourself into a mess,' he said. 'Why the hell didn't you tell me all this sooner? I could have helped you.'
She shook her head, wiping her nose before she dripped snot onto his shirt. 'You wouldn't want to help me if you knew what I'd done.'
'Why not tell me and let me be the judge of that,' he said kindly. 'I'm sure it's not as bad as you think.'
'You don't know,' she said. 'And I don't want to lose you. Not you. I couldn't bear it.'
He gave a gentle laugh and smoothed her hair away from her tear-soaked face. 'Emmy, trust me. I'm going nowhere. You're my kid sister, and I won't leave you, no matter what you've done.'
She sniffed. 'Promise?'
'Promise.'
Emerald seemed to consider for a moment. 'Not even if I tell you, it was me who wrote those awful reviews and put a dud fuse in the freezer and ruined the guests' food?'
Jed narrowed his eyes. 'You're kidding?'
'Not so fond of me now, are you?'
'I told you. I love you no matter what.'
Emerald took a deep breath. 'Okay. I deliberately didn't tell Eden that Mrs Thompson had rung, because I wanted to go find Eliot myself.'
'But why?'
She eyed him nervously. 'Because I really like him, and I was kind of hoping he liked me too.'
'Oh, Emmy!' Jed sighed. 'He loves Eden. Besotted with her. You can't play games with people like that.'
'I know,' Emerald protested, 'but James said she broke him and Daisy up, and she went behind his back before, and —'
'James?' Jed's voice was sharp. 'James Fuller?'
'Yes.' Emerald looked down at her lap, ashamed.
'How do you know him? When have you spoken to him?'
'I've spoken to him loads. I've — I've been meeting up with him. He — oh, Jed, I thought he was my friend, but it's all gone so wrong!'
Jed studied her face for a moment, his expression grim. 'Okay, Emmy. I think you'd better start at the beginning. And no more lies, right? You want me to help you sort this mess out, you need to be honest with me. What the hell's been going on?'
Emerald hesitated, but only for a minute. She needed Jed to be on her side. She had no one else left. Besides, it would be a relief to tell him the truth — about James's attentions, about his obvious desire for her, about his hatred of the Harlands and their plot to ruin things for them so they would lose George. It needed to be shared. It was all too much for her.
'All right, Jed,' she said heavily. 'I'll tell you. But I warn you, it's not going to be pretty.'
Chapter Thirty-Six
James threw down his briefcase and headed straight to the drinks cabinet to pour himself a whisky. He'd had a pig of a day at the office. He hated going in, and seldom did these days, but even work had seemed a better place to be than at home with his father. The bloody menace never seemed to shut up, going on and on about George and this dratted custody case.
How, he wondered, did he get out of this? He didn't want the bloody kid hanging round his neck all day, every day. He didn't want trouble or inconvenience. He liked his life the way it was — well, mostly.
He thought about Emerald and Beth. Beth was his wife and, if he had his way, she would stay that way for good. He was quite fond of her, and there was no doubt that she was an extremely attractive woman to have at his side. But Emerald was driving him crazy. She was curvy and pretty and downright sexy, without seeming to have the faintest idea of how attractive to him she was.
She was so naïve and innocent it was unbelievable. He found it a huge turn-on and wondered how long she would continue to play hard-to-get before she finally succumbed, and he could take her to bed at last. It was getting ridiculous. The girl needed somewhere to stay, and he could provide it, if only she'd stop messing around and admit she wanted him, too.
It was driving him mad — the waiting, the longing. It had been bad enough that first night at the restaurant, when he'd wanted her so badly that he'd had to go home and have sex with Beth to get the lust out of his system. Now, even Beth wouldn't do. It had to be Emerald. He couldn't wait much longer. He couldn't believe she'd rebuffed him yet again. She was playing games, she had to be.
He could do without all this custody rubbish to distract him from his purpose. At least Emerald seemed to have accepted that nothing was going to happen with Harland.
He tutted in disgust. Harland! What an idiot. He had Emerald all to himself in a hotel room for a whole night, and he hadn't so much as touched her. But at least it had made Emerald realise he never would. Maybe she needed a little time to come to terms with that. Maybe he'd made his move too soon. Still, he could remedy that. She had no one else, after all. She needed him, and he would take full advantage of that when the time was right.
James decided he needed to clear the decks of the custody business and then he could concentrate fully on winning her round. There was just the little matter of his father to deal with.
At the sound of the front door slamming, James winced. No doubt that was his father now. No one else banged doors the way he did. Great. Another lecture. He gulped down the whisky and poured himself another.
'Would you like a drink?' he enquired, forcing himself to sound civil as the door of the sitting room was thrown open. He turned around, the fake smile dropping to be replaced by a look of stunned amazement as he came face to face with a tall, bearded, fair-haired man, whose piercing blue eyes only added to the impression that he had Viking blood in him somewhere. Jesus, was he a burglar? He would never be able to fight him off. Well, he could take whatever he wanted. No way was James going into battle with Thor. 'Who the hell are you?'
'You bastard!' It was little more than a growl, but James backed up hard against the drinks cabinet, suddenly very afraid.
'I said, who are you?' Then it occurred to him that the man had spoken with an American accent. A vague recollection came to him of Emerald speaking about her American brother, Jed, who was staying at the farm with her. 'Jed Carmichael?'
'Yeah, that's me.' The man moved slowly towards him, his fists clenched, and James swallowed as he saw the muscle twitching in the man's jaw. What the hell was he so mad about? 'Emerald's brother. You know, Emerald? The innocent kid you've drawn into your web of lies? I should flatten you, right here, right now.'
'I beg your pardon?' James tried to sound cool and unconcerned but was very much afraid he'd failed dismally. 'I don't know what she's told you —'
'Everything. She's told me everything. I could kill you. How dare you drag her into your stupid vendetta against the Harlands? How dare you use my kid sister like that, you snake?'
'Now, hang on!'
He flinched as a hand shot out and grabbed the front of his shirt. He was slammed up against the wall and found himself staring into eyes that were like chips of blue ice. 'Give me one good reason why I shouldn't punch you, right here, right now.'
'Because if you do I will call the police immediately and you'll be jailed, you hooligan.'
James had never expected to feel gratitude towards his father but hearing his voice he almost wept with joy.
Jed, however, didn't even bother to look round. 'Totally worth it,' he drawled, keeping his eyes on James and not moving an inch.
James peered over the American's shoulder, frantically signalling to his father with his eyes to phone the police anyway. He could have shouted with frustration when David sauntered over to the cabinet and poured himself a drink instead. Charming.
'May I ask why you're manhandling my son?' he enquired.
'You may ask,' Jed replied. 'But maybe I should leave it to James to explain.'
James spluttered. 'Let me go,' he protested. 'I don't know what you're talking about.'
'Sure you do,' Jed said encouragingly. 'Go ahead. Tell your dad all about it.'
James thought he was about to lose consciousness. He could feel his head expanding by the second, and his heart was pounding so hard he could barely hear Jed's voice any more.
'Jed! What on earth are you doing?'
Fresh hope seared through James at the sound of his mother's voice, but then he felt a terrible shame as she called, 'Beth, Beth! You'd better come here, quickly.'
James wondered why on earth his mother was calling Beth. The last thing he needed was for his wife to witness his shame. This was embarrassing enough. He realised suddenly that the Viking had loosened his grip on his shirt and seemed distracted. James took his chance and kneed Jed in a most delicate place.
Jed leapt back. 'Son of a bitch!'
James ran for his life but had only just reached his father when Beth entered the room. She took one brief look at him, then her gaze fell on Jed. 'Oh my God!' He watched, dumbfounded, as she ran over to the Viking and put her arm around him. 'What's he done to you?'
'Jed, what on earth are you doing here?' His mother sounded quite urgent. James and his father exchanged bewildered looks. How did she even know this man?
'Can someone please tell me what's going on?' David demanded of his wife. 'How the hell do you and Beth know this brute?'
As Jed straightened, Beth looked up at him, her face full of misery. 'I don't understand. I thought we'd agreed —'
'It's about Emerald,' he said quickly.
'Emerald?' Deborah sounded puzzled.
'My sister.'
'What's happened to her?' Beth asked.
'He happened to her!' Jed jabbed his finger in James's direction. 'Go on, you gutless bastard. Tell them.'
'Tell us what?' Deborah said.
