Persuade Me

by Juliet Archer

  ‘I’m meeting Rick at the Cobb,’ she said breathlessly, ‘then we’re coming back here. Oh-God-oh-God-oh-God, I can’t wait!’ She narrowed her eyes at Henrietta. ‘There’s more than dinner on the agenda, so don’t make a fuss if I’m back late – or not at all.’

  Anna looked down at the floor. After spending the afternoon with the Musgroves in various cafés and shops, she knew more than she ever wanted to about Lou’s plans for the weekend. The fact that Rick had booked a room for the two sisters to share didn’t bother Lou in the slightest. She merely assumed that it was a smokescreen, in case the media were tracking his private life. These ‘failure is not an option’ tactics were typical of Lou, although Anna secretly believed that they’d never work with Rick.

  In the last few minutes, however, reality had hit home. Rick’s phone call to Lou, his obvious agreement to her plans, proved that he was up for whatever was on offer. And this was a thousand times worse than dealing with the idea of him and his Australian girlfriend, because …

  Because for years Anna had cherished the fantasy that she and Rick had shared something special on the boat. Not just physical intimacy, but a meeting of hearts and minds. Sex enriched by love of the deepest, truest kind – an experience that she knew she could never recapture with anyone else. Now, right in front of her, Rick would be swinging into action with another woman. She’d had a foretaste on the walk at Uppercross, when he and Lou had kissed, but that was nothing compared with facing them across the breakfast table and knowing …

  Tears scratched at the back of her eyes; she felt like a little girl who’d just heard that Santa Claus didn’t exist. Why did the past have to lose some of its magic?

  A nudge from Henrietta. ‘Hey, do you know that man over there? He’s been staring at us for the last five minutes. Nice-looking, except he reminds me of your father – creepy, or what?’

  Anna knew who it would be before she even turned her head. Yes, lounging at the desk was William Elliot-Dunne, in an expensive-looking raincoat of palest grey. As their eyes met, he winked – and she blushed.

  Fortunately no one else noticed, because at that moment Mona and Charles arrived; by the time they set off, William Elliot-Dunne had disappeared. As they passed the desk, however, Mr Pargeter called out, ‘Miss Elliot! So sorry to trouble you, I meant to check with Sir William before he went out. Is it to be a table in the dining room tonight, or would you prefer a more private dinner in the presidential suite?’

  Anna felt her face flame. ‘There’s been a misunderstanding,’ she said, quickly. ‘I’m not having dinner with him tonight or any other night.’

  ‘Oh dear.’ Mr Pargeter drooped visibly. ‘Sir William will be disappointed and–’

  ‘Who the hell is Sir William?’ Charles put in, glancing at Anna.

  Mr Pargeter drew himself up to his full height and announced grandly, ‘Sir William Elliot-Dunne, 9th Baronet of Kellynch.’

  The reaction of his audience was probably not what he’d expected. ‘Isn’t that the jerk who messed with your sister?’ Charles said, while Mona yelled ‘How dare he use our title!’ Instantly, through the half-glazed front door they saw a long, sleek, silver-grey car surge out of its parking space and zoom towards the exit. Mona pushed forward, craned her neck to watch it – then turned to the others, a rapt expression on her face.

  ‘Nice-looking, isn’t he?’ Henrietta began. ‘But–’

  Mona gave her a withering look. ‘I didn’t notice, I was too busy looking at his Bentley – he’s obviously not done too badly out of his affair with the Texan divorcee. But, since he’s the heir to our title, we need to find out why he’s back and what he’s up to. And it sounds as though you,’ she rounded on Anna, ‘are the one he wants to talk to, for some incomprehensible reason. So be nice to him until he tells you everything we need to know.’ She added, with a smirk, ‘Noblesse oblige, darling, noblesse oblige.’

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  A thin drizzle was falling as Rick strode out towards the Cobb. In the fading light he recognised Lou and Henrietta deep in conversation on the top level, and Ben walking jauntily along the lower path with Cassie bobbing on his shoulders. Rick had already passed Charles and Mona looking for shelter; Mona was holding Charles’s coat over her hair and complaining, as usual, while Charles looked thoroughly wet and miserable.

  Lou hadn’t seen him; so he hurried after Ben and Cassie and caught up with them about fifty yards from the far end of the Cobb. After a brief discussion about the event in Dorchester and the timings for tomorrow’s signing in Bournemouth, Rick got to the point.

  ‘I wanted a quick chat about James.’ He paused, glanced at Cassie and chose his words carefully. ‘Judging by what he’s put on his website today, he’s starting to get over Julie – but I’m worried that he’s jumping from the frying pan into the fire.’

  Cassie turned large solemn eyes on him, obviously taking his meaning literally.

  Ben grinned. ‘In that case, look up ahead and you’ll see a raging inferno.’

  Rick jerked round. At the end of the Cobb he could make out two people standing next to a bench: Anna, unmistakable even in the misty rain, gazing out to sea; and James, pointing at something on the horizon and casually resting his other arm across her shoulders.

  ‘She seems a lovely girl, so why worry?’ Ben went on. ‘Or are you after her yourself?’

  Rick forced a laugh. ‘God no, she’s not my type. But I suggest you keep an eye on James tonight – you don’t want him to get hurt all over again.’

  They turned back towards the harbour. Rick hunched further into his coat and made small talk to distract his mind from the end of the Cobb. At the first set of steps – a safer alternative to the worn stumps of Granny’s Teeth – he stopped and let Ben and Cassie continue without him. Waited until Lou, still talking animatedly to Henrietta, came nearer. Called her name and heard her shriek in delight.

  She clattered down the steps and, with three to go, skidded to a halt.

  ‘Catch me,’ she said, giggling.

  No time for a reply – she simply jumped. His arms shot out to take her weight – pure reflex – and the slam of her body almost knocked the breath out of him. But he kept his balance, and his sense of humour. ‘Trying to get me hospitalised?’

  ‘You bet,’ she said, moulding herself to him. ‘At least that way you’d be stuck in a horizontal position for a while. In the meantime, try and imagine we’re standing in a ditch at Uppercross.’

  A not-so-subtle hint that she wanted a kiss. Her persistence irritated him and – pure reflex again – he stepped back out of range. Made the mistake of looking along the Cobb, to its furthest point. Found himself short of breath, and this time it was nothing to do with Lou …

  Because, as the two figures turned and walked towards him, he saw the smaller one slip on the wet ground. Instinctively, he put out his hand; but he was too far away, and it was James’s hand that stopped her from falling–

  It should have been his.

  A long way off, it seemed, someone shouted, ‘Rick, catch me!’

  Lou, on the top step now – too high. Even if he got there in time, her weight would knock them both flying. How could she be so stupid – so bloody stupid!

  A stranger’s voice – it might have been his own – roaring ‘No, Lou!’ just as she launched herself towards him. A two-second eternity, her legs twisting under her and her hands scratching the air.

  He made a desperate lunge to reach her.

  Too late.

  The sickening crack of her head hitting the hard, hard stone.

  And deathly silence, save for the mocking cry of the gulls.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  He shut his eyes. That’s right, blank it all out – as if it’s a dream. No, a nightmare.

  Any minute now, he’d wake up. Back home, in his own bed, with the surf rumbling on the beach and the sunlight slicing through the blinds.

  But wasn’t that her voice, so close that he could reach o
ut and touch her? Oh yes, definitely a dream – or a nightmare.

  His eyes opened.

  It wasn’t a dream. Lou was still lying there, sprawled in a heap, facing away from him. No wonder! he thought, as he crouched beside her. No wonder she couldn’t bear to look at him – the great useless lump who’d let her fall.

  And that was Anna’s voice. She was kneeling on the other side of Lou and saying, ‘Open your eyes, Lou. It’s Anna, can you hear me?’ Over and over again she said it, and quite loud. But then she had to be loud to make herself heard above that God-awful din on top of the Cobb – a woman, sobbing hysterically. That would be Henrietta; huh, maybe he could make himself useful there, at least, and offer her a shoulder to sodding well cry on.

  Then Anna stopped talking to Lou and called out ‘James!’; and, for the first time, Rick noticed James standing a little distance away, his face frozen in horror. When he heard his name, however, he twitched into life and shuffled forward. ‘Yes?’

  Anna looked up at him and said firmly, ‘Ring 999 for an ambulance. Tell them she fell from a height of around six feet, landed on stone. Then take Henrietta and catch up with Ben, get him to bring Charles. Quickly, James.’

  ‘Yes – yes, of course. 999, then Henrietta, then Ben.’ In a series of surprisingly coordinated movements, James produced a mobile, stabbed at it a few times with his finger and started talking; at the same time, he carefully skirted round Lou and climbed up the steps. His air of authority must have impressed Henrietta, because the sobbing stopped and Rick heard their footsteps hurrying away.

  So much for making himself useful. It was James who’d turned into Action Man, while he …

  He felt Anna’s eyes on him. Instantly, he gazed into their clear grey depths, drawing on her strength even as he questioned his own.

  ‘Come on, Rick,’ she said, gently. ‘You know what to do.’

  But he didn’t. His mind was a cotton-wool cloud, blotting out all coherent thought.

  She bit her lip; and he realised that she was probably as agitated as he was, but much more in control of herself. ‘Your first-aid training – you used it in La Baule, remember? And you must have used it since.’ She paused to give him time to respond, but he still couldn’t speak. She went on, her voice soft and soothing, ‘Talk me through what you’re going to do until the ambulance gets here.’ Another pause; then, like the flick of a switch, her tone changed. ‘Come on, Rick. It could make all the difference!’ He’d never heard her so – so commanding.

  And she was right; every action, every second counted.

  He took a long, deep breath, looked down at Lou, forced the words out between dry, stiff lips. ‘I’m assessing the casualty … Unconscious,’ he watched for the rise and fall of her rib cage, ‘but breathing.’ He placed his fingertips lightly against the clammy skin of her neck. ‘Pulse good.’ He swallowed. ‘I’d normally tilt her head back to keep her airway open, but she may have injured her spine so I daren’t move her neck.’ He glanced across at Anna and heard his voice falter. ‘I-I don’t think there’s anything else I can do.’

  Her eyes held no reproach, only encouragement. ‘That’s OK, at least you’ve been through the process. What about covering her with your coat, keeping her warm?’

  ‘Yes, I should have thought of that.’

  He got clumsily to his feet, tore off his coat, knelt down again. As Anna took one side of the coat and helped him spread it over Lou’s inert body, he watched her hands, with their small, calm movements. And he remembered their butterfly touch on his temples when he’d wanted to unwind after a long day at the sailing club … For God’s sake, this was hardly the place for indulging in happy memories; he had to focus on Lou, not his own badly timed needs.

  Anna looked back towards the harbour. ‘Not long now, I can hear the siren.’ She turned, reached across and rested her small, calm hand briefly on his shoulder. ‘You did all you could. Remember that.’

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Only later, in the back of Charles’s car as they followed the ambulance, did Anna have time to think over what had happened. The paramedics had made it all look so simple – assessing the situation and strapping Lou to a spinal board in a matter of minutes. She knew, however, that it was anything but simple; the longer Lou was unconscious, the more serious her injuries were likely to be.

  Before Lou’s fall, Anna had been too distracted by James to pay much attention to anyone else. Once she realised he was making a pass at her, it was a case of wondering how to fend him off without hurting his feelings.

  And then she’d heard Lou’s first shout of excitement – seen her in Rick’s arms – lost her concentration – and slipped. It was as if reality had slapped her in the face again and, in childish retaliation, she’d given James a chance to act the hero.

  But she’d heard Lou shout again, then Rick; and, although she couldn’t make out his words, she felt his despair.

  What had been going on?

  Charles had asked Rick that very question as soon as he arrived, just after the paramedics. Rick, his eyes fixed on Lou’s face, had whispered, ‘I let her down, big time.’ Which made no sense to anyone, unless it was a joke in very bad taste.

  Now they were following the ambulance to the Accident & Emergency department at Dorchester; Charles, Mona, Henrietta and Anna in one car, Rick and his driver in the other. James and Ben had stayed in Lyme, on the condition that the others would contact them if there was anything they could do.

  Mona broke the silence. ‘You should ring your parents as soon as we get to the hospital, Charles. I heard the paramedics discussing her and it didn’t sound good. Something about giving her oxygen and the A&E trauma team standing by.’

  In the back of the car, Henrietta let out a long, shuddering breath; Anna reached across and held her hand.

  ‘Thanks for reminding me,’ Charles said heavily, ‘but I’ll wait until A&E have seen her and we know what’s happening.’

  ‘Really? I’d have thought it’ll take days, if not weeks, to find out how permanent the brain damage is.’ Mona glanced round as Henrietta started to cry. ‘Sorry, but we have to be realistic, she could end up a complete vegetable. Better to tell your parents sooner rather than later – don’t you agree, Henrietta? You should–’

  Charles cut in savagely with, ‘I don’t think Henrietta’s in a fit state to answer that question and I want to wait until Lou’s been seen in A&E.’

  ‘I’m only trying to be helpful,’ Mona said huffily. ‘As usual, you’re picking a fight over nothing – just when we need to put on a united front.’ She took a brush from her handbag and flicked it through her hair. ‘The press will turn up, you know, to interview Rick. It’ll make quite a story – “Celebrity author’s new girlfriend in mysterious fall”.’ She put the brush away and mused, ‘He should get the sympathy vote, unless it turns out he pushed her.’

  Anna gasped. ‘He didn’t push her! How could he – when he was standing below her?’

  Charles eyed her in the rear-view mirror. ‘So you saw what happened?’

  ‘N-no, not really. But I know he couldn’t have pushed her.’ She gave Henrietta’s hand a little squeeze. She’d been close by, she must have seen or heard something; but she obviously wasn’t ready to talk about it.

  Mona shrugged. ‘Either way, it’ll do his book sales no harm. Maybe it was a publicity-seeking stunt that went horribly wrong. You know – Lou staging a fall so that Rick could play the hero and have even more women drooling over him.’

  ‘For God’s sake, shut up!’ Driving too close, Charles had to brake sharply as the ambulance slowed to turn in at the hospital gates. He swung the car after it and swerved into the first empty parking space he saw.

  Mona seemed oblivious to his tension. ‘Crap parking, aren’t you bothering to straighten up?’ she said, as he switched off the engine.

  Anna took one look at Charles’s clenched fists on the steering wheel and said hurriedly, ‘Mona, why don’t we take Henrietta to the Lad
ies? Charles, we’ll come and find you later.’

  As they got out of the car, she glanced at her watch.

  Only six o’clock. It felt like the middle of the night.

  Chapter Thirty

  Rick found Charles in the A&E waiting area, slumped on one of the dark grey plastic seats. He sat down awkwardly next to him and took a deep breath. ‘Any news?’

  Charles shook his head. ‘Not really. They’ve taken her for a CT scan and they’re monitoring her regularly – the Glasgow Coma Scale or something. Whatever the outcome, they’ll have to keep her here until tomorrow. It’s too late to transfer her to the specialist unit in Southampton today – apparently the helicopter doesn’t fly at night.’

  Rick stared at the walls, which were decorated with randomly placed coloured glass panels in vivid cobalt. They reminded him of the sea … How he wished he could envelop his whole being in its blue warmth right now, go on a long swim to stretch his cramped muscles and numb his restless mind.

  And how he wished he could rewind the last couple of hours and change them completely.

  ‘Is there anything you want me to do?’ he said quietly, half-expecting Charles to retort, ‘Haven’t you done enough already?’

  But Charles didn’t; for the first time since Lou’s fall, he looked Rick straight in the eye and said, ‘Help me think things through. I don’t see much point in us all spending the next God knows how many hours here. I want to stay, and I think one of the others should too. Ideally Henrietta, she’s closest to Lou, but I don’t think she’s up to it. And then at some point someone’s got to tell my parents. Mona thinks I should ring them now – but I can’t face that. And what would I say? It’s likely she’s brain damaged, but we don’t know how bad it is yet.’

  Rick looked down at the floor again. Brain damage covered a whole continuum, from minor behavioural changes to permanent and total disability. And it was all his fault …