‘I suppose it is pretty frustrating, having other people trying to run your life for you,’ she admitted. ‘But at least it shows that your brother does care for you. I know there’s been a lot of bad feeling between the two of you, but perhaps this is his way of telling you that he’s trying to bridge that gap and make things right again.’
‘Maybe,’ growled Nicholas. ‘I don’t really know what motivates my brother any more.’
‘Then perhaps this is a good time to find out,’ Cathryn suggested.
His green gaze blazed at her. ‘Don’t lecture me! I can sort out my own life and my own problems. All I want to know right now is whether you’re going back to London, or hanging around to annoy me for a while longer.’
Cathryn sighed. ‘I suppose I’m going to annoy you by hanging around. I think you’re right, you don’t need a nursemaid any more. But a promise is a promise. I can’t break it.’
‘It must be very inconvenient, having such strong moral scruples.’
Cathryn glared at him. Was he mocking her? He had already turned away, though, and she couldn’t see his face clearly.
‘Let’s get going,’ he instructed curtly. ‘I want to reach the island before nightfall. Follow the road down to the harbour.’
She started up the car again, and at the same time told herself that she must be mad. There was no other description for someone who agreed to spend a couple of days on a deserted island with Nicholas Ellis!
When they reached the harbour, Nicholas pointed out an empty area where she could park the car. As soon as she had switched off the engine he levered himself out and began to remove their bags.
Cathryn also got out and stretched her tired limbs. Then she looked around at the picturesque little village, with its steep, narrow streets, the tiny harbour which sheltered the boats, and the houses which huddled up close to each other against the background of hills.
‘This place must be crawling with tourists in the summer,’ she commented.
‘It’s rather off the beaten track, so it doesn’t suffer as much as a lot of the other villages along this coast,’ commented Nicholas as he lifted out the last bag. ‘Here, you can carry your own suitcase,’ he added.
‘Ever heard of gallantry?’ she muttered, as she went to pick it up. Then she immediately flushed. She had momentarily forgotten about his bad leg.
Nicholas didn’t seem bothered by her thoughtless remark, though. ‘There’s no need to go bright red,’ he told her. ‘I’m not embarrassed in any way by my injury, so why should you be? And it’ll heal itself in time. Then I’ll be as gallant as you want me to be,’ he finished with a sly grin.
Cathryn frowned crossly. He was so good at making her feel off balance!
She was still feeling distinctly out of sorts as she followed him towards the harbour. Not even the tranquil beauty of her surroundings could quite lift her edgy mood.
The tide was fully in, and she could hear it slapping softly against the stone walls. It should have been a soothing sound, and yet somehow it just grated on her nerves. Nicholas had stopped now, standing beside steep stone steps that led down to half a dozen boats moored alongside the jetty. Cathryn took one look at their wet, slippery surface, and then shifted her gaze back to Nicholas.
‘You can’t go down there,’ she said baldly. ‘You’ll break your neck!’
‘Of course I won’t,’ he replied calmly.
‘Then I’ll break my neck—which is far worse, as far as I’m concerned!’
‘No one’s going to break anything,’ he said with unexpected patience. ‘Just take it slow and easy, and we’ll make it without any problems.’
Almost before he had finished speaking, he had begun to tackle the steps. Moving carefully, and occasionally steadying himself with his stick, he soon reached the foot of the steps.
‘Your turn now,’ he said with a challenging grin.
Cathryn scowled, and then set about tackling the steps. She finally made it safely to the bottom, and Nicholas pointed to a tiny cabin cruiser moored just a short way along the jetty. ‘Sling your case in there, and then scramble in. I’ll untie the mooring ropes.’
‘It looks awfully small,’ Cathryn commented nervously.
Nicholas raised his dark eyebrows. ‘What were you expecting? A luxury yacht?’
‘No, but—isn’t there something bigger we could use?’
‘Afraid not. Anyway, this is perfectly adequate. It’s only a short hop to the island.’
It didn’t look like a short hop to Cathryn! And she would definitely have felt a lot safer in a boat that was large and solid, rather than in this flimsy little cabin cruiser.
‘The sea’s like a mill-pond today,’ added Nicholas, tossing his own bag into the boat, and then manoeuvring himself in with rather more care.
Cathryn stared gloomily at the light swell of the sea and decided that it didn’t look like any mill-pond she had ever seen.
You’ve still got time to back out, she reminded herself. Just tell Nicholas you’ve changed your mind—he’ll be only too pleased to get you off this boat and send you on your way back to London!
Something kept her sitting exactly where she was, though, gripping very tightly on to the side of the boat as Nicholas started up the engine, and then steered the boat out of the harbour and towards the open sea.
Now that they were actually on the water, the island did, in fact, look fairly close.
‘I suppose if anything went drastically wrong—you know, the boat sank or something—we could always swim back to the mainland?’ she said nervously.
‘Only if you want to risk getting swept out to sea,’ replied Nicholas. ‘Strong currents run between the island and the mainland. Only a real fool—or someone extremely brave—would tackle that stretch of water.’
Cathryn quickly decided that she was neither, and abandoned all thoughts of swimming to safety if things took a turn for the worse.
They were nearing the island now, and she could see that it stuck out of the water like an elongated hump. The shoreline looked rocky and treacherous, and Cathryn bit her lip in renewed trepidation.
‘Er—I suppose there is a safe landing-spot?’ she said edgily.
‘There’s a tiny patch of beach and a jetty—landing’s no problem in fine weather like this.’
Cathryn was about to ask what happened in not-so-fine weather, but then decided that she didn’t really want to know.
They were close enough now for her to see more details. There were trees on this side of the island, which surprised her because she had thought that all offshore islands were windswept and bleak. And she could see two houses, one near the jetty, which she could now pick out, and another at the far end of the island.
‘Where’s the third house?’ she asked. ‘You did say there were three, didn’t you?’
‘Yes. The third house belongs to Hamish. It’s on the far side of the island. The house near the jetty is mine.’
‘The island’s a lot more green than I thought it would be.’
Nicholas gave an amused smile. ‘What were you expecting? Bare, sea-washed rock?’
‘No, of course not,’ she said crossly. ‘I just didn’t expect it to have so many trees.’
‘Most offshore islands don’t, but this one has a warm current washing past it, so the climate’s a lot milder than you’d expect. In fact, the previous owner used to grow early daffodils commercially. Hamish doesn’t bother because there’s a great deal of work involved and very little profit margin, but the daffodils still keep coming up every year. In late winter and early spring, the island’s a blaze of colour. I always try to get down here at that time, if I can.’
Cathryn looked at him in surprise. ‘You don’t strike me as a daffodil person!’
‘I can appreciate beauty as well as the next man,’ he replied, and this time his gaze lingered on her a little longer than seemed strictly necessary.
Suddenly confused for some reason that she couldn’t quite fathom, Cathr
yn forced her own gaze to the island. ‘We’re getting very close,’ she observed.
‘Just a few more minutes, and you’ll be back on dry land.’
‘I just wish it were the mainland,’ she said darkly.
‘A couple of days here and you’ll love it,’ Nicholas told her.
Cathryn merely looked sceptical. ‘I doubt it. I’m a city girl, remember?’
‘I’ve heard other people say the same thing, but they change their mind once they get here.’
Cathryn thought that it would take a lot to change her mind. She didn’t argue with him any more, though, because they were getting very close to the jetty and she didn’t want to distract him in any way.
It seemed a rather tricky operation to her, manoeuvring the small boat alongside it. She didn’t want anything to go wrong and then have Nicholas blame her for it!
Getting out of the boat proved much harder than getting in. Cathryn finally managed it, although rather ungracefully, and was annoyed to find that Nicholas managed it better than she did, even with a bad leg.
He secured the boat, and then turned to her. ‘We’d better get straight up to the house. It’ll be growing dark soon.’
In fact, the light was already fading, and there was a distinct autumn chill in the air. The path up to the house was fairly steep and uneven, and the house itself had whitewashed walls and a sharply sloping slate roof. Behind it rose the main hump of the island, and a wide band of trees that acted as a windbreak.
Nicholas seemed to be tackling the path without too much difficulty, expertly using his stick to help keep his balance, and Cathryn looked at him with some suspicion.
‘For someone who could hardly hobble from room to room a couple of days ago, you’re doing remarkably well!’
He merely grinned. ‘It’s all this sea air. It’s already having a beneficial effect on me.’
‘In more ways than one,’ Cathryn remarked. ‘You’re smiling a lot more. That must be the third grin in the last hour. That’s got to be a record!’
‘I’m really a very nice guy,’ he told her. ‘It’s just that you haven’t had a chance to find that out yet.’
‘Mm,’ said Cathryn sceptically. ‘All I can say is that you’ve been working awfully hard to keep all that niceness hidden!’
A couple of minutes later they reached the front door of the house. Nicholas unlocked it and walked inside. Cathryn followed him, and clicked down the light switch as the failing light made it quite dark inside.
Nothing happened, and she felt a twinge of panic. ‘What’s wrong?’ she said sharply. ‘Why won’t the lights come on?’
Nicholas turned and looked at her, his face a pale blur in the gloom.
‘Where do you suppose the electricity’s coming from?’ he asked.
She blinked. ‘You mean, there isn’t any?’
‘We’d hardly be connected up to the national grid out here,’ he pointed out.
‘I suppose not,’ she muttered, realising that she was being rather stupid. ‘What do we do, then? Grope around in the dark?’
Even with the lack of light, she could see the gleam in his eyes. ‘What a very nice thought,’ he murmured. ‘Right now, I feel exactly like a spot of groping.’
‘Cut that out,’ she said at once. ‘I’m not in the mood for it. Go and find some candles, or whatever it is you use around here for light.’
‘What we use is a generator,’ he informed her, the amusement back in his voice now. ‘Once I’ve got it going, you can have all the light you want.’
He limped through a door at the back, and seemed to be gone for a very long time. Cathryn stood there in the gathering darkness and felt her knees gently quiver. She didn’t like this place. She had been here less than half an hour, but she definitely didn’t like it!
A short while later, the light suddenly came on, and she gave a sigh of relief. Her nerves stopped twitching quite so badly, and she began to take a good look around the room.
It was comfortably, if a little sparsely, furnished, and from the windows you could see over to the mainland, which made her feel very slightly better. At least she could see civilisation, even if it did seem rather out of reach at the moment.
Nicholas came back a couple of minutes later and subsided into the nearest chair.
‘I need to rest,’ he announced. ‘If you want to take a look around, you’ll have to do it without me. Not that there’s much to see. There are two bedrooms and a small bathroom upstairs, two rooms and the kitchen downstairs.’
Cathryn saw that he did indeed look very tired, and realised that this journey must have been quite a strain for him. After all, he had only been out of the hospital for a few days.
‘I’ll go upstairs and unpack,’ she told him. ‘Which room is mine?’
‘The one on the left at the top of the stairs.’
She picked up her suitcase and trudged up to her room, which turned out to contain a bed, a chest of drawers, and virtually nothing else.
‘Not exactly home from home,’ she murmured, remembering the luxury of Sir Charles’s flat with more than a twinge of regret. She shovelled her clothes into the drawers, and then went along to the bathroom to see if she could find some sheets and blankets for the bed. She was relieved to find the linen cupboard stocked with everything she needed. She made up her bed, and then went back downstairs.
She found that Nicholas had fallen asleep in the chair, it wasn’t a light doze, either. He was deeply asleep.
Cathryn was about to walk out again, leaving him to sleep on undisturbed, but at the last moment she paused, turned back, and then stared at him. This was the first time she had had a chance to study him like this, and she found herself curiously eager to take advantage of it.
The marks of his injuries and all those weeks in hospital were printed quite clearly on his face. There were dark shadows under his eyes, his skin had an unhealthy pallor, and his features looked gaunt. But there wasn’t any aura of weakness around this man. Despite all Sir Charles’s warnings about possible relapses, Nicholas gave the impression of being very much in charge of himself.
Cathryn’s gaze slid down until it rested on the scars that marked his hands and wrists. She found herself wondering what other scars he had, hidden by his clothes and his thick dark hair. Then there were the mental scars—the ones that nobody would ever be able to see, unless Nicholas Ellis gave express permission. He was a man who zealously guarded his privacy.
Then Nicholas opened one eye. ‘Finished your inspection?’ he enquired. Cathryn had taken an involuntary step back as soon as she had seen the movement of his eye.
‘I thought you were asleep!’ she said indignantly, annoyed by the way that her pulses had suddenly begun to pound.
‘I was,’ he agreed, opening his other eye so that the full force of his green gaze blazed up at her. ‘But I sleep very lightly. Perhaps you’d better remember that, in future.’
‘I wasn’t interested in you,’ Cathryn denied at once. ‘I was just—just—’
‘Just staring at me,’ he finished for her. Fresh curiosity showed on his face. ‘Why?’
‘No reason at all!’ she snapped back at him. A scowl crossed her own features. ‘I’m hungry,’ she announced, absolutely determined to change the subject. ‘I’m going to get something to eat. Do you want anything?’ she added, forcing herself to make the offer out of sheer politeness. Although she didn’t know why she was being polite, when Nicholas so rarely bothered with the common courtesies.
‘I’ll get something later on,’ he said. He was already yawning again, and looked as if he was planning on going straight back to sleep as soon as she had left the room.
Cathryn walked towards the doorway, but then stopped again. ‘I suppose there is something to eat?’ she enquired. ‘I mean, we didn’t bring any food with us.’
‘There’s no fresh food,’ agreed Nicholas. ‘I’ll take the boat over in the morning and raid the local store. There are plenty of tins, though. I always kee
p in a good stock in case the weather suddenly turns bad. Sometimes you can’t get over to the mainland for days, even weeks. Eating out of tins gets a bit monotonous, but at least it means you don’t actually starve.’
But Cathryn was no longer listening. Her eyes had shot wide open when he had made that remark about being cut off for days.
‘Is it something that happens often?’ she questioned him sharply. ‘Being cut off, I mean?’
Nicholas shrugged, and didn’t seem nearly as concerned as she was. ‘It depends on the time of year. And the prevailing weather conditions. The weather’s pretty good right now, and the forecast doesn’t give for any dramatic changes in the next couple of days. There shouldn’t be any problems.’
Cathryn slowly relaxed again. ‘I’ll get some supper, then. And after that I think I’ll have an early night. It’s been quite a day,’ she added meaningfully. ‘By the way, if I want something hot, how do I go about it? I mean, are you on a real back-to-nature kick here? Heating things up over wood fires, and all that?’
He grinned back at her. ‘I like it here because it’s peaceful and quiet, not because it’s primitive. There’s a small electric stove that works off the generator.’
‘Thank heavens for that!’ she said with some relief. Then she finally left the room and made her way to the kitchen.
Like the rest of the house, it wasn’t exactly stuffed with gadgets and furnishings, but it seemed to have all the basic equipment. Cathryn sorted through the cupboards, trying to find out where everything was kept, and finally opened the door of the larder. As Nicholas had promised, it was well stocked with tins and any other kinds of food that would keep. Cathryn finally decided to settle for some soup. It wasn’t very exciting, but it would keep her going until the morning, when Nicholas would get in some fresh stuff.
It didn’t take her long to finish her meal. And, as she sat in the kitchen on her own, it struck her how very quiet it was here. Not a sound, except for the murmur of the sea. Cathryn found it quite unsettling. She was used to the busy roar of traffic, and the sound of distant voices and music. Silence was all very well, and there were times in her hectic work schedule when she sometimes craved it, but this was really taking it just a little too far!
A Kiss by Candlelight Page 8
