by Jane Corrie
Teresa's hands clenched by her side. So this was where they would have come. It also explained the double bed. She swallowed. It was of no comfort now for her to know how wonderful it would have been. Just her and Carl, and no interruptions.
As a tear fell, she hastily wiped it away; she couldn't let him see how unhappy she was. She had
stopped loving him, hadn't she? All she had been through would count for nothing if she gave way now. She just had to remind herself that he was now back where he belonged, and she couldn't—wouldn't be stupid enough to ruin everything now, or he would be making plans to go up north again, and she would be back to square one with a vengeance.
Squaring her slim shoulders, she sat about opening the trunk. There were several dresses to choose from, for she had packed what might be called `winter wear' in it, and other items of clothing that would not be needed directly. In fact she would find everything she needed, even shoes. Picking up the key that hung from a tape attached to the handle, she unlocked it, to begin her search for the necessary items.
In spite of her resolve not to break down it was the immediate contents of the trunk that proved her undoing, for lying on the top was a photograph of her mother and Rob. It was the latest that had been taken, and it was one that Teresa herself had taken, and although she knew she ought to have put it to one side and resumed the search for the clothes she needed, she just couldn't do it, but stayed where she was, kneeling on the floor and staring at the photograph. The next moment she had clutched it to her breast with a fierce kind of intensity—it was all she had left, wasn't it? She had nothing else ... nothing !
She was not aware of time, not aware of anything, until gentle but firm hands pulled her up from the floor and made her ease the rest of her grief out in
Carl's arms, just letting it come until he deemed it time to call a halt. 'That's enough now,' he told her softly, 'stop it, honey, do you hear?' and he gave her a gentle shake.
Teresa drew one last long sob and lay exhausted against his strong shoulder. Her breath coming in ragged gasps as she tried desperately to pull herself together.
Carl cradled her close to him, and dimly she heard his voice as if it came from a great distance. 'Don't, honey! I didn't mean it to be this way, but I hadn't any other choice.'
The words held no meaning for Teresa then. She only knew that he held her and was comforting her as only he could, and she nodded dumbly as if in answer to his words.
After a short while, she had recovered sufficiently to listen to what he said about the result of his call to Sunset Ridge.
'Your uncle's okay, Teresa, I told you so, didn't I? I got one of my men to take a run down to the chalet to find out for you. He's just rung back.'
Teresa nodded gratefully; she couldn't look at him. 'I ought to get dressed,' she hiccoughed.
'Okay,' said Carl, but he seemed in no hurry to leave. 'Sure you're all right now?' he asked.
She gulped and answered this time a little more firmly, 'I'm sure. Thank you, Carl ...' she couldn't say any more, but he understood and turned towards the door.
'Don't be long,' he ordered gently as he closed the door behind him.
Teresa got out the first dress she came across, a
blue-green jersey wool one, and the underthings she required, and quickly dressed. Before she joined Carl, she slipped into the bathroom and rinsed her face in cold water in an effort to remove all signs of her emotional upset. She hadn't the heart to take a peek at herself in the small cabinet mirror. She didn't need confirmation that she looked a sight, and it wouldn't have helped one bit to restore her confidence. Resolutely refusing to look at herself, she smoothed her hair back and went in search of Carl.
There was only one little consolation for her, and that was that he had understood why she had broken down like that, and was not likely to put any other interpretation on it. Her secret was still safe.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
LIKE that dress,' was Carl's first comment when she joined him again, and lightly touching her hair, he remarked, 'I don't know why you had to alter this either. It's beautiful.'
Teresa drew back sharply from his touch; she was in dangerous waters again. Why couldn't he behave himself? He was marrying Isobel, wasn't he? It looked as if he had every intention of taking advantage of the situation they had found themselves in. It didn't matter one whit to him whether she cared or not. He was quite safe, she thought bitterly.
Accepting her quick withdrawal from his proximity with an exaggerated sigh, he then asked her if she would like some music; he had, he said, some rather nice records.
She, would have liked to have said yes, but dared not. He might ask her to dance should the music be suitable, and she couldn't risk it; instead she changed the conversation subtly by asking about the message he had sent to Sunset Ridge, and had he mentioned that she was with him, and would his foreman have passed on the message to her uncle?
The answer was yes in both cases, and it seemed to Teresa that he appeared to relish the second one , and she wondered why. 'I suppose he didn't say how he got back from Hatty's Hill, did he?' she persisted.
Her question was met with a look she couldn't
interpret, as he answered carefully, 'I'm afraid not.'
Teresa wished she knew what he was thinking, for it was obvious he was amused by something; then she had it ! The foreman had probably related Uncle Patrick's comments on learning where she was, and what was more relative, who she was with! Oh yes, she thought wearily, her uncle would have been very vocal on that point. No wonder Carl was amused!
She stared at the photograph on the desk beside her, not wanting to show Carl that she had guessed what was amusing him. The photograph showed a group of rugby players; Carl was there too, and she started when she felt his arm slide round her waist as he came and stood beside her. 'That's the team I toured England with,' he commented, keeping a firm hold round her waist even though he knew she was trying to pull away from him.
If this is a sample of what I'm going to have to put up with, she thought bitterly, then the sooner he's put into the picture the better, and she swung towards him with blazing eyes. 'Would you mind keeping your distance?' she said furiously. 'It's not very gentlemanly of you to take advantage of the situation, is it?'
She saw his lips tighten, and the next moment she was pulled into his arms with a force that knocked the breath out of her. 'I don't feel very gentlemanly,' he grated out harshly, 'and I'm getting a little tired of being given the run-around treatment. A few minutes ago you were in my arms—just like it used to be—now you're telling me to keep my distance. You can't have it both ways, you know.'
Teresa flushed at the rebuke, but it hadn't been her fault. If he had left her alone she would have had her cry and got over it. 'I didn't ask you to comfort me,' she said in a low unsteady voice.
Carl's eyes met hers. 'Would you rather I'd kept away?' he asked softly. 'Listening to your heart break, and not caring?'
His words cut her to the heart, and she could no longer meet his eyes, focusing them at some point beyond him, and she was entirely unprepared for his swift hard kiss that gradually got more and more insistent. He wasn't taking no for an answer, Teresa thought bewilderedly, and before long she found herself answering the lips that were posing the age-old question.
A little while later, Carl looked down into her eyes that were now dazed and full of the love she felt for him. 'Now tell me you're not marrying me,' he threatened softly, 'and I'll wring your lovely neck.'
Teresa came out of her beatific state with a jolt. What had she done? Her eyes showed her feelings. 'And don't look at me like that,' he growled, 'I've seen that look before. If you're going to bring up that old chestnut about it being only physical between us, then don't. It's a waste of time. It damn near caught me last time, but .I know better now.'
Teresa closed her eyes; she loved him so much, why couldn't she tell him the truth? It was here that Isobel came to her rescue again. How could he say these
things to her—what about Isobel? Was it sheer pride that made him want to break her?
She swallowed. 'Nothing's changed, Carl. It's as I
said before. Too much has happened,' she said in a low voice.
`You're damn right it has he exploded. 'But it's nothing to what's going to happen if you persist in this farce. What if I told you I know about Isobel's visit to you?' he demanded suddenly, bringing Teresa's startled eyes back to his, and he nodded grimly. 'I didn't get the exact details from her, but I can guess the kind of tactic she used. Isobel can be very persuasive when she wants a thing badly enough.'
Teresa looked away quickly before he saw the tears in her eyes. But Isobel had been right in what she had said, she thought. 'She didn't feel you'd be happy up north,' she murmured, still in that low weary voice.
`So I gathered,' Carl said dryly. 'The fact that I'd decided to go ahead anyway provoked her into revealing that she'd been to see you. She let slip a remark that I ought to be grateful to her, something on the lines of all the trouble she'd been to to make you see sense.'
He gently caught Teresa's chin, forcing her to look at him. 'She did get through to you, didn't she? And you fell for it. Well, it hasn't worked. We're getting married and going up north, just as I said, so you might as well get used to the idea.'
He loved her, she thought sadly, but not quite enough to forget she was a Rafferty, and that was why they had to go away. Oh, it was physical all right, she thought bitterly, but how long would it last?
She moved away from him and sat down on the
couch, then looked up to meet his eyes. 'Why can't we stay at Sunset Ridge?' she asked quietly, feeling her heart plummeting to the depths as she noted the tightening of his jaw.
'Because I want no echo of the past around us,' he said implacably, and Teresa knew there would be no second thoughts on the matter as far as he was concerned. There would be no second thoughts for her either; not on those conditions. There was too much at stake for her to risk it. It wasn't that she was being unrealistic about it, it meant a lot to her. If Carl had said, 'I want what you want,' she might have accepted his decision, for she loved him enough to comply with what he thought right, but he hadn't. He had given her no choice in the matter, almost, she mused, as if he were saying that it was enough that he was prepared to marry her. She then remembered the newspaper article. 'How can you leave Sunset Ridge? What about that contract you got from abroad?' she asked suddenly.
He smiled at this, for a moment forgetting that he had not as yet got his way. 'Oh, I can fix things up at this end before we leave. I've decided not to sell up here. I intend to keep the place going and start a new herd up north. The two ranches should complement each other inside a few years. I needed to branch out anyway.'
This was worse than Teresa had thought, and she could see the eventual future; Carl making several trips down to his beloved home and leaving her up north. The trips would get more frequent as time passed ... She swallowed; it didn't bear thinking about, but it did give her the courage to
stand by her decision. 'I'm glad it wasn't a wasted trip up north for you,' she said, keeping her voice casual. 'For your needs, I mean.' Her eyes met his again. 'Because I'm not marrying you, Carl, no matter what you say.'
'I'm afraid you'll find you've no choice in the matter,' he answered just as casually, making her start at the cool way he had made such an astounding statement.
How could he be so sure? she wondered as she kept a wary eye on him. Her eyes widened as she thought of one way he could make his assertion come true. He wouldn't—he couldn't—not that, she thought wildly, and yet the possibility was there. Her uncle had said she wasn't to underestimate him, hadn't he? That he wasn't a man to play fast and loose with. She swallowed; it wasn't the ideal time for her to discover the truth of that, but if he did choose that way she'd never forgive him, even though she loved him.
Carl, watching her closely, took full note of the wide eyes and the panic-stricken expression in them as her thoughts were echoed in them. 'I've no need to go that far,' he assured her gently, adding harshly, 'but make no mistake on my feelings in this. If there was no other way, I'd be capable of even that.'
Teresa's eyes never left his face, and she knew he had meant what he said. There was still the vexing question of how he meant to gain her co-operation. She was in an extremely awkward position; through no fault of her own she had been forced to spend the night in his cabin, and not only one night, she thought miserably, but probably two or even three.
She gasped as the solution hit her—so that was it!
`Just because we're marooned here,' she began slowly, 'it doesn't mean we have to marry,' and hesitated as she saw the wicked grin these words produced from Carl, and flushed as he added dryly, For probably two or three nights?' but she refused to be sidetracked. 'All right!' she agreed crossly. For two or three nights—not,' she emphasised, 'that it was anyone's fault. I was out looking for my uncle, if you remember, and I'm pretty sure no one will attach much importance to the fact that I had to seek shelter here.'
Carl shook his head slowly at her, the amusement still in his eyes, and Teresa felt like screaming at him. 'I'm afraid you're way off, honey, if you're relying on the milk of human kindness. We were engaged, weren't we? And not one soul is going to believe you just happened to land up on my doorstep.' He pulled a wry face at her. 'So you see, my love, I've got to make an honest woman of you.'
Temper brought two bright spots to Teresa's cheeks, and her lovely eyes flashed like jewels. `You're forgetting my uncle, aren't you?' she managed to get out acidly. 'Just try and get him to see your point of view!'
Carl's grin grew wider and Teresa found her gaze centring on a cut-glass ash tray that she would have loved to throw at him. `Ah, yes, Patrick Rafferty,' he said slowly, as if savouring the name. 'Now that's one ally I can rely on.'
Teresa's mouth opened in sheer surprise, then she closed it with a snap. He was teasing her, of course ! Carl watched her reaction with his head on one
side and one autocratic brow raised, then caught one of her clenched hands and gently prised it open. 'I'm afraid you've another shock coming, my love. Your uncle Patrick, if I'm not much mistaken, will be the first one to beat a path to our door as soon as the weather permits—demanding that I marry you.'
'I don't believe you,' retorted Teresa when she had slightly recovered. 'He knows why I'm here,' she said slowly, still working things out in her mind. 'He'll tell everyone why I was out in that weather—. even though he was trespassing!' she added for good measure.
'What if he wasn't on Hatty's Hill?' asked Carl casually; too casually.
'Of course he was ' snapped Teresa. 'I told you! Someone rang me with a message from him, and,' she added triumphantly, 'it can be proved! Whoever the man was, he'll remember my uncle asking him to make that call, won't he? So there's no mystery there! '
'Isn't there?' asked Carl, still in that casual voice. 'And what if the caller prefers to remain anonymous?'
'For goodness' sake ! ' Teresa answered angrily. 'Why on earth should he?'
'I could,' he replied lightly, 'think of several reasons. One being that your uncle didn't ask for help.'
Teresa took a deep breath; now he was saying that she had lied to him, and had quite deliberately got stranded on his doorstep!
Still keeping a close watch on her, Carl went on lightly, 'You're way off beam again, honey.'
Her furious eyes met his amused ones. Why was he so sure he had the answer? Teresa's thoughts went back to the time she received the call. If only the man had given a name, but he'd rung off before she could ask who was calling. Her brow creased; had it been a hoax? If so, for what purpose? Her eyes alighted on Carl, who had what could only be called a smug expression on his face. She thought back to the events leading to her arrival at the cabin. The light! if she hadn't seen the light she wouldn't have come. Now that she had got so far, other things came to mind. There had been no light on the outside of the cabin, an
d that meant that one window must have been unshuttered. Her eyes went to the window, now firmly shuttered. As the revelation hit her, a little ditty went through her mind: 'Come into my parlour, said the spider to the fly!
'You ! she gasped. 'You made that call, didn't you? My uncle was not on Hatty's Hill, was he?' she demanded furiously.
'It sure took you a long time to get the message,' he drawled maddeningly. 'And I as good as told you, not so long ago.'
Teresa was too incensed to work that out. 'Of all the dirty tricks! she cried. 'Why, I might easily have got lost—and in that weather too!'
'Anyone would have put you right if you'd gone off track,' he grinned.
'Only there wasn't anyone to ask, was there?' she said bitterly. 'And how could you be certain I'd land up here? I was in two minds whether to come anyway.'
'Because there wasn't anywhere else you could
go,' he answered with infuriating calm. 'Once you were past the hump of Hatty's Hill, it wouldn't be long before you came up against the border fence of my property. But you didn't go that far, did you?'
`How do you know I didn't?' she said, trying to quell the hysteria she could feel rising up in her at what he had done.
'Because I had you in my sights the moment you landed up at the hump, that's why. I couldn't be too sure you wouldn't turn around and make for home.'
'If only I had ! ' she choked out.
'Wouldn't have made any difference,' Carl said quietly, unperturbed by her obvious distress. 'The track would have been a quagmire before you'd done much more than a mile. It would only have meant that I had to go and pick you up.'
