Tara shook her head, remembering Philip's response to her own suggestions along those lines. 'Of course he won't do that,' she told him. 'Don't you remember, he threatened me if I let you down? Also,' she added, recalling something else, 'he asked me when the big day was.'
'Oh yes?' The arms around her felt momentarily stiff, as if he resented his brother's interest, then he laughed and held her face to his chest. 'What's his hurry?' he asked,
'That's what I asked.' Her voice was muffled because he held her so close, but she would have given much to be able to see Clifford's eyes in those few moments. Although she had told Philip that neither she nor Clifford were in a hurry to get married, she thought it rather more true of Clifford than of herself, and his present reaction seemed to confirm it. He had so far carefully skirted any actual mention of a wedding, and she had not been anxious enough to pursue it too urgently as yet.
'Oh, there's plenty of time for wedding bells,' he said cheerfully. 'Let's have a little fun first, eh, my love?'
'Why not?' Tara said, but her mind was racing along with that provocative alternative of Philip's -should Clifford let her down at the last minute, he would marry her himself. He had not been serious, of course, but the very idea of it set her pulses fluttering wildly, no matter how she tried to remain unmoved.
CHAPTER FIVE
Dinner in Medlipp with Clifford proved to be every bit as enjoyable as Tara hoped it would be. The restaurant was quite small, but the food was excellent and so was the service, and the wine they had with the meal made both appear even better. It seemed so long since they had dined out together, and yet it was barely a month since they came to Fairwinds.
Clifford was always a good companion and it was quite like old times for the two of them to be eating out. They caused quite a few heads to turn when they came in, attracting glances that were tinged with envy. Clifford was eye-catching enough in his ovn right, together they made a stunningly attractive pair and it would have been false modesty not to realize and enjoy it.
'I feel as if I'm walking six inches above the ground and made of cotton wool,' Clifford laughed, as they left the restaurant and went out into the brightly lit street.
'I'm not in the least surprised,' Tara told him, smiling up at him. 'That wine we had was some pretty heady stuff, and you did your share of demolishing the bottle.'
'So did you, my darling, so no sly little digs!' He looked down at her as they made their way back to the car park, and dropped a kiss on the tip of her nose.
'You look all shiny-eyed and quite, quite beautiful!'
Tara laughed, prepared to believe him, for it was true she had drunk her share of the wine and it had the efTect of making everything and everybody appear bright and beautiful. Her black hair swung silkily about her flushed cheeks and her dark eyes glowed with warmth and pleasure as she walked along in the curve of ClifTord's arm.
'I feel all shiny-eyed,' she told him, then giggled and added, 'Philip wouldn't approve of us now, would he?'
She could not imagine what had suddenly brought Philip to mind, and Clifford was looking down at her curiously, a small frown between his brows. 'Philip?' he said. 'What made you suddenly think about Philip?'
Tara shrugged uneasily, wishing her tongue had not run away with her. 'I don't know,' she confessed, making a vow to dismiss all thoughts of Philip Hautain as too disturbing with her mind as fuddled as it was. 'I - I suppose he just sort of popped into my head, that's all.'
'Well, you're quite right, of course,' ClifTord agreed, straight-faced. 'He wouldn't approve of us getting high, or even mildly happy, not when I'm driving us home, anyway.'
She had forgotten the drive home and she sobered a little for a moment, although it was impossible to entirely banish that warm and happy glow altogether. 'Maybe you shouldn't drive us home, hmm?'
'Oh, nonsense, darling!' He stood beside his car, one hand holding the keys, the other arm still encircling her
shoulders, his eyes shining darkly blue in the light from the overhead lamps in the car park. In this light, Tara found herself thinking, he looked much more like Philip. 'You're surely not scared of driving home with me, are you?' he asked.
Tara considered the question for several seconds, quite seriously, then she shook her head. 'No,' she said at last. 'You don't look all that drunk to me.'
He swept her against him suddenly with such force that the breath was knocked out of her, and his mouth came down on hers in a long, hard kiss that had little of love or gentleness in it, but had the required effect on her reactions. She closed her eyes while a singing, dizzying sensation spun round and round in her brain, and was only part attributable to his kiss. 'Trust me,' he whispered in her ear.
Tara smiled up at him hazily. 'I always do, don't I?'
CUfford laughed softly and kissed her again, more gently this time. 'Yes, my love, of course you do!'
It was Tara who first noticed the newcomers and she wriggled free of Clifford's hold with indecorous haste, feeling her face flush more warmly than ever when she recognized the man standing with car keys in his hand only feet away. There was only a small, low-built sports car between them and Philip and his companion, and Tara felt suddenly very small and vulnerable as she hastily lowered her eyes after that one startled glance.
Clifford's recognition followed almost immediately
and he laughed shortly when he saw his brother. 'Well, well, speaking of angels,' he said, in a voice so unnaturally bright and loud that it betrayed his overindulgence all too plainly. Her first surprise over, Tara took a surreptitious glance at Philip's companion.
She too, was watching them, a faint smile of amusement on a gauntly attractive face. This, Tara supposed, was Elwyn Owen-Bragg - the woman who wanted to marry Philip, and who Clifford seemed to think might succeed in her plan.
She was blonde and sleek and looked chillingly hard and self-willed, but she was also glamorous enough to be an asset to a prosperous businessman like Philip. Tara did not Uke the look of her, and she liked even less seeing her with Philip, although that was scarcely reasonable in the circumstances, she was prepared to admit, and did not even try to understand it.
Unlike Clifford, Philip was in evening dress, a smartly cut dinner jacket emphasizing his lean height and the soft white shirt giving an added darkness to his features that already looked heart-stoppingly stern and disapproving in the harsh yellow light of the lamps. He looked steadily at Tara for several seconds, as if he suspected that she had imbibed too well, and to her annoyance Tara found herself meekly lowering her eyes before his disapproval.
He directed his black gaze at his brother at last. T hope you're not thinking of driving home, Clifford,' he said, in that deceptively quiet voice of his, and Clifford frowned.
'Of course I am,' he said. 'Why on earth shouldn't I?'
'I should have thought that was obvious!' Philip told him shortly, and again looked at Tara.
'Are you stone cold sober?' CHfford demanded, his good-looking face flushed and resentful.
Philip said nothing for the moment, but turned and saw his companion into the car, and when he turned back to his brother, Tara recognized that deep, unfathomable look in his black eyes and bit her lip. 'If you don't care for your own neck, at least have some consideration for Tara's,' he said quietly, and at last Tara looked up, startled to hear her name.
She was ready to see his point of view, she realized, and was stunned yet again to discover just how much effect he could have on her, only she couldn't let him humiUate Clifford like that. 'Philip, I—' she began, but Clifford was already speaking up for himself.
'I'll take care of Tara, don't you worry,' he told Philip shortly. 'You worry about ElUe, and leave me to take care of my girl.'
The woman seated in PhiUp's car turned her sleek blonde head and looked at Clifford with a tight smile that did not reach the hard blue eyes. 'Not Ellie, Clifford, please,' she told him. 'You know I don't like it!'
Her voice startled Tara, for although t
he strong Welsh accent was not too much of a surprise, the harsh timbre of the voice was. There was more than a touch of irony, surely, in a man with such an incredibly beautiful speaJdng voice as Philip paired with a woman of such harshness of tone.
Clifford laughed openly, making no secret of his dislike for the woman, although possibly in other circumstances he would have been more tactful. 'My apologies, Elwyn bach.' He bowed low, a mocking gesture that cost him a bump on his head when he came into collision with the neighbouring car's wing-mirror. 'Whoops!' he laughed. 'Steady, Clifford!'
'For God's sake get a taxi to take you home!' Philip urged him. 'Or at least let me drive you both home. You're not fit to drive, Clifford!'
'Oh, of course I am!' Clifford's arm tightened on Tara's shoulder and he smiled down at her confidently. 'You'll trust me to drive you home, won't you, darling?' Tara opened her mouth to declare herself unsure one way or the other and he promptly kissed her before she could utter a word. 'There you are,' he said to his brother. 'Tara isn't scared - she knows I'm not drunk!'
'You're tipsy enough to be dangerous,' PhiUp told him shortly. 'And if Tara wasn't in much the same state, she'd realize I was right.'
'I am not tipsy !' Tara defended herself fiercely, and in meeting those black eyes, wondered if she could have imagined that brief gUtter of laughter she saw there.
'You've had more than enough to make you rash,' he insisted. 'For God's sake, Tara, do something to discourage him!'
She recognized and resented the note of impatience in his voice, and it sounded very much as if he was issuing orders to her, blaming her because Clifford was behaving as he was. 'I don't have to discourage him,' she declared. She stuck out her chin defiantly, but
wished her legs would not tremble when she looked at him.
For a long minute he looked at her across the intervening few feet, his dark eyes glittering, as if he was deciding what to do, and she found herself wishing he would order her to ride with him instead of with Clifford. Even in anger he affected her senses in the same way, and she dared not admit, even to herself, how much she disliked the idea of him taking home Elwyn Owen-Bragg.
Instead he shook his head slowly. 'You little idiot!' he said at last, softly, but with a hint of steel in that velvet voice. Without another word, he turned and got into his car beside Elwyn Owen-Bragg, whom no one, Tara realized vaguely, had seen fit to introduce.
'And you needn't think of driving on my tail to keep an eye on us!' ClifTord called out to him in tipsy bravado as Philip started up his car, seeing his brother's withdrawal as a tactical victory. 'We're going the long way round and you'll be tucked up in your little bed before we get back!'
Philip still said nothing, but his face had a dark threatening look that sent shivers of apprehension down Tara's spine, and the black eyes turned again briefly and glittered at her in the harsh yellow hght, before he let in the clutch and drove out of the car park, Clifford waving a mocking farewell after him.
He was laughing when he turned back to Tara, well pleased with hunself, and Tara wished she could share his pleasure, but seeing Philip go off hke that had put a definite damper on her earlier enjoyment.
Clifford bowed her into his car with exaggerated courtesy, and she glanced up at the good-looking smiling face with a flutter of apprehension as he closed the door on her. Philip had been right - Clifford was, if not drunk, at least dangerously tipsy, but she had burned her bridges now, and there was little she could do.
It was a really beautiful night and driving along the road back to Fairwinds, Tara began to enjoy herself again, despite some heart-stopping moments on steep slopes and round those twisting, tortuous bends which Clifford took much too quickly.
He was feeling brightly elated after his victory over his brother and he turned his head every so often to smile at her, laughing softly when she discouraged an attempt to drive and put an arm around her at the same time.
The moon was almost full, and it shed its soft radiance over the hilly landscape making it look softer and even more beautiful. 'It's all so - so perfect,' Tara said, without realizing why she should sound so wistful when she said it. Somehow this wild, sweeping countryside always had a saddening effect on her, and she could never think why.
'So are you,' Clifford replied promptly. 'But why so sad, darling? You're not sorry you let me drive you home are you?'
'No,' Tara told him with a smile. 'Not yet!'
'Oh, that's cruel!' Clifford objected, and turned his deep blue eyes on her, looking as dark as glittering as
his brother's in the moonlight. 'If you're so cruel to me, I shall hurl us both to destruction over the edge of the rocks.'
'You'll do it whether you intend to or not, if you don't keep your eyes on the road,' Tara told him. 'I wish you wouldn't keep turning your head, CM.'
'But I can't resist it,' Clifford told her, his excellent teeth gleaming whitely at her. 'You look fabulous in the moonlight.'
'I shan't look so fabulous spread all over the valley down there,' she declared. 'And nor will you. Slow down, please. Cliff, there's another car in front of us and there isn't room to pass on this road.'
Clifford griimed. 'That's Philip!' he told her, as they drew closer to the car in front, and Tara could see that it was indeed Philip's sleek black monster, and recognized his dark head, picked up by their headlights. The sight of him set her heart hammering wildly at her ribs suddenly and she curled her hands into her palms trying to still their trembling. 'He's dropped Ellie off and he's on his way home,' CUff said with a chuckle. 'Shall we give him a run for his money?'
'No, Cliff!'
She did not realize how nervous she sounded, but something in her was cold and frightened at the thought of speeding past that familiar car and its occupant. She remembered, for no good reason, those strong brown hands on the wheel and the way those powerful arms handled the fast car round the tortuous bends and closed her eyes briefly.
Clifford, however, was in no mood to be frustrated, to be deprived of one more minor victory over his brother, and he put his foot down hard. 'Move over, big brother!' he yelled. 'Here we come!'
The car in front seemed to look at them with heart-stopping speed, almost on their front bumpers, and she put a hand to her mouth. 'No, Cliff!'
Some instinct for danger must have warned Philip, for he turned his head, swiftly and jerkily, then signalled urgently with one hand for them to slow down. 'Not on your life!' Clifford yelled at the top of his voice. He gave a blood-curdling war whoop and the big car flashed past, almost brushing against the one it was passing. 'Geronimo!'
They were careering into another bend almost at once with the brakes hard on, and tyres squealing, and Clifford's hands were suddenly taut on the spinning wheel as he fought for control.
To Tara it was a jumble of sounds all heard at once, then, suddenly, she felt herself snatched from her seat and hurled into the air with her own voice shrilling in her ears as if it belonged to someone else. There was a moment of cool, rushing air, then a thud, and she lost consciousness.
It was over an hour later before Tara really began to notice anything again, and then it was a glimpse of a white overall coat, and a large smiling face that encouraged her to open her eyes wider. 'Ah! You're with us again!' the white coat said, with evident satisfaction, and Tara did her best to smile at the woman who
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wore it.
It took her a moment to remember how she came to be there, but when she did, she turned her head anxiously in the direction of the partly opened curtains of the cubicle. 'Philip,' she said faintly. 'Is he-'
The large face was still smiling, reassuringly, although it was having precisely the opposite effect on Tara at the moment. 'Now don't you worry about anyone else,' she was told, with well-intentioned kindness.
'But I am worried!' Tara insisted, trying to sit up and gasping at the resultant effect on her head. Her brain felt as if it was whirling round and round, and there were hundreds of
tiny hammers beating painfully at her temple.
'You'll do much better to lie still,' she was informed kindly. 'You won't help yourself or anyone else by trying to get off that bed. Is Philip the young man who was brought in with you?'
'Philip?' Tara's mind was still fuzzily confused, and she stared at the questioner for a moment.
It made no sense that she should be worried about Philip and not even ask about Clifford, but she could only think that it had been Philip who was closest to that terrifying drop, and he could well have gone over in the ensuing chaos. The thought of it happening actually made it plain in her mind's eye, and she bit her lip, tears flooding into her eyes.
'Is Philip your young man?' the white coat asked kindly, and Tara gazed at her for a moment in
confusion.
'Yes - no!' She put her hands to her throbbing head and discovered bandages, exploring gingerly with her fingers as she gazed at the woman doctor with startled eyes. This sort of thing only happened to other people, not to oneself. 'I— What - why am I bandaged up?' she asked, vaguely frighted.
'You've had a bang on your head,' the doctor told her, with professional ofT-handedness. 'You'll be fine as soon as you've rested a bit. We'll be taking an X-ray to make sure, of course, but there's nothing for you to worry about.'
'But—' Tara screwed up her eyes, finding it fright-eningly difficult to concentrate. 'How many others were brought in with me?' she asked, and the doctor smiled.
'Only one, and he's not too bad as far as we can tell at first glance. Should there have been anyone else?'
'No-I-I don't know.'
It was all very confusing and rather frightening, and Tara wished she felt more Hke getting up off that comfortable couch and finding out for herself just what had happened to both Clifford and Philip. It was still Philip that was uppermost in her mind at the moment, for he had been so very near to the edge of that steep drop into the valley.
'I shouldn't worry too much about anyone else at the moment,' the doctor told her with an understanding smile. 'Your young man isn't nearly as badly shaken up as you are and you'll be much better off resting than troubling your head about him.'
Fairwinds Page 7
