Ryan had the feeling he would like to allocate her to one of the stalls too! It really hadn’t been a good idea to come here, it wasn’t working out at all as she had expected. So far there had been none of the peace and quiet she wanted.
‘Yes, fine,’ she agreed dully, the stable pristine clean.
Grant Montgomery looked down at her. ‘If you would rather he came up to the house—’
‘No, it doesn’t matter,’ she dismissed curtly. ‘I think he needs a bath first—like me,’ she added ruefully, blatantly aware that even though Grant Montgomery had supposedly been working on the estate all day he was much tidier than she was, and the heated smell of his body was rather pleasant to the senses. Potent, was a much more appropriate word.
He really was an attractive man, magnetically so, somewhere in his mid-thirties, she would have guessed. Mark had told her that his brother wasn’t married, and now, having met him, she found that surprising. Some lucky woman should have snapped him up long ago, maybe then he wouldn’t have adopted this arrogant air of condescension. Although she wouldn’t have counted on it! He had the look of a man who had always had supreme self-confidence.
He nodded now, not disclaiming her comment. ‘I’ll get Shelley to show you to your room. You can get some food for your dog in the kitchen once you’ve freshened up.’
Ryan was relieved he had mentioned that. She had been wondering what to do about feeding Ragtag, especially as it already seemed she had to accept the Montgomerys’ hospitality for herself for several days.
‘Thank you,’ she accepted.
‘Perhaps you would like to settle the dog and then come up to the house,’ Grant suggested distantly. ‘I have to get back to work, but Shelley will be only too happy to help you should you run into any difficulties.’
‘Er—fine,’ she said. ‘I-I’ll see you later, then.’
‘At dinner,’ he nodded tersely.
Ryan’s last view of him was as he strode off to climb in behind the wheel of his Land Rover, a grey one this time, as opposed to Peter Thornby’s green one, then Grant Montgomery drove off towards the fields at the back of the house. Considering the amount of sheep she had seen on her way here it was natural to assume the estate farmed them.
Mark hadn’t really told her much about his family, least of all their complexities. Mandy was a strange girl, old beyond her years in some ways, still very young in others, and Grant Montgomery was too full of complexities to even begin to fathom him. And she would bet that a lot of women had tried.
‘Interesting man,’ she told Ragtag as she looked for a comfortable spot for him in one of the stalls. ‘Oh, I know you didn’t like him,’ she smiled, ‘but then he didn’t seem too keen on you either. Ah, here we are,’ she had found a stall full of fresh-smelling hay. ‘Now you settle down here,’ she instructed. ‘And I’ll bring you some food down soon. And just between you and me, Ragtag,’ she said in a whisper, ‘I don’t think the haughty Mr Grant Montgomery liked me either!’
It had been there from the beginning, an antagonism that was not of her making, almost as if he suspected her motives for being here. Oh, how she wished that cottage had been ready for her when she arrived, or that she had known of the delay and could have come a couple of days later. In the meantime she would have to make the best of it.
‘I’ll be back soon,’ she absently assured the dog, and went back into the house to seek out the butler.
The bedroom they had given her was as elegantly furnished as the rest of the house, the carpet cream and fluffy, the deep pink bedspread and velvet curtains at the windows matching perfectly, the furniture a light pine.
Her suitcase had already been placed on the ottoman at the bottom of the double bed, with her canvases propped against it, reminding her of her reason for being here. Tomorrow she would be able to start work, that would compensate for all the difficulties she had so far encountered.
She was just putting on her clean clothing after her bath when Mandy Montgomery walked into the room unnanounced. Ryan hastily straightened her tee-shirt over her breasts, smoothing it over her denims. If Mandy had hoped to unnerve her she had failed. After sharing a dormitory with five other girls, Diana being one of them, she had become used to a lack of privacy, and was completely lacking in inhibitions about her body.
Nevertheless, she faced the other girl challengingly, knowing the intrusion had been a deliberately rude one. ‘Yes?’ she enquired coolly.
‘You’re wanted on the telephone—’
‘Mark?’ Her expression brightened, and she forgot her antagonism.
‘Of course,’ Mandy taunted. ‘You can use the telephone in the drawing-room.’
Ryan didn’t wait to hear any more, but ran down the stairs to pick up the telephone. ‘Mark!’ she greeted him with breathless relief.
‘Who else?’ he said cheerfully. ‘How’s it going?’
‘Well, I had to walk from the station, the house is enormous, my cottage isn’t ready, I have—’
‘Hey, slow down, slow down!’ he laughed. ‘I heard all about that from Mandy. I also heard you had some strange-looking animal with you. I’m sure you were alone when Diana and I saw you off this morning,’ he teased.
Mandy hadn’t wasted much time relating her unusual arrival. ‘You almost saw me off,’ she reminded him. ‘You arrived just as the train was pulling out of the station. As for the dog, he’s adopted me,’ she dismissed. ‘Mark, your brother has very kindly invited me to stay in the house until the cottage is ready, but—’
‘Have you seen the studio yet?’ he interrupted.
She frowned. ‘No.’
‘Get Mandy to show it to you. I guarantee you won’t want to leave then.’
‘I don’t want to leave now. I just feel—uncomfortable, with your family.’ That was the understatement of the year!
‘What did you think of Grant?’
‘Think of him?’ she returned guardedly.
Mark chuckled softly. ‘Handsome devil, isn’t he?’
‘Very handsome,’ she acknowledged stiffly.
‘I thought you’d like him,’ he mocked.
‘Who said anything about liking him?’ she snapped, knowing that she was, foolishly, blushing. ‘I just admitted he was handsome, that doesn’t mean I like him.’
‘Of course not,’ Mark replied blandly. ‘And how about Mandy, what do you think of her?’
‘She’s very pretty.’
‘Isn’t she?’ The smile could be heard in his voice as he guessed at her evasion. ‘She’s also very sweet under the bitchiness.’
‘I’m not sure I’ll get that far,’ Ryan said dryly.
‘You will,’ he laughed. ‘Could you put her on for a few minutes? I want to talk to her.’
Much to Ryan’s embarrassment she found Mandy Montgomery standing in the open doorway when she turned, giving every impression of having been there for some time. How much of the conversation had she listened to? She hoped not the part where she had admitted that Grant was handsome!
‘He wants to talk to you,’ she held out the receiver to the other girl.
Mandy strolled over, in no hurry. ‘Thanks,’ and she instantly turned her back on Ryan.
So much for getting past the bitchiness! She wasn’t even sure she wanted to.
‘I’m not your servant!’ Mandy was telling her brother angrily. ‘All right,’ she agreed finally. ‘But Grant isn’t too happy about the way you deceived him. You know exactly what I mean. It isn’t funny, Mark, Grant is furious about it.’
It didn’t need two guesses what Grant Montgomery was ‘furious’ about. He had been expecting a man, and instead she had turned up. She was always having the same trouble with her name, although this time she was inclined to believe, as Grant did, that Mark had done it on purpose. It was the sort of thing he would find funny. Obviously his brother didn’t share his sense of humour. She wasn’t sure she did in this case either. It had certainly got her off to a bad start with the other two members of
the Montgomery family.
Mandy had rung off now, and turned to her with that insolent stare. ‘Mark wants me to show you the studio.’
She blushed. ‘If you’d rather not, I’m sure I could find it on my own.’
Dark eyebrows rose in a facsimile of her eldest brother. ‘I doubt if Grant would welcome you wandering about the house on your own,’ she drawled.
Ryan’s mouth tightened at the other girl’s insulting tone. ‘I don’t think your family silver would look right in my flat,’ she snapped.
Mandy smiled, at once looking younger. ‘So you can stand up for yourself if you have to. That could come in useful in this house.’ She led the way up the stairs, with Ryan walking at her side. ‘Don’t be fooled by Grant’s mild manner of earlier, he can be a swine at times.’
If his rudeness to her and condescension to Ragtag had been his mild manner, then he must indeed be a swine at his worst! ‘I’ll remember that,’ she said coolly.
‘I should,’ Mandy advised softly. ‘When Grant has one of his boils the whole household knows about it.’
‘Then let’s hope that he doesn’t “boil” while I’m in the house!’
‘I wouldn’t count on it,’ the other girl said dryly. ‘It happens pretty regularly. Here’s the studio,’ she flung open double doors at the top of the last flight of stairs, standing aside for Ryan to enter.
As Ryan walked inside she forgot all about Mandy’s snobbishness, Grant’s arrogance, Mark’s disregard for anything but his own plans, and her face lit up as she took in the perfection of the studio. Mark certainly hadn’t exaggerated.
The studio covered most of the loft space, huge windows having been put in as skylights each side of the sloping roof, giving the room a very light and airy feeling. Several easels stood about the room, empty of canvases, in fact, the whole room had an unused look.
‘Mark doesn’t use it very often,’ Mandy stated the obvious. ‘He doesn’t come home very often either,’ she added in a resentful voice. ‘He prefers his London friends.’
‘Really?’ Ryan was only half listening, her excitement increasing as she looked around the room. It was perfect, absolutely perfect. She could spend the rest of her life working in here. Although three weeks would have to do!
‘Are you a—special friend of his?’ Mandy probed.
She shrugged. ‘I don’t know about special, but I’ve known him a long time.’ She was already planning where she would put her easel for the best light. How her fellow students would envy her this opportunity, most of them having to make do, as she usually did. She had a feeling she was going to do some of her best work here.
‘If you’ve quite finished looking round,’ Mandy said tightly.
‘Mm? Oh—oh yes,’ Ryan blushed. ‘It’s lovely,’ she said inadequately.
The other girl nodded. ‘Mark often lets his friends use it, but you’re the first female.’
This fact really seemed to bother the Montgomery family, although Ryan couldn’t for the life of her think why. Didn’t they have friends of both sexes?
‘Perhaps you would like to join me for tea in the lounge?’ Mandy asked grudgingly.
‘I’d like that,’ she accepted. ‘But I have to feed my dog first.’
The other girl’s mouth twisted mockingly. ‘I’ll see you later, then.’
So dismissed, Ryan made her way down to the kitchen, finding that Grant had already told the cook she would be requiring the food.
Ragtag sat outside the stable rather than inside it, basking in the sunshine, although he got up and trotted to her side as soon as he saw her, his nose going into the food-bowl as if he hadn’t eaten for a month.
‘Take it easy!’ she laughed, as more food seemed to come over the side of the bowl rather than into his mouth, the water slopping out of the other bowl as he almost leapt inside it. Ragtag carried on eating until all the food had gone, looking up at her expectantly once the bowl was empty. ‘More!’ Ryan chided, standing up. ‘I bet Grant will be glad to get rid of us, Ragtag.’ She frowned down at him. ‘Maybe once you’ve had a bath you won’t look so ragtaggled.’
‘Talking to yourself could become a dangerous habit,’ a familiar gravelly voice taunted her.
She blushed, looking up at Grant Montgomery, finding it impossible to read his expression, as the sun was directly behind him. For such a big man he moved very quietly, she hadn’t even been aware of his presence in the cobbled yard until he spoke.
‘Talking to a dog could be an even more dangerous one,’ she returned softly, shushing the ungrateful Ragtag as he began to growl at the intruder.
‘You think so?’ Grant mocked.
‘I’m hoping not,’ she said ruefully. ‘I seem to be doing it all the time.’
‘I believe when the dog answers you is the time to begin worrying,’ he drawled dryly. ‘Are you joining us for tea?’ he briskly changed the subject.
It was as well that he had; Ryan was open-mouthed about his show of humour. It came as something of a surprise after his earlier rudeness, and was totally in opposition to his harsh expression as he moved out of the sun.
‘I—I’ll just go and wash first,’ she mumbled.
‘Very well,’ he nodded abruptly, as if regretting the softening of his mood, striding off into the house.
Ryan went up to her room to wash, then hurried down to the drawing-room to join the brother and sister for tea. She was beginning to feel rather hungry, a sandwich or two would see her through until it was time for dinner.
‘It’s all right for you,’ Mandy was complaining when Ryan reached the drawing-room door. ‘You’re out at work most of the day, but how am I supposed to entertain this friend of Mark’s?’
Ryan’s hand froze in the action of opening the door. They were talking about her!
‘She doesn’t need entertaining,’ Grant dismissed. ‘Just leave her to her scribbles up in the studio.’
Scribbles! Ryan could feel her temper beginning to rise. How dared he call her work ‘scribbles’!
‘After all, it is partly Mark’s home too—even if he does rarely use it,’ Grant added hardly. ‘If he wants this girl to stay here as his guest then he has a perfect right to expect us to let her. It’s only for three weeks, Mandy,’ he consoled. ‘Then we’ll probably never see her again.’
‘I wouldn’t be too sure of that.’ The scowl could be heard in his sister’s voice. ‘Mark called her earlier, and they seemed very friendly.’
‘If it lasts as long as Mark’s other “friendships” I won’t worry too much,’ Grant derided.
‘She also thinks you’re handsome,’ Mandy mused. ‘I wonder what Valerie would think of that.’
‘She wouldn’t think anything,’ Grant snapped. ‘The opinion of one of Mark’s Bohemian girl-friends is not in the least important to either Valerie or myself.’
Ryan didn’t want to listen to any more; she ran back to her bedroom before her presence outside the door was detected, leaning back against the door once she was safely inside her room.
How dared he! Bohemian girl-friend, indeed! No wonder Mark rarely came here if that was the sort of opinion he had to put up with. And Mandy—how could she have repeated that remark she had made about Grant being handsome!
How was she supposed to face him again after that? And who was Valerie? Mark hadn’t mentioned his brother having a girl-friend, but in the circumstances she could not think who else Valerie could be.
She couldn’t go down there now, not after what she had just heard, it would be too embarrassing.
‘Miss Shelton?’ A knock sounded on the door to accompany the butler’s query.
She swallowed hard, straightening her hair before opening the door to him. ‘Yes?’ She sounded cool enough.
‘Mr Montgomery asked me to enquire if you had changed your mind about joining them for tea?’
‘Er—yes,’ she said jerkily. ‘I—I have a bit of a headache, I thought I’d go for a walk instead.’ Her voice gained confidence as her
excuse took shape. ‘Please give them my apologies.’
‘Of course, miss,’ the middle-aged man nodded. ‘Is there anything I can get you? Aspirin?’
‘The fresh air is all I need,’ she smiled brightly. ‘Thank you.’
She picked up her jacket once he had gone, then hurried from the house, collecting Ragtag to set off across the fields at the back of the house. There were sheep everywhere, most of the ewes having a young lamb gambolling at their side.
It was the latter that finally calmed her, and she sat on a wall to watch their antics, finding the little twins the funniest, each trying for a place next to their mother, pushing each other out of the way in their hurry. There was something very soothing about watching this fight for survival at such an early age. Ryan had had to fight to survive in the same way in the children’s home, and she had no intention of letting the Montgomerys get to her. Nothing and no one was going to stop her using that beautiful studio.
She dressed with care for dinner, having brought a couple of long skirts and contrasting tops with her, just in case she was invited up to the house while she was here. She was glad she had now that she was actually living in it!
She wore a long black woodgrain skirt, the pale blue of her silky blouse deepening the colour of her eyes, making her hair appear more golden than usual; her make-up was light, her lip-gloss the palest plum-colour.
She looked quite respectable as she gazed at herself in the full-length mirror, not at all like a Bohemian! Oh, how that rankled, the sheer arrogance and bias used in the judgment angering her. To Grant Montgomery she was an artist, and it naturally followed that she was untidy and without morals too.
Only Mandy was in the lounge when she entered the room several minutes later, and she offered no explanation for Grant’s absence. But it soon became obvious where he had been; a car sounded in the driveway, and then footsteps out in the hallway. But she needn’t have worried about facing him again, because accompanying Grant when he opened the double doors was a tall raven-haired woman of about his own age, an exquisitely beautiful woman, even if her brown eyes were a little hard as they flickered over Ryan. Probably pricing her skirt and blouse to the last penny, she thought bitchily. The woman’s own clinging black dress looked like a couture model, the sort where you never looked at the price tag—because it didn’t have one!
Heaven Here On Earth Page 3
