He did as she asked and then slumped low in one of the chairs she kept on the balcony and propped his feet on the wooden balustrade. “It’s all such a mess,” he said dejectedly, tipping his glass and swallowing half his beer.
“I suppose you and Melanie are seeing one another in secret because she’s worried her parents won’t approve?”
“Yeah…something like that, and she’s got a point. They’ll say I’m too old for her, that I don’t earn nearly enough money to support us, that she’s still at college…that she’s just a kid, except…except she’s not.”
Claire gave an inward sigh as she heard the pain in his voice. Was there no end to the bleak undercurrents that swirled around the Marchant family? “Daniel wouldn’t react like that,” she said.
“Don’t kid yourself! He would be even worse. To him Taylor-Ann and Melanie are just kids. He won’t accept they’ve grown up and, although it bugs me, I can sort of understand it. Ever since Mr Marchant lost his sight Daniel has had to run the family business. He makes all the financial decisions too. And he’s the one who is putting the twins through college. He’s the one who set Carl up in business as well. And he’s also the one who does his best to stop his mother giving in to complete despair. So it’s not surprising he has started thinking like a father instead of a brother. I’m sure he’s just looking out for them when he tells them they are too young to be romantically involved with anyone…but it doesn’t make it easy for me, or for Melanie.”
“So what is the favour?” Claire’s heart sank as she spoke because she was sure she wasn’t going to like it, whatever it was.
“I want you to come to the barbecue with me tomorrow,” Scott’s eyes shifted away from her in embarrassment when she looked across at him. “I know it’s a big ask, but if I arrive with you then it will allay everyone’s suspicion and take the pressure off Melanie. Please say yes Claire, because I must see her.”
Chapter Eighteen
Busy flipping burgers, as well as taking care the steaks didn’t burn; Daniel had little chance to talk to Scott and Claire when they arrived at the barbecue. Not that he wanted to talk to them, not after last night.
He had just finished eating dinner with his parents and sisters when the manager of Claire’s apartment block had called his cell phone. Apologising for disturbing him, the man explained he had forgotten to give him some papers for a forthcoming meeting. He offered to bring them over but Daniel told him he would collect them. Promising to arrive early the following morning to help set up the barbecue, he kissed his mother and sisters goodbye. Then, with a brief farewell to his father, he strode out across the deck and down to where he had tied up his dinghy.
As he set off across the bay he gave a sigh of relief. So far, so good! His father had been reasonably pleasant to Taylor-Ann and Melanie. There had been no second thoughts about the barbecue, no suggestion he was anything other than pleased to have them home again. And because he was being cooperative his mother had lost her hunted look and begun to relax and to enjoy the girls’ stories about college and their friends. It was probably too much to expect that things would stay that way all summer but he could at least hope. In the meantime it was good to escape the confines of family and responsibility and think, instead, of Claire.
His heart lifted as he puttered across the bay. The memory of the smile she had given him earlier wouldn’t go away. He was sure he had seen an invitation in her eyes. Maybe Carl was right and she and Scott were just friends. Maybe it was time he made a move. After all, she had been in Dolphin Key for long enough now for it to seem an entirely natural progression. Later, if there was a later, he would admit he had enticed her to Florida for entirely selfish reasons, but right now getting her to agree to a date was the first thing he had to do. He would ask her tomorrow, at the barbecue. No! He had a better idea. He would act right now, before he got cold feet. As soon as he had collected the papers that were waiting for him, he would go up to her apartment, knock on the door, and invite her out.
With a smile of relief now he had made his decision, he glanced up at her balcony. His heart plummeted like a stone when he saw Scott sitting there. Although he couldn’t see Claire very clearly, it was obvious that they were sitting very close together. Then he saw Scott wrap his arm around her shoulders and hug her. After that he stopped watching. So much for the invitation he was sure he had seen in her eyes. It was nothing more than his imagination going into overdrive.
And now here they were again, at the barbecue. They had arrived together. They were sitting together, and they appeared to be very happy. With a sigh he turned back to his cooking. At least he had something to occupy him, something to take his mind off the heart-wrenching sight of them laughing together.
* * *
“Hello. You look as if you could do with some help.” He heard the amusement in her voice, as he swung round to face her.
“Are you offering?” Smiling at her was an effort but he managed it.
“I am actually. And you had better take me up on it because I seem to be your only option.”
He laughed, and it was a genuine laugh this time. The lawns and the deck were swarming with people, most of them young, all of them intent on enjoying themselves. Even his father was smiling at something that Taylor-Ann was saying, while his mother was busy setting out salads and baskets of bread on the long table set up in the lozenge of shade provided by the side of the house.
“I guess I’ll say yes then.”
For the next twenty minutes they worked side-by-side without talking as they served meat onto plates, and piled onions, relish, burgers and sausages into split rolls. Finally, the last person had been served and, with a sigh of relief, Claire wiped her hands on a paper napkin.
Daniel put a piece of sirloin steak and a sausage onto a plate and handed it to her. “Here…it’s your turn now. Go and get yourself some salad. It’s time you got back to your date.”
“My date? Oh, you mean Scott. I don’t think he’s missed me at all.”
He followed her gaze and saw Scott sitting with Taylor-Ann, Melanie and some of their friends. From his hand gestures it was obvious he was explaining something to them. They all appeared to be hanging onto his every word.
“It’s a good job he’s with you because the twins and their friends are at just the right age to be far too susceptible to his good looks and charm,” he told her, trying to keep any hint of bitterness out of his voice as he turned back to the barbecue and began to pile his own plate with food.
“He’s really not that bad!” Claire sounded defensive as they walked across the grass together. “And he can’t help how he looks.”
Nor can you thought Daniel as he glanced at her. She looked cool and fresh in a blue sundress that swirled about her ankles. Her toenails, which were peeping out from flat, strappy sandals, were painted a deep cerise color.
As they approached the table, she changed the subject. “Something that Taylor-Ann said yesterday has been bothering me Daniel. I need to know…I need you to tell me why you let Beth arrange for me to stay in one of your best holiday rentals instead of hiring it out for the summer?”
Startled by her unexpected question, he stopped in the act of reaching for some bread and looked at her. Her eyes blazed blue in the sunlight as she waited for his answer.
“Because I wanted you to enjoy living in Dolphin Key, I guess,” he told her after a long pause while he searched for a plausible answer. After all he could hardly tell her it was because he always wanted her to have the best of everything he could ever offer her, not when her date was sitting just a short distance away on the grass.
She looked at him doubtfully. “Why did you think I wouldn’t enjoy it if I lived somewhere else?”
“I didn’t…that is, I was sure you would…but you have only signed a contract for six months remember, and I wanted to find a way to keep you here for longer than that. Surely you can see why. Now that you have settled into the job you must be able to see that there is st
ill a lot for you to do.”
“Well, yes, of course I can. But I can’t go on living where I do, not now I know how much it’s costing you.”
“Yes you can! The apartment is part of the job package Claire. It’s yours for as long as you stay here.”
Startled by the vehemence in his voice, she opened her mouth to protest, but before she had a chance to speak Taylor-Ann interrupted them.
“Hey you two, are you going to stand here all day, or are you coming over to join us? Scott’s been telling us about the photos you took of him Claire. He’s pretending he’s mad at you but we know he’s not really.”
Claire glanced across to where Scott was sitting. Melanie was next to him but they were angled slightly away from another, and each of them was talking to a different group of people. At a quick glance their proximity to one another appeared to be entirely innocent. There was no eye contact, their bodies weren’t touching, and yet…there was something. She frowned slightly. Then she realized what it was. Half hidden in the long grass, their fingers were entwined. She took two swift paces and sat down beside them, making sure that the swirling folds of her dress covered their hands.
“You idiot!” she hissed into Scott’s ear as she pretended to settle herself comfortably next to him.
He gave her a grateful smile. “Thanks. I didn’t think.”
Because he kept his voice low, and because his face was turned towards her, the two of them looked as if they were having an intimate conversation. It pierced Daniel’s heart to see them sitting so close together, apparently oblivious to everyone else around them. Unable to bear the thought of watching them for the rest of the afternoon, he made an excuse and walked away.
Claire watched him go. He looked so lonely as he made his way across the lawn to where his parents were sitting in the shade. She wished she could join them but she couldn’t break her promise to Scott. With a sigh she tuned into the conversation going on around her, knowing that she was deluding herself anyway. For a moment yesterday as they sailed across the bay in search of dolphins, she had thought things were about to change between them…but now, by walking away, he had made it perfectly clear that he wasn’t even interested in spending the afternoon with her. So the sooner she gave up wishing for something that was never going to happen, the better.
* * *
People started to leave towards the end of the afternoon and by then Claire had had more than enough of acting as chaperone. “Come on. It’s time we helped your mother to clear up,” she said to Melanie, picking up her own plate and glass and getting to her feet.
Melanie did the same, but with reluctance.
Claire smiled sympathetically. “Scott will still be here when we’ve finished because he can’t leave without me. I’m his date, remember!”
“I know and I’m sorry you’re involved,” the younger girl’s eyes brimmed with sudden tears that she dashed away with the back of her hand. Then she looked at Claire. “What would you do in my place?”
“I would talk to my parents…and to Daniel. And I’d get Scott to talk to them too. They’re far more likely to agree that you can date one another if you’re honest with them, whereas if they catch you sneaking out to see him they might be very angry with both of you. You’re not even being fair to Scott, Melanie, because you know he doesn’t want to keep it a secret.”
“But what if it doesn’t work like that. What if they throw me out? What if Daniel sacks Scott?” Melanie looked agonized.
Claire stared at her. “Whatever makes you think any of that would happen?”
“Carl! They did it with Carl didn’t they? He had to leave home, and now Dad won’t see him, won’t even allow his name to be mentioned. He’s won’t let him work in the family business either, even though everyone knows that he would be really good at it.”
Aware that this was a conversation they needed to have alone, Claire grabbed a handful of trash bags. Thrusting some into Melanie’s hands she led her away from where groups of people were still chatting, to an area on the far side of the garden. Once there she began to collect discarded paper plates and napkins, and scraps of uneaten food.
“The problems with Carl were entirely different Melanie,” she said quietly. “He chose to do something that disrupted the plans your father had for him, whereas you only want to date someone when you’re home from college.”
Melanie bent down and began to pick up some crusts of bread that were scattered across the grass, but she wasn’t swift enough to hide the blush that rose to the roots of her hair.
Claire looked down at her. Her heart sank as she suddenly realized Melanie’s relationship with Scott was far more serious than a summer romance. This was way beyond her pay grade. What Daniel’s family, and Scott, for that matter, chose to do with their private lives was not her business…she needed to walk away from this…she was searching around for the words that would extract her from what was fast becoming a difficult situation when she suddenly remembered what Scott had told her the previous evening. He had said that Daniel had been looking after his whole family for years; that it was entirely thanks to him the twins were getting a college education and that all the family’s medical bills were being paid. It was down to him as well that his parents were still enjoying a comfortable lifestyle. And then, of course, there was Carl. Daniel had set Carl up in business, even though he had neglected to tell her so when he gave her the potted version of his family’s history, the night they sat on his deck in the moonlight.
She remembered, too, how kind he had always been to her, how special her apartment was. Finally she acknowledged how, against her better judgment, he had persuaded her to take a job that was exactly the right one for her, and in that moment she knew she owed him. She knew she had to do whatever was needed to help him, even if it was something she didn’t consider her business. Daniel might not be interested in having a relationship with her, but he was her friend as well as her employer, and she never turned her back on her friends. With an inward sigh she confronted Melanie.
“Scott visits you at college, doesn’t he?” she asked.
Melanie nodded wordlessly. Then she looked up at Claire with an abject expression on her face. “Please don’t tell Daniel…or my parents. I know you visit them…I know you’re friends with Dan…but please don’t tell them Claire.”
“I have no intention of telling anyone anything, but I do think you and Scott need to have a serious talk about your relationship. You can’t keep it a secret forever you know, and it will be much, much worse for Scott if Daniel finds out he’s been deceiving him.”
“I know how much he hates not telling him,” Melanie admitted. “It’s just I’m frightened that telling will spoil everything, and make things worse at home too. Mum can barely cope as it is. She just lives for when Taylor-Ann and I come home, and we try really hard to keep things sweet for her when we’re here by not upsetting Dad.”
“I understand all of that,” Claire assured her. “But I still think you’ve got to take the chance. Surely you can see how much worse the alternative is. How, by risking being found out, you are jeopardizing everything; your relationships with Scott, with your parents, even with Daniel, because he would never trust you, or Scott, ever again.”
“I know you’re right, and I will do it, I promise.” Tears trickled down Melanie’s cheeks as she straightened up, but the look she gave Claire was a determined one, even though her eyes were clouded with fear. Then she saw Scott approaching and she gave a watery smile as he walked across the lawn towards them.
“Here comes the muscle, just in time to collapse the trestle table.”
Claire laughed in spite of herself and picked up a solitary tray that had been abandoned on the grass. “I guess I can trust the two of you to clear up the rest of this part of the garden together while I collect up some glasses and take them indoors.”
Scott shot her a grateful look.
“But ask Melanie what we’ve been talking about while you do it,” she c
alled over her shoulder as she walked away.
* * *
Daniel was pacing up and down and talking on his cell phone when Claire finally returned to the garden. She had spent some time stacking the dishwasher and helping to pack away the uneaten food. Now all she wanted to do was to leave without having to talk to Daniel. Seeing he was deep in conversation she gave a sigh of relief as she raised a hand in farewell and started to search for Scott. Instead of acknowledging that she was going, however, Daniel beckoned her towards him. She sighed. Now what?
She had already said goodbye to Taylor-Ann, and to Mrs Marchant, and she had promised Mr Marchant she would visit again the following week to read to him. They were now on their fourth book, a thriller this time, and one that was considerably more interesting than the previous three. She was fast becoming frustrated with him, however, because his resistance to the Talking Books service was as strong as ever, despite his earlier promise to consider it.
“What would you do if I stopped reading to you?” she had asked him the last time she visited.
“I would ask my wife to resume her duties,” he replied, with no sense whatsoever of how his domineering attitude was making his wife’s life a misery.
Claire had given up and resumed reading, but without the sense of enjoyment that reading aloud usually gave her. He was so arrogant and overbearing that she frequently wondered why she bothered at all. But when she saw how much he enjoyed it, and how much it helped Mrs Marchant, she always promised to return.
“Claire, I need a favour,” Daniel said, cutting his call and returning his cell to his pocket as he walked towards her.
Not you too! The thought brought a fleeting feeling of resentment until she saw the worry in his eyes.
“I’ve just found out that Carl and I have to go away for a couple of days next week to sort out a problem …but Beth…the baby…”
Reluctant Date Page 15
