by Maggie Cox
At first it seemed as though her madcap idea had stunned Hal into silence, but as she continued to push him at speed down the path, he shouted up to her, ‘You are one crazy woman, Kit Blessington. Do you know that?’
‘Are you having fun now?’ she shouted back.
‘Hell, yes! Can’t you go any faster?’
Kit kept her promise and after making their way across to the other side of the park, out of breath and with her cheeks healthily pink, she took Hal to the café she’d mentioned for coffee and cake. The table they selected had a wonderful view of the sparkling lake—at last the sun had started to shine, making the blue-green water shimmer like diamonds. Gratefully curling her hands round her hot mug of coffee, and observing the heightened colour in the sculpted planes of Hal’s handsome face as well, she knew a delicious sense of well-being that she wished she could bottle.
‘Feeling a bit warmer now?’ She smiled.
‘I feel strangely like I’ve run a marathon.’ The corner of his lips quirked beguilingly. ‘Well...maybe a half marathon. You were right—that was fun.’
‘Good. I had fun too. What’s the fruitcake like?’
Hal was already shaking his head and returning the slice of cake he’d just taken a bite out of to his plate. ‘Nowhere near the standard of yours. Six out of ten, I’d say.’
‘And mine is...?’
‘You’re a bad girl, fishing for compliments like that.’
His voice lowered to a smoky cadence that heated Kit’s blood and made the tips of her breasts prickle hotly inside her bra.
‘But I’ll still tell you. You’re definitely a ten. I can’t fault you, it seems.’
‘We’re talking about my cake...aren’t we?’
‘Are we?’ Leaning across the table, Hal reached for her hand, lifted it to his lips and kissed it. ‘The truth is you make me giddy. The line between reality and fantasy always seems to be blurred when I look at you, Kit.’
He meant every word. Her presence in his life was growing more and more essential to his well-being—and not just because she had appeared in his life exactly when he needed her. As he gazed into her bewitching summer-blue eyes his heart gently pounded inside his chest. He’d climbed mountains and navigated raging rivers in his search for thrills and excitement. He had taken recording artists to the pinnacle of their careers because he’d believed in them when no one else had, where no one would take the risk of backing an unknown. But nothing he’d done or achieved in his life could beat what he felt when he was next to this woman...no wonder she made him giddy!
Kit’s face flushed even pinker at his comment.
‘It’s probably the fresh air and the unexpected speed at which I pushed you in the chair that’s made you giddy,’ she quipped, as if determined not to believe his declaration had been generated by any other reason than that.
There was one other younger couple in the café with them, and when Hal reached for Kit’s hand and kissed it he noticed over her shoulder that the girl was sending him a pleased smile of acknowledgement—as if he’d suddenly been granted entry into an elite and prestigious club. It was a good feeling. Suddenly he didn’t mind if people looked at him and Kit and imagined they were a bona-fide couple. In fact he hoped that they did. His sister Sam would be over the moon that he was even open to the idea.
‘Will you tell me more about the married man you had a liaison with?’ he asked, suddenly needing to know.
‘All right...’
Even though the question had clearly discomfited her, Hal was pleased that Kit wasn’t going to shy away from answering it.
‘I told you it was my twenty-first birthday and my friends had taken me to a club? Well, there was a restaurant upstairs, where we had a meal, and he was one of the waiters there. Anyway, he was very attentive to all of us, but for some reason he was extra-attentive to me. Towards the end of the evening, when he’d finished his shift, he came to find me. I’m afraid I’d had a little too much to drink in a bid to cheer myself up, because turning twenty-one and not having anyone who mattered in my life except my mum had made me feel rather low, and when he offered to take me home I let him.’
She glanced away for a moment, as if cautious about revealing too much and perhaps being judged for it.
‘Anyway, he helped me into the house, where I had a room upstairs. He—he started kissing me. I should have made him stop, but I was drunk and hardly knew what I was doing. I stupidly told him that I needed to lie down and he led me over to the bed.’ Ruefully shaking her head, Kit grimaced. ‘To cut a long story short, he had sex with me, and afterwards...just before he left...he told me he was married. He took great pleasure in telling me, I remember. That’s it...end of story. In truth, I had a lucky escape.’
‘And you didn’t report him to the police?’
‘Why? He just took what he thought was on offer. The whole fiasco was my fault. I did everything I shouldn’t have. I’d had too much to drink and I let a stranger take me home. The only sensible thing I managed to do that night was to insist he wore protection. Luckily he’d brought some with him. It obviously wasn’t the first time he’d taken advantage of a woman who really ought to have known better.’
Kit’s blue-eyed glance was unwaveringly direct.
‘You’re probably wondering why I acted so stupidly. The truth is I let my guard down that night because I was flattered by his attention. Sometimes we all want to be liked and admired, don’t we? That’s all that sorry episode was about—a very human need to be noticed by someone.’
‘But you let him take your virginity, Kit. That’s the saddest part of the story. I wish you could have given it to someone who saw it as the most precious gift a woman can give to a man.’ It grieved Hal more than he could possibly say that she hadn’t.
‘So do I.’ She fell silent for a moment. ‘Anyway, now I’ve shared my story, will you tell me about your mother, Hal?’
As painful as the topic was, if he wanted things to progress further with Kit then Hal knew he couldn’t avoid speaking about it any longer. Suddenly it was imperative that she grew to trust him—especially after what she’d just told him—and in order for her to do that he had to have the courage to open up to her about his past. Who knew? If he took the risk it might open the door to the possibility of them enjoying a genuine relationship. Hal at least had to try.
Holding her gaze across the table, he gave her a tentative smile. Did he really have the courage to be vulnerable enough to confess the wreckage of his past to this woman?
‘All right, then. I’ll tell you about her,’ he agreed.
Her eyes widening, Kit gently loosened her hand from his and sat back in her seat to give him her full attention.
‘My mother was very beautiful,’ he went on, his hand tunnelling restlessly through his hair for a moment. ‘And her bewitching looks drew men to her like bees to honey. My dad is a wealthy landowner, and even though he was mad about her when they first met and asked her to marry him his property and his estate always came first. She didn’t appear to mind that too much. She loved the fact that he was landed gentry as well as being rich, but she didn’t understand why he chose to work at all when he didn’t have to. If she’d troubled to find out, she would have soon learned that taking care of the estate and the people who worked for him to maintain it was a matter of fierce pride to him. The estate has been in the family since the sixteenth century, and my dad wasn’t going to be the one that saw it fall to rack and ruin, as he’d say. The charities he supported were also hugely important to him, and he’d hoped that my mother would see how being associated with them might help her. Given her PR background, he thought she might be able to help fundraise and organise events and might even enjoy it.
‘He encouraged her to try and forge a good relationship with the staff on the estate and get to know them a little. To sum it up, my father be
lieved that she needed a purpose...at least until children came along. She’d been flitting in and out of PR work when they’d first met, but her heart wasn’t really in it. Turned out that she had her own ideas about what the “lady of the house” should do, and when she moved onto the estate with my dad it became clear that it wasn’t very much.
‘She couldn’t hack the isolation of the countryside. She was a city girl through and through and she hated being alone when my dad was taking care of his business on the estate—especially as she craved attention round the clock. In a very rare and honest moment my father once told me that he’d hoped when she had me and Sam she would settle down a bit, be more content with her lot. But instead of becoming devoted to her family she grew more and more restless and started to have affairs.’
Grimacing, Hal shook his head.
‘At first my father turned a blind eye, hoping she would grow tired of her soulless behaviour and realise what she had at home...two children who adored her, and a husband who loved her enough to forgive her destructive behaviour and also hoped that given time she would change for the better.’
Clearing his throat, Hal picked up his mug of coffee and took a swig. At the same time he found himself examining Kit’s pensive expression to try and gauge what she must be thinking about his faithless mother and his perhaps too patient, some might say foolishly deluded father. Henry Treverne Senior was a man who had never given up hope that his wife would come to see the error of her ways and be content just to be his partner and mother to their children.
‘Unfortunately she never did...change for the better, I mean.’ He shrugged. ‘When Sam and I were nine and seven respectively she ran off with an Italian count and relocated to Venice. She never kept in touch, even though my father regularly wrote to her and told her how much Sam and I were missing her.’ Hal bit down on his lip as a familiar scissor of pain jack-knifed through his heart at the memory.
Again he cleared his throat and took another swig of coffee. ‘About six years ago—just about the time I started to make a name for myself in the music industry—my father was notified by the Italian authorities that she’d been killed in a car accident. Apparently the Count’s twenty-one-year-old son from a previous marriage had been driving the car at the time and also lost his life. It was common knowledge in Venice that he and my mother had been having an affair. Doesn’t make for a very pretty story, does it?’
‘That’s so sad. For all of you.’ Her face paling a little, Kit breathed out a soft, heartfelt sigh. ‘Do you mind if I ask who looked after you and your sister when she left?’
Hal grimaced. ‘A series of not very reliable nannies, I’m afraid. One or two of them might have stayed, given the chance, but my father didn’t think any of them were good enough to mind his children. He was always finding fault with them for some reason or other. The truth is—courtesy of my beautiful, faithless mother, I think—he started to believe that women on the whole were fickle and not to be depended on. As soon as Sam and myself were old enough, he packed us off to boarding school.’
Taking another sip of coffee, he realised it was now practically cold. ‘Ugh.’ Wiping the back of his hand across his mouth, he returned the mug to the table, his avid gaze alighting on Kit. ‘We could be close...me and my father, I mean. But he couldn’t see why I wanted to leave and branch out on my own in a career when I was going to one day inherit the estate and title from him. He still doesn’t understand my reasons for wanting to be completely independent and neither does he see—in his words—why I “recklessly” risk my life in pursuing extreme sports.’
Kit’s smooth brow puckered in a frown. ‘Is that why he didn’t come and visit you in the hospital after your accident? You said that he’d e-mailed you saying “pride comes before a fall”.’
With any other woman he would have been surprised she should remember such a detail, but not with Kit. Hal heaved a sigh. To be honest, he wanted to shake off that painful illustration of the chasm that had grown between him and his father but he just couldn’t.
‘Trouble is he was right, you know? The only reason I agreed to that stupid bet with Rigden was because I had to prove I was better than him. Sometimes I am proud...too proud to see reason and let common sense rule.’
Ruefully he tapped his knuckles against his cast. ‘This injury being a case in point. But my dad’s proud as well—too proud to admit that sometimes he might be wrong. He should have come to see me in the hospital!’
With a tender smile, Kit nodded her agreement. ‘Yes, he should have. But perhaps he was unsure how his visit would be received by you—whether it would be welcome or not if there had been previous disagreement and tension between you? When you spend too much time apart from someone it’s very easy to believe that you know them so well you can predict how they’re going to react when you see them again. You don’t consider that they might have moved on from their old behaviour or changed for the better. When was the last time you actually spent any time with your dad, Hal?’
He sensed the heat rise in his face even before he started to speak. Kit’s words had definitely given him pause. ‘I don’t know...a few months, I suppose. I know that sounds bad, but I’ve always been too busy to organise anything. Besides...’ he shrugged a shoulder ‘...I got fed up with listening to his criticisms every time we happened to speak.’
Leaning towards him, Kit gently laid her hand over his. Her blue eyes were so captivating that Hal temporarily forgot that he was aggrieved with his dad. It was like gazing back into the most serene and calm lake.
‘Would you like to go and see him? If he won’t come to you, maybe you should go to him?’
Ever since he’d had his accident in Aspen it had been eating away at him that his father hadn’t shown any evidence that he cared. Resentment was a bitter companion, and it was only apt to grow worse if not dealt with, he knew. Kit’s suggestion that he make a conciliatory move and go and visit his father was so obvious, so eminently sensible, that he knew he couldn’t resist it. Reliving some of the tensions of his past with her just now had made him suddenly yearn to make amends. Losing one parent was bad enough—never mind allowing your relationship with the remaining one to deteriorate so much that you barely spoke to each other.
‘Once again your astute insight has floored me, Kit,’ he told her. ‘You’re right...I should go and see my dad. It’s crazy that I’ve put it off for so long. Will you drive me?’
Immediately she withdrew her hand from his and frowned. ‘Of course I will, but...where does he live?’
‘Hertfordshire.’
‘And when would you like to make the trip?’
‘I want to go today. We should strike while the iron’s hot—before I have the chance to think about it too much and talk myself out of it.’
‘Shouldn’t you ring your dad first and check that he’ll be home?’
An irresistibly boyish grin split his lips wide. ‘I probably should, but I won’t. I’d rather just turn up and surprise him. Even if he’s out, his housekeeper will let us in. He’ll come back sooner or later. By the way—we ought to pack an overnight bag. It’s too late to travel there and back today.’
Slowly, Kit nodded. ‘Well, if you think that’s all right, then of course we can go today. But first of all I’d like to ice that knee for you, and then you should rest for a while. We can go after that.’
‘I can rest in the car. After all, I don’t have to worry about driving.’
Zipping up his jacket, Hal was surprised at how enthused he suddenly felt about the idea of making amends with his father. It would also be good to see his childhood home again, despite his fractured upbringing. Falteringham House, the Treverne estate, was breathlessly stunning, and he’d honestly missed it. Any man would be proud to have connections with such beauty, grandeur and history. But most of all Hal realised he was looking forward to introducing it to Kit.
> ‘Come on, Nurse Blessington,’ he urged with a smile. ‘Let’s get going, shall we?’
* * *
Kit had honed a helpful ability to get packing down to a fine art. She’d had to when she was so often moving from place to place for work. But when she stepped out of her bedroom to find Hal patiently leaning against the wall on his crutches, a classy leather tote down by his feet, she couldn’t help smiling.
‘That was quick. I see you’re all packed and ready. I was just about to come and find you to help.’
‘No need. I’m nothing if not prepared,’ he quipped, an irresistible twinkle in his chameleon hazel eyes. ‘I often have to jet off somewhere at the drop of a hat, so it pays to at least have one well-equipped bag ready. I see you’ve changed your hairstyle... I have to say I approve. The schoolgirl plaits were definitely cute, but I much prefer it when you look like one of Millais’s models.’
After swapping her jeans and shirt for a smart pair of black trousers and a dove-grey Arran sweater Kit had quickly dismantled her plaits and shaken her hair loose. Once again the fiery copper waves tumbled freely over her shoulders, and they helped give her a sense of confidence she found herself suddenly in dire need of. If her one claim to beauty couldn’t help her to that end, then what could?
The prospect of meeting Hal’s upper-crust father, as well as visiting his ancestral family home, was seriously daunting. Although she was all but certain that it would—at last—dash any pointless hope she might be secretly nurturing that she could have a future with him. Best she just keep on reminding herself that if she continued to work hard then one day soon she would have the precious home of her own that she longed for. And she wouldn’t have to depend on any man—even if she was head over heels in love with him—to provide it for her.
