by Kim Lawrence
‘Is it?’
‘I was happy there when I was her age.’
‘You have no accent.’
Her smile faded. ‘No, I lost it and my roots, but Jasmine won’t.’
‘Roots are less about places and more about people.’
‘There speaks someone who didn’t grow up in a series of hotel rooms.’
‘You said she had been ill? Was it serious?’
‘It took a while to diagnose, a thing with her hip. It required a lot of bed rest and that was tough. They thought she might be left with a limp but she’s fine. Are you all right, Alex?’
He tore his eyes off the playing child and nodded. ‘Fine.’ As fine as any man could be when he knew the woman he loved had faced all those things alone.
‘Are you sure?’
He nodded. ‘I should have been there.’
The burning intensity of his gaze made her look away. ‘You’re here now.’
‘Yes, I am.’
They caught up with Jasmine, who, to Angel’s maternal eyes, was showing visible signs of flagging. ‘Want a carry, sweetheart?’
‘No, I’m okay. What’s that?’ She stared curiously at the parcel in Alex’s hand.
He withdrew the book from behind his back. ‘A book. I thought you might like it. It’s about a princess who marries a handsome prince after he saves her from a dragon.’ A far simpler time when all a man had to do to prove himself was slay the odd dragon. Life was much more complicated these days.
‘I already have a book about a princess. She rescues the prince and she hates pink.’
A lot more complicated—he couldn’t even impress a five-year-old. ‘It seems,’ Alex said in a soft rueful aside to Angel as she took the book from him, ‘that I am not politically correct enough.’
They had reached the steps to the bungalow and Angel opened the book. ‘Look, Jas, this book has such lovely pictures, really beautiful.’ How crazy that she wanted to save his feelings. He was trying so hard that it made her heart ache to watch him.
‘Are there any cats in it?’
‘I’m not sure,’ Alex admitted.
‘I like cats. Thank you very much.’
He inclined his head. ‘You are most welcome, Jasmine.’
She allowed herself to be led up the steps to the veranda, where she jumped directly onto a bench. ‘I could look at the pictures now.’
‘Nice try. We had a deal. A swim and then a nap.’
With a show of reluctance she got up.
‘Say goodnight to Alex.’
‘Goodnight, Mr Alex.’
‘Goodnight, Jasmine.’
‘There’s a bottle of wine open in the fridge if you want some. I won’t be long...if you want to wait.’
‘I want...’
He stood up when Angel walked back into the living room a few minutes later and pulled out a chair for her, wincing as it scraped on the wooden floor. ‘Sorry.’
‘Don’t worry. Nothing will wake her now.’
‘She’s quite a character. You have done a good job.’
Angel felt herself blush with pleasure at the compliment. ‘I’ve had a lot of help....’
‘You have a nanny?’
Her chin lifted defensively. ‘Luckily.’
He watched, one brow raised, as she ignored the wine he had poured and filled her coffee cup from a Thermos jug. ‘It was not a criticism.’
‘My brother is great and my normal nanny is sporting a leg plaster. Her really great stand-in flew over with Jas and then back.’
‘So what does your brother do—?’ He broke off, frowning. ‘Is that a good idea?’ She looked at him over the rim of her cup. ‘You do know you’re displaying all the classic signs of caffeine overload?’
‘Am I?’
‘You’re jumpy as hell, you can’t sit still... Look,’ he broke off to say as the cup she had put back down on the table rattled. ‘You’re trembling and I bet your heart is racing and you’re dizzy? Am I right?’
Oh, he was right. ‘And that’s because I drink too much coffee?’ A man with a mind like a steel trap, but it turned out he didn’t know everything. She was beginning to think that where she was concerned he knew nothing!
‘If you’re not careful...’
She gave a sputtering laugh and drew his frowning disapproval.
‘This isn’t funny, Angel.’
‘Oh, I know it’s not, believe me,’ she said, looking at his mouth hard enough to memorise it. She picked up a magazine from the table and wafted her face with it. ‘But don’t worry, I know my limitations with coffee.’ It was her limitations with Alex that were her problem. Her internal red light just failed to activate with him.
‘You’ve met him, I think.’
He watched as she topped up her coffee cup. ‘Who?’
‘My brother. I believe you played with cars together. Cesare...?’
A look of utter astonishment spread across his face. ‘You are Cesare Urquart’s sister?’ Meeting someone with a public persona in the flesh could, Alex knew, be disappointing when that person fell far short of your mental image. But that hadn’t been the case when he had met the ex-racing driver whose career he had followed. He had liked the man and the feeling seemed to have been reciprocated.
She nodded.
‘Does he know about me?’ Alex asked, imagining his own reaction if the situation was reversed and he discovered the identity of the man who had got his young and beautiful sister pregnant.
‘Not yet.’
‘I’m assuming there will be no place to run,’ he observed sardonically.
She flicked him a glance, resenting the fact he could look amused when she was genuinely worried about what her brother would do. Wade in all guns blazing probably.
‘That settles it,’ Alex said. ‘I’ll have to marry you.’
She struggled to match his flippancy. ‘You really know how to sell the idea. Of course I’ll marry you. Name the day.’
‘Tomorrow, unless you want a big wedding?’
The joke was beginning to grow tired. ‘Very funny.’
‘Why would you think I’m joking?’
She turned to him with an astonished stare. ‘Because if you weren’t that would make you insane.’
‘It is insane to think a child is better brought up within the confines of a marriage?’
‘We’re not talking about Jasmine.’
‘Yes, we are, Jasmine and us. You won’t be my lover, so be my wife.’
Feeling the panic begin to build, she pressed a hand to her tight chest. ‘There is no us.’
A spasm of impatience moved across his lean face. ‘Don’t be ridiculous. I’m the father of your child and I’m the only man you’ve ever slept with. That adds up to a big fat us.’
‘It doesn’t add up to marriage.’
‘I’m not talking a paper marriage, if that is what is bothering you. Not a sterile, convenient—’ He saw her flinch and stopped. ‘What have I said?’
Pale as paper, she shook her head. ‘Too much.’
He shrugged and forced himself to stifle his impatience. He had given her enough to think about, planted the idea, now it would grow.
He allowed himself one final parting shot.
‘You don’t want Jasmine to be an only child, do you?’
She was glad he couldn’t see her face, or the tears that began to slide down her cheeks. She was grateful to him; she needed that. For a moment there she had started to let herself think that the crazy things he said were possible.
CHAPTER TEN
THE MOMENT ALEX walked into the hotel foyer, a trail of assistants behind him, he realised that something was wrong—it did not take a genius to work this out.
&
nbsp; The area was crowded, some people talking, others gawking, and in the middle of them was Angel, white faced, wild eyed and she was shouting.
‘What is wrong with you people? I don’t want to sit down. I don’t want to fill in a form. I’ve told you I can’t find my daughter. My little girl, she was there and now she isn’t. I need help, not tea!’
The shrill words stopped Alex in his tracks. He felt a cold hand close around his heart, then a moment later he was surging forward and the crowd was parting.
‘Angel.’
She spun around; her expression when she saw him would stay with him for ever. ‘Thank God, Alex, it’s Jas, she’s—’
He laid his hands on her shoulders and held her eyes with his. ‘I heard. Just tell me what happened.’
Angel expelled a deep shuddering sigh and focused on his eyes, trying to block out the rest of the room and the white noise of panic in her head. ‘We were walking back after lunch.’ She gave another deep sigh and shook her head.
‘Look at me, Angel.’
She responded to the firm voice, taking comfort from the calm in it. ‘She’d spent the morning at the shoot with me watching. We had lunch, yes, I already said that, and...I really should get back outside.’
‘In a moment.’
‘I saw Nico, he asked me about... I don’t remember. I only turned away for a moment, really only a moment, and when I turned around she was gone, vanished!’
‘And when was this?’
‘A couple of... I don’t know, just now.’ She clutched her head and struggled to think straight, fighting her way through the panic.
‘Fine. Show me where you last saw her.’
The next few minutes were a blur for Angel, who retraced her steps and repeated the sequence of events for what seemed like the thousandth time, then sat and watched, feeling helpless and more scared than she had imagined possible, while Alex divided up the volunteers into teams and gave them areas to cover.
‘She can’t have gone far, and ten teams can cover a lot of ground. We will find her.’
She caught his arm. ‘I want to go too.’
‘No, I need you and Nico to stay here in case she makes her own way back, and everyone has Nico’s number.’ Nico held up his phone. ‘He’s the contact so you’ll be the first to know.’
‘You’re afraid you’ll find something bad—that’s why you don’t want me to go!’ she accused shrilly.
Alex took her by the shoulders. ‘You can’t think that way, Angel, and you’re not going to fall apart. You’re strong. Look at me, Angel.’ Her wild restive gaze settled on his face. ‘We are going to find her.’
She swallowed and took a deep shuddering breath. ‘I’m not strong, Alex.’
He gave the most tender smile she had ever seen and touched her face. ‘You are as tough as old boots.’
Then he was gone.
Nico’s phone rang exactly ten minutes later, the longest ten minutes of her life.
* * *
Still holding his daughter’s hand, Alex dropped into a squatting position beside her and pointed towards Angel, who was belting across the sand with Nico and several staff trailing in her wake. ‘There’s your mummy!’
As Angel reached them he released Jasmine’s hand and, rising to his feet, took a step back as Angel, panting, tears streaming down her face, dropped down on her knees and grabbed Jasmine, hugging so tightly the little girl protested and wriggled to escape.
‘Sorry...sorry...’ Angel pushed her back, one hand patting her own mouth to hold back the sobs that struggled to escape from her throat as her anxious green eyes scanned her daughter’s face. ‘You’re all right?’ She lifted her eyes to the tall figure who stood over them both. ‘She’s a-all right? Oh, God, my teeth won’t stop chattering.’
To witness the emotion she was leaking from every pore was making his throat ache. ‘She’s fine,’ Alex promised huskily. ‘She’s just had a little adventure, haven’t you, Jasmine? And none the worse for it, excepting a few scratches.’
‘I was very, very brave.’ She looked to Alex for confirmation of this proud boast and he tipped his head gravely.
‘Just like your mother.’
Angel, shaking with the force of her relief, impelled to touch Jasmine every other second just to prove she was real, was not feeling brave. She was still fighting the nightmarish images in her head. As her distress began to communicate itself to the little girl the proud smile vanished and her lip began to tremble. ‘Mummy...?’
‘Don’t do that again...ever...promise me.!’
Jasmine’s face crumbled. ‘You weren’t there!’ she wailed.
The words pierced Angel’s heart. ‘Don’t cry, darling....’ Angel sniffed, hugging her daughter’s rigid body. ‘It’s all right now.’ She stroked her daughter’s head and Jasmine’s arms went round her neck. Carrying her, Angel rose awkwardly to her feet and over the top of Jasmine’s head she smiled at Alex and mouthed ‘thank you’.
Cool focus and the ability to empty his mind of everything but what he needed to do had got Alex through this, had kept his darkest imaginings at bay. All it took was the gratitude in her shining eyes and those self-imposed barriers crumbled. He tipped his head, his own smile giving not a hint of the rush of powerful emotions locked tight in his chest, the primal need to protect the two women in his life from all the dangers that lurked out there.
He moved to stand protectively beside them and kissed the top of the curly head pressed to Angel’s shoulder and said quietly, ‘Will you be all right?’
Angel felt her face drop. ‘You’re not coming with us?’ Hearing the wobble in her voice, she pinned on a weak smile in an effort to retrieve the situation, and she struggled to display some of the self-reliance she prided herself on.
All in all it was a pathetic effort.
His fingers tightened on the bones of her shoulder; his hand felt heavy, reassuring. Angel closed her eyes, sucked in a deep breath, before throwing her head back to meet his eyes.
‘I’ll be fine,’ she pronounced, thinking, Don’t get used to leaning on him, Angel. He won’t always be there.
‘I won’t be long. I just want to make sure that this section of beach is fenced off by the morning. We don’t want this happening again.’ He sketched a bleak but determined smile and beckoned his nephew over. ‘Nico will see you back to the bungalow and wait until I get back.’
Nico nodded. ‘Of course.’
Jasmine raised her head. ‘I want my kitten back.’
Angel arched a questioning brow and angled a glance up at Alex. ‘Your kitten, darling?’
‘She saw a stray cat and it looks like she followed it through the hole in the fence, crawled through after it. The cat led her back to her litter of feral kittens and Jasmine decided she wanted to take one home.’ He skimmed over the struggle he had had to convince her that this was not a good idea. His daughter had, it seemed, inherited her mother’s stubborn disposition as well as an underdeveloped sense of danger.
Life for a man in a household with two such females was not to be envied, but it was what Alex had discovered he wanted for himself, what he would do anything to achieve.
‘Hence the scratches.’
‘Scratches?’
He took one small grubby hand, turned it over, and Angel saw the scratches on the chubby wrist and arm. They looked red and angry. ‘Hold on...’ He pulled his mobile phone out and glanced at the message on the screen. ‘Mark Lomas.’
Recognising the name of a man whom she had exchanged the odd good morning with during the week, Angel felt a stab of resentment that Alex should consider taking a message from a guest a priority at such a moment.
He gave a nod of satisfaction as he slid the phone back into his breast pocket. ‘Mark should be there by the time you get to the bungalow.’
‘Why?’
He felt a stab of anxiety as he studied her face more closely. Angel remained dramatically pale, her skin the colour of wax, her eyes dark emerald bruises nestled among the pallor.
He wanted to urge her to sit down before she fell down and give him Jasmine, but he knew it would be a futile exercise. Angel was holding on to her daughter as if she would never let go and would definitely resist any efforts he made to lighten her burden.
His jaw tightened—a burden she had been carrying alone for too long because of him.
‘I thought you might have spoken the other night. He’s in the next bungalow to you. A doctor...?’
‘I might have.’
‘He’s coordinating the medical backup on the charity race,’ he explained, referring to the charity Ironman event that was currently causing a buzz in the hotel.
‘I sent a text when I found Jasmine and explained the situation. I thought he could take a look at her, clean up those scratches and do what is necessary. He asked if her tetanus is up to date. I didn’t know.’ His jaw clenched as he looked away. He would know...next time. Not that he wanted there to be a next time, but there would be other times...other crises, and he would have the knowledge a father should.
‘She’s covered.’ She kissed her daughter’s tear-stained cheek and realised that she herself probably didn’t look any better.
‘Shall I take her?’ Nico offered.
Angel shook her head and held on to her baby. Life would be so much simpler if she could never let go, could keep her safe from the big bad world for ever. She heard people say that the hardest part of parenting was letting go, but it wasn’t until now that she knew what that really meant.
With Nico by her side she walked away from Alex, thinking that it felt wrong to be doing so. What was so important that he couldn’t come with them? She wanted to tell him he should be with them but didn’t—he ought to know.
* * *
They reached the bungalow two minutes ahead of the doctor, who arrived apologising for his tardiness, wearing shorts and little else but a reassuring air of calm competence.
As Alex had predicted he cleaned the scratches, applied some antiseptic and managed to distract Jasmine while he gave her a shot of broad-spectrum antibiotic. He advised Angel to keep an eye on the scratches as cats’ scratches, he explained, were more prone to infection than dogs’, and told her to contact him if she had any concerns at all.
