Читать книгу Will He Ask Her to be His Bride?: The Millionaire's Convenient Bride / The Millionaire's Proposal / Texas Ranger Takes a Bride - CATHERINE GEORGE, Catherine George - Страница 12

CONNAH crossed the lawn to take Hester’s suitcase. ‘Sam is playing chess with Lowri,’ he informed her, smiling. ‘So, because I’m spiriting you out of the country, I came to renew my acquaintance with your mother and introduce myself to your stepfather at the same time.’

‘Come and sit down, Hester,’ said Moira. ‘Connah’s having a drink before driving you back.’

‘Tonic only,’ he assured her.

Hester sat down and let Robert refill her glass, knocked off her stride for the third time that day. ‘This is a surprise,’ she remarked.

‘I came to assure your parents that I’ll take good care of you in Italy,’ he said smoothly.

‘And we’re very pleased you did.’ Moira smiled warmly at Connah. ‘I’m so glad to see you again. I thought about you such a lot after your stay with us.’

‘I’ve never forgotten how kind you were,’ he said sombrely, then changed the subject and turned to Robert. ‘Is this garden all your work, sir?’

‘No, indeed. My lady wife works as hard as I do.’

‘And I’ve got the hands to prove it,’ said Moira, holding them up. ‘You have a delightful daughter, by the way, Mr—I mean Connah.’ She smiled wryly. ‘I confess I still tend to think of you as our mysterious Mr Jones.’

He grinned and glanced at Hester. ‘You, too?’

‘At first, but I grew out of it,’ she lied, flushing. ‘By the way, Mother, Lowri would like to visit you and Robert again when we come back, to tell you about her travels.’

‘We’ll look forward to that,’ said Robert, and patted his wife’s hand. ‘Just give Moira a couple of hours’ notice to make cakes.’

‘My daughter never stops talking about the wonderful time she had here,’ said Connah. ‘She keeps telling me she’s set her heart on a flat of her own like Hester’s one day.’

‘I know,’ said Moira, laughing. ‘She wanted you to come and see it. So now you’re here you may as well. Robert’s rather proud of it because he did the decorating himself.’

‘In that case I can hardly leave without taking a look,’ said Connah promptly. ‘With your permission, of course, Hester.’

‘Come this way,’ she said, resigned, and led the way across the garden and up the steps. ‘As I told you, there’s not much to see.’

Connah followed her into the long, uncluttered space, filling it, just as she’d feared, with his dominant male presence. ‘I can see why you feel at home in your room in Albany Square,’ he commented after a while. ‘This is remarkably similar.’

‘I’m very lucky to have it,’ Hester assured him, annoyed because she sounded breathless. ‘I chose the paint and the furniture while I was here for a weekend, and next time I came home, here it was, beautifully decorated by Robert and ready for occupation. Mother put up a couple of watercolours from my old room at home, and insisted on buying a few cushions to make this one look less spartan, but otherwise it’s all my own taste.’

‘I can see why Lowri likes it so much.’ Connah smiled wryly. ‘On the other hand, if you’d gone for carpet and wallpaper awash with cabbage roses she’d probably feel the same, just because it’s yours, Hester. She thinks the world of you.’

‘And I of her.’ Which was worrying, because in a few weeks’ time they’d have to part.

‘You can always come back and visit her in the future,’ he said softly, reading her mind, and held her eyes. ‘Your welcome would be warm, I promise.’

Hester controlled the urge to back away. ‘Thank you. But now I’d better get back to put Lowri to bed.’

The drive home was achieved in silence which neither broke until Connah turned into the private road behind the house in Albany Square.

‘You thought I was intruding tonight, Hester?’ he asked abruptly.

‘Of course not. Mother was delighted to meet you again.’

‘I had the feeling you were not.’

‘I was surprised,’ she said sedately, as the car glided into place beside Sam’s in the garage. ‘I was expecting Sam.’

‘Would you have preferred that?’ he questioned hastily.

Hester eyed him in surprise as she got out of the car. ‘Not particularly.’ Her eyes narrowed. ‘You disapprove of fraternisation among the hired help?’

Connah threw back his head and laughed. ‘So there is some fire inside that cool shell. Come off it, Hester. You don’t look on yourself and Sam as hired help any more than I do. To me, Sam is both friend and employee, while you—’ he paused, thinking it over ‘—I’m not sure how to categorise you, exactly. I find it difficult to think of you as either nanny or housekeeper.’

She eyed him in alarm. ‘You mean my work isn’t satisfactory?’

‘God, no, quite the reverse.’ Connah leaned on the roof of his car, eyeing her across it. ‘You take good care of my child, you cook well and you’re not only easy to look at, I’m very comfortable in your company. The hard part is thinking of you as an employee.’

‘Nevertheless, I am,’ she said matter-of-factly, ‘and right now I must do what you pay me for and put your daughter to bed.’ She turned as he followed her up the stairs to Sam’s level. ‘Once she’s settled for the night, I need to talk to you.’

‘Why do I get worried when you say that, Hester?’ he said, sighing. ‘All right. Do what you have to do, then come down and have a drink. And this time don’t say no. Serious discussion goes better over a glass of wine.’

Lowri’s reception was so warm that Connah laughed as he reminded the child she’d been parted from Hester for only hours, not weeks.

‘It seemed like a long time. And I would have so liked to go with Hester to see her mother and Robert,’ said Lowri, sighing heavily.

‘They sent their love, and said they look forward to seeing you when you get back. And while you’re at the villa perhaps you’d like to send them postcards of the local scenery to show where you are,’ said Hester, and smiled at Connah. ‘Thank you for the lift.’

‘My pleasure. Goodnight, sleep tight, Lowri.’

‘Goodnight, Daddy.’ Lowri gave him a careless wave and slipped her hand into Hester’s. ‘Will you watch some television with me for a while? It’s early yet.’

‘It’s not early, young lady,’ said her father, ‘but Hester can stay with you for half an hour after she takes you up. But then you must get to sleep or you’ll be too tired to travel tomorrow.’

Lowri brightened and jumped to her feet, full of questions about Hester’s parents as they made for the door.

‘Half an hour,’ called Connah. ‘Then I need Hester myself.’

His choice of words had an unsettling effect that Hester couldn’t get rid of as she sat on her usual chair by Lowri’s bed to show her the wedding photographs she’d brought. Of course Connah hadn’t meant the words literally. But it would be good to be needed by someone like him as a woman, instead of as someone suitable to look after his daughter. Not just good—wonderful. And as much a fantasy as any of the dreams she’d woven about him when she was seventeen. Hester shook herself out of her reverie when she saw Lowri had fallen asleep.

She went downstairs to knock on the study door and found Connah reading the Financial Times, a half empty glass on the table in front of him. He got up with a smile and went to the drinks tray.

‘What will you have, Hester?’

‘Tonic water, please. Lowri fell asleep quite quickly, by the way.’

‘No prizes for guessing why. Once you were there to settle her down, she was fine.’ Connah poured the drink, added ice and slices of lime and handed it to her, his eyes sombre. ‘She’s going to take it hard when you leave us.’

‘She’ll soon adjust when she’s back in school. She likes it there, she told me.’

‘Yes, thank God. Now sit down and tell me why you need to speak to me.’

Hester described the incident outside the pharmacy. ‘It was the same man who asked directions the other night.’

‘Was it, by God?’ Connah’s face set in grim lines. ‘What did you do?’

‘I refused his help politely and stood my ground until he moved off. I would have liked Sam to get a look at him, but I couldn’t risk letting him anywhere near Lowri.’

‘Maybe it was quite innocent and the man was just trying to pick you up,’ said Connah and smiled, his eyes gleaming. ‘Who could blame him?’

She flushed. ‘Possibly. But he looked familiar, which worried me. Though I’m sure I’d never seen him before the other night, unless he is the man in the park. I didn’t get a good enough look that day to be able to tell.’

‘But if you met this one again, you’d recognise him?’

‘Definitely. I was so pointed about not moving until he did, I had time for a good look at his face, also of his back view as he walked away. He was wearing casual clothes, but they were the expensive, designer kind, like his shoes. And he wore a Rolex watch,’ added Hester.

Connah gazed at her with respect. ‘You’re very observant.’

‘In this case only because I thought it was necessary. I doubt I’d have noticed any of that in ordinary circumstances.’ She gave him a worried look. ‘I’m really glad we’re going away tomorrow. Whoever this man is, we’ll be out of his reach.’

‘Which was part of my reason for organising the holiday.’ Connah finished his drink, then sat back. ‘Right then, Hester, with that thought in mind, I want you to forget about the man and relax while we’re away. The house is a mile or so from the village, so there aren’t many people around to bother us. It has a private pool, a maid to do the housework and shopping, so you have nothing to do except keep Lowri entertained. No small task, as I know to my cost, even though you make it look easy.’

‘In my last post I looked after three-year-old twins,’ she reminded him. ‘After my stint with Seb and Viola, sweet children though they are, taking care of Lowri is a breeze.’

‘A theatrical household must have been interesting,’ he commented, leaning back.

‘It was.’

‘Did you meet many famous thespians?’

‘One or two, yes. But Leo and Julia, the twins’ parents, were on stage in different theatres during the last few months I was there, so I spent most of my time with only the twins for company.’

‘Quite a responsibility.’

‘True,’ agreed Hester, ‘but it’s what I was trained for. I was in at the deep end right from the start of my first job. I had to complete nine months of satisfactory work with the children of the first family who engaged me before I could actually qualify as a Norland-trained nanny.’

‘Which you did, of course, though I can’t remember your CV in detail. Were you with the first people long?’

‘Three years, until the family went to Australia. Beforehand they had recommended me to their friend, Julia Herrick, and I went straight to Julia a month before she gave birth to the twins.’

‘And when you leave us you’re going off to Yorkshire,’ said Connah, his eyes sombre. ‘I’m already dreading the day you part with Lowri.’

So was Hester. ‘As I said before, it’s the part of my job I don’t enjoy.’ She finished her drink and stood up. ‘But now I’d better finish packing.’

Lowri was fast asleep, with her head on Hester’s shoulder, missing the incredible views as Connah drove along the final stage of their journey on the Chiantigiana, the famous road that meandered through the hills and vineyards of Tuscany. The air-conditioning in the car was fighting a losing battle with the heat of the day and Hester felt hot and weary by the time they were in sight of the sleepy little village they were heading for. To her disappointment, Connah turned off without entering it and took a narrow, stony road that curved up through umbrella pines and ranks of tall cypresses towards high pink walls at the top of a hill.

‘Is that Casa Girasole?’

‘It certainly is.’

Connah nosed the car through high wrought iron gates and drew up in the courtyard of a pink-washed house with Juliet balconies at the upper windows. Hester gazed in delight, drinking in heat and sun and flowers growing in profusion in rich hot earth. Tiny pink roses twined in the greenery, curling round the pillars of the loggia, and three descending tiers of flower beds held drifts of white jasmine among scarlet and pink geraniums and the cheery faces of the sunflowers that gave the house its name.

He turned round in his seat to smile at Hester. ‘Well?’

‘It’s absolutely lovely,’ she said softly, and Lowri stirred and sat up, rubbing eyes which suddenly opened wide in delight.

‘Are we here? Is that the house? Gosh, it’s pretty! Why didn’t you wake me?’

‘You’re awake now,’ said her father, and got out to open the passenger door. ‘Out you get. Hester must be squashed and very hot. You started snoring on her shoulder as soon as we left Florence.’

‘I don’t snore!’ said Lowri indignantly, then her eyes lit up as she spotted a blue glint in the distance. ‘Wow! Is that the pool? Can we have a swim before supper?’

‘After you’ve unpacked, yes.’ Connah helped Hester out of the car. ‘First we find Flavia, otherwise we can’t get in.’

‘Signore!’ Right on cue, a plump young woman came hurrying round the corner of the house and let out a cry of delight as she saw Lowri. No translation was needed for her flow of liquid welcome as she expressed her pleasure to see them. Shooing them before her like a hen with chicks, she ushered them across the loggia into a living room with a shining terracotta tiled floor and furniture covered in sunny yellow chintz.

‘What’s she saying, Daddy?’ demanded Lowri, smiling helplessly in response to the lava-flow of conversation.

‘We must sit and have drinks, while Flavia takes our luggage upstairs, only I’m not going to let her do that,’ said Connah firmly and, with creditable fluency, told Flavia in her own tongue that refreshments would be welcome, but he himself would carry the bags up to the bedrooms.

‘I’ll carry my own,’ said Hester at once, but Connah waved her away.

‘For once, you will just sit there,’ he said with such firmness that Lowri laughed.

‘When Daddy talks like that you have to do as he says or he gets cross, Hester.’

‘And you wouldn’t want that, Hester, would you?’ mocked Connah.

Hester smiled, defeated, secretly only too glad to subside on the sofa in the blessedly cool room.

Connah relieved Flavia of a huge tray and brought it to a glass-topped table in front of Hester.

‘How do you say thank you, Daddy?’ asked Lowri, her eye caught by a plate of little cakes.

‘Grazie,’ said Connor, and went out to unpack the car.

‘Grazie, Flavia,’ said Lowri, and the woman beamed, patted the child’s hand and pointed to a teapot.

‘Tè,’ she said, then indicated the other pot and a tall jug clinking with ice. ‘Caffè, limonata.’ Then, with a determined look on her face, she left the room to follow Connah.

‘I think she’s going to help with the luggage,’ said Lowri, examining the rest of the tray. ‘Daddy won’t be cross with her.’

‘No,’ agreed Hester. ‘I’m sure he won’t.’

‘Why are there two jugs of milk?’

‘I expect one’s hot for the coffee and the other’s cold for tea.’ Hester grinned as she heard sounds of altercation outside. ‘Who do you think is winning?’

‘Daddy always wins,’ said Lowri positively, but for once she was wrong.

Connah came into the room later, looking unusually hot and bothered.

‘Flavia insisted on helping you?’ asked Hester, smiling.

He nodded ruefully. ‘When I tried arguing, she pretended she couldn’t understand me.’

‘Have some coffee, Daddy,’ consoled his daughter. ‘I left you some cakes.’

‘Thank you, cariad. What are you having, Hester?’

‘Tea. And very welcome it is,’ she said fervently, pouring coffee for him.

‘Once we’ve recovered, we’ll explore,’ said Connah. ‘Apparently Flavia normally leaves at five, but stayed later tonight to welcome us. She showed me the cold supper she left for us, and promises to cook whatever we want for lunch tomorrow.’

Lowri was thrilled with everything about the villa, from her airy bedroom next to Hester’s to the big, bright kitchen big enough for three of them to eat meals at the table at one end, and outside the arcaded loggia with table and chairs for the outdoor meals her father had promised. But best of all were the beautiful terraced gardens, which led down in tiers to the crowning glory, an oval pool surrounded by well-tended grass and comfortable garden furniture with shady umbrellas and a view of Tuscan hills that begged to be photographed.

Connah smiled indulgently as he watched Lowri running about in delight to explore everything.

‘Your friends have great taste,’ commented Hester, impressed.

‘And the money to indulge it. Jay Anderson was my partner until I sold him my share of the asset management firm we founded together. I still keep a stake in it, but these days I spend some of my time—and money—on restoration of properties like the house in Albany Square. I bought it with the intention of using it as my headquarters in the Midlands. But the house feels so much like home to me now that I’m not so sure I want to do that.’

‘You could still use it for meetings,’ suggested Hester. ‘The dining room certainly feels like a boardroom, with all those chairs and that long table. Meals could easily be served there if you have business lunches.’

Connah eyed her with respect. ‘You’re right. The room could be a lot more useful that way than for dinner parties.’

‘Can we have a swim?’ demanded Lowri, running towards them. ‘It’s still lovely and warm.’

‘What do you think, Hester?’ asked Connah.

‘Just for a few minutes, then. We’ll unpack the swimming things, but afterwards we must hang up the rest of our clothes before we have supper.’

Lowri was ready to agree to anything as long as she could go in the pool, but Connah declined her invitation to join them.

‘I,’ he said virtuously, ‘will go up to my aerie on the top floor and unpack, then have a shower. I shall join you later for supper.’

Hester was glad to hear it. Her swimsuit was the plain black one she’d worn to teach the twins to swim, and she’d long since lost the puppy fat of her first encounter with Connah. Nevertheless, she preferred to enjoy her first swim with just Lowri for company.

Lowri was out of her clothes and into her bathing suit at the speed of light and harried Hester to get ready quickly before it was too late.

‘The pool will still be there tomorrow,’ said Hester, laughing, as she collected towels.

The pool was set in natural stone and constructed with such skill that it looked as though it had always been there rather than man-made. The water was silken and warm on Hester’s skin as she sat on the edge to dip her feet in it, and she smiled indulgently as Lowri jumped in with a terrific splash at the other end and swam towards her like a small torpedo. She stood up, waist deep, when she reached Hester, pushing her wet hair back from her beaming face.

‘Isn’t this gorgeous?’ she gasped. ‘I just love it here. Come on in. I’ll race you to the other end.’

Lowri counted to three, then they set off for the far end, Hester careful not to overtake the child. They swam several lengths, then Hester called a halt as she saw Connah stroll up to watch them.

‘Did you see us, Daddy?’ said Lowri as she held up a hand. ‘I think Hester let me beat her.’

Connah pulled her out, then held out a hand to Hester. ‘You both looked far too energetic for me.’ He handed a towel to Hester, then enveloped his daughter in the other. ‘Hurry up and get showered and dressed, you two. I’m hungry.’

‘If you’ll give me half an hour, I’ll put supper on,’ said Hester breathlessly. So much for avoiding Connah in her swimsuit.

‘I’ll help,’ said Lowri, hurrying up the steps in front of them.

‘We’ll all help,’ said Connah firmly. ‘This is Hester’s holiday too.’

By the time Lowri and Hester were both dry and dressed and the cases had been unpacked it was rather more than half an hour, and Connah had pre-empted Hester by taking their supper out to the loggia himself.

‘It’s just cold turkey and spiced ham, and tomatoes and bread and cheese and so on tonight, as I asked,’ he said, looking pleased with himself. ‘Plus a pudding Flavia made for us.’

‘Thank you,’ said Hester, taken aback by this reversal of their usual roles.

‘My pleasure.’

As they sat down to their meal the sun began to set and Connah lit the shaded lamp on the table. He filled two glasses with sparkling white wine, and one with limonata, then raised his glass in a toast. ‘Happy holiday, ladies.’

‘You too, Daddy,’ said Lowri happily.

‘Yes, indeed,’ agreed Hester. ‘Thank you very much for inviting me.’

Lowri stared at her blankly. ‘We couldn’t have come without you!’

‘If we had, Hester,’ said Connah wryly, ‘I’d be a broken man by the time we got back if I had to cope with Lowri on my own for four weeks.’

‘I’m not that bad!’ protested his daughter. ‘Oh, look. The stars are coming out and there’s a little moon at the edge of the sky over there by the pool.’

‘All laid on specially for you,’ teased her father.

It was a magical evening, not least because Connah Carey Jones was a very different man on holiday. He treated Hester as though they were just two people enjoying the company of the child and each other, with no hint of employer and employee. The impression grew stronger when Connah insisted that he and Lowri would remove dishes and fetch the pudding while Hester just sat there and counted stars.

‘I will also make the coffee,’ he announced as he came back with a dish of pannacotta, the national favourite, for dessert.

‘There’s a caramel sauce underneath the creamy bit,’ Hester told the child. ‘Shall I spoon it over yours?’

‘Yes, please, said Lowri, licking her lips. ‘Are you having some, Daddy?’

He shook his head. ‘Not for me. I’ll stick with pecorino and another hunk of this wonderful bread.’

They lingered at the table while the sky grew dark and the stars grew brighter. The warm air was fragrant with flowers and new-cut grass and some other scent Connah told Hester came from a herb bed under the kitchen window.

‘Jay Anderson planted it for his wife, and Flavia is only too delighted to make use of it. The scent is a mixture of rosemary, thyme, sage—and basil, of course, and probably a few other things I’ve never heard of.’ Connah leaned back, relaxed. ‘I must tell Jay that if ever he feels like selling the place to think of me first.’

Lowri gazed at him, round-eyed. ‘Would you really buy it, Daddy?’

‘In the unlikely event that Jay and Stella would want to sell, yes. But they won’t part with it, cariad. And who could blame them?’

Jay Anderson had installed a large television and DVD player in the sitting room, but for once Lowri made no protest when Connah said it was late and she must go straight to bed so that Hester could come back downstairs and relax for a while in the warm night air.

‘You can read another chapter of that book you’re devouring,’ said Hester.

The child embraced her father with enthusiasm, but a yawn overtook her as she went inside with Hester. ‘I quite fancy going to bed in that dear little room next to yours,’ she admitted sleepily. ‘I was too excited to sleep much last night.’

Within minutes the face-washing and teeth-brushing routine was over and Lowri was tucked under the snow-white covers on the bed. ‘I’m too tired to read tonight,’ she said, yawning. ‘Will you kiss me goodnight, Hester?’

Touched, Hester bent to kiss the smooth, flushed cheek, brushed a hand over the silky dark hair, then said goodnight and went quietly from the room to go downstairs to Connah.

As always, his requirements had been clearly stated. Otherwise, since this was a different situation, in a different country, Hester would have been uncertain what to do once Lowri was in bed. She felt a frisson of pure pleasure at spending time alone with Connah in these circumstances, as she took a few minutes in her room to brush her hair and touch a lipstick to her mouth. Her thin cotton dress was an old one, but the gentian-blue shade deepened the colour of her eyes and the wide skirt was more holiday-friendly than the clothes she wore in Albany Square. The face that looked back at her from the mirror was flushed from the sun and the swim and the sheer pleasure of the evening. Four weeks, she told it firmly. After that it would nearly be time to leave Connah and Lowri and go on to pastures new in Yorkshire. Where she would miss Lowri badly when she was looking after a newborn baby. She would miss Lowri’s father even more. She took in a deep breath and smiled at her reflection. Instead of anticipating future pain, right now it was time to join Connah—and make the most of present pleasure.