Читать книгу Mistletoe Magic - Кэрол Мортимер, Кэрол Мортимер - Страница 20

‘YOU never did answer my question earlier.’

Molly tensed at the sound of Gideon’s voice, turning slowly to find that he had joined her where she sat on the hearthrug in the sitting-room, playing with baby Peter’s toes while the other adults all sat in chairs—or lay on the sofa in Crys and Sam’s case—dozing after the filling lunch they had all eaten. Until this moment she had thought Gideon asleep in a chair, too.

‘You like babies, don’t you?’ Gideon murmured huskily before she had a chance to answer his initial statement, gently touching Peter’s hand as he sat on the rug beside them.

She frowned, keeping her voice low so that they shouldn’t disturb the others with their conversation. ‘Doesn’t everyone?’

He shrugged. ‘I haven’t always found that to be the case, no,’ he answered ruefully. ‘For instance, my own mother wasn’t particularly maternal.’ He grimaced.

Molly’s eyes widened. ‘But she had you and James.’

He nodded. ‘I was the necessary “heir”. James’s arrival, ten years later, as the “spare”, was an accident she never let anyone forget. Including James himself,’ he added grimly. ‘She walked out on all of us, taking most of my father’s money with her, I might add—when James was only four. I was fourteen.’

Molly blinked, surprised by this confidence coming from a man she knew to be completely sufficient unto himself. But maybe this was an insight into the reason he was like that…?

Gideon gave a humourless smile as he glanced up and saw the expression on her face. ‘Not exactly what you expected, was it?’

What had she expected? From his obvious wealth and self-confidence now, yes, she had assumed that Gideon had always led a charmed life—as had James seemed to. But these revelations seemed to point towards a completely different sort of childhood from the one she had imagined for them.

But why should Gideon assume she had expected anything? That she had even given his past life a second thought…?

‘My father did the best he could, of course. He sent me to university, engaged nannies and then found a boarding-school for James,’ Gideon continued softly. ‘But unfortunately he died from a heart attack when I was twenty and James only ten.’

Not the background she had imagined at all for this often seemingly arrogant man!

She frowned slightly. ‘Why are you telling me these things, Gideon?’ she asked slowly, voicing her puzzlement.

He gave a husky laugh. ‘Truthfully? I have no idea!’ he admitted self-derisively. ‘Perhaps it was watching your gentleness with Peter just now. Or to explain why a family Christmas like this is special to me.’ He gave a rueful shake of his head. ‘Or, more probably, I just drank too much wine with lunch!’

Molly stared at him for several seconds—at the way his hair fell endearingly over his forehead, the softness in his eyes; even his mouth was not set in that forbidding line as he gazed down at Peter.

‘Which question were you referring to a few minutes ago?’ she prompted huskily.

Gideon glanced up at her. ‘About my being the one to leave here. Because if you want me to go—’

‘I don’t,’ she hastily assured him; it would be cruelly insensitive of her to even suggest he leave this place where he obviously felt so much at home, when he had no other family to go to.

That could have been the reason he had told her those things about his childhood, of course—although somehow she very much doubted that Gideon was a man who would ever play upon another person’s feelings in that way; he was simply too emotionally aloof to ever welcome an emotion in others that might be interpreted as pity.

He seemed to guess some of her thoughts, his mouth twisting scornfully. ‘Don’t feel sorry for me, Molly,’ he rasped harshly. ‘I can assure you I’m actually doing very nicely, thank you!’

Yes, he was. He was obviously financially secure, and had a career that made him much in demand. It was only in the area of having a family of his own that Gideon seemed lacking, but Molly felt sure that had to be from personal preference; she didn’t doubt for a moment that there were dozens of women who were attracted to his blond, arrogant good looks, who would willingly have married him and shared their life with him.

Herself, to name but one…

She straightened, knowing she must never let him guess that. ‘And I can assure you I don’t feel in the least sorry for you, Gideon,’ she told him briskly, keeping her face averted as she bent down to pick Peter up, at once feeling more relaxed as she held his scented softness against her. ‘He’s adorable, isn’t he?’ she murmured indulgently as the baby nuzzled into her neck and promptly fell asleep.

Gideon gave a brief smile. ‘He’s certainly found a comfortable place to sleep!’

Molly gave him a searching glance, frowning slightly. Had there been a slight edge of wistfulness in Gideon’s tone, or had she just imagined it?

You just imagined it, she told herself firmly, knowing from the way he had virtually ignored her during lunch that there was absolutely no reason why Gideon should ever want to fall asleep on her shoulder.

If it was her shoulder he had been referring to…

Her gaze narrowed on him questioningly, and was instantly answered by Gideon’s mocking grin.

No, it wasn’t her shoulder he’d been referring to.

‘Let me take him from you and put him in his cradle,’ Gideon offered, reaching out to take the baby, his fingers brushing lightly against Molly’s breast as he did so.

Molly’s skin seemed to burn where those fingers had lightly touched.

Had that touch been accidental or deliberate? she wondered as she watched Gideon cross the room and carefully place the baby in the cradle before covering him with a blanket. She still had found no answer to that question when Gideon returned to stand beside her.

‘Shall we leave them to sleep and take Merlin for a walk?’ he suggested huskily, even as he held out a hand as an offer to help pull her to her feet.

Molly looked at that long, artistic hand, clearly remembering its touch upon her skin, its caresses seeking, finding her complete response. It would be dangerous to her own peace of mind to go outside alone with him. But not to go would be just as unacceptable to her heart!

‘That sounds like a good idea,’ she agreed abruptly, ignoring his hand to get agilely to her feet unaided.

Gideon gave a rueful smile in acknowledgement of her obvious rejection, his arm falling back to his side. He thrust his hand into his denims pocket. ‘Wrap up warm,’ he advised briskly as they walked down the hallway to the kitchen. ‘There’s more snow forecast for later this afternoon.’

Molly felt slightly self-conscious as she wrapped the deep pink cashmere scarf he had given her for Christmas around the bottom half of her face and neck before pulling on her thick sheepskin jacket. It was such a beautiful scarf, and so soft to the touch, that it would be churlish not to wear it just because Gideon had given it to her.

‘Here—let me,’ he offered as the scarf became slightly dislodged by her coat collar. His fingers were warm against her cheeks as he deftly pulled the scarf back into place. ‘It really does look wonderful against the rich auburn of your hair,’ he stepped back to remark admiringly. ‘But, then, I knew that it would.’ He nodded his satisfaction.

Molly looked up at him from beneath her lashes, slightly breathless at the compliment. ‘Thank you,’ she accepted self-consciously.

Gideon chuckled at her obvious wariness. ‘You’re welcome. Come on—let’s go.’ He threw open the door, a blast of icy cold air instantly hitting them.

It really was cold outside, and Molly was grateful to be able to burrow down in her scarf, her hands thrust into the deep pockets of her coat. The scarf about her lower face also served to hide the blush to her cheeks caused by Gideon’s unexpected compliment.

‘You didn’t think I would remember you, did you?’ Gideon remarked quietly after they had walked in silence for several minutes. Merlin was happily running on ahead, obviously fascinated by the cold white stuff that covered the ground.

Molly gave Gideon a sharp glance. ‘Sorry?’

‘From James and Crys’s apartment over three years ago,’ he answered evenly.

So they were back to that, were they? So much for hoping they might be learning a new tolerance between them.

She turned away, hunched down in her jacket. ‘I don’t recall ever giving it a second thought,’ she answered dismissively.

She didn’t remember giving it a second thought because she had followed that by dozens of others once she’d known Gideon was to be at Peter’s christening.

She gave an impatient sigh. ‘Gideon, did you invite me to share this walk with you just so that you could pick another argument with me?’

His face lit up in a smile, eyes laughingly blue. ‘Strangely enough, no!’

Molly gave an irritated shake of her head. ‘Then you have a very funny way of showing it!’

‘Funny, strange—not funny, ha-ha?’ he drawled derisively.

‘Oh, definitely funny, strange!’ she answered impatiently, stopping abruptly as they reached the gate that would take them out into the country lane. ‘Gideon, how many times do I have to tell you that I did not—however briefly—ever have an affair with James?’

He met her gaze unblinkingly, his expression unreadable. ‘I don’t believe you ever have told me that…’

Molly’s frown deepened. ‘But—of course I have!’ she dismissed before walking on, stiff with indignation, only to find herself swung back to face Gideon as he took a firm hold of her arm. ‘Let me go, Gideon,’ she instructed coldly.

To her surprise he instantly did exactly that, holding up his hands before stepping away from her. ‘No, you never did, Molly,’ he assured her softly.

She blinked, thinking back over the conversations they had had together over the last four days—most of them unpleasant. And that unpleasantness had merged into one long battle of wills between the two of them. When they hadn’t been in each other’s arms, of course.

No, she couldn’t remember specifically telling him that she hadn’t had an affair with James. But even so…

‘Well, I did not have an affair with your brother! Or, more to the point, Crys’s husband,’ she added, indignation starting to rise in her voice. ‘Crys is my best friend,’ she added firmly. ‘She always has been. Always will be. And I would never, ever do anything that might hurt her. I think having an affair with her husband might just have done that, don’t you?’ she scorned.

‘Undoubtedly,’ Gideon acknowledged quietly.

‘Well, she won’t be hurt, because I didn’t.’ Molly was warming to her subject now, wanting to get all of this off her chest while she had the chance to do so. ‘Yes, I was at Crys and James’s apartment that night when Crys was away, but not because I was having an affair with James. And if you knew anything about me at all—’

‘I believe you.’

‘—you would believe me when I tell you that’s—’

‘I believe you.’

‘—the truth… I beg your pardon?’ She looked at Gideon warily as his words finally penetrated her indignation.

Gideon drew in a deep breath, looking down at her intently. ‘I said, I believe you, Molly,’ he repeated softly.

She blinked, wondering if this wasn’t another ploy on his part, if he wouldn’t later somehow twist her words to suit his less-than-flattering opinion of her.

‘Oh,’ she said noncommittally.

Gideon gave a heavy sigh. ‘Now it’s you who doesn’t believe me.’

‘Can you blame me?’ Her eyes flashed darkly. ‘You’ve done nothing but accuse me of one indiscretion or another since we met again on Sunday. To accept that you now believe my version of what happened over three years ago is a little hard to take.’

He grimaced. ‘I’m sure it must be,’ he acknowledged. ‘Although, if you think back carefully over the early part of this conversation, you might recall that you didn’t actually give me your version of what happened. I told you—I believe you, anyway,’ he pointed out huskily.

Molly, after days of this man’s taunts and put-downs, was beginning to feel slightly as if her legs were being taken out from under her. Where was Gideon’s antagonism now? Why was he being so nice to her?

‘Would it help if I were to apologise for all the less-than-flattering remarks I’ve made to you over the last few days?’ Gideon asked grimly.

‘It might,’ she allowed warily.

It was a wariness Gideon seemed all too aware of, and he sighed heavily. ‘Molly, I think the two of us need to talk, and I’m not sure here is the best place.’

‘Everything all right here, sir?’

Molly turned sharply at the sound of that voice, her eyes widening as she saw a policeman standing on the other side of the gate. She had been so taken up with this unexpected exchange with Gideon that she hadn’t even noticed the police car parked beside the road, let alone this man’s approach.

Gideon gave the policeman a reassuring smile. ‘Everything is fine, officer.’ He nodded. ‘Miss Barton and I are just taking the dog for an after-lunch stroll.’

The other man nodded, eyeing the watchful Merlin with a certain amount of caution. ‘You’ll be two of the guests staying at Falcon House, sir, with Mr and Mrs Wyngard?’

‘Yes, we are.’ Gideon moved slightly in order to take a proprietorial hold of Molly’s arm. ‘Is there any news?’

The policeman nodded. ‘I’m just on my way to see Mr Wyngard now.’

‘With good news, I hope?’ Gideon prompted guardedly, his fingers tightening slightly on Molly’s arm.

The policeman looked grim. ‘Depends on how you look at it, sir,’ the policeman answered noncommittally. ‘Well, I’ll just pop along and see Mr Wyngard now, and leave the two of you to continue your walk,’ he added briskly. ‘Nice day for it,’ he added, before strolling off to get into the squad car, giving them a wave as he drove off towards Falcon House.

Molly frowned as she watched him drive away, totally lost as to what the conversation between the two men had been about. She had no idea what news, good or bad, the policeman could possibly have to give to Sam.

But obviously, from their brief conversation, Gideon knew.