by Karen King
‘So you can get your inheritance?’
‘And you can live in luxury,’ he reminded her.
It was what she’d wanted, planned for. But not anymore. She didn’t want to marry anyone but Jed. And that was impossible.
She let Randy down as gently as she could, telling him she wasn’t ready for a relationship and could never marry just for money. He sulked and pleaded, trying to cajole her address out of her so they could at least keep in touch but she was adamant.
‘If you change your mind, let me know,’ he said, holding tight.
He actually seemed quite upset and she felt bad for letting him believe she was interested in him.
Thankfully, her train arrived and Randy realised his hold. She picked up her case. ‘I’m sorry, but it’s been lovely knowing you,’ she said, giving him a quick on the cheek then hurrying to board the train.
Perhaps the Millionaire book is right, Amber thought ruefully. The trick to hooking a millionaire was to not chase after them. It had certainly worked with Randy.
As soon as she got home, Amber contacted a local estate agent and put her flat on the market. She spent the rest of the week tidying the flat, ready for prospective purchasers. Then, that weekend, she drove over to see her parents to tell them of her plans.
As she took the turning off the motorway to the leafy suburb where her parents lived, her mind kept drifting to Jed. What was he doing now? Was he missing her as much as she was missing him? Realising she’d almost missed the turning, she indicated right quickly, causing the car behind to brake hard. The driver tooted the horn loudly at her. Bother, she had to keep her mind on the road or she’d end up having an accident.
A couple more turnings and she was in the quiet lane which led to her parents’ detached Tudor house. She drove down the drive and pulled up outside the black and white beamed building. Getting out of the car, she stood there for a moment, looking around at the immaculate lawns and colourful flowerbeds, remembering the happy days of her childhood. It would be difficult living at home again after having her own flat for a few years and coming and going as she pleased. But she would adjust. Her parents loved this house and there was no way she was going to sit back and watch while it was taken from them.
The front door opened and her mother appeared on the doorstep. She smiled and waved at Amber.
‘Amber, this is a surprise. How lovely to see you!’
Amber locked the car then walked up the path to greet her mother. ‘How are you, Mum? How’s Dad?’ She kissed her on the cheek, thinking how pale and drawn her mother was. It had been a hard time for her, she knew that, and wished she could have given her more support. She should never have listened to Callie and gone to Coombe Bay. She should have thought of selling her flat before so her parents wouldn’t have had all this stress.
‘He’s much better. He’s even been able to do a bit of DIY. But don’t take my word for it, come and see for yourself.’
Amber followed her mother into the house and was surprised to see her father putting up a shelf on the wall.
‘Hello, love,’ He glanced over his shoulder at her. ‘Your mum’s been getting me to do all the odd jobs I’ve been promising to do for years. I can’t wait to get back to work and have a rest.’ He winked at her then turned his attention back to screwing in a wall bracket.
‘You look a lot better,’ Amber told him.
‘And getting fitter every day.’ Dad gave the screwdriver a final twist then reached for the other bracket.
‘That’s good.’ Amber smiled at him. ‘Just don’t do too much or you’ll be ill again.’
‘I’m fine. No need to worry about me,’ he assured her.
‘Let’s have a cup of tea,’ Mum said, unplugging the kettle and taking it over to the sink to fill up. ‘Then you can tell us your news, Amber.’
Amber sat down at the huge wooden table which had been in the kitchen for as long as she could remember. She remembered all the birthday parties she’d had around that table, all the family Christmas dinner with her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. This house held so many happy memories. She wasn’t going to let her parents lose it.
‘I’ve come to tell you that you don’t have to sell the house and your money worries will soon be over,’ she blurted out.
‘How’s that? Have you won the lottery?’ her father asked, screwing the shelf securely onto the brackets.
Her mother sat down in the chair opposite her. ‘I hope you haven’t done anything silly,’ she said.
You don’t want to know what I almost did, Mum.
She told them about her plan to sell her flat and move back home. ‘Now you can pay of your debts and you won’t have to sell up,’ she said.
Her parents stared at her, stunned.
‘I’m not having you doing that,’ her father said when he finally found his voice. ‘It’s kind of you, but no. I pay my own debts.’
She could see she’d hurt his pride.
‘Look, Dad, it was my fault you bought those shares and lost all your money so it’s up to me to pay you back.’
‘Your fault?’ Her father walked over to the table and thumped it with his fist. ‘It was nothing to do with you. It was my decision. I was the one who asked Rod about them and I was the one who decided to buy them. I know that shares can go down as well as up and decided to take the risk. It’s my fault and no one else’s and you are not selling your home to bail me out. Is that understood?’
‘Joe, Amber was only trying to help,’ Mum reminded him. She looked at Amber. ‘It’s kind of you, dear, but your dad is right, the last thing we want is for you to sell your home.’
‘Then what are you going to do?’ Amber asked. ‘You’ve already had the bailiffs here. I don’t want you to lose this house. You’ve lived here all your lives. I grew up here. So did you, Dad, and your family before you.’
‘Oh, Amber, I’m sorry. I should never have told you about the bailiffs and worried you so much. I was going to phone you again today and let you know that your father and I have sorted it out. We don’t have to sell the house. Let me finish making this cup of tea then we’ll tell you all about it.’
Amber smiled in spite of herself as her mother spooned some tea leaves into the pot and poured the boiling water on them. Her mother would insist on making a cup of tea if war was about to break out.
Her father sat down at the table, reached over, and placed his hand on hers. It was rough with short, bitten nails. Workman’s hands. Like Jed’s. No wonder she hadn’t realised he was a millionaire.
Would she never stop thinking about him?
‘Sorry, love,’ he said, gruffly. ‘I didn’t mean to fly off the handle like that but I don’t want you paying my debts. And it’s time you stopped blaming yourself for what Rod did. You picked a bad one when you went out with him but it happens. We all make mistakes.’
‘That’s what Jed said,’ she murmured. Here I go again.
‘Jed?’
‘Oh, just someone I met.’
‘Someone special judging by the look in your eyes,’ her mother said, placing a cup of tea in front of her and Dad’s big, blue mug in front of him.
Very special.
She shrugged. ‘Maybe.’ She took a sip of the tea. It was too milky, as usual but she tried not to grimace. ‘Thanks, Mum. Now tell me about your plan.’
‘You tell her, Joe.’ Her mother sat down in the chair opposite.
Amber listened as her father explained they were going to turn the top floor of the house into two flats. ‘A financial adviser friend talked to us about it. We can take out a second mortgage to cover the costs – the bank has already agreed – and the rent will cover our mortgage payments and leave us some to live on,’ he said. ‘The house is too big for me and your mother now. Those attic rooms are just lying empty. We might as well make use of them.’
‘We’ll only let them to professional people, of course,’ her mother added. ‘We’ve signed up with a rather exclusive agency and the
y have people on their books waiting to rent a flat in a place like ours.’
Amber had to admit it seemed the perfect solution.
She hadn’t needed her Millionaire Plan after all. Jed was right. Her parents would have been horrified if they’d known she was intending to marry for money just to help them out. How could she have been so stupid as to even consider it? All she’d succeeded in doing is making a fool of herself and losing the only man she had ever truly loved.
Chapter Ten
Rule number 10: Demand an expensive engagement ring and a big wedding. He can afford it and you deserve it.
‘Didn’t you meet Lord Guy Turner when you were in England?’ Chloe asked, looking up from the magazine she was reading as Jed walked into the room. ‘I’m sure you mentioned him to me.’
‘Yes, why?’ he replied. He briefly recalled mentioning going to the party on Lord Guy’s yacht when Chloe had pestered him to tell her all about his travels but was surprised that she’d remembered it.
‘There’s a big spread here about his son’s wedding. Honestly, the English and their aristocracy. This guy’s famous just because of the family he’s been born into, nothing to do with what he’s achieved. Mind you, his bride’s beautiful. She’s pregnant, apparently. Jed …’ She stared at him. ‘What’s wrong?’
So she’d married him.
For a moment he couldn’t speak. He felt winded, as if he’d been punched in the stomach. He’d spend the last few months trying, unsuccessfully, not to think of Amber, throwing himself into his work like a man demented. But she was always there, invading his thoughts, disturbing his peace of mind. A flash of honey brown hair in the street, a tinkling laugh, a glimpse of long, sun-tanned legs clad in denim shorts would all remind him of her. At night, she was there, waiting to visit him in his dreams, kissing him, promising her undying love and he’d wake up longing to see her and hold her once more. Then he’d remember how she’d betrayed him, had only been after him for his money and would harden his heart.
But he still loved her.
And the knowledge that she’d married Randy and was carrying his baby sent him reeling.
You knew she would, he reminded himself. Right from the beginning she’d been totally honest about it ‘I need to marry a millionaire,’ she’d said.
The trouble was, she’d neglected to tell him he was the millionaire she had in mind. Perhaps because she didn’t know who he was at first, but she lost no time in making a play for him when she found out his true identity. And he fell for it.
‘She’s the one, isn’t she? The one who broke your heart?’
‘What?’ Chloe’s words brought him back to the present. How had she guessed?
Chloe smiled softly. ‘You haven’t been yourself since you came back, Jed. One minute throwing yourself into your work like a man possessed and the next staring blankly out of the window for hours on end. It’s obvious you’re upset over a woman. Why did you let her go if you loved her so much?’
‘She only wanted to marry me for my money.’ He bit the words out. ‘Luckily I found out in time.’
Chloe raised an eyebrow. ‘So she married this Randy instead? Well, I guess you’re well rid. I must say, I’m surprised you fell for another Melissa. It’s not like you to get bitten twice.’
‘She didn’t seem like Melissa. She didn’t even look like her.’
Amber, with her honey brown hair, soft fudge brown eyes, petite curvy figure, looked so innocent and honest – the exact opposite of tall, willowy Melissa with her cool, blonde model girl looks and sophisticated manner. Only Amber hadn’t been as innocent and honest as he thought, had she?
‘She looks like her to me. Same long, blonde hair, same vacuous expression on her face and same fixed smile,’ Chloe said, studying the magazine thoughtfully.
Long, blonde hair?
Jed strode across the room, snatched the magazine out of her hands, and stared at the picture of Randy with his arms around a beautiful blonde woman in an expensive wedding dress. Tamara.
So Amber hadn’t married him.
‘That’s not her!’ The words were out before he could stop them.
‘So you were wrong about her, this woman who broke your heart?’ Chloe asked him, looking at him speculatively. ‘She wasn’t marrying you for your money?’
Had he been wrong? For a moment his heart soared then it came crashing back to earth again. What if she hadn’t married Randy? It didn’t change anything. She’d still only accepted his proposal because she’d found out he was rich, up until then it was Randy she’d set her sights on. And Randy she’d turned to when Jed had walked out on her. Obviously, something had gone wrong with her plan. Perhaps Randy had decided she wasn’t sophisticated enough for him.
He shook his head. ‘No, it was definitely my money she was after. She told me when I first met her that she wanted to hook a millionaire.’
Chloe looked surprised. ‘Well, that was honest of her. So you knew the score from the beginning?’
‘Yes, no … we …’ Jed found himself telling Chloe everything.
Chloe listened attentively. When he’d finished she was silent for a moment, as if digesting all the information. Then, she tilted her head to one side, tapping her chin with her finger. ‘I think you might have misjudged her, Jed,’ she said. ‘For a start, she might not have even read the magazine. Didn’t you say she shared the flat with her friend?’
‘It’s a bit of a coincidence isn’t it, when she’d admitted she was trying to hook a millionaire?’
‘Exactly. Why tell you that if she knew you were rich, if she was trying to “hook” you. And why be so honest with you about her plans? It doesn’t make sense. And why stuff the magazine down the sofa, knowing you would probably sit there? Why not keep it in her bedroom, out of sight?’ Chloe pointed out. ‘And if she did see it and she planned to marry you surely she’d have accepted your proposal right away. It seems to me that she fell in love with you in spite of herself. Just like you did to her.’
Jed thought back to the first time he’d met Amber. How unaffected she was, gazing around his yacht in awe, so nervous about doing or saying anything wrong. How she’d confided in him. He would have staked his life it wasn’t an act. Could Chloe be right? Had Amber really not known who he was?
‘Then why didn’t she come and find me and explain?’ he demanded. ‘Why did she leave with Randy?’
‘Perhaps he was giving her a lift to the station. And maybe she didn’t try to explain because she was hurt you didn’t trust her.’
‘I didn’t trust her?’ He almost exploded with outrage. ‘How did I get to be the villain in all this?’
Chloe folded her arms and titled her head to one side. ‘The way I see it, this Amber was honest with you. You’ve admitted she told you her plans right from the start and asked for your help. But you kept the truth from her. It must have been pretty devastating for her to discover you were loaded, especially when she’s so frankly told you she wanted to marry a millionaire. She probably thought you’d never believe her, never trust her again so what was the point of coming after you and trying to explain?’
He was silent, digesting this new train of thought.
‘And she must have been angry too. Thinking that you’d taken her for a fool.’ Chloe stood up and paced around the room, gesticulating as she talked. ‘Think about it. There she was babbling on about trying to marry a millionaire and asking for tips on mixing with the rich, thinking you were a nobody like her and all the while you were a billionaire but didn’t let on. She must have thought you were laughing at her, taking her for an idiot.’
Jed raked his hand through his hair. He didn’t like how Chloe was twisting this. ‘How could I tell her? I wanted her to love me for myself, not my money.’
‘I know that, Jed, but look at it from Amber’s point of view. She thought you were a friend, she confided in you. Then you both fell in love. You asked her to marry you and she agreed, forgetting her plans even though this Randy was de
sperate to marry her. Next thing she knows, you’ve done a runner, leaving her to learn from a magazine article that you’re not who you pretended to be.’
‘It wasn’t like that!’ he yelled.
‘From where she’s standing that’s probably exactly what it’s like,’ Chloe told him.
Jed stared at her. Could she be right?
‘Look, Jed, I’ve never seen you like this over a woman, not even Melissa. If this Amber means so much to you why are you so willing to let her go?’
He digested this in silence. Chloe’s words made him take a long hard look at himself and he had to admit she was right. He had lied to Amber, hadn’t trusted her with the truth. Why should he? He’d wanted her to marry him for love, not money. But perhaps that’s exactly what she had been doing. Perhaps he’d judged her wrong. He thought back to the island, remembered how close they’d been. How right it had felt when he held her in his arms, kissed her. He’d never felt like this about anyone. What if Chloe was right and Amber hadn’t known the truth about him? She would have been devastated.
He made a snap decision to go and see her, to find out for his own peace of mind. Not that he knew where she lived, but he knew where Callie’s aunt lived and from there he could trace Callie then Amber. If Amber wanted to see him, that was.
‘You’re right,’ he said. ‘Can you book me a flight to England as soon as possible? To land in Exeter airport?’ He could hire a car from there to drive to Coombe Bay.
Chloe smiled. ‘Good for you,’ she said. ‘And this time don’t let her get away.’
The sound of the phone ringing woke Amber from yet another dream of Jed. No matter how much she managed to block him out during the day, and it wasn’t easy even now a few months had passed since she last saw him, he always interrupted her dreams. She groaned, glanced at the clock, saw it was only 7.30 and pulled the duvet over her head. Whoever it was could leave a message and wait until a more reasonable time for a Saturday morning chat. She’d had a long, hard week and needed her sleep.
The phone automatically switched to answerphone but no message was left. Then it started ringing again a few minutes later. Amber sighed and reached out for the receiver. ‘Hello, Amber Wynter speaking and this had better be good,’ she mumbled sleepily.