‘Yes…yes,’ she said urgently to the English-speaking operator on the other end of the line. ‘You must connect me to Dr Martinez Bordiu immediately.’ She waited tensely for what seemed like for ever. ‘No, I don’t care how long it takes,’ she said firmly when the man finally came back on the line. ‘I must speak to him right away. It’s an emergency. Yes, thank you. I’ll wait.’ She sat back, toying impatiently with the stack of papers she had been reading. Suddenly something she hadn’t noticed before caught her eye. Slipped inside one of the glossy brochures there was a single sheet of crisp white paper. Written in a confident sweep of bold black ink across the top of the page was that day’s date and, underneath that, Xavier’s name—Xavier darling, to be precise. Sophie’s mind sucked in and analysed every word on the page in one single agonised glance.
Don’t forget our meeting this afternoon. I am lost without you, my darling.
To find his mother holding court in an elegant salon on the other side of the city amidst a coterie of admirers came as no surprise to Xavier. Señora Martinez Bordiu was imbued with a remarkable charm together with beauty and intellect that seemed only to have increased with age. Sometimes, Xavier mused, watching her from the doorway for a moment, he wondered if only he could see the deep wound that lay behind her remarkable eyes, the wound that even the passage of time could not erase.
Her laughter rang out musically above the animated chatter. Even the President was enraptured, Xavier noticed. A muscle flexed in his jaw. Enjoy it while you can, my darling mother, for I am about to break your heart.
The furrows in his brow deepened. The sound of the mobile phone in his pocket starting to ring was the last thing he needed at a moment like this.
‘Xavier…Xavier, is that you?’ Sophie heard his voice seeming muffled, far away—as if he was explaining the interruption. Of course, the person who had written him the note would be with him, Sophie reminded herself tensely. What else had she expected? But, whatever their personal situation, this was something he had to hear.
‘Sophie.’ Xavier’s voice was terse and dry, leaving her in no doubt that he didn’t welcome the intrusion.
‘Look, Xavier, I’m sorry—’
‘What is it?’
‘You must come back here right away.’
‘Out of the question,’ he said flatly.
‘But you must.’
‘I can’t. I’m not even at the hotel. I’m halfway across town.’
Sophie felt faint but she had to go on. ‘Xavier, this is really important—’
‘Look, Sophie, I just can’t get away right now. I’m afraid it’s impossible. I’ll be back with you the moment I can.’
‘No—’ She was about to explain when another sound somewhere in the background at his end of the line made her stop. It confirmed everything she had imagined.
‘Sophie…Sophie, are you still there? Are you all right?’
‘I’m fine.’ The high tinkling sound of a woman laughing—the type of laughter designed to appeal to a man—called her a liar.
‘Sophie? Sophie, tell me what’s happened.’
‘It’s nothing,’ she said, keeping her voice level. ‘I can handle it.’
‘Are you sure? Are you sure you’re all right? I’m sorry, but this isn’t a good time. I really have to go.’
I bet you do, Sophie thought tensely. The clinic in the mountains was being washed away by a freak flood, people were losing their homes, goodness knew how many injuries, or worse, were occurring—but nothing got in the way of Dr Xavier Martinez Bordiu’s pleasure!
Instantly the image of the beautiful television presenter flashed into Sophie’s mind and she made a sound of contempt for her own stupidity. No wonder they’d stayed over in Lima for so long! Hadn’t Xavier said he would do anything to raise awareness of the project? Her lips were white with tension as she ran things over in her mind. The project had enjoyed more publicity than either of them had anticipated. No wonder! Sophie gave a short, humourless laugh. Had she really allowed herself to believe that the nightly slot on the news show with the lady in question was just a lucky break?
‘I’ll speak to you soon…the moment I can.’ He cut the line.
‘Don’t worry, Xavier,’ Sophie told the empty room. ‘It’s nothing I can’t cope with.’ In fact, she thought coldly, don’t worry about anything ever again as far as I’m concerned. Just get on with doing whatever it is you’re doing—I’ll be fine without you!
As Xavier walked forward into his mother’s salon, she felt his presence immediately and, rising from her chaise longue, proceeded swiftly through the semi-circle of admirers, moving across the room towards him with the unconscious grace of a dancer.
‘My darling, Xavier.’
‘Mother, I must see you alone,’ Xavier murmured as they exchanged kisses, continental style.
‘Why, of course, beloved,’ she said at once, pulling back to search his face. ‘So, what is it, my darling?’ she demanded the moment the double doors had shut on the last of her visitors. Holding Xavier’s tightly clenched fists between her own cool hands as they sat together on the sofa, she waited.
‘I have fallen in love—’
‘But that is the most wonderful news!’
‘Is it, Mother?’ Xavier said sardonically.
‘But your face is full of pain,’ she exclaimed. ‘Tell me, Xavier, what is it? Is this woman married? Does her heart belong to someone else?’
He gave a short, ironic laugh. ‘I’m afraid it’s far worse than that.’ He watched his mother’s hand flutter to her chest, and knew the pain had already begun. He also knew he had no power to heal the wounds he must now inflict.
‘Worse?’ she gasped apprehensively, only confirming his worst fears. ‘What could possibly be worse?’
Xavier steeled himself for what he must do. Changing grip so that now he was the comforter rather than the comforted, he held his mother’s hands firmly in his own.
‘I have fallen in love with a member of the Ford family—’ As she tensed he felt a stab of pain to his chest as real as if his mother had used metal rather than the shared memories of Armando’s death to wound him. But he knew he had to go on. ‘I have fallen in love with Sophie Ford.’
‘Sophie…’
His mother breathed out the name on a sigh, and Xavier was devastated to see the tears welling in her eyes—the tears he had inflicted. ‘I am so sorry, Mother. If I could have stopped it…’ He paused, examining his own feelings in an attempt to explain what had happened. ‘But I love her so much—’ He broke off as emotion thickened his speech.
They sat together in an emotionally charged silence, reliving the past, sharing each other’s pain.
‘But Xavier,’ his mother whispered at last. ‘That poor child… Poor Sophie—’ She sighed heavily. ‘How could you ever imagine that I would disapprove? Your father and I were always so worried about her—’
She broke off and shook her head, extracting a fine lawn handkerchief from the sleeve of her day gown to try and staunch the tears now running freely down her cheeks.
‘Here, Mother, let me,’ Xavier whispered, taking it from her to complete the task. ‘Are you telling me you approve my choice of bride?’
She gasped softly. ‘Your bride?’
It was as if the sun had touched her face with warmth…and when Sophie smiled it was as if the sun rose in his heart, Xavier realised, feeling a rush of emotion. But then something darker, something urgent, jostled for attention and he turned away to shield his mother from his thoughts. ‘I think I may just have made a terrible mistake,’ he murmured.
‘A mistake?’ his mother repeated anxiously. ‘What are you talking about, Xavier?’
‘I haven’t made my feelings at all clear to Sophie. I couldn’t risk hurting you,’ he explained, switching his gaze to his mother’s face. ‘She rang me moments ago and I put her off…wouldn’t speak to her. She was distressed—’
‘You must go to her, Xavier,’ Señora Martinez B
ordiu insisted passionately.
‘Mother?’
‘If you have left her in any doubt, any doubt at all, regarding your feelings, you must go to her now,’ his mother stressed anxiously. ‘If you don’t tell her plainly, after all she has suffered, after all she has seen in that sad, sad home, I fear you may lose her for ever. Sophie is a stranger to love between a man and a woman. Go to her, Xavier, I beg you—go to her now…’
Sophie reviewed her options calmly. Xavier was right to some extent: she had been fine—up until now, she realised bitterly. But all that was over, and for good. She’d heard the laughter. She knew what it meant. And, the fact that she’d been taken for a ride in just about every way possible hit home like a sledgehammer to the guts. Getting the operator straight back on the line, she asked him to put her through to the air service base Evie worked out of and, having established that there was a pilot available to take her back to the mountains, she called the operator again. She needed a taxi to the airport.
CHAPTER TEN
IT DIDN’T help Sophie’s state of mind when she arrived at the airport to discover the small light aircraft had missed its take-off slot. Now she could do nothing but wait…and let her imagination run riot.
Determinedly, she blanked out all images of Xavier sampling various erotic delights with the television temptress. But as an hour ticked slowly past, all she could do was gnaw her nails with frustration. She was desperate to get back to the clinic where she was needed, and forced herself to accept that Xavier had let her go without a second thought. If he had cared at all, all he had had to do was ask the staff at the Inca Continental where the taxi had taken her, and he could have been at her side right now.
What excuse could he possibly have? Except that—as Anna Groes had so generously pointed out—Xavier was extremely highly sexed. She had been fooling herself into believing she was enough for him, Sophie mused angrily. Of course he was in bed with that television presenter woman. Who else could have been laughing so enticingly in the background?
When at last the small aircraft left the ground it was into an untroubled sky that gave no hint of the disaster Sophie knew was taking place just a few hours away. Shifting this way and that in her seat, she didn’t even attempt to engage the pilot in conversation. He was content flying the plane, and that suited Sophie just fine. She could feel her agitation building with every passing minute. ‘How much longer?’ she demanded at last.
‘We’re nearly there,’ he said, banking the plane. ‘Can you see the runway in the distance?’
She could, and instead of it being deserted as she had expected, as they dropped lower she noticed a large cargo plane was already on the ground. And then she saw the line of trucks crawling like ants into the shadow of the mountains.
‘Looks like someone got here before us,’ she remarked, thankful that aid was on its way.
‘There’s an emergency plan ready to roll out at a moment’s notice,’ the pilot said, levelling up for landing. ‘This is difficult terrain. Something like this is always threatening to happen. One phone call is all it takes now to set in motion a full-scale rescue operation.’
And she didn’t need to ask from whom that call had come: Xavier. Xavier knew but he still hadn’t attempted to come back to the mountains with her.
But why should he return when he knew there was no need? He was well aware that the delivery of aid was under control, because he coordinated it—and his expert services were clearly required elsewhere, she mused angrily.
As the X-rated scenes played out in her head Sophie couldn’t think straight for a moment, but as she started to calm down she realised the cargo plane carrying aid was the reason they had missed their take-off slot. At least something was how it should be.
‘I should have known,’ she murmured, half to herself, half in answer to the pilot’s explanation. She took another glance at the line of vehicles, clearly distinguishable now—a ragtag army of transport—even a bus. They would have come from villages like Agustin’s: volunteers only too willing to take the aid Xavier had provided straight to the disaster zone. The smooth-running operation had his hallmark all over it.
Sophie’s mood lightened when she saw Lola waiting for her in the truck, but when she started talking about Xavier as if he was the saviour of the region Sophie could only nod; her mind, her lips, her voice-box all refused to function.
‘It could have been so much worse,’ Lola chattered on happily as she leaned over the steering wheel to turn the truck into the compound outside the clinic. ‘But, thanks to Dr Xavier, everything is under control.’
‘Who’s that man?’ Sophie said curiously, hoping to change the subject.
‘Which man?’ Lola demanded, staring around as she wrenched on the handbrake.
The area was full of people, but everyone seemed to know exactly what was expected of them. The transfer of supplies from the ground to the vehicles waiting to take them up the mountain was being carried out with almost military precision under the direction of one man. He cut a purposeful figure as he strode about the yard.
‘That one,’ Sophie said, catching hold of Lola’s arm as she pointed through the windscreen.
‘Why, that’s Dr Henry,’ Lola said with surprise as if she couldn’t believe Sophie didn’t recognise him.
‘Henry!’ Sophie exclaimed softly. And it was, she saw as he turned around to acknowledge their arrival with a wave. She couldn’t have been more surprised as Henry opened her door. What had happened to his comfy overcoat of flesh, his smug expression?
‘Sophie,’ he said, helping her to climb down. ‘It’s really good to see you!’
Any awkwardness between them sank beneath Sophie’s amazement. Taking in Henry’s weather-beaten face, the crinkles around his piercing blue eyes, she could hardly believe it was the same man. The businesslike set of his shoulders and the baggy, rumpled suit, which it took her some time to register was the same impeccable tailor-made outfit he had arrived in, belonged to a man who seemed to have found his true role in life.
Confirming this impression, when he escorted her inside she found the clinic buzzing with activity. Marcos, the boy Xavier had been tutoring, was there, working alongside Anna. And then she saw the teenage girl whose headwear had been decorated with a splash of vivid embroidery working with them.
‘Angelina wants to be a nurse,’ Henry explained, beaming at the young girl as he ushered Sophie off on the next part of her whistle-stop tour.
‘There seem to be a lot more local volunteers,’ Sophie observed, feeling a thrill as she looked around and saw the way everything was shaping up.
‘More every day,’ Henry confirmed, ‘and several whom I am ready to recommend to Xavier for his training programme in Spain. He’s made a real difference here, Sophie.’
‘I know that,’ Sophie agreed, forcing her personal feelings to take a back seat.
Acknowledging Anna with a smile, she was surprised to find it returned with warmth. There was no time to consider the change before Henry urged her on to show her what else he had been doing while she had been away.
‘Xavier’s sending more supplies,’ Henry explained with pleasure, ‘and he’ll be arriving soon—’ He broke off to glance at his wristwatch, unaware that the colour had drained from Sophie’s face.
‘Xavier’s coming here?’
‘Yes, on the next flight,’ Henry confirmed. ‘Surely you knew that?’
‘I wasn’t sure which flight,’ Sophie fudged as emotion condensed in the pit of her stomach. She had no idea what Xavier’s plans were—or who he would have with him. ‘What do we know about casualties, Henry?’ she said, forcing some steel into her voice to try and take her mind off Xavier’s imminent arrival.
‘We’ve been very lucky—no fatalities, and no serious injuries.’
That was the best news Sophie had heard. And if she focused on that—on her job, as she should have been doing all along—maybe she could even cope with Xavier. She would have to, Sophie realised, pa
ying close attention as Henry continued.
‘And those that needed more care than we could offer here at the clinic have already been transferred to the Armando Martinez Bordiu Hospital. The damage is mainly structural. Some people have lost their homes.’
‘Oh, Henry.’ Whatever she thought of his behaviour on a personal level, Sophie knew his concern was genuine, and under Xavier’s direction he had made a very good start on getting life back to normal for everyone as quickly as possible. ‘You’ve come to care deeply for the people of this region, haven’t you?’ she observed softly.
‘Yes, I have,’ Henry admitted, ushering her outside again. ‘And there’s something else, Sophie. Someone else.’
‘Henry!’ Sophie exclaimed gently, ‘I’m really pleased for you. Who is it?’
‘Anna Groes.’
‘Anna!’
‘You don’t mind?’
‘Mind? Of course I don’t mind.’ Suddenly everything made sense. They certainly brought out the best in each other.
‘Now, who’s going to collect Xavier from the airstrip?’ he mused aloud.
‘Why don’t I?’
‘You, Sophie?’
‘You’ve got everything under control here. I’d like to,’ she said, softening her voice and hoping the venom didn’t show in her eyes. ‘Leave it to me, Henry.’ If Xavier had brought the South American beauty along she wanted to be the first to know about it. ‘When did you say Xavier’s plane arrives?’
‘I’m afraid you’ll have to leave right away—still OK about it?’
‘Absolutely fine,’ Sophie said, mentally gearing herself up.
Fishing the keys Lola had given him out of his pocket, Henry handed them to her.
There was a certain irony in the fact that now it was her turn to be in the driving seat, Sophie mused, taking the truck to the limit of its speed. Recalling the welcome Xavier had given her on the airstrip just a few short weeks back, her adrenalin began to race.
The Spaniard's Revenge Page 15