She hadn’t been so nostalgic for a long time. While she had worked for Elaine Fowler her job had taken up all her thinking time, and Cornwall had always been there to go back to. It still was, but now Mrs. Fowler was gone, Robin knew herself to be more vulnerable than she had ever been. It was one more reason why it was so dangerous to let herself dream of things that could never be.
She was on her way home now, and the evening was getting chilly. Robin was almost alongside Luke’s house, and she could see the lighted downstairs window of the lounge. She couldn’t resist picturing him inside, maybe sitting in an easy chair and listening to music or reading ... or maybe right now he was in there smiling into some woman’s face and giving her all the benefit of his charm over Mrs. Somerton’s superb cooking.
The image faded abruptly. Robin didn’t want to imagine any more. She strode on to her own building, pulled the curtains firmly across the windows and sat in front of the television, hardly noticing the flickering pictures on the screen and hoping that the thing she dreaded most wasn’t really happening to her. Falling in love with Luke would be so easy, as effortless as breathing, and it was the one thing she was determined not to do. Her soft, sensitive mouth took on a mutinous line.
He was invading her territory and spoiling the entire landscape. She had to keep that thought uppermost. She had been against the whole project from the minute her father had told her about it. In Robin’s eyes he had sold them out to Luke Burgess, and to let herself fall under the man’s spell would be a betrayal of herself. She didn’t want to consider whether it was more important to love a piece of land or the man; she could cherish the first for all time, whereas Luke’s loves were reputedly things of the moment.
Even Mrs. Somerton had said almost as much, to quote Luke’s own words!
“... too nice a girl to be caught in my clutches ...”
Didn’t that say it all? If his devoted housekeeper thought him a womaniser, then Robin would be foolish to allow herself to love him. She shivered suddenly, switched off the television programme she had hardly seen and went to bed. She wouldn’t think about him one more minute. Instead she’d think about the visit to her home.
Chapter Seven
They drove down to Cornwall the following Tuesday and planned to be back on Friday, since Luke had a pressing meeting that afternoon. Robin didn’t have to be there, and she toyed with the idea of staying on for the weekend and taking the train back to Bristol, but finally decided against it. Sunday trains were notoriously slow, and besides, she was enjoying her new surroundings in Bristol. She realised it with a little start of surprise.
James welcomed her with open arms. If there was a little awkwardness in their arrival, she put it down to Luke’s reticence while she embraced her father. Mrs. Drew showed him to his room, which gave James and Robin a little time to themselves.
“How’s it going?” James asked her. “Do you like the work?”
Robin smiled. “You mean are we at each other’s throats yet, don’t you? Not all the time! It’s interesting enough work, Dad, and—” She paused.
“And?” James prompted. “You’ve discovered your father’s not quite the idiot you took him for, I hope. Luke’s no charlatan, is he?”
“No,” she admitted. “All right, you win there. It doesn’t change anything, though, does it? My cove will never be the same again, and the tourists will have eroded away another little bit of Cornwall.”
The resentment was still there. For a while she had been able to ignore it. Away from there the prospect wasn’t so appalling. Now, there, everything was suddenly larger than life again. Luke came into the room while they were still discussing it, and she couldn’t help glaring at him. Why not? It was all his fault, after all. If he hadn’t come down there, surveying the land and seeing her cove as a little gold mine, the tranquility of the place would still be undisturbed. And she would never have met Luke Burgess and been thrown into turmoil because of him. She couldn’t keep the thought from rippling through her mind.
“Have you seen how the work’s progressing, James?” Luke spoke to him directly, but Robin knew full well he was aware of her hostility. She could sense it in his voice and by the tightening of his jaw.
“I’m staggered at the speed of it all,” James said with admiration. “You certainly move fast, Luke.”
This time Robin avoided looking at him. There were two ways of agreeing to that, she thought savagely.
“It’s no problem.” Luke shrugged. “Pay the men enough and they’ll put in the hours. When I see a good proposition, I see no point in wasting time.”
Were all his words calculated to convey a double meaning, Robin wondered, or was she being extra sensitive? They had arrived in time for lunch, and she heard Luke say that as soon as they had eaten, he’d like to get down and inspect the site.
“I’ll come with you both,” James said, and Robin knew he was as eager for the success of the project as Luke. She felt betrayed all over again, yet she couldn’t deny that it had given her father a much-needed interest. His reluctant role as country squire bored him. He looked fit and well, and confided that he visited the site most days as an agreeable exercise.
“Good,” Luke said. “It’s as well to let the workmen see you there often.”
To keep an eye on them, Robin thought immediately. She looked at him with open dislike, glad to have something positive to complain about.
“That’s a bit snide, isn’t it? Do you always like to have someone snooping about to crack the whip for your pound of flesh?”
“Robin!” Her father was outraged. “I think that remark was entirely unnecessary!”
Luke smiled in amusement, which enraged her more.
“It’s all right, James, your daughter and I often strike sparks off each other. I’d let this one pass, since I’m enjoying your hospitality, but out of respect to you and in my own defence, I must make Robin understand that it’s not like that at all. I have first-class managers on every site, and the workmen do an excellent job, but it’s my belief that everybody likes a bit of encouragement now and then. To see one of the bosses taking an obvious interest in progress is a great advantage, so I thank you for it, James.”
He managed to demoralise her so smoothly, showing her to be ungracious and bitchy. She hated him for doing that to her, even more because his words sounded so convincing and she didn’t want to think the best of him. It was so much easier on her to think the worst. But for her father’s sake she muttered an apology. This visit was going to be fraught with tension if she jumped on every little thing he said.
After lunch they all pulled on anoraks and heavy boots. The seasons were changing, and although Cornwall’s climate was mellower than that of the rest of the country, nights were chilly and sometimes damp, and the ground had a decidedly sticky quality to it. Robin realised it could be dangerous work, gouging out an entire hillside for a holiday complex. Naturally a little thing like that wouldn’t stop Luke Burgess.
When they reached the hillside above the cove, a biting wind brought the glowing colour to their faces. Far below, the sea was a threshing grey beneath a cloudy sky, very different from the idyllic blue of summer. But it wasn’t the sea that caught Robin’s attention. She had seen it too often, in all its moods. She gasped at the sight that met her eyes.
The whole hillside was desecrated, in her opinion. Great earth-moving machines droned and grated, spewing out huge mounds of the rich red earth with the ease of butter scoops. Already the hillside was stepped to accommodate the villas, and the former soft greenery was gone, leaving it sad and bare ... bare, except for the teams of men working away in heavy outdoor clothes and yellow safety hats Robin recognised, imprinted with BURGESS DEVELOPMENTS around the rims.
The whole place throbbed with activity, and she swallowed back the lump in her throat, wishing she’d never come. To see it like this ... Luke clasped her hand, holding it so tightly that she was unable to pull it away as she wanted to.
“Don’t b
e upset, Robin.” He was gentle, making the tears prick her eyelids even more, because she wanted to hate him, not let herself be swayed by soft words. “You’ve seen all the plans and the mock-ups. You know what the final look of it will be.”
“Oh, yes, I’d forgotten,” she said bitterly. “Instant trees, wasn’t it? To hide the fact that strangers lurk behind every one of them, spoiling everything!”
She knew she was being unreasonable, childish, all the things he had ever accused her of, but she couldn’t help it. Perhaps if she’d never seen the actual preparations, the destruction of something that had been so beautiful the last time she saw it would not be affecting her so. She wished she’d stayed at the office, but how could she have done that, with the chance to see her father for a few days so tempting?
James couldn’t hear their exchange of words at that moment. He was already making his way carefully to where the site manager was coming to greet him, a smile of welcome on his face. There was clearly no antagonism there, Robin thought grudgingly. Luke suddenly spoke very close to her cheek.
“You’re the one who’s spoiling it for your father, Robin. Can’t you see that? The project has given him a new interest, and having a sulking daughter around him isn’t going to endear you to him.”
“Thanks for the pep talk. When I need a shrink I’ll come to you for advice,” she said sarcastically.
The infuriating thing was that he spoke the truth. James was truly absorbed by all that was going on, and clearly didn’t quite understand her continued animosity towards Luke. She heard him give an expressive oath, then yank at her hand.
“Come on. Show a little interest at least,” he snapped. “If I were your father, I’d put you across my knee and spank you!”
“If you were my father, I’d leave home!”
“I was under the impression you’d already done that a long time ago. Forgive me for getting you all wrong. I hadn’t realised you were still such a child. The grown-up packaging must have given a lot of men the wrong idea. Do you always run home to Daddy when one of them makes a pass at you?”
She couldn’t scream abuse at him the way she wanted to because they had caught up with her father and the site manager by now, and she had to stand and burn inside while she made polite conversation and asked intelligent questions. She saw all too well the pleasure her father took from her apparent approval of all that was going on. For his sake only, she vowed to herself, she would allow the dust to settle.
Inside she still seethed, more bruised by Luke’s scathing words than she would admit — and forced to think about them. Was she, after all, behaving in an entirely irrational and immature way, burying her head in the sand completely on a childish whim? She had always considered herself to be fairly sophisticated and mature until now — until she met Luke Burgess. No one else had ever spoken to her the way he did, or irritated her so much. Or filled her mind to the exclusion of all else.
She followed the men back to the top of the hill, ignoring anyone’s helping hand, pausing with them to catch her breath. When the complex was complete, there would be a winding road to the villas. Right now it seemed impossible to visualise it. All she could see were vast quantities of mud.
“Well, Robin?” James asked her eagerly, as pleased as if he’d moved every mound of earth himself. “Aren’t you amazed at how quickly it’s all progressing?”
At least she could answer that honestly.
“Absolutely,” she said. “I guess money can buy nearly anything after all. I mean, in terms of work force, of course. Not everybody can get workmen agreeing to a seven-day week. I’ve got to hand it to you, Luke.”
She knew all about the work force, since she dealt with the pay slips in the office. She knew how generous Luke was with his bonuses. And she knew her little barb about money being able to buy nearly everything hadn’t gone unnoticed. What she was really saying was that it couldn’t buy her.
“Let’s get back to the house,” James said. “I find the climb back up a bit strenuous these days. A reviving cup of tea is what I need now.”
Robin looked at him anxiously. All their faces were flushed from the wind and the exertion of the climb, but while it had made little difference to her and Luke, James was still breathing heavily. He brushed aside her quick concern with a teasing comment that he thought he’d last out the day.
“Don’t overdo it, Dad. After all, it’s not your problem if the men are slackening, is it? And from the looks of them, I’d say it was unlikely.”
“Robin thinks I’m a slave driver.” Luke had caught her meaning at once, as she had meant him to, and James glanced from one to the other of them in mild exasperation.
“Do you two always go on like this? It must make for entertainment in the office among the rest of the staff!”
Robin gave a short laugh. “Luke’s not in the office very much.” Which was just as well. She didn’t finish the sentence, but the implication was there, and her father gave a little sigh. He had the Cornishman’s romantic streak under that gruff exterior, Robin remembered with a rush of affection and wry humour. By now he was probably imagining herself and Luke in the midst of a romantic involvement, considering himself a bit of a matchmaker in inadvertently throwing them together. He couldn’t be more wrong, she thought, with an unwilling, heart-catching wrench.
If she had met and known Luke Burgess under any other circumstances — if he were any other man but the one who was tearing the heart and soul out of her corner of the world — then she could have fallen so tempestuously in love with him ... She blocked off the thought at once, refusing to give it houseroom.
Luke had said there was no need for her to stay close to him on the second day they were in Cornwall. He wanted to spend much of the day at the site, taking his manager out to lunch at a pub and discussing the finer details with him in a friendly atmosphere. She couldn’t help admiring his understanding of human nature. No wonder his colleagues rallied round him one hundred percent. He expected the best and he got it. She had to give him that much.
So it was something of a relief the next morning to spend some time with her father, lazing about and talking over old times and her new life as Luke’s secretary. It was only a temporary arrangement, she insisted to him. She had no intention of being Luke’s slave forever!
James laughed. “You either have a real hang-up about the man or you’re in love with him, my darling daughter!”
“And you’ve been watching too many Western films on TV again,” she answered smartly. “A real hang-up indeed!”
He didn’t comment on how neatly she had avoided the issue. “So what will you do when this temporary arrangement has ended? And just how temporary is it going to be?” he went on relentlessly.
Robin shrugged her slim shoulders. “Until I see this job through, I suppose.” Her voice was grim. “That’s what I intended in the first place.”
“To check up on whether he was fiddling a dimwitted old man, wasn’t it?” He spoke with his tongue in his cheek and saw her blush.
“All right, so I was wrong about that. I’m willing to admit it! It doesn’t alter anything, though, does it, Dad? I simply can’t see a modern holiday complex blending in with the quiet of the country down here. It doesn’t fit. And stop calling yourself dimwitted. You’re a match for anyone, including me, and you know it.”
“Especially you, I’d say,” he said mildly. “I think I know you better than you know yourself, my love, and methinks the lady does protest too much.”
“Let’s change this conversation, shall we? I see enough of Luke Burgess without wanting to discuss him all the time, and I came to see you, remember?” But she couldn’t resist one more thing: “From what I’ve seen of the site, I know I was right, and you’ll see it, too, eventually. You can’t bring a futuristic complex to Cornwall. It’s a violation of all its history, and I’m not going to say another word on the subject!”
She clamped her lips together with firm determination, and James wisely said no
more. Instead they discussed mutual acquaintances and light topics, and if he noticed how often her eyes strayed to the carriage clock on the mantel, he didn’t comment on it. Robin was angry at herself for picturing Luke’s movements that afternoon, seeing him through lunch and poring over the site plans with his manager, then going back to the hillside, charming even the most rugged workmen with his own enthusiasm for the project. She shivered a little, finally saying she would have a bath before dinner and leaving her father to his own reflections.
She had a long, leisurely soak in scented water, letting the perfumed bubbles caress her smooth, golden skin. Her father had stirred up thoughts about the future and what she intended to do once she left Luke’s employ.
A pang shot through her, for she had no idea at all. She hadn’t thought beyond the months in which the complex was being built, seeing herself as a kind of crusader; the thought seemed utterly foolish now. What was she accomplishing, anyway? Working for Luke seemed futile and was changing nothing. If anything, it gave Luke an excuse to crow over her, for as well as having her father his so-called partner, he had the other member of the Pollard family dependent on him while she was in his employ.
She should have seen that in the beginning. She was becoming angry with herself. And when the job was finished she would have to start looking around for something else, because there was no way she would continue to be beholden to him. She would miss him, of course. She couldn’t stop the thought rushing into her mind. He had become part of her life. He had stormed into it and turned it upside down.
Robin quickly let out the bathwater, not wanting those images to intrude any longer. They were too disturbing, too sensual, too much like an adolescent’s fantasies — too all-consuming. She dried herself with a huge fluffy bath towel, then wrapped a bathrobe around her slender body and cooled off in her bedroom before dinner.
She would stay up there, relaxing, making her mind a void for half an hour before meeting Luke for the next verbal onslaught. That was her last waking thought, a rueful smile curving her soft, expressive mouth before she drifted into a light sleep.
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