Partners in Love

by Saunders, Jean

  A phone call around four A.M. on Friday morning sent all thoughts of Luke out of her mind. She struggled awake at the insistent ringing, her heart thumping at once. Nobody called at that hour unless it was bad news.

  “Is that you, Robin?” Mrs. Drew’s voice said anxiously.

  “Yes. What’s happened? Is it Dad?” It had to be, of course.

  “Now, don’t get panicky, dear. He didn’t want me to ring you until later, but I thought you’d want to know at once. He’s in the hospital in Penzance.”

  “Hospital!” Robin’s heart hammered so fast that she could hardly breathe. Memories of the traumatic morning she had found her employer dead seemed to leap into her mind, drying her mouth.

  “He was taken ill last evening, dear, but he just kept joking that it was my cooking. Then some time after he’d gone to bed I heard him shouting out. He was in such pain I sent for the doctor, and I’m afraid it was a burst appendix. They’re operating on him right now. I’m sorry to ring you with such news, my love, and you must forgive me for going all watery on you, but I’ve been with you both for such a long time ...”

  The sound of sniffling at the other end of the line jolted Robin out of her initial panic. She made herself think practically.

  “I’ll get the first train out of here this morning, Mrs. Drew, and go straight to the hospital. Will you phone them to tell Dad I’m on my way, so that he knows it as soon as he comes around?”

  “I will, Robin. And I’ll have a hot meal prepared for you this evening. You’ll be staying over the weekend, I presume?” Robin could hear the relief in Mrs. Drew’s voice.

  “Yes, of course.” Longer than that, Robin thought, longer than that. “I’ll see you later, Mrs. Drew.” Her hands were still shaking when she had hung up the phone. She had a purpose now: Luke Burgess didn’t need her, but her father did. Perhaps Luke would see that as letting him down, but she had his word that he would look for a new secretary, and her father’s illness merely necessitated her leaving earlier than she had planned. She wouldn’t think of Luke now.

  She would have to come back to Bristol to collect everything she had brought and all that she had acquired since arriving there — the things that had turned the flat into a home. But that could wait. Right now, she had to find out train times and order a taxi to get her to the station. She flipped through the local directory and began dialling the numbers.

  By the time the rest of the city was waking up, Robin was sitting on the early train, travelling west, a hastily packed suitcase on the rack. She shivered in the cold wintery morning, snuggling down into the fur collar of her coat, hardly noticing the bleak, cheerless countryside speeding past the window.

  It had been too early to phone anyone at the office, but Robin knew that Luke’s answering machine at the office would be operating, so she had left a brief message saying where she had gone and why and that she would be in touch once she had seen her father. Naturally, Luke would want to know how James was faring. They were bound together by the holiday complex. Business partners ... business partners ... the words seemed to drum the through her head to the rhythm of the train, cold and unemotional. It was the way she must try to think of Luke Burgess from then on.

  Robin moved restlessly, seeing her own darkened reflection in the window of the train. Her hair was more dishevelled than usual. She pushed her fingers through it, and the memory of Luke’s hands parting the fine golden strands so sensuously was instantly, poignantly, in her mind. She seemed to see him everywhere, to hear his voice, to feel his touch, and her eyes were damp as she closed them, knowing that what she asked of herself was nearly impossible.

  The only way she could cope was to get out of his life, and that was what she intended to do. Since it was certain he would be visiting Pollard Manor from time to time in connection with the complex, Robin herself must get a job well away from there. Once she was sure her father was well again, she would go to London and become one of the anonymous thousands. What James had said was true, Robin thought suddenly: She had changed. Once the thought of living and working in the city would have appalled her. Now, because of Luke, she was fleeing from her very roots, and it was the city that was her haven. It was one more thing to hold against him.

  Robin went straight to the hospital from the Penzance station. She hated those places, with their antiseptic smells and closed-in atmospheres. But then, she was grateful for all their skills when she was told that James had had a completely successful operation and had just gone back to the ward.

  “He’s still very woozy after the anesthetic,” the Sister told her. “But since you’ve come so far, you can see him for a few minutes, my dear. By visiting time tonight he’ll be a new man.”

  It was the Sister who took her along to the ward, where the screens were still around the bed nearest the door. Behind them James was paler than usual and unfamiliarly inactive, but his eyes widened with gladness as he saw Robin approach the bed and lean over quickly to kiss his dry lips.

  “How did you get here so fast?” he said in a thready voice. “I told Mrs. Drew not to worry you.”

  “Don’t be silly, Dad.” Robin’s eyes filled with tears. “Of course she had to tell me. I’d have been furious if she hadn’t!”

  She tried to sound indignant to cover her relief at seeing him. He gave a weak laugh and then winced.

  “I musn’t do that,” he muttered. “I feel like dancing to see you, darling, but it’ll be a while before I do that again.”

  “And I’m staying here until you do,” she said firmly.

  “Staying?” James echoed. “What about Luke and your job?”

  “He can do without me,” she said, her heart twisting at the truth of the statement.

  “But not for long, Robin. You can’t leave him in the lurch just because of me. I shall soon be over this, and there’s no reason for you to stay.”

  Robin was aware that her father was getting agitated, and the Sister was hovering. She spoke quickly.

  “Of course not for long, Dad. Don’t worry. Luke will understand. I’ll be talking to him tonight when he gets back from Ostend. If he’d been around, I know he’d have insisted on driving me down here himself. We both care about you, you know. I’m going home for a welcome hot meal, now that I’ve seen that you’re all right. I’ll be back tonight.”

  She bent and kissed him again, fighting back the tears. What she had said was the truth. Luke did care about her father’s welfare, and not just for commercial reasons. She gave him that much credit. The two of them had always hit it off admirably, and she didn’t want to worry her father with the news that she was no longer officially in Luke’s employ.

  Once she had left the hospital and begun an extravagant taxi ride all the way to Pollard Manor, Robin leaned back in the smoothly purring car, mentally exhausted but certain of one thing: James must be kept in ignorance of her decision as long as possible. And that meant Mrs. Drew as well. Both of them must believe she was there only until James was home again and well on the way back to health.

  By the time she had listened to Mrs. Drew’s tearful account of the frantic time during the night, eaten the first food since a scrappy piece of toast that morning and been back to the hospital, where James was sitting up and looking considerably better, Robin felt as if the slightest breeze would blow her away. And she still had to phone Luke. She couldn’t put it off any longer. He’d be back by that time, and he’d have got the messages from his answering machine. Even as she hedged about, the phone rang, and she knew before she picked it up that it would be Luke.

  “How is he?” he said at once, with no preamble.

  “Much brighter this evening,” Robin stammered. His voice sounded so near, almost as if she could reach out her hand and touch him. She pictured him at home, leaning against the wall of the lounge the way he did, his fingers curled around the receiver. She was becoming light-headed.

  “Luke, I’m — I’m sorry, but I had to come as soon as Mrs. Drew phoned me.”

/>   “Of course you did. And you’ll stay awhile, naturally.”

  She took a deep breath. “I’m staying, Luke. For good. I’ll have to come back sometime for the rest of my things, but you can ask Mrs. Somerton to pack them up for me if you need the flat for someone else. Otherwise, as soon as Dad’s home and better, I’ll drive up and collect everything myself.”

  There was a pause at the other end.

  “I see. You’ve made up your mind, then.” There was no anger or even surprise in his voice, Robin thought dully. It was as if he expected it and he didn’t care.

  “We did discuss it, if you remember. Now that this has happened, it seems the best way,” she said jerkily, glad he couldn’t see that her eyes were filled with tears.

  “Just as you wish. Give your father my very best wishes. I would call and see him if I were coming down to the site in the near future, but that doesn’t seem likely. There are some problems with the Belgian deal, and I have to go back there next week. I can’t expect you to be interested in such details now, of course. I’ll phone Maggie and see if she’ll come back on a temporary basis, though I still consider you in my employ for the time being. I haven’t fired you, and I don’t recall seeing your notice in writing. Let’s just call this a temporary break in our arrangement, shall we?”

  “Luke, I — I can’t —”

  “Call me anytime if you need me.” The phone went dead.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Robin wasn’t aware that she stood there with tears streaming down her face, her whole body shaking, until she felt Mrs. Drew take the phone from her hand and replace it. She felt the motherly arms go round her trembling shoulders, and a paper tissue was pushed into her hand.

  “There, my love, it’s been a trying time for you, but your father’s a strong man and it’ll take more than an old burst appendix to finish him off! He’ll be out of there in double-quick time, you’ll see. And whatever differences you and that young man of yours have had, it’s my advice to you to go back to Bristol and sort them out face to face. It’s always the best way. Now, I’m going to make us both a nice hot cup of tea — unless you’d rather have a stiff brandy.”

  `No, thank you, Mrs. Drew.” Robin smiled weakly at the way she was being taken over. She was always the strong one, but right now it felt so good to let Mrs. Drew boss her about. It was obvious she had overheard Robin’s side of the phone conversation and got it all wrong about her and Luke! She probably saw it as a lovers’ tiff, but Robin knew it was better not to try to explain or she’d be blurting out everything to Mrs. Drew’s sympathetic ear, and she had no intention of doing so. She wiped her eyes and blew her nose.

  “Tea will be lovely,” she said thinly. “And if you’ve got any of your fruitcake about, I think I could manage a piece of that as well.”

  “That’s right. There’s no man on earth worth losing your appetite for,” Mrs. Drew said soothingly.

  Robin could have told her that it wasn’t lack of food that was causing the emptiness inside her, but being practical as well as emotional, she knew she had better start acting as normally as possible at Pollard Manor, because everything would be reported back to her father. She didn’t want him worrying on her account. He had to concentrate on getting well.

  By the end of a week the old Cornish magic had begun to weave its spell. There were still times when Robin awoke in the night from a dream of Luke that was so vivid, so real, that she almost reached out her hand to touch him, to welcome his kiss. She couldn’t forget. It was impossible to think that she ever would, but she was prepared to let time and distance lessen the pain a little.

  And James would be discharged from the hospital once his stitches were removed. There had been no complications, and his strong constitution and determination of will had seen him through very quickly. Luke had phoned several more times to enquire after him, always in the same stilted manner, with no more personal comments. It was just as if he had shut her out of his life as much as was possible. Numbly, Robin told herself it was what she wanted.

  If she had fooled Luke, it was harder to fool her father. He had known her too long and was able to read the cause for her shadowed eyes quite correctly. He knew her volatile temper, too, and wisely said nothing for the time being, though he was filled with impatience at the shortsightedness of the two people for whom he cared.

  “You don’t have to stay indefinitely, Robin,” James said mildly as they sat drinking coffee one morning. January had turned unexpectedly mild, and they sat in the glass conservatory, sheltered from the sea breezes and warmed by the thin rays of sunlight. They lit Robin’s hair with golden glints, and the anxiety of past weeks had made her cheeks finely drawn, giving her an ethereal look.

  “I won’t,” she replied, forcing lightness into her voice. “Don’t worry, I’m only staying until I can trust you not to go galloping off to inspect the building site; then I’m off.”

  He recognised her teasing and the fact that mention of Luke’s complex had made her lips tremble. It would take very little to push her over the edge, James realised worriedly. And it was all so ridiculous when she and Luke were made for each other. Any fool could see that, even if Robin and Luke couldn’t.

  He allowed her to mope about the place for one more week. She had driven into Helston one morning to return James’s library books. James called out to her the minute she got back. He was looking vastly better by then, Robin thought thankfully, and was practically his old self.

  “Luke phoned,” James said at once, causing her heart to leap, miss a beat and then thud rapidly.

  “Really?” She tried to be indifferent. “I hope you told him that you’re like a bear with a sore head, wanting to do everything at once, now you’re on the mend.”

  “He’s ill, Robin. I could hardly make out his voice, it was so thick and muffled. He needs you back urgently. Maggie someone-or-other has had to cry off taking over for you, and there’re some urgent papers that need attention, and Luke won’t trust them to the office junior.”

  Robin heard only the first two words. All the rest was irrelevant.

  “Luke’s ill?” she whispered. “What’s wrong with him?”

  “He didn’t say, but he’s at home, and if you go straight there, he’ll tell you what needs to be done,” James said briskly. He glanced at his watch. “You can be there soon after lunchtime if you hurry, so what are you waiting for? I’d grab a bite to eat at a motorway service station if I were you.”

  “Will you be all right, Dad?”

  “Good Lord, woman, I’m not made of glass! Get your priorities right and go where you’re most needed! Phone me tonight to let me know how things are.”

  Robin bent and kissed him, the only thought in her mind that Luke needed her. It didn’t matter why. Nor did she bother to analyse why she was prepared to drive back to Bristol, when normally she hated driving long distances. Luke was ill and he needed her, and she must go. For once she wasn’t looking for reasons. She was letting her heart rule her head.

  She stopped once, to stretch her legs and get something to eat as James had suggested. She’d be no good to Luke if she arrived feeling faint from hunger. She still managed to arrive at Luke’s house a little after two in the afternoon, thanking her lucky stars that there had been no snow yet that winter, or she’d never have made it.

  The house looked welcoming. Luke’s house, Robin thought, with a little catch of emotion as she pulled into the driveway. Bristol was colder than Cornwall, but oddly it still felt like coming home. It was a dangerously poignant thought, and one that she mustn’t dwell upon.

  Knowing the layout of the house and thinking that Luke might be sleeping, Robin quietly opened the kitchen door and let herself in, anticipating Mrs. Somerton’s ready smile. The room was empty, as tidy as ever. Robin went through to the lounge, leaving her thick coat on the hall coatrack.

  Then she stopped dead, standing very still at the sight that met her eyes. In the fireplace a roaring log fire sent flames leaping up
the chimney, warm and welcoming. On the sideboard was a beautiful winter flower arrangement of reds and greens, adding a glow to the room. On a small side table a decanter of sherry gleamed like liquid gold in the firelight as Luke began to fill two glasses from it.

  A strong, virile, ruggedly handsome and healthy Luke turned to hand one of the glasses to her, a wary smile curving his lips as he awaited her reaction. In an instant Robin registered it all.

  She finally found her voice. She was burning with anger, her face heated, her expressive eyes flashing emerald fire. Any other man but Luke would have backed off at such a look, but Luke just kept coming forward, like a panther stalking its prey. She stepped back a pace, her hands clenched so tightly that her nails bit into her palms.

  “You — you swine!” Robin ground out. “You unspeakable liar! You aren’t ill at all, are you? It was all one of your clever schemes to get me back here, wasn’t it? And you had the nerve to involve my father in it too.”

  Hot tears threatened to fill her eyes, and she blinked them back furiously. She had cried in front of Luke Burgess for the last time.

  “How could you be so insensitive?” she raged on. “I thought you always called Dad your business partner. Is this the way you treat your partners? By deceiving them to get what you want?”

  Luke had put the sherry glasses down. He came close to her so swiftly, there was no chance for her to avoid his steellike hold on her arms. She glared up at him, seeing the muscles at the sides of his strong mouth working slightly. He wasn’t used to being thwarted, Robin thought scornfully, holding on to every bit of fury she could, because if she let her guard drop just once, she was perfectly capable of melting into his arms, and she knew it.