Eldorado

by Yvonne Whittal

  There was an awkward silence when they seated themselves around the dining-room table, and to her dismay, Gina found herself sitting directly opposite Jarvis.

  'How many horses do you have on the farm?' Jarvis started the conversation flowing again, and his glance skidded away from Gina to Clifford.

  'Six,' Clifford answered him, getting up to assist Susan with the laden trolley she was pushing into the dining-room. 'We have a gelding, four mares, and an Arab stallion which is exclusively Gina's.'

  'Do you still ride, Jarvis?' asked Raymond, while Gina sat staring rigidly at the white tablecloth in front of her.

  'Whenever I get the opportunity, and that's not often these days.'

  'Gina takes Jupiter for a run early in the morning when she's home.' Clifford's statement made Gina stiffen with growing resentment. She knew what would follow, but she could not prevent it without a scene. 'Perhaps you would like to accompany her tomorrow?' Clifford confirmed her suspicions.

  'I could think of nothing I would like more,' Jarvis replied smoothly, his compelling glance drawing Gina's across the table. Once again she had the disquieting suspicion that he was fully aware of the antagonism building up inside her despite her desperate attempt to mask her feelings. 'If Gina doesn't object to my company,' he added softly, his eyes challenging her.

  Damn him! Jarvis was much too shrewd for her own comfort, and so confoundedly clever that she could almost hate him.

  'I have no objections.'

  Her faintly husky voice had been brittle with a suppressed anger which had not escaped him, and he smiled derisively.

  'In that case, I accept the invitation gladly.'

  Oh, doom! There was no way she could escape it now! She felt everyone looking at her as if they were aware of that odd tension in the air and blamed her for it, and it added to her discomfort.

  'Bacon, Jarvis?' Susan stepped into the breach, her calm voice shattering the tense silence and easing the atmosphere.

  'Thank you,' he smiled, passing his plate.

  Gina made no attempt to contribute to the conversation during the remainder of that meal. She could not help thinking, however, that Jarvis looked out of place in his casual but immaculate attire while her father and Clifford were dressed in their usual khaki trousers and safari jackets, but it did not appear to cause Jarvis the slightest discomfort. He looked relaxed and completely at ease, while Gina sat rigidly on the edge of her chair as if she had swallowed a rod.

  Clifford went out in the truck after breakfast to repair a broken fence on the northern boundary, and Jarvis accompanied him. Gina was greatly relieved and, except for having to face him again across the table during lunch and dinner that Saturday, it was Clifford and her father with whom Jarvis spent most of his time.

  Gina was in the kitchen late that evening when she heard footsteps and voices disappearing in the direction of the bedrooms. 'Good!' she thought. 'Everyone's going to bed.' The tension eased out of her muscles, but the sound of footsteps approaching the kitchen made it return with an agonising force. She steeled herself for Jarvis's entry into the kitchen, but it did not prevent her nerves from reacting violently at the sight of his tall, lean frame standing in the doorway.

  His glance flicked over her, taking in the grey and green flecked tweed skirt and amber-coloured blouse which she had changed into after breakfast that morning.

  'Does everyone always go to bed at this early hour?'

  'That's farm life,' she shrugged with affected casual-ness. 'Early to bed and early to rise.'

  'Makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise,' he completed the proverb with a cynical smile playing about his sensuous mouth. 'Why aren't you in bed yet, or has life in the city changed all that for you?'

  She gestured towards the electric kettle which was on the boil. 'I like making myself a cup of coffee before I go.'

  'May I join you for a cup of coffee?'

  Oh, drat! Why couldn't he go to bed like everyone else and leave her alone?

  'You're welcome,' she said abruptly, turning her back on him, but she could feel his cold eyes following every movement she made while she set out two cups and spooned instant coffee into them.

  'You're so very polite, Georgina,' he mocked her as he pulled out a chair and seated himself at the kitchen table. 'I'm beginning to think that my presence here on the farm displeases you.'

  Gina was not in the least surprised. She had suspected that Jarvis knew she did not want him there from the moment her father had issued the invitation at Evelyn Cain's graveside, and he was simply confirming her suspicions.

  'You're my father's guest,' she answered him, hiding her discomfiture behind a calm and cool exterior.

  'I'd like to be your guest too.'

  Gina's hand shook unaccountably when she poured boiling water into the cups. There had been something strangely ominous about that remark, but she chose to ignore it.

  'How do you like your coffee?'

  'Black with no sugar, thanks.' She felt his speculative glance roaming over her when she turned to place their cups of coffee on the kitchen table, and he did not leave her waiting in suspense for his verdict. 'You've changed these past two years since you've been working and living in the city.'

  'Have I?' she asked with a forced casualness as she seated herself at the table, but her heart was drumming uncomfortably hard against her ribs.

  'It was five years ago that we met for the first time, and then you must have been… what?' His narrowed, questioning eyes were riveted to her face. 'Fifteen? Sixteen?'

  'Sixteen.' She supplied the answer, stirring her coffee with unnecessary vigour in an attempt to shut out the memory of that first encounter, but Jarvis had no intention of allowing her to forget.

  'I have a vivid recollection of a freckled-faced kid with a long red plait down her back,' he smiled faintly with his eyes intent upon her rigid features, 'and I must say you almost scared the hell out of me when you fell out of that tree.'

  Gina hated him at that moment when she felt her cheeks flame. 'Do you have to remind me of that embarrassing incident?'

  'I didn't get the impression that you were embarrassed, at the time,' he contradicted gravely. 'I got the feeling that I'd scared you rigid.'

  'Wouldn't falling out of a tree have scared you?' She bit out the question.

  'I'm talking about before you fell.'

  'Nonsense!' she protested vehemently, his perception and memory astonishing her to the extent that she almost choked on a mouthful of coffee.

  'You're still afraid of me, for some reason.'

  'That's ridiculous!' she snapped defensively, but he was so accurate in his assumption that she did not dare look at him.

  'I agree that it's ridiculous,' he mocked her, and she could feel his speculative glance sliding over her again. 'You've grown into a very beautiful young woman, Georgina.'

  His voice was a deep, smooth velvet, and it seemed to brush against her nerve ends like an intimate caress that sent pleasurable tremors racing through her. She sensed an element of danger in Jarvis that made her want to run like a frightened animal, and she could only pray that she would not run directly into the trap he might be setting for her.

  'Drink your coffee before it's cold.' She changed the subject, but Jarvis remained unperturbed.

  'Tell me about yourself, Georgina,' he said, raising his cup to his lips and swallowing a mouthful of coffee. 'I have some time to catch up on, and I have a vague recollection that my mother mentioned something once about computers.'

  'I'm a systems analyst at Becketts Engineering.'

  'That sounds very impressive.'

  Gina's body stiffened. 'I don't intend it to sound that way.'

  'Don't be modest about your achievements,' he rebuked her quietly. 'What do you do when you're not analysing your computers?'

  'I read and listen to music, or I go to the theatre.'

  'Alone?'

  She avoided his piercing, probing, grey eyes and shook her head. 'No, not alone.'


  'I should have known,' his mouth twisted into a semblance of a smile. 'You're much too beautiful not to have the men hovering like bees around the honey jar.'

  'There's only one man,' she protested without thinking.

  'So it's as serious as that, is it?'

  'I didn't say it was…' She faltered, a flash of anger in her green eyes when she realised how skilfully he had wheedled this personal information out of her. 'Are you trying out your court-room tactics on me, Jarvis Cain?' she demanded icily.

  'It's a great help in finding out the things I want to know.'

  His bland admission was accompanied by a mocking smile that sent her blood pressure soaring.

  'I'm going to bed.'

  'You can't go yet.' His hand shot out, gripping her wrist before she could rise from her chair. 'We're only just beginning to get to know each other again.'

  She felt resentment building up inside her as she stared down at that strong, long-fingered hand with the fine dark hair on the back. 'I don't want—'

  'And besides…' he interrupted her sternly, 'you can't go to your room like the rest of the family and leave your guest sitting here alone, now can you?'

  'Damn!' Gina breathed angrily. She felt cornered, trapped, and her own family had played a part in it.

  Jarvis leaned towards her, his eyes narrowed and intent as he inspected her rigid features. 'Did you know that you still have a smattering of freckles on your nose?'

  Her breath caught in her throat, and she jerked her hand free of his clasp. Was he trying to flirt with her? No! Men like Jarvis Cain did not flirt with women, they seduced them!

  'If you want to take that early morning ride with me, then I suggest we both have an early night.' She changed the subject as well as the thoughts flitting through her mind.

  'I think the lady wants to be rid of me,' he smiled twistedly.

  'Yes, quite frankly, I do,' she confessed stiffly, pushing back her chair and rising from the table—on this occasion without being detained. Jarvis arched a sardonic eyebrow as he got up swiftly to bar her way with his tall, imposing frame.

  'You're honest to the point of rudeness, aren't you?'

  'If I have to be.'

  'In that case I shall always know where I stand,' he mocked her as he pushed his chair under the table and stood aside. 'After you,' he gestured with a sweep of his hand.

  Gina brushed past him, catching a whiff of his particular brand of masculine cologne, and it was wholly pleasing to the senses. Dammit! She did not want to find anything pleasing about Jarvis Cain.

  He followed her out of the kitchen in silence, and when they paused outside their respective bedrooms, he glanced at her and smiled faintly. 'Goodnight, George.'

  Gina drew a quick, angry breath, but he had gone into his room and she was staring at a closed door before a sound could pass her lips. How dared he call her George! Her hand was trembling with suppressed fury when she switched on her bedroom light and closed the door behind her.

  She got undressed and went to bed, but it was a long time before she went to sleep. For some infuriating reason her mind had latched on to Jarvis, and she was recalling everything about him as if he was standing in front of her. The mere thought of his awesome presence made her body stiffen between the sheets, and she felt again his lean hand clasping her wrist. His grip had been firm, not painful, and she wondered if he had felt the quickening of her pulse beneath his fingers.

  Oh, lord! Why did she have to lie there thinking about him? As a teenager she had had a crush on him which she had fought valiantly to overcome when she had realised the hopelessness of the situation. The circumstances had not altered over the years, but she was now an adult. She knew that her feelings, if aroused again, could become a great deal more complex, and that was what she was afraid of. The attraction was still there, and it would be foolish of her to ignore that it was stronger than before. If she did not place a guard on her heart she would fall in love with him all over again, but this time the consequences would be more painful.

  Gina rolled over on to her side to bury her face in her pillow, and somehow managed to go to sleep.

  There had been no need to set an alarm. Gina had always been an early riser, and she was awake long before dawn the following morning. She got up and dressed; in jodhpurs and a green, long-sleeved shirt that matched the colour of her eyes, she looked more respectable than the day before, and she was annoyed with herself when she realised that she had unintentionally dressed like this for Jarvis's benefit. Damn the man for affecting her in this way!

  Gina left her room quietly and crossed the darkened passage to where a strip of light emerged from a door which stood slightly ajar.

  'Jarvis, are you awake?' she asked unnecessarily.

  'Come in,' he instructed.

  She opened the door wider, and her breathing became oddly restricted. Jarvis was still minus a shirt, and she was staring at him as if she had never seen a naked male torso before. Her glance had become riveted to the wide shoulders, the bulging biceps, and the muscled chest with short, dark hair trailing down the centre to his taut, flat stomach and where his blue denims hugged his lean hips. She had never before encountered a man who could exude such an overpowering aura of raw masculinity, and her blood seemed to heated as it flowed faster through her veins.

  'Good morning, Georgina,' he greeted her smoothly. He was in no apparent hurry to put on the black sweater he had taken out of the wardrobe.

  His eyes glittered strangely when they met hers, and it took no more than a startled second for her to realise that he was very much aware of the effect he was having on her. Jarvis was, in fact, laughing at her, and she turned angrily on her heel, her cheeks flaming with embarrassment.

  'I'll be down at the stables when you're ready,' she said coldly, and did not wait for him to reply before she walked down the passage and out of the house.

  The stars were fading, and the first fingers of light were beginning to stretch across the dawn sky when Gina reached the stables where Solomon was saddling the two horses. Jupiter whinnied softly and stepped about impatiently when she approached him, and her soothing voice calmed him sufficiently while she checked the girth and stirrups. The sound of boots crunching on the loose gravel made her turn her head to see Jarvis walking towards her, but she averted her gaze almost at once to concentrate on what she was doing.

  'Do you always get up at this unearthly hour?' he questioned her with that now familiar hint of mockery in his deep voice.

  'It's the best time for a ride,' she answered him abruptly, her hands tightening on Jupiter's bridle when the stallion became agitated at Jarvis's approach.

  'Which horse am I to ride?'

  'That one,' she said, pointing towards the chestnut gelding with a white star on his forehead.

  'Thank you.' He gave the black Arab a wide berth when it pawed the earth impatiently. 'Isn't that horse a bit too spirited for you?'

  'Jupiter and I have an understanding.' She placed a calming hand on the horse's quivering neck. 'If I respect his freedom of spirit, he will tolerate my hands on the reins.'

  'That sounds like animal psychology to me,' Jarvis mocked her, but Gina chose to ignore it as she watched him mount Star with the ease of a man accustomed to riding.

  'Shall we go?' she asked.

  'When you're ready,' he smiled faintly, and she had to admit to herself that he looked good in the saddle.

  Gina mounted the temperamental stallion with a swift, fluid movement, and he reacted instantaneously to her, 'Let's go, Jupiter!'

  Star was an admirable horse, but he was slower off the mark, and he did not possess Jupiter's lightning speed when they rode out across the veld. The thundering of their hooves shattered the early morning silence, and Gina made no attempt to curb Jupiter's wild charge. The wind whistled past her ears, blowing her Titian red hair away from the delicate features that mirrored her enjoyment, while her slender, supple body moved in perfect unison with the rhythm of the horse. Gina coul
d almost forget about Jarvis, she could almost forget about everything as she sat astride that magnificent animal, but as they neared her favourite hill, Jarvis caught her up with an unexpected burst of speed which Gina had not expected him to coax out of Star.

  'Do you always ride at this wild pace?' he demanded, raising his voice above the sound of thundering hooves, and Gina smiled at him with a gleam of devilish mockery in her eyes.

  'Isn't it invigorating?' she shouted back, and with very little encouragement Jupiter leapt ahead again, maintaining the lead until Gina reined him in on the crest of the hill.

  She took her feet out of the stirrups and slid gracefully to the ground. She was tethering the horse to an acacia tree when Jarvis brought Star to a halt beside her.

  'How kind of you to stop and give me a break,' he remarked with derision while he dismounted and tethered a snorting Star to the tree beside Jupiter.

  Gina did not answer him. She walked a little distance across the damp earth, and was elated to discover that they were still in time to witness the sunrise.

  'Look!' She pointed towards the east when Jarvis stood beside her, and his glance followed the direction of her pointing finger.

  A golden hue was reaching higher and higher into the dawn sky, and several seconds later the sun appeared beyond the distant hills. The dew-wet earth sparkled and came alive as if an unseen, magical hand had touched it. Birds began to flutter noisily in the trees, and the familiar kwaali call of the pheasants floated up the hill towards them.

  To watch the sun rise through the city smog isn't quite the same as this, is it?' Gina sighed contentedly, unaware that the rising sun was setting fire to her hair, and equally unaware that there was something more than casual interest in the eyes of the man who stood observing her intently.

  'You're a child of nature, Georgina.' Jarvis's voice intruded on nature's symphony of the awakening veld. 'What are you doing in the city?'

  She felt his eyes on her, but she could not look at him, and she pushed her trembling fingers into the pockets of her judphurs with a careless shrug of her shoulders. 'I have to earn a living somewhere, and if I can't do so here on the farm, then I shall have to do so in the city.'