She wasn’t surprised by the security of the building, either, a guard situated in the car park itself, another one in the lobby upstairs. Not that the men challenged their progress at all, obviously recognising Rufus as one of the wealthy tenants. The apartment itself didn’t actually seem like part of a block, being on the ground floor, with its own high-walled garden at the rear.
It was beautifully furnished, too, with obviously genuine antique furniture, the carpets in muted golds and greens. Elegance was the word that came to mind as Annie looked around. It was a far cry from the minute flat she had shared with three other girls until a short time ago; the huge sitting-room was almost as big as their whole accommodation had been!
‘I only rent it, Annie.’ Rufus was watching her reaction to her surroundings. ‘I don’t own it.’
The monthly rent on a place like this would probably amount to almost a year’s wages for her!
‘God damn it!’ Rufus suddenly ground out. ‘I’ve never had to apologise for my choice of home before!’
It wasn’t his home that bothered her—given the choice she would probably have gone for somewhere like this herself! No, it was the location and obvious cost of it that overwhelmed her, and emphasised the gulf between her own lifestyle and that of the Diamond family. But she certainly wasn’t asking him to apologise for it!
‘It’s very nice,’ she told him stiltedly, swallowing hard as he just looked even more annoyed. And they both knew what happened when he became annoyed!
‘It’s very tidy,’ Jessica put in. ‘You obviously haven’t been home for a while, Daddy,’ she added mischievously.
‘Not at all in the last three months,’ he acknowledged wearily. ‘I submitted my last story when I arrived in England on Wednesday, and came straight down to Clifftop House.’
Annie frowned across at him; he had been in a hurry to get there…
To see Jessica? Or had it been something else that had brought him so quickly to the family home?
He returned her questioning gaze enigmatically, and Annie knew she would find no answers there, not unless Rufus was prepared to give her them. He didn’t look as if he was!
‘I did, however, have some supplies brought in earlier today,’ Rufus continued briskly. ‘So it’s a cup of tea for Annie and myself, and a juice for you, young lady.’ He ruffled Jessica’s hair affectionately. ‘You show Annie to the bedroom next to yours, Jess, and I’ll go and make the drinks.’
Annie was glad of these few minutes’ respite, if only to accustom herself to her new surroundings. She should have realised that Rufus’s apartment wouldn’t be anything like the rooms in the old Victorian house that had been her own home until two months ago. He was a Diamond, came from a very wealthy family. She should have expected this.
It was proof of just how lacking in professionalism their relationship had become that she hadn’t expected this. She made Rufus laugh, made him angry, annoyed him, and in the last twenty-four hours he had kissed her, twice. She had almost forgotten they were employer and employee. She mustn’t forget again.
‘It’s a lovely room,’ she told Jessica once the young girl had shown her to the bedroom she had been allocated. And it was a lovely room, the gold and cream decor making it appear warm and welcoming. But it didn’t really matter whether it was a lovely room or not; she would only be occupying it for a short time!
‘It’s ages since Daddy brought me here,’ Jessica told her wistfully.
So the trip to London wasn’t a regular occurrence; Annie couldn’t help wondering what had prompted it this time…
She smiled at Jessica. ‘Perhaps twisting your ankle wasn’t such a bad thing, after all,’ she teased.
Jessica grinned back at her, a grin that was so like her father’s. For the first time Annie found herself wondering what Joanne had looked like. There were no pictures of Jessica’s mother at Clifftop House, and she had only noticed a large framed photograph of Jessica in the sitting-room here. One thing Annie was pretty sure of: Joanne wouldn’t have been a short redhead!
Now that was a strange thought to have come into her head…
‘Let’s go and have our drinks,’ Jessica prompted. ‘Daddy isn’t very domesticated,’ she confided. ‘So the tea will probably be awful!’
They were still laughing together over this as they entered the kitchen a few seconds later.
‘Care to share the joke?’ Rufus invited indulgently as he stood across the room pouring the tea.
Annie looked at Jessica, Jessica looked at Annie, and they both shook their heads at the same time, causing them to burst into laughter once again. In fact, it felt good to Annie to be able to laugh; there had been so little to laugh at just recently.
‘Oh, I see.’ Rufus nodded knowingly. ‘I’m the brunt of it!’ he accepted as he handed Annie her cup of tea.
The sight of the tea set the two of them off into peals of laughter once again, so much so that Annie couldn’t take the cup from Rufus for fear of dropping it.
‘Oh, I understand—it’s the tea that caused the laughter in the first place!’ He put the cup down, peering down into it. ‘I must admit, it does look pretty awful.’ He grimaced.
‘That’s exactly how I said it would look!’ Jessica still giggled. ‘Why do you think I always prefer to drink juice when I’m here?’
‘You little monkey!’ Her father gave her an imaginary cuff about the ear. ‘I suppose you think Annie can do better?’ he challenged.
Annie’s eyes widened. ‘I wasn’t the one disparaging your tea-making skills!’
‘No—but you were laughing at them,’ he instantly returned.
Annie took a tentative look into the cup he had been about to give her, her distaste instinctive as she saw the mud-coloured fluid. ‘How many teabags did you put in the pot?’ she asked incredulously.
‘I like strong tea,’ he defended dryly.
‘So do I,’ she replied. ‘But—I was always told “one for each person, and one for the pot”.’ She looked at him questioningly.
‘It’s a big pot,’ he muttered grudgingly.
Annie looked at him knowingly. ‘How many teabags did you use?’ she persisted.
‘Enough,’ he muttered again.
‘Daddy!’ Jessica scolded him lightly. ‘You’re preprevar—’
‘Prevaricating,’ he finished irritably. ‘Okay, six. I put six teabags in the pot!’ He glared at them both.
Annie bit her lip to stop herself from laughing again, saying nothing more, and went to empty the teapot and start again. At least he had managed to warm the pot for her! ‘Would you care for tea, too, Jessica?’ She held a fourth teabag over the pot.
‘Don’t you dare say yes, just because I haven’t made it,’ her father warned. ‘I’ll be in the lounge when you’ve made the tea.’
Annie watched him leave the room, her mouth still twitching with laughter. ‘Do you think we’ve hurt his feelings?’ she murmured to Jessica.
‘No.’ The little girl made herself comfortable on one of the stools that stood in front of the breakfast-bar. ‘He’ll probably be glad to have a decent cup of tea himself for a change!’
Annie didn’t know whether he was or not when they joined him in the lounge, Rufus taking the cup of tea from her without saying a word. But it wasn’t an uncomfortable silence, and on reflection Annie had to admit she had enjoyed the exchange in the kitchen. They might have been a real family—
She pulled her thoughts up sharply. Families were for other people, not her. One day she might have a family of her own, but until then she must guard against becoming too attached to Jessica. And her father…!
Rufus made her laugh. She had never really been able to do that with a man before. And that laughter was even more heady than his kisses had been. Dangerous territory, she realised that. Because Rufus wasn’t the marrying kind. He loved his daughter, that much was obvious, and no doubt there had been women in his life since his wife died, but his choice of career didn’t allow for any per
manent relationships. And he already knew, from the conversation he had overheard between herself and Anthony, her views on mistresses—
She brought her thoughts up sharp once again. What on earth was she thinking of? The man had kissed her twice, not declared undying love for her. Or anything else, for that matter!
‘Very nice.’ Rufus put his empty cup down.
‘Daddy!’ Jessica reproved him once again.
‘I said it was nice, didn’t I?’ he retorted irritably. ‘Can you cook too?’ He turned to Annie, his expression hopeful.
‘Please say you can!’ Jessica looked at her imploringly.
She hadn’t thought about it before, had become used, over the last couple of months, she realised, to the fact that there was a cook in residence at Clifftop House to prepare the meals for everyone. But this was a bachelor apartment, had none of those niceties…
She nodded. ‘Just basic stuff, you understand,’ she explained hastily; cordon bleu she was not!
‘Daddy can’t even boil an egg,’ Jessica confided candidly.
‘I can so,’ he instantly protested, but there was laughter dancing in his eyes.
‘No, you can’t,’ his daughter contradicted him. ‘Remember that time you—?’
‘Okay, okay.’ Rufus held up his hands defensively. ‘I can’t cook,’ he conceded wearily.
‘He forgot to put any water in the saucepan,’ Jessica told Annie in a whisper deliberately loud enough for her father to hear. ‘I don’t know if you’ve ever seen an egg explode, bust—’
‘No, Jessica, I haven’t, although I’m sure it’s very—interesting,’ Annie cut in swiftly as she could see Rufus was going to be the one to explode if this maligning of his culinary skills went on much longer. ‘Now I know the real reason the two of you wanted me along on this trip!’ she added with mock indignation. ‘You just didn’t want to risk your father’s cooking—or to starve!’
‘She’s sussed us out, Jess.’ Rufus winked at his daughter conspiratorially.
‘It wasn’t too difficult,’ Annie returned witheringly. ‘So what are we having to eat this evening?’ She arched questioning brows, sure he had had the food for their evening meal delivered today too.
‘Steak and salad,’ Rufus answered instantly. ‘But Jess and I can do the salad—’
‘I’ll do it, Daddy,’ Jessica cut in firmly, turning to Annie. ‘The last time Daddy made the salad I found a slug in my—’
‘Okay, I’ll leave you two girls to get dinner.’ Rufus stood up decisively. ‘I have some calls to catch up on, anyway. I’ll be in my study—first door on the right out of here—when it’s ready.’ He strode purposefully out of the room.
Annie turned to Jessica, a smile curving her lips. ‘I think we drove him away with our teasing!’
‘Don’t you believe it; he was glad to escape.’ Jessica shrugged dismissively, starting to help with the preparations for dinner.
It was a happy half-hour, Annie concentrating on seasoning and grilling the steaks she had found so conveniently in the refrigerator, while Jessica hobbled about preparing the salad. They laid the table between the two of them once the steaks were sizzling away, Annie having found a French loaf to accompany the meal too. It all looked very appetising once it was put on the kitchen table, Annie having opted for this casual comfort rather than the formal dining-room she had seen earlier, anxious that Jessica did not put too much strain on her slowly healing ankle.
‘Not bad.’ Annie nodded her satisfaction with the meal they had put out on the table. ‘Even if I do say so myself.’
‘I’ll go and get Daddy.’ Jessica was eager to show him their handiwork.
‘I’ll go,’ Annie told her firmly. ‘You’ve done enough walking on that ankle for one evening.’
‘Can I light the candles, then?” Jessica prompted eagerly.
Annie turned at the door. ‘Not until I come back with your father. And if he says yes, then you can.’
The candles had been Jessica’s idea, as had the two wineglasses for herself and Rufus; Jessica had assured her that her father would want wine with his meal. Annie wasn’t sure whether he would or not, but she was happy to go along with it, although one glass of wine was her own personal limit; any more than that and she was apt to get silly.
She could hear Rufus talking on the telephone as she approached his study, hesitating outside the door as she wondered if she should interrupt him. But she didn’t want their meal to ruin either, and—
She became suddenly still, actually about to knock on the door, when she unwittingly heard part of his conversation.
‘Please ask Margaret to call me when she gets in.’ Rufus spoke firmly. ‘I really need to talk to her.’
Margaret…? There was only one Margaret that Annie knew of who had come into the conversation recently, and that was her predecessor.
Rufus was in contact with Margaret. And he really needed to talk to her…
Why? Oh, Annie accepted that the other woman had left without notice, but even so—
‘Yes, I received her letter.’ Rufus was still talking to the other person on the end of the telephone line. ‘But I still need to talk to Margaret herself.’
The other woman had written to him! They were on close terms…?
Was Anthony not the only member of the Diamond family who had a penchant for the servants…?
CHAPTER SEVEN
‘YOU were very quiet during dinner,’ Rufus remarked. The two of them were in the sitting-room, Jessica safely in bed.
Annie was surprised she had even been able to eat the meal, with each mouthful threatening to choke her! And as for her personal limit of one glass of wine—! She had accepted every refill of the red wine that Rufus had offered her, her thoughts tumbling over each other in their haste to be considered.
Rufus and Margaret…
So many things had fallen into place now. Rufus had seemed very upset at finding the other woman was no longer at Clifftop House, had questioned everyone as to the possible reason for her abrupt departure. And he had wasted no time in coming back to London once he’d realised that was where she must be. Obviously so that he could speak to her in person.
Perhaps the two of them had had a row, or maybe Margaret had just decided the relationship wasn’t for her after all. Whatever her reasons, Rufus desperately wanted to see her again.
Annie had got through dinner in miserable silence, hardly able to believe her stupidity. She hadn’t fallen for the wrong man once, but twice, and within days of each other! How naive could she be? Anthony, she had quickly realised, had been a terrible mistake on her part, but Rufus—! Rufus was something else entirely… He was tall and strong, honest and dependable—hah, dependable! —or so she had thought until a short time ago.
She had been falling in love with him, she had realised as she’d stood numbly on the other side of his study door.
She had enjoyed being in his company, felt she could relax and be herself with him, while at the same time feeling completely challenged by him. And he made her laugh…
Well, she wasn’t laughing now. And she hadn’t laughed through dinner, either. It was as if all the friendly banter and teasing that had preceded the meal had never been; dinner had just been something she had to get through.
But she had got through it, had accepted with a bright, meaningless smile the compliments about her cooking, had seen Jessica settled into bed while Rufus cleared away—something Jessica had assured her he could do!
Now all Annie wanted to do was escape to her own bedroom and lick her wounds in private. And to her dismay there were wounds, her mistake where Rufus was concerned hurting her deeply.
‘Annie?’ Rufus prompted in a puzzled voice at her lack of response to his comment.
She stood up abruptly, her hands clasped tightly together to stop their trembling. ‘I’m very tired. I think I’ll go to bed too, if you don’t mind?’ To her chagrin, she couldn’t even look at him, talking to a spot somewhere over his left s
houlder as he sat in one of the armchairs.
‘You haven’t even touched the brandy I poured for you,’ he pointed out mildly.
And rightly so—any more alcohol and she was likely to fall over!
Had he entertained Margaret here too, with or without Jessica present? Had he poured Margaret brandy after dinner and expected her to sit in here and drink it with him? Was that how it had all started? Had the two of them—?
‘Annie, you don’t look too well.’ Rufus stood up, putting his brandy glass down on the table before crossing the room to her side. ‘A few seconds ago your face was flushed; now you’ve gone deathly white.’ He looked at her worriedly.
A few seconds ago she had been flushed from the wine she had drunk, and now she had gone white because she was going to be sick!
She turned quickly and ran from the room, just getting to the bathroom before she was violently ill, bringing up all the food she had so painstakingly forced down her throat such a short time ago, her eyes watering from the suddenness of the attack. Rufus came in behind her.
‘You really aren’t well, are you?’ he said soothingly, pressing a damp cloth to her forehead.
His presence in the bathroom only succeeded in making her feel more ill. She should just die right now, just lie down and—
‘Come on, I’ll help you to your bedroom,’ Rufus told her indulgently, still keeping the cloth pressed against her forehead.
Annie straightened, flushing away the evidence of her illness as she did so. ‘No!’ she said sharply. ‘Really. I’m fine.’ She pushed the cloth away, relieved to see her hand was shaking only slightly. ‘I’ve never been a good traveller,’ she said by way of an excuse. ‘It was probably that that made me ill.’
‘Motion sickness.’ Rufus nodded understandingly.
More like emotion sickness! ‘Something like that,’ she agreed, just wanting the privacy of her bedroom now, sure she must look a sight.
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