‘Nan and Gramp live in Ireland.’
‘And your other grandparents live here.’
Luke accepted that simple fact with a slight nod.
Alex barely registered that because the impressive front door had opened on a beaming couple. The man was tall and, as she drew nearer, she recognised those classically austere features, and the woman, coming towards them now, was small and round and amazingly unlined.
‘Didn’t I tell you that they weren’t monsters?’ Gabriel murmured, taking her hand, a piece of moral support which Alex knew she should object to but for which she was inordinately grateful.
He was smiling as he bent to kiss his mother and something else clicked into place in her head. Gabriel loved his parents. His marriage proposal had been his way of trying to capture what they had and provide it for his own son. Of course, there was no love in the equation and so it would never have worked out, but Alex was beginning to understand his motivations.
‘Antonio Cruz…it is a pleasure to meet you…’ He was extending his hand and smiling, as was the woman, who had also moved forward to introduce herself in accented English, but their eyes were on their grandson and Luke was positively basking in the sudden attention, allowing himself to be lifted by his grandfather and shown to his grandmother like some amazing long lost treasure, although twisting round just to make sure that Alex was still in sight.
This was hardly the cold, condemnatory greeting she had expected.
She was ushered inside the house and, when she began to awkwardly explain how sorry she was that they had not met their grandson sooner, her apologies were waved aside amidst affirmations of delight that they were meeting him now. Every compliment was paid to Luke and, waiting in the grand drawing room, an anachronism against the opulent, traditional decor, was a shiny three-wheeled bicycle of the sort Alex had never seen before.
‘It is their way of expressing their enthusiasm about meeting him,’ Gabriel murmured softly to her. He was as surprised as she was at the warmth of their greetings and wondered whether there had been truth in his father’s remarks that the cancellation of the wedding had not been the disaster he had anticipated for them both. ‘Please refrain,’ he continued in the same low breath, ‘from giving a speech about the evils of money.’
‘I wouldn’t have dreamt of doing any such thing!’
‘Good.’
While Gabriel moved to chat to his father, his mother, Maria, drew her to one side. ‘We can watch Luke in the garden on his new bike,’ she said, not seeming to mind that he had already climbed on it and was experimenting with their gleaming polished floor as a possible racetrack.
‘You must be very proud of him,’ the older woman confided as they followed him outside, leaving Gabriel with his father. ‘Gabriel explained the situation.
‘He told us that you were unable to contact him when you fell pregnant. Distressing though it is to know that I could have met my grandson when he was a baby, we are both pleased that we are meeting him now and that Gabriel will finally be happy. As a mother, you know that is all we wish for our children.’
Alex flushed and guiltily wondered how this charming woman would react if she knew that her son finally being happy was not really on the agenda.
‘Cristobel was not the right one for Gabriel,’ Maria confided, chuckling when Luke paused to flash her a crooked sidelong smile that made him resemble a mini Gabriel even more than he already did.
Alex said nothing. Maria had romantic delusions about her son. She would be stricken if she knew that what was right for Gabriel was a woman like Cristobel who ticked all the right boxes except for that big box labelled Love, which didn’t interest him anyway.
‘You, on the other hand. The very minute I saw you, my dear, I knew. A mother knows these things.’
‘Knows what things?’
Completely lost, Alex turned to Maria with a perplexed frown but Gabriel and his father were emerging from the house and any explanation for that weird remark was lost as Alex was plied with questions about Luke, who had the look of a child suddenly let loose in a sweet shop.
‘Now, you must be tired,’ Maria announced once they were all inside.
Alex realised that she was. It had been a long, wearying few days and, with the horrifying hurdle of meeting his parents behind her, exhaustion slammed into her like a brick wall.
‘Your bags have been taken up and, if it is all right with you, Antonio and I would enjoy so much settling our grandson.’
Alex looked down at Luke, who looked as bright eyed and bushy-tailed as any four-year-old boy who had slept off and on and was now brimming over with boundless energy and excitement in his new surroundings, even though it was already past his normal bedtime. It would take more than a handful of stories to send him to sleep but, whilst she hesitated, Gabriel stepped into the silence and assured his parents that Luke would love nothing better.
‘We bought a few books…’ Maria smiled down at the child and held her hand out. ‘Made the room as special as we could in the small amount of time…I hope you do not mind…’ A quick look at Alex, who shook her head and gave in to the warm feeling inside her of being accepted. More than accepted…apparently welcomed with open arms. Her mind drifted sleepily back to what the older woman had earlier said but she was literally too tired to analyse anything.
‘Of course, he will be in the blue room next to you…’
‘You’re practically asleep on your feet,’ Gabriel said, amused. He looked hesitantly down at his son, unsure whether the affection displayed earlier had been an anomaly, but, risking it, he stooped down to lift Luke up and was rewarded with a shy smile which was fairly thrilling. He grinned back and ventured a more robust sign of affection, throwing him up in the air and catching him as if he were as light as a feather. Alex watched, feeling vaguely left out when Luke gave a shriek of laughter and begged for a repeat performance. He had no experience of men. Alex had had no boyfriends since she and Gabriel had parted ways. There had been opportunities and she knew that some of them had ticked all the right boxes, but she had never felt inclined to take any of them up. Her life had been too busy, she reasoned to herself, with Luke and with just making ends meet and carving out an independent life for herself, for her to make space for the arduous business of getting to know a guy. Sometimes, underneath that robust reasoning, she’d thought that no man had ever come along who could hold a candle to the Lucio she had known then. But she didn’t like thinking like that and it scared her to imagine that he was now back in her life, harnessed to her against his will, a nightmare living reminder of her foolish teenage dreams.
The little game with Luke ended as Gabriel gently set him down. For a few seconds Alex knew that she had been entirely forgotten in the aftermath of his boisterous few minutes of fun with his father. From the sidelines, Maria and Antonio were looking on with every semblance of enjoying the sight of Gabriel playing with his son and, when Maria caught her eye, the older woman’s beam became even broader so that Alex couldn’t resist smiling back, even though it was a little disconcerting to witness this much delayed bonding finally beginning to take place.
‘And now up to bed, both of you!’ Maria urged them up the magnificent staircase that forked in opposite directions at the top to accommodate the various wings of the grand house.
‘I’m sure Gabriel would like to stay and catch up with you.’ Alex shot him a telling glance which she hoped he would correctly interpret as tell your parents the full story of our situation.
‘Time enough tomorrow,’ Maria said comfortably. ‘And this little man will be following very soon.’
‘Since I’ve been good—’ Luke directed this question to his new found grandparents, taking full advantage of a once in a lifetime opportunity but making sure that he wasn’t actually looking at Alex when he did it ‘—am I allowed some ice cream?’ He flashed them a winning smile. ‘Or even some chocolate?’ And then, finally realising that permission might be required from a higher source
, he shot his mother a pleading look and she sighed resignedly.
‘You’re a horror,’ she told him grinning. ‘But first, come and have a look at your room and I’ll be checking to make sure you’re in it in an hour.’
Thoughts of a lovely warm bath gave her a renewed sense of energy as they all trooped up the stairs and turned left at the top. For the first time since she had arrived, she really paid attention to her surroundings. There was nothing restrained about the opulence of the massive house. Lush carpet was soft underfoot and numerous traditional paintings adorned the walls, conferring the impression that this was a house that had seen many generations of the same family. It was odd to think that Gabriel had lived here as a boy. Was that why it had been so tempting to string her along under a phoney name when the chance had presented itself? Had the novelty of being anonymous been as powerful for him because of his fabulous background as the lure of celebrity might have been for someone who had come from nothing?
If only he had had a crystal ball and had seen that for every act there was always a consequence. Maybe then he might have stuck to what he had always known.
She blinked with a start when Maria paused to push open the door to Luke’s room and then, a few minutes later, the heavy wooden door that was next in line.
It was a vast room dominated by a four-poster bed, not the modern, undressed, minimalist version, but a four-poster bed of the old-fashioned variety that was only ever glimpsed nowadays in magazines or seen in period movies. It was spectacular enough to produce a gasp from Alex, as were the rest of the furnishings. The large, ornate dressing table, the rich royal-blue of the floor to ceiling curtains, the wardrobe with its panel of exquisitely fashioned glass, which was reflecting their images back at them as they stood in the doorway.
‘I have put you here…Gabriel’s room is in the other wing and I know you would have wanted to be close to your son in the room next door…’
Maria’s words echoed around her head and then crystallised slowly but surely as Alex’s wandering gaze finally alighted on the clutch of suitcases tucked neatly away in the corner of the bedroom. Hers, Luke’s…and Gabriel’s. Louis Vuitton rubbing shoulders with cheap and synthetic department store.
She looked round in confused horror, trying to meet Gabriel’s eye, but he was busy talking to his father while Luke hopped from one foot to the other, bored with the house tour and eager to get to the kitchen for whatever untold delights awaited him.
‘Um…’ Alex cleared her throat. ‘I don’t think this is quite right…’ she ventured hesitantly into a sudden bemused silence. ‘I can’t help but notice…well…’ She gestured to the offending pile of suitcases on the ground.
‘We will take care of these,’ Gabriel said smoothly, inserting himself between Alex and his parents and Maria’s puzzled face uncreased into a smile. Luke had slipped his hand into hers and was tugging.
‘Look—’ Alex gave it another shot, although she had to angle her body awkwardly just to avoid addressing his back ‘—there seems to be a misunderstanding here…’
Tall though she was, he was, however, taller and broader and she was forced to watch helplessly as the troops departed and she was left standing in the room with Gabriel, who slowly closed the door behind him and turned to face her.
‘I thought that went well. Better than expected, in actual fact.’ He strolled towards the window and glanced outside before turning to perch against the broad window ledge, on which were arranged a pair of solid black marble sculptures of galloping horses.
‘What’s going on?’ Alex demanded, folding her arms, refusing to be drawn into polite chit-chat and infuriated by his attitude of casual indolence when she was itching for answers.
‘I don’t get you.’
‘Oh, don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about, Gabriel!’ Alex resorted to an explosive outburst and pointed at the stack of cases on the floor. ‘Why has your bag been put in the room I’m supposed to be sleeping in?’
‘Because this isn’t your room; it’s our room. And I am as surprised as you are. I wouldn’t have thought that my parents were quite so liberal minded. Then again, today has been full of surprises.’
Alex looked at him in seething silence. ‘I’m not sharing a room with you,’ she said through angrily gritted teeth.
‘You haven’t got a choice.’ Gabriel spoke with utmost politeness. When she bent down to reach for her two nylon suitcases, he was at her side before she could straighten and this time there was an implacability on his face that sent shivers down her spine. As did his proximity. As did the intimacy of their situation, with that hulking great bed behind her, significant and shockingly evocative.
‘What do you mean? Of course I have a choice! Luke’s room is big enough to hold a small party! It’d be no problem if I slept with him tonight until this misunderstanding is sorted out!’
‘Didn’t I mention to you that my parents are ultra-traditional?’ His voice was like dark chocolate swirling around her, suffocating her ability to think on her feet. ‘They haven’t considered the possibility that there is no relationship between us.’
‘But didn’t you tell them…?’
‘Tell them what? That you are happy for Luke to remain illegitimate? So that you can do your own thing? That they will only see their grandson when visiting rights are allowed? That he will be the innocent victim of an unstable background? Surprise, surprise. I thought that delicate matter should be addressed to their faces and by both of us. In the meantime, they have reached their own conclusions.’ He spread his hands wide. ‘Shall we interrupt their enjoyment with Luke so that we can break the news to them that they’re still in the Dark Ages and that single parent families are the done thing?’
‘That’s not fair!’
‘Right now, it’s all we’ve got. We can think of a way ahead in the morning. In the meantime, it’s been a long few days and I am not inclined to stand here arguing with you. The bed’s big enough for the two of us. And now I’m going to take a shower. I suggest you get down to the business of unpacking…’
CHAPTER SIX
GABRIEL took his time in the shower. Alex wouldn’t be going anywhere. Firstly, she didn’t know the layout of the house and, secondly, she would never want to risk the deluge of questions that would be raised should she be discovered bunkering down next to Luke in the room next door. She had expected the worst and, having been showered with warmth, she wouldn’t want to risk destroying it all by creating a scene. At least not tonight. Tomorrow was another day and he would cross whatever bridges required crossing when they appeared.
Right now, he would give her time to calm down because she had been ready to explode. In the shower, he grinned to himself. Women tiptoed around him, always desperate to get on his good side. Alex did the opposite. He wondered how it was that although she was the least girly girl he had ever met, she was also one of the most maddeningly feminine.
He felt revived after his shower and utterly relaxed, despite the disruption to his highly well organised and well oiled everyday life. He had left his computer downstairs and he decided to forgo the joys of being on constant call in favour of whatever the evening had in store for him.
Which appeared to be nothing when he finally emerged from the steamy bathroom with only a towel round his waist. The bedroom was conspicuously empty, although a quick check told him that the suitcases were all still intact.
Without bothering to go through the hassle of trying to find something suitable to wear to bed, Gabriel headed for Luke’s bedroom and, sure enough, there she was, sitting on the side of Luke’s bed and in the process of finishing a story in a low, soothing voice to a child who was fast asleep.
‘The sleep of the innocent,’ he murmured and Alex gave a little squeak of surprise because she hadn’t heard him coming in.
And little wonder why! She looked down at his bare feet and her heart skipped a beat. She had come to check on Luke, make sure that he had brushed his teeth because th
ere was no way that she intended to wait in the bedroom for Gabriel to emerge from his shower. She hadn’t banked on him following her through to Luke’s bedroom, least of all with…
Her eyes travelled upwards and she released a little sigh of relief at the sight of the fluffy towel wrapped round his waist.
‘Couldn’t you have got dressed?’ she snapped, rising to her feet and depositing the book on the little bedside table.
Maria hadn’t quite been telling the truth when she had said that they had done what they could to Luke’s room, given the short notice of his arrival. The bed was in the shape of a racing car and every picture book imaginable had been provided on a bookcase that was cleverly designed in the format of a cartoon character. A giant faux fur beanbag rested in one corner of the room, right alongside an electric racetrack, complete with miniature sports cars and remote controls. Lord only knew how they had managed to kit out a child’s bedroom to such an exquisite standard in the space of a couple of days but that, Alex assumed, was how money talked.
It was spoiling taken to extremes but she didn’t have the heart to tell them off because they were so conspicuously thrilled to have a grandson, even one they hadn’t planned on. They had been gracious and charming and at great pains to conceal the bitter disappointment they must surely be feeling and for that she was grateful.
‘I wondered where you were.’ Gabriel lounged against the door frame, beautiful, indolent and off-putting, and waited for her to join him. ‘I thought for a minute that you might have scuttled off to some far-flung corner of the house but then I spotted the cases on the floor and figured you had come here.’
Alex brushed past him and shut the door quietly behind her. The temptation to feast her eyes on that magnificent body was making her feel a little weak but she was heart-stoppingly aware of him as he fell into step alongside her and even more heart-stoppingly aware of their bedroom door closing behind them.
A Spanish Birthright aka The Secret Spanish Love-Child Page 9