The Language of Love

by Saunders, Jean

  It would be slightly different now, of course. Little tete-a-tetes would be reserved for Elena and Nels, and something would inevitably be gone from the old easy relationship of two unattached females. But there was still plenty of necessary women’s talk, and Elena assured her that they’d get their heads together the next morning when Nels was off on business of his own.

  “Tonight we’re going to show you the city,” Elena said gaily. “It’s rather special by night, and you and Pieter can sit in the back of Nels’s car and pretend to be tourists while we act as guides. I’m sure Pieter will want to take you around on foot while you’re here, but tonight is our night.”

  Annette kept her eyes away from Pieter as his sister went on talking.

  “And to celebrate your visit, we’re going to end up at the Van Ness Hotel for dinner,” Nels added. “Pieter has arranged the best table to watch the floorshow, and I promise you it’ll be a treat, Annette.”

  “It sounds wonderful, but you’ve gone to so much trouble –”

  “Nonsense,” Elena said with a laugh. “We’re so pleased you’re here! And you’ll have the chance to see Helga tonight too.”

  “Helga?”

  “Uncle Pieter’s girlfriend,” the small girls chorused in unison, giggling behind their hands as he gave them each a playful smack on their bottoms.

  Annette had the sudden extraordinary feeling that someone had walked over her grave. She’d never really understood it before, but it was an unpleasant, shivery cold feeling. Had she really thought he didn’t have a girlfriend? She’d never really admitted that that was just what she’d hoped.

  Mrs. Luykens appeared again to show Annette her room, and she made her escape gladly. Only to find that Pieter had followed them up the curving staircase to unpack his own clothes in the room along the corridor from hers. When the housekeeper had gone, Annette found him leaning against her door. She threw open her suitcase with nervous fingers.

  “You don’t want to believe everything children say,” he said at once.

  Her head jerked up. “Why not? Out of the mouths of babes, isn’t it? And why do you think it worries me anyway?”

  He was across the room in a couple of strides and his arms went around her, imprisoning her.

  “I want it to worry you,” he said angrily. “I want you to believe I care about you.”

  “You don’t know me.” Her voice shook. “How can you care?”

  “I told you once that we’re no longer children, Annette. We don’t need the pretenses of children, nor the hedging about of teenagers. We’re adults and we should know when something momentous happens in our lives.”

  “I’m not aware that it has.”

  He shook her none too gently. His face was very close to hers, and she could see the anger in his gray eyes. They were as cold as steel, and she knew how he had gotten to the top of his chosen profession. One look from those eyes could quell a lesser mortal. She met them unflinchingly.

  “Everything about you tells me that you know it as well as I do, Annette,” he said roughly. “What your lips don’t say, your eyes do, and every bit of that delicious body of yours. Don’t deny that the attraction between us is mutual or I’ll call you a liar, and I don’t generally insult beautiful women.”

  She sought for a cutting reply, but before she could think of one, he had drawn her closer, tipping her head back with one hand and kissing her soft lips. The dizzying sensations were back with her again, spinning away the need for words.

  Chapter Four

  Annette pushed him out of her mind as the refreshing shower in the adjoining bathroom revived her. She replaced the red trouser suit with a soft blue dress, enjoying the quiet elegance of the guest room into which she’d been shown. Everything about it – thick soft carpet, matching bed linen and curtains, and the dark oak antique furniture – told of the Van Ness background of which she had been totally unaware.

  She took a look through the large window. Her room was at the back of the house and overlooked one of the quieter canals. On the opposite bank were other large, opulent houses. Probably another fine square where the elite of Amsterdam society lived, thought Annette. It startled her, having never guessed that the modest Elena was one of them.

  Not that her friend was in any way a society snob, she reminded herself. Elena adored her job as a teacher, and would miss it when she married Nels. But no doubt there would be babies of their own to fill the gap, and Annette felt an extraordinary pang at the thought. If things hadn’t gone so tragically wrong, she and Tony would have had children by now. It was one more loss...

  “Annette?” She heard the tap on the door and Elena’s voice at the same time, and turned with a bright smile as the Dutch girl entered, hands outstretched to take hers. “I can’t tell you how happy I am to see you! We’ll have such a lovely time you won’t want to go back to London.”

  Annette laughed at her coaxing tone. “You forget I’m a working girl. It’s what brought me here! And I’d never have forgiven you if you hadn’t asked for my help in your flowers!” She could say it teasingly now that it was a fait accompli.

  “I was hoping it was partly Pieter who brought you here,” Elena said mischievously. “It’s time the two of you met. I’ve intrigued him long enough with tales of my beautiful English friend. What do you think of my brother, Annette?”

  To her annoyance, Annette felt her cheeks go hot. The question had been thrown at her unexpectedly, and was so blatantly matchmaking by Elena’s tone that she’d have bristled at once if it had been said by anyone else. She gave a short laugh. “Give me a chance to get to know him first!”

  A swift image of laughter lines fanning out from eyes that could be soft as gray silk or steely hard came immediately to her mind. That image was mingled with a rich deep voice and arms that held her possessively.

  “It didn’t take Pieter long to decide about you.” Elena grinned. “He telephoned me from London to say how right I’d been about you, and that he’d be bringing you back with him today.”

  “He was that sure of me, was he?”

  Elena’s eyes, startlingly like Pieter’s, laughed at her. “Pieter’s used to getting what he wants!”

  And he’d made it very plain he wanted Annette. She felt the usual tightening in her stomach when anyone threatened to get too close to her. Beginning a new relationship could only end in more bleakness, knowing no one could match up to Tony – until now. The bright new successful Annette Granger had managed to keep other men at arm’s reach. But then, she hadn’t bargained on meeting someone like Pieter Van Ness, who was so much more stimulating than any other man she’d met, rousing her to passion or anger so very quickly. She gave a small shiver.

  “Tell me about Pieter’s hotel, Elena,” she said in a rush. “Is it very grand?”

  “Oh, yes,” Elena said easily. “We’ll put on our ‘glad rags,’ as you say. But if you’ve unpacked, do come downstairs now. We’ll have proper afternoon tea now, mostly for the girls’ benefit, since they won’t be coming with us tonight, and they’re dying to talk to you and ask about London. It’s their ambition to go there one day and see the Queen and Buckingham Palace!”

  Annette laughed more naturally. “But I want to know about the wedding! Where is it to be – and where are you going for your honeymoon? I want to know everything!”

  “So you shall.” Elena hugged her arm and together they went down the curving staircase to the lounge, while Annette learned that the wedding would be in Amsterdam, and afterward Elena and Nels would fly to Tenerife for two weeks. Weddings and honeymoons...she’d been involved in so many because of her job over the past eight years, but none of them had touched her personally. The others were just work; this one reminded her unbearably of her own ecstatic wedding, and the idyllic weeks that followed.

  Everyone was waiting in the lounge while Mrs. Luykens brought in the “proper tea,” a large trolley with little sandwiches and cheesecake, and a choice of tea or coffee. Elena went to sit with Ne
ls at once, the two of them looking exactly right together, both tall and blond. Annette sat by the two little girls on the sofa. They were suddenly struck with shyness now that the newcomer was actually beside them.

  “I hope we’ll be friends, since we’re all going to be bridal attendants.” Annette smiled at Gerda and Lise. She was very aware of Pieter, lounging by the oakframed fireplace where a huge log fire crackled and leaped and filled the room with a rosy warmth. She didn’t look directly at him, but she knew he never took his eyes off her.

  “What are your favorite flowers?” she asked the children, who giggled at the question and answered together.

  “Tulips,” said Gerda.

  “Daffodils and daisies.”

  Annette smiled again, pleased to get a response on which she could work to gain their attention.

  “Well, I don’t think posies made of tulips, daffodils, and daisies would look quite right for you to carry! We’ll have to think of something daintier. Anyway, tulips and daffodils wouldn’t be best for wedding flowers. Did you know that they have meanings?”

  She had their attention now. They clamored to be told what she meant.

  “Tulips stand for unrequited love.”

  “What’s unre...unre...what you said?” Gerda asked at once.

  “It means love that isn’t returned,” Annette said solemnly. “And when people get married, it’s because they love each other, so we won’t have any tulips in your posies. Do you see what I mean?”

  They were enchanted by the idea.

  “What about my flowers?” Lise jumped up and down excitedly. “Daffodils and daisies?”

  Annette saw the laconic smile on Pieter’s face as he listened with the rest of them, but it was important to win the trust of these small girls if they were to be closely concerned in Elena’s wedding, and she tried to blot out the image of his face.

  “Daffodils mean welcome,’’ she told Lise. “That’s why they have those lovely nodding heads, but they’d be too big for you to carry at a wedding. We could have tiny daisies included in the posies, though. They’re very pretty and they stand for innocence.’’

  “What’s innocence?’’ She frowned.

  Nels leaned over to give his niece a kiss. “You are, my love!’’ he said softly. “Now, aren’t you happy to have Annette here with us?’’

  Above their two blond heads so close together, Annette met Pieter’s clear gray eyes. Across the width of the room, his agreement with Nels’s words was as tangible to her as if he’d shouted them out loud.

  Gerda’s small fingers closed around her own. “Are you our auntie too?”

  “If you want me to be,” Annette answered smilingly.

  And if Elena’s ridiculous matchmaking were to come true and she married Pieter, she would have a more genuine claim to the title! The thought was in her mind before she could stop it, and she hoped the others would attribute her heated cheeks to the glowing fire. Besides, she thought cynically, she wasn’t at all sure it was marriage that Pieter Van Ness had in mind. He’d managed perfectly well without it for thirty-seven years, and she was quite sure he hadn’t gone that long without women in his life!

  “You’ve made another conquest, Annette,” Pieter said easily, and she didn’t need telling that he included himself at the top of her list in his remark.

  “It’s important for us to be friends.” Annette meant herself and the children. “We’ll have a lot of talking to do in the next few days. Girl talk, to discuss colors of dresses and complementary flowers.” She excluded him firmly.

  “And to be sure you don’t send Elena up the aisle with a bouquet shrieking of jealousy and infidelity!” He was laughing at her now, and she gave him a freezing look.

  “What’s infid...infid...” Lise began.

  “Nothing, sweetheart,” Elena said hastily. “It’s just Uncle Pieter being silly.”

  She became aware of the tension between her brother and her friend, and it didn’t altogether worry Elena. Any kind of feeling was better than none at all, and it was her dearest wish that they should fall in love. Lord knew it was time Pieter got himself a wife, and Annette was too lovely to remain in her sterile little world forever. But it would be fatal to push two such strong characters together too obviously. Pieter would rebel, and Annette would go back to her icebox.

  By the time tea was over, Annette had won the children’s friendship. It was the way she liked to work. It made the whole creative side of floral artistry more personal, and in this case it was of special importance. Everything had to be perfect for Elena.

  “I’m very impressed, Mrs. Granger,” Pieter murmured to her when they all dispersed to change for the evening, the girls having been sent protestingly to bed. “No wonder you and my sister get along so well. You have a way with children too. You should have some of your own.”

  They were nearing her room now, Pieter showing her the way through the maze of corridors in the spacious house. At his words, Annette stiffened.

  “You know that I’m a widow, Mr. Van Ness,” she said tightly, as formal as he. “And your remark is insensitive and offensive to me.”

  His arms imprisoned her against the door of her room before she could guess his intention. His gaze held hers, as if he could look right into her soul. He unnerved her, and her heart began to race. There was a fresh tang of toiletries about him, after-shave or cologne, cool and exciting. Annette’s mouth was suddenly dry, unable to deny that whatever else, Pieter Van Ness was definitely an exciting man for any woman willing to succumb.

  “Do you know what I see, Mrs. Granger?” Somehow the very way he spoke her formal name was more sensual than a string of endearments. “I see a woman too beautiful to call herself a widow in that bleak tone of voice. A woman needing to come out of the shadows, needing to be loved, and too stubborn to admit it! Let him go, Mrs. Granger. Do you think he’d have wanted you to grieve for him all this time?”

  “How dare you speak to me like that!” Annette’s voice was no louder than a whisper, but vibrant with anger. She shook all over, and her hand fumbled for the door handle behind her back.

  “I dare because I can’t bear to see you wasting your life when you’ve so much to give,” Pieter went on ruthlessly. “Your job is immensely fulfilling, but what happens when the last customer has gone, Annette? When the last wedding bouquet is finished, and the last red roses sent off to some happy young girl? Can you honestly tell me you don’t feel an emptiness then? Give yourself the chance to live again.”

  She found the door handle just as his face came down to hers, blotting out the light. She felt the brush of his lips on her mouth seconds before she ducked down and wrenched open her door, meaning to push it shut behind her, but she’d forgotten he had his whole weight against it. The door crashed open, and instinctively she held herself rigid to save him going headlong across the room. She was trapped in his arms once more, and this time she couldn’t avoid his kisses, nor the fact that the sensations they gave her were overwhelmingly disturbing and ecstatically sweet.

  “Get out of here,” she said with a gasp when she was finally able to twist herself out of his embrace.

  “I’ll go,” he said softly. “But you’ll remember my words and my kisses, Mrs. Granger. And look at yourself in the mirror if you want to see a lovely, desirable woman, because that’s what I see!”

  He left her, whistling tunelessly. The man was impossible, Annette raged, yet in her heart she knew that he was not. He was a perfectly normal red-blooded man with a mission in mind. She bit her lip, knowing that she was being unfair. Whatever Pieter’s motive in pursuing her, it wouldn’t be for mere triumph at breaking through her defenses. She closed the door, resisting a childish urge to slam it, and as she crossed the room to get her black cocktail dress out of the wardrobe, she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror and caught her breath.

  She had the look of a woman who’d just been kissed: eyes large and luminous and deeply blue, mouth soft and trembling – trembling wi
th rage, she reminded herself, but the anger was dissolving like morning mist, and she looked just like a woman in love.

  It wasn’t what she wanted, Annette thought desperately. She loved Tony, and the fact that he was dead didn’t alter that love. Her life was serenely smooth, and she had no intention of letting a large rugged Dutchman sweep into it and think he could take over. He might be used to getting what he wanted, Annette thought shiveringly, but in her he’d met his match.

  She moved away from the telltale reflection that showed as much uncertainty at that moment as that of a young girl on the brink of love. She changed quickly into the soft black knit cocktail dress that molded her figure in all the right places. It had a ruffled frill edged with gold trimming that finished in a deep V at her throat and a narrow gold belt. She felt good in its simple sophisticated lines. She applied fresh makeup, giving her blue eyes a mysterious violet look, and applied a dewy red gloss to her lips. Long gold earrings hung in her ears and her hair was a shining dark cloud about her perfectly shaped face. Without considering that she appraised her appearance as if seeing it through Pieter’s eyes, she slid her feet into slim high-heeled shoes and threw her short blond fur coat around her shoulders. By the time she went down to the lounge, the others were waiting for her.

  Pieter’s eyes told her she looked like a million guilders. Nels smiled appreciatively, but Elena, striking in a dress of emerald green and matching swinging cape, was openly admiring.

  “You look gorgeous, Annette! Nobody can hope to compete with you – not even Helga, can she, Pieter?”

  “Not even Helga,” he agreed gravely, his eyes never leaving Annette’s face, just as if he sensed the little jump of her heart at hearing the name she’d heard before. Uncle Pieter’s girlfriend, one of the girls had said.

  “Who is Helga?” she said lightly, and Pieter laughed, his eyes alight with amusement.