by Susan Lewis
Rene was reaching for the phone. 'We can't, but I agree we should find out where he lived.' As she spoke she was dialling 1471. 'Mm,' she said as she jotted down the number, 'not a code I recognise, but it should be easy enough to trace.'
Alice's eyes closed as more dread engulfed her.
'Calm yourself,' George said shortly, and after
pressing a kiss to her forehead he started towards the boot room, only to turn back as Rene said, 'George, I've told you before about locking the guns away the minute you come in. Now please go and do it.'
Julia was still standing beside the phone, seething with temper and frustration. The call hadn't gone at all as she'd expected, since she'd hoped her aunt would admit to acting behind her husband's and sister-in-law's backs and come clean, saying something like, 'Yes dear, we all treated your father very shoddily back then, so I tried, in my own way, to make it up to him.' Or, 'He was a good man, so please don't believe anything you might hear about him.' But of course Rene wasn't going to admit to anything while the willowy witch was standing right there, any more than she was going to agree to call Julia back at a time when she couldn't be overheard. That wasn't to say she wouldn't, but Julia's instincts were already warning her not to hold out much hope on that score.
Turning back to the kitchen table, which was coveted in bills, letters and bank statements, she sank down on a chair and propped her chin in her hands. If her aunt hadn't sent the photos, then how the heck had they got here? Had her father somehow managed to make contact with the photographer? Had he paid someone else to do so? Maybe he'd been having her watched all these years? She wasn't too sure how she felt about that, except it wasn't especially good. Of course, there was a chance she'd turn up some receipts or correspondence
that could throw some light on the mystery, so she should keep on ploughing through, file after file, box after box. The study was stuffed so full of papers of one sort or another that she could be here for weeks.
Looking up at the sound of footsteps, she watched Shannon kicking off the riding boots Ottie had loaned her, while chatting on her mobile, presumably to Ottie, her new best friend. She looked so grown-up, Julia was thinking, with her sleek blonde hair caught up in a black net, and her long, slender thighs clad in tight ivory jodhpurs. She was evidently wearing a thong underneath, and despite the sunny day, it wasn't really warm enough to be in shirtsleeves with half the buttons undone, though Julia could easily guess the reason for it.
Boots off, and call over, Shannon came padding into the kitchen and headed straight for the fridge, saying, 'Hi Mum. How's it going?'
Julia smiled at the upbeat manner and happy flush in her cheeks, which, even if she'd not known already, would leave her in little doubt of where her daughter had been for the past two hours. 'Not bad,' she answered. 'Where are the others?'
'What do you mean, others? I was just with Ottie.'
'No Rico?'
'Oh yes, he was there too,' she answered, attempting to sound breezy as she filled a glass with juice.
Julia waited, and sure enough, a minute or two later, Shannon's eyes came to hers and she started to grin.
'Oh Mum, he's like so cool the way he's teaching me to ride,' she gushed. 'He's got this fantastic way with horses, and he says I'm doing really well already. 'He's taking us out again later, he said.' She drank deeply then let go a long breath. 'Any news on the photos?' she asked, clearly deciding that was enough confiding for now. 'Was it Aunt Rene who sent them?'
Julia shook her head 'She says not, and I don't think she's lying.'
Shannon's eyebrows went up. 'So who was it?'
Julia shrugged.
'Spoooky,' Shannon pronounced. Julia flipped her bottom as she passed, then picked up a wad of bills to continue sifting through them. 'I thought you were supposed to be giving me a hand,' she said, before Shannon could disappear into the downstairs bedroom.
Shannon immediately protested. 'But I folded up all the clothes from the wardrobes this morning,' she cried. 'You didn't say I had to do any more than that'
'But you do have your mocks coming up, and a mountain of coursework to get through, so what about some studying?'
'Honestly, I'm really cool with everything. I'm not behind, everyone says I'm doing really well, all the teachers ' Then, attempting a quick change of subject 'Dad rang just now, sounds like they're having a really good time over there.'
Julia's eyes remained on what she was doing. 'What time did he ring?' she asked, trying not to mind that he hadn't called her. 'I don't know, about an hour ago, I suppose. I
told him how I'm getting on so great with my riding. He sounded really pleased.'
Clearly she hadn't mentioned Rico, Julia was thinking. 'How's Dan?' she asked. 'Did you speak to him?'
'Yeah, he's cool. He said he was sailing the boat single-handed this morning, without any help from Dad. Then he said if Dad doesn't behave himself, he'll sail away without him.'
Julia smiled, easily able to picture her son having the time of his life at the helm, and she imagined Josh was probably enjoying himself too, in spite of his irritation at being out of the office. He'd be careful not to let Daniel know about his work-related concerns, she was certain of it, for he loved him far too much to begrudge him his pleasure. He'd just take it out on her whenever he finally decided to ring.
'Did you know that Ottie's dad's got a boat too?' Shannon was gabbling on. 'We can go out in it whenever we like, apparently, but he's away until Wednesday, so Rico's agreed to take us if he has time. He's a really good sailor, Fen said. Oh yes, and Rico said he'll come over later to pick up the stuff you're sending to the charity shop. You just need to let him know if he should bring the pickup or the estate. If he does come, shall we ask him if he'd like to have dinner with us one night? I don't mind doing the cooking.'
Only just managing to keep her eyebrows down, Julia said, 'It's a nice idea, but since when were you able to cook?'
'I can cook if I have to,' Shannon retorted indignantly.
Julia's eyes sparked with humour. 'Then we'll see,' she replied.
'Does that mean we'll see if I can cook, or we'll see if he can come?'
Julia looked into her lovely young face. 'He's a lot older than you, darling,' she said gently.
Shannon's cheeks turned scarlet. 'So what?' she said. 'It doesn't mean he doesn't eat. And anyway, he's only twenty-five.'
'Which means he's a lot more experienced than you. and you know very well Dad wouldn't approve.'
Shannon's eyes darkened with anger. 'But Dad's not here, and it's only dinner for heaven's sake. I'm not doing anything wrong. And you'll be there, so how risky is that?'
Julia had to laugh. 'All right, I'll think about it,' she said.
Shannon still wasn't satisfied. 'But what's there to think about?' she demanded. 'Why don't you ask him when he comes over later? Or you could ask when you ring to tell him what car to bring.'
'You're pushing too hard, Shannon, so stop now.'
Shannon's expression immediately turned sulky. 'It's not fair,' she mumbled, 'Ottie gets to see him all the time, and I'll be gone next week.'
Not surprised that some competition had arisen between them over Rico's affections, Julia said, 'He's her cousin, so it stands to reason ...'
'Second cousin,' Shannon cut in. 'And she's already kissed him.'
Julia's eyes widened.
'You don't have to look at me like that.'
'And now you two are having some kind of contest about how long it's going to take you to kiss him?' Julia said, and knew immediately from Shannon's face that she'd guessed right. 'Shannon, you're playing with fire,' she warned. 'He's a man, not a boy, and you girls shouldn't be teasing him, trying to lead him on ... Apart from anything else, you could get him into trouble.'
Shannon threw out her hands in fury. 'That's the trouble with you,' she raged. 'You think everything's about sex, well no-one even mentioned it until you did ...'
'No, you did,' Julia corrected. 'I o
nly said the word, whereas you .. .' 'Listen, I might be prepared to tolerate more on the romance front than Dad, but it doesn't mean I'm going to look the other way while you throw yourself at Rico.'
'I'm not throwing myself,' Shannon shouted furiously. 'I only asked if he could come for dinner ...'
'Because you're on a mission to make him kiss you.'
'With you right there? I don't think so, and why do you have to take it out on me, just because you're having problems with Dad ...' 'That's got nothing to do with it.' 'Yes it has, and I think you're really mean to him. You didn't even kiss him when he left on Saturday, even though he tried to kiss you.'
Julia shook her head in despair. 'You don't miss a thing, do you?' she sighed. 'But you don't always understand everything you see, so before you start
jumping to conclusions, let's get back to the main issue, which is you and Rico.'
Brightening at the sound of being paired with him. Shannon said, 'Rico and I are just friends, Mum. There's nothing else in it, except what's in your imagination.'
'If that's true, then you won't mind missing your ride with him this afternoon while you get on with some studying.'
Shannon's eyes bulged with fury. 'I've already told you, I know everything ...'
'Discussion over, you're revising straight after lunch tor three hours, and if you dare to backchat me again, I'll get Dad on the line.'
'You can do that, because he never makes me revise the way you do.'
'Don't force my hand over this, Shannon,' Julia warned. 'I'm not saying you can't see Rico, I'm just saying that your exams have to take precedence over learning to ride.'
'But Mum!'
'That's my final word. Now, go and wash your hands, then you can come and help me with lunch.'
As Shannon stomped off into her bedroom, Julia began tidying up the table, aware that she was far angrier than she'd shown, or than was probably warranted. Whether it was because Josh hadn't even attempted to speak to her since she'd called him on Saturday night - except through the children - or because she was concerned about Shannon's crush, she wasn't entirely sure. Actually, it undoubtedly had more to do with Josh, because she could barely think of him lately without becoming uptight and
resentful over his failure to reassure her that he'd ended his affair with Sylvia. Though they obviously weren't together right now, they could easily be in touch by phone, and God only knew what kind of calls they might be having. Sylvia had often boasted about how good she was at phone sex, and the very idea that Josh had become one of the mindless idiots who drooled after her that way was so disgusting she could almost hate him.
She would hate him, she told herself, if she didn't love him so much, though God knew, she'd never felt less turned on by him than she had since finding out about Sylvia. However, she couldn't deny she was missing him, which in itself was extremely annoying when he clearly wasn't feeling the same way about her. Or, in typically perverse male fashion, he was punishing her with silence for making him feel guilty about something he damned well deserved to feel guilty about.
Chapter Ten
Josh was sitting on the aft deck checking email, while talking to Marina on the phone, and keeping an eye on Dan, who was helping hose down next door's catamaran. They'd long had the neighbouring berth so Brian Guest, a high-flying advertising executive, and his family, so they all knew each other well, and luckily Dan and Brian's son Gavin were around the same age.
Marina had a stack of messages, though fortunately there wasn't much she couldn't deal with herself, while this current batch of emails wasn't being quite so obliging. At least four needed answers immediately, which he couldn't provide without making several more calls, and three were from authors either demanding latest sales figures, or wanting to know why their books weren't in their local WHSmith. Some of the details Marina could handle, but the TLC and rockets-under- publishers were down to him.
Not until he rang off did he realise quite how far the temperature had dropped, for the wind
coming into the marina had started to turn bitter now, and the way it was blowing up meant they could be in for a rocky night. Dan would love it - the wilder the better, as far as he was concerned. Watching him now, dashing about the other boat, taking orders from Brian and bossy Gavin like the good little crew he was, Josh felt his heart swell with pride. How could he be anything other than glad he'd brought Dan here, when the boy was clearly in seventh heaven? And when he, Josh, wasn't calming irate or insecure authors, courting new editors, living with the guilt of stealing into another berth in the dead of night to take a phone call from Sylvia, or dealing with his highly stressed teenage daughter who'd been on the phone earlier for over half an hour complaining about her mother, he was loving being here. It was just a pity Julia and Shannon didn't seem to be getting on so well, he reflected grimly to himself.
'It's not fair, Dad,' Shannon had wailed, 'I have to have a holiday too. I'm not a machine, and she's making me stay in to do all my coursework.'
'But your exams are coming up, sweetheart,' he'd pointed out. 'You need to study.'
'Yes, but not all day. I was doing really well with my riding, and I like need some relaxation in order to sit my exams, not to be all stressed and uptight, but now she's got me locked in my room and won't let me out. You've got to talk to her, Dad. Please.'
'Shannon ...'
'No, don't take her side!' Shannon cried. 'I'm doing well at school, Dad, you know I am. So I should be allowed to go out, shouldn't I? Fen's not making Ottie study all the time, and she's got her
mocks coming up too Dad, please make her let me go out. Please, please, please. I'll love you forever.'
In the end he'd agreed to have a word with Julia, as much to free up his hands to help Dan with the jib as to placate Shannon. She probably wouldn't be feeling too happy with him by now though, for a couple of hours had passed since he'd promised to tackle her problem. He'd been up to his eyes coping with halyards and wind swings, not to mention phone calls, emails and a courier from Marina who'd been waiting when they'd returned to port, with documents in need of his signature.
He'd put Shannon out of her misery in the next few minutes though, for he really should call Julia anyway. She was probably assuming by now that he was deliberately avoiding her, and, in truth, she wasn't altogether wrong. However, he didn't want So risk another row before he'd dealt with these emails and vetted an urgent contract in order to FedEx it back to London tomorrow, so she and Shannon would just have to wait a little bit longer. Before he went any further, he needed to pop below to fetch a warm jacket for Dan, and make some kind of decision about what they were going to eat tonight.
After tossing Dan's fleece over to Brian he returned to his laptop, and was just getting stuck into the emails when his mobile burbled into life. With his eyes still on the computer screen he reached for it expecting it to be Marina, or someone else related to work, but on hearing who it was all thoughts of everything else slipped from his mind.
'Hi,' she said. 'Can you talk?'
'Not really,' he answered, sounding deliberately cold, in spite of the intimacy of their more recent calls.
'OK. So just answer yes or no,' she said. 'Have you given any more thought to coming over here?'
'It's out of the question,' he told her. 'Julia knows you're there.'
'But you want to come.'
After checking to make sure Dan wasn't in earshot, he said, 'Look, there's no point me trying to pretend anything here, because we both know I'd be there if I could, but we agreed, when this started, that as soon as it needed to be over it would be, and it needs to be over.'
'How's Julia?' she said mildly. 'Has she found out anything about her father yet?'
He took a breath. 'Not really,' he answered. Then, trying again, he said, 'Sylvia, you have to stop calling me. I know it...'
'Josh, darling, I'm not asking you to marry me,' she said. 'I just want you to go on fucking me.'
His eyes closed as her bluntness ha
d the desired effect. 'I have to go now,' he said gruffly.
She fell silent, but though he intended to ring off, for some reason he didn't.
'You know, I think I should call Julia,' she said finally. 'I'm very late with my condolences, which isn't good in a friend. Could you give me the number of where she is?'
Astonished that she was even suggesting it, he said, 'Sylvia, you must know there's no way in the world she wants to talk to you.'
'I can always call her mobile,' she went on, as
if he hadn't spoken. 'Or I could get the number from Shannon. Does she have her mobile with her? Yes. I'm sure she does ...'
'Sylvia, what the hell is going on?' he cried.
'I just want the number of where Julia is,' she replied. 'So why don't you give it to me, and then I won't have to call Shannon, will I?'
Realising this was probably some kind of power play to see how far she could push him, he was tempted just to ring off, but he sure as hell didn't want her calling Shannon, any more than he wanted her talking to Julia. However, he knew from experience that it wasn't wise to mess with her when she was intent on exerting control. It had only happened once before, when she'd wanted him to make love to her at his office and he'd refused. As far as he was concerned he wasn't prepared to conduct any part of their relationship on his territory. She'd clearly sensed it, so to show him that it would happen her way, she'd waltzed right in while Marina was there, chatted with her for A minute or two, then had unbelted her raincoat, while turning her back so that only he could see, from where he was sitting, that she was stark naked underneath. He'd immediately ushered her into his office, closing the door firmly behind her, and had barely had time to send Marina out for coffee before he was fulfilling Sylvia's fantasy of being taken over his desk.
'Julia's your best friend,' he reminded her, after giving her the number of the mill house. 'Why would you want to hurt her?'
'She's your wife,' she countered, 'why would you?