by Helen Brooks
'It seems as if you know a damn sight too much,' he said bitterly.
'Just listen for a moment.' She walked across the room to stand in front of him, wondering what on earth she could say to make him see the truth. 'I know your parents' marriage wasn't particularly happy, that they shut you and Barbara out—'
'My mother made my father's life a living hell,' he said tightly, his mouth a thin white line in the hard planes of his face. 'He turned cartwheels to make her happy, to give her what she wanted, but nothing was good enough. She couldn't be bothered with Barbara and me so he sent us away on the pretext of giving us a good education. He showered her with jewellery, presents, holidays abroad—anything she wanted—and lived in the dread that one day she would meet someone else she could love and leave him. But he needn't have worried; she was incapable of any deep emotion—a beautiful, empty shell of a human being.'
'Perhaps every generation throws up one or two anomalies.' She desperately wanted to hold him, to kiss away the pain and hurt transparent on his face, but forced herself to continue speaking in a calm, flat tone to try and defuse the crackling tension. 'Unnatural women or men, abnormal and strange and a law unto themselves, but unless they are blessed with either great wealth or great beauty I guess they get unnoticed, in the general rush of life. But they are unnatural. Your mother was unnatural—'
'Perhaps.' The silver eyes fastened on her pale face. 'But with a heritage like that Barbara and Craig have got no chance.'
'That's just plain stupid,' she snapped angrily as his stubbornness hit a nerve. 'You can take what life dishes out and either let it make you bitter or learn from it and go on to the next chapter.'
'Barbara went through the same problems as you did but she has chosen to put it behind her add reach out for the happiness she knows she can have with Craig. Just because you haven't got the courage to accept that, you are in great danger of losing her for ever, Reece. She is too much like you to make empty threats, and if you don't stop this thing now, make amends before the sun goes down and accept Craig simply because she loves him and he is her choice, you'll regret it for the rest of your life.'
'Little Miss Set-the-world-to-rights.'
His mockery was scathing, and the final straw. Her hand shot out as if to slap his face, but dropped to her side at the last moment. She saw his eyes darken with rage before he grabbed her, forcing her head back as he took her lips in a bruising kiss that stopped her breath. She began to fight him, causing them both to lose their balance and fall sprawling onto the big leather settee at their side, Reece's body covering hers as they landed.
And still she fought him, desperately, silently, as waves and waves of hurt and anger and love flooded her mind and body until she was hardly lucid. And then, as he continued the assault on her senses by shifting tempo as he trapped her body with his, she knew that this was a fight she couldn't win. Because she loved him; even in the midst of her pain and anger she loved him. Whereas he was driven by a simple physical need that had no warmth, no real tenderness in the heart of it. He didn't care. The knowledge gave her the strength she needed to speak.
'Please stop.' She opened her eyes that had been shut tight to stare straight into the grey of his, their smokiness hot with desire. 'Please.'
He froze for one second before moving off her in a single, controlled movement that spoke of quiet rage, and she slid quickly to her feet and across the room before he could speak, pulling open the door and running down the hall as though her life depended on it.
Once in the kitchens she leant weakly against the wall, shocked beyond measure by the suddenness of the confrontation. There was a mountain of work to do, but as her eyes focused unseeingly on the Christmas-card scene outside the window all her mind and energy was centred on Reece.
He had to make things all right with Barbara, she thought desperately. It would hurt him more than he knew if he lost his sister. She shook her head blindly at her own stupidity. She shouldn't have argued with him, shouldn't have allowed the conversation to progress as it had. It had only served to make him more mad, and she had gone into the room with the purpose of calming things down!
She groaned out loud and walked unsteadily to the coffee-maker which she had left switched on, pouring herself a large mug of black coffee—something she never drank—and forcing herself to drink it down piping hot as she tried to make her mind a blank. She had too much work to do to brood—although whether the wedding was still on, and whether Barbara would be married from this house, were points suddenly worryingly unclear.
Why did Reece have to be so honest anyway? She rubbed her hand across her face shakily and picked up the list of jobs she had made the night before. Why couldn't he duck and dive a little, like the rest of the human race? But then that was one of the things she loved about him, she thought sadly as she began to check the ingredients for the vol-au-vents she intended to make—that devastatingly scrupulous honesty.
Mitch and the others arrived just after ten as the snow began to lessen into the occasional flake blown haphazardly in the chilly wind, and soon the kitchen was a hive of activity. She didn't mention the earlier scene to Mitch—somehow it would have seemed like a form of disloyalty to Reece and Barbara—and she knew that if the worst happened, and Barbara decided not to come back to the house after she was married, Reece would make sure that the financial arrangements were honoured.
Please don't let that happen, she prayed desperately as her hands worked methodically on. He would be devastated if he lost Barbara; she knew it. In spite of his protestations about love and deep emotion she knew that he cared deeply about his sister; even the fact that he had raised the matter with Barbara and Craig proved that.
It would have been far easier, and safer, to sit back and allow the tiling to happen and then pick up the pieces at a later date if the need arose. But he was so stubborn. The knife she was holding slipped at the thought and she just avoided slicing into her finger. And so was Barbara. This sort of incident was the stuff family feuds were born of.
She shook her head and forced herself to concentrate on the job in hand as the bustle and noise ebbed and flowed around her. It would work out—it had to—and anyway, as Reece had reminded her, none of this was anything to do with her. She set her heart against the hurt and pain that gripped it and began slicing the peppers she was preparing with fierce determination.
'Miriam?' They had been working steadily for over an hour and a half and were just enjoying a midday snack when she heard Reece's voice from the doorway. 'Could I have a word, please?'
'Sure.' She forced a polite smile for the sake of the others and rose quickly. She could read nothing from his face as she followed him into the corridor and shut the kitchen door firmly. His features could have been set in stone for all the emotion they betrayed.
'I want to apologise for the way I behaved earlier,' he said grimly as he stared down at her fixedly, his face rigid and taut. 'It was unforgivable—'
'Oh, no. You were upset,' she broke in quickly, her voice too high. 'I shouldn't have interfered; I know that, but—'
'Miriam, let me say what I have to say without you trying to exonerate the inexcusable.' He took a long, deep breath as though he found her overwhelmingly exasperating, and she lowered her eyes quickly as a little shaft of pain pierced her through. 'Not that I don't appreciate it.' His voice was a study In icy control. 'But I was way out of line when all you were trying to do was help. I've seen Barbara and Craig—' her gaze shot up to his face and clung there, wide-eyed '—and we've been talking for more than an hour. You were right, Miriam; I think they really do have something going for them.'
'You do?' The relief almost made her giddy. 'You told them that?'
He nodded slowly. 'I extended the olive branch and Craig was gracious enough to accept it so all is peace and harmony again, OK? So there's nothing for you to worry about. You were worrying, weren't you?' he added softly. She nodded quietly and his mouth twisted slightly. 'Well, you can stop now. Barbar
a is going to marry her prince and live happily ever after. I haven't ruined things for her.'
I wasn't worrying about Barbara, she told him silently as she gazed up into his dark face. At this moment I couldn't care less about Barbara and Craig or the whole caboodle—can't you see that? Are you really so blind?
'Thank you, Miriam.' His voice was so quiet now that she was almost lip-reading, but the look on his face rent her heart. 'I know you were concerned about Barbara but you stopped me from making the biggest mistake of my life. I didn't want to hurt her, you know, or either of them.'
'I know.' She could hardly get the whisper past the lump in her throat.
He nodded slowly, almost dragging his eyes from her face as he backed a step before turning and walking swiftly up the corridor to disappear through the door at the top into the hall.
Oh, Reece. She leant against the wall as hot tears flowed fast and salty down her face. Reece, Reece, Reece…
CHAPTER EIGHT
In spite of her emotional turmoil, sheer physical exhaustion guaranteed that Miriam was asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow that night. Mitch and the others had stayed until ten, which meant that everything was back on schedule. She had planned to have the freezers full, the fridges stocked and most of the preliminary work completed that night, leaving Friday free for setting up the big hall and the thousand and one last-minute preparations essential in a massive undertaking like this.
She slept deeply, to dream frantic dreams involving giant wedding cakes with two legs that ran away as soon as they were about to be cut, hundreds of guests arriving to no food and an empty hall, Barbara screaming and fighting Craig as she shouted that Reece had been right all along and she didn't want to get married, and, over all the tangled, weary mess, the brooding presence of a tall, silent man breathed dark confusion and despair.
Waking was a sweet relief, and Miriam sat eating her breakfast at six o'clock as she gazed out of the window into a garden transformed into a sparkling winter wonderland, unable to bear staying in that dark, nightmarish world a minute longer.
A host of birds were pottering hopefully on top of the thick snow, darting bright, inquisitive glances at the house and fluttering onto the frozen birdbath now and again in search of a drink. They couldn't have made a more pointed request for food, and Miriam dressed quickly after defrosting a loaf of bread in the microwave and filling a large container with hot water.
As she opened the door at the end of the corridor the cold air made her gasp, and she stood for a moment breathing in the icy sweetness before plodding round the side of the house with her gifts. The early-morning sky was a river of gold and pink, colouring the snow with a luminescent quality all its own, and everything was quiet and absolutely still.
After melting the ice Miriam filled the birdbath with clean water, which lay gently steaming in the freezing air, and then cleared a patch of ground for the bread, scattering small pieces in a wide circle before moving away to a snow-covered bench at the side of a large bush and brushing herself a seat.
She sat for a long time watching the birds feed as the sky changed to a pearly white, not thinking of anything but the scene in front of her and letting the quiet peace of the morning blanket her mind. She pulled the hood of her old duffle-coat even further over her face as the icy air began to freeze her nose, and then jumped violently as a deep male voice sounded just a few feet away.
'What on earth are you doing out here?' She looked over to where Reece was standing and felt the familiar jolt to her heart as she took in the sight of him in the clear crystal air. He was dressed in jeans and a waist-length, bulky grey jacket, its collar up round his neck and his head bare to the elements. His impressive height and lean body were accentuated in the pale white surroundings, his maleness a tangible thing as his eyes narrowed in enquiry.
'Nothing.' She indicated the birds who had scattered at his voice and were now fluttering back in ones and twos. 'The birds were hungry.'
He raised his hands and she noticed for the first time that he was carrying a large fruit-cake and a container of water. 'I know.' He smiled ruefully. 'The little blighters are used to their morning feed. I think they'd come knocking on the door if I was late.'
'You feed them every day?' she asked in surprise as a warning bell began to ring in her mind. Don't do this to me, she thought silently as she watched him smile that heart-stoppingly attractive smile before walking over to join her. I don't want to find out fresh things to make me love you more; I can't cope as it is. I don't want to know that you are capable of caring about hungry birds; this just isn't fair.
'In the winter.' He sat down beside her on the bench and she felt her body tense at his closeness as he stretched out his long legs in front of him. 'In the summer they fend for themselves.' He glanced at her, his eyes reflecting the silver-white sky overhead. 'You look like Little Red Riding Hood in that get-up.'
'Except it's brown.' She smiled unsteadily and then her heart thumped crazily as he raised a lazy hand and flicked back her hood, causing her hair to tumble about her shoulders.
'Now it's red.' He lifted a handful of thick, silky hair in his fingers and rubbed each strand thoughtfully as it slipped back to settle in soft waves around her face. 'You're beautiful, Miriam, so beautiful. How many men have told you that?' She stared at him unblinkingly, unable to speak. 'Did he tell you how lovely you are?' he asked with sudden roughness.
'Who?'
'The guy you loved.' The sudden heat that flooded her face brought his mouth into a tight, straight line. 'Or is it love?' he asked grimly. 'Do you still care for this moron, Miriam? Is that why you don't want anything to do with me?'
'Reece—' She put out a hand almost placatingly as she stood up abruptly. She could take most things with a smile but this was beyond her. 'I don't want to talk about it.'
'I could make you forget him.' He stood with her, his height and breadth intimidating as he looked down at her, his handsome face fierce and harsh. 'You know we could be good together; you feel it like I do.'
'You're talking about physical gratification,' she said flatly as she moved round him in one quick movement and began to walk away. 'I could never be satisfied with that.'
'You might find you actually like me too,' he said tightly, but she didn't look back, walking at a steady pace until she rounded the side of the house and slipped inside quickly. The sooner this wedding was over the better.
She stood for a long minute just inside the corridor before walking to the flat door. Seeing him like this, knowing that he wanted her if only for a casual affair-she couldn't take much more of it…
She walked over to the window as soon as she was in the flat, drawn against her will to see if he was still out there. He was, his bulk dark and dangerous against the pure white garden as he crumbled the cake for the squabbling birds and refilled the birdbath they had all but emptied.
Why oh, why had Frank ever recommended them for this job? she asked herself weakly as she moved away from the window and leant helplessly against the wall. She'd been doing fine, happy with her life and eager for the future, and now… She shut her eyes tightly and breathed deeply to ease her racing heart. Now she'd never be the same again. She would never love anyone the way she loved him. She knew it. Reece Vance only happened to a girl once.
The day flew by in a whirl of frenzied chaos that wasn't enhanced by the arrival of Craig's relations en masse just after lunch. They seemed a loud, noisy lot, if the general furore beyond the walls of the hall was anything to go by, and as Mitch and Dave arranged the tables and chairs at her direction to allow plenty of room for dancing she couldn't help wondering, with a wry smile, what Reece thought of the merry throng.
Several of the guests had wandered through with Craig and Barbara as they'd looked round the house, and now the door leading to the house opened again and Reece entered with a small party of Australians in tow, a pained expression on his face as he acted the benevolent host.
'This is the big hall.'
He waved a hand expressively. 'The caterers are busy at it so we won't interrupt them.'
'Hi, there.' One of the party had a different idea, and the eyes of a big, tall, blond man, who could have been Craig's double, fastened interestedly on Miriam's slender form. 'You look like you have everything under control here.'
'We do.' She smiled back politely and immediately he ambled over to her side, his blue eyes bright and smiling and his teeth the sort of gleaming white that would have done credit to any toothpaste advertisement.
'The name's Donnie.' He held out a massive hand for her to shake. 'I'm over from Australia for the wedding.'
'Right.' She nodded quietly, vitally aware of Reece's frowning face in the background but unable to do anything else but respond civilly to the Australian's friendly chatter.
'You arranged all this, then?' He waved an expansive hand round the hall as he kept his eyes trained on her face.
She smiled awkwardly. 'My brother and I are partners in the firm Mr Vance employed.'
'Oh, yeh, that's right.' He nodded quickly. 'Craig, my brother, told me about the trouble with the other bozos. Reece was lucky to find you at such short notice.' His eyes wandered over the burning red of her hair and came to rest in line with her quiet gaze. 'Very lucky,' he added softly.
'I think we're in the way here.' Reece's voice was pure ice as he appeared at their side. 'It's clear there's still plenty of work to be done, so if you'd like to…' He gestured towards the door through which they'd just passed, his face grim.
'No problem.' Donnie turned from Reece to smile at her again. 'I guess you'll be here tomorrow too?'