‘Go with—go with Daddy, sweetheart, and I will see you soon.’
‘Can I play in the park again today?’ She heard his sweet voice beseeching Pascual as they went towards the door, hand in hand. ‘I want to see the fountain and the lake again!’
‘Of course. But first we must have breakfast with your mother … sí?’
Jogging across the lush grass, with his small son just ahead of him, Pascual thought that he was possibly the most content that he had been for a long, long time. God had sent him a miracle, in the shape of the sweet child before him, and the woman he had once adored with all his heart had returned to him. Even now his body was fiercely and vibrantly awake, after their long night of passionate lovemaking, and it was as though the force and strength of the Igazu Falls themselves were running though his veins!
But then, as if to cast a shadow over his newfound contentment, the thought came to him of how it must have been for Briana when she had first agreed to marry him and his family had all but made her feel like an unwanted usurper. How he regretted the fact he had not spoken out against their treatment of her before! Running his mind back over the days leading up to Briana leaving, there were two occasions that suddenly stood out like a newly lit beacon in his memory.
The first was when he had been discussing his forthcoming marriage with his mother over coffee at a hotel owned by a friend of his in Recoleta. She had made a comment to Pascual then about Briana that had made his blood boil.
‘Her beauty is the kind that fades. She does not possess the extraordinary bone structure of someone like Claudia, whose beauty will only become even more exquisite as she grows older’ That was one of the things she had said, and then, ‘She knows nothing of our way of life, my son … how to conduct herself in illustrious company, what clothes to wear … I would hate it if she ever embarrassed you in any way because of her ignorance.’
If she had said those things to him, then had she made similar disconcerting remarks to Briana herself? he wondered painfully. If so, then it was no wonder his fiancée had felt doubtful and insecure about marrying into such a family. A family she had believed thought themselves far superior to everyone else! Given her own background, and an upper-class father who had called her his ‘regrettable mistake’, Pascual began to see for himself just why she had decided she could not go through with marrying him—even though she had professed to be in love with him.
And if she had been uncertain that she would have his support whatever his family thought of her, he reflected soberly, then surely he was partly to blame for her leaving? With a troubled sigh he saw his son’s curly head disappear over the rise that loomed up before them, and he instantly increased his stride to catch up with him, the acute realisation bolting through his insides that he was heading towards the lake.
‘Adán! Stop! Wait for me, hijo!’
‘I want to take you to lunch.’
Briana was gazing out onto a pretty section of the vast garden filled with the most dazzling display of African violets, roses, lilies and asters from the opened patio doors in the drawing room, and Pascual’s rich voice interrupted the quiet reflection she had fallen into. Her pulse leapt as he slid his arms round her waist from behind, and kissed the top of her head.
‘That sounds nice … can Adán come too?’ ‘I want you to myself for a while, so I have asked Sofia to look after him for us. He is quite happy about the arrangement. When we return I have promised to show him the ponies.’
‘I should go and get myself ready, then.’
Shyly, Briana turned so that she was facing him and, as usual, the sight of those strongly delineated handsome features, the glossy black hair and disturbing dark eyes took her breath away. Right now he was being lovely to her … considerate, kind, and—dare she say it?—loving, even … But how long would that last if in his heart he still couldn’t forgive her for leaving?
Last night they had at least made some headway towards understanding, when Pascual had defended her against his parents. The fact that he was reflecting on his own past behaviour was a significant turning point. It meant that Briana could at last speak to him frankly and be heard. But lingering at the back of her mind was the still wounding memory of seeing him with Claudia, and the fear that she might not be enough for him even after they had married—even though he had explained that it had all been an unfortunate misunderstanding. Maybe having lunch together would be an opportune time to finally put some of her fears to bed?
‘Put on something sexy for me,’ he suggested now, his gaze lowering to her startled slightly opened mouth, looking as if he could eat her.
‘What do you suggest? My underwear?’ she quipped, barely able to still the violent tremors that had taken hold.
‘That works for me, amante, but I might not be able to deal with the stampede of admiring males that that would attract! Now, hurry up and get ready. We will go to Florida Street and see the street tango before we eat. I remember how much you used to love that.’
Thinking back to the many vibrant and exciting displays of street tango she had seen last time she had lived in Buenos Aires—from San Telmo to La Boca, and the more up-market end of Florida Street—Briana thought about the silky red dress she had hanging in the voluminous wardrobe upstairs. She couldn’t deny the warm buzz of excitement that rippled through her at the idea of wearing it especially for Pascual …
The way the two bodies moved together was mesmerising. It was impossible to take her eyes off the woman in her short, strapless black dress, her slim, shapely legs encased in sheer black stockings and matching high-heeled shoes on her feet. Her partner was older, with a thick mane of silver hair tied back in a black band, but his lithe body moved like a much younger man’s and his profile was fiercely proud. The raw sensuality of the background music, and the sight of the dancers’ limbs entwining then parting— the woman stalking away as though offended, the man striding after her and tipping her back into his arms—sent gooseflesh flying all over the surface of Briana’s skin.
In the smart tiled square where a small crowd had gathered to watch the riveting display, she felt her enjoyment intimately heightened when Pascual slid his arms round her waist and drew her next to him. She could feel his heat through the thin silk of her dress, and everything in her tightened to contain the sudden flare of desire that spread like wildfire throughout her body.
‘Enjoying it, amante?’
His voice low against her ear sent more goose-bumps flying.
‘It’s wonderful. They’re incredible!’
‘Has it sufficiently fuelled your appetite to eat now?’ he teased.
‘Can we stay a minute or two longer?’ She turned to look at him, and he gave her one of those long, slow-burning smiles of his.
‘Why not?’ He shrugged, ‘it pleases me to see you happy like this.’
In the restaurant afterwards, with its tall wooden-framed windows providing a perfect view of the colourful throng of passers-by—tourists and locals alike—and with the distant music of the tango still echoing in her ears, Briana excused herself to go to the ladies’ room.
While she was gone Pascual found himself predisposed to smile at anyone who happened to glance his way, his contented mood of the morning easily reinstated. As he finished ordering the wine, a hand tapped him on the shoulder, and he glanced round to see his friend Diego de la Cruz and his pretty wife Marisa. After greeting them with an affectionate hug each, he invited the couple to join him.
‘It is a day for bumping into old friends!’ Marisa announced, settling herself in a chair, her exquisite perfume punctuating the air. ‘We just saw Claudia with her new husband too.’ She frowned, her slim dark brows arching. ‘You did know she’d got married, didn’t you, Pascual?’
He shrugged. ‘How could I not know? Her wedding photos were in all the papers.’
‘Once upon a time we really thought you and she would—’ Her gaze narrowing briefly at her husband as she said this, Marisa quickly turned back to Pascual. �
�But then you met Briana, and we knew straight away that she was the right one for you. Hearing that she was back in Palermo with you and that you have a son together was so exciting! I cannot tell you how the news lifted us.’
‘I expect the news will be surprising to everyone who hears it. Initially she will be staying for a holiday, and then, when she has tied up all the loose ends in the UK, she will be moving here for good. And you will get to meet our son soon, I promise. His name is Adán, he is absolutely amazing, and I am still feeling quite overwhelmed that he is mine.’
‘Where are they now?’ Diego enquired, his thoughtful gaze on his friend as the waiters bustled round behind them, serving food to the other waiting customers.
‘Adán is being looked after by Sofia back at the house, and Briana has just gone to the ladies’ room. She will be back at any moment.’
‘There is something I must tell you before she comes back, Pascual.’ Covertly, Marisa bent her dark head towards him. ‘We have been friends for a long time, haven’t we?’
‘Where is this leading?’ Immediately aware of a more serious undertone to the innocent-sounding question, Pascual felt sudden disquiet arise inside him.
‘I pray you will not take offence at me saying what I am about to say, but when I heard that Briana was back with you, and that she had had your son while you were apart, I guessed why she had decided not to go through with the wedding—and I knew it was not because she didn’t love you with all her heart!’
His chest tightening almost painfully, Pascual could hardly take his eyes off Marisa as he waited for her full explanation. ‘Go on,’ he said, voice low.
‘Remember the party that Claudia unexpectedly turned up to with Rafa? Do you know who really invited her? It was Paloma. Your mother persuaded her to come and make mischief between you and Briana. She was convinced Claudia was the woman you should really be marrying, and she hoped if Briana saw you two together she would call off the wedding and leave the way clear for you to get back with her.’
‘How do you know all this?’
‘Claudia told me. She is still fond of you, Pascual, and she only wants your happiness. She truly regrets what happened at the party, and the idea that she might have helped drive Briana away. Her own happiness has made her see that she did a very bad thing. It is her hope that one day you will forgive her.’
‘I can hardly believe what I am hearing.’
Feeling slightly dazed, Pascual reached for the jug of iced water on the table and poured a glass. He took a long draught to ease the sudden aching dryness in his throat, then wiped the back of his hand across his mouth. His own mother had helped drive away the woman he loved and consequently prevented him from knowing that she had had a son by him! It was almost beyond belief. Now he saw that he had been right to reflect on some of his mother’s more acerbic comments before his planned marriage. If only he had reflected more on them at the time, he thought again. If only he had made his feelings towards Briana much more clear to everyone. Then maybe his mother would have seen for herself how much she meant to him, and would have stayed well clear from making mischief of any sort!
‘Pascual?’
‘It is all right, Marisa.’ The semblance of a rueful smile touched his lips. ‘I am not upset that you told me this. In fact … I appreciate your frankness. Too many things have been pushed under the carpet for too long, and it is time they were aired. So, thank you.’
‘I thought it was you! Oh, how lovely to see you both!’
Briana had returned, the red silk dress that so lovingly complemented her gorgeous figure drawing many appreciative glances as she returned to their table, Pascual saw. And none were more appreciative than his.
Hugging Marisa, then a smiling Diego, she dropped back down into her seat. The elegant young woman she’d once worked for was smiling warmly, and Briana genuinely felt for the first time as though she were among friends. ‘Pascual was telling me that Sabrina is quite the young lady now. I would love to see her some time, if that’s possible?’
‘And we would love to see your son too, Briana,’ Marisa responded eagerly. ‘As soon as we learned of his existence we could not wait to hear all about him. We have just been pestering Pascual for information!’
‘I would talk about him all day if you want me to.’ He smiled and reached for Briana’s hand, gripping it as though he never wanted to let it go again.
Something in him had changed, she saw, and her heart fluttered. He was behaving more and more like the Pascual of old—the man she’d fallen head-over-heels in love with almost from the start. Now, as much as she adored seeing Diego and Marisa again, she wished they were alone so that she might enjoy his company even more, talk frankly to him about all the things that were left unsaid between them.
‘A toast!’
The waiter had brought more glasses, and Pascual was busy filling them with wine.
‘To good friends, and to the best of futures for all of us!’
And Briana knew in that moment that to contemplate a future without this man would be like contemplating any mother’s worst fear … that of something dreadful happening to her child. It was simply unbearable and unthinkable, and if she wanted this day to end in the same optimistic spirit as this lovely moment amongst friends then she would think of it no longer …
CHAPTER ELEVEN
SOFIA and Carlo the groundsman were running towards the car as Pascual drove down the drive towards the house’s main entrance.
‘What’s going on?’ Briana glanced nervously at Pascual, but he didn’t answer. He was, instead, winding down his window and leaning out, conversing in Spanish with his clearly agitated staff. Nonetheless she quickly and horrifyingly understood what the two retainers were telling him.
Adán had been playing in the garden outside the drawing room. He had lifted the latch on the gate there and disappeared into the park. Carlo had been out looking for him, but as yet had not had any luck. He had only just returned to the house to see if the boy had come back to Sofia, but he hadn’t.
Briana’s first thought was the lake and so—judging by the colour rapidly draining from his face—was Pascual’s.
‘We’ve got to find him!’
She grabbed at his sleeve, the bright future she’d seduced herself into believing could come true suddenly obliterated by an unseen wrecking ball that had smashed all her hopes and dreams into devastating dust.
‘Trust me, mi amor, we will. We will go and search together. Come!’
They were out of the car and running into the park, leaving a stricken Sofia standing at the entrance and a determined-looking Carlo heading out into the expanse of forested and lush green behind them. Turning briefly, Pascual instructed the older man to expand the search into another area nearby, where Adán might have wandered.
Shouting out her son’s name as she ran, the man by her side doing the same, Briana’s throat was hoarse with strain and anxiety by the time they approached the rise that preceded the lake.
‘I will go on ahead. Don’t worry … everything will be all right. We will find him safe.’ Briefly clasping her to him, clearly registering the fear and terror in her white-faced countenance, Pascual touched his lips tenderly to her brow.
‘You promise?’ she begged, heart pounding, not caring that she was coming unglued in front of him.
‘Con todo mi corazón! With all my heart!’
He left her then, and the tall, lithe black trousered and white shirted figure quickly disappeared over the top of the grassy rise. Breaking into a run too, with every stride she took Briana prayed her son would be found safe and well. If only she hadn’t gone to lunch without him! If only she had got in touch with Pascual as soon as she’d learned that she was pregnant and asked him to forgive her for running away! If only …
A million regrets and thoughts flowed unstop-pably through her mind, and only when she heard her name being called with the kind of urgency that turned her limbs into cooked spaghetti did she realise she was weepin
g. Freezing where she stood for a moment, in the next instant she forced herself to run. At the top of the hill she glanced down, to see Pascual carrying Adán in his arms. The lake was a vast smooth mirror speared by glinting sunlight behind them. Her son was talking to his father, and she saw Pascual press the small curly head against his chest for a moment, before glancing up and waving to her. Even from a distance she saw the unrestrained joy on his handsome face, and her heart turned over with gratitude and love.
‘Where did you go, Adán? I was so worried!’ Out of breath, and crying at the same time, as she drew level with the smiling pair Briana grabbed her son’s small hand and reverently touched his face, as if surveying its innocent beauty for the very first time. There were smears of dirt on his flushed cheeks, but he didn’t appear as though he was hurt or injured.
‘I wanted to see the ponies, but then I got lost and fell down the hill, and I landed near the lake!’
‘Promise me you wouldn’t have gone into the water?’
‘Only if I was in a boat or I had my water wings and you and Daddy were with me!’
‘But why did you leave the garden without telling Sofia?’
‘Is she cross with me, Mummy?’
‘I’m sure she’s not cross, sweetheart, but she’s worried out of her mind. She was in charge of making sure you were safe while Daddy and I went out. Imagine what she must have felt when she looked into the garden and you weren’t there!’
‘I’m sorry …’
‘I have already told him it was not a good idea to do what he did, and I have made him promise me that he will never do such a thing again or I will not be taking him to see the ponies. Isn’t that right, Adán?’
‘Yes, but you will take me to see the ponies when I’ve washed my face, won’t you? You said everyone should always keep their promises!’
The child gave him such a solemn yet hopeful glance that Pascual felt his heart splinter. He’d thought he had lost him … Just as he had lost Fidel and then Briana when she had left him. But this potential loss—the loss of the son he had only just come to know—would have been the most heartbreaking of all. The devastation that had swept through him at the idea Adán could be dead from a fall or drowned in the lake had left him shaking, feeling as if a hurricane had tossed him high into the air and then swept his body onto jagged rocks. Now that he had discovered him safe and well, the euphoria that pumped through Pascual’s bloodstream was like the headiest, most potent cocktail he had ever imbibed.
One Night In Collection Page 126