by Lynne King
Chantelle had released Danny, but she still stood between them and the small frown that creased her brow made it clear she felt David had given a pitiful apology. Still, she glanced back over her shoulder at Danny and attempted a small smile.
“I don’t know what it was about, but can you two at least part amicably? I’m not much good at refereeing and I can’t stand the sight of blood.” She smiled encouragingly, but was met with a stony response from Danny.
“Come on, Chantelle; let’s get the hell out of here.” Without looking at David, he marched off.
Chantelle looked at David as if waiting for him to say something. When he didn’t, she turned and followed Danny.
David remained standing there even after the red Fiesta they had both gotten into drove away. His thoughts were going in every direction, first to Danny and how far he had come from the doting brother who was so excited when David was home on leave that he wouldn’t give him a moment alone the whole time. David had loved telling him about the planes he was flying and the places he had been. There had been so much admiration in Danny’s young face and now all he saw was contempt.
He so desperately wanted to put it right between them, but where could he begin and for what purpose? He had put Danny at risk enough by being related to him. Besides, if he was to tell Danny everything, it would have to include the truth about their mother and Danny wouldn’t thank him for it.
His thoughts switched to Chantelle. The moment he’d seen her, he had wanted to reach out and pull her into his arms, to feel his lips upon hers and admit how he couldn’t stop thinking about making love to her. Maybe if they had made love, the obsession would be over. Instead, she had made him desire what she had denied him. It was a fantasy he was going to have to live with, because in reality, he knew it could never happen.
****
Paul tapped lightly on the door. “Chantelle, are you all right in there? I haven’t seen you for days and frankly, I’m beginning to worry. Of course, if you have a man holed up in there, I’ll go away.”
“Sorry to disappoint you, Paul, but I’m all alone and quite happy to stay that way. No offence, but I don’t feel up to talking,” Chantelle called weakly through the door.
It was obvious her muffled tone concerned Paul, because he knocked on the door again, this time harder. “I’m standing here all day if necessary. Now open this door.”
Chantelle let several minutes pass, then finally stood up and trudged to the door. She stood there in her dressing gown, her hair tied back off from her pale face. She knew she looked a mess, with her eyes puffy and swollen and her nose very red and sore.
Paul gaped at her with his mouth ajar.
“Don’t stare at me like that, Paul. I’m not as bad as I look. Well, at least I think I’m over the worse of it. Flu has a way of making you look pretty dreadful even when you’re on the mend.”
He let out a small sigh of relief. “You had me worried there. After what happened when you came back from that air show in Germany last week and then locking yourself away in here, I began to think...”
“That I might be suicidal? I hardly think so. Just languishing in self-pity.”
“I’ve got the perfect remedy. One of the finest wines from France, the number for the local Chinese takeout place, and my brilliant company.”
“Paul, I warn you, I’m not the greatest company at the moment and as for food, you can count me out.”
“Won’t hear of it. See you in ten minutes.”
Chantelle shook her head with a small smile as Paul disappeared to fetch the wine. She shouldn’t have told him about Danny and what had happened between them on their return from the air show. But it had shocked her so much at the time that she’d needed to tell someone and Paul was a great listener.
The air display in Germany had been fine except for the lousy weather, which had given her this damn cold. And, of course, there had been Danny’s unexpected confession.
“Is there anything going on between my brother and you?” When he’d asked, Danny had been seated in the passenger seat of her Fiesta and they were on their way to her flat where Danny had secured his motorbike in her hallway. He hadn’t said a word since the confrontation back at the airfield with David.
She didn’t want to think about it. The whole scene had been upsetting enough without a postmortem done on what had led up to it. “Like I told you before, it really is none of your business. But if it makes you happy, no. There is definitely nothing going on and there never has been. Satisfied?”
He had said nothing else until they arrived at her flat and he asked himself in for a coffee. Since he had to drive across London to his rented house, she had agreed.
It still made her shaky thinking about it. He had stood close behind her while she made the coffee, too close; she’d realized when his arms went around her waist. At first, she had laughed nervously, telling him to stop fooling around. Then it had happened, so quick at the time, but afterward she remembered every second of it.
He’d pulled her body around to face him. “Chantelle, don’t you realize how much I’ve wanted you? I’ve tried everything to get you to show some interest. I even flirted with Tracey, until she came on too strong. And all I wanted was for you to give me the same encouragement. Since you didn’t seem interested in any other men, I was willing to bide my time -- and then my bastard of a brother comes along and you’re like a cat in heat.”
It became all too clear why Tracey and she had never gotten along and explained the spiteful comments and dagger looks. She had been jealous. And all for nothing. To her, Danny was just a friend and work colleague. She’d never seen him in any other way.
“You must have realized how I felt,” he’d whispered while pulling her tightly against his body.
She had been so shocked by this declaration that she’d frozen, even when his mouth moved forward to kiss her. Chat had saved her. He’d come to the kitchen looking for food and finding himself ignored, had leapt onto Danny’s back to get her attention. It certainly worked as Danny staggered back from her, yelling at the same time for her to get the bloody cat off his neck. Luckily, no lasting damage had been done, but it had certainly cooled Danny’s ardor.
He’d gone to the far end of the kitchen and made no other move to come toward her. Instead, he had stood and looked at her. Probably he’d read the panic and disbelief in her face and knew his feelings weren’t reciprocated.
“Danny, I’m sorry, but I had no idea. I don’t think of you in that way.”
“But with my brother, it’s different. Why, Chantelle?” His words had sounded so full of anguish.
“Danny, you mustn’t blame David. Is that why you’re so angry toward him? If it is, you have got to stop.”
Danny’s expression had immediately changed from hurt to angry. “My hatred stems from what he put our mother through, so don’t hold yourself to blame, Chantelle. He hasn’t spoken to her since our father died -- five years. What kind of son is that? He was never around to witness what our father turned out to be: a drunk and a bully.”
Relieved the situation had switched from Danny’s feelings for her to the way he felt about his brother, Chantelle had wanted him to go on. “Your father wasn’t always like that though, was he?”
“I don’t know. My mother tells me he wasn’t, but I was too young to remember and my father served in the air force until I was twelve. He changed after he had to take early retirement on medical grounds and then we saw too much of him.”
“Facing that kind of uncertainty would change most people to a degree,” Chantelle had replied softly.
“Yeah, I guess so.” His words had sounded bitter.
“How did your father die?”
“Crashed a light aircraft he was flying. No fault was found with the plane, but he was probably drunk.”
“Accidents happen, but we always need to blame someone, don’t we? My father died in front of thousands at an air show, doing what he loved. But he made a mistake and paid fo
r it with his life. Instead of feeling sorrow, I was angry at him for deserting us like that and especially what came afterward. Secrets often hurt the ones they are trying to protect.” She’d frowned pensively, and then given Danny a reluctant half-hearted smile. “Anyway, it’s all in the past.”
“Do you know we spend whole weekends in each other’s company and yet, we’ve never had a serious conversation? I thought I knew you, but it seems I don’t know you at all.” He had looked at her almost regretfully.
“Oh, Danny, don’t speak like that. We have fun, don’t we? We get on well and we’re a great team. Why spoil it by trying to make it into something that wouldn’t work?”
“You’re talking about earlier, aren’t you?”
Chantelle had nodded.
“I guess I got the signals wrong. Let’s forget it, shall we?” He had given her a small smile and then left.
Chantelle had closed the door after him and leaned against it with a sigh of relief. Though the air had been cleared between them, she now felt their relationship could never quite be the same. She would be forever listening to herself to make sure her words or actions couldn’t be misinterpreted.
Hearing Paul come back into her flat carrying a bottle of wine jolted her back to the present. At least with him, nothing could be misread.
Chat also came wandering up to her, having risen from his favorite sleeping position on the back of the sofa. He followed her into the kitchen and waited expectantly at the fridge door.
Opening the fridge, she removed a saucer of cooked chicken and placed it down in front of him. “I’m afraid after today, it’s tinned food for you. No more luxuries.”
“Times that bad?” Paul asked as he leaned against the counter.
“Yes, and they’ll only get worse now that winter is approaching. There’s not a great demand for air displays when you can’t see above the rain clouds and gusty winds. We have good sponsors who pay us all year round, although not enough. I’m thinking of going back to teaching.”
“What about the other team members? How do they get by?”
“They all have different sidelines, even Danny, who does motorbike racing or any other dangerous sport he can find someone to sponsor him for.”
Opening the wine and reaching in the cupboard for two glasses, Paul filled them and handed one to Chantelle. “Here’s to better times.” He raised his glass to hers.
Just then, the buzzer for the downstairs entrance door sounded. “Expecting someone?” she asked Paul.
“Not unless he’s tall, dark and exceedingly handsome.” He gave her a wide, mischievous grin.
Laughing, she went over to the intercom.
David’s voice greeted her, his tone impatient. “Chantelle, we need to talk. Can I come up?”
“What now?” She glanced down at her unflattering dressing gown. If he wanted to see her at her worst, he couldn’t have picked a better moment, especially with her nose looking like she had leprosy.
“Well, I’m hardly banging on your door to make an appointment for next week, now am I?”
Ignoring the sarcasm, Chantelle racked her brain for an excuse. “Look, I’m not well at the moment. In fact, I’m highly contagious. What’s this about, David?”
“I need to tell you something and I can’t do it out here on the street.”
Chantelle had humiliated herself enough where David was concerned. First, she had made it blatantly obvious she wanted him, had changed her mind, gotten drunk and then been introduced to his girlfriend. She couldn’t stop thinking about him and now had the added complication of unintentionally causing a further rift between two warring brothers.
Paul raised his eyebrows. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but don’t you think your personal life is becoming complicated? Two brothers is what I would call being greedy.”
“Oh, Paul, thank you for your wonderful support. Remind me never to confide in you again.” Chantelle sighed. “But you’re right. Ever since David Bishop came into my life, everything has gone wrong.”
“Chantelle, are you going to open this door or not?”
David’s impatient voice forced her to a decision. “No, David. I happen to have a friend here at the moment and three would be a crowd. I’m sure Catherine -- or whatever her name is -- would agree on that.”
For a moment, deadly silence greeted her. Finally, he responded abruptly, “Fine. Maybe I’ll catch you at a time more convenient. Obviously what you have isn’t that contagious.”
“Chantelle, what the hell was all that about?” Paul asked.
“I don’t know what you mean.” Going into the kitchen, she picked up the glass of wine and started sipping from it. The taste certainly didn’t take away the sourness of what she had done. Whatever he had come to say, she had made it quite clear she wasn’t interested. If only that was true. But it was done now. He wouldn’t be making any more unannounced house calls; that was for sure.
Going over to the window, she felt Paul come and stand by her side, placing his arm around her shoulder. When she looked out, there was no sign of David’s car parked on the street below.
“You were right. He’s dangerous. A risk I’m not prepared to take. My mother went down that road, gave everything to a man who only gave part of himself and broke her heart in the process. I loved my father, but he was a selfish, weak man who carried around too many secrets.”
“But you told me David wasn’t married,” Paul interrupted.
“He might as well be, because there’s a part of him I’m never going to see and maybe I don’t want to.”
Chapter 6
“It’s no good, Danny. I’ve thought long and hard about this and I need to establish a proper career. Strapped to the wings of a plane just isn’t it. It was great fun and I’ve no regrets, but it’s time I moved on.” Chantelle felt she owed it to Danny to break the news personally before she told Don and the rest of the team. She had invited him over to her flat and by the look on his face, this was not what he had expected.
“What exactly do you plan to do?”
“I’ve had a permanent post offered to me at a good school and I’m thinking of accepting it.” She stood facing him, sucking nervously on her bottom lip.
His tone lifted as if he had the ideal answer. “You could do both.”
“That’s not practical when the posting is in France.” She gave a disappointed shrug.
“France! Have you gone crazy?” He turned up his nose as if appalled. “They’re crying out for teachers here and you want to be stuck in a classroom full of frogs?”
That did it. “In case you’ve forgotten, I happen to have a French mother who I miss a great deal and relatives in France. I have no one here.”
He moved forward, his face full of apology. “I’m sorry, Chantelle. I don’t want to see you go and it has me thinking this is my fault. I should not have made that pass at you and messed things up between us.”
“That has nothing to do with it.” Turning her back on Danny, she went to the window and stared down at the street below. How could she explain the disillusionment and loneliness she’d felt of late, especially when she had never felt the need for lasting bonds? Friends had always come and gone along with boyfriends. It was what she wanted and she’d always felt happy with this kind of selfish independence. So why, all of a sudden, did she have a desire to be around her mother and return to the familiarity of teaching and in return hope to gain that feeling of being needed?
Her strange, pensive mood hadn’t gone unnoticed by Danny. “For someone who claims nothing happened with David, you’ve changed. Are you in love with him?”
“Don’t be stupid.” She rounded on him, her eyes glistening. “I hardly know him. This is about me. I don’t expect you to understand, just don’t make it more difficult than it is.”
Danny gave a disappointed sigh. “Okay, you win, but I’m going to miss you and our fun nights together.” He gave a mischievous smile as he approached her and took hold of her hands.
&
nbsp; For a moment, Chantelle froze. She relaxed as he leaned forward and kissed her on each cheek.
Releasing her, he turned to walk out of the door, when the shrill ring of his BlackBerry sounded. Taking it out of his jacket pocket, he answered and began shaking his head. “Steve, I can’t get down tomorrow, that’s impossible. Can’t you fit it in another day? Hell! It’s not a great problem.”
Chantelle realized Danny was talking to Steve about the maintenance check needed on his biplane. The radio had been acting up since their last display and Steve had shown concern that Danny hadn’t been down to Manston as he promised for a thorough overhaul on the plane. Steve was a brilliant mechanic who always had work lined up. If he was ringing Danny asking to check his plane out, it was because he was concerned and tomorrow might be the only day he had free.
“Look, I’ll ring you back on this.” Danny pressed the off button on his phone. “That’s all I need, some jumped-up mechanic ordering me around.”
“You’re not being fair to Steve. He’s been good to the team and could charge a fortune for the work he does,” Chantelle snapped.
“Yeah, well he gets paid enough and I’m sick and tired of being told what my plane does and does not need.”
She let out an exasperated sigh. Some things she wasn’t going to miss and that included Danny’s selfish and arrogant behavior.
“Blast it, nothing is going right. First you quit on me and then this. I’m meant to race tomorrow at Brand’s hatch, not be stuck in some hangar watching my plane taken apart by some mechanic who wants to justify his existence.”
“Do you want me to fly your plane down to Manston?”
He seemed undecided, his fingers playing with his chin as if it was a big dilemma.
“Look, I offered as a favor. I’m flying down to Dover anyway to tell Don and the others. But believe me, I much prefer a plane that offers some protection, not one that leaves me exposed to every damn seagull and rain cloud.” It was a small fib. In truth, she had always wanted to get behind its controls; not that it had many. A lot relied on the skill of the pilot in the days that it was built for. Don had allowed her to fly his, but Danny had always made excuses. It was his precious toy that no one got to fly except him. She could see his reluctance and loved every minute. “Of course, there’s always another race in a fortnight’s time or whenever they hold such events. But isn’t it the trials for the British championship being raced this weekend?”