Secret Millionaire

by Kitty Alexander

  They ate in silence for a while, and Alexia’s mind was filled with happy images of Bert at work here in the garden, a mini emperor of it all. ‘Where would he live?’ she asked.

  Mark opened his bag of crisps then lifted the bread from his sandwich and stuffed some of the crisps inside. It was such an unconsciously male thing to do, it made her smile. ‘That would be up to him. I’ll be moving into the house when it’s finished, of course, but I don’t suppose he’d want to live in a caravan. I’m sure someone local would be able to rent a room out to him.’

  Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Mark put his sandwich down on his plate. ‘Have they finished lunch early because they’re so eager to get back to work?’ he asked with a smile in her direction.

  Then he opened the door. ‘Well hello, handsome,’ said a familiar voice. Julia. Damn!

  ‘Oh, hello,’ said Mark, stepping back.

  Julia took this as an invitation to come in. Then she saw Alexia. Her eyes flicked knowingly between Alexia and Mark. ‘Not interrupting anything, I hope?’

  Alexia flushed. ‘Of course not,’ she said, putting down her sandwich. ‘Hello, Julia. Sorry, Mark, I forgot to tell you; Julia has some important paperwork for you to sign.’

  ‘That’s right,’ confirmed Julia. ‘Goodness, that sandwich looks good. Cheese and crisp – my favourite.’

  ‘Would you like one?’ asked Mark. ‘Take a seat. I was just going to put the kettle on.’

  ‘Thank you, that’s very kind. I’d love one. And a coffee, please. Black, no sugar.’

  ‘One cheese and crisp sandwich and a black coffee coming up,’ said Mark, and something about his bright tone of voice made Alexia cringe. For a moment, while they’d been talking about Bert and enjoying a simple meal together, the barriers had between them had been down. It had felt perfectly possible to ask him the question she most wanted an answer to: why didn’t you come round to my house that night, Mark? But now, with Julia’s presence, that possibility had retreated into the far distance again.

  ‘Tea or coffee, Alexia?’

  ‘No thanks, not for me. I’ll just check over the paperwork Julia’s brought, and then I’ll get back to work. I’d like to get that vegetable patch sorted out before the end of today.’

  By the time Alexia had read through the paperwork, Julia had only taken a few dainty bites out of her sandwich, so she was forced to leave her with Mark in the mobile home. As she walked away, she heard Julia’s laugh ring out, high and flirtatious. At the work area, the rotivator was waiting to be started up again. She was too far away from the mobile home now to be able to hear Julia’s laughter, but Alexia started the rotivator anyway, needing to completely block out the possibility. With ear defenders and the sound of the machine, she would drive out all thought of what Julia might be up to with Mark. And she would not think about the fact that the last person to wear the ear defenders had been Mark. Or remember the time she’d caught Julia kissing Mark at The Heath Centre.

  There was a huge pile of leaves over in one corner of the vegetable plot. Earlier, the five of them had had a conversation about the leaves, Peter suggesting they be left there as habitat for hedgehogs. Suddenly, Alexia’s brain was filled with an image of a prickly hedgehog, rolled up on a road and doomed as a car’s headlights sped towards it. Suddenly done with hiding, Alexia switched off the rotivator and tore the ear defenders from her ears. Then she marched back towards the mobile home, passing the three boys returning from their lunch break on her way. ‘I’ll be back in a moment,’ she said. ‘Just got to…. see to something.’

  * * * * *

  Climbing the steps of the mobile home, Alexia knocked briskly once, then tore the door open without waiting for a reply. So sure was she that she would find Julia in a clinch with Mark, she was taken by surprise to find Julia still sitting at the table, and Mark over by the sink.

  He looked round. ‘I’m just wrapping up the rest of Julia’s sandwich for her. She doesn’t think she can finish it all now,’ he said.

  Alexia glanced at Julia. Her mouth was looking slightly sulky, the way it always did when she hadn’t got her own way. Had she tried something on with Mark and he’d rejected her advances?

  ‘Oh, and I phoned for a taxi. Apparently they’re very busy back at the Centre without you, and Julia can’t be spared for very long.’ He brought Julia her carefully- wrapped sandwich and placed it in front of her. ‘The taxi shouldn’t be too long. The papers are all signed.’

  Alexia wasn’t sure what to say, but inside she was smiling. Julia had definitely tried something – she was sure of it.

  Julia got up, hitching her bag onto her shoulder. ‘I’ll wait at the end of the drive,’ she said stiffly, clicking past Alexia in her high heels on her way to the door. ‘See you when we do, Alexia.’

  ‘Yes,’ agreed Alexia. ‘And thank you for coming all this way, Julia. We really appreciate it. Have a good journey back to –’

  But the door slammed shut before she could finish her sentence. Alexia bit her lip to stop herself from bursting out laughing. There was something very affronted about the sound of Julia’s heels on the uneven pavement outside the mobile home.

  ‘I think you and Laura might need to think about replacing that girl,’ Mark said. ‘She’s something of a liability.’

  Alexia looked up. ‘Only when she’s dealing with handsome men,’ she said, and promptly blushed. Oh, God, why had she said that? She spoke quickly to fill the awkward moment. ‘I hope she didn’t try anything on?’

  ‘The second you were out of the door. I thought I was going to have to shout for help. Thank goodness you came back.’ He paused, smiling, then moved closer to her. ‘Why did you, anyway?’

  ‘To stop you slacking,’ she said, improvising wildly. ‘I tried to use the rotivator myself, but … but the ear defenders are a bit on the large side for me.’

  He reached out to tuck a loose strand of her hair behind her ear, and she stiffened, torn between wanting to run for the door and reaching out to put her hand on his chest. Nobody had ever quite done this to her before – not Chris, not anybody. It was like being at war with herself the whole time. It was bigger than her the way she felt; bigger than she could cope with. Like the time she’d fallen into a swimming pool as a child, before she could swim properly. Time had stood still in a rush of muffled sound and desperately kicking feet before her father had jumped in to rescue her. Her father. Why was he impinging on this moment? When she sensed Mark might be about to pull her close? To kiss her?

  Mark hadn’t let go of her face, and now his thumb stroked her chin. ‘What’s wrong?’ he asked. ‘You look upset.’

  She shook her head. ‘It’s nothing, ’ she said. ‘I’m sorry about Julia. I’ll tell Laura about it – ask her to have a word with her.’

  She turned away to end the conversation, to head back to the safety of work.

  ‘Alexia?’ he said, stopping her.

  She didn’t turn round. ‘Yes?’

  ‘Would you like to go for a walk with me and Bosun this evening? I was thinking of taking him up on the hills above Ladybower Reservoir.’

  Ladybower; beautiful, rugged, isolated – the perfect place to ask Mark why he hadn’t kept their date that night. Or just to kiss…

  She half turned. ‘I’d like that. Thank you.’

  He smiled. ‘Great. If you come with me when I collect Bosun, we can go straight on from there.’

  She smiled back. ‘All right. Good. Great. See you in a moment.’

  ‘Yes. Don’t worry, I’ll be there.’

  Alexia left, her face, her mind and her body aflame. How would she ever get through the afternoon?

  Chapter Eighteen

  Alone, Mark went into the bathroom and splashed his face with cold water. He would have liked to shower too, but he had a physical afternoon ahead of him. He must make sure he finished slightly early, so that he could shower prior to collecting Bosun and going on the walk with Alexia.

  He could still sm
ell Julia on him – her perfume hadn’t only filled the caravan, but it had got onto his hair when she’d grabbed him. They’d started off talking about Alexia; or rather, Julia had.

  ‘Poor Alexia,’ she said. ‘She’s so much more at home in those, grubby, shapeless gardening clothes. I bet she hated the fashion show.’

  Mark hadn’t wanted to think about the fashion show, and neither did he like the bitchy overtones of Julia’s voice. ‘There’s a good deal more to Alexia than shapeless gardening clothes,’ he said.

  To his surprise, Julia had agreed. ‘You’re right there. Alexia’s what my gran would call a dark horse – she’s dead secretive. Never says a word about her love life. Take that hot man who turned up for her the other week. Not a word to anyone about who he is. It’s almost as if she’s got something to hide. Maybe he’s married or something.’

  Loathsome woman. Never mind that he’d had similar thoughts about Alexia’s love life ever since he’d seen her in her ex’s arms. The sooner Julia was gone the better.

  Seemingly oblivious to the feelings of dislike she had inspired, Julia walked towards him, all red lips and seductive walk, her eyes checking him out and causing him to remember that the T-shirt he was wearing had shrunk in the wash.

  ‘But let’s not waste our time talking about Alexia,’ she said, and before he could do anything to stop her, she had put her arms around his neck. ‘I know you’ve been crazy about me ever since we first met. That’s why I persuaded Laura I should come up here today with the documents instead of sending them by courier.’

  It was quite staggering how very wrong and how self-deluded a person could be. But even while he was thinking this, Julia was lunging at him, pressing her lips to his. Quite repulsed, he pushed her away. ‘No.’ There could be no misinterpreting the rejection in his tone of voice. ‘I am not, and never have been ‘crazy for you’, as you say. And as a benefactor of this project, I imagine I have a considerable amount of influence on future decisions. Including staffing issues. I hope I shall never be put into a position in the future where I have to report you for misconduct. Now, if you’d like to give me the documents you’ve brought with you, I’ll get them signed so I can rejoin the others. We’ve got a lot of work to do this afternoon.’

  Wordlessly, shooting him a look of surprise that quickly transformed itself into dislike, Julia went over to the table. ‘Your loss,’ she said, taking a sheaf of papers from her large bag.

  ‘I think I’ll survive,’ said Mark, taking the papers from her.

  It would have been nice to sit down at the table to read through the documents, but Julia took up residence there and proceeded to file her nails. Talons, he thought, and took the documents over to the kitchen counter instead. It would have been nicer still of course, to just sign the things without reading them first, get the woman on her way as soon as possible, but he was too canny a businessman for that.

  Outside, he heard the rotivator start up. One of the others must have taken on his job. Damn. He’d been enjoying doing that.

  The papers were straightforward. Within five minutes they were read and signed, and he’d phoned for a taxi for Julia. Then Alexia returned. And after Julia had stomped off in her huff and Alexia had made up that story about the ear defenders being to big, he’d so wanted to kiss her. This evening, up on the fells, he was determined to do just that.

  Alexia’s what my gran would call a dark horse – she’s dead secretive. Never says a word about her love life.

  But first, he would find out once and for all what the truth was about that man.

  * * * * *

  As Mark drove them away from The Copper Beeches, Alexia was intensely aware of his hands on the steering wheel. Strong, capable. For the last hour, he’d wielded a shovel like the rest of them, and now the vegetable patch was ready to receive the fertiliser Alexia had arranged to be delivered later in the week.

  ‘What vegetables do you think you want to grow?’ she asked.

  Mark smiled, keeping his eyes on the winding road. Alexia noticed his hair was wet at the back. Like her, he must have hurried off to get showered before coming out. ‘I’ll be guided by whoever takes the job of chief gardener,’ he said.

  ‘Do you really think Bert can do it?’

  ‘Yes,’ he agreed, and the finality of his voice pleased her. She was thrilled he was going to offer Bert the job, but she didn’t want to think about it this evening. Nor the missed phone call from her mother on her phone, which would inevitably be about this weekend’s party.

  ‘Here we are,’ Mark said, indicating left. ‘This is where Iris lives.’

  ‘We met in the village,’ she said. ‘Did she tell you?’

  His eyes twinkled at her. ‘She did mention it, yes.’

  Alexia smiled back. ‘How did you find her?’

  ‘She advertised in the local post office.’

  She advertised in the local post office. How many multimillionaires could say they’d hired a dog carer through a postcard in the local post office? Her father certainly couldn’t. And her father would never employ someone like Bert either. Mark just wasn’t your typical millionaire.

  Why hadn’t he turned up that night? And if only bloody Chris and her father hadn’t reduced her self-esteem to such a big fat zero as far as men were concerned that she hadn’t had the confidence to just come right out and ask him about it! But she wasn’t going to think about that either. No, not now. She was going to enjoy this moment – speaking to him, smiling with him. Join all those moments together. See where they led.

  ‘Shall I stay in the car?’ she asked as Mark got out.

  ‘No, better come with me. Iris will want to see you again, I’m sure.’

  Alexia smiled, quickly undoing her seat belt.

  The door to the cottage opened before they got to it, and Alexia just got a quick glimpse of Iris in the hallway before Bosun cannonballed himself at them with pure delight.

  ‘I kept him locked up in his cage all day, as you can see,’ Iris said, watching.

  ‘That’s just Iris’s little joke,’ Mark told her. ‘Bosun gets treated like a lord while he’s here. Since Iris has been looking after him, he’s developed a very bad sofa habit. I’ve had to give up insisting he sleeps on his own bed.’

  ‘I get nothing but complaints from this one,’ Iris joked.

  Alexia laughed.

  ‘Still, at least he’s looking a bit happier with life lately. I said to him, didn’t I, Mark? You and the garden project are exactly what he needs. Something made him buy a home like that instead of some titanium and leather penthouse in the city centre – he ought to spend more time there.’

  Mark was clipping on Bosun’s lead. ‘Goodbye, Iris,’ he said pointedly.

  She laughed. ‘I’ve embarrassed him now.’

  ‘No,’ said Mark with a smile. ‘We just want to get a walk at Ladybower in before it gets dark, that’s all.’

  Iris stepped back. ‘That sounds perfect,’ she approved. ‘I think we’ll have a good sunset tonight. See you tomorrow when you drop Bosun off.’

  ‘See you then.’

  ‘Bye, Iris,’ Alexia said.

  ‘Bye, dear.’

  ‘I hope she’s right about that sunset,’ he said, as they drove away. ‘I think she is.’

  Alexia had the feeling Mark had decided to enjoy this moment too, and she smiled. ‘I hope so too.’

  * * * * *

  ‘Have you done this walk before?’ Alexia asked. ‘Bosun seems to know the way.’

  ‘Yes, it’s one of our regulars,’ he said, smiling at the way Bosun was leaping ahead, nose to the ground. Soon they would reach fields with sheep in them, and the dog would have to go on the lead, but for now, he was enjoying his freedom. ‘I hope it’s not too steep for you?’

  The path was taking them above the trees, towards the chiselled outcrops of rock on the top of the fell. From experience, Mark knew the view was worth the effort, but it was a hard climb.

  Alexia stopped with her ha
nds on her hips, panting. Mark joined her. ‘I find it’s worth stopping regularly to look back at the view,’ he joked. ‘That wood down there has a particularly pleasing shape to it.’

  She laughed before she went back to her panting. ‘It is indeed, very fine. Actually, I like going uphill. It always feels as if it’s doing me lots of good.’

  It was. The climb had brought the colour to her cheeks. He couldn’t wait to see her hair turned to burnished gold by the sun when they got to the top.

  ‘Phew, but this climbing is making me hot.’

  ‘Best take you jumper off,’ he advised. ‘So you don’t feel cool at the top.’

  ‘Yes,’ she agreed, reaching up to pull it over her head, causing her breasts to stand out full and pert against her vest top as she did so.

  Mark’s body stirred. God, she was beautiful. He wanted to reach out to touch her. But not yet. He’d wait until the sunset.

  Alexia was bending down to fiddle with her walking boot. ‘My sock seam’s rubbing a bit. Hold on, I’ll turn it inside out.’ She sat down, reaching out to unlace her boot. She was clearly an experienced walker and knew what she was doing, but he seized the opportunity to touch her anyway.

  ‘Let me help,’ he said, reaching out to take her boot off, then pulling the offending sock down and taking it right off. ‘I’ll just have a little check for blisters…’

  Very gently he touched her skin, pretending it was a natural part of examining her foot. He wanted to stroke her – every part of her. To push her down onto the grass and kiss her until darkness fell, and they had to use the stars to guide them back to the car.

  ‘You’re right about your sock seam, I think. I’ll turn it inside out for you.’ Mark heard his voice, a rumbling whisper coming from deep in his throat, adding to the intimacy of the moment. Then Bosun went and leapt up at him, paws making muddy contact with his chest and sending him sprawling onto his back on the grass.

  Alexia began to laugh. Mark laughed too, and he was just about to forget about the sunset and to pull her down on top of him, when she suddenly stopped laughing to whisper urgently, ‘Look, what’s that, over there?’