by Jane Corrie
`So that's that!' said Sylvia in a despondent voice. `It's all my fault,' she sighed miserably. 'If I'd owned up and told the truth earlier, none of this would have happened,' she gulped. 'He might have fallen for you,' she sniffed loudly. 'He was interested right from the start, I knew he was ! '
`Oh, I doubt it,' answered Cassy consolingly. 'For goodness' sake don't blame yourself on that score. If I'd been a nice respectable girl, he wouldn't have looked twice at me. There's nothing remarkable about me, and you know it ! ' she said half jocularly. 'He told me himself he couldn't make me out, and that he didn't see me as an old man's darling.'
`That proves my point,' wailed Sylvia, refusing to be consoled. She gave another loud sniff, then sat up
straight. 'I'm going to tell him the truth,' she said, 'and he can jolly well apologise to you! ' she declared firmly.
'You'll do no such thing !' answered Cassy in alarm, wondering how she could make Sylvia understand her feelings on this without letting her know that she had fallen in love with Justin. 'Look, dear,' she began earnestly, 'I know how you feel, and I'm grateful, but don't you see that to tell the truth now would put not only yourself, but me and Justin, in a horribly embarrassing position? I backed up your story, remember, so in a way it's not surprising that he propositioned me in that way. And there is another way of looking at it,' she added gently, but firmly. 'The same goes for him as it did for me, doesn't it? What I'm saying is that if he really thought anything about me--gold-digger or no--if he was really serious, is what I'm trying to say, he would hardly have gone that way about things, would he? So be a love, and let things be. I've fixed things my end, and I'm pretty certain he won't bother me again, and that's the way I want it. Promise?' she urged the reluctant Sylvia, who gave a miserable nod in agreement.
'When's the final?' she asked quickly, to take Sylvia's mind off her troubles.
Sylvia made an effort to throw off her despondency. 'Tomorrow,' she answered glumly, then swallowed. 'It doesn't seem fair,' she began miserably.
Cassy could see her dilemma, and broke into her musings with a quick, `I'd like to watch it. Would you mind if I came?' she queried lightly.
Sylvia gave her a surprised stare. 'Of course not! We'd love you to come.' Her earlier solemnity disappeared as a certain thought struck her. 'I can chew
your nails after I get down to the quicks of mine,' she said with a grin. 'It's stupid really, I'm certain Greg's going to win, but I keep getting those blown up mirages of him floundering in a sand pit!'
Relieved, Cassy grinned back at her. 'I expect he has a few of those himself,' she said. 'They're called bunkers, aren't they?'
`In more ways than one ! ' laughed Sylvia.
Sylvia stayed to take tea with Cassy, and left her just after six to have dinner with Greg, promising to pick her up at ten the following morning in good time to watch the match. Before she left she demanded to know what Cassy was going to do that evening, and Cassy, suspecting that she was going to ask her to join them for dinner, replied hastily that she did not intend to stir outside the hotel. After dinner, she would shut herself in her room and read one of the intriguing-looking paperbacks she hadn't had a chance to read before, and honestly, she was tired.
Not utterly convinced, Sylvia prepared to take her leave. `just remember to lock your door,' she advised Cassy, as she gathered up her bag and took a quick look towards the dressing-table mirror to ensure that her appearance was presentable, for Greg was picking her up.
Cassy stared back at her. For goodness' sake, did she think Justin would force his attentions on her? It was mainly the thought of Greg waiting for Sylvia, and what she might say to him, that made her reply hastily, `I could be wrong, you know—' halting Sylvia in the act of opening the door, and she turned and looked back at Cassy.
`He could,' Cassy went on slowly, but firmly, 'have
. been offering me a job, too.' She swallowed. 'Perhaps he was trying to help me, as he helped you,' she added, `and I took it the wrong way.' Her eyes held a pleading look as they held Sylvia's slightly sceptical ones. `It could have been a case of wishful thinking on my part,' she said through gritted teeth. No matter what it cost her, she had to convince Sylvia.
By the look of sudden consternation on Sylvia's face, Cassy had succeeded beyond her wildest dreams, for there were tears in Sylvia's eyes as she exclaimed, 'Oh, Cassy ! ..' and fled.
There was a hint of tears in Cassy's eyes too, as she picked up one of the paperbacks and settled herself on the bed, determined to lose herself in the labyrinth of a detective story.
However, it was soon apparent that not even the skilful writing of her favourite author could hold her attention from the eventful happenings of the day, and she was forced to discard the book, and lay back on the bed giving her thoughts free rein.
What had Sylvia told Greg? she wondered. Did he know the whole of it? She shook her head slowly; somehow she didn't think he did. There wouldn't have been any necessity for her to mention the way she had hoodwinked Justin into finding a job for her. Not at first, that was, but things were different now, and she would have to tell him some time or other, probably right now, mused Cassy. She would have to have some explanation as to why she was so upset, and if Cassy was any judge of the way she had felt when she had rushed out of the room, she knew she would have flung herself into Greg's arms and confessed all.
On this thought, Cassy tried to assess Greg's re-
action, and whether he would insist on Sylvia 'coming clean', as it were, and straightening everything out between Cassy and Justin. And where would that lead them? she wondered. Would Justin renew his interest in her? As she remembered the way he had flung her from him, she felt the heat rise in her cheeks. He'd vanish off the scene so fast he'd break the sound barrier, she told herself caustically. Dealing with a go-getter, and dealing with an apparently harmless, unsophisticated country girl, were two entirely different things and not easily adjusted to, particularly as she had more or less insulted him by calling him a beachcomber !
Cassy sighed, and put her arms up under her head. She would like to apologise to him for that. Even so, it still didn't completely exonerate his behaviour that morning. Of course, she admitted a little reluctantly to herself, she did goad him, but she had seen no other way to handle the situation. She was not experienced enough to know how to keep him at a distance.
Her soft lips formed a moue at this thought—would any woman have been able to? Or come to that, have wanted to? Little girls baited boys they were interested in like that. Had she unconsciously carried out the same tactics? She sighed; there was no denying that she had been disappointed at Justin's failure to respond to what could have been called a romantic interlude on the plateau that night.
Which only went to show, she told herself scathingly, what a first-class fool she was. In all probability her parting remarks to Sylvia that she might be wrong about Justin's intentions were very likely correct, and he had only been offering her a job, in which case it
was small wonder that he had reacted the way he had. He might even have gone to the trouble of finding her a job, and for his trouble had received not only a blunt refusal, but a smarting insult thrown in for good measure !
Cassy's brow furrowed as she tried to recall his exact words, but eventually she had to give it up, since she could recall only the 'team up' sentence, and something about if the idea appealed to her. He'd also said something about a 'sugar daddy', she remembered. Her teeth caught her bottom lip and caused her to wince in pain, reminding her of Justin's punishing kiss. No wonder she could not recall much of what went before. The savage pressure of his ruthless mouth on hers had driven all else from her mind.
Cassy sighed in annoyance. Thinking about it had brought her no nearer to an understanding—if anything, to more perplexity. Perhaps it was as well that the whole thing was straightened out If Justin had attempted to proposition her into some dubious alliance, he was in for a rude awakening ! Either way, she told herself reasonabl
y, she had reached the stage where enough was enough, and if he did apologise-- well, so would she.
On this comforting thought she picked up the book again, and this time was soon lost in the machinations of a rather celebrated sleuth.
CHAPTER NINE
A VERY bright and cheerful Sylvia called for Cassy the following morning, and giving her a quick speculating look, Cassy wondered what had happened to give her such an uplift, particularly after her downcast exit the previous evening, and suspected it had something to do with a clear conscience !
It was wonderful, she mused as she got into the taxi that Sylvia had requested to wait for her while she picked up Cassy, what a difference love can make, particularly with an understanding, not to mention doting, lover!
In between answering Sylvia's gay comments on everything and nothing in particular, that may or may not have been nerves on Sylvia's part on Greg's behalf, the fact was gradually borne in on Cassy that whatever advice Greg had given Sylvia she was not going to impart it to Cassy, and this somewhat annoyed her. She was as much involved as Sylvia was, more in fact, considering she had been on the receiving end since her arrival.
After a few minutes' thought on this annoying state of affairs, Cassy decided that perhaps it was for the best. She had wanted to be done with the whole charade, hadn't she? Sylvia's determined silence on the matter showed that she and Greg were obviously of the same opinion. Cassy had been made to take the part
of the scapegoat for far too long, and they intended to put things right for her.
Even so, she mused silently as the taxi drew up in the forecourt of the luxurious Beach Hotel, she would have liked to have heard Justin's reaction to the news.
As it was the final of the golf tournament, there was much activity inside the hotel, and as Cassy's feet sank into the deep soft pile of the reception lobby, she looked around her with a certain amount of curiosity that stemmed purely from the knowledge that Justin owned the hotel. Not only this one, she thought, but several others, and the fact that he was probably a millionaire did nothing to lessen her chagrin at the thought that she had accused him of living on his wits.
Although Cassy kept a wary eye out for Justin, she did not see him. Not even when the tournament officials presented the cup to the grinning Greg a little before four that afternoon, and she did wonder whether he was deliberately avoiding coming into contact with her. She was now certain that Sylvia had made her rather belated confession to him, so this was not surprising, and in a way Cassy was relieved, for she had some qualms that she, too, might very well come under stricture from Justin for her part in the fictitious story.
As time went by and there was still no sign of Justin, Cassy began to feel a little piqued. He was still on the island, at least she thought he was—must have been, for Sylvia to have seen him earlier, and Cassy was quite sure that she had seen him that day. Not that she had said so in so many words, but the way she had twice squeezed her arm and said in a slightly mysterious voice, `It's going to be all right, Cassy,' gave Cassy a hint of what had gone before. She also kne w that
Sylvia was longing to put her into the picture, but surmised that Greg had insisted on Cassy being left in ignorance of this latest move to put things right.
It was Greg's motive that slightly worried Cassy; if he was simply trying to save her further embarrassment, then it was a praiseworthy action on his part, but if he was looking at it from the romantic involvement angle, then his decision was far more embarrassing for Cassy than the open approach could ever be, since it would be Justin he was looking out for, not Cassy !
With these nebulous thoughts darting about in her head, and Justin's non-appearance, Cassy was only too pleased when the congratulations and hand-shaking bestowed on the triumphant Greg came to an end. They were then able to make their way back to the hotel where tea had been apparently laid on, and was bound to be laced with yet more congratulations, and several speeches thrown in for good measure, thought a thoroughly despondent Cassy, who was determined to make her escape as soon as possible.
To her surprise, Sylvia made no demur when she asked her if she minded if she gave the celebration tea a miss, but when she made the stipulation that Cassy was to have dinner with them that evening, Cassy could not very well refuse, although she had a good try at it. 'Surely you'll want to be alone with Greg,' she said hopefully, and her spirits dropped as Sylvia shook her head decisively.
`I want you to be with us, Cassy,' she said simply, and there was no answer to that, not put in that way.
When Cassy arrived back at her hotel, she went in search of some liquid refreshment in the form of a pot
of tea to revive her flagging spirits, and found a fashion show in progress in the large lounge where teas were being served, and sat down to enjoy the show.
After watching several ethereal-looking models gliding about in flimsy gossamer dresses, the prices of which were given as each dress was shown, it occurred to her that she might purchase one of them. That heavenly amber one for example, she thought, as she studied the lovely dress now being shown. It was her colouring, and even though the neckline was a little lower than she would normally think of wearing, it was such a beautiful dress that she could not resist it.
It came as no surprise when she made enquiries about the dress after the show to learn that it was her size. Somehow she had known it would be, and as she tried it on in the makeshift dressing room reserved for such purposes, Cassy felt as if the dress had been made for her. So did the enthusiastic owner of the salon who had put the show on. 'Honey, that sure looks good on you!' she commented in a voice that showed her satisfaction, and frowned as her eye caught an extremely stout lady struggling into a dress that at a rough guess was one size too small for her, and gave a sigh of exasperation at her sales assistant's brief but telling gesture of hunched shoulders and outstretched hands, as if to say, 'I told her so, but she insisted on trying it I on.'
The price of the dress was more than Cassy had ever paid for a dress before, but she consoled herself with the thought that she had not bought anything else of value on the island, and looking back at her reflection in the long mirror, decided that it was well worth the price.
The dress was packed up for her, and with a feeling of having unearthed treasure, she made her way back to her room with her purchase. She immediately unpacked it and spread it on the bed for a further appraisal, then feeling a little like Cinderella, she sat and gazed at the full richness of the foamy gossamer skirt with its deeper amber silk underskirt that shone through the gauzy folds whenever the light caught it, making the dress shimmer in a haze of amber sparks.
When her eyes rested on the plunging neckline, she frowned and wondered whether she could put the flimsy neck scarf to a better use, such as somehow arranging it so that it covered the ample cleavage, and nodded to herself. Yes, she ought to be able to manage that.
A quick glance at her watch told her she had exactly one hour and thirty minutes to spare before Greg and Sylvia picked her up for what Sylvia had termed as the 'celebration dinner'. Time enough, she mused, to get her hair set, if she could get an appointment straight away.
Cassy rang the number listed as the hairdressing salon, and made her request. To her delight she got an appointment straight away, and with a definite feeling that for once things were going right for her, set off for the salon.
By the time she got back to her room, she had just twenty minutes in which to get ready for the dinner, ample time really, she thought as she took a quick shower and started to dress.
With the dress on, Cassy set about covering up the plunging neckline with the flimsy scarf, but somehow couldn't get it to look right. Then with firmed lips she
arranged the scarf as it was supposed to be worn across her peach-tinted neck, and floating down behind her back. 'After all, it's only once in a lifetime,' she muttered to herself, and it did look right, even though she felt half naked. 'The trouble with you, my girl,' she admonished herself in front of the m
irror, 'is that you really are a little country girl. There's a time and a place for everything. Blouses and jeans are all very well for the kennels, but over here it's a case of "when in Rome" and it's not really as bad as all that. Bikinis are lower than this, for a start,' she reminded herself stoutly.
Cassy was ready well before the appointed time, and she spent the waiting minutes in an agony of indecision about wearing the dress, but Sylvia's appreciative gasp of, `It's beautiful, Cassy, where did you get it?' somewhat eased her mind.
'Here, in the hotel,' answered Cassy a little shakily. 'It's a little low in front, isn't it?' she appealed to Sylvia. Do you think I ought ...' was as far as she got.
'Don't you dare change it for that blouse and skirt,' threatened Sylvia. 'I've a feeling I've just arrived in the nick of time. You were going to change it, weren't you?' she accused her lightly, then smiled at her. Pet, you look good enough to eat! If I wasn't so sure of my Greg, I might have a few qualms on sharing our special evening with you!' she added gaily. 'Now, come on, before you have any second thoughts on the matter.'
Half amused, but not wholly confident, Cassy found herself rushed out of her room at great speed, only just remembering to pick up her handbag lying on the side table.
A few minutes later she found herself sitting in the
back of a taxi with Sylvia beside her, Greg having elected to sit up front with the driver. 'Greg thought it better not to use his car,' commented Sylvia with a chuckle. 'We're celebrating, and want to get back in one piece!'