‘Excited. She’s got a part in a film—a supporting part, but quite a good role.’
‘That’s wonderful! Tell her congratulations.’
‘Well, that’s nice of you, Capri! Are you really going to be all right?’
‘I’m sure I will be,’ Capri lied valiantly. ‘I feel perfectly healthy, only a bit tired. It’s just this thing with my memory is…inconvenient.’
‘Are you sure you shouldn’t still be in the hospital? I don’t like the sound of this at all!’
‘I’ve been checked and tested over and over. They wouldn’t have let me leave if they’d thought there was anything seriously wrong.’
‘You look after yourself and make sure that husband of yours does too.’
‘He’s being very considerate,’ Capri said quickly.
‘Well, good! Make the most of it while you can.’
‘While I can?’
‘It might not last. Don’t count on it.’
At a loss, Capri asked, ‘What do you mean?’
‘Just that men…you know. Once the gloss wears off… You’ve been married for…what, two years now?’
‘Is that what happened to you and…and my father? The gloss wore off?’
‘Oh, Capri, you know what happened—or maybe you don’t any more. Well, if that bastard is wiped out of your memory I can only say good riddance. I’m not going to talk to you about him.’
Apparently she’d touched a still-raw nerve. ‘I didn’t mean to upset you.’
‘I’m happy now for the first time in years,’ Treena said. ‘I hoped you’d be happy for me too.’
‘I am. I mean, I’m sure I am,’ Capri said, feeling that the conversation was taking a surreal turn. ‘I’m very glad.’
‘You are? Well, just try to remember that when you get your memory back.’
‘Yes.’ Questions whirled in her head, but before she could choose one, discarding those that seemed utterly tactless, Treena said she’d been on her way out and maybe Capri could call back tomorrow.
‘Yes,’ Capri agreed. ‘It’s been nice talking to you. Give my regards to…I’m sorry, I don’t remember my stepfather’s name.’
A peal of laughter came down the line. ‘Well, that’s the first time you’ve called Steve that!’
‘Is it?’ Capri enquired blankly.
‘Never mind, I’m sure he’ll be tickled to have your regards,’ Treena said kindly.
Capri put down the receiver and sat blankly staring into space, feeling empty and alone.
Several minutes later Rolfe tapped on the door and came in. ‘Finished already?’ he asked.
‘She had to go out. Rolfe—don’t I get on with my family?’
‘What makes you ask that?’
‘She…my mother seemed surprised that I even asked after my…her husband. And Venetia—she’s got a part in a film and when I said to pass on my congratulations I had the impression that they’d be…unexpected. Why would that be?’
Rolfe crossed the room and came round to perch against the desk, looking down at her. ‘You were seventeen when your mother remarried, and—I gather—not prepared to accept a stepfather.’
‘And Venetia?’
‘She was younger, and seemed to take the new marriage more easily. You were the one who was…’
‘Was what? Jealous? Upset?’
‘Insecure, I guess,’ Rolfe said slowly. ‘That must have been what was at the root of your opposition. I suppose you were afraid of losing your mother’s affection.’
‘How did they meet—my mother and stepfather?’
‘You had entered a Face of the Year contest run by an Australian women’s magazine. The winner was offered a contract with an agency in L.A. Another girl won, but the agency was taken with your photo and offered you an audition. The contest organisers made a special payment to help out with the cost and Treena took you and Venetia over there. I believe it was a very exciting time.’
It would have been for any seventeen-year-old, Capri imagined. She wished she could remember it.
‘Then your mother met Steve. She says he could have helped your career, but you felt he was trying to organise your life and you resented it. By the time we met, you were sharing a flat with a couple of girlfriends.’
‘So what were you doing in Los Angeles?’
‘Drumming up business. A contact invited me to a corporate cocktail party and…there you were.’
‘How long were you in America?’
‘Three weeks. You and I spent every spare moment together, and after I came home I phoned you daily. We arranged to meet in Hawaii and had a week’s holiday together—couldn’t get enough of each other. Afterwards I persuaded you to come to New Zealand with me, and a couple of months later we were married.’
‘What about my career?’
‘You seemed to think that being married to me was worth giving it up for.’ His mouth curved into a wry smile. ‘Incredibly flattering.’
She must have been very much m love. Falling into bed on their very first meeting, flying off to Hawaii for a snatched idyll. Giving up her career at the drop of a hat. ‘What was I doing in Australia?’ she asked ‘It wasn’t just a holiday, was it? Why was it so important that I wouldn’t even wait for you to come with me? That I’d fight over it with you and go off in a huff, even let you think I might have left for good.’
Rolfe looked past her to the window, taking his time.
‘It must have been important to me,’ she said, ‘whatever it was.’
‘You were hoping to look someone up,’ he told her at last.
‘A friend? Family?’
He made an odd little grimace. ‘Family.’
‘I have relatives in Australia? Did they know I was on that train? Will they be worried?’
‘It seems not. No one enquired after the accident, and the disaster was widely publicised in Australia—even here. Maybe you never found them after all.’
‘In two months? But didn’t I have an address?’
‘No.’ Rolfe straightened away from the desk. ‘No, I don’t believe you had a current address.’
‘Then I can’t have been close to them. Who…?’
The obvious answer came to her. She should have guessed earlier, of course. ‘It was my father, wasn’t it? I was hoping to find him. I went there to look for my father.’
Rolfe didn’t reply immediately, and she remembered, ‘My mother says he’s a bastard.’
He seemed almost nonplussed. Then a strange, wary expression entered his eyes. ‘You remember her saying that?’
‘She said it just now, on the phone. Is she right?’
‘I never met the man,’ Rolfe told her, still with that wary look, his voice very even. ‘I expect she’s biased, but I don’t have much time myself for men who abandon their families.’
‘Is that why you didn’t want me to go? You didn’t think he was worth the trouble?’
His answer didn’t come immediately. ‘I never said I didn’t want you to, only that perhaps you should have given it some more thought before rushing off to…to hunt for some unknown relative who might not want to be found. Anyway,’ he added on a much more brusque note, ‘it seems that your quest was unsuccessful. For now, I think you should concentrate on getting over the accident. You still look a bit paler than I think is good for you.’
Capri got up from the chair. ‘Did you want to work here?’
‘I should.’ He looked rueful. ‘It wasn’t the best time to take off at a moment’s notice, workwise.’
‘I’m sorry.’ She moved around the desk, then paused before going to the door, lifting her face to look at him. ‘I found my picture in your drawer, when I was hunting for my mother’s phone number. Did you put it away when I left?’ Had he really thought she wasn’t coming back?
His quick frown made her wonder if he was annoyed at her having rifled through his desk. He forced a smile. ‘I’ve accidentally knocked it off a couple of times, moving things about. Giving it to me w
as a nice thought, but photos on a business desk are a bit impractical.’
‘I gave it to you?’
‘A first anniversary present.’
‘What did you give me?’
‘A silver and sapphire bracelet that you fancied. And flowers—roses. You took your jewellery box with you, by the way. I’m afraid it hasn’t turned up.’
Sapphires would have been valuable. And perhaps there had been other items of value as well. And if she had taken jewellery he’d given her, surely she’d had every intention of returning? ‘Did you tell the police they were missing?’
‘I filled in forms. But it’s not important alongside the fact of your survival.’
‘Thank you, Rolfe. You are a nice man!’
He looked uncomfortable. ‘Not always.’
‘Well, I think you are.’ She was only a couple of feet away from him. Stepping forward, she leaned up and shyly kissed his cheek. ‘What time would you like dinner?’
He grabbed her arms before she could retreat, his clasp hard, then easing as though he realised he was holding her too tightly. His thumbs made tiny caressing movements on her skin, and he gave her a crooked little smile, his eyes softening. ‘Are you cooking?’ He sounded sceptical, as if the offer was unexpected.
‘Why not? There’s plenty of food in the kitchen.’
His hands slid down to hers, briefly holding them before he released her. ‘Well…’ He glanced at his watch. ‘About seven, then? Don’t tire yourself.’
Rolfe came into the kitchen as she picked up a small bowl of chopped ingredients and dropped them into a pot at the stove before replacing the bowl on the counter. She grasped the handle of the pot, gently shaking the contents.
‘Something smells nice.’ He leaned over and sniffed, his hand on her waist, barely touching her. So there was no need for the sudden tightening of her skin, the increased flow of blood in her veins.
‘I’ve only just started cooking.’
‘I think I meant you.’ He snagged her wrist, raising her hand to sniff at her fingers. ‘Very savoury.’
‘Onions, celery salt and herbs.’
‘Delicious.’ He dipped his tongue into her palm and she felt the damp rasp of it along her skin to the tips of her fingers.
Capri gasped, and when his hold loosened she reached for a wooden spoon, her fingers shaking as she stirred the onions and herbs.
Rolfe’s gaze lifted to her face. ‘Did I offend you?’
‘No, of course not.’ She shook her head.
She hadn’t been offended. She’d been aroused. Fiercely and unexpectedly, with a force that had shocked her, sending a jolt of pure sexual sensation through her entire body. Nothing like that had ever happened to her before…
How can you be sure? her mind mocked her. Presumably Rolfe had always woken a similar reaction in her. From the first moment they’d met…
Perhaps subconsciously she recognised his touch, and that was what made her response to him so intense. Yet her instinctive reaction had been to hide from him what he’d done to her with that teasing, sexy caress.
She was married to the man. All she needed to do was follow the dictates of her body, let her feelings have free rein. Why was she afraid to do that?
She pushed back her hair from suddenly hot cheeks. ‘I hope you like pasta. I found some in the pantry.’ She tipped an already opened can of tomato purée into the pot and stirred it in.
‘Yes, I do.’ With a small laugh Rolfe added, ‘Just as well, as it’s about all you ever cook.’
‘Really?’
He let his hand slide from her waist and lounged against the counter near her. ‘You look as though you’re enjoying yourself. No problems remembering what to do?’
‘I just knew without thinking about it.’ She peered into the mixture and reached to turn down the heat.
‘Want a drink before dinner?’ he asked her.
‘If you’re having one. Thank you. I found the wine rack in the pantry. I’ve opened a red to let it breathe.’
‘You prefer whites.’
‘Yes, but the red will go better with this.’
Shortly afterwards he handed her a glass, and she sipped at the cool, refreshing liquid with an underlying bite. ‘It’s nice. What is it?’
‘Your usual. Gin with lemon and bitters.’ He picked up the drink he’d poured for himself. ‘Shall we have these on the terrace, or do you need to keep an eye on the food?’
‘It’s ready now, but it can stand for ten minutes.’
They sat at a small table, looking over the water as it flattened and silvered. Capri held her glass in both hands, keeping her gaze on the view. What did one talk about with a husband one knew next to nothing about? But who presumably knew a lot about her.
‘What are you thinking?’ Rolfe asked softly.
Capri took a quick sip of her drink. ‘That you know me much better than I feel I know you.’
‘What do you want to know?’
She looked at him then. ‘You don’t mind?’
‘Of course I don’t mind.’ He raised his glass to his lips, drank, and then put it down.
‘You have a family?’
‘Yes, I do. My parents live m Tauranga—’
‘That’s on the coast further south?’
‘Right. I have a brother in the States, teaching school in Pennsylvania. He has an American wife and two children. My sister is in New Zealand, a full-time mother right now, married to a doctor practising in the South Island.’
‘Where do you come in the family?’
‘I’m the middle one.’ He grinned and lifted his drink to his lips again. ‘They say it makes you competitive.’
‘Are you? Competitive?’
‘I suppose. I used to enjoy playing rugby, but I gave it up after university to put all my energies into developing my business.’
‘You’re single-minded.’
Rolfe shrugged, smiling slightly. ‘That, too. I’ve had to be, to build Massey Laser Systems up from scratch in less than ten years. It’s been a hard grind, but worth it in the end.’
‘The business is obviously successful.’ When his brows lifted enquiringly, she looked about them. ‘This house—it must have cost a lot of money.’
‘We can afford it. Yes, the business is doing well, but that doesn’t mean I can relax. There are always others ready to leap into any gap in the market.’
‘Atianui looks…affluent.’
‘Most people here are in business or the professions, leavened by the folk who’ve retired here, some of them ex-farmers. There’s a fairly lively social life. Plenty of parties.’
‘I don’t think I want to go to any parties just now.’
‘No reason why you should.’ Rolfe drained his glass and put it down. ‘You needn’t be afraid that I’ll force you into anything, Capri. You do understand that?’
She looked at him, flushing under his steady gaze. ‘Thank you.’
He moved abruptly, pushing back his chair. ‘Have you finished? I’m hungry.’
Over dinner they talked about the news in the paper he’d left on the table that morning and that she’d perused in the afternoon, and Rolfe told her about the community they lived in, and people he worked with. She listened carefully, but was unable to conjure up faces to fit the names he mentioned.
As he helped her clear away the dishes he said he’d brought some work home so he didn’t need to go to the factory the next day. She knew that was because he didn’t want to leave her alone. The thought warmed her.
They watched television for a while, and then Capri murmured that she’d like to go to bed.
Rolfe stood up, caught her hand in his and drew her to him. Lifting his other hand, he touched her hair, tucking a strand back from her cheek. He bent and kissed her, slow and sweet and restrained, sending delicious thrills coursing through her limbs.
It was over too quickly. He released her and said, ‘Have a good night’s rest.’
‘Goodnight, Rolfe.’ Ma
ybe in the morning she’d wake up and find everything back in place, making sense. Maybe.
It didn’t happen. Her mind was as blank as before, except for events that had taken place after she woke up in the hospital.
Over breakfast with Rolfe she tried to be cheerful and natural. Afterwards he went to his office down the passageway, telling her to call if she wanted him. ‘Can you find things to do?’ he enquired.
‘I’d like to explore the beach this morning.’
For a moment she thought he was going to object. Then he said, ‘Sure. Better not leave it too late. The sun might seem deceptively mild at this time of year but it could get hot later on, and you don’t want to be burnt.’
Except for a lone fisherman in the distance to the right, the smooth pale sand was deserted despite the houses all along the uneven bank above it. Capri turned to the left.
The faint breeze off the sea raised gooseflesh on her arms below the short-sleeved shirt she wore with her jeans, but the sun soon warmed her.
The beach was a broad curve of sand and the water rippled in discreetly, well-behaved waves that left foamy bubbles behind.
She walked at a leisurely pace, stopping now and then to pick up an interesting shell or admire a graceful, hardy plant rooted in the sand, or watch a sea-bird swoop to the water.
The beach ended at a grey rocky outcrop. Finding a handy flat place, she sat for a while, hoping the water and the silence would lull her into a state of calm reverie, but her mind seemed filled with images of Rolfe. None of them was from the time before she woke up in the hospital. After a while she got up and slowly retraced her steps.
Along the foreshore a few old, modest houses recalled the sleepy hollow that Atianui must have been before it became the retreat for the well-heeled that it was now. The newer buildings showed all the signs of architect design and plenty of money.
She was admiring one with a curving front wall of corrugated iron painted aqua-green and echoing the colours and fluidity of the sea, when a man came hurrying down the sandy bank from the two-storeyed ochre cement mansion next door.
He was tall and fair and good-looking. Tight jeans sheathed his lean hips and a white T-shirt hugged his well-developed chest.
Wife to a Stranger Page 6