Trust in Summer Madness

by Carole Mortimer

  ‘Arlette—’

  ‘She’s here?’ he exploded angrily.

  Sian’s eyes widened. Jarrett didn’t seem to feel guilt at all, he looked furious! His body was suddenly tense, his eyes glacial, his mouth set in a thin angry line. His wife had come all the way from America to be with him and he was angry!

  ‘At the hotel,’ she snapped.

  ‘Hell!’ he swore viciously, turning away. ‘What does she want here?’ he spoke as if to himself.

  ‘At a guess,’ Sian derided bitterly, ‘I would say she wants to see you.’

  ‘Why?’ he groaned.

  ‘Well, if you don’t know…’ she taunted pointedly.

  ‘Oh, I know why she’s here,’ Jarrett said harshly. ‘I just wondered why it had to be now.’

  ‘Now, Jarrett?’ she mocked. ‘Messes up your timing a little, doesn’t it?’

  His mouth twisted. ‘Arlette has a way of messing up everything she comes into contact with.’

  ‘How unfortunate for you!’

  ‘It has been in the past,’ he nodded grimly, ignoring her sarcasm. ‘Did you talk to her?’ he asked sharply.

  ‘Not exactly,’ she said slowly, watching his frown. ‘She talked to me.’

  ‘Yes?’

  Was it her imagination or had Jarrett’s wariness increased?

  ‘What about?’ he queried softly.

  She shrugged. ‘You. Her. Me. The beach house in Florida. She’s sold it, by the way,’ she told him flippantly.

  ‘Good for her,’ he drawled uninterestedly. ‘Maybe the money from that will keep her happy for a while.’

  Sian couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Jarrett’s wife had turned up here, and he didn’t seem to give a damn—except to wonder when she was going away again! ‘Then why do you suppose she’s here?’ she derided sharply, looking at him with dislike.

  ‘Mm,’ he sighed, running a hand wearily through the thickness of his over-long blond hair. ‘There is that. I guess the money from the beach-house isn’t keeping her happy.’

  ‘She mentioned something about you paying the bills…’ Sian said with distaste.

  He sighed again. ‘She has a way of expecting the men in her life to do that. I’ll have to go,’ he said impatiently. ‘She could have shocked everyone at the Swan by now.’

  ‘I don’t think so. She seemed a very self-possessed woman to me,’ Sian recalled bitterly.

  ‘You didn’t like her.’ Jarrett sounded amused, his mouth quirked mockingly.

  ‘No.’

  ‘Not many women do,’ he smiled his enjoyment of the fact.

  ‘I’m sure with men it’s a different matter!’

  ‘Oh yes,’ his humour faded, ‘completely different. I’m sure even your respectable fiancé would find Arlette attractive—on one of her better days. On the others she’s a hellcat,’ he said hardly. ‘I’d better go,’ he repeated. ‘I’ll talk to you again.’

  Sian’s eyes widened. ‘About what?’

  ‘Us, of course.’

  ‘Us?’ she frowned. ‘But—Arlette?’

  ‘Is a damned nuisance—and one I intend getting rid of as soon as possible. But she makes no difference to my plans for you and me.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Did you think she would?’ He ran a taunting finger down her cheek, his smile widening as her teeth snapped together angrily. ‘No one, and nothing, will ever make a difference to us, my darling Sian. You may be proving stubborn again now, and I’m sure Arlette’s arrival has a lot to do with that, but when the house is finished you’ll be the one sharing it with me.’ He bent and kissed her hard on the mouth. ‘I’ll be in touch.’

  ‘Jarrett, you—’ Too late, he had already gone!

  What did he mean, she would be the one sharing the house at Dane’s Hill with him? How could she, when he had a wife—

  ‘Sian, I’m going now.’ Chris had come into the kitchen.

  ‘Mm?’ She looked up at him dazedly, still shocked by her conversation with Jarrett. It hadn’t gone at all as she had thought, there had been none of the guilt from him she had expected, only annoyance that Arlette had come here. And far from putting an end to his pursuit of her he still claimed she would live at the house with him. It didn’t make sense—

  ‘Sian, I have to leave now,’ Chris repeated curtly. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’ He kissed her abruptly.

  She shook her head with a puzzled frown, seeing he was already at the door. ‘Chris…?’

  ‘Mm?’ He turned with a frown, his expression vague.

  ‘Er—nothing.’ It had been a long day, maybe it was better if they ended the evening short like this. She needed to think, to be alone, to work out exactly what she had achieved tonight—if anything. Nothing was going right, Jarrett still seemed to want her—and was determined to get her. ‘Thank you for a nice evening,’ she added huskily.

  He nodded, then left quietly.

  No one seemed at all interested in the coffee she was supposed to be making, she thought ruefully. Maybe Bethany wuld like—

  ‘I’m going to bed.’ Bethany spoke dully from the doorway.

  Sian turned to look at her sister, her eyes widening at how pale she was. ‘Love, I—’

  ‘Goodnight, Sian.’ Bethany turned with a choked cry, running up the stairs.

  Sian watched her go. The whole world was going mad! What on earth was wrong with Bethany? Could—Chris must have decided to tell her sister about Jarrett while they were in the kitchen! Poor love, no wonder she was upset!

  She toyed with the idea of going after her sister, then dismissed it. Bethany needed time to get over the shock she had received tonight, time alone.

  As no one else seemed interested in coffee she made herself a cup of instant, sitting at the kitchen table to think of her conversation with Jarrett, of all her conversations with Jarrett since he had been back.

  She had been a fool, had thought each time they spoke that Jarrett was talking about marriage! But marriage was something he hadn’t mentioned. He hadn’t intended marrying her, he had intended setting her up in his house as his English mistress while his wife continued to live in America!

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  FOR the next week Sian saw nothing of Jarrett at all, and neither did Bethany, as far as she knew. Her sister seemed very nervy, snapping at the slightest provocation, spending a lot of time in her room. For the most part Sian left her to it, and by tacit agreement their father did too. When Bethany was ready to talk, to be with them again, she would let them know.

  Arlette King was still in Swannell, and Sian occasionally saw her in the town, acknowledging the other woman but making no attempt to stop and talk to her. What could she talk to her about? As far as she knew the only thing they had in common was Jarrett, and they had already spoken of him.

  ‘Sian, where’s the Simkins card?’

  She looked up with a frown as Chris snapped at her. He had been very snappy lately. She knew it was probably partly due to how busy he had been the last week, seeming to spend a lot of his evenings working late. In fact, they had hardly seen each other out of work since the previous Saturday.

  ‘I put it back in the—’

  ‘How many times do I have to tell you not to interfere?’ he scowled. ‘I’ve wasted half an hour looking for the card on my desk—where I left it!’

  ‘But—’

  ‘Just get it for me, will you?’ he requested with terse impatience. ‘And don’t touch the things on my desk again.’ He slammed the door behind him as he left.

  Ginny softly opened the door to the surgery, putting her head round the side of it. ‘Is it safe to come out?’ she asked in a stage whisper. ‘Has he gone?’

  ‘Yes.’ Sian gave a wan smile, finding the card Chris wanted. ‘I’d better take this through to him,’ she gave a rueful shrug.

  Apart from a disgruntled murmur of thanks Chris didn’t even acknowledge that she had come into the room. She frowned down at him worriedly. ‘Chris—’

  ‘Is i
t anything important, Sian?’ He looked at her with veiled exasperation, his handsome face tight with impatience. ‘I want to finish writing up these notes before I go out on my calls.’

  ‘No, I—I—’ she moistened her lips. She had never seen Chris like this before. ‘I just wondered if you would like to come over this evening? I could cook you a meal and—’

  ‘I’m not sure, Sian,’ he answered evasively. ‘I could be working again.’

  ‘You’ve been so busy lately, Chris, and I—’

  ‘I have to work, Sian,’ he snapped. ‘This practice doesn’t run itself!’

  ‘But—’

  ‘I’ll let you know later,’ he dismissed curtly. ‘I really do have to get this paperwork done now.’ He turned away.

  Sian looked down at him with shadowed eyes for several minutes. She felt hurt and puzzled by his behaviour, had never seen him in this mood before. Finally, when she knew he wasn’t going to look up or speak again, she turned and quietly left the room.

  Ginny was sitting on top of her desk, her legs swinging idly back and forth as she casually flicked through the picture calendar that stood on Sian’s desk. She put it down as Sian came back. ‘What’s the matter with my big brother?’ she frowned.

  Sian managed a casual shrug, wondering that herself. ‘He’s been working hard,’ she excused.

  Ginny gave a sceptical snort. ‘I don’t know why.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ she frowned.

  The other girl shrugged. ‘He even took over Martin’s turn on call last night.’

  Sian kept her expression bland with effort. ‘That was nice of him.’

  ‘Nice!’ Ginny derided. ‘It may have been nice,’ she accepted softly. ‘I just don’t understand why he did it—we weren’t going out or anything. Everything is all right between you two, isn’t it?’ she asked worriedly.

  Far from objecting to Sian’s marriage to her brother, as her mother did, Ginny openly approved of the match; the two women got on well together.

  ‘Of course,’ Sian replied with more confidence than she felt. ‘Chris is just trying to get everything organised here for when we get married and go away on our honeymoon.’

  ‘I don’t see why,’ Ginny frowned. ‘He has a replacement arranged for then.’

  Sian shrugged. ‘He wants to leave everything neat and up to date for him.’

  ‘And that’s why he’s walking around like a bear with a sore head?’ the other girl derided. ‘I think there’s more to it than that. It’s only three weeks to the wedding, isn’t it, maybe he’s getting impatient,’ she grinned.

  ‘Ginny!’ Sian’s cheeks flooded with colour.

  The other girl laughed softly. ‘Well, frustration has been known to cause bad tempers you know!’

  Sian did know; she had suffered with it herself the day Jarrett had aroused her so thoroughly beneath the willow and she had ended their lovemaking. ‘Is that what was wrong with Martin yesterday?’ she teased, to hide the confusion she always felt when she thought of Jarrett. She might not have seen him this last week, but just knowing he was still in the town was enough to unnerve her. In fact, she felt more nervous because she hadn’t seen him, suspecting his motives.

  ‘That was different,’ Ginny spluttered with laughter. ‘And that wasn’t the reason for his bad mood either. We had an argument about something quite trivial,’ she dismissed.

  Sian’s brows rose mockingly. ‘And I thought Martin was the easiest of men!’

  ‘Oh, he is,’ his wife nodded. ‘But they all have their little foibles.’

  ‘I’m sure,’ Sian laughed teasingly.

  ‘You’ll see,’ she was told prophetically. ‘They’ve started building up at Dane’s Hill, you know,’ Ginny added conversationally. ‘Martin drove past along the main road the other day, he said the building is well under way.’

  Sian’s smile had faded. ‘That’s very fast,’ she frowned.

  Ginny shrugged. ‘Jarrett King strikes me as a man who’s in a hurry. And when you’re a man like him you can arrange anything—especially if you happen to be in the building trade yourself. Martin thinks the house will be finished in a couple of months. I actually saw Jarrett King again the other day,’ she went on excitedly, seeming not to notice the strain in Sian’s face. ‘How on earth could you give up such a gorgeous man to marry my brother?’ she asked disgustedly.

  ‘I didn’t give him up at the time, Ginny,’ she said stiffly. ‘I didn’t have any choice. He—He was with another woman.’

  ‘So I heard,’ Ginny nodded without embarrassment at having listened to the gossip. ‘At his stag party. But stag parties are like that,’ she dismissed. ‘Do you know what they did to Martin at his?’ She didn’t wait for Sian to answer her. ‘They took him out to Darwich,’ she named the town five miles away, ‘took off his clothes—and left him there. And we got married in March,’ she giggled. ‘They could have ruined our married life before it began!’

  Sian gave an answering smile, never having heard this before. ‘Poor Martin! What did he do?’ she chuckled at the thought of him stranded without his clothes. How embarrassing for him!

  ‘He telephoned me,’ Ginny revealed dryly. ‘Reversing the charges, of course.’

  ‘Of course,’ Sian grinned.

  ‘And I drove out and picked him up.’ Ginny laughed again. ‘It was a good job we’d already been lovers, I could have been extremely shocked—or disappointed,’ she added mischievously.

  ‘Poor man!’

  Ginny sobered. ‘I nearly strangled him at the time! You see, shortly before he called me I had another telephone call. From one of his so-called friends, I realised afterwards. He told me that Martin had been found in bed with a married woman and her husband had kicked him out of the house without his clothes.’

  ‘That was cruel,’ Sian frowned.

  The other girl shrugged. ‘It was just fun. I trusted Martin enough to know it was all lies.’

  Sian finally realised what point Ginny had been trying to make, turning away. ‘Sometimes that trust can be misplaced,’ she mumbled.

  ‘Sometimes,’ the other girl nodded. ‘Is that what happened with you and Jarrett King?’ she prompted softly. ‘Stag parties can be a bit wild, you know.’

  Sian’s mouth twisted. ‘This wasn’t wild, and Jarrett’s party was strictly private.’

  ‘Are you sure? I mean, from what I heard he was mad about you,’ Ginny frowned her puzzlement. ‘He was the original loner, I’ve been told, and then there was you.’

  Jarrett had been extremely alone. His parents were both dead, and he had only an uncle in America, the majority of friends he made in Swannel after he moved here seeming to be of the female gender. No, as far as women were concerned Jarrett had never been alone.

  ‘There wasn’t me, Ginny,’ she said exasperatedly. ‘There were fifty other women first, then there was me.’

  ‘You can’t be jealous of his past—’

  ‘It was the present that bothered me,’ she insisted heatedly. ‘Look, Ginny, don’t interfere in things you don’t understand. And why stand up for Jarrett King anyway? I’m about to marry your brother!’

  ‘If you aren’t over Jarrett King—’

  ‘I am over him!’ Sian said fiercely. ‘I was over him the minute I saw him with Nina Marshall. I certainly didn’t need to be told that he’d been seeing her all the time he’d been seeing me, that he had been sleeping with her too! But I was told, I was told first-hand,’ she revealed bitterly.

  ‘I see,’ the other girl murmured quietly. ‘Sorry, Sian, I didn’t realise. And of course I want you to marry Chris. It’s just—You don’t seem very happy since Jarrett came back.’

  ‘He’s stirred up old memories, painful ones, that’s all,’ Sian dismissed. ‘Also it wasn’t very pleasant at home while he was taking Bethany out. At least that’s over now!’

  ‘Mm, but she doesn’t look too happy about it,’ Ginny frowned. ‘I saw Bethany in town the other day, and she looks awful.’
/>   ‘She’s taken the break-up rather hard,’ Sian nodded. ‘But I’m sure she’ll get over it in time.’

  But she wasn’t sure at all. Bethany didn’t seem to be sleeping or eating; the lunch Sian prepared for her later that day remained almost untouched, as had most of her other meals the last week. She was getting very thin, and having been slender in the first place she couldn’t really take the weight loss and still look healthy. But Sian knew there was nothing she could do to ease her sister’s pain, that only Bethany herself could do that.

  There was no evening surgery that night, and so Sian had the afternoon and evening off, and her disappointment was acute when Chris telephoned to say he couldn’t make it that night.

  She felt restless, in need of activity, and finally she prevailed upon her father to let her borrow his car, wishing now that she hadn’t sold her own car so early before the wedding, even though they had needed the money. She drove out of town, needing to get away from the oppressive atmosphere in the house.

  She knew where she was going, of course, knew it and yet couldn’t stop herself.

  Ginny was right, they had started work on the house. A lot of the building supplies had already been delivered, and several men were still working on the construction as she drove down the dirt road. And one of them was Jarrett!

  She didn’t need to be any nearer to know it was him, would know that gleaming fair head, naked muscled chest, lean hips in the tight faded denims with her eyes closed. Jarrett was working alongside his men, as filthy dirty as they were—and looking as if he were enjoying every challenging moment of it! This was the way it used to be—Jarrett working long hours, the sweat gleaming on his body, aching with tiredness, and yet glowing with the triumph of a day well used. Tonight he was like the old Jarrett, the impeccably tailored millionaire was nowhere in sight.

  By the time Sian had looked her fill of him she was too far up the lane not to have to go to the dead end, past the spot where they were building the house, to the single driveway further down that would allow her to turn around and go back out again.