Quite how she ended up driving down that particular lane, past that particular driveway, that particular cottage, Fin wasn’t absolutely sure, but as the engine of the van suddenly began to splutter and cough like a smoker with his first cigarette of the day, she wished herself anywhere but down this particular lane, driving past this particular driveway, this particular cottage, the van coming to a slow stop even as she prayed that it wouldn’t.
She didn’t believe it, knew that the chances of this happening had to be a million to one, but after a quick look at the petrol gauge she realised she was running out of petrol!
She had meant to fill up the tank earlier today, but with everything else that had happened she had completely forgotten.
Of all places, she had to run out of petrol here. It was like a caricature of that old theme, ‘I’ve run out of petrol, darling—we’ll have to find somewhere to stay for the night’. Rose Cottage was the only habitation for a couple of miles, and this country lane wasn’t exactly heaving with traffic either; Fin hadn’t seen another vehicle since driving down it.
What was Jake Danvers going to make of her knocking on his door at ten-thirty at night, claiming she had run out of petrol?
She couldn’t do it, would rather walk the two miles or so in the dark to the nearest cottage to this one than face his derision and open speculation!
Besides, Rose Cottage was in darkness, from what she could see from the road, and she certainly wasn’t willing to rouse him from his bed so that she could use his telephone to call a taxi home. Of course, she had her own key to the cottage, but there was no way she could just go into it without waking the man who slept upstairs to make the telephone call; that amounted to trespassing. Besides being very embarrassing for her if Jake Danvers did happen to discover her there, it also wouldn’t be very good publicity for her business if she was accused of breaking in!
No, she decided stubbornly, she would walk the couple of miles to the next cottage, and hope that the inhabitant there hadn’t already gone to bed, too!
She took a torch from the back of the van before locking up and starting her walk, jumping nervously at any strange sound as she did so. God, she would have to stop watching those late-night horror films on the television! The trouble was, it all looked so safe on that little screen, far removed from her, but out here in the dark, with owls hooting without warning, twigs snapping under scurrying feet, dark clouds passing constantly over the huge globe of the moon, it seemed all too real!
She berated herself for her own silly stupidity as she walked the next mile, a walk that seemed twice as long in the darkness, the beam given off by the torch her only light most of the time, the moon almost constantly hidden by those clouds.
And then the arc of approaching car headlights lightened the nervousness of her thoughts; surely no one would be callous enough to just drive past a lone woman as she walked along the road, obviously in some trouble, even if the car was going in the opposite direction?
Lone woman? Suddenly Fin wondered if it would be such a good idea for the car to stop after all; one heard such strange stories nowadays of women whose cars had broken down being picked up and— Before she could make her mind up whether she should stay put or dodge into the hedge beside the road, the sweeping arc of the car headlights as it came around the corner pinned her in the beam like a mesmerised rabbit lined up for the slaughter. Oh, God …!
As she had been sure it would, the car swept to a halt on the opposite side of the road. The model of the car was unrecognisable in the darkness, but it was long and sleek, the window opening on the driver’s side with an electric whoosh, the ticking-over of the engine like a giant cat’s purr.
‘Lost your broomstick?’ taunted an all-too-familiar voice.
A voice Fin knew she wasn’t in the least surprised—in view of the location of her latest disaster!—to hear, for all that she wished it had been anyone else in this car but him. But it had already been one of those evenings.
She crossed over the road to stand beside the car, Jake Danvers’s features looking dark and saturnine as the moon suddenly came out from behind a cloud at that moment and threw his face into stark outline.
‘Elves and pixies don’t have broomsticks,’ she told him drily, any awkwardness over the kisses they had shared earlier that she had imagined she might feel the next time she saw him avoided by his return to mockery.
As her gaze focused better in the muted light offered by the headlamps of the car she could see his mouth quirk derisively before he answered her. ‘I know,’ he drawled pointedly.
It took a few seconds for his implication to sink in, and when it did she began to chuckle wryly. Although she couldn’t help wondering at what point in their relationship she had become a witch …!
‘Tell me,’ he shrugged curiously, ‘who offers to help you when you need something done?’
‘Anyone who happens along at the time,’ Fin returned drily, knowing that the taunt was deserved under the circumstances. Although he didn’t realise what those ‘circumstances’ were yet!
‘In that case,’ his teeth gleamed white in the moonlight as he grinned, ‘can I offer you a lift somewhere, or are you enjoying a late-night stroll?’
Her mouth quirked at the absurdity of the latter suggestion; this was hardly a suitable place for a ‘stroll’ at this time of night! ‘You can offer me a lift.’
‘And?’
‘And I’ll accept,’ she told him gratefully. ‘My van ran out of petrol about a mile back down the road,’ she explained ruefully, deciding to come clean as to how she came to be walking here at all.
‘And you were alone at the time?’ He shook his head in mock disgust. ‘Fin McKenzie, you disappoint me!’
‘Very funny!’ But she chuckled in spite of herself.
‘OK, get in.’ He turned to the passenger-seat and began to throw the papers that covered it over on to the back seat.
Now that her gaze was accustomed to the half-light, she recognised the outline of the car as being that of the sports-style Jaguar; obviously, whatever this man had been doing with himself for the last ten years, he certainly hadn’t made himself destitute. Although at the time he had walked out of Hollywood he had been its highest-paid director, and despite the high-profile lifestyle he had lived at the time he couldn’t have spent all the millions he had earned in those few brief years of fame. However, that might not be true now; ten years was a long time …
‘Thanks.’ Fin turned to give him a grateful smile once she had climbed in beside him. ‘But you don’t have to drive me all the way home; the nearest telephone box will—’
‘I’m driving you home, Fin,’ he cut in firmly, putting the car into gear and accelerating forward. ‘I may not appear much like the knight in shining armour,’ he taunted self-derisively. ‘But I’m certainly not dropping you off at a telephone box and leaving you there to wait for a taxi!’
So there! He certainly hadn’t lost any of the autocratic manner he had been reputed to have the last ten years either.
But his arrogant determination to have his own way this time put her in a very difficult position; after driving her all the way home the least she would be expected to do was invite him in for a coffee. And that was the very last thing, given those circumstances, that she wanted to do! If she didn’t ask him it would look rude and ungrateful, and if she did ask him—Oh, God, make him not thirsty. Or her mother and David not back from their dinner yet. Either would do!
‘You have an unusual name.’ He spoke suddenly beside her in the darkness, cutting in on her chaotic thoughts.
She blinked across at him, frowning. ‘McKenzie?’ She moistened suddenly dry lips. Oh, God, if he should ever realise her name had once been Halliwell …! She could see it all now, with sickening clarity, explaining to this man that her father had been Paul Halliwell. Even if he hadn’t known of Angela’s affair with the other man, just Paul’s name would surely be enough to evoke unhappy memories.
Had Jake ever
remarried? If he had his wife didn’t appear to be with him now. But it was ridiculous to suppose that there hadn’t been someone else in his life since Angela; look at the difference there had been in her own life the last ten years.
‘I was talking about the Fin part.’ He spoke to her as if she were a slightly backward child for not realising that.
Of course she had realised that; she had just been playing for time. ‘Ah.’ Her cheeks were flushed in the darkness, but of course he couldn’t see that. ‘It’s not so unusual in Ireland,’ she defended.
‘You come from Irish descent?’ he said interestedly, driving through the country roads with all the ease of an experienced driver.
‘No,’ she admitted with a grimace, at the same time realising how ridiculous she must sound. But she had no intention of explaining her unusual name!
They were nearing the town now, the powerful car having literally eaten up the miles, the lighting given off from the street-lamps meaning that they were no longer in darkness.
Jake turned to look at her briefly at that moment with mockingly raised brows.
Fin turned away from the force of that aqua gaze. ‘Turn left here,’ she instructed quietly. ‘Then right. Now left again. It’s the second house on the left,’ she said with some relief as she saw that only the light left on in the hallway still glowed, evidence that her mother and David weren’t home yet. No doubt the happy couple would be out late tonight, celebrating. And Fin no longer had to sit here worrying about inviting Jake in. Unless, of course, the other couple should arrive home while Jake was still drinking his coffee …?
At least she didn’t have to worry about photographs of her father lying about the house to give away her identity, thanks to her mother. And Fin very much doubted that Jake would recognise any of the recent photographs of her mother that there were in the house; the happy woman she was now bore little resemblance to the way she must have looked ten years ago!
‘Thanks,’ Jake accepted when she offered him the coffee, and Fin’s heart sank; until that moment she had been half hoping he would refuse.
She was very aware of him behind her as they walked down the pathway, as she unlocked the front door with her key, and as they entered the quiet intimacy of the house. And now that they were standing in the brightly lit hallway she could see just how attractive he looked in tailored black trousers, snowy-white shirt, with a discreetly patterned tie neatly knotted at his throat, and a dark checked jacket that fitted smoothly over the width of his shoulders. And his hair, she saw with some surprise, had been trimmed. Not cut short as he used to wear it, but definitely styled into more manageable dark waves.
His changed appearance made Fin conscious of her own casual clothing and appearance, wearing a pastel pink and blue track-suit, her red curls tousled by the breeze outside, her face completely bare of make-up. Well, she had only been to a rehearsal, for goodness’ sake!
‘I’ve been in town to eat,’ Jake explained his own formal appearance as he saw her gaze on him. ‘There’s no food at the cottage,’ he grimaced.
Because Gail usually telephoned her the day before she was coming down, told her what she wanted, and they delivered the supplies to the cottage for her before she arrived!
Fin knew she should really have thought of that once she knew Jake was at the cottage, but the truth of the matter was, she didn’t think very clearly at all around this man.
But she was thinking a little more clearly now, a horrendous possibility occurring to her: what if, when Jake had driven into town to eat earlier, he had chosen the same restaurant as her mother and David? God, the fact that he was in the area at all was fraught with many more dangers than she had even begun to realise!
She drew in a ragged breath. ‘I could—’ She broke off with a gasp as the door to the sitting-room suddenly swung open and David stepped out into the hallway, her anguished gaze moving quickly past him as she waited for her mother to join him!
CHAPTER FIVE
DAVID easily followed the direction of Fin’s gaze—although not her panicked thoughts, thank God! ‘Your mother has already gone up to bed. She was tired after the excitement of the evening, and I—well, I was just sitting down here … thinking.’
In the darkness. Which explained the lack of lights on in the house to warn Fin of their return home before her. She couldn’t help but feel relieved that her mother had already gone upstairs; this whole thing was starting to seem like a sick farce, with her mother and Jake barely missing seeing each other!
But she didn’t need to wonder what David had been thinking about as he’d sat alone in the dark minutes ago, could see by the almost stunned look of pleasure on his face that he knew about the baby and was in awe of finally having a child of his own!
Fin moved forward to hug him. ‘Congratulations!’ she told him huskily, tears in her eyes as she looked at him lovingly. ‘Mummy is feeling well?’ she added a little anxiously.
He nodded assuredly. ‘A little tired, as I said. And perhaps in a little delayed shock of her own,’ he added ruefully. ‘We’ve hoped for years, but now that it’s actually happened …!’ He shook his head dazedly, and it was as he did so that he became aware of the other man’s presence slightly behind Fin, his eyes widening with questioning politeness as he realised he had never seen him before. ‘We’ll talk about this later, puss,’ David dismissed, touching Fin gently on the cheek, and she realised with an affectionate choking of emotion that he was concerned that she should realise the baby made no difference to her own position in their lives. The glowing smile she gave him told him without words that she already understood that, had never doubted it for a moment. ‘We don’t want to bore your friend with family business,’ he added with raised brows; she hadn’t brought another man home during the six months she had been seeing Derek, and David obviously wondered what was going on.
‘You aren’t boring me in the least,’ Jake told him speculatively as he stepped forward. ‘Jake Danvers,’ he introduced crisply, holding out his hand.
‘David McKenzie,’ David returned slowly, still looking puzzled, none the wiser for the introduction, although he was aware of the other man’s strength as the two men shook hands.
‘My stepfather,’ Fin put in drily as the two men continued to eye each other curiously. They were both strong-looking men, but David, Fin knew, was possessed of a gentleness and a capacity for love, whereas Jake Danvers gave the impression that he wouldn’t allow any such weakness into his life. And that was the main difference between the two men, Fin realised; David saw love as a strength, not a weakness. Perhaps that was the difference a good marriage made and one that had gone so badly wrong …
‘And the event I mentioned a few minutes ago that Fin’s mother and I have been hoping for,’ David explained ruefully, ‘is that, after years of trying and finally thinking it was too late, we’re to have a baby of our own.’ He swallowed hard, as if actually saying the words made it all more real to him. ‘I still can’t believe it.’ He shook his head. ‘I’m fifty-seven years old, and about to—genetically, at least—’ he shot Fin a fond smile ‘—become a father for the first time! I think I need a drink,’ he added shakily. ‘Care to join me, Jake?’ he offered.
‘Well, Fin originally invited me in for coffee … but I would prefer a brandy,’ the other man accepted lightly. ‘To wet the baby’s head, if you like.’
Fin felt as if her hold on the situation, such as it was, was fast slipping away from her; she couldn’t allow these two men to actually become friends, and she could tell by the easy way they talked together as they all entered the sitting-room that they already liked the look of each other!
‘Brandy, Fin?’ David held the decanter poised over the third glass on the tray as he looked at her questioningly.
She certainly wasn’t about to go out of the room to make the coffee she would prefer and leave the two men alone here together! And, anyway, she could probably do with the brandy more than the coffee; her nerves felt completely fraz
zled.
‘Thank you,’ she accepted tautly, sensing a narrowed aqua-coloured gaze on her for her evident agitation, deliberately not looking at Jake.
‘Are you in the play too?’ David asked in complete innocence of the situation as he handed the other man his glass of brandy.
Fin’s hand shook slightly in the act of raising her own glass to her lips. David couldn’t possibly know the time-bomb he had just introduced into the conversation!
‘No,’ Jake bit out tautly, adding no further explanation as he threw some of the brandy to the back of his throat, swallowing it without so much as a wince.
Fin knew she would have choked if she had drunk the fiery liquid down in that way; Jake might not be the heavy drinker of whisky she had assumed him to be at their first meeting, but he certainly wasn’t teetotal either!
‘The van ran out of petrol in the middle of no-where,’ she hastened to tell David, inwardly pleading with him not to ask what she had been doing this time of night ‘in the middle of nowhere’ in the first place. He returned her gaze blandly, obviously willing to let her tell this in her own way. For the moment. ‘Jake was kind enough to stop and give me a lift home.’ Even as she gave the explanation she knew she still hadn’t told David how she’d come to know the other man at all! But the less she told either David or her mother about Jake, the better it would be for all of them.
Private Lives Page 7