Bestseller Collection 2010

by Carole Mortimer

  But now Jessica, and necessarily her mother, Jemima, had entered that well-ordered existence, rocking the very foundations of Gemini’s life and, most especially, her marriage to Nick.

  Was that why Nick wanted to talk to her? Had Jessica’s arrival in their lives, such a tangible reminder of Jemima, made him realise that their emotionless marriage wasn’t what he wanted after all?

  Was this going to be it? The time when Nick told her that their marriage wasn’t what he wanted? Oh, God, she couldn’t bear it if it was!

  But she wouldn’t have any choice… Theirs was a business marriage, and, like all business contracts, it could be terminated if one side wasn’t happy with the terms and conditions.

  Gemini sank back in the leather car seat. ‘If that’s what you want, Nick,’ she agreed wearily.

  He sighed. ‘I’m not sure I can have what I want, Gemini—I think that’s one of the things we have to talk about.’

  He did want to end their marriage!

  And, loving him as she did, how was she going to be able to bear it?

  CHAPTER FOUR

  MRS JAMES was in the kitchen preparing a feed for Jessica when they got in. The baby was wide awake as she sat in her bouncy chair, gurgling merrily to herself as she waited patiently for her food to appear.

  A vast improvement on the desperation with which she had demanded her bottle the previous evening, Gemini acknowledged wryly. But they were all more familiar with each other now, and the baby obviously felt much more secure in her new environment.

  Something Gemini no longer felt at all!

  ‘Let me do that,’ she offered to the housekeeper, putting her evening bag down on the kitchen table. ‘You’ve had a long day, and I’m sure you’d like to get to bed.’ Anything to delay the moment when she and Nick had their ‘talk’!

  ‘Yes, you get to bed, Mrs James,’ Nick encouraged, having quietly entered the kitchen behind Gemini. ‘I’m sure Gemini and I can manage now.’

  Which told Gemini very clearly that Nick wasn’t going to be put off from having their talk by her delaying tactic in offering to feed the baby!

  ‘Well…if you’re sure?’ Rachel James accepted lightly, wiping her hands on a towel after preparing the bottle. ‘Jessica has been a little darling all evening,’ she added with an indulgent smile at her young charge. ‘Did the two of you have a nice time?’ she asked with polite interest.

  ‘It was—pleasant.’ Nick was the one to answer her dryly. ‘Perhaps you would like to go and change before feeding the baby, Gemini?’ He turned to her. ‘You wouldn’t want to ruin that beautiful gown by getting milk all down it.’

  No, she wouldn’t—but she didn’t intend talking to Nick in her nightclothes again, either; she’d feel at a distinct disadvantage before the conversation even began!

  ‘I’ll be fine,’ she dismissed coolly, picking up the baby—only to nearly drop her at Mrs James’s next remark!

  ‘Oh, I almost forgot—there was a telephone call for you earlier, Mrs Drummond.’ The housekeeper stopped on her way out of the kitchen.

  Jemima! So her irresponsible sister had finally got round to checking up on her baby daughter. And not before time, either! Although, from the grimness of his expression, Nick had also guessed who the call had been from—and he wasn’t at all pleased about Jemima telephoning here! Or at least at not being here to take the call himself…

  Well, Gemini couldn’t say she was too happy with the idea of her sister telephoning here whenever she felt like it, but at the moment they really didn’t have any choice in the matter. ‘Yes?’ she prompted anxiously.

  The housekeeper looked a little uncomfortable herself now, as if she weren’t quite sure what to say next.

  Of course, Rachel James had worked for Nick for ten years now, would know that Nick had once been engaged to marry her sister, Jemima!

  That fact had never really occurred to Gemini before, but she could see now that the older woman must find this situation more than a little strange. Was it any wonder!

  ‘It’s all right, Rachel,’ she encouraged understandingly. ‘I’ve been expecting the call.’

  The housekeeper looked relieved. ‘That’s all right, then.’ She brightened. ‘Of course, I explained to Mr Daniel that the two of you were out for the evening, but—’

  ‘Mr Daniel?’ Nick cut in harshly. ‘Are you saying that it was my brother who rang here this evening?’ He watched the housekeeper with narrowed, glittering green eyes.

  Danny…!

  What on earth…?

  ‘And he wanted to speak to Gemini?’ Nick added coldly, giving Gemini an accusing look.

  Gemini was shaken herself by the fact that Danny had been the caller and not Jemima, after all. But Nick’s reaction to it was even more disturbing than the call itself! Exactly what thoughts were going through his coldly decisive mind…?

  She knew what her own were: why on earth was Danny telephoning here at all, let alone asking to speak to her?

  Not only had she not spoken to Jemima in over a year, but she hadn’t seen or spoken to Danny, either. After she’d found him and Jemima together, and the two of them had admitted they were in a relationship, there had been nothing left for Gemini and Danny to say to each other.

  She chanced another glance at Nick. She could tell by his coldly harsh expression that he was absolutely furious. And not just at Danny…

  She turned to smile reassuringly at the housekeeper. ‘Did—Mr Daniel say why he was calling?’ she prompted casually—because she couldn’t think of a single reason why Danny would want to speak to her!

  ‘No.’ Rachel James grimaced. ‘He did say he would call back, though,’ she added reluctantly, obviously sensing some of the tense atmosphere that now existed in the kitchen.

  Most of it was coming from Nick! He stood broodingly across the kitchen from Gemini, his eyes still glittering brightly green, the grimness of his expression enough to make a lesser woman turn tail and run. Except Gemini wasn’t a lesser woman!

  Admittedly, her relationship with Nick seemed to have become very rocky the last twenty-four hours, to such an extent that she feared for its future. But she wasn’t about to give up her marriage without a fight—in spite of Jemima’s, and now Danny’s, sudden intrusion!

  Over a year without hearing a single word from either of them, and then within twenty-four hours she had been contacted by both of them!

  ‘Thank you, Mrs James.’ She smiled dismissively at the housekeeper. ‘I’m sure we can manage now.’

  Much as she would have preferred the other woman to stay, and so stall her talk with Nick, she knew she couldn’t do that to the other woman. Besides, there was no guarantee that the presence of a third party would prevent Nick saying exactly what he wanted to say!

  Gemini busied herself with the baby for the next couple of minutes after the housekeeper had gone to her rooms at the back of the house. She made herself comfortable in a kitchen chair, with Jessica on her knee, and began to give her the bottle of milk. It wasn’t that she was completely unaware of Nick in the room with her, because it would be impossible not to feel that brooding anger eminating from him. She just chose, for the moment, to ignore him.

  Why was Danny telephoning her? She didn’t have any idea. And she knew that was exactly what Nick was going to demand to know!

  Nick finally spoke softly. ‘So my brother telephoned you this evening.’

  Too softly, Gemini decided with a frown. Nick was furious, and probably with good cause, but she didn’t see why that anger should be directed at her; she wasn’t answerable for who Danny chose to call…

  She nodded coolly. ‘So it would appear.’

  ‘A call you were “expecting”,’ Nick added gratingly.

  Gemini frowned. Of course she hadn’t been expecting a call from Danny! ‘I thought it was Jemima who’d called,’ she defended as she remembered telling Mrs James she’d been expecting the call.

  ‘Did you?’ Nick scorned, beginning to pace up and do
wn the kitchen, his hands in his trouser pockets. Although his narrowed gazed remained steadily fixed on Gemini.

  She frowned across at him. ‘Of course I—Exactly what are you trying to imply, Nick?’ she prompted, and she suddenly thought she knew what he was implying—and couldn’t believe it!

  She had left Danny in no doubt as to her disgust with him fifteen months ago, or the fact that she never wanted to speak to him again. Nick couldn’t now be saying that he believed she’d done a lot more than speak to his brother during the last fifteen months—could he…? In the circumstances—namely his own phone call with Jemima the day before yesterday—she found that assumption more than a little unfair. Or could it be Nick’s own guilty conscience where Jemima was concerned that had prompted the accusation…?

  Nick’s mouth twisted scornfully. ‘It would appear my returning early from this business trip was a little inconvenient for you—and Danny!’ he bit out harshly.

  Gemini gasped. He did believe she had become involved with Danny again! ‘You’re being ridiculous, Nick—’

  ‘Am I?’ He cut coldly across her indignation, shaking his head. ‘You said it yourself last night; you weren’t expecting me back home just yet. And now, this evening, my little brother telephones you. How long has Danny been telephoning you when I’m not around, Gemini?’ he demanded, his jaw clenched, his lips barely moving.

  Gemini felt nauseous, her face very white beneath her make-up. Nick was right; it did look more than a little odd that Danny should have telephoned her when Nick wasn’t supposed to be at home. But that didn’t mean anything!

  ‘Danny has never telephoned me here before,’ she gasped emotionally. ‘Whether you are or aren’t at home!’ This whole thing was turning into a nightmare; her calm existence of two days ago seemed like a dream—or a mirage!

  Perhaps she’d just been living in a fool’s paradise for the last year; especially over the last few months, when she’d begun to hope that one day Nick might begin to care for her in the same way she cared for him… And Nick believing she had become involved with Danny again was not going to help the situation!

  ‘He usually telephones you at the salon, is that it?’ Nick scorned accusingly.

  ‘He doesn’t “usually” telephone me anywhere!’ she refuted indignantly. She went to her salon in town during the week to work, not to receive illicit telephone calls from other men! ‘Nick.’ She drew in several calming breaths; it wasn’t going to help anyone if she lost her temper too! ‘Whatever you may think to the contrary, I’m as surprised as you are that Danny telephoned me this evening.’ She returned his gaze with unblinking blue eyes.

  He came to an abrupt halt in front of her, looking down at her broodingly for several long, seemingly timeless minutes. ‘I wish I could believe you,’ he finally sighed. ‘But—’

  ‘But what?’ she snapped, feeling as if she had a lead weight in her chest where her heart should be. ‘What have I ever done to give you reason to make these accusations to me?’ She cursed herself as her voice broke emotionally. ‘Haven’t I fulfilled my part of our marriage bargain?’ she added heavily.

  ‘To the letter,’ he acknowledged grimly.

  ‘Then—’

  ‘I don’t have reason for complaint?’ he finished dryly.

  And erroneously.

  Gemini had been going to say something quite different. But perhaps, in the circumstances, it would be better if she kept those feelings to herself!

  ‘I wasn’t going to complain, Gemini,’ Nick continued hardily. ‘I just don’t consider my brother a suitable lover for you!—it was his betrayal that provoked you into marrying me in the first place!’

  Much better kept to herself, she decided numbly as she looked up at him dazedly. Just who would he consider a suitable lover for her? More to the point, who did he consider a suitable lover for himself…?

  Gemini was glad at that moment of the diversion of the baby moving restlessly in her arms. She turned her attention to Jessica, her lashes lowered, hiding the sudden tears that had sprung up into her eyes.

  What could she say to Nick that would convince him she wasn’t involved with Danny or any other man, that he was the only man she wanted to be involved with? There was only one way she would be able to do that, after this recent conversation, and she couldn’t do it. To tell Nick how she felt about him, after the things he had just said to her, would just leave her wide open to further pain. And humiliation…

  She stood up abruptly, Jessica cradled in her arms. ‘I’ll bear your advice in mind,’ she told Nick scathingly. ‘Now I think it’s time I changed the baby and got her back into bed,’ she added pointedly.

  There had been enough said for one night—more than enough, in Gemini’s opinion—and the sooner she put an end to it the better. Whatever else Nick had wanted to say to her this evening would just have to wait; she certainly couldn’t take any more of his insults and accusations at the moment!

  Nick nodded tersely. ‘We can continue this discussion in the morning.’

  Not if she had anything to do with it, Gemini decided firmly as she changed Jessica before putting her back in her cot, lingering for several minutes to gaze down at the sleeping baby. Jessica was so beautiful, her long lashes fanning across her cheeks, her skin so soft and delicate, her little rosebud of a mouth pouting as if she was still sucking on her bottle.

  It must be wonderful to be so new and untouched, Gemini decided enviously as she walked slowly down the hallway to her own bedroom, to know nothing of the pain of loving and not being loved in return.

  How could Nick believe she was involved with his brother? She bridled angrily a few minutes later as, having cleansed her face and changed into her silk pyjamas, she sat in front of her mirror brushing her hair.

  Okay, so Danny had telephoned here, had asked to speak to her, but that didn’t prove she was having an affair with him! What it did prove was that Danny was still as insensitive and selfish as he’d always been. He had to have known his call here would not be welcomed, by Nick as much as Gemini!

  The trouble with Danny, as with Jemima, was that as younger siblings—Jemima only by minutes, admittedly—they had been over-indulged, their every whim granted. Gemini knew she’d always given in to her twin, and Nick as the elder brother by ten years, had been responsible for Danny ever since Danny was only sixteen, when their parents had been killed in a car accident. How could she and Nick ever hope, after contributing to that indulgence, that their siblings would ever feel any responsibility to anyone but themselves? Wasn’t Jemima’s recent behaviour—leaving Jessica in the way that she had proof of that?

  She would just have to hope—

  Her hand was arrested in mid-brushstroke as a knock sounded on her bedroom door, and she gave a startled look in the mirror as she gazed at the door’s reflection there.

  Nick!

  It had to be. There was a communicating door between their two bedrooms, but it was a door that was never used, by either of them. For Gemini ever to have done so would have implied an intimacy between them that just didn’t exist!

  She stood up slowly, pulling on her robe as she walked to the door, her hesitation evidence of her reluctance to face yet another confrontation with Nick this evening. She already felt emotionally battered, and had been looking forward to a few minutes’ respite before falling asleep. She’d thought Nick felt the same way, but obviously he’d changed his mind about postponing the rest of their conversation until morning!

  Her heart was pounding erratically by the time she reached the door, and she slowly turned the handle to open it, her expression guarded.

  ‘Mrs James!’ she greeted in relief as she saw it was the other woman who stood outside in the hallway, even able to smile now that she knew her visitor wasn’t Nick, after all. ‘What can I do for you?’ she prompted lightly.

  ‘I just wanted to apologise in case I may have caused some—difficulty between you and Mr Drummond earlier.’ The housekeeper looked worried. She was still
wearing the clothes she had had on earlier, obviously not having been to bed yet, despite having left them over half an hour earlier.

  ‘Difficulty?’ Gemini forced her own voice to sound light.

  Gemini didn’t think Nick would thank her for letting Mrs James become aware that there was any tension between the two of them. And, in truth, she was of the same opinion herself; she didn’t welcome any third party, no matter how well-meaning, knowing there was a rapidly widening rift between Nick and herself.

  ‘I know that Mr Drummond and his brother haven’t been on speaking terms since—well, that they haven’t communicated with each other for some time.’ Mrs James looked uncomfortable with the conversation herself, but had obviously felt the need to say something. ‘And the last thing I would want to do is cause any problems between Mr Drummond and yourself,’ she continued worriedly. ‘I just didn’t know what to do about Mr Daniel’s telephone call.’

  Gemini reached out and squeezed the other woman’s arm reassuringly. ‘You did exactly the right thing, Rachel.’ She smiled.

  Although she didn’t feel much like smiling! Obviously Rachel James was aware of Nick’s engagement to Jemima—and of Danny and Gemini’s affair. And her concern now, over Danny’s telephone call to Gemini, probably meant she was also aware that Gemini had been involved with Danny at the time, too. To the housekeeper’s credit, she had never, by so much as a word, revealed that she was aware of the complications that had preceded Gemini and Nick’s marriage…!

  ‘If you’re sure…?’ The housekeeper looked unconvinced.

  ‘I—’

  ‘She’s sure, Rachel,’ Nick cut in dryly, coming to stand behind Gemini. ‘In fact, we’re both sure!’

  Gemini gasped in surprise to find him there. He had to have used the connecting door to come into her bedroom! Not that she’d been aware of it, but there was no other way he could have entered the room without the two women having been aware of it. So much for thinking earlier that neither of them ever used that connecting door!