by Jane Corrie
When Pauline explained the reason for her mission, saying breezily after she had introduced Thea, `Thea's looking for a job, Aunt, and I wondered if
you could do with any help.'
Mrs Welling's lively brown eyes had passed over Thea, and although the look had been a swift one, Thea felt that she had missed nothing, and wished she had worn her cotton blouse and jeans rather than the dress she had chosen, for its pink and white striped bodice and flared skirt was more in keeping with a sedate coffee morning gathering than an application for work.
`I'm not denying that I could use some help,' she admitted slowly. 'I'm fully booked at this time of year, and the cafe is taking up more of my time these days.' She gave Thea a hard searching stare. `It's hard work, though,' and she looked pointedly at Thea's soft white hands.
`I don't mind what I do,' Thea got in quickly, seeing herself losing this opportunity of removing herself from the hotel.
`There's crates of soft drinks,' Mrs Welling went on firmly, refusing to let this nice but rather slightly built girl, who didn't look as if she belonged this end of town at all, persuade her to make a mistake. She didn't want to have to apologise for the menial tasks she would have to ask her to do. 'And they have to hamburgers be humped from the road to the cafe, and trays of
to be carted from the house to the beach,' she went on, fixing a bright stare at Thea, as if daring her to take the work on.
`I'm sure I'll be able to manage,' Thea said hastily. 'I'm quite strong,' she added lamely, not knowing what else she could say to persuade Mrs Welling to take her on.
`Why not have a trial period?' Pauline suggested helpfully. 'Give it, say, a fortnight. By then you'll
both know if the work's too heavy for Thea,' and she looked hopefully at her aunt.
Mrs Welling considered this for a moment or so, then nodded her head. 'Very well,' she said slowly, and looked at Thea. 'I'll say what I think, mind you. If I feel that you're not up to the work, I shall say so,' she warned Thea, who was certain she could manage all that would be required of her.
Now that that was settled, Mrs Welling proceeded to outline the kind of work Thea would have to cope with, while Pauline made herself busy making them some coffee.
`The cafe's on the beach,' Mrs Welling began. `It's not strictly what you would term a cafe, I don't cater for hot meals or hot drinks just soft drinks, cookies and hamburgers, but we do a good trade all the year round. Andy was kept pretty busy, wasn't he, Pauline?' she asked, as Pauline brought in the coffee tray, and Pauline nodded in confirmation.
`That's why I brought Thea here,' said Pauline as she laid out the cups and saucers. 'I didn't see how you were going to manage now that he's taken that job on John's ship.'
Mrs Welling's brown eyes rested fondly on her niece, and she gave a slight sigh. 'If I'd been younger I'd have been able to cope. I suppose you're right, though.' She turned her attention back to Thea again. 'I've six boarders, you see, and they're regulars, no trouble at all. Out all day, and I fix them an evening meal, they've steady jobs in the town and have been with me for years. I don't cater for the tourists as far as accommodation is concerned, and the cafe isn't opened until midday, and that's when we do most of our trade. We don't stay
open late either, most of the tourists have had enough by about six, and wander back to their hotels to get ready for their evening meals.' She gave another long sigh. 'As I was saying, once I could cope----'
But you can't now,' Pauline broke in swiftly, as she handed her aunt her coffee, 'so you'll just have to give in. Thea will be able to help with the filling of the hamburgers—oh, and lots of things. Andy helped with the cafe, of course, but there wasn't much else he could do in the house, was there?' she said coaxingly. 'I'm sure you'll find Thea's a treasure, and she can have Andy's room, can't she?' she added persuasively.
Her aunt gave her a suspicious look. 'Got it all worked out, have you?' she demanded, then her face relaxed into a smile as her eyes met Pauline's laughing ones. 'Well, we'll see,' she conceded.
CHAPTER FOUR
ONE week later Thea started work for Pauline's aunt. She had moved in on the previous Saturday morning, thus avoiding another encounter with Sapphire.
As Pauline had predicted, Thea had met with no opposition from Mr Bois when she had told him she was leaving, explaining somewhat apologetically that she had found a job more suited to her capabilities, and this had been received with understanding resignation from the manager in a manner that suggested that he had foreseen such an event, and proved conclusively to Thea that Marcus had been instrumental in getting her the job.
Beach House was an old, rather ramshackle building, that had once been white and was now badly in need of a coat of paint. As its name suggested, it was built on a slight incline directly opposite the beach, and the café that Mrs Welling had mentioned was only a few yards from the house and situated directly on the beach. Although called a cafe, it was more in the nature of a kiosk with a counter for serving and for leaning on, as no chairs were provided, and would not have been used if they had been, for the refreshments were carried back to the loungers the sunbathers had brought with them for their morning laze in the sun.
After Mrs Welling's rather gloomy prediction of the physical strength required for such work and her
doubts that Thea would be able to manage, Thea had been determined to somehow cope with the challenge, the greatest of which would be the carrying of the crates of soft drinks from the house to the café. It was just a case of getting used to the weight, she told herself. After all, Mrs Welling had managed it for years, and she and Thea were much of the same height and slim build, and if she could do it, so could Thea.
Thea had no other worry about the work, and as the drinks were only delivered once a week, she reasoned that she ought to have recovered from whatever physical exhaustion she suffered from the task by the time the next delivery was due.
Although Thea had enjoyed working at the hotel, until Sapphire's arrival, that was, she found this work much more to her liking. With only six boarders in the house, who mainly looked after the general tidying of their rooms, which were given a vacuum and polish once a week, the work in the house was no hardship, since everything ran like clockwork, and Thea would find herself begging Mrs Welling to let her do certain jobs around the house in the mornings, for her afternoons were spent at the beach cafe and were more like a holiday than actual work.
After three days she had managed to take over some of the work, in spite of Mrs Welling's grumbling complaint that she wasn't ready for the rocking chair yet, a remark which Thea took with a grin and otherwise ignored, for it was plain that Mrs Welling was extremely grateful for the help and treated Thea more as a niece of hers than an employee, and a strong friendship had already grown
up between them.
When the consignment of soft drinks arrived on the Wednesday, Mrs Welling had given Thea a worried look and then looked back at the pile of boxes and several wooden crates piled up outside the house. 'That's as far as the lorry can come,' she said. `They get bogged down in the sand if they go any further.'
`It's all right,' Thea had assured her quickly, with more confidence than she had felt, for there did seem an awful lot of cartons there. At least they were cartons, she thought stoutly, and not many wooden crates. 'I haven't far to carry them, have I?' she added, and met the old lady's eyes firmly. 'And I know about the doctor's orders, so don't you dare try to give me a hand,' she said firmly.
`I ought to hire a boy for the rough work,' Mrs Welling said, and took a deep breath. 'That's what we'll do.'
`We'll do no such thing,' Thea replied hastily. `Who's going to take on work that only comes once a week?' she pointed out. 'What would they do the rest of the, time? You promised to let me try, didn't you?' she said coaxingly. 'I'll do the rolls and hamburgers first, then I'll start on the cases. I should be finished in time to open at midday,' she went on determinedly, not allowing the old lady to contradict her, for she also k
new that Mrs Welling couldn't afford to get any extra help; Pauline had put her in the picture there. Most of her savings had gone to help her nephew Andy get a good education, and she had not sought a high rent from her boarders, who although they held steady jobs, were not in the high wage bracket, and were more in the
nature of old friends whom she wouldn't dream of embarrassing by demanding the going rate for boarding. In return for her kindness, any wage raise that they received was automatically passed on to her, but these were few and far between.
The wage that Thea had accepted had been a very moderate one, and Mrs Welling had known it, since she was not ignorant of the high wages that could be earned in the tourist boom on the island, but as Thea had said, she had her board taken care of, and her meals, and if one took all that into consideration, she was really getting a very good salary, plus, she had jokingly added, all the sun and fresh air she could wish for, and she wasn't sure that she oughtn't to be paying Mrs Welling for the privilege of working in such pleasant surroundings!
Thea had spoken the truth here, for she was ideally suited. She loved the kiosk work that had already turned her pale skin a honey shade, and soon she would be as tanned as the locals. The holiday atmosphere was invigorating too, everybody was pleasant and very helpful, and it wasn't like work at all. There was one other great advantage too, the absence of the island's wealthier inhabitants. The more luxurious hotel complexes had their own private beaches where refreshments were brought to them by waiters from the hotel, and who would have considered this small golden beach somewhat lacking in amenities. The beach was used mainly by tourists who had booked into one of the numerous hotels in Charlotte Amalie and who required no other facilities apart from sunshine and a space in which to acquire a tan.
When Thea had finished preparing the rolls and
hamburgers, she carried the trays down to the kiosk, then started on the carrying of the drinks.
`Those cases are heavier than they look,' Mrs Welling warned her as she began to pick up the first one, then taking a deep breath she disappeared back into the house as if unable to bear to watch the rest of the proceedings.
By the time Thea had carried the first six cases the hundred; yard distance to the kiosk, she could well verify Mrs Welling's comments as to their weight, for they were filled with cartons of orange juice, and each case felt that much heavier than the previous one, and there were only, she thought dismally, one dozen more to go, plus three crates of bottled minerals.
It was sheer determination that kept her going, telling herself that once she was used to the work, she wouldn't feel the terrible ache in her arms that she was now feeling, and the thought that Mrs Welling had managed to cope all those years was an added spur.
She had just placed the seventh container by the kiosk, and stopped to get her breath before returning for another, when a very familiar voice cut across her tired senses. 'What the devil are you doing?'
Thea straightened her aching back before turning to meet Marcus's furious eyes. 'I'm working,' she said simply, turning to catch a case that was about to fall from the precarious position she had plumped it down in in her anxiety to relieve herself of the load.
Marcus looked from her to the remaining cases back at the house, and without a word grimly marched over to them and ignoring Thea's weak
protest of, 'I can manage,' completed the cartage in a remarkably short time, then proceeded to load the cases into the kiosk with an indignant Thea standing helplessly by.
`So this is where you've hidden yourself, is it?' he said grimly, fastidiously dusting a few grains of sand off his smartly cut navy blue blazer. 'What was wrong with the hotel work?' he demanded.
Thea's furious eyes met Marcus's equally furious ones. 'Nothing was wrong with it,' she replied crossly. 'I just felt in need of a change. There's a nothing wrong with that, is there?' she challenged him, as if he didn't know why she had left, she thought furiously. Pauline had said that such a thought wouldn't occur to him, but Thea knew different. Sapphire had had it in for her right from the start of their acquaintance, and Marcus was not that blind.
`It didn't occur to you that you might have consulted me first, I suppose?' Marcus grated, and Thea could see that he was absolutely furious with her and it occurred to her that he might not think the job she had taken suitable for an ex-fiancee of his— and that was just too bad, she thought acidly.
`As a matter of fact, it did,' she replied calmly, `but I didn't see why I should bother you. I'm perfectly happy,' she added firmly. 'Mrs Welling's a darling, and I love the work.'
Marcus's eyes went from her brightly flushed cheeks to a streak of dust across her smooth forehead where she had brushed a tired hand during her earlier excursions. 'You're not going to be much use to her with a strained back,' he commented bitingly. `It's time she handed this part of the work over to a
man—or employed a boy to do the rough work. I'm not having you breaking your back on it, that's for sure,' he said adamantly, and caught one of Thea's hands in his and turning the palm towards him studied the red chafed area in the centre of her palm, and his jaw hardened. 'You're not doing any more rough work,' he shot out at her. 'I'll arrange to have a lad sent down to handle this side of the work.'
Thea's heart was thumping against her ribs as she pulled her hand away from him. His touch could so easily melt any opposition of hers to his wishes, but she meant nothing to him, it was only his personal pride that had made him seek her out. 'Don't you dare send anyone down here to help out, I'll lose my job if you do, Mrs Welling can't afford to employ two helpers.'
`I'm not asking her to,' Marcus replied haughtily. `The lad works for me.'
But you can't do that!' Thea gasped. 'What am I to say to her? No! I'm sorry, I can't accept any help.'
Marcus's green eyes narrowed to a slit. 'Then go back to the hotel,' he said softly. 'The job's still open.'
Thea stared at him; he was quite serious. 'I'm not going back,' she said quietly, and added flatly, `Thank you, anyway, for thinking of me.'
Marcus continued to study her, making her bright cheeks turn a deeper hue, and she felt like an obstinate child wilfully refusing to conform over something that was for her benefit—only it wasn't to her benefit, she thought wretchedly. He was acting as if he owned her, and he didn't. He could adopt such an attitude with Sapphire, but not with her. She might
be his ex-fiancée, but that was as far as it went; he had no other claim on her.
`It wouldn't be because of Sapphire, would it?' he asked softly.
Thea's eyes spoke volumes, but she answered calmly enough for all the turmoil going on inside her. 'Of course not!' she said scornfully. 'She can't help her nature, but I must admit that I was glad to get out of her proximity,' she added forcefully.
Marcus's eyes showed his amusement at this, and Thea wanted to hit out at him. Pauline must have been right after all, she thought miserably; it hadn't occurred to him that Sapphire would set out to make trouble for her.
`Do I detect a spark of green in your eyes?' Marcus queried in the same soft voice that had a wealth of meaning behind it.
Thea looked away quickly from those eyes of his that saw too much for her liking. What a beastly thing to say! she thought indignantly. Was she jealous of Sapphire? was what he was asking her. A lump came into her throat as she considered the question and how she ought to answer it, but she failed to come up with a suitable reply and thought it would be safer to ignore it. Why couldn't they leave her alone? Her wide grey eyes met Marcus's enigmatic ones. 'Leave me alone, Marcus,' she said in a low flat voice, then glanced at her watch. 'It's time I was getting back to the house,' she added.
The amusement had gone from his eyes as he gave her a long studied look. 'Very well,' he said abruptly, and turned on his heel. 'You may get back to your work. As for your other request, I've no intention of giving a promise on something I don't
intend to keep.' The next minute he was striding away from her.
Thea sto
od watching his tall figure until it passed out of her sight. Her heart was hammering at an alarming rate as she recalled those last telling words of his, and her spirits soared up into the bright blue sky above her as she walked slowly back to the house. Was he telling her that he loved her, she wondered, and if so, why hadn't he said so?
By the time she had reached the house the answer was in front of her, and it was no use trying to delude herself otherwise. Marcus felt responsible for her, and that was the beginning and the end of his interest in her. He would continue to watch over her, was what he had really meant—and, heartsore, Thea had had to admit to this one and only reason for his persistence.
All she could hope for was that in time this interest would surely wane. He was a very busy man and would shortly find the task of keeper to a very uninteresting English girl an irksome one and write her off the books. What she needed, she told herself stoutly, was another interest, preferably male, and someone in a responsible position whom Marcus could trust to look after her interests and thereby letting him off the hook.
But where could such a character be found? she wondered as she slipped into the back of the house and up the stairs to her room before Mrs Welling knew she was back and who would now be fixing their lunch. Someone, she mused, who would be satisfied with her companionship and nothing else, for she had no intention of entering into another emotional void—not that she ever would. Marcus
had her heart and would always hold it. There would be no one else for her and no fulfilment of his love, but she could still dream, couldn't she? She didn't even regret the fact that she had ever met him—how could she? He had given her a brief glimpse of happiness that she might never have known, and however hard it was for her now to face reality, she would never forget him.