‘You know, you’re even more attractive now you’ve grown up and learnt to fight back. If I had you now, then I doubt I’d want to stray. We’re both adults, and you wanted me once. I still want you, Sib,’ he pronounced, and Reba could hardly believe her ears.
Neither could Sibyl, and when she spoke it was with loathing. ‘You’re sick! You’re supposed to be engaged to Reba!’
‘What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her. If we’re discreet, I can have you both.’
Reba didn’t wait around to hear the rest of Eliot’s cajoling words, or Sibyl’s reply. She had heard quite enough already, and was battling a violent need to commit murder as she back-tracked up the beach. Finding her sandals where she had left them, she made her way up through the trees to the house. On the terrace, the table was set for breakfast, but remained unoccupied. It made her feel faintly hysterical, for everything looked normal, and yet she had just discovered that the man she was engaged to was a stranger to her.
How could he seem one thing and yet be another? She had believed she owed him her commitment, but now she knew she owed him nothing. If she hadn’t been able to give him love, she had thought she could respect him, but who could respect a man who didn’t know the meaning of the word fidelity, and who thought nothing of taking a mistress even before he was married? Not that she believed for one minute that Sibyl would agree. They had both had their blinkers violently removed.
‘Good morning, my dear,’ Mrs Thorson greeted her gently, and Reba swung round in surprise, so lost in her thoughts that she hadn’t heard the other woman arrive.
‘Good morning.’ The words came out stiffly as she did her best to act as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. It didn’t fool the older woman.
‘Are you all right, Reba? You look very pale.’
Glancing down at her engagement-ring, Reba angrily twisted it round and round her finger. Suddenly it seemed important that someone spoke honestly. ‘I’m fine…Well, not really. I know I’m doing this in the wrong order, but you’re here, and…You see, I’ve just decided I can’t marry Eliot after all.’ She raised her head and met the other woman’s unflinching gaze. ‘You don’t seem surprised.’
Mrs Thorson sighed rather wearily. ‘I’m not, although I am disappointed. I believe you would have made him a good wife, and he really needs that. I suppose you can’t tell me why…?’
Reba bit her lip. Eliot would come unstuck one day, when his mother found out his true nature, but the revelation wouldn’t come from her. ‘It’s personal,’ she said, with a shake of her head.
Helena Thorson winced. ‘I’m not blind, my dear. I know my son has faults. I was hoping you could change that, but if he isn’t the man for you, then you shouldn’t marry him. Never marry a man for the wrong reasons, Reba. I married for security and status. I love my children, although I never loved their father. That’s why this family and its position is so important to me. It’s all I have.’
So many things were becoming clear this morning. ‘And it’s why you resent Hunter, because he took away part of your son’s inheritance?’
The older woman sent her a look of grudging respect. ‘You have a quick mind. Yes, that’s why I resent him. He inherited land which I had always looked upon as Eliot’s.’
Reba frowned. ‘Yet he doesn’t seem to resent you.’
‘Why should he? He now owns more valuable real estate which he doesn’t need. He’ll never use it, and neither will he sell it to us!’ Mrs Thorson argued frostily. ‘I’m afraid, my dear, that if you’re trying to make me see Hunter in a different light, you’re wasting your time. You really haven’t known him long enough to know him at all well.’
On the contrary, Reba knew him a great deal better than this woman ever would. She also knew that Helena Thorson would never change her mind. He had stolen from her son, and that would forever condemn him. She didn’t like the injustice, but she had more pressing problems right now.
‘May I use your telephone?’
‘Of course you can, dear. And if I see Eliot, I’ll tell him you want to see him.’
Reba stiffened. He was the last person she wanted to see, but it had to be done. ‘If you wouldn’t mind. Thank you for being so understanding. I know this is a difficult situation.’
‘I’m sure I’ll survive it.’ A sudden gust of wind caused Helena to look seawards. ‘The storm will be here shortly. Hunter was right about that. Nothing will be putting out to sea now.’
Squinting up at the advancing clouds, Reba knew she was right. Somehow it fitted in with her mood. Sunshine and peace would have been totally out of place. Excusing herself, she went to the telephone. She had an important call to make, and what she did next hinged on the answer. The time difference was a problem, but she couldn’t afford to wait another few hours. Somewhere in England, the telephone rang.
‘Hello?’ A sleepy voice answered, one which she recognised from countless consultations.
‘It’s Reba Wyeth, Doctor. I’m sorry to ring so early, but something has come up, and I need to know exactly what’s happening about the operation,’ she apologised, twisting the cord around her fingers nervously.
There followed sounds of someone pulling himself together in a hurry. ‘Oh, yes, Reba. I was going to get in touch. Everything is going to plan. The flight is booked, and the hospital expects your mother in ten days. All you have to do now is get the money to them by the end of this week at the latest. Can you do that?’
Reba closed her eyes. It was the best of news, and the worst. She rallied swiftly. ‘Of course. The money will be there, and so will I, to meet the plane. Thank you for all your help, Doctor.’
‘My pleasure, Reba. Goodnight.’
‘Goodnight,’ she returned, and set the phone down. Well, that was that. She definitely had to have the money. There were still two options, and she chose the one which would bring her the least grief.
Pushing herself to her feet, she went in search of Eliot.
She found him in his bedroom, and wished for a better setting. This wasn’t going to be easy, and a bedroom didn’t seem to be the right place for what she had to say. The door was open, and she could see him out on the balcony, but she knocked anyway. He was clearly surprised to see her in the doorway, but from the way he smiled she knew he didn’t suspect that his early-morning conversation had been overhead. ‘I’m sorry, darling, have you been looking for me? I was about to come and ask you if you wanted to go snorkeling,’ Eliot exclaimed cheerfully, advancing on her with his arms held out.
Reba, having taken a few steps into the room, held up her hand to stop him. If he touched her, she might just hit him. ‘Actually, I was looking for you to return this.’ She held out the ring which she had removed from her finger. ‘I can’t marry you, Eliot.’
He was stunned, staring at the ring as if it were dangerous. However, that didn’t last long, and within seconds his expression was one of anger. ‘What do you mean, you can’t marry me?” he demanded furiously, then sudden inspiration twisted his handsome features. ‘It’s Sibyl, isn’t it? She’s got to you, damn her!’
The violence of his response made her flinch, but she stood her ground. ‘Sibyl has nothing to do with it. The truth is, I thought I could marry you, but I can’t, because I don’t love you. I thought I could grow to love you, but I know I can’t.’ It wasn’t all she wanted to say, but she still had a favour to ask him, and however much against the grain it went, she couldn’t afford to burn her boats. So she said nothing of what she had overheard.
Ignoring the hand which held the ring, Eliot closed the gap and took her by the shoulders. ‘But I love you, damn it!’
If he loved her, then his idea of love was a world away from hers. It didn’t matter anyway, and Hunter’s ultimatum had no bearing on this. After what she had learned, she couldn’t have married Eliot, even for her mother’s sake. ‘I’m sorry.’
Eliot thrust her away, snatching the ring from her and tossing it across the room. ‘Sorry? What the hel
l good is sorry?’
Reba chewed on her lip, knowing she was reaching the crux. ‘Better sorry now than later,’ she added, silently acknowledging the truth of that in the light of current events.
‘Spare me the platitudes!’ he snarled, the charming veneer shattered, and turned away abruptly. ‘If you’ve said all you came to say, you might as well go.’
Reba hesitated a moment before pressing on. ‘Actually, there is something I wanted to ask you.’
He twisted round and stared at her for a long while, before starting to laugh. ‘You know, I was quite forgetting your mother. I had an ace up my sleeve, and I didn’t know it!’
Reba felt the first stirring of unease. ‘What do you mean?’
Eliot’s smile broadened as he quickly recovered his poise. ‘I mean, you still need the money, don’t you, sweetheart?’
The meaningless endearment chilled her. ‘You know I do. You said you’d help,’ she reminded him staunchly.
‘Of course I did,’ he agreed expansively, laughing again. ‘I wanted you. I’d have agreed to anything to get you. Did you honestly think I’d just give you the money without getting something in return?’
Her head went back, as she realised the depth of his deception. ‘You lied.’
‘Not necessarily. After all, I still want you, and you still need the money. You can have it, providing you marry me.’
Reba shook her head slowly, wondering how she could have been so deceived. ‘Sibyl was right, you are sick!’ she flung back at him, uncaring now of what she revealed.
That shook him, and he stiffened. ‘She did tell you!’
Now it was her turn to smile. ‘No, I overheard. You weren’t as careful as you thought you were! Well, you’re wrong about me, Eliot. I might need the money, but I won’t give in to blackmail. So you can take your offer and…’ She didn’t finish the sentence, knowing he would get the message. Spinning round, she left the room, slamming his bedroom door behind her as she went.
Seeking the sanctuary of her room, she pulled a chair out on to the balcony and collapsed into it. He was hateful, and she knew she was well out of it, but that didn’t help her. Her options had dwindled rapidly, so that there was only one left. Hunter. He no longer had the power to destroy her relationship with Eliot, but he had made her an offer she was now forced to consider. He wanted her, and had said he would pay for the privilege. At least it would be a bargain, not blackmail. If only she didn’t love him so, it would be easier to live with his hate. Yet wasn’t it poetic that, having destroyed their heaven, she should share his hell?
A stray gust of wind blew her hair into her face, and she looked up in surprise, realising that the wind had got up, and the clouds which had threatened on the horizon not long ago were now a great deal closer, and very much darker. Reba had never witnessed a tropical storm, but she had seen plenty of pictures of hurricanes and the damage they could cause. It made her sit up and wonder just what they could expect. She had never liked thunder and lightning, and this promised to give her both, in spades.
By the time she went downstairs again for lunch, the wind was much stronger and the advance guard of clouds was already chasing across the sun. She wasn’t surprised to find everyone on the terrace, all edgily watching the sky. Eleanor hobbled to her side with the aid of a stick, her ankle still securely bound.
‘I was just about to come and get you,’ she said, grimacing as she shifted her weight and sent pain up her leg.
Reba quickly pulled a chair across and helped her to sit down. ‘Really?’
Eleanor smiled her thanks. ‘Yes. The storm’s going to be bad, and I didn’t know if you were prepared for it.’
‘I’m not. I hate storms,’ Reba admitted, shuddering. She vaguely wondered if they should be doing something. Surely in all the films she’d ever seen storms were the sign for frantic activity?
Sibyl said as much when she came to join them. ‘Eliot should do something!’ she declared, then frowned as her eyes followed the hand Reba used to push the hair from her face. ‘You’re not wearing your ring.’
Reba pulled a wry face, studying her ringless hand. ‘No. Eliot and I have decided not to get married after all,’ she said shortly, glancing over to where he stood beside his mother’s chair. At the same moment he chose to look her way, and the expression in his eyes was chilling. She shivered, then shivered again as the sun disappeared behind a cloud, plunging them into sudden gloom.
Everyone looked up automatically, so they weren’t aware of the grim figure who rounded the corner of the terrace until he spoke in a voice which dripped acid.
‘I might have known I’d find you all out here playing happy families, instead of doing the sensible thing!’ Hunter exclaimed in disgust. ‘Hell, you haven’t even had the sense to put the shutters up.’ Having elicited their complete attention, he stood regarding them scornfully, hands hooked into the belt of his jeans.
‘Really, Hunter, you go too far!’ Mrs Thorson complained, only to be totally ignored.
‘I told you several days ago the storm was coming. You had plenty of time to act. This storm isn’t going to wait for you, you know. It’s going to hit very soon and, believe me, it’s going to hit hard!’
Eliot rounded on him angrily. ‘There’s plenty of time. The servants know exactly what to do.’
Hunter’s lip curled nastily. ‘Sure they do, and they’re doing it. I sent them off to look after their own families before I came to see how you were doing.’
His aunt’s jaw dropped at his effrontery, and it was the first time Reba had ever seen her really put out. ‘You had no right to do that!’
‘I agree. It’s something you should have done yourselves, instead of standing around admiring the view.’
Stung by his tone, his aunt quickly rallied. ‘For your information, we were doing no such thing. In fact, Eliot was just deciding what we should do,’ she snapped, coming to the defence of her son.
Reba could have told her that Hunter would be manifestly unimpressed by that, and sure enough he came back with a blistering retort. ‘Bully for him! Unfortunately the time for thinking was over a long time ago. Right now I reckon we’ve got an hour and a half, two at the most, to get this place protected before all hell breaks loose. Aunt Helena, you and Eleanor had better go inside and start closing all the windows. Eliot can help me with the shutters. I hope to hell the store’s not locked, or we’re going to be in real trouble.’
For once nobody seemed to challenge his right to give orders. He had transmitted his urgency to them, and without a word his aunt and cousin disappeared indoors.
‘What can we do?’ Sibyl asked, her serious face showing she had been through this before.
Hunter glanced around. ‘There’s too much loose furniture and stuff about for my liking. You’d better get as much of it put away as you can. You know the drill.’
‘What about me?’ Reba put in as the other girl hurried off.
‘You come with me. Your job will be to fasten the shutters when we put them up. Think you can manage it without breaking a nail?’ Hunter drawled sardonically, and it would have given her a great deal of satisfaction to hit him.
‘Don’t worry about me. I’m no shrinking violet,’ she sniped, following as he and Eliot headed for the storeroom. Then her anxiety got the better of her, and she asked, ‘Is it going to be bad?’
Hunter took his time to study the horizon. ‘Well, we could be lucky and just catch the edge of it, but I wouldn’t bank on it. The safest thing is to plan for the worst and hope for a miracle. Afraid, tiger-eyes?’ he added, and the words were soft, not a taunt at all.
Her heart flipped over, but she swiftly shook her head. Not for the world would she admit she was terrified of thunder. ‘Not if you’re not,’ she boasted, and something flickered briefly in his eyes.
His grin was lop-sided. ‘You choose the damnedest moments, Reba! Come on, let’s get moving. I don’t much fancy getting caught in the open when the rain starts.’
They worked like a team, and it was hard work, for the shutters were by no means light. Reba followed behind, steadying and securing, while overhead the storm clouds built up and the wind brought white tips to the waves in the bay and the palms began to sway. From time to time she caught sight of the others, all now hurrying against time as thunder rumbled ominously in the distance.
The first drops of rain fell just as they were putting up the last few shutters, and within minutes the heavens had opened the floodgates. Their clothes were plastered to them when they finally dashed for the safety of the front hall, slamming the door behind them.
‘You OK?’ Hunter asked her as he watched her wipe moisture from her face, and she grinned.
‘Just a little damp. It’s quite refreshing, actually.’
He slicked back his hair with a laugh. ‘You wouldn’t think so in half an hour. If you were out in it then, you’d think it was trying to hammer you into the ground. But you’ll be safe enough in here,’ Hunter reassured her, flexing tired shoulders.
He had worked like a demon, helping a family whose ingratitude was highlighted by the fact that Eliot hadn’t offered a word of thanks. She couldn’t let it go by, though.
‘Thanks for your help. We couldn’t have done it without you, could we, Eliot?’ she prompted, eyes flashing an angry message to her ex-fiancé.
It was not appreciated. ‘Don’t let us keep you. I’m sure you want to get back to your hovel.’
Reba couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Rage bubbled like a cauldron inside her. ‘If anything happens to him, Eliot, because you’ve sent him back out in this, I’ll make sure you regret it! It’s not only ungrateful, it’s downright wicked!’
Before Eliot could respond to her scorn, Hunter stepped in. ‘It’s OK, I had no intention of staying here anyway. You’ll be fine. Don’t go out unless you have to. I’ll be seeing you.’
The Bitter Price Of Love Page 13