The Blind Date Surprise

by Barbara Hannay

  Turning to Annie, he offered his warmest smile. ‘Hi, there,’ he said softly. ‘How was lunch?’

  ‘Lunch was lovely,’ Annie said with a subtle emphasis on the first word and a quick glance that implied that things had gone rapidly downhill since then. ‘What gorgeous lilies, Theo.’

  ‘I’ll take everything through to the kitchen and then I’ll grab a glass and join you,’ he said.

  To his surprise, Claudia jumped to her feet. ‘I’ll come inside too, Theo. There’s something I need to discuss with you.’

  A steel band seemed to clamp around his chest.

  ‘A business matter,’ Claudia said, averting her eyes momentarily before sighing significantly. ‘I’m afraid I have some rather bad news.’

  A grim kind of dread settled inside him. He had no idea what was going on, but nothing about Claudia’s visit felt right.

  Determined to remain calm, he allowed himself a small frown. ‘Couldn’t you have shared this bad news with me at work?’

  ‘I was held up in meetings all afternoon.’ Claudia lifted her gaze slowly. ‘And then I couldn’t find you. You must have been out hunting for these delightful purchases.’ Her mouth flickered into a smile that was too thin, almost cruel. ‘But because we’re old friends I didn’t want to leave you in the dark, so I came straight here. I’d hate you to find out from anyone else.’

  ‘What don’t you want me to find out, Claudia? For God’s sake, what’s happened?’

  She cast a speaking glance in Annie’s direction, and Theo saw that Annie’s cheeks were flushed and her eyes worried.

  ‘I need to discuss this with you in private,’ Claudia said.

  ‘You had better come into my study then.’ He struggled to hold back a mounting sense of alarm. ‘Please excuse us, Annie.’

  Annie felt sick as she placed Theo’s bottle of white wine in the fridge and put the tubs of food in the microwave and then arranged his flowers in a tall rectangular glass vase and carried them through to the lounge. The flowers were gorgeous, long-stemmed lilies—deep red, golden and cream—and they teamed beautifully with the colours and mood of this room.

  But she couldn’t enjoy them. Not when she could hear the sombre murmur of voices from behind the closed door of Theo’s study.

  Setting the vase on the coffee table, she made a few adjustments to the arrangement, but as she straightened she found herself stalled in the middle of the room, hypnotised by the threat of those muffled voices. She wound her arms across her stomach, as if to protect herself.

  Perhaps it was pathetically paranoid of her, but she knew just knew that this bad news of Claudia’s was somehow linked to her.

  The half hour she’d spent alone with Claudia before Theo had arrived home had been hideous. Claudia had feigned an interest in Annie’s life in North Queensland, but her boredom had been thinly veiled and when Annie tried to talk about Brisbane or the university Claudia’s manner had been patronising in the extreme.

  Without actually saying so, the other woman had conveyed with crystalline clarity that she couldn’t imagine how dear, clever Theo had become infatuated with such a brainless little bimbo from the back of beyond. It had taken all Annie’s self-control to refrain from acquainting Claudia with the truly astonishing fact that the Star Valley was not populated by a mob of inbred, illiterate, banjo-playing yokels.

  The voices in the study stopped abruptly and Annie hurried back to the kitchen, terrified that it might look as if she’d been eavesdropping.

  Basil was sprawled on the back step and she crossed the room and dropped on to the step beside him. Seeking comfort, she gave him a huge hug. ‘If only you could tell me what you know about Claudia,’ she whispered to the dog. ‘Has she been here often? Is she in love with Theo? What do you think is going on in there?’

  Basil pushed his wet nose against her neck and gave her a loving lick. He made a gentle, whimpering sound as if he were trying to comfort her. ‘You dear old boy,’ she said, rubbing her cheek against his magnificent black and white spotted neck. ‘You understand, don’t you?’

  ‘You really do get on well with Basil, don’t you?’

  Annie jumped at the sound of Claudia’s voice. She hadn’t heard footsteps. Whipping around, she was startled to see the other woman standing in the kitchen behind her. She shot a quick glance past her, hoping to see Theo, but there was no sign of him.

  She jumped to her feet. ‘Have you and Theo finished your discussion?’

  ‘Yes.’ Claudia fished in her handbag and extracted her car keys. ‘I imagine you’ll want to go inside and offer the poor man some comfort.’

  Horrified, Annie whispered, ‘W—what’s happened?’

  ‘I’ve had to let him go.’

  ‘Let him go?’ Annie felt ill. ‘What on earth do you mean?’

  ‘Theo’s contract as a lecturer was up for renewal at the end of this year, but our department has had severe funding cuts and we were left with a very difficult decision.’

  Annie gasped. ‘You can’t mean that he’s lost his job?’

  ‘Believe me, Annie, it’s a grave disappointment for all of us. But I can imagine how distressed you particularly must feel. I saw how hard you tried to fit in at the soirée last week. I’m terribly sorry but all that’s going to be lost to you now.’

  Appalled, Annie stared at her, unable to think of anything to say.

  Claudia’s long, nimble fingers sorted through her key ring and she made a selection. Tapping the key against her elegant chin, she eyed Annie thoughtfully. ‘I’m sorry if you feel badly about this.’

  ‘Well, of course I feel badly. I feel terrible for Theo.’

  Claudia looked pained, then she shook her head and rolled her eyes before releasing an impatient, huffing sigh.

  ‘What is it?’ challenged Annie, too fraught to decide whether this woman was displaying an Oscar-winning performance or genuine emotion. ‘Is there something I’m supposed to understand? Something else I should feel bad about?’

  Claudia turned as if she were leaving, then looked back at Annie and said almost gently, ‘You don’t see the problem, do you, Annie?’

  Annie felt a terrible urge to slap her. ‘I might if you gave me a clue.’

  Again Claudia sighed. ‘Sometimes we don’t want to accept that we might be a burden or a hindrance to people we’re very fond of.’

  ‘A—a burden?’ Annie’s legs threatened to buckle beneath her. ‘Are you telling me this is m-my fault? Theo’s losing his job because of me?’

  The brief but unmistakable flash of triumph in Claudia’s eyes indicated that this was the exact message she’d intended.

  ‘How can I be a hindrance to Theo’s career? I only met him a week ago.’

  But now Claudia chose not to answer. She’d planted the necessary seeds. Without another word, she turned and walked purposefully out of the house without looking back.

  A wave of nausea swept through Annie. This didn’t make sense. How could she have caused so much havoc in Theo’s life in such a short space of time?

  She thought of last week at the cocktail party, and remembered her dress and the silly comment about naked shimmer. She remembered the way Theo had kissed her hand in full view of everyone, and the way he’d stolen away early with her…

  No doubt a few tongues had wagged, but surely in this day and age something like that didn’t amount to a scandal? Not the kind of scandal that got a man sacked. Unless…

  From the street outside came the sound of Claudia’s car starting up. Last week Annie had suspected that Claudia and Theo had a past relationship. Now she was almost certain of it.

  And she was just as certain that Claudia wasn’t over Theo.

  CHAPTER NINE

  HEARTSICK, Annie hurried through the house to Theo’s study. He was sitting in a black leather chair with his elbows propped on the desk, his head slumped in his hands.

  She stopped in the doorway. Although she wanted to run to him, to throw her arms around him and to comfort h
im, Claudia’s words had undermined her confidence.

  Had she really cost Theo his job? Her throat burned with a painful, rocky clump of mounting fear. Fisting a hand against her mouth to stop herself from making a noise, she drew a deep breath, trying to calm down. The last thing Theo needed was hysterics from her. For the moment, until she heard his side of the story, she would have to be strong and put Claudia’s accusations behind her.

  It was growing dark outside and the only light in the study came from the lamp on Theo’s desk. In spite of her agitation, she couldn’t help admiring his bowed head—the dark sheen of his hair in the lamp’s light and the neat, essentially masculine way his hair ended in a straight line across the back of his neck.

  What am I going to do? I’m so in love with this man. I couldn’t bear to walk away from him now.

  After a minute or two he lowered his hands and looked up, surprised to see her there. ‘Hi,’ he said. ‘I didn’t hear you.’

  She stepped into the room. ‘Theo, I’m so sorry.’

  ‘Claudia told you?’

  ‘Yes, it’s terrible.’

  He sighed. ‘I must admit I’m feeling a bit shell-shocked.’ Then he smiled faintly and said, ‘Come here.’

  Moving closer, Annie hitched a hip on to the edge of his desk and leaned forward to touch her fingers lightly against his cheekbone. The little laughter creases around his eyes looked as if they’d been etched deeper by pain. He was hurt more than he was letting on and she couldn’t bear it.

  ‘I don’t understand, Theo. How can the university do this to you?’

  ‘Very easily, it would seem.’

  ‘But how can they dump news like this out of the blue, without warning?’

  He shrugged. ‘Normally a lecturer would have some idea that a contract might not be renewed, but it’s still legitimate for it to happen as quickly as this.’

  ‘It might be legitimate, but it’s too cruel.’ When he didn’t respond she couldn’t help adding, ‘Why was Claudia the one to tell you?’

  ‘She’s the head of the department.’

  ‘Really?’ She couldn’t hold back a choked cry of dismay. ‘Claudia’s your boss?’

  ‘Yes.’ He saw the look on her face and added, ‘She’s a highly intelligent, very qualified academic, Annie.’

  She sniffed. ‘Maybe she is, but there was nothing high-minded or ethical about the way she sacked you.’

  ‘I’m sure she would argue that she conducted herself in a very civilised manner.’

  Annie shook her head and almost snarled.

  ‘Don’t look so worried, Annie. I’ll be okay. Losing a job isn’t the end of the world.’

  She might have guessed that Theo would be stoical about such an unexpected disappointment. ‘I’m more angry than worried,’ she said and she had to compress her lips to stop herself from saying more. Would Theo think her suspicions about Claudia were catty?

  But it was impossible for impetuous Annie McKinnon to hold back for long. Moments later the question that burned inside her burst out. ‘Is Claudia in love with you, Theo?’

  He let out a little huff of surprise and looked away quickly. ‘Of course not.’

  ‘Do you and she have a history?’ She pressed her hand against the burning knot of panic in her stomach.

  His eyes were worried as he turned back to her. His hand sought hers. ‘Yes, but it was over long ago. Almost two years ago now.’

  ‘I wouldn’t be too sure that it’s over.’

  ‘Believe me, Annie. Claudia and I are ancient history.’

  ‘You may think so, Theo, but I suspect Claudia is still hung up on you. I think it’s very possible that what happened today was the green-eyed monster in action.’

  He frowned and shook his head. ‘Claudia’s above that.’

  Oh, boy. He had no idea.

  He knew nothing of the half hour she’d spent squirming in Claudia’s unpleasant company. Annie was sure the woman could stoop to murky depths if it suited her. ‘I’m sorry, Theo, but I can’t agree with you. Claudia might have top credentials, but I don’t believe she’s a philosopher’s boot lace.’

  A corner of his mouth twitched upwards. ‘What makes you say that?’

  ‘If she was trying to think rationally and logically and for the greater good, why would she choose to get rid of one of her most valuable lecturers?’

  ‘You don’t know anything about my value at work.’

  ‘Yes, I do. People were falling over themselves last week to tell me what a popular and effective lecturer you are.’ She dropped a quick kiss on his cheek, then slipped from the desk and walked quickly away from him.

  I mustn’t cry. I mustn’t cry. Hunching her shoulders, she wrapped her arms over her stomach and she kept her back to him as she stared through a long, narrow window to the dusky outline of a lipstick palm growing in the courtyard.

  ‘This sacking has nothing to do with the quality of your teaching.’ A sob threatened and she gulped it down. ‘It’s about me, Theo. I’m your problem.’

  ‘For God’s sake, Annie, no!’

  The shocked pain in his voice almost tore her in two. Claudia hadn’t said anything to him.

  It made sense. Claudia was too smart to openly point to Annie as the reason for Theo’s dismissal. And he, poor lamb, didn’t have the benefit of feminine intuition, so he probably hadn’t noticed that haunted watchfulness in Claudia’s eyes whenever she looked at him. And he hadn’t heard the lethal parting shot his boss had fired at Annie.

  ‘I’m afraid it’s true.’ With her back to him, Annie drew a deep breath and once again willed herself not to cry. ‘If I left you, you’d have your job back in no time.’

  Close behind her now, Theo clasped her by the elbows. ‘That’s not how it works.’

  At his touch she almost sobbed aloud. She closed her eyes to hold back the tears, but the telltale moisture slid from beneath her lashes and down her cheeks.

  Theo hauled her backwards hard against him. ‘Don’t even think of leaving me.’ Binding her with his arms, he pressed hot kisses to the back of her neck.

  She was helpless, overcome by heartbreak. She didn’t want to go…didn’t want to…didn’t want to. And Theo was holding her so tightly, he was kissing her hair, her wet cheek, her neck.

  ‘This is not your fault,’ he whispered.

  But she knew it was. It was her fault. She was the reason Theo had lost his job. Nevertheless, when he whispered, ‘Come here,’ she turned in his arms, powerless to resist him as he covered her damp face with kisses.

  ‘I want you in my life, Annie.’

  Oh, Theo. Lovely, lovely Theo.

  Cradling her face, he kissed her mouth. And she was lost, lost on the riding tide of her emotions, on a cresting wave of despair and longing.

  Later she would think about what she must do to get Theo’s job back, but not now. Not now when he was kissing her with a tenderness that blocked all sensible thought. Not now when his hands and his mouth left her no choice but to submit to sensation…when they were both trembling with the accelerating force of their feelings.

  Not now when he was undoing the buttons of her blouse…when she was undoing the snap fastener at the waist of her jeans…when he was peeling her blouse away from her shoulders, when his lips were tracing the lacy patterns on her bra…while she tugged his shirt free from his trousers…

  Only this…now…

  The future and the past vanished and they let the urgency of the present take them by storm, expressing their emotions in the most honest and intimate way, the only way possible now.

  All that mattered was this moment…and their sensitivity to each other’s touch. Nothing else counted but their heightening need…the act of giving and receiving…and their rapturous, passionate drive for completion.

  And afterwards…after they’d dressed again and after they’d giggled as they gathered and sorted the papers that had fallen from Theo’s desk and scattered all over the study…after they’d heated the Thai
take-away and poured fresh glasses of wine and eaten their dinner, picnic style on the floor of the lounge, and admired the lilies on the coffee table…

  After all this, Theo still refused to accept that his dismissal had anything to do with Annie. And, because she couldn’t bear to start a fight with him, she let the matter drop. For now.

  ‘What will you do?’ she asked as they carried the take-away cartons back to the kitchen.

  ‘The only thing I can do. Look around for a new job.’

  ‘But will there be another job like yours going in Brisbane?’

  ‘It’s highly unlikely. Actually, I’m almost certain there won’t be anything on offer here for next semester.’

  ‘But if you have to go away, what will happen to Damien? And George? He’ll be terribly disappointed.’

  ‘George?’ Theo’s eyebrows became question marks.

  ‘Your father. You know that nice elderly gentleman who lives in the little white cottage around the corner?’

  ‘But—’ He smiled and frowned simultaneously, clearly puzzled. ‘How do you know about him?’

  Annie smiled back. ‘I met him today when I took Basil for his walk.’

  ‘Did you, now? So you’ve been spying behind my back?’

  ‘It was more like the inaugural meeting of the Theo Grainger Fan Club.’

  Theo grinned. ‘What a charming idea.’

  It was the first time he’d grinned all evening. ‘I could scrounge up a few more members,’ she said, hoping to cheer him some more. Everyone who knows you loves you, Theo. ‘My friend Victoria was smitten at first sight.’ Remembering the Italian café owner she’d met on the first morning, she added, ‘I’m sure Giovanni would join us if he was invited.’

  ‘Perhaps they will write me a good reference,’ Theo said, with a grimace that was more rueful than cheerful.

  You won’t need a reference, Theo. Not when I’ve done what I have to do.

  But at the thought of the task that awaited her in the morning, Annie shuddered.

  ‘What’s the matter?’ he asked.

  She forced a weak smile. ‘I just wish this hadn’t happened.’

  ‘It’ll turn out all right. I’m going to look on this as a challenge, a new bend in the road. Who knows what I’ll find waiting around the corner?’