by Polly Carter
“Only if you call me, Mary,” she agreed with a laugh. “Is this a social visit? Would you like a cup of tea? Coffee? A cold drink? Can I offer you dinner? We haven’t had ours yet. We were waiting for Pearl’s father to come in. He shouldn’t be long.”
“Thank you. That’s very kind. It is a social visit,” he said, smiling reassuringly at Pearl. “But if it would not be rude and if Pearl agrees,” he went on, holding Pearl’s eyes a second longer than necessary before looking at Mary. “I was rather hoping I might take her out for dinner. I’m assuming there is somewhere nearby we can get a feed?”
“The only place at this time of night would be the Chinese restaurant in town,” Mary said. “They’ll be open until nine o’clock, so you should have time. And I have no objection at all. It’s up to Pearl.”
“Would you have dinner with me, Pearl? I’m a big fan of Chinese.”
Like a deer momentarily caught in the headlights and then startled into action, Pearl paused then nodded. “Yes, thank you. I’ll be ready in a few minutes,” she mumbled and fled into the darkness of the rest of the house.
Mary and Marcus talked about the drought and the urgent need for rain until Pearl reappeared, shoes on, a white bobbled cardigan over her dress, her hair brushed, and her lips pink and glossy.
Chapter 5
Pearl
As she slid into the passenger seat and waited for Marcus to close the door behind her, walk around and hop into the driver’s seat, Pearl pinched herself. She must be dreaming. There was no other explanation. It hadn’t occurred to her that Marcus would ever have given her a second thought.
How— Why had he found her? Why was he here? Was he aware that she had been so ignominiously dismissed? What would he say when he found out? Would he be angry he’d driven all this way for a thief?
“There’s no need to look so apprehensive,” he said as he started the car and drove down the drive and out onto the road. “After I saw you in Mon Addi a couple of weeks ago, I decided to ask you to dinner, but then I had to go out of town on business. I got home yesterday, so popped in to Mon Addi today and discovered you weren’t there anymore. And why. Marcie told me you’d come here. I checked the phone directory online and found one Sinclair listed so took a chance on it being the right one, and fortunately it was.”
“Oh.” Pearl was relieved he appeared to already know she had been fired for allegedly stealing and had come anyway, but she still wasn’t quite sure why. She stared at him with her mouth open and a puzzled expression.
He reached over and patted her hand. “I want to have dinner with you is all and, as you were here, I had to come here too. That’s it. Relax. Okay?” He tilted his head and pretended to be stern. Pearl giggled.
“Okay.”
“Good.”
Even though driving in Marcus Holding’s car might have been the last thing Pearl had been expecting to do this evening, it felt absolutely right, and he was such a gentleman: opening doors for her when they arrived, pulling her chair out in the restaurant, helping her with her order, and pouring her wine.
“To our first meal together,” he said, smiling and raising his glass.
“Our first meal,” she repeated, as a thrill skittered through her. First. He made it sound as though it wouldn’t be their last.
“I want to know everything about you that you are willing to tell me,” he said when she’d had a sip of her wine. “Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
“Yes, one brother. John. Four years older than me. He joined the army as soon as he turned eighteen, nearly ten years ago. He said it was too quiet and boring in the country and he couldn’t see himself being a farmer. He’s overseas at the moment but we get to see him sometimes.”
“It’s a shame for your dad, I guess, that he didn’t want to stay and help on the farm.”
“I think Dad was disappointed at first, but John seems to have changed his mind. He’s talking about coming home in a year or so when he can leave the army. He doesn’t like being away from his family, and wants to start helping Dad on the farm.”
“Family?”
“Yes. He has a wife, Debbie, and a son, Tom, who had his first birthday two months ago. Mum and Dad would love them to live closer so they could see more of their grandson.”
“I guess they would,” Marcus said. “Have you always lived in Darling Flats then?”
Pearl nodded. “Yep. Mum and Dad bought the farm when they got married. They both grew up around here and didn’t want to leave. I hadn’t ever lived anywhere else until I went to the city about eighteen months ago. I worked as a waitress until I got the job at Mon Addi. I was there a few months.” She paused, not quite able to raise the topic of her dismissal. “Now I’m here. Not particularly interesting,” she finished apologetically.
“It’s interesting to me,” Marcus reassured her.
“Really?” Her eyes opened wide in surprise.
“Yes, really.” He winked, and she blushed. “What did you do between school and moving to the city then?”
Pearl shrugged. “I helped out around the farm mostly. Dad paid me whenever he could, but I didn’t do it for the money. I knew he couldn’t really afford to pay anyone else, and wanted to help him.” She paused self-consciously. “Then I think Mum and Dad got worried I’d be living with them forever and I think Dad was feeling bad that I wasn’t doing anything with my life but helping him, so they started encouraging me to move. They knew how much I wanted to work in a jewellery shop, so they helped me find a flat in the city. Mum was thrilled when I told her about the job at Mon Addi. Oh, did your mother like her earrings?”
“She did. She loved them.”
“Oh, that’s good.”
“Her exact words were ‘an inspired choice’. So, well done.”
“I only pointed them out to you.” Pearl dismissed his praise, but blushed with pleasure. “It was you who chose them.”
“Well, you thought to point them out, so how about we agree it was a great team effort, eh?”
Pearl nodded as the soft feeling of pleasure seeped further through her like hot chocolate on a rainy day at the thought of her and Marcus Holding as a team.
The conversation was interrupted by the arrival of their meals.
“Mmmm. This smells good,” Marcus said, as they both transferred spoonfuls of different dishes onto their own plates, and seemed pleased when she replied with a warm, slightly tremulous smile, “It’s delicious. More inspired choices.”
“Excellent. So,” he added, his expression becoming serious. “I want you tell me what happened at Mon Addi. I think I can guess, but I want to hear your side.”
“I didn’t take that brooch!” Pearl said hotly, feeling anger burning her skin. “I’m not a thief.”
“I know. I didn’t think for a moment you had taken it. Do you have any idea who did though?”
“No. None at all. It was the day after you came in. The brooch was there in the morning; I saw it. Then Marcie asked me to go to the post office and, when I returned, she went to lunch. Then, while she was out, I noticed the brooch was gone and thought she must have sold it while I was at the post office, but when she got back she asked me if I’d sold it, and when I said I hadn’t she accused me of stealing it and fired me.”
Marcus nodded grimly. “When I spoke to her earlier, she said it was returned in a white envelope the following day.”
Pearl clenched her fists. “Well, if it was, it wasn’t by me because I didn’t steal it. Why would I? I loved my job so much. I felt like all the precious jewels in the shop kind of belonged to me anyway,” she said blushing and averting her eyes. “That probably sounds dumb, but I could admire them every day, and take care of them, and keep them polished, and show them off to clients.”
She glanced at him and could see from his kind, understanding expression that he didn’t think it was dumb at all. He reached out and covered her hand with his.
“I think I can guess what happened,” he said. “And I know you d
idn’t steal anything.”
Pearl let out a long, sad sigh. “The worst part is, I wanted to work my way up to managing or even owning my own jewellery store. I wanted to learn everything about gems and buying them, and Mon Addi is such a prestigious store and it carries only fine jewellery, not like those chain stores that have mostly cheap synthetic stones. I was so lucky to get a job there in the first place. Now that I’ve been fired for stealing, no other jewellery store will want to hire me, so I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
“Have you got another job? How have you been managing?”
“I had some money saved, so I’ve just been helping Dad. The lack of water is making things harder and harder for the farmers around here, though. I’ve been trying to decide whether to try and get a job in town so I can help by giving Dad extra money, or whether it’s better if I keep helping him so he doesn’t have to pay wages. I was on quite a good wage at Mon Addi and could send some home. I can’t earn as much here if I get a job in town. So, I haven’t quite decided what to do yet.” She clamped her teeth on her bottom lip to stop it trembling.
Marcus was quiet for moment. She could tell from his expression that he was thinking. Eventually he spoke.
“Tell me, Pearl, if you could work at Mon Addi again, would you want to? I mean, would you want to leave the farm and work with Marcie after her treatment of you? I’d understand totally if you’d rather never see her again.”
Pearl’s eyes opened wide in surprise. “Oh. I haven’t thought about it because it never occurred to me it could ever happen.”
“Well, think about it,” he pressed her. “I might be able to organise it, but there’s no point if that’s not what you want.”
“I do want to work in the jewellery industry, and I do want to manage a shop or have my own jewellery business one day. I haven’t changed my mind about that.”
“And Marcie? Could you bear to work with her, do you think? If she apologises? I’d keep an eye on her and ensure she treats you properly and with respect.”
Pearl was overjoyed. She might be reinstated at Mon Addi, and Marcus Holding was promising to watch out for her which meant she’d keep seeing him. From grey and drab, her life was suddenly shining like the rarest of diamonds. Pure bliss bubbled in the centre of her being and she shut her eyes tight as though that might prevent it from escaping.
“Pearl?”
She had to open her eyes. She had to do whatever he said even if she didn’t understand why. Her heart constricted as their eyes locked.
“Yes. I could. If you think it would be a good idea. But I don’t know if I should leave my parents, or if I could afford another flat in the city.”
“Fair enough.” He nodded. “I realise it’s not a simple decision, so I’m not going to press you for a quick answer, but at least we can both think about it and how we could make it work if that is what we want. Have your parents thought about selling the farm? I guess it’s hard to get a good price for it in the middle of a drought.”
Pearl nodded. “They want to sell eventually and buy a modest flat somewhere near the ocean. Not yet, but that’s Mum’s retirement dream, and Dad adores her and would do anything he could to give her whatever she wants. I don’t think Dad plans to leave the farm for a little while yet, but if they don’t keep the farm going, when they do come to sell, they might not be able to find a buyer at any price, never mind enough to buy an apartment by the sea.”
Marcus nodded as he listened to her. “Well, that’s something to think about,” he said when she finished, “but for the moment I want to hear more about you. I think you told me you don’t have a boyfriend at the moment; is that right? No local lad snapped you up? There must be dozens hanging around your door.” He grinned, and she couldn’t help a self-conscious giggle as she shook her head.
“Definitely not dozens. Not even one.”
“Have you had many serious relationships? It’s a personal question, but I am insatiably curious.”
Pearl dropped her gaze, shook her head and blushed.
“Does that mean I’m being too nosy?” he asked.
She shook her head and whispered, “You’ll probably think I’m an idiot.”
“Why on earth would I think that?”
She shrugged but kept her eyes down. He felt her foot touch his as it poked at the floor.
“Look at me, Pearl,” he ordered her gently when she didn’t answer. “Pearl.”
Slowly she raised her eyes to his, then quickly looked away.
“Have you ever had a boyfriend, Pearl?” he asked. She shook her head. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. We can talk about something else.”
“I don’t mind,” she said. “I’ve never had a proper boyfriend.”
“How can that be?” Marcus asked, genuinely astonished. Pearl shrugged again, studying the table and drawing a circle with her finger.
“I never seemed to meet any boys around here apart from the ones I went to school with. My best friend at school was a boy, though. Tony. We hung out together all the time and everyone thought we were a couple but we weren’t, at least not like that.”
“How come? You’re beautiful. I can’t believe he wasn’t attracted to you.”
She blushed and giggled at being called beautiful. “And he is very nice looking. When we were seventeen and neither of us was interested in anyone else, we decided to be boyfriend and girlfriend. We held hands everywhere we went, and we kissed a few times.” Her eyes still firmly on the table, she added quietly, “I’d had a crush on him for years so I wasn’t interested in other boys anyway.”
“What happened? Sex? You’re not trying to tell me a seventeen-year-old boy was kissing you and didn’t want to have sex?” Marcus squinted his eyes and tutted. “Unless, of course, your friend Tony is gay.”
“We did, ah, you know, one day, we decided to…” she mumbled.
He grinned. “Go on. I get the picture.”
“But it didn’t work.” She stopped and giggled, realising what she’d said and amazed she could be so open with a man she barely knew. “I didn’t mean it quite like that. The whole thing was just wrong. Then Tony told me he had suspected he was gay when he was quite young, but he’d been pretending to himself that he wasn’t and that probably all boys felt like he did. I suggested he talk to the school counsellor. He did and finally admitted to himself that he wasn’t attracted to girls. I was a bit sad, but at least I didn’t lose him as a friend. We’re still close friends and he has a lovely partner now, Pierre. They live in the city, so I saw them quite often while I was there. You’d like them if you met them.”
“I’d love to meet them, especially as Tony is your best friend. I’d best get in his good books, hey? And there hasn’t been anyone else? How is that possible? There’s no chance you’re attracted to girls?”
Pearl’s mouth opened and her brow furrowed in surprise. No one had ever asked her that before, and he wouldn’t be asking either if he realised what a huge crush she had on him. “Um, no. No chance,” she said squirming in her seat and scrutinising her fingers. “After I finished with school, I spent all my time at the farm and didn’t meet anyone. I think that’s part of the reason Mum and Dad were so keen for me to move to the city, but I didn’t know anyone there apart from Tony and Pierre so I mostly stayed in my flat when I wasn’t working. I guess I’m just not that outgoing or something. And I don’t seem to have ever met any man I was interested in.” Until you. “Or who was interested in me. But what about you? You’re older than me. How come you’re single? Have you ever been married?”
“I’m thirty-two, and you’re…?”
“Twenty-four.”
He nodded. “Okay. And to answer your question, no, I’ve never been married. I have had a few girlfriends, but no relationship ever lasted longer than a few months and none were serious. It’s been a combination of things, I guess. My mother has very definite ideas of who are suitable potential Mrs Marcus Holdings.” He grinned ruefully. “I�
��m not saying there might not be a perfectly nice young lady among them, but I’m afraid I have an intractably stubborn streak when it comes to having my wife selected by my mother. Plus, most of the women she has in mind come from wealthy backgrounds and are after a rich husband to take over from Daddy paying their bills. It’s not a characteristic I find particularly attractive.”
“Is that why you’re here? Because my family doesn’t have any money?”
“No, Pearl.” He reached over and squeezed her hand. “I think that would make me as shallow as the women who come after me because I am rich, or at least my family is. It’s knowing they are fluttering their eyelashes and offering their bodies because they find money arousing that is the turn off. I have dated wealthy women who weren’t like that, and some of them were very nice and I’m also still friendly with a couple although none are my best friend,” he said with a smile. “But I guess I’ve never met anyone I could envisage spending my whole life with either, and someone who would be my best friend as well as my wife.” He caught her eyes with his and held them. “I don’t know what this is, or why I couldn’t rest until I’d found you. But I do know I want to spend more time with you and get to know you better. If that’s agreeable to you, of course.”
She nodded but didn’t speak.
“That’s a yes, it’s okay with you?” he asked seriously.
She nodded again, and this time whispered, “Yes. It’s okay with me.”
“Excellent. Now, eat your dinner. You’ve barely touched it.”
“I’m too full already to eat another thing.” Too full of happiness. He wants to spend more time with me!
Marcus reached over and scooped up a spoonful of food and held it out to her.
“You don’t have to eat it all. Just one more spoonful. Come on. Open up.”
Pearl dropped her head and shook it. He was taking charge and taking care of her, and she was suddenly overcome as she realised how much she loved that he would do that. She kept her face hidden, embarrassed he might realise how she felt.