‘Yes. A lot of what you said made sense, once I’d calmed down.’
‘It goes against the grain for you.’
‘Yes.’
Claudia placed a hand on his. ‘You’re a good man, Jason.’
He shook his head, lacing his fingers in hers. ‘I just want to do what’s best for my daughter.’
Claudia could have said he had a habit of going about that the wrong way. That he rubbed his daughter and everyone else up the wrong way while he was at it. But she reminded herself that he’d gone totally against his own feelings to allow Millie to see Tanya. That was no small thing. As for continuing to allow his daughter to blame him for divorcing her mother, keeping Gemma’s affair to himself for the sake of Gemma’s memory… How painful must that be, keeping it locked inside like that? Absorbing Millie’s anger and frustration day after day?
‘You’re a good man,’ she repeated.
He managed a small smile. ‘Sometimes I wish I wasn’t. It might hurt less.’
Claudia leaned in and brushed her lips against his. He needed a distraction. An outlet for all that stress and tension he held inside.
‘You don’t have to be good with me,’ she murmured against his mouth. ‘Would that help?’
Returning the kiss, he nipped her bottom lip lightly with his teeth, then sighed. ‘I’m sure I could be very bad with you if I tried, Claudia Rose.’
Her heart thumping, she took his hand. ‘Let’s find out, shall we?’
As she led him to the bedroom, for a panicked moment she hoped he hadn’t misconstrued what she had in mind. There were no whips or handcuffs in her wardrobe. What she could offer him was to let down her barriers more. To encourage him to let down his. No restrictions between them; just allowing themselves to be how they wanted to be. No rational thought.
As she unbuttoned his shirt, he glanced apologetically at his watch. ‘I only have an hour.’
‘Then we’d better make the most of it.’
Jason barely slept that night. He had no idea what was happening – whether his life was going pear-shaped or finally looking up; whether his relationship with Claudia was a great idea or a terrible one; whether his relationship with Millie was improving or worsening. Every day turned the previous day on its head.
Claudia was the main cause of his wakefulness tonight, though. They were drawn to each other like magnets, yet they had nothing in common. He didn’t believe a quarter of what she believed in. He didn’t like that he seemed to spend half his time apologising, yet there was always a good reason to. She brought out the best in him… after she’d brought out the worst in him. After what she’d been through today, so soon after the storm damage, he’d wanted to wrap her in cotton wool and make sure it never happened again. At the same time, he’d wanted to throttle her for her reticence with the police. He simply wasn’t in control with her.
As for their one precious hour of lovemaking, control hadn’t played much of a part in that. When she’d led him through the bead curtains… One look from those golden eyes could turn him on. As for that full mouth waiting for him to kiss her, the floaty clothes clinging to curves he already knew could drive him mad, and a bed only inches away…? He’d been lost.
Jason had thought they’d given themselves freely to each other before, but he’d been wrong. There’d been so much farther for them to go – in desire, in sensation, in raw need. His body still throbbed with it.
Did amazing sex justify them being together? Were they together? He hadn’t even admitted to his own daughter that they were involved. Millie idolised Claudia. If it was important, why hadn’t he told her?
Because I don’t know how I feel yet, other than bewitched. I need to know if it’s something before I drag Millie into whatever it is. I told Claudia I want to do what’s best for my daughter, and that will always come first.
Claudia spent Friday still closed, replacing soap, restocking, reordering.
Jason didn’t call, but he texted. That was okay – he had work to catch up on after losing a day helping her.
The glaziers had replaced her window by Friday teatime, and Claudia could not have been more grateful. She couldn’t afford to lose Saturday business. Texting Millie to say she was still needed after all, she stared at the new glass and the empty display space. A window display meant working all evening. With a sigh, she texted Tanya who, on standby all day, offered to drive over to help.
Claudia had thought things couldn’t get any worse. That was until a fifty-ish man in a sharp suit stalked into Healing Waves, his latent aggression unmistakable.
He looked around with disdain. ‘Ms Bennett?’
‘Yes?’
‘Thomas Barker. Amber’s father.’
This can’t be good.
‘How do you do?’ Claudia held out a hand that was pointedly ignored.
‘I would do better, Ms Bennett, if you and your boyfriend ceased waging your campaign against my daughter and her business partner.’
What? Talk about being wrapped around his daughter’s little finger!
Claudia did her utmost to sound calm, although her heart was racing. ‘I assure you, Mr Barker, there is no campaign. Perhaps Amber and Raven haven’t provided you with a full account of events.’
‘Are you saying that my daughter lied to me?’
Very probably. ‘I’m saying there are two sides to every story.’
‘Think what you like, Ms Bennett, but you can’t accuse my offspring of criminal damage without consequences and set the police onto them with no proof whatsoever.’
‘I did nothing of the kind.’
‘That’s not the way I see it. And by the way, I suggest you rein in your boyfriend and ask him to refrain from making accusations on their premises in front of their customers.’
Claudia’s mouth set in a thin line. ‘Already done. For that, and only that, I apologise.’
The man’s eyes narrowed to vicious slits. ‘I shall be visiting the police tomorrow to say much the same. But rest assured, Ms Bennett, the next time I have to come down from London, I will bring a highly qualified and very expensive solicitor with me. I suggest you think about that.’
When he’d gone, Claudia sat, head in hands. Was she ever going to wake up from this nightmare?
Tanya arrived to rescue her sanity. Insisting on wine as they worked, she listened to Claudia’s tales of woe, now numerous.
‘I hate people throwing their weight around like that!’ she said of Amber’s father. ‘Who does he think he is?’
‘Does it matter? If he has clout, then he has clout. I don’t intend to get on the wrong side of him, if I can help it.’
‘What about Jason?’
‘I don’t think he’ll pull a stunt like that again – storming in there. He knows how I felt about it.’
‘Are you mad at him for telling the police about the feud yesterday?’
‘No. He was right to. It’s not his fault it backfired.’
‘But why was he here at all?’
As they worked, stringing fairy lights through large shells and crystals, Claudia filled Tanya in on Jason passing by, missing work to help her clear up, his apology, the kindly but claustrophobic nature of the pub. The beans on toast.
‘Very exotic! And then you had hot, dusty sex, right?’
‘Right.’
Tanya’s mouth fell open. ‘Crikey! I was being sarcastic!’ When Claudia sighed, she said, ‘What’s that for?’
‘I don’t think it was a good idea.’
‘Since when was hot, dusty sex not a good idea?’
‘It’s less the sex and more the man. We argue… We kiss. We argue… We have sex. We argue… We have even better sex.’ Claudia had thought about that a lot since Jason had left her in bed the night before. ‘I mean, what’s the point?’
‘Apart from the fact that the sex gets better every time you fall out?’ Tanya sat back on her heels, her green eyes on Claudia, unwavering. ‘The point is, you’re in love with him.’
Claudia stared at her. ‘No, no, no. We’re attracted to each other. We’re friends, when he’s not yelling at me. And we’re great in bed together. That doesn’t mean I’m in love with him.’
Tanya gave her a sad smile. ‘Been too busy to listen to that intuition of yours lately?’
‘My intuition works just fine, thank you.’
‘Didn’t say it didn’t. Just said you haven’t been listening.’
Claudia thought about that later. Half the night, in fact. By morning, she still couldn’t decide whether Tanya was right or stark raving mad. Claudia was so wound up about everything that was going on in her life, she just didn’t know.
If Tanya was right – and Claudia wasn’t admitting she was – then the main problem was Millie. Jason wanted to keep their relationship from her for now, but that couldn’t last forever. And despite his apology, Claudia couldn’t forget what he’d said about her trying to be Millie’s mother. She knew it had been said in anger… But if she was in love with him, would that make her behave like that towards Millie even more, in Jason’s eyes?
And so, when Millie came to work, Claudia found herself doing just as she’d planned before Jason’s apology – keeping a polite distance, watching every word, judging which topics were safe and which to steer away from. It wasn’t easy, but it was necessary – at least until Claudia decided whether Jason’s apology was enough for her… although she had a feeling the sex would have led him to assume it was.
Perhaps sensing Claudia’s mood, Millie became quiet towards the end of her shift.
At three, Claudia saw her out onto the terrace. ‘Is your dad coming for you?’
‘Yes. He said he’d wait on the road for me.’ Millie frowned. ‘Is everything alright, Claudia?’
‘I’m just a bit tired.’
‘Only I was wondering, can we make more soap some time?’
Ah. ‘Sorry, but I have to pick my times on the spur of the moment in the summer because I’m so busy. Maybe when things quieten down a bit.’
Claudia hated the disappointment on Millie’s face, watching her sadly as the girl rounded the side of the building, but she was determined. Jason had made his position clear, apology or no. Until he could wholeheartedly accept Claudia’s friendship with his daughter, Claudia couldn’t see how to avoid Millie getting a little hurt.
Sarah, who’d been wiping tables on the terrace, came over before Claudia went back inside. ‘I overheard that little exchange. Millie sounded confused. Is this really necessary, Claudia? I thought you and Jason were getting on okay now. He helped you all day after the window got smashed, and I heard you were in the pub together.’
‘Yes, but that doesn’t change this thing with Millie, does it? I can’t keep on going against his wishes, Sarah. I’ve been doing that for weeks now. Up until recently, I got away with it, but…’
‘If this is about the Wicca thing, that wasn’t even your doing!’ Sarah said hotly. ‘It’s just a teenager’s natural curiosity and that blasted Hester’s Cauldron.’
‘I know. And Jason sees that now. He’s agreed that Millie can meet with Tanya.’
‘So what’s the problem?’
‘I think he feels that if Millie wasn’t under my influence, it might not have happened. And of course, her accessing Tanya is through me.’
‘So you’re still going to hold Millie at arm’s length?’
‘It’s what Jason wants, even if he tries to pretend it’s not.’
Sarah huffed, ignoring a customer trying to grab her attention. ‘After all you’ve done for that girl! Millie’s come along in leaps and bounds since the day she set foot in Healing Waves, and I defy anyone to say otherwise.’ With that, she stormed off to find out what her impatient customer wanted.
Back inside Healing Waves, Claudia hated that Sarah had her doubting her strategy. It didn’t help when she found Millie’s mobile phone under the counter.
Damn. I’ll have to take that up there, if she doesn’t realise she’s left it. So much for keeping my distance!
Chapter Twenty-Three
‘I hate you!’
Jason’s face turned ashen. ‘That’s a strong thing to say, isn’t it?’
‘No. It’s about right. Why would you do that?’
Jason floundered. He’d picked Millie up from Healing Waves, got home, asked her how her day had gone. She’d told him she’d left her mobile behind. He’d asked if she wanted to go back for it. She’d said no thank you, she’d already tried that.
They were barely over the doorstep before she’d launched into him, telling him how distant Claudia had been with her all day; how she’d overheard Claudia and Sarah talking, from the side of the building when she’d doubled back for her phone – something about keeping her at arm’s length because Jason wanted it.
Jason was struggling to process it. He’d apologised to Claudia, hadn’t he? Even if that wasn’t enough, he wasn’t sure why she’d take it out on Millie when they were so fond of each other. As his daughter stared him down, he wracked his brain. He’d said it before, too, he supposed – about not liking her influencing his daughter. But that was ages ago, before they got to know each other. Before they… well…
‘Millie, about Claudia…’
‘Oh, we all know what you think of Claudia!’
‘I don’t think you do,’ Jason said carefully, his mind flooding with images of him tumbling with a golden-haired goddess on her bed behind bead curtains, her wild curls spread across the pillow as he made love to her.
But Millie had more to say. ‘You think she’s bonkers. You don’t like anything she sells, anything she does, anything she believes in.’
‘That’s enough! It’s true that I wasn’t keen at first, but I’ve given way on a great many things for your sake and for Claudia’s. I’ve listened. I’ve tried to understand. Don’t I get any credit?’
‘Why should you? Do you give her any?’
If only you knew. ‘Of course I do.’
‘Then why would you tell her to stay away from me? Can’t you see how much she’s helped me?’
Millie’s anger came at him like a wall. Shakily, Jason said, ‘I didn’t tell her to stay away. I…’
I told her to stop trying to be your mother.
‘It doesn’t matter, does it?’ Millie ranted. ‘She doesn’t want to be my friend any more. Thanks a lot, Dad. I’m off to get ready for Jessica’s.’ She stormed out, the pounding of her boots up the stairs accentuating her fury.
Jason sank down at the breakfast bar, his elbows on the polished granite, his head in his hands. All his high hopes for a new start where they could move on from Gemma’s death, where Millie would make new friends and take an interest in school and deal with her grief and lose some of that damned anger that wore them both down to shadows of themselves…
And now look at where they were, all because of an overheard conversation. Again. Millie already blamed him for everything from wanting to divorce her mother to the sun not shining on a morning, and now this.
Thanks, Claudia. Thanks a lot.
When he drove Millie to Jessica’s half an hour later, he pointed out that she still didn’t have her mobile. She told him he was welcome to retrieve it for her, since Claudia didn’t want her around more than necessary.
Jason decided that wasn’t an option he could face right now.
Back home, he didn’t fancy dinner. It would only sit like cement in his stomach. Instead, he mooched aimlessly around the house, knowing that Millie was probably spending the evening telling her friends what a bastard he was.
When the doorbell rang at nine, he was busy burning toast. Millie had her own key, so why not just let herself in?
Tossing the burned toast in the bin, his stomach growling at the delay for the one calming item it fancied, he padded to the door.
Claudia stood on his doorstep, her hair scraped away from her face in an attempt at a ponytail. She looked pale.
‘I brought this. Millie left it.’ She handed hi
m the mobile. ‘And we need to talk.’
He hesitated, then moved aside for her to enter. She stood in the kitchen, sniffing the air.
‘Burned toast,’ he explained curtly. ‘Take a seat.’
‘It’s not a social call.’ But she perched on a bar stool.
Jason’s heart sank. He’d never heard her so business-like. He tried for something positive. ‘I’m glad you got Healing Waves reopened so soon. Did the police follow up on Hester’s Cauldron?’
‘Yes. And in response, I had a lovely visit from Amber’s father, threatening me with legal action.’
Jason ran a hand through his hair. ‘Jeez, Claudia. I’m sorry.’
‘Don’t apologise. It had to be done. But I do need you to stay out of it now. Leave it to the police.’
‘Did they get anywhere?’
‘The officer who spoke to us on Thursday came by this afternoon. They don’t believe it was Hester’s. They had a visit from Amber’s father, too, but I think it only got their backs up. They told him they were entitled to make enquiries on such a serious matter and would not be swayed from their duty… although they also told him he had nothing more to worry about.’
‘It’s a mess.’
‘Yes.’ Claudia looked around. ‘Millie told me she was going out tonight. Is she back yet?’
‘No, but she’s due any time.’
‘Then I’ll be quick. Tanya phoned me. Millie cancelled their meet-up.’
Jason’s heart sank. ‘When?’
‘Late this afternoon.’
After my daughter told me she hates me.
‘I didn’t ask her to,’ he said defensively. ‘Did she tell Tanya why?’
‘She said it was too much hassle arguing with you about everything. Tanya reminded her that they had your permission, but Millie said she knew you hadn’t really wanted to give it. Tanya said to let her know if she changed her mind.’
Jason sighed. ‘I’m sorry.’
The Little Shop in Cornwall: A heartwarming and feel good beach read Page 30