Island for Dreams (23 page)

He sat down on the bed beside her and caught her f hands in a firm grip.
‘
Stop it!
’
he hissed.
‘
Do you want Ford to hear?
’

But Nora was in no mood for discretion.
‘
What do I care if he hears or not? You ... you naked ape
!’

Juan put a hand over her mouth.
‘
Idiot!
’
he whispered, then drew in a deep breath as she set her teeth in his hand.

The next moment he had pushed her back on the bed and his mouth closed on her own punishingly. She writhed and struggled, but it made no difference. The kiss went on and on until she had no further resistance, and gradually her fingers slipped their hold on his hair.

His voice was a trifle thick as he raised his head.
‘
Another peep from you and you
’
ll get it again
—
and you know what that will lead to, don
’
t you?
’
he warned.
‘
Now have your drink and go to sleep like a good little girl.
’

He had gone before she realised it and she closed her eyes with the taste of blood on her lips. Was it blood from her own mouth which he had crushed against her teeth or was it from biting his hand? Nora was too confused to know. She only knew that it was mingling with the salt of tears raining down her face, and the taste was very bitter indeed.

Tricia came to the flat the next morning. Juan fetched her from The Armitage and Nora went out shopping, leaving them together. Juan had dropped Tricia off at the flats and had gone off somewhere himself. Nora dreaded meeting him again. He had gone out to fetch Tricia when she got up, and what Ford told her at breakfast did not make her feel any better.

Juan, it seemed, was a director of several firms dealing in components for ships, aircraft and motor vehicles. He had come to the island at Ford
’
s request to help him get his daughter.

‘
Juan
’
s a grand person,
’
Ford told her,
‘
I
’
d trust him with my life. I knew that in order to get
Aimée
Tricia would have to get involved with a man who wouldn
’
t want the responsibility of another man
’
s child, so when Finn invited her here I hoped it would lead to something.
’

Nora hoped it would. She arrived back at the flat to find Tricia smoking a cigarette and Ford watchful.

‘
Staying to lunch, aren
’
t you, Tricia?
’
she asked.

Tricia regarded her with hard eyes.
‘
I
’
ll think about it,
’
she said sharply.

‘
I should,
’
replied Nora coolly.
‘
Everybody feels better with a good meal inside them.
’

Ford gave her a grateful look and Nora set about preparing food. Juan came in around midday with Richard Garrant, and as the dining table only seated four, he perched on a high stool from the kitchen. The meal prepared generously for four of them left ample for Richard Garrant who, Nora had understood, was coming after lunch. He was, however, going somewhere else in the afternoon, so they got down to business while Nora washed the dishes, helped by Juan.

There was no opportunity for either of them to say anything without being overheard by the others in the lounge, and Nora evaded Juan
’
s eyes.

Before the legal adoption proceedings got under way Richard Garrant insisted upon seeing
Aimée
in order for her to make her own choice of parent. Juan went to fetch her and since she arrived with her suitcase it appeared the choice had already been made.
Aimée
was going with her father. In fact she insisted upon sitting on his knee during the whole proceedings.

Tricia made no fuss. She accepted the very generous cheque which Ford gave her and signed away all claim to her daughter. As she was going to marry without the encumbrance of a growing
daughter, Tricia was quite amiable and unruffled.

Tricia left first. Then Ford left with
Aimée
to stay at a hotel in Douglas before leaving for the first stage of their journey to California the next morning.

Richard Garrant shook
his head sadly when they had gone.

‘
I hate to take on a case like this,
’
he confessed.
‘
But I do admire the man for facing up to his responsibilities towards his own child. I must say I preferred him to the young woman. And now for something more pleasant.
’

He favoured Juan and Nora with a paternal smile.
‘
If I can have your marriage certificate and the other documents, we can have this settled in no time.
’

He smiled at Juan, who was leaning negligently against the door frame having come back from seeing Ford and
Aimée
off.

‘
Sorry you didn
’
t win the yacht race, Juan, but you can
’
t win every time. I suppose you will be leaving us soon?
’

‘
That
’
s right,
’
agreed Juan.
‘
I
’
d like you to sew the loose ends up as quickly as you can.
’

‘I’l
l do that. It should be plain sailing anyway. I
’
d like to wish you both a great deal of happiness.
’

They thanked him politely, Nora avoiding Juan
’
s eyes. But she did look at him when he said,
‘
Can I drop you anywhere, Richard? I
’
m going to see Finn.
’

‘
No, thanks. I have my car,
’
Juan replied.

He left with Richard, leaving Nora wandering aimlessly around the flat pondering on his next move. His suitcase had been removed fro
m h
er bedroom into the guest room, and she wandered into it to gaze at the single bed. The bed in her room was a double one—whether by accident or design she would never know, but the firm who furnished the flat would have set it out in the conventional way.

It took her two minutes to make up her mind to move Juan
’
s things into her room before moving hers into his. At least she would be more comfortable in a single bed than he would. He came around seven o
’
clock with a huge box of groceries and some rainbow trout freshly caught.

‘
Fancy some trout for supper?
’
he asked.

Nora had taken care with her clothes and had dressed for dinner that evening.

She said,
‘
I was about to go out for dinner.
’

He lifted a provocative dark brow.
‘
No rainbow trout? I can recommend it. Cooked my way, of course.
’

‘
Of course.
’

Juan cooked the fish while Nora laid the table. There were two bottles of champagne in the box of groceries and she put one on ice. She made the sauce for the fish, put out a chunk of cheese from the grocery box Juan had bought and a plate of savoury biscuits. Her appetite was nil, but Juan would undoubtedly enjoy his meal and he could fill up with the cheese and biscuits.

The fish was delicious, but it was like sawdust in Nora
’
s mouth. His dark eyebrows climbed a little as she played about with her portion of fish, but he said nothing. He did, however, put a generous portion of cheese on her plate.

‘
I can
’
t eat all that
!’
she cried, aghast.

‘
You can if you try. You talked earlier of going out to dinner, so eat
!’

He filled her glass with champagne several times and Nora had kept drinking it to wash down food she had no appetite for. The result was that she was a trifle tipsy at the end of the meal. She kept giggling and did not know why.

Juan made the coffee and put on the radio to listen to a concert. Nora got up and danced around the room to the dreamy tune. Juan said nothing. He smoked a cigar, then followed her into the kitchen when she drifted in to wash the dishes. Still giggling, she reached
up to put a cup on his head. He took it off, swept her up bodily in his arms and carried her to her room where he put her down on the bed.

‘
You
’
d better sleep it off,
’
he told her, bending down to slip off her shoes.

Nora
’
s expression was one of indignant surprise.
‘
Thanks,
’
she cried.
‘
And don
’
t thank me for giving you the best
... the best
... bedroom in the flat
!
’

He narrowed a dark-eyed glance at her.
‘
Disappointed, are you, that I didn
’
t come up to expectations?
’

For a moment she blinked uncomprehendingly, then she got his meaning. The colour beat in her cheeks as anger knotted in her throat.

‘
Why, you beast
!’
she exclaimed furiously.
‘
You big conceited oaf! Did you actually believe I
’
d taken your things to my room with the object of sharing my bed with you? Get out
!’

Bending down, she picked up one of her shoes and threw it with all her might at him. It struck the door as he closed it.

Nora was up early the next morni
n
g. From her window the beach looked inviting as the tide slowly receded, and the next minute she was going quietly from the flat for an early morning swim. On her return
s
he was going to book her flight home.

There was nothing to be gained in staying. She was going to put an ocean between herself and the aggravating man who could arouse s
u
ch a terrible ache of longing in her breast. A man who could appraise her with such cool appraisal was hardly likely to be in love with her. In his own eyes he was very much a superior male. In hers he was a male chauvinist of the worst kind.

She was building up her antagonism against him when she noticed that the
Dancing Belle
was no longer at her moorings at the pier. What did she care that it was another sign that Juan would soon be leaving too? But she had to go first, if only to save her pride.

Juan was out when she returned to the flat. The table was set for her breakfast and the morning newspaper was by her plate. She was having her coffee when the postman came with an invitation from Jony and Cissy to their engagement party in two days
’
time. She was glad Jony had decided to follow her advice and approach Cissy before his housekeeper left him on his own.

She went to the airport to book a flight at the earliest possible date, thinking she could be lucky in getting a cancelled seat. But she had two days to wait before she could fly off the island. She spent the day in Douglas and arrived back at her flat to find Juan cooking the evening meal. She had left Jony
’
s invitation on the table where he would see it, but he made no comment.

They were polite to each other, leaving Nora at a loss on how to deal with Juan
’
s big-brother attitude. After dinner he went out and when he returned with the spare key she had given him, she was in bed. The last two days had simply crawled for Nora, but soon she would be going home.

It was Jony
’
s engagement party the next evening, but she did not intend to go on her own and Juan had said nothing about it. So she was surprised when he came in early to ask her why she was not dressing for the party.

With her departure getting nearer she left discretion to the winds and told him that she wasn
’
t going.

‘
Why not?
’
he demanded.
‘
Jony had made a very friendly gesture in inviting us, since our marriage has done him out of a great deal of money.
’

‘
So what?
’
she answered rudely.
‘
It
’
s all perfectly legal? Besides, he has enough.
’

‘
That isn
’
t the point. We
’
re going whether you like it or not.
’

Juan went to his room to change and when he was ready he found Nora still in the lounge flicking over the pages of a magazine.

Without a word, he took the magazine away and scooping her up into his arms strode with her to put her down in her bedroom.

‘
Now get changed or I
’
ll do it for you,
’
he warned.

For minutes after he had gone Nora stood and thought it over. Then deciding that going out was better than staying in with him, she began to change.

The party was being held at the farmhouse.
‘
Trust Jony not to go to the expense of a hotel,
’
said Juan as he set his car in motion.

Nora turned her head to study his profile.
‘
This will be our last outing together,
’
she told him.

He gave her a somewhat startled glance.
‘
How come?
’
he asked curiously.

‘
That would be telling,
’
she answered, refusing to be drawn by changing the topic of conversation.
‘
So the
Dancing Belle
has gone? Has Finn gone too?
’

‘
Yes,
’
laconically.

‘
Which leaves you. Are you taking me to Jony
’
s party to let it be known that we really are married?
’

‘
Maybe.
’

‘
Why didn
’
t you leave with Finn?
’
she asked curiously.

‘
Why Finn? He
’
s just a friend. I didn
’
t come over
with him. What are you getting at?
’
They were on a long stretch of straight tree-lined road and he cast her a frown.

‘
Only that you could have been using him as you
’
ve used me to fit in with your own plans.
’

Juan said coolly,
‘
Since I stand to gain nothing with you I fail to see why you should think I
’
ve been using you.
’

Nora stared down at the bright gold band on her finger which never ought to have been put there in the first place.

‘
What exactly do you want, Juan?
’
she whispered huskily.

‘
I want what you want, to get the whole thing straightened out and completed so we
...
I
’
m free to leave it all behind.
’

‘
I see,
’
she answered, but she did not see.
‘
It hasn
’
t exactly been a carefree visit, has it?
’

Her voice held a note of strain and he flicked her a wary look.

‘
I wouldn
’
t say that. It
’
s had its compensations.
’

For you perhaps, but not for me, she thought unhappily. One thing she had discovered was that money did not always bring happiness except in material comforts. Juan had cruised along at a purring speed, knowing exactly where Jony
’
s farm was and drawing up eventually through double gates and along an earth path with a rectangle of barns to his left and the house to his right.

Jony and Cissy greeted them and they were escorted into a homely lounge where they met the other guests and were presented with a drink. There were about a dozen people in all whom Nora had never met before, but Juan appeared to know them quite well. It was Juan
’
s charm and personality which carried them through the evening and the other guests put her few responses to their questions down to shyness—at least Nora hoped so.