An Enigmatic Man

The cup of coffee and the Aga sounded inviting, but Crys was already sure how she would feel about things later; she simply couldn’t stay here with this man. He might be Molly’s brother, and Molly obviously adored him, but Crys wasn’t sure she even liked him!

She looked up to find his green gaze still regarding her searchingly, although the blandness of his expression gave away none of what he was thinking.

Crys looked at him now with the knowledge that he was Molly’s beloved brother, desperately trying to see the man her friend talked about with such love and pride. He was a writer, she knew that much about him, although she had no idea what sort of books he wrote. It did perhaps explain why he chose to live in this remote place—but not the reason for the deliberately deceptive dereliction outside!

No, there was something not quite right about this situation—and with all the other upsets she had had in her life this last year she did not want to become a part of it.

‘Molly is going to be very disappointed if she rings back and I tell her you’ve chosen to stay at a hotel until she arrives,’ he said suddenly.

Were her thoughts so transparent? Crys wondered with dismay—because that was exactly what she had been about to tell him!

But he was right about Molly’s disappointment. Her friend simply wouldn’t understand if she went to a hotel instead of waiting for her here.

Crys shook her head. ‘You can’t really want me to stay here.’ She grimaced, sure that company—her company especially!—was the last thing this man wanted. After all, he had made his opinion of her only too obvious earlier.

‘No,’ he confirmed bluntly. ‘But for Molly’s sake I’m willing to put up with it.’

And, his unspoken words implied, so should you be!

He was right, of course. Molly was one of the most kind-hearted people on earth—had invited Crys here because she wanted to help her come to terms with the last year. To choose not to stay here after all, simply because Molly had been delayed a few days, was ungrateful in the extreme. Not that Molly would ever say so, but she would be hurt, nonetheless.

‘As I said, think about it,’ Sam advised harshly, before striding forcefully from the room. The front door slammed a few seconds later as he left the house, instantly greeted by the sound of Merlin’s joyful barking.

Crys’s breath left her in a sigh as soon as Sam was out of the room. She sank down gratefully onto one of the kitchen chairs as she tried to collect her thoughts.

Think about Molly, Sam had meant by that last remark. He was right, of course. But, even so, Crys was loath to agree to stay here with Sam while she waited for Molly to arrive. What would the two of them talk about, for one thing? He certainly didn’t appear to be a man blessed with any of the social graces, so small talk was probably out!

What a mess!

Her first social venture out in a very long time, and she found herself cosily ensconced with the most unwelcoming man she had ever met in her life, miles from civilisation—or at least so it seemed—with the fog seeming to cocoon them in eerie solitude.

The fog!

A brief glance out of the kitchen window showed Crys that, instead of lifting, as she had hoped it might, the fog had in fact thickened. So much so that she could see absolutely nothing now except that silvery blanket.

Great. Even the weather seemed to be conspiring against her!

She was going to look more than a little churlish if she insisted on leaving in weather like this—she was going to look as if she were running away. From Sam Barton!

But wasn’t she? Didn’t the man unnerve her to the point of giving her the jitters? He—

She looked up as the front door opened and then once more closed with a resounding slam, her gaze apprehensive as Merlin preceded his master into the kitchen. The dog really was as enormous as he had appeared outside, filling half the doorway as he came to an abrupt halt, hackles once again rising at her presence there, looking at her with pale canine eyes.

‘She’s a friend, Merlin,’ Sam told the dog impatiently as he shifted the animal out of the way so that he could come into the kitchen as well, bringing a draught of cold air with him as he moved to warm his hands on the Aga. ‘I’m afraid that particular job is going to have to wait until the morning, when hopefully I’ll be able to see what I’m doing.’

‘The fog is worse, isn’t it?’ Crys said unnecessarily, hoping this gigantic dog understood the meaning of the word ‘friend’—although, in all truth, she hardly came into that category!

Sam’s grin was as wolfish as his dog’s growl had been earlier. ‘I wouldn’t even send Merlin out on a night like this!’

His meaning wasn’t lost on Crys and she shot him an impatient look. ‘In that case, I accept your kind offer of hospitality. For tonight, at least,’ she added quickly when Sam gave a grimace of satisfaction at her capitulation.

He nodded abruptly as he straightened. ‘At least you’ve chosen not to add foolhardy to your other more obvious…character traits,’ he drawled mockingly.

Faults, he meant, Crys easily realised. Maybe he should take a look at himself some time!

She drew in a sharp breath. ‘Perhaps if you could tell me where I’m to sleep? Then I can go and get my case from the car and indulge myself with a hot bath.’ Her shoulders and neck ached from the hours of driving, and with her recent loss of weight the cold seemed to have penetrated to her bones. ‘If that’s convenient, of course,’ she added belatedly; after all, just because this room was cosily warm and modern did not mean that upstairs there was the luxury of a bathroom and hot running water.

‘Of course,’ Sam echoed dryly. ‘I forgot to ask earlier—can you cook?’

Crys frowned. ‘I beg your pardon?’

‘I’m sure it hasn’t escaped your notice that I live alone here? I manage for myself the majority of the time—stews, things like that—but it can get slightly monotonous; Molly usually cooks for me when she comes to stay.’ He quirked expectant brows in Crys’s direction.

In other words, she was going to have to cook for her supper—and his, apparently!

‘Yes, Mr—Sam,’ she amended as he grimaced, ‘I can cook,’ she assured him dryly. ‘Did you have anything particular in mind?’ she added ruefully.

‘Molly’s speciality is stuffed rainbow trout for starters, followed by roast fillet of beef with all the trimmings,’ he came back instantly.

‘I see.’ Crys held back her smile with effort—after all, she really had little to smile about! ‘Do I take it you have the ingredients for that particular meal?’ Of course he did—he would hardly have mentioned it otherwise!

‘In the fridge,’ he confirmed unnecessarily.

As she had thought. Oh, well, perhaps cooking dinner was the least she could do in return for the comfort of having a roof over her head when the elements were so unwelcoming outside.

Except the elements inside—namely Molly’s brother Sam!—weren’t too welcoming either!

But cooking dinner might infuse some sort of normality into this otherwise strange situation.

‘If you’ve finished your coffee, I’ll take you upstairs.’ Sam threw his coat over one of the kitchen chairs before turning decisively towards the door.

In other words, she had finished her coffee. At least, as far as Sam was concerned.

She picked up her hat and scarf before following him out of the room, curious now to see the rest of the interior, sure that it was going to be—

Crys came to a halt in the spacious hallway; a huge oak table stood in its centre and the most magnificent oak staircase led to the wide gallery above. But it was the dome in the ceiling above them, and the long crystal chandelier that was suspended from it, that held her spellbound. Not just the gold filigree work in the dome itself, but also the telling artwork on one of the panels.

‘James…’ she breathed dazedly, unable to tear her gaze away from that telltale trademark.

‘What did you say?’ Sam asked impatiently, having come to a halt partway up the wide staircase as he realised she was no longer following him.

Crys blinked, frowning as she turned towards the sound of his voice, taking several seconds to return to reality.

She moistened dry lips. ‘I was—I—James Webber was your interior designer,’ she finally managed to murmur.

James had been here. Had worked in this house. He’d probably stood exactly where she was standing now as he’d critically appraised his own work.

Sam gave an acknowledging inclination of his head. ‘He was,’ he confirmed. ‘But how did you know that?’ he demanded.

For the second time today Crys was feeling slightly faint, knew also that her face had paled dramatically. But she didn’t dare pass out again in this man’s company; he would wonder what on earth he had been landed with if she did!

It was just the shock of seeing James’s work so suddenly—of knowing that he had been here, that perhaps he’d stood on this very spot…

‘When did he do this?’ She couldn’t stop herself asking. James had never mentioned visiting Molly’s brother in a castle in Yorkshire to her.

‘About three years ago now.’ Sam walked back down the six stairs he had already ascended, his gaze narrowed to green slits as he eyed her warily. ‘I asked how you knew it was Webber’s work?’ he demanded again as he came to stand in front of her.

Crys gave a poignant smile as she looked around her. ‘It’s very distinctive, don’t you think?’ she murmured wistfully. The hallway was decorated in a mixture of warm reds and golds, the carpet up the stairs was a glorious scarlet, and then there was that telltale dome, with its yellow artwork.

‘Very,’ Sam snapped. ‘But that doesn’t answer my question.’

Her gaze returned reluctantly to the grimness of Sam’s face, and she was jolted by the hard look of suspicion she could easily see there. ‘Don’t look so worried, Mr—Sam,’ she said softly. ‘You see the tiny yellow rose up in the dome? On the left side panel?’ She pointed it out as Sam looked up. ‘James always sneaked a yellow rose in somewhere. It was his trademark.’

‘Was?’ Sam echoed sharply.

‘He died,’ Crys said abruptly, swallowing hard, forcing herself to remain calm. After all, she was only stating what was an indisputable fact. ‘A year ago. He had cancer.’

A disease as insidious as the poison Sam had mentioned earlier. A disease that struck indiscriminately, both at the young and the old, the talented, the weak and the strong.

‘I didn’t know…’ Sam replied slowly. ‘Molly introduced him to me. He was a friend of hers from university days.’ He shook his head. ‘She didn’t mention that he had died.’

No, Molly probably wouldn’t have talked of James’s death. She had been almost as shocked as Crys when it had happened. And the two of them had never talked of it since, either…

‘I suppose that’s how you knew him too,’ Sam murmured thoughtfully. ‘Molly must have introduced the two of you,’ he elaborated at Crys’s puzzled expression.

Yes, Molly had introduced Crys and James to each other, eighteen months ago. An introduction that had been love at first sight for both of them.

But there was something Crys wasn’t revealing to Sam about James. Something that was still so painful there was no way she could tell this strange, reclusive man about it.

James Webber had been her husband…

CHAPTER FOUR

‘DO YOU have everything you need?’

Crys turned from placing the beef joint in the Aga, her eyes wide as she slowly straightened to look across the kitchen at Sam as he stood in the doorway. If she had thought his change of clothes earlier had made a vast difference to his disreputable appearance, then the shaving off of several days’ growth of beard had brought about a complete transformation. Underneath all that he was actually a very attractive man, she realised with an unpleasant jolt.

His face was tanned—probably from hours spent outside during the summer months—his eyes deeply green against the darkness of his skin. His nose was long and straight, he had a chiselled mouth, a lower lip that was sensuously full and his jaw was square and firm. The darkness of his hair showed it was still damp from the shower he had obviously just taken. The dark green shirt and black tailored trousers he wore were also an improvement on what he had been sporting earlier.

Crys was once again assailed with a feeling of familiarity—which was ridiculous; if she had ever met this man before she would have remembered it!

As if aware of at least part of the reason for her surprise, he ran a hand ruefully over the smoothness of his shaven chin. ‘I get a little lazy being here on my own so much,’ he acknowledged dryly. ‘Molly would have insisted I smarten myself up when she arrived,’ he added derisively.

Crys gave a smile. ‘That’s what younger sisters are for, I believe.’

Sam strode confidently into the kitchen. ‘Do you have any brothers or sisters?’ he asked interestedly.

Her smile instantly faded. ‘No,’ she answered quietly. ‘And, to answer your earlier question, yes, I have everything here that I need to make the meal.’

The bedroom Sam had shown her into a little over an hour ago, with its turquoise and cream décor, had proved as pleasing as the rest of the interior of the house. Although, given the misapprehension Sam had been under concerning the gender of the guest Molly was bringing with her, Crys had wisely not mentioned the fact that there was a double bed in the room!

The adjoining turquoise and cream bathroom had proved just as opulent once Sam had left her alone to unpack, and she had spent an hour in the sunken bath, just luxuriating in hot scented water.

That hour of unadulterated indulgence had gone a long way to settling her earlier agitation at having to stay here alone with Sam. Although she accepted that another reason for her feeling of calm was the fact she could now feel James’s presence in the house, knew that he had been here, that he had been the one to decorate the interior so lovingly. Albeit under Sam’s instructions.

‘Anything I can do?’ Sam offered now. ‘I feel a little guilty now at asking you to cook the meal,’ he admitted ruefully. ‘Spending so much time alone, my manners aren’t always what they should be, either,’ he acknowledged.

Crys looked at him consideringly, realising that this was as close to an apology for his earlier behaviour as she was likely to get. She had no doubts that it was probably only being made at all because she was a friend of his sister’s; despite his attempt to appear affable, Sam didn’t give the impression that he particularly cared what anyone thought of his manners, good or otherwise!

‘A glass of wine might be rather nice. White, to go with the trout, if that’s okay?’ She smiled, warm and comfortable in a pale blue jumper and blue denims that she’d changed into after her bath. ‘Did Molly tell you anything about me?’ she prompted as he moved to choose a bottle of wine from the wine cooler Crys had already found in one of the cupboards.

‘Obviously not,’ he replied as he opened the bottle. ‘Otherwise I wouldn’t have been expecting a man!’

‘Hmm,’ she murmured softly, accepting one of the two glasses of wine he had poured and sipping it appreciatively. He might be the most anti-social person she had ever met, but he certainly knew how to choose a good wine! ‘We were at school together—’

Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.