Will He Ask Her to be His Bride?: The Millionaire's Convenient Bride / The Millionaire's Proposal / Texas Ranger Takes a Bride

Hester was glad the covering darkness hid the rush of indignant colour in her face. ‘I would remind you that I was not expecting a stranger to appear in the garden when Lowri coaxed me to wear the bikini.’ Her chin lifted. ‘Don’t worry, it won’t happen again!’

‘Pity. That green colour looks spectacular against your tan. No wonder Luigi couldn’t take his eyes off you. But you won’t have any trouble from him,’ Connah added with satisfaction. ‘He knows the rules.’

‘Which are?’ she demanded.

‘No mention was made of your official role in the household so now, naturally, he thinks the role is more personal—’

‘Than the one I’m paid for,’ she said stonily.

‘Are you saying you’d have welcomed Luigi’s attentions?’

She glared at him. ‘Certainly not. He’s a total stranger, also married. You mentioned his wife, remember.’

‘Mainly because he’d rather forget he has one,’ said Connah, shrugging. ‘Luigi possesses a meaningless title but a very old name and impeccable lineage. Sophia inherited a pile of money from her wheeler-dealer Papa. She wanted Luigi’s aristocratic pedigree and he needed her cash, which just about sums up the relationship, according to Jay Anderson. Since the birth of their son, they lead separate lives.’

‘How sad.’

He shot her a look. ‘You, I assume, would only marry for love.’

Hester was silenced for a moment. ‘The subject has never really come up,’ she said at last, ‘but if it did, respect and rapport would be my priorities. Loving someone to desperation is not for me.’

‘But you were willing to spend a holiday in the South of France with the actor.’

Hester nodded serenely. ‘The offer was too tempting to turn down.’

‘Then I gave you the chance of one in Tuscany instead. And there was no backing out of this one at the last minute,’ he added.

‘But that’s different,’ she protested.

‘Why?’

‘It’s my job. I’m very grateful you asked me to come here with you and Lowri, of course, but you’re paying me to work for you wherever we are.’

‘A very cold-blooded way to look at it,’ he said morosely and shot her a look she didn’t care for. ‘If the trip to France had come off, would you have shared bed as well as board with your Romeo?’

Hester stood up and put the cups on the coffee tray. ‘The fact that I work for you, Mr Carey Jones, doesn’t give you the right to ask personal questions.’

‘I disagree. The moral welfare of my daughter gives me every right,’ he retorted, getting to his feet.

‘I was not looking after your daughter at the time,’ she reminded him, dangerously quiet. ‘Not counting breaks at home, the only holiday I’ve had in years was a package trip to Spain with school friends in my teens. Once I started work, I went straight from my first job to the Herricks. And looking after babies means constant responsibility, long, irregular hours and a lot of broken sleep. So yes. I was human enough to accept the offer of a free holiday in the sun before starting work in Yorkshire.’

‘A long speech, but you still haven’t answered my question, Hester.’

She gave him a haughty look. ‘I don’t intend to. Goodnight.’ She picked up the tray and took it into the kitchen to wash up and with supreme effort did so quietly, instead of bashing dishes about in a rage.

‘I apologise, Hester,’ said Connah, coming up behind her so quietly that she almost dropped the cup she was drying.

‘You startled me,’ she said tightly.

‘Come out again and have a glass of wine. It’s too early to go to bed.’

‘No, thank you.’

Connah looked down at her, his hard eyes wry. ‘I’ve obviously offended you past all forgiveness.’

‘I work for you,’ she said shortly. ‘I can’t afford to be offended.’

‘Dammit, Hester, that’s hitting below the belt! I know damn well I have no right to probe into your private life.’ He took the cup from her and put it on the tray, then fetched a bottle of wine from the refrigerator and gave her a smile she tried hard to resist. ‘It’s a pity to go to bed so early on a night like this. Can you honestly say you’ll sleep if you do?’

‘I’ll read.’

‘You can do that later. Come out and talk for a while.’

Because Hester had no real desire to go to bed, she swallowed her pride, went back outside and even accepted the glass of wine Connah poured for her.

‘So what do you want in Greve tomorrow?’ he asked.

‘Postcards, some food for supper. Real local fare from small grocery shops rather than a supermarket,’ she added.

‘Whatever you want, as long as it doesn’t involve cooking. I meant what I said. This must be a holiday for you before you go on to your next job. Particularly in the light of our recent discussion,’ he added dryly. ‘Will you enjoy looking after a newborn baby?’

Hester shrugged, resigned. ‘I’ve done it before in my last post, twins at that. But, much as I love babies, it’s a lot easier to look after someone like Lowri. And not just because she dresses and feeds herself,’ she added with a chuckle. ‘She’s such fun and good company. And she sleeps all night!’

Connah laughed. ‘Ah, yes, the broken nights. That’s one part you can’t be looking forward to.’

‘I won’t be doing it alone. Sarah Rutherford intends to feed the baby herself if she can, but I’ll be on hand to see to the rest. At least there’s just one to look after this time.’

‘I don’t know how you do it,’ he said, grimacing. ‘I wasn’t around much when Lowri was at that stage. My mother and Alice bore the brunt of it.’

Because he’d had to cope with his wife’s death, thought Hester with compassion, then eyed him quizzically when he gave a sudden chuckle.

‘Talking of Alice, I wonder how Mal and Owen will cope when the baby arrives.’

‘With someone of Alice’s experience, perfectly well, I imagine. By the way, Lowri told me that Alice isn’t at all like me.’

He let out a bark of laughter. ‘God, no. Nice, sweet creature though she is, I wouldn’t be sitting here with her like this.’

‘Why not?’

‘She’s very nervous around me, for a start. In the unlikely event that I asked her to sit and chat over a glass of wine, she’d run a mile.’ He shot a look at Hester. ‘Alice is a sweet, ordinary young woman from the village near Bryn Derwen and I’ll always be grateful to her because she came to us at a time when we needed her so desperately. I will never forget that. But she’s very different from you, Hester.’

‘In what way?’

‘You’re good looking, well read, and your qualifications are impeccable. Alice has no professional qualifications, other than willingness to work and her unbounded love of children.’

‘Then I salute her, because Lowri is a credit to her—and to your mother, of course,’ said Hester, and looked across at Connah. ‘And last, but very definitely not least, to you—the most important person in her life.’

‘I know,’ he said soberly. ‘And it’s a huge responsibility.’ He got up to refill her glass, but she shook her head.

‘No more, thanks.’

Connah sat down again, looking out over the starlit garden. ‘A pity we can’t do this by the pool.’

‘It’s too far away from the house—and Lowri.’

‘Exactly. I’ve been thinking about you a lot lately,’ he added, startling her. ‘I’ve tried hard to remember you as you were when I first saw you all those years ago. But all I can bring to mind is a teenager with long blonde curls and huge eyes.’

‘The curls were courtesy of a perm and the eyes looked huge because I was into heavy-duty eye make-up at the time.’ She laughed. ‘I was also rather chubby, but you’ve been kind enough to gloss over that.’

‘From the fleeting glimpse I had of you by the pool this afternoon, it’s not a word that applies any more.’ He raised an eyebrow. ‘As a matter of interest, would you have stayed in the bikini if I’d been there alone with you and Lowri?’

‘Yes,’ she said honestly. ‘Lowri pleaded so I wore it.’

‘Then wear it again, when we’re safe from intruders.’

‘I don’t think so.’

‘You mean it’s not approved nanny wear?’

She nodded. ‘Or housekeeper wear.’

He chuckled. ‘A bit different from the archetypal Mrs Danvers.’ ‘So you’ve read Rebecca too.’

‘Afraid not—I saw the film. It’s one of the few films I’ve ever seen. I’m not a movie buff.’

Hester eyed him in surprise. ‘You must have watched one of Lowri’s DVDs with her?’

‘No. I keep to chess,’ Connah admitted.

‘A suitable film is another good way to keep her company while she spends a quiet hour out of the sun. Try watching one with her some time. She’d love it.’

‘Yes, Nanny.’

Hester chuckled. ‘Sorry.’

Connah shook his head. ‘Don’t be. I’ll take all the advice I can get. Pity the single male parent of a girl child.’

‘Speaking professionally, I think you make an excellent job of it.’

‘Thank you. But it’s going to get harder as she gets older.’ He sighed deeply. ‘And my mother’s convalescence is much slower than I’d hoped. It’s going to be some time before she’s in any kind of shape to look after an energetic child like Lowri.’ He shot a look at her. ‘I know the original agreement was six weeks, but if you’re not due in Yorkshire until October, Hester, would you consider staying on with us for an extra week or two to get Lowri ready to go back to school?’

‘Yes, of course,’ she said without hesitation. ‘If it helps you out, I’ll be happy to.’ More happy than he knew.

Connah smiled at her in relief. ‘Thank you, Hester. That should take us up to the middle of September when Lowri starts back. Can you do that?’

‘Yes. The Rutherford baby isn’t due until mid-October. I promised to start there two weeks beforehand, to help Mrs Rutherford get ready for the big day, so it works in quite well and still gives me time to spend with my mother and Robert first.’

‘That’s a great load off my mind,’ he said, smiling at her. ‘But that’s a long way off, so until then let’s enjoy our summer in sunny Italy. I’ve never indulged in so much leisure time, so I might as well make the most of it.’

‘Everyone needs to unwind now and then.’ Hester got up. ‘Time I went to bed.’

Connah rose immediately and put a hand on hers. ‘Hester, forgive me for my transgression earlier.’

‘Of course,’ she said lightly, and smiled at him. ‘Goodnight.’

The trip to Greve was a huge success. The sun-drenched piazza had originally been square, Connah informed them, but over time buildings with porticos and loggias had encroached on it until now it was a triangle pointing to the church of Santa Croce.

‘The church has paintings of the school of Fra Angelico,’ he added, then grinned as his daughter made a face. ‘All right, don’t panic. We’ll just look round the shops and buy some postcards since it’s your first day in town. Then we’ll have some lunch and when Greve wakes up again afterwards we’ll buy food for supper.’

For Hester it was hard to remember that this was part of a job she was being paid for as she strolled through the sunlit town with Connah and Lowri. Never in her wildest dreams of the mysterious Mr Jones when she was young had she imagined a scenario like the one being played out right now. She could almost believe …

‘Penny for them,’ murmured Connah as Lowri went through every postcard on display before making her choice.

‘They’re worth far more than that!’ Hester assured him.

Lunch was eaten in a restaurant with stone arches and terracotta floors, and best of all to Lowri, a vine-covered pergola with a panoramic view of the sunlit countryside of Chianti.

‘Can we eat outside, Daddy?’ she asked eagerly.

‘Of course, cariad.’ He turned to Hester. ‘Unless you’re too hot and would prefer to eat indoors?’

‘No, indeed. I’ll take all the sun and fresh air I can get.’

Connah had eaten at the restaurant before and, on his recommendation, they all chose light-as-air gnocchi with a sage and butter sauce as a first course, followed by pork roasted with rosemary and served with porcini mushrooms.

‘They’re just like little pillows,’ said Lowri in delight as she tasted the gnocchi … Hester smiled at her lovingly, then flushed when she saw Connah watching her and applied herself to her own meal.

Full of good food, they lingered afterwards in the pergola, the waiters only too pleased to supply them with as much mineral water and coffee as they wanted.

‘They take food very seriously here,’ said Hester lazily, ‘yet they seem quite happy for us to linger as long as we like. There’s no rushing to clear away so that someone else can take our place.’

‘Not their style at all. Besides, they have enough tables to make that unnecessary,’ said Connah, and took his drowsy daughter on his lap. ‘Sit quietly for a while, cariad, before we make for the shops again. They won’t be open for a while, anyway.’

Lowri yawned widely. ‘OK.’ She snuggled her head into his shoulder and her father smoothed the length of silky hair with a stroking hand as she dozed off.

‘I rang my mother last night,’ said Hester quietly after a peaceful interval. ‘She sent her regards.’

‘Return the compliment when you speak to her again.’ Connah looked at her across the shining dark head on his shoulder. ‘Did your mother ever talk about my companion?’

‘Only to say that she was ill. Mother was only too happy for you to stay until the lady was well enough to leave.’

‘To my immense gratitude.’ His eyes turned towards the sunlit view of vine-covered hillsides. ‘I went back to your house a few years later to see your mother, but she was no longer there, of course. And the new owners very rightly felt they weren’t at liberty to give me her address.’

‘Is that why you came to fetch me the other night? To meet Mother again?’

‘Partly.’ The dark, intent eyes turned back to hers as though he was about to explain further, but Lowri stirred and sat up, yawning.

‘I’m just like a baby, having naps all the time,’ she complained.

‘This one was very short,’ her father said, kissing her nose. ‘You go off with Hester to wash your face, then we’ll wander round the town again—maybe we’ll even force you to explore the church if the shops aren’t open yet.’

Lowri slid off his lap at once as Hester got up. ‘Do you like churches, Hester?’ she asked, sighing.

‘I’d like to look round this one. Then we can both write about it on our postcards.’

After a leisurely stroll back to the Santa Croce to admire its neo-classical façade, they went inside to look at the paintings. But Lowri grew restive in the dark interior and they soon went outside again into the sunlight, discussing what food to buy in one of the alimentares, the various grocery stores beginning to reopen after their long lunch break.

‘We’ll definitely get your local fare in one of these, Hester,’ said Connah. ‘We might as well stock up while we’re here.’

Lowri was consulted on every purchase as they bought a great bag of tomatoes, another of peaches, crusty Tuscan bread, ricotta cheese and glossy green spinach.

‘Though I’ll leave Flavia to deal with the last two,’ said Hester, smiling. ‘Perhaps she’ll make ravioli for us tomorrow.’

‘I’ll ask her,’ said Lowri promptly. ‘She likes me.’

‘Does she really?’ teased Connah. ‘Now it’s my turn to choose. I want some of those fennel flavoured sausages, and salami, and thin slices of roast turkey breast and ham, and more pecorino cheese. What about you, Hester?’

‘Mozzarella and fresh basil, anchovies and olives, and some of those gorgeous baby lettuces, please.’

‘Anything else? Speak now while I’m in a good mood, and willing to carry all this stuff to the car.’

‘I’ll help,’ said Lowri promptly.

‘I was only teasing, cariad. I’m happy to carry anything Hester wants.’ Connah grinned. ‘After all, she’s going to make supper for us tonight.’

It was the kind of day, thought Hester, as they drove back to the Casa Girasole, that she would keep in her mind like a snapshot to look back at and sigh over during a cold Yorkshire winter. But the day wasn’t over yet, she consoled herself, and once they were back at the house she sent Lowri off to have a swim with her father while she put the food away.

‘If we all help with that, you can swim too,’ said Connah, but Hester shook her head.

‘That’s my job. Besides, I have more idea where everything goes. Then I’ll have a shower and start getting supper ready.’

‘Can I help?’ said Lowri eagerly.

‘Of course,’ said Hester.

‘No cooking,’ Connah reminded her.

‘My choices were made with that in mind!’

Lowri’s swim with her father was surprisingly brief.

‘It wasn’t the same for her without you,’ said Connah as his daughter ran upstairs to shower. He rubbed at his hair with the sleeve of his towelling robe, his smile wry. ‘I begin to see what you mean. Tomorrow morning I’ll walk into the village with her while you do anything you want.’

‘Laundry,’ said Hester promptly.

He laughed. ‘I was thinking more of a book by the pool with a long drink.’

‘I can do that later, when you come back.’

Connah looked back at her as he made for the stairs. ‘Did you enjoy the day, Hester?’

‘Enormously.’ She smiled cheerfully. ‘Once Lowri comes down I’ll get supper ready. Though after lunch I couldn’t imagine wanting to eat another thing today.’

‘Well, I can, easily, so be generous.’ He paused. ‘Not that I need to say that, Hester. Generosity comes naturally to you.’ His dark eyes held hers. ‘It was a lucky day for me when you came back into my life.’

Hester flushed, deprived of speech for a moment. He held the look a moment longer, then smiled and carried on up the stairs. Hester pulled herself together and went up to check on Lowri’s progress and found her wrapped in her robe, gazing out of her window at the view. She turned with a sigh.

‘I wish Mr Anderson would sell this house to Daddy. I just love it here. I’m sure Grandma would love it too.’ She frowned. ‘But she doesn’t like flying—perhaps Daddy could bring her here by train if we have another holiday here.’

‘In the meantime,’ said Hester practically, ‘let’s get that hair dry so you can dress and help me put supper on.’

One of the many attractions about the holiday for Hester was the lack of hurry about everything. There was no rush to make supper and if Lowri went to bed later than usual it didn’t matter in the slightest, because next morning she could sleep until she woke naturally.

‘I thought we’d have bruschetta first,’ said Hester, when a very clean and shining Lowri reported for duty. ‘That’s thick slices of the bread we bought, with a sprinkling of olive oil and some of those gorgeous tomatoes chopped and topped with basil, anchovies and olives.’

‘I’ve never had anchovies,’ said Lowri, inspecting them. ‘They’re all furry. How can you have furry fish?’

‘Magic. But you can have yours without, if you like.’

‘Does Daddy like them?’

‘I don’t know. So we’ll just go as far as the tomatoes and basil, and put the olives and anchovies in little pots to add as required.’

‘I’ll do that, then,’ said Lowri promptly. ‘What else are we having?’

‘Turkey, ham and salami. I’ll whip some lemon juice and this wonderful olive oil together for a dressing for the lettuces, and you can get the cheese out.’

Connah crossed the hall later and paused in the kitchen doorway, unnoticed for a moment as he watched Hester and Lowri working together, the gleaming fair head bent to the shiny dark one. Then Hester looked up and smiled and the idea that had germinated in Albany Square, and had been growing in strength ever since, crystallized into certainty.

‘It’s a hive of activity in here,’ he commented, smiling, and Lowri whirled round to beam at him.

‘Supper’s almost ready, Daddy.’

CHAPTER NINE

AFTER their trip to Greve, all three of them were content to stay at the house the next day. After a leisurely breakfast Connah went indoors to contact John Austin, but Lowri was perfectly happy to take her morning swim with only Hester for company. They played a splashing, noisy game with a ball, with rules that Lowri made up with screams of laughter as she went along until Hester called time at last. While they were towelling themselves dry on the edge of the pool, Lowri stiffened and nudged Hester. ‘Look!’

A boy stood watching them from the area where the woods of Martinelli territory edged the grounds of Casa Girasole.

Hester pulled her towelling robe on quickly, wondering if she should call Connah, then heard someone in the distance shouting ‘Andrea!’ and Luigi Martinelli came racing through the trees with a younger man close behind. He clasped the boy in passionate relief but the boy pushed him away, embarrassed, and spoke urgently to him. Luigi spun round, saw they were being watched, then dismissed the young man with him and brought the boy towards the pool.

‘I am intruder again,’ he apologised breathlessly as he drew near. ‘Buon giorno, Miss Hester, Miss Lowri, allow me to present my son, Andrea, who has been missing long enough to cause much anxiety. He heard sounds of laughter from your pool and came to investigate.’

‘Piacere,’ said the boy, with a bow that won him a stare from Lowri.

‘Hello, Andrea,’ said Hester, smiling. ‘You like swimming?’

‘Very much, signora, but we have no pool at the Castello,’ he said in English more heavily accented than his father’s. He turned to an unusually silent Lowri. ‘You like to swim?’

She nodded briefly and looked up uncertainly at Hester, who smiled at her reassuringly.

‘Why not run and tell Daddy that the Count is here with his son?’

‘OK.’ Lowri took another look at the boy, then went running up the garden to the house.

‘We have interrupted your swim,’ apologised Luigi, watching with a wry smile as Connah emerged from the house and strode towards them. ‘Buon giorno. I regret that you have not one but two trespassers today.’

‘Good morning.’ Connah put his arm round Hester as he smiled at the boy making every nerve in her body tingle in response. ‘Hello, there. I’m Connah Carey Jones.’

The slim, dark boy bowed again. ‘Andrea Martinelli. Where is the girl, signore?’

‘My daughter’s getting dressed.’ Connah smiled down into Hester’s face. ‘Would you like to do the same, darling? Ask Flavia to bring some coffee to the loggia.’

‘Of course.’ Hester excused herself and went up the garden into the house, to find that Flavia was already in a fever of activity to provide Il Conte and his son with refreshments.

‘Poverino,’ she said as she laid the tray.

With no hope of understanding the answer if she asked why Flavia pitied the boy, Hester went upstairs to change and found Lowri at her window, pulling on shorts and T-shirt as she cast a wary eye at the visitors.

‘Are they staying?’ she demanded.

‘Only for coffee. I’ll just throw some clothes on, then we’ll go down and show off our exceedingly good manners.’ Hester grinned and, after a moment, Lowri grinned back reluctantly.

‘OK! I’ll wait for you.’

Hester tied up her damp hair with a ribbon and pulled on white linen trousers and blue shirt, hoping that next time she met the Count, if there was a next time, she would be fully dressed from the start. ‘Ready?’ she asked as she looked into Lowri’s room.

‘I suppose so. Why has that boy got a girl’s name?’

‘It’s not a girl’s name here. It’s Italian for Andrew.’

‘I hope he doesn’t stay long.’

‘I thought he looked lonely, standing there by himself. Perhaps he just wants some company.’

Lowri heaved a sigh and followed Hester downstairs. ‘He’s got a funny accent,’ she commented.

The atmosphere on the loggia was much more cordial than on the previous occasion, Hester noted as she sat down to pour coffee.

‘Luigi says that young Andrea heard you playing in the pool and couldn’t resist coming to have a look,’ said Connah, pulling his chair close to Hester’s.