A Spanish Engagement (5 page)

‘Yes, but the funny thing is that as soon as they have gone and peace reigns supreme, you find yourself thinking
it’s too quiet.’ She smiled. ‘Strange thing is that I used to think I enjoyed my solitary life…pleasing myself…going out when I wanted. But I wouldn’t change what I’ve got with Molly for all the treasures in the world.’

Max smiled. ‘Well, hopefully you won’t have to.’

‘No…hopefully.’ Carrie fell silent as she helped herself to some paella made with tiger prawns and smoked fish.

Max lifted the wine bottle. ‘Would you like another glass?’ he offered politely.

She shook her head. ‘No, I have to drive back, plus I need my wits about me when dealing with Molly’s grandmother. Carmel is quite a formidable character.’

‘Yes, I suppose we both need to keep a clear head, Carrie. Seeing as I’m going back to the hospital to try persuade my father to forget about the business and that I have it all in hand.’

‘He doesn’t want to let go of the reins, I take it?’ Carrie asked.

‘Well, it’s a similar situation to yours with Molly’s grandmother. If I told him I was settling down and getting married he’d feel a lot happier leaving things in my hands. But as it is he thinks I jet off too much with my job and that the vineyard needs more full-time attention.’

‘And does it need full-time attention?’

‘At the moment I’m afraid it does…with my father’s health being bad things have slipped a bit recently. Plus we have an added predicament that Manuel is leaving to set up his own business. He has been the cornerstone of the Santos vineyard for a long time and I think he feels bad that he is leaving now when my father is so ill, especially as he is part of the family. But he has been offered a wonderful opportunity and I’ve told him he should take it.’

‘So who will take over the running of the vineyard here?’

‘Well, if I know my father, he is going to insist on going back to work as soon as he can,’ Max said, his voice grave. ‘I’d suggest getting in another manager, but I can’t see him being happy with that. Unfortunately he is a stubborn traditionalist and he’s not going to be happy retiring until I take over full time. Preferably with a wife at my side.’

‘I’m surprised you aren’t married,’ she said nonchalantly. ‘You seem very good with children.’

‘Hey, don’t you start.’ He grinned. ‘I have enough of those kind of statements from my parents. But for the record I very nearly did tie the knot a few years ago. What about you?’ he asked suddenly.

‘I was married when I was in my early twenties but it was a mistake; we were divorced three years later.’ Carrie’s lips twisted wryly.

Watching her closely, Max wondered if that accounted for that wariness he saw in her deep blue eyes on occasions. ‘And you’ve never considered taking the plunge again?’

Carrie shook her head. ‘That’s too much of a lottery for my tastes. I like my life exactly the way it is. It’s orderly and uncomplicated and I feel as if I’m in control, which makes me happy…’ She trailed off, wondering why she had just told him that. It was far too personal.

‘So, apart from Molly, you are a true career girl.’

‘Yes, I suppose I am.’

‘I can relate to that,’ Max answered with slow deliberation. ‘Like you, I enjoy being in control of my own destiny. That’s why I decided to carve out my own business instead of staying here in the family firm. Obviously my father wasn’t too happy about my decision at the time, but I think he realises now that it was something I just needed to do to prove I could be successful in my own right.’

‘And what will you do now that the vineyard is in crisis?’ she asked curiously. ‘Will you give your work up and take over the reins full time here?’

‘Yes. If my father refuses to retire I will. Ultimately this vineyard is my home, the place I was born to be. That sense of belonging is a very strong pull.’

Something about the way he said that struck a chord inside Carrie. She had never had that sense of belonging. Her mother had died when she was seven and she had been sent to live with her father and stepmother. She had never felt she belonged in her father’s new life. The only good thing that had come out of it had been her half-brother Tony…and his daughter Molly.

Swiftly she tried to focus away from Tony before her grief started to encroach. There was no use looking back; the future and Molly were all that mattered. And she was going to have to go back and face Molly’s grandmother with determination, tell her the truth: that there was no man in her life but that she was self-sufficient and more than capable of giving Molly a good home.

The housekeeper came back in to ask if they had any further requirements.

Carrie straightened her cutlery on the plate. ‘No, that was absolutely delicious, thank you very much,’ she said.

Carrie glanced at her watch as the dishes were removed from the table and was surprised to find she had been here over three hours. ‘Heavens, I’d better make a move,’ she said swiftly. ‘I didn’t realise it was so late.’ She reached for her case and brought out a copy of the advertising contract. ‘I’ll leave this for you to look over, Max,’ she said. ‘If you are happy with the contents you could sign it and post it back to me tomorrow.’

Max didn’t reply immediately. ‘Perhaps I could return it in person tomorrow evening? It’s Saturday night—we could have dinner together.’

The softly asked question sent shivers of awareness through her. ‘That’s not really necessary, Max,’ she said swiftly.

‘Maybe not necessary, but pleasurable,’ he murmured confidently.

Was he flirting with her? she wondered suddenly, alarm bells ringing. Here was a man used to women agreeing with his every word, but that wasn’t her style…and this was business. ‘If you would like to come into the office on Monday morning to discuss any changes you’d like to make, then that’s fine,’ she said quickly. ‘But I’m busy tomorrow night.’

Max accepted her reply with nonchalant indifference. ‘I’ll phone you on Monday and we will arrange something then. How’s that?’

‘Yes…’ Carrie pushed her chair back from the table. ‘Yes, that’s fine.’

Max watched as she opened her bag and took out a business card. ‘My office number,’ she said swiftly, handing it across to him. ‘Remember nothing is set in stone—we can change things to suit your requirements.’

‘Good, I like a bit of flexibility.’ He grinned at her and it made her heart skip in a crazy way inside her chest.

‘Right, well, I should go now. She felt it imperative to get out of here fast, before she found herself agreeing to have dinner with him. It would be so easy just to say yes. Business and pleasure don’t mix, she told herself again firmly.

‘So I’ll speak to you on Monday,’ she said briskly as they stepped outside into the sunshine.

‘You will indeed.’ She wondered if it was her imagination, or was his tone huskily deep with an undertone of promise?

To counteract the feeling she tried to be even more businesslike. ‘Thank you for your time.’ As they reached
her car she turned and held out her hand to end the meeting in a formal way.

But as he reached to shake her hand there was nothing conventional about the feelings that suddenly raced through her body. The touch of his skin against hers was electric.

Hurriedly she pulled away from him and got into her car; her heart was bouncing against her ribs. The last man who’d had this effect on her was her ex-husband. The lessons learnt there were too strong to ignore. Max Santos had to be strictly kept at arm’s length, she told herself fiercely as she turned the key in the engine.

‘Bye, now.’ She gave him a half-wave as the car moved forward.

He smiled. ‘Until next week.’

As Max stood and watched her drive away he wondered whom she was seeing tomorrow night for dinner. Was it business or pleasure? He found himself hoping it was the former…he wanted to see much more of Carrie Michaels. He sensed a challenge there and that interested him greatly.

M
OLLY
had got hold of Carrie’s lipstick and trailed it everywhere; red was smeared over her cute heart-shaped face and over her sweet cupid lips in a swirling sea of colour.

‘Hey, you, what have you been doing?’ Carrie asked playfully as she emerged from her
en suite
bathroom and saw the little girl sitting at the dressing table going through her make-up bag.

Molly chuckled happily and dived back into the bag to take out some blusher, putting it on her cheeks in big dabs that made her look like a clown.

‘I know we are going out for lunch, and you want to look good for Grandma and Grandpa, but I don’t think they will appreciate the make-up, darling,’ Carrie said, taking the brush away from the little girl.

She picked the child up and brought her into the bathroom to shower her. Molly giggled with pleasure as Carrie teased her and tickled her. It was amazing how a child could lift your spirits, Carrie thought. She was dreading this meeting with Carmel and her husband because she was going to have to own up to the fact that she was on her own, that there was no wonderful fiancé. She had been trying to gather up the courage to tell Carmel this since coming back from the Santos vineyard yesterday, but the truth kept sticking in Carrie’s throat. Maybe with Molly’s grandfather there it would be easier, she told herself now. Because the whole thing was ridiculous; she was more
than capable of giving her niece a good home life all on her own.

Taking Molly out of the shower, she brought her back to the bedroom. ‘What shall we wear for lunch with Grandma?’ she asked the little girl as she opened the wardrobe and raked through the contents. ‘How about your pink dress?’ She took the garment out and examined it carefully. It was an outfit she had bought for Molly when she had been on a business trip to the Paris office a few months before Tony had died; she remembered ringing him from the store and asking his opinion about the size.

‘Get the bigger size,’ he had said immediately. ‘She’s growing up so fast, it’s quite scary. I’ll be walking her down the aisle before we know it.’

The memory made Carrie’s eyes blur with sudden tears. Hurriedly she blinked them back. She needed to be in complete control this afternoon; there was no time for grief.

Towel-drying Molly’s black curls, she then sat her at the dressing table and brushed them neatly into place before pulling the pink dress over her head. The effect was perfect; she looked like a little princess, her hair shining and her large eyes dominating the small face.

‘Can I take Mojo with me?’ Molly asked, picking up the white rag dog that she liked to take everywhere she went.

‘Of course you can,’ Carrie said quickly.

‘Will Daddy be at the hotel?’ the little girl asked suddenly.

The question made Carrie’s heart catch. She had tried to explain to Molly about her father’s death, and the little girl had seemed to understand, but every now and then she still asked for him. How did you explain to a child
who was only just four that Daddy was never coming back? Carrie wondered, drawing the child up and into her arms and holding her tight. ‘No, darling, do you remember what I told you about Daddy?’

Molly pulled away from her and nodded. ‘He’s in heaven,’ she said solemnly.

‘But he still loves you very much and so do Grandma and Grandpa, and they are looking forward to seeing you. Grandpa just flew in from Australia on a big plane last night. He’s going to tell you all about it. Isn’t that exciting?’

Molly nodded and then wriggled to get down out of her arms. ‘Can I have ice cream at the hotel?’

‘You can have anything you want, darling,’ Carrie said softly. The clock in the hall struck twelve and it made Carrie hurry to select her own outfit from the wardrobe. She had thirty minutes to gather herself together and work out what was best to tell Carmel.

Carrie selected a cream trouser suit and a silk camisole for underneath, and then, pinning her hair back from her face, she lightly applied some make-up.

The effect was understated and elegant. She looked confident…even if she didn’t feel it, she thought wryly.

Exactly on time Carrie’s taxi pulled up outside the Grand Hotel, which stood on one of Barcelona’s main thoroughfares. The entrance was extremely imposing and a doorman in red and white livery came and opened the door of her taxi for her. She took Molly’s hand and they went in through the swing doors. It was cool inside, a welcome relief from the humid heat of the day.

Carrie had been here a few times in the past, usually on business lunches to seal important deals, yet never had she felt as nervous as she did today. She walked across the marble entrance hall to the long reception desk and
was just about to ask for someone to ring upstairs to Carmel’s room when she spotted a familiar figure coming in the other direction across the foyer.

Her heart started its familiar speed-racing as she saw it was Max Santos. He looked fabulously attractive in a lightweight grey suit that seemed to give him that air of distinguished authority that made Carrie go weak inside.

He caught sight of her at the same time and smiled warmly. ‘Hello, Carrie, this is a surprise.’

‘Yes, isn’t it?’ she said faintly. The last thing she needed was Max lurking around at the same time as Molly’s grandparents. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘I’ve been meeting with my accountant over coffee.’ Max’s eyes moved from Carrie to her niece. ‘Hello, Molly, it’s nice to see you.’

Molly gave him a wide smile and seemed to be quite taken with Max’s friendly demeanour. ‘I’m going to have ice cream for my lunch,’ she told him happily, scuffing her shiny black shoes against the marble floor as she spoke.

‘They do some wonderful ice cream here,’ Max said seriously. ‘Try the raspberry sorbet…it’s great.’

Molly nodded and then held out the rag dog in her hands. ‘This is Mojo,’ she told Max. ‘He likes ice cream too.’

‘Pleased to meet you, Mojo,’ Max said, reaching out to shake the dog’s paw. ‘I’m Max.’

Carrie found herself smiling at this exchange, for a moment her nerves forgotten.

‘I take it you are here to meet Molly’s grandparents?’ Max asked as he transferred his attention back towards her.

‘Yes, they are staying here and they’ve asked us to have lunch with them.’

Max nodded. ‘I’m glad I bumped into you. I have a few details about that contract that I’d like to clear with you.’

‘Well, we will have to discuss them on Monday, Max, I’m rather busy.’ Over his shoulder she suddenly saw Molly’s grandparents coming down the long, sweeping staircase.

‘How about dinner tomorrow?’ Max asked her resolutely. ‘I’m going to be very busy on Monday.’

‘Well, perhaps Tuesday morning at the office, then.’ As desperate as she was to get rid of Max she didn’t want to tie herself down to an evening appointment—not with Molly’s grandparents on the scene. She wanted to prove to them that she had plenty of time for their granddaughter, not that she had to meet business clients at all hours.

‘This is important, Carrie,’ Max said with a firm determination. ‘I want to get this advertising contract up and running as soon as possible.’

‘Well, I tell you what, ring me tomorrow and we’ll organise something. You’ll find my mobile number on my business card.’ Carrie was desperate to get away from him now; Carmel had reached the bottom of the stairs and had seen them.

‘Goodbye, Max.’ Fixing a smile on her face, she tried to bypass him and head Carmel off before she noticed to whom she was speaking.

‘Look, Molly, darling, here are Grandma and Grandpa,’ Carrie said, reaching to take hold of Molly’s hand to lead her away. Molly glanced across and then to Carrie’s surprise she pulled her hand abruptly away from her. ‘I want to go home,’ she cried suddenly. ‘I want to go home now.’

‘But we are going to have ice cream and a lovely time,’ Carrie said gently. ‘Come on, Molly.’ Before Carrie could take hold of her hand again, the child moved speedily
away from her and started running across the foyer towards the front door. At the same time a waiter was coming through the dining-room doors with a tray of glasses. The two collided with a bump and two glasses tipped over onto the tiled floor with a resounding crash.

There was a moment’s silence as everyone passing through the busy foyer looked around to see what the commotion was. Hurriedly Carrie moved to take charge.

‘Are you all right, darling?’ She bent to check that no shards of glass had harmed the little girl and at the same time glanced up at the waiter to apologise profusely.

‘It’s okay, no problem,’ the waiter assured her. ‘I’ll just get someone to clear this glass.’

‘You are all right now, Molly,’ Carrie soothed reassuringly to the child who looked scared now by what had happened.

‘Want to go home,’ she wailed.

‘You’re fine, darling, there is no harm done, and there are no cuts or bruises,’ Carrie assured her gently.

‘Want to go home.’ Molly’s voice was louder and her bottom lip wobbled precariously.

Carmel and her husband Bob came to stand beside them. ‘Really, Carrie, what were you thinking of, allowing Molly to run wild like that?’ Carmel asked in a shocked tone. Her face was red with anxiety and her husband, a tall, thin man with horn-rimmed spectacles, looked equally perturbed.

Molly started to cry. ‘Behave yourself, Molly,’ Carmel said firmly. ‘This is no way to behave.’

‘She’s fine, Carmel.’ Carrie sought to soothe the situation in a gentle tone. ‘Aren’t you, darling? You just got a bit scared and shy for a minute. That was it, wasn’t it?’

Molly just continued to cry.

‘It’s okay, darling,’ Carrie hushed her. ‘Everything is
okay. This is your grandma—remember, from yesterday? And Grandpa who has come all the way from Australia. They want to say hello and sit and talk with you.’

‘Don’t want to…want to go home,’ Molly said again, burying her head against Carrie’s shoulder.

‘Have you put these ideas into her head?’ Carmel asked Carrie sharply. ‘Bob, say something,’ she instructed her husband.

‘Come on, young lady.’ Bob’s voice held a strict authoritarian tone and he held out his hand towards the child. ‘That’s quite enough of this.’

Molly refused to let go of Carrie’s neck, refused to even look around. She was shaking.

They were all taken by surprise as Max stepped in and crouched down beside Carrie. ‘This is a lot of fuss about nothing, isn’t it?’ he said soothingly and reached out to ruffle the top of Molly’s curls. ‘Look who you have forgotten, Molly.’

Carrie noticed that he was holding the little girl’s dog in his hand. ‘It’s Mojo—he fell on the hard floor and hurt his foot.’ He waggled the toy dog next to Molly’s cheek and she looked up.

Max made a gruff little noise as if the dog was barking and then cuddled the toy in against her. ‘Poor Mojo, better kiss him better,’ he said.

Molly pulled away from Carrie and reached for the dog, burying her head against him for a moment.

‘There, that’s better, isn’t it?’ Max asked softly. Molly nodded and gave him a crooked smile that was half tearful, half relieved.

Carrie’s eyes connected with Max’s over the child’s head and she also smiled at him gratefully. ‘Thank you,’ she mouthed softly.

He smiled back, a steady, reassuring kind of smile that
made everything suddenly feel as if it was going to be all right. Then he got to his feet and looked over at Molly’s grandparents.

‘Molly’s behaviour is very understandable,’ he said in a voice that was quiet and yet filled with resolute strength. ‘She is feeling a little shy and unsure today, that’s all. A little reassurance is all she needs.’ It was the kind of voice that no one would ever like to argue with.

‘Of course.’ Carmel was the first to pull herself together. ‘I agree entirely. We were just worried, that’s all. We want the very best for Molly. Don’t we, Bob?’

Her husband nodded. ‘Of course we do. This isn’t easy for any of us. We want to do our duty by our grandchild.’ He extended his hand. ‘I guess you are Max Santos, Carrie’s fiancé? Carmel has been telling me all about you; you’re a lawyer, aren’t you?’

Carrie felt her heart dive somewhere into her shoes in total panic. Quickly she lifted Molly and stood up.

‘Yes, I’m a lawyer.’ Max’s voice held a note of puzzlement, which was hardly surprising. But he still shook the other man’s hand.

Desperately Carrie tried to think of something to break the conversation, some way of getting Max away from here before things got even more seriously out of control. But before she could say anything, Carmel was interrupting.

‘I’m so relieved that you could come today. Carrie was telling us that you are in the middle of an important court case and that you might not be able to meet with us at all.’

Max turned dryly amused dark eyes onto Carrie and she felt herself starting to blush bright red.

Carmel reached across to shake his hand. ‘We did see
each other briefly outside school the other day, but you were rushing off to court.’

‘That’s right.’ Max’s eyes still hadn’t moved from Carrie’s face.

‘So we are very relieved to meet you today. Did your court case finish earlier than you had expected?’

‘Actually, Carmel, Max can’t stay. He is rushing off back to work,’ Carrie interjected hurriedly. ‘You were just dropping us off, weren’t you, Max?’ Carrie’s blue eyes beseeched him to just agree and then disappear. She would have to make her apologies and explanations to him later.

For a second he hesitated and then he smiled. ‘No, on the contrary. I have time to stay and have some lunch.’

The words caused a deep jolt of shock inside Carrie. What was going on here? she wondered.

‘But if you don’t mind we won’t stay long, Carmel,’ Max continued smoothly. ‘I think Molly needs the familiarity of Carrie’s apartment, with her own toys and books and just a little TLC from her aunt.’

‘Fine, we will go through to the dining room.’ Carmel and Bob turned to lead the way. And as they turned their backs Carrie put a detaining hand on Max’s shoulder. ‘What are you doing?’ she whispered in a frantic undertone.

One dark eyebrow lifted wryly. ‘It looks like I’m bailing you out of a mess,’ he said. ‘It seems you have spun Molly’s grandparents quite a story.’