Forever Scarred (2 page)

The next second he had cuffed the fish across the back of its head and spun faster than she had ever seen a man move before. He tore into a nearby bush and grabbed a wriggling, squealing child from its depths.

For a moment she thought the captured boy was screaming blue murder and she was about to charge forward to his rescue b
ut the next second she heard peels of high pitched laughter and saw the happy grin on the child’s face. He was not scared of the big man at all, just delighted to be caught spying. She gave another small smile of her own and her heart did an odd flip flop in her chest as the boy leaned forwards and gave the scarred man a kiss on the end of his bruised nose. The man dropped the boy to the floor and showed the child the fish as he pulled out a long, lethal looking knife from a leather pouch strapped to his leg, with which he proceeded to gut the fish expertly.

Another sound came to her and a second man ploughed out of the bushes and joined the first. He patted the child
fondly on the head and as the boy looked up Lucy immediately saw the resemblance between the two even though the second man’s face was almost as disfigured as the first. One of his eyes was half closed and scar tissue ran in almost to his lips across his cheek. But he was grinning too, looking happy and unconcerned.

The sound of the boy’s high pitched voice reached her hiding place and her whole body shivered as she heard the fisherman respond with deep reverberating tones. She closed her eyes for a moment and let the sounds flood her brain.

And then she remembered how it would look if she were discovered spying on the two men who obviously were part of the estate staff. Though she hadn’t seen all of the correspondence, she had seen enough of the brochures to know that the place was run by ex-service men. They would be alert and she had already seen how fast the one man could move. If she was spotted there was no way she would be able to run and hide.

She took another cautious step back from the river making sure she kept herself hidden. She hadn’t even announced herself to the people at the Chateau yet and she didn’t want to be caught sneaking in a private entrance. She had detoured from the main driveway when her satellite navigation system had guided her from the town, along the track and up a back route via the woods and into the grounds.

She hoped that there wouldn’t be a problem with her arriving a few days early for their conference, but Carter Freeman had insisted that she come and check out the venue before he arrived.

It had been an order that she couldn’t flout if she wanted to keep her job
. What with having to pay off an almighty debt run up by that scoundrel of a previous boyfriend and keeping her situation away from the ears of her employer, she just couldn’t afford to go against his orders.

She walked slowly back to where she had left her car after seeing the wonderfully tempting river and wrinkled her nose as she climbed back in to the stuffy interior. After driving for several hours she had just wanted to stretch her legs and cool her feet before intruding at the chateau.

She knew that there would be room as she had been told the date the previous guests would leave, but she still wasn’t looking forward to appearing unannounced. Carter had suggested that it was a good idea, just to see if the people running the course would live up to the hype and their own expectations, but Lucy had thought it a rude and ridiculous idea. The conference and team building sessions had been recommended by several other firms of telephone salesmen and it wasn’t as if they had only just started up. The Chateau had apparently been running similar courses for nearly five years.

She swung the car around, using several
manoeuvres to turn on the narrow track and then she drove slowly back to the main entrance, thinking about the man she had seen fishing. Her heart gave the same odd flip and she drew in a deep breath as she remembered the sound of his deep voice and all the bunched muscles on his body.

She rolled her eyes at herself. She had just removed one
very costly distraction in her life and she was fighting hard to stay under the radar of her very hands on boss. There was no way she was going to take become involved with any man while here, especially one with the issues he must have.

She thought about the man’s disfigured face and although she had been momentarily shocked when she first saw the bruising, she remembered how the little boy had leaned forwards and tenderly kissed that scarred face without a trace of fear or revulsion and she made a note to herself that if she was lucky enough to meet him, to do exactly the same, though she probably shouldn’t kiss his nose
on their first meeting.

She smiled to herself at the thought as she steered the car towards the huge imposing Chateau, hoping against hope that they wouldn’t throw her out, leaving her struggling to find accommodation at such short notice.

David looked over at his friend and colleague.

“Robbie’s right you know. There’s not a damned thing wrong with your face Joe. It’s the one you’ve got so everyone else had better get used to it. After all it’s been nearly six years since it happened.” He spoke with a grim determination that could only have come from firsthand experience.

Joe bumped his friend
’s arm with his elbow and let out a hollow laugh.

“I’ll accept my face the day you accept your body Dave and not a moment before.”

David marched along-side Joe and gave a huge, happy grin.

“Oh
, I accepted my newly fashioned body very nearly five years ago. It was the day Geraldine and I stopped just flirting with one another and actually decided it was more like love than anything else. Ellen nearly ruined it all by coming in at the crucial moment. It was Christmas Eve, if I remember rightly. Geraldine came into my room after we had finished dinner and kissed the shit out of me. Best Christmas present I ever had and I didn’t care what I looked like after that.”

Joe laughed loudly as he remembered the day
after he had arrived at the Chateau, the day that David began to smile once again. He quirked up his lips and then spoke wistfully.

“Yeah, well, if I ever get half as lucky as you and Patrick then I’ll be satisfied, but I can’t see it happening now. I think I’ve met every woman around here and they all
do that awful fixed staring thing, like they think I’m going to be embarrassed if they look away.”

There wasn’t much David could say to that. He’d seen it with his own eyes
often enough. He turned to follow his son, assuming that Joe would walk alongside him but his friend had turned back to the river. He was scanning the opposite bank as if expecting to see someone standing there.

David frowned.

“Anything wrong Joe?” His friend didn’t respond immediately. And then he turned quizzically towards David.

“Has Patrick left Ellen alone at the Chateau?” It would have been such an unusual event that he scarcely knew why he asked.

David’s frown deepened.

“I doubt it. He doesn’t leave her side much as it is let alone now
she’s pregnant. He barely deserts her even to do the cooking. He keeps insisting that he needs her help with the veg all the time. They have barely been apart since, well, you know since when. It was the New Year’s Eve dinner dance, the same year Geraldine and I got it together. Why do you ask?”

Joe tilted his head to the side
, listening carefully.

“Can you hear that?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “I thought someone was on the other side of the river earlier, before I caught Robbie.
I could feel them looking at me. And now I swear I can hear a car engine. It would have to be someone on the estate for me to be able to pick that up.”

David stood silently and listened hard
for a few moments.

“Can’t hear a damned thing, but then I have one less ear than you.
Doesn’t help much. If it had been one of us or the staff they would have made themselves known to you rather than sit there spying. I wonder who it was?”

That David didn’t doubt Joe’s assertion that someone had been there was unsurprising. Joe was a quiet man, thoughtful and of few words if he didn’t take to you, but he heard everything, had supersensitive hearing which was why it was nearly impossible to catch the man out.

Joe scanned the opposite river bank one last time and then gave it up. Whoever had been there was long gone. He turned back to the path.

“I hope we didn’t lose one of that last
bunch of idiots. You did count them in and out Dave? Please tell me that none of them were missing when you waved them goodbye.”

David laughed.

“Nope they were definitely all gone so no worries there. All accounted for at point of departure. Let’s go and see if it’s a visitor. Geraldine is likely to bite someone’s head off if they turn up unexpectedly at the moment. She’s at the grouchy stage.” David was referring to his own wife’s pregnancy. She was just over three months gone with their second child and the morning sickness was relentless.

Joe took one last glance back at the river. He knew someone had been standing there observing him. He wasn’t entirely happy that he hadn’t been able to pinpoint the fact slightly earlier, but there was no worr
ying about whoever it was now. Unless they were heading for the chateau they had probably just been lost and had found their way by mistake onto one of the Chateau tracks. There were several that led up from the town and so he walked in silence beside David, listening to Robbie chattering away to himself as he took the prize fish home for their dinner.

Chapter Two

Ellen leaned back from her huge desk and placed her hands in the small of her back. She groaned as the twinges shot through her stomach. She gave a deep sigh and leaned forwards again as she stared at the paper work in front of her, comparing it to what was on the computer screen at her side.

She hated book work. It was the only thing she couldn’t bear about her project. Everything else had been a doddle in comparison, but she had been too stubborn to hire someone else t
o do the work for her. At first it had been because she needed to keep an eye on how every penny was spent but it had soon become obvious that the chateau expenses were running very high and she didn’t want anyone telling her that the project might become unviable. She had changed strategies the previous year and now she was showing enough profit to expand.

It wasn’t
as if she needed to make a load of money for herself. She had plenty lying around in the bank for herself and her husband, a fortunate legacy from a long deceased relative, but she had spent the vast majority of the money on the chateau and she was determined to see that the project worked. It was more the principal of the venture that she had started.

She wanted those that had money to burn, to
pay for those who had given everything. The war wounded service men and women and their families had given up so much. While none of them wanted to be pitied or regarded as a charity case, they more than deserved a luxury break at little or no expense and none of the embarrassment or hassle that they often received at ordinary hotels. Since they had increased the corporate revenue the scheme was actually making a profit, but it had come at a price she wasn’t sure that she liked.

The
events had been increased to twice every six weeks, rather than the odd weekend that she had originally intended, but the extra income was enormous and was funding the building of three self-contained cottages down by the river.

Joe would be living in one of the
cottages. He almost lived by the river full time anyway in one of the tiny fishing cabins that he decked out comfortably to suit his own needs. He preferred to be away from the Chateau when the business guests arrived. The way some of the people treated him was appalling and she had been tempted to say something to the visitors that had just left. He had only just begun recovering from his last set of operations and they were damned lucky that he had been up to the job, not that some of their guests could see that. They spoke to him as though he was an idiot and one had even called into question his suitability to the job.

It had been with great satisfaction that she had seen Joe rise to the challenge once again and pull out all the stops, inventing new and difficult, but not impossible challenges for the group. It had only been as they were leaving that Ellen realized that Joe’s talents at team building had fallen on
a few completely deaf ears. There was always someone in the group who would spoil what had appeared to be a wonderful event. One of the men on the last course even had the cheek to hand her the card of an eminent surgeon to pass onto Joe, stating that if he mentioned his name, he would be sure to get a good discount.

Ellen had
waited just long enough for the surgically enhanced specimen to leave the grounds before she tore up the card furiously. The damage that been inflicted on the men around her wasn’t something you could fix with a stroke of a knife, a dollop of some kind of implant and a few thousand pounds. The men had the best treatment money could buy through the army veterans services at the expense of the British taxpayer, but it wasn’t going to fix any of their wounds easily or permanently.

She
looked over the figures in front of her and gave a small smile as she agreed the final addition. Absolutely a profit. Not large but gratifying all the same. A few more intense weeks like this

one
and they would have just a little breathing space, maybe even enough money to keep the chateau open for most of the winter.

T
hey had decided early on to close the huge old place between New Year and the end of February. It was partly to give themselves a well-earned break but also to keep the running costs to a minimum. The expenditure of keeping the temperature up in all the rooms and the lack of outdoor facilities during the wet winter months had swayed their decision after their first year at the venture. But many of their clients just wanted the break anyway. They weren’t worried about outdoor activities so long as they could sit by the roasting fires and use the fabulous indoor facilities, or maybe have a dance in the ballroom and a couple of quiz nights just to keep their brains in order.

Ellen
looked up as she heard a noise in the doorway.

Patrick stood leaning against the door frame. He looked relaxed and happy and he came forwards quickly, circling the desk a
nd winding his arms around his wife. He splayed his hands across her swollen stomach.

“You look tired Ellen
. Leave this and come and talk to me while I cook. You should come and see the size of the trout that Joe caught in the river today. Robbie was so excited he nearly burst a blood vessel telling me how Joe lifted the mighty beast with his hands. You would have thought he was talking about Jonah and the whale.”

Ellen gave a small laugh as she relished the feeling of her husband’s warm hands on her belly.

“The only one around here feeling remotely like a whale is me. I am grabbing the exclusivity on that title for the next few weeks as Geraldine isn’t due until November.”

Patrick leaned in and nuzzled his wife’s warm neck. He wou
ld never get over this feeling of happiness. His life had been made complete when they had eventually married some five years previously but that was before Ellen had told him that she was, at last, expecting his baby. Now every single thing in the whole world paled into insignificance in relation to the way he felt about becoming a father.

“You shouldn’t be working so hard Ellen. We really need to find someone to take on the office stuff.
I don’t want you bogged down with this side of things as well as entertaining our guests and looking after our baby.” The concern was deeply etched in his tones.

Ellen gave a small stretch and then stopped as she felt the baby kick and wriggle inside her.

“I know, I should have interviewed someone for the position ages ago, but I really don’t want anyone local. I don’t want anyone gossiping about our financial position whether it be good or bad and knowing the people around here, I don’t think anyone would be able to keep it quiet whether they intended to or not.” She shoved the papers across the desk and groaned as she turned to her husband. “It feels as if I have some kind of alien inside me.” She rubbed her side where her stomach protruded at an odd angle.

Patrick moved her hand gently out of the way and p
laced his hand on the hard lump. He circled it gently, talking quietly as he moved his big hand across Ellen’s belly.

“Come on
baby, give your mum a rest. I know there’s not much room in there but you only have to be good for just another month and then you get to do some exciting stuff with your dad.” His voice was low and he spoke directly to the lump which immediately stopped moving and stayed quiet.

Ellen gave out a small laugh.

“Well at least he obeys your orders. He must know that you are a Major.” She leaned up, touched her hand gently to her husband’s cheek and gave him a kiss under his chin.

Patrick growled down at her.

“Don’t start that sort of thing now. I have dinner to prepare and I’m looking forward to some intelligent conversation tonight.” He closed his eyes as Ellen reached up and dragged his face nearer to hers. “If you carry on, I won’t be responsible for how late dinner is going to be.” He warned as he nuzzled his nose into her hair and breathed in her scent. But she couldn’t resist him, she never had been able to from the moment she first met him in the darkened forest surrounding the chateau, and she leaned in for another kiss.

Patrick groaned
, there was no way he could stop himself. Apart from three self-inflicted months of torture after first meeting Ellen, he had never been able to resist her either and now was no exception.

He was about to drag her up out of the chair and
carry her up to the nearest available bedroom when there was a small cough at the door. He spun around and stared at the blonde haired beauty who stood in the doorway. Ellen eased herself up from the chair and smiled at the woman.

“Hello, can we help you? The c
hateau is closed for a few days so unfortunately we can’t offer any accommodation at the moment.”

The young woman’s own smile faltered.

“Damn. I told Carter that this was a bad idea. He sent me a few days early and I told him it was a cheek, but he’s such an arrogant arse, he just wouldn’t back down. Do you know if there are any other hotels nearby?”

Patrick stifled a huge laugh as he took in the woman’s annoyed expression. She hadn’t even blinked at the horrific scars that covered the side of his face and he appreciated that.

“And who is Carter? Is this someone we should know about?” He asked, the held back laughter evident in his tone.

Ellen stepped forwards and held her hand out to the woman.

“I think you must mean Carter Freeman. I don’t know anyone else with that first name. And yes, he was a little forceful when booking. He almost gave me instructions about what events he expects when the whole point of the weekend is that your team come across previously unknown problems and have to solve them within the group. You must be his secretary Lucy. We spoke on the phone a few weeks ago. I’m Ellen and this is my husband Patrick Reeves.”

The young woman gave another smile, her
rosy cheeks dimpling as she took Ellen’s hand and spoke with a warm laugh in her voice.

“
Yes, that’s right. We discussed some things when I confirmed the booking. I’m Lucy Collins and I’m really pleased to meet you both at last.” She paused and gauged the obviously relaxed and happy couple in front of her before adding. “And just so that you know, Carter is a complete idiot actually. If I didn’t have to earn a lot of money quickly I would have given up working with his lousy insurance company ages ago.” Lucy gave an awkward cough and then a slightly nervous laugh. “Please don’t tell him I said that. I really need this job and it pays well so I will have to put up with him whatever happens here.” She cleared her throat and changed the subject to her most important predicament. “Look, I’m really sorry about all of this. I told him he was being extremely presumptuous and that it
probably wasn’t going to be convenient, but he told me it would be a test to see if you are as good as you say you are and ready for the unexpected. But don’t worry about it, I’m sure I can find another hotel near here for a couple of days.” She smiled again and turned to head out of the office.

Ellen and Patrick looked at one another and came to a silent decision.
Patrick moved forwards and spoke quickly.                                                                                                                                            

“It’s fine Lucy
. It’s not a problem. We were going to have a couple of days off but if you don’t mind sorting yourself out with any entertainment and can ignore us all being very casual then there’s no reason why you can’t stay here. It’s not as though we don’t have the room.”

Lucy
looked up at the big man. He was handsome despite the scarring and he exuded an air of almost overpowering confidence. She glanced at his heavily pregnant wife standing by the desk, wondering if there would be any conflict between the two of them but Ellen’s smile was open and genuine as she nodded in agreement with her husband.

“Well if you’re sure I won’t be putting you to any trouble, it would really help me out and earn you some brownie points with the boss.”

Patrick raised his eyebrows.

“Not sure I care about brownie points from
someone like him, but we would like them if it means that you will recommend us to other companies.”

Ellen moved to stand beside Patrick.

“Why don’t I show Lucy to a room? I think I hear Dave and Joe just coming in. We can make some introductions and then get you settled while my husband here gets on with cooking our dinner.”

Lucy nodded.

“Thanks, this is so kind of you. I’ll just stay out of your way for the next couple of days and let you all relax. I’ll see to myself entirely. I only have one small bag. I’ll grab it from the car.” She turned swiftly and then cried out in surprise as she stepped straight into the fisherman’s hard chest. He was a lot bigger than she had realized now she was close up.

She bounced away from him, tripping over her feet
as her heart gave an almighty leap in her chest, and then the man suddenly lurched forwards. He grabbed around her waist to prevent her from falling and spluttered out an apology.

“Sorry, I thought you knew
I was right behind you.” He set her back on her feet as she stared up at him. He wasn’t quite as tall as Patrick Reeves but he was still well over six feet, wide in the shoulder and all the muscles she had noticed down at the river were even more evident close up.