Pennyroyal (2 page)

She consulted her watch again as the train rumbled through the suburbs without any of its promised rapidity. She was going to be hopelessly late for her appointment with Mr. Jake Everand, the mining consultant she was employing to survey Pennyroyal.

Her original itinerary had given her ample time to get to Derbyshire; she should have been halfway there by now.

Jet lag from the nine-hour flight and the hypnotic rhythm of the train as it gathered speed lulled Cassy into an uneasy doze. Her eyelids felt as heavy as lead. There, lead again…all her thoughts these days seemed to be about Pennyroyal.

Cassy had gone ahead with the arrangements without delay. Jake Everand had been highly recommended. He was the top mining engineer in the U.K. After negotiation she had secured his services for the survey and valuation. The fee was high, but Cassy was prepared to pay. She had money saved and could afford Mr. Everand’s services.

She had been told that he was a difficult man to get on with, but since their relationship would be purely business, Cassy was not dismayed. She dealt with many awkward men in the advertising world; she could cope with one mining engineer.

As the train sped northwards, Cassy realised that the temperature was dropping a few degrees. She shivered. Working in Barbados had given her a week of sunshine and she missed the warmth of the Caribbean. She was still wearing the thin, woven cotton suit she had worn on leaving Bridgetown, and it was certainly not suitable for late British summer. It was a beautiful suit, pale alabaster in colour, perfect for a hot climate but hopelessly inadequate for a chilly English morning. Cassy shrank inside the suit, trying to remember if she had anything warmer to wear in her case.

A taxi took her from Derby to Netherdale, driving through picturesque villages, wooded valleys and gritstone ridges.

A calmness overtook her as memories of childhood visits came back. She longed to stop the driver and tell him to wait while she climbed a heathered hill right to the wind-blown top.

But there was no time for that now. She was already late for her meeting with Jake Everand at the mine.

Castle Inn was old, its stone walls blending in with the stone cottages and Fifteenth Century church. The downstairs rooms were oak-beamed, mellow, hung with horse brasses and faded sepia photographs of miners and farm folk. Someone had lit a fire in the lounge fireplace and the deep armchair drawn up to it looked so inviting that Cassy’s one thought was to sink into its cosiness with a cup of hot coffee.

She registered quickly, relieved that she had arrived at last after the long journey. She had been travelling for nearly a whole day and night and was very tired. The proprietor, Bert Armstrong, gave her a key and said he would arrange for her luggage to be taken to her room.

“Would it be possible for me to have some coffee in the lounge, if it’s not too much trouble?”

“No trouble at all. I’ll bring it through.”

She knew she ought to make some effort to contact Jake Everand as soon as possible but she was too tired for the moment. She looked at her watch, unable to believe the time. For someone who was ultra-punctual, it was not easy to accept such tardiness. But it had not been her fault unless trying to fit in too much, of relying on schedules and timetables was irresponsible.

The flickering fire drew her like a magnet, a novelty after living so long with central heating and fan heaters gobbling up electricity.

She became aware that there was someone breathing in the room and she moved cautiously to one side. First she saw long legs in muddied boots, then the sprawled figure of a man asleep in the armchair. He was breathing lightly, one arm thrown across a folded leather coat, the other resting on his knee.

The angles of his face were lit by the flames: a long straight nose sharply defined, a deeply cleft chin strong but vulnerable. Cassy had an uncontrollable urge to kneel by his side and the thought was astonishing. She imagined those brown hands touching her and her skin tingled simply at the thought.

She backed away, finding a low velvet footstool to sit on. It was by the other side of the old fireplace, and the dizziness passed as she leaned against the brickwork. It was years since the sight of a man had affected her so disturbingly. It was due to jet lag, she felt sure.

Cassy stayed very still, reluctant to wake him, letting the weariness wash over her. Once the man was awake, she would be unable to look at his face and at this moment this was all she wanted to do.

Her eyes were still absorbing every detail of him when suddenly she felt acutely uncomfortable. He was awake and looking straight at her though he had not moved.

“Hello,” he drawled lazily. “So you are real. I thought I was dreaming. I thought I was being watched over by an angel sitting at my feet.”

He grinned slowly and sleepily and Cassy’s heart turned over. She did not notice the colour of his eyes, or the exact colour of his severely cut hair, nor even the height of the man unfolding himself from the chair. Her gaze was riveted on a small, irregular eye-tooth which turned his smile into the look of a small boy who should have visited an orthodontist.

Cassy caught her breath. It was like coming alive for the first time, every nerve tingling. She was glowing and it was not just from the fire.

“Would you like this chair?” he offered. “You don’t look too comfortable on that stool, even for an angel.”

“I’m sorry if I woke you,” she said, finding her voice.

“Just in time. You might have flown away.”

She moved over into the armchair, amazed that her legs still worked. The chair was warm from his body. He sat on the footstool, hands clasped on his knees, leaning towards her. Now she saw that his hair was a very dark brown, and his eyes a light, glinting grey. He looked even more attractive now that he was speaking, and his face was alight with humour.

“I don’t often wake up and find an angel at my feet,” he went on. “In fact, I can’t actually remember the last time.”

The firelight on her tawny hair, and Cassy’s pale outfit edged with brightness, all emphasised Jake’s first angelic impression.

“However, I am reassured now that you are most definitely human and of this earth,” he said quickly, not wanting to sound too imaginative. His eyes were raking over her but not in a way that was upsetting, but with a kind of approval.

“Relief all round,” said Cassy. She held out her hands to the fire, pearly pink nails shining like washed shells. “One frozen angel rapidly melting.”

Colour tinged her cheeks as she realised her words could be misconstrued. It was not often she spoke without thinking; it only showed how much this man had thrown her off balance.

“I mean, I’m getting warmer now.” She swallowed hard. That remark was hardly any better. “I didn’t realise that Netherdale would be so chilly. We’re not that far north.”

“It’s not necessarily Netherdale. It’s our British summer, or what is passing for summer this year. It’s no sunnier in Cornwall. It was raining heavily when I left this morning.”

Alarm bells should have sounded but Cassy was not listening. She was spellbound by the sound of his voice, warming to the low timbre and gravelly undertones, knowing it was a voice she could listen to for the rest of her life.

She was basking in the unaccustomed pleasure of meeting a man she actually liked, feeling herself relax and expand in his company. She felt that if she told him her innermost secrets, somehow they would be safe with him.

When Bert Armstrong came in with a tray of coffee, Cassy was briefly surprised. It seemed years ago that she had ordered it. It smelt good and aromatic.

“There you are, Miss Ridgeway. Sorry to have kept you waiting. I thought you’d like it freshly ground. Just ring if you’d like some more.”

“Thank you, Mr. Armstrong. That’s lovely. Oh, would you like some?” She turned to the strange man.

“Miss Ridgeway?”

She was so entranced by everything, she did not notice the man’s hesitation or the way he ignored her offer. Something had happened to the tone of his voice. It had closed up, gone cool, all the humour drained out of it in seconds. Cassy looked at him in alarm. Whatever had happened?

“Cassandra Ridgeway?”

Cassy nodded mutely, but already she knew the answer and her heart was falling like a stone into her elegant slingback sandals. She felt sick and stunned.

“So where the hell have you been?” he snapped, his eyes as cold as flint. “I waited three hours for you. Don’t you keep appointments, lady?”

Cassy stiffened. With immense control she carefully lifted the cup to her lips and sipped the coffee before answering. She did not want her hand to shake.

“You must be Jake Everand,” she said, forcing an equal coolness into her voice. “My plane was late and I missed the earlier train I had intended to catch. I’m sorry you had to wait but there was no way I could contact you.”

“Sorry enough to be lounging around, drinking coffee, instead of finding out if I was still waiting at the mine?”

“I’ve been travelling all night and nearly all day…”

“And I drove a long way to meet you, particularly at your request. You said it was urgent. Then you don’t turn up. My time is money,” he said bluntly.

“My money in this case,” Cassy could not resist reminding him. “You forget I’m paying. Please put those three wasted hours on my bill. I wouldn’t want you to be out of pocket on my account.”

She heard his sharp intake of breath. The magic had been shattered and they were retreating fast, gliding apart like two figures in a dream. She did not know how to retrieve the situation without grovelling and she would not do that when it had not been her fault.

Jake Everand got up and walked abruptly to the window, his hands thrust into his pockets. For the first time she realised just how tall he was, could appreciate the broadness of his shoulders, the narrow hips and long legs. His back was tense, his head lowered like an angry bull.

“Thank you for the timely reminder that I’m your paid employee,” he said. “It certainly shows a strong, businesslike attitude which I should appreciate. Unfortunately I don’t think this is going to work and I should like to be released from the contract which I signed. I was mistaken in the motive for this survey. I didn’t know Pennyroyal had become a rich woman’s toy.”

Cassy closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. This was more than she could cope with in her exhausted state. The impact of their meeting had used up the last of her energy.

“Mr. Everand, I’m much too tired to argue with you tonight. Could we wait until tomorrow morning when I promise you I will be on time and full of intelligent suggestions for the survey of Pennyroyal? I can’t even think clearly now and I’m bound to say something stupid which I should regret. I do want you to do the survey. You are the best mining engineer in Britain and the man my grandfather would have wanted.”

“Your grandfather?”

“Thomas Ridgeway.”

“It hadn’t occurred to me.”

“You knew him?”

“Not personally.” It was all Jake Everand would say, but Cassy caught the hostile nuance in his voice. There had been such joy; now it was all a bitter taste. She had been an absolute fool, but even though she was too conscious of him for comfort, at least she had hidden her feelings.

She was glad that the next few days would be busy, far too busy for this absurd hungering after a man like Jake Everand. She did not even want to think of his name. Perhaps if she said it quickly, or called him J.E.? She laughed.

“Something’s funny?”

“I’m sorry. I’m a little light-headed. The long flight from Barbados and no food. I can’t eat when I’m flying.”

“I hope you had a nice holiday,” he said with icy politeness. “The tan looks expensive.”

“It was not a holiday. I was working,” said Cassy, refusing to elaborate. He shot a look of disbelief, and the irritation between them flared again. But Cassy’s resolve was stiffening. She admitted that Jake Everand was the most attractive man she had ever seen; his looks, aura of power and strength, twisted all her feminine logic into disarray. But she could cope. She would make sure that she did.

A log shifted in the fire and it jolted her into activity. She stood up with her usual grace.

“I’ll see you in the morning,” she said. “Ten o’clock sharp at the mine. That should give us both time to get a good night’s sleep. I’m sure when we are in a calmer frame of mind we shall be able to work out our differences.”

He nodded but his expression was not encouraging. He swept up his leather jacket and slung it over his shoulder; the funny, sleepy man had quite vanished.

Perhaps she had imagined those magic moments; perhaps she had been dreaming. No, it had been real…enchanting moments which she could relive in the loneliness before sleep.

“I trust you’ll be there, Miss Ridgeway,” said Jake Everand, his face a mask. “Set your alarm and check it. No one keeps me waiting twice.”

Chapter Two

Cassy was first at Pennyroyal the next morning. She had woken early; the unfamiliar bed and early morning noises around the inn making it impossible to sleep on.

She breakfasted lightly despite the good smell of eggs and bacon from the kitchen. She wondered briefly if Jake Everand was also staying at the inn, but she did not enquire.