Reluctant Date (22 page)

Startled by her unexpected question, he stopped in the act
of reaching for some bread and looked at her.
 
Her eyes blazed blue in the sunlight as she waited for his answer.

“Because I wanted you to enjoy living in Dolphin Key, I guess,”
he told her after a long pause while he searched for a plausible answer.
 
After all he could hardly tell her it was
because he always wanted her to have the best of everything he could ever offer
her, not when her date was sitting just a short distance away on the grass.

She looked at him doubtfully.
 
“Why did you think I wouldn’t enjoy it if I
lived somewhere else?”

“I didn’t…that is, I was sure you would…but you have only
signed a contract for six months remember, and I wanted to find a way to keep
you here for longer than that.
 
Surely
you can see why. Now that you have settled into the job you must be able to see
that there is still a lot for you to do.”

“Well, yes, of course I can.
 
But I can’t go on living where I do, not now I know how much it’s costing
you.”

“Yes you can!
 
The
apartment is part of the job package Claire.
 
It’s yours for as long as you stay here.”

Startled by the vehemence in his voice, she opened her mouth
to protest, but before she had a chance to speak Taylor-Ann interrupted them.

“Hey you two, are you going to stand here all day, or are
you coming over to join us?
 
Scott’s been
telling us about the photos you took of him Claire.
 
He’s pretending he’s mad at you but we know
he’s not really.”

Claire glanced across to where Scott was sitting. Melanie
was next to him but they were angled slightly away from another, and each of
them was talking to a different group of people. At a quick glance their
proximity to one another appeared to be entirely innocent. There was no eye
contact, their bodies weren’t touching, and yet…there
was
something. She frowned slightly.
 
Then she realized what it was.
 
Half hidden in the long grass, their fingers
were entwined.
 
She took two swift paces
and sat down beside them, making sure that the swirling folds of her dress
covered their hands.

“You idiot!” she hissed into Scott’s ear as she pretended to
settle herself comfortably next to him.

He gave her a grateful smile. “Thanks.
 
I didn’t think.”

Because he kept his voice low, and because his face was turned
towards her, the two of them looked as if they were having an intimate
conversation.
 
It pierced Daniel’s heart
to see them sitting so close together, apparently oblivious to everyone else
around them. Unable to bear the thought of watching them for the rest of the
afternoon, he made an excuse and walked away.

Claire watched him go.
 
He looked so lonely as he made his way across the lawn to where his
parents were sitting in the shade. She wished she could join them but she
couldn’t break her promise to Scott.
 
With a sigh she tuned into the conversation going on around her, knowing
that she was deluding herself anyway. For a moment yesterday as they sailed
across the bay in search of dolphins, she had thought things were about to
change between them…but now, by walking away, he had made it perfectly clear
that he wasn’t even interested in spending the afternoon with her. So the
sooner she gave up wishing for something that was never going to happen, the
better.

* * *

People started to leave towards the end of the afternoon and
by then Claire had had more than enough of acting as chaperone.
 
“Come on. It’s time we helped your mother to
clear up,” she said to Melanie, picking up her own plate and glass and getting
to her feet.

Melanie did the same, but with reluctance.
 

Claire smiled sympathetically. “Scott will still be here
when we’ve finished because he can’t leave without me.
 
I’m his date, remember!”

“I know and I’m sorry you’re involved,” the younger girl’s
eyes brimmed with sudden tears that she dashed away with the back of her
hand.
 
Then she looked at Claire. “What
would you do in my place?”

“I would talk to my parents…and to Daniel.
 
And I’d get Scott to talk to them too.
They’re far more likely to agree that you can date one another if you’re honest
with them, whereas if they catch you sneaking out to see him they might be very
angry with both of you. You’re not even being fair to Scott, Melanie, because
you know he doesn’t want to keep it a secret.”

“But what if it doesn’t work like that.
 
What if they throw me out? What if Daniel
sacks Scott?” Melanie looked agonized.

Claire stared at her.
 
“Whatever makes you think any of that would happen?”

“Carl!
 
They did it
with Carl didn’t they? He had to leave home, and now Dad won’t see him, won’t
even allow his name to be mentioned.
 
He’s won’t let him work in the family business either, even though
everyone knows that he would be really good at it.”

Aware that this was a conversation they needed to have
alone, Claire grabbed a handful of trash bags. Thrusting some into Melanie’s
hands she led her away from where groups of people were still chatting, to an
area on the far side of the garden. Once there she began to collect discarded
paper plates and napkins, and scraps of uneaten food.

“The problems with Carl were entirely different Melanie,”
she said quietly. “He chose to do something that disrupted the plans your
father had for him, whereas you only want to date someone when you’re home from
college.”

Melanie bent down and began to pick up some crusts of bread
that were scattered across the grass, but she wasn’t swift enough to hide the
blush that rose to the roots of her hair.

Claire looked down at her. Her heart sank as she suddenly
realized Melanie’s relationship with Scott was far more serious than a summer
romance. This was way beyond her pay grade. What Daniel’s family, and Scott,
for that matter, chose to do with their private lives was not her business…she
needed to walk away from this…she was searching around for the words that would
extract her from what was fast becoming a difficult situation when she suddenly
remembered what Scott had told her the previous evening.
 
He had said that Daniel had been looking
after his whole family for years; that it was entirely thanks to him the twins
were getting a college education and that all the family’s medical bills were
being paid. It was down to him as well that his parents were still enjoying a
comfortable lifestyle. And then, of course, there was Carl.
 
Daniel had set Carl up in business, even
though he had neglected to tell her so when he gave her the potted version of
his family’s history, the night they sat on his deck in the moonlight.

She remembered, too, how kind he had always been to her, how
special her apartment was. Finally she acknowledged how, against her better
judgment, he had persuaded her to take a job that was exactly the right one for
her, and in that moment she knew she owed him.
 
She knew she had to do whatever was needed to help him, even if it was
something she didn’t consider her business. Daniel might not be interested in
having a relationship with her, but he was her friend as well as her employer,
and she never turned her back on her friends. With an inward sigh she
confronted Melanie.

“Scott visits you at college, doesn’t he?” she asked.

Melanie nodded wordlessly.
 
Then she looked up at Claire with an abject expression on her face.
 
“Please don’t tell Daniel…or my parents.
 
I know you visit them…I know you’re friends
with Dan…but please don’t tell them Claire.”

“I have no intention of telling anyone anything, but I do
think you and Scott need to have a serious talk about your relationship.
 
You can’t keep it a secret forever you know,
and it will be much, much worse for Scott if Daniel finds out he’s been
deceiving him.”

“I know how much he hates not telling him,” Melanie
admitted.
 
“It’s just I’m frightened that
telling will spoil everything, and make things worse at home too.
 
Mum can barely cope as it is.
 
She just lives for when Taylor-Ann and I come
home, and we try really hard to keep things sweet for her when we’re here by
not upsetting Dad.”

“I understand all of that,” Claire assured her.
 
“But I still think you’ve got to take the
chance. Surely you can see how much worse the alternative is. How, by risking
being found out, you are jeopardizing everything; your relationships with
Scott, with your parents, even with Daniel, because he would never trust you,
or Scott, ever again.”

“I know you’re right, and I
will
do it, I promise.”
 
Tears trickled down Melanie’s cheeks as she straightened up, but the
look she gave Claire was a determined one, even though her eyes were clouded
with fear. Then she saw Scott approaching and she gave a watery smile as he
walked across the lawn towards them.

“Here comes the muscle, just in time to collapse the trestle
table.”

Claire laughed in spite of herself and picked up a solitary
tray that had been abandoned on the grass.
 
“I guess I can trust the two of you to clear up the rest of this part of
the garden together while I collect up some glasses and take them indoors.”

Scott shot her a grateful look.

“But ask Melanie what we’ve been talking about while you do
it,” she called over her shoulder as she walked away.

* * *

Daniel was pacing up and down and talking on his cell phone
when Claire finally returned to the garden. She had spent some time stacking
the dishwasher and helping to pack away the uneaten food.
 
Now all she wanted to do was to leave without
having to talk to Daniel.
 
Seeing he was
deep in conversation she gave a sigh of relief as she raised a hand in farewell
and started to search for Scott. Instead of acknowledging that she was going,
however, Daniel beckoned her towards him.
 
She sighed.
 
Now what?

She had already said goodbye to Taylor-Ann, and to Mrs
Marchant, and she had promised Mr Marchant she would visit again the following
week to read to him. They were now on their fourth book, a thriller this time,
and one that was considerably more interesting than the previous three. She was
fast becoming frustrated with him, however, because his resistance to the
Talking Books service was as strong as ever, despite his earlier promise to
consider it.

“What would you do if I stopped reading to you?” she had
asked him the last time she visited.

“I would ask my wife to resume her duties,” he replied, with
no sense whatsoever of how his domineering attitude was making his wife’s life
a misery.

Claire had given up and resumed reading, but without the
sense of enjoyment that reading aloud usually gave her.
 
He was so arrogant and overbearing that she
frequently wondered why she bothered at all.
 
But when she saw how much he enjoyed it, and how much it helped Mrs
Marchant, she always promised to return.

“Claire, I need a favour,” Daniel said, cutting his call and
returning his cell to his pocket as he walked towards her.

Not you too!
The
thought brought a fleeting feeling of resentment until she saw the worry in his
eyes.

“I’ve just found out that Carl and I have to go away for a
couple of days next week to sort out a problem …but Beth…the baby…”

“Is due in a couple of weeks, I know.”

Yes.
 
And…well you
know how it is with my parents. The twins wouldn’t be much help either…so do
you think… that is, would you mind just keeping an eye on her while we’re
away?”

“If she’ll let me.” Claire frowned as she thought of
Beth.
 
Although her pregnancy was now
obvious, her bump was still small and neat and she didn’t seem to have made any
adjustments to her life.
 
She still
walked at top speed, she still worked the same hours for Daniel, she still
helped Carl in the print shop, and when she wasn’t doing any of that, she still
spent all her spare time painting.

She had already given Claire a watercolor, a view of the
wooden remnants of the old pier with brown pelicans roosting on every spar. It
was beautifully executed and there was humor in it too. Claire had been
delighted but she had also protested when Beth gave it to her, saying she
should sell it in the local gallery where it would be snapped up by one of the
many visitors who mooched amongst the artifacts and paintings looking for a
memento of their holiday. But Beth had been adamant.

“I painted it for you because I know how much you love
watching the pelicans,” she said.
 
“Besides, I don’t want to paint for the gallery.
 
I want to open my own studio and sell stuff
straight from there…you know, the ‘come and see a working artist and buy her
pictures’ sort if thing.
 
And I’ll do it
too, just as soon as we’ve made a go of the print shop.”

“I thought you already had,” Claire was surprised.

Beth pulled a face.
 
“It
brings in enough for us to live on, but there’s nothing left over.
 
No matter!
 
We’re getting there.”