Scarred Beginnings (5 page)

Chapter Five

“Ellen!” David bellowed into the
dense forest while his friends unpacked the huge car and admired the majestic château at their backs. A few more minutes passed and he yelled out again. His voice echoed right back at him.

He
ignored his friends’ shouts of astonishment at the magnificence of the old stone building while he waited for a response, worried that she wasn’t there to greet them. Gemma fooled about with Joe and Adam on the wide terrace at the front of the building while James kept pointing a blind Paul in the wrong direction. James howled with laughter as Paul fell into a pile of sand then nearly fell over himself as he tucked his crutches under his arm and hauled his friend from the gritty heap. They brushed each other off as they looked about the place. They had been standing around for more than ten minutes already.

The French château
, nestled deep in the forest was beautiful, everything that Ellen had described and more. It was so atmospheric that he could almost smell the garlic in the air but he was distracted from taking any more notice of his fabulous surroundings by Ellen’s nonappearance. It was so unlike her to be late. She had been so keen for their visit that he was beginning to panic.

Joe
stopped mucking about and let Adam find his way up the ramp before he walked over beside David. He put his hand on his friends shoulder.

“
Stop worrying Dave. She’s just busy, probably gone to the market for fresh bread or something. Calm down, she’s sure to be back soon,” he reassured his friend quietly as he peered out from his pressure mask.

David frowned.
Joe was probably right but Ellen was nothing if not punctual. He looked down at his watch and shook his head.

“She’d
never be this late. I only spoke to her yesterday morning. She said that she would be right here. She was so excited about us coming and she was desperate to tell me some special news too but she didn’t want to reveal anything over the phone. Something’s happened to her, I know it. She said that she would be here waiting for us.” He was about to shout again when the bushes in front of them began to rustle violently. A few seconds later a red eyed Ellen blundered through the thick foliage.

“Sorry, sorry. I should have been here…” she
gulped then stopped as David came up to her. He didn’t look at all happy.

“Ellen? What’s happened? You’ve been crying.” He accu
sed as the others began to gather around.

“It’s nothing.” Ellen
cuffed away the tears from her cheeks and waved her hand in dismissal but there was no way David would let it go. If she was crying then there was probably an excellent reason for it and he had to know what had caused her tears. “Has anyone hurt you?” His thoughts immediately jumped to Justin.

Ellen shook her head as tears squeezed from between her eyelashes.

“No, I’ve not seen him for months. It’s nothing, forget it David. I shouldn’t be greeting you like this. I’m so thrilled that you are all here at last.” She sniffed loudly.

David’s frown grew deeper. He put his hand on her shoulder
and drew her towards him.

“Don’t give me that. Something bad has happened if you’re crying. You might as well tell me now as I’ll get it out of you eventually anyway.”

Ellen took a shuddering breath. Her heart felt as though it had been torn apart. David’s concern melted her resolve as his warmth suddenly enveloped her and she fell sobbing into his arms. Somehow he managed to get her inside the château and sitting on a settee as they all clustered around, but it was some minutes before he could make any sense out of his sister’s words.

“You what? You fell in love with a married man! Ellen, you should know better.” He
didn’t mean to sound disappointed but he couldn’t help it. She’d only just managed to get out of Justin’s vicious clutches. He remembered the relief he’d felt when she called to tell him that she had left Justin and the last thing he wanted for her was another bad relationship.

Ellen glared up at him through her tears.

“I didn’t know he was still married. He said that she left him. He’s left me a letter but I don’t know what it means.” She went on to tell the whole story of the man who had clearly run out on her.

David
was beyond furious.

“The bastard!
  I’ll kill him!” No one hurt his sister and got away with it. There were growls of approval from all his friends but Ellen shook her head miserably.

“
No, don’t say things like that David. There must be a better explanation. We’ve been together constantly for the last three months.” She dried her tears on one of the huge handkerchiefs thrust at her and sighed as she stood up. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore. You’ve all come over to rip this place to shreds so let’s get going. I need to know everything that you think this place needs. I want it to be absolutely perfect, no expense spared.” She glanced over at Adam. The big man sat in his wheelchair and glanced around the huge hall. He gave a small grin as he saw the lift nestled to the side of the stone staircase.

“Great, at least I don’t have to make one of these poor sods carry
me up the stairs,” he laughed at the nods of agreement. He knew that they would carry him to the ends of the Earth if he needed them to.

Ellen walked over to him. She stood by his side as she spoke.

“You need to take the first room on the right at the head of the stairs. I’ve only bought one proper bed yet. I didn’t want to make the wrong choice and didn’t have anyone else to test it on. It looks to be a fabulous quality but I’ll let you decide. Take a look at it properly as it’s all on an electronic pressure relief system. I’ve also asked someone to be on hand in case you need any extra help. There’s a bell system. Just press it and Geraldine will come and give you a hand. She should be back from the market by now.” She smiled as a dark haired woman suddenly appeared at the door carrying armfuls of delicious smelling bread. She gave the group a quick wave of the baguettes before she disappeared through a small doorway into the depths of the château.

Ellen turned back to the group of army friends.

“I’m going help Geraldine cook breakfast, last one down does the washing up.” She laughed as there was a sudden stampede for the stairs.

David
stood still and hung back for a few seconds staring at the spot where the woman had sashayed away through the door under the stairs, her hips swaying elegantly, her hair wafting about her shoulders in the breeze still floating in from the half open front door. The air had suddenly disappeared from his lungs. He wasn’t sure that he could even move. He’d felt his heart drop to his stomach at his first sight of the dark haired beauty hired to help Adam and for just a single moment he almost wished that he still needed attention himself. His heart thudded hard in his chest but he gave himself a mental shake.

What the hell was he even thinking
! A woman that beautiful would never glance twice at a man like him. She had to have half the male population of France after her.

He put her from his mind and hurried up the stairs after his friends, glancing in doors as he searched for his room. Ellen had only managed to find basic furniture at this point but that didn’t bother him or any of them. Adam was the only one who needed special arrangeme
nts due to his immobility and he’d probably moan about that. They were all accustomed to sleeping rough but the whole point of their week there was to discover the most suitable equipment and furniture for the future guests needs and Adam could help with that most. Ellen didn’t want to make any mistakes. The hotel for war wounded servicemen and women was taking shape but it was also costing a fortune. His and Ellen’s fortune.

Her
idea was a spectacular and ambitious one and he knew that with his sister’s determination and care it would all work out splendidly but they couldn’t afford to make any expensive mistakes. Even a simple pressure sensitive mattress cost thousands of euros and Ellen didn’t want to stop at simple. She wanted sumptuous, king sized, unadulterated four poster luxury. They had to get it right first time and this week would help them achieve that goal.

He found a made up room with a fold out bed that exceeded his expectations. He had wondered if they would be sleeping on the floor, but the bed was a decent width with soft pillows and a thick, fluffy duvet.

He dumped his holdall on the ottoman beneath the window and looked out over the still untidy forecourt. He could see where someone had begun to uncover what remained of a formal garden. Piles of newly raked weeds were dotted around between short clipped hedges. It looked as if it was the shaping of a maze.

There was a gentle knock at his door and he lifted his head expecting to see Ellen or
even Gemma wondering if he needed help but he pulled in a breath as his eyes met the beautiful French woman’s where she stood just outside his door. He lifted his chin and waited for her to avert her gaze from his ruined features but she didn’t turn a hair. She took a step forwards and smiled warmly as she gave a quick glance up and down his body with assessing dark green eyes. Surprisingly she didn’t appear remotely repulsed and her smile never faltered once as she spoke.

“ ‘
ello. I am Geraldine. Ellen said that you are ‘er brother, David. She ‘as told me so much about you. Enchanté.” Her eyes sparkled up at him. “I want you to know that if you need anything, anything at all you can call me. Monsieur Adam seems able to manage fine right now so I will ‘ave time on my ‘ands. I don’t want to be ‘ere being paid for doing nothing.” Her deep accent washed over him and he had to swallow hard before he could find his own voice.

“Thank you, that’s most kind of you but we can mostly manage by ourselv
es.” He couldn’t take his eyes off her; she had to be the most gorgeous woman he had ever beheld. Her creamy complexion contrasted with her glossy dark hair as it rippled over one shoulder where she had tied it to the side. Her lips were the colour of a full bodied red wine and just for a moment he wondered if they tasted as delicious as they looked. He glanced further downwards and nearly groaned aloud at the perfection of her body. Slim in all the right places, fuller and more succulent in all the others. She was completely stunning.

Something must have shown in his expression because her eyes suddenly sparkled at him
again but then her gaze faltered and a rosy blush tinted her apple cheeks. She dipped her head and turned as though leaving without saying anything else but he took a step towards her. He couldn’t help himself. She made him feel good just by looking at her. He couldn’t let her go without saying something.

His wicked sense of humour got the better of him.
He cleared his throat then sighed deeply and looked down at himself.

“Mind, I do sometimes have
awful trouble with my legs. I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to them. I may need help removing them later” He raised what was left of an eyebrow and gave a small cough as he prayed she wouldn’t take his words the wrong way.

She didn’t. She suddenly lifted her chin and grinned widely at him.

“Ha! I think you may need ‘elp removing that loose tongue of yours too. Ellen was right. You are a very naughty man. I think I will ‘ave to keep my eye on you.” She fluttered her thick, black eyelashes as she gave him another swift appraisal that left his blood burning through his veins. Then she waved her slender fingers in farewell as she walked back out of the room, her hips swaying gently, temptingly, leaving the floral scent of her perfume stirring the air behind her.

He gulped audibly as his heart thundered in his chest.
Had she really just been flirting with him after he had dared be so outrageously cheeky?
He wasn’t quite sure where his courage had come from but it felt good to lighten the atmosphere. It had been far too long since he’d let his tongue run away with him but it had been irresistible with Geraldine. Her name slipped over his tongue like ripe mango and he grinned at his own audacity. 

Lost in his own thoughts it was several moments before he heard a commotion going on in the hallway outside his room. He walked over to the door and stuck his head out only to have it nearly knocked off by a stampeding Gemma and Joe. James hobbled along
behind them on his crutches yelling for the others to wait while Paul counted loudly, fingertips touching the wall as he paced the distance from his door to the top of the stairs. David joined them and laughed furiously as Adam punched the lift button repeatedly while they all pounded down the stairs.

He protested at the unfairness of it immediately.

“Well, that’s the first thing Ellen is going to have to fix. It’s hardly a fair challenge if I can’t get downstairs because the lift is faulty!” he exclaimed loudly as the others all raced down the staircase, clearly wanting to avoid the washing up at all costs. “I hope Ellen has an industrial sized dishwasher already installed or I’m going to make sure I can’t reach the flipping sink.” His final protests faded as the lift eventually arrived and swallowed him inside.

David
waited for Adam and then followed his nose to the kitchen where he was delighted to see Ellen standing at the enormous range serving up a full English breakfast. Her eyes were still puffy from her earlier tears but she was smiling as she dished out the meal. She tipped two fried eggs, a sausage and three rashers of bacon on a plate for him as she nodded for him to help himself to fried potatoes.