‘Dad, d’you think——?’ The faintly hopeful note in the child’s voice was drowned out by deeper tones, tones that sent a shudder of ice inching slowly down Stephanie’s backbone despite the heat of the July sun.
‘My daughter won’t miss anything. Thank you for your offer of help, but I’m afraid I shall have to turn it down.’
He didn’t sound sorry—in fact he didn’t sound even the tiniest bit concerned that she must have heard the scorn in his refusal—and for some reason it didn’t really surprise her. Whoever he was, this man wouldn’t care one way or the other about people’s opinions of him. He was a man who lived by his own rules, not by those written by others.
Stephanie was sorely tempted to turn tail and walk away from the open hostility, but a quick glance at the child’s disappointed face stopped her. She took a deep, heartening breath and tried again to get through to him. ‘I realise that you must be wary of letting a stranger take charge of your daughter, but I assure you she will be perfectly safe. I have identification if you would like to see it.’ She opened her bag, then jumped when his hand closed over hers, his fingers hard and dry against hers.
‘Don’t bother. I don’t want to see any ID because I don’t intend to take you up on your offer.’ His eyes skimmed her slender body with an insulting thoroughness, lingering on the thrust of her breasts under the sleeveless lime-green T-shirt before travelling down her rounded hips to her long legs, bare under the hem of her lime and navy shorts. ‘I might have been flattered if it hadn’t been so obvious, honey. Unlike a lot of men nowadays, I prefer to do the chasing myself. I guess I must be a bit old-fashioned like that.’
‘I... Pardon?’ It came out as a whisper of horror as what he meant hit home with the force of a sledgehammer. For a moment Stephanie could only stand and stare at him, wishing there was something she could think of to say to wipe the arrogant smile off his equally arrogant face.
‘Don’t take it to heart too much, will you?’ He shrugged indolently, letting his hand drop away from hers before he glanced down at the child by his side. ‘I’m sure that some guys would appreciate your interest, but if you’ll take my advice then I suggest you modify it somewhat next time. It can be off-putting to have that amount of Coke thrown over you.’
‘Now you just look here. I never...!’ Her voice tailed off as she suddenly realised she was speaking to thin air. She took a deep breath, glaring at the man’s broad back as he made his way through the crowd. She had never met anyone so arrogant and self-opinionated and full of himself in the whole of her twenty-five years! It was a wonder he could manage to walk with an ego that big weighing him down! That he should imagine for even a moment that she’d spilled her drink over him deliberately... Well!
Fuming, she turned back to the crowd lining the roadside, but her heart really wasn’t in watching the parade now. She glanced at her watch, wondering if she should call it a day and return to her hotel, but if she did that then she would miss her one and only chance to see this very special piece of Disney World magic. She was on a very tight schedule, with every one of the next three days filled: Epcot, Sea World, Universal Studios, all to be seen and reported on when she got back to England and met up with Laura and Rachel again. The trip had been her idea; she’d cajoled the other two into coming along, confidently dismissing any worries they’d had about giving up their jobs to take six months off to see Europe, culminating in a few days in Florida to enjoy all the man-made attractions.
They had been friends in university and kept in contact afterwards, Stephanie and Laura both opting for careers in teaching, while Rachel had gone into social work. It was a shame the trip hadn’t worked out quite as planned, what with Laura staying on in Spain and Rachel receiving the news that her father had suffered a stroke just hours before she and Stephanie were due to board the flight to America. It was at Rachel’s insistence that she had agreed to carry on with the plan, so was she really going to let that man spoil it for all of them?
Her chin lifted and she pushed back into the crowd to watch the glitzy parade passing, and if thoughts of that arrogant redhead did occasionally slip into her mind then she quickly dismissed them. That was one bit of Florida she didn’t want any reminders of to take home!
The night was soft and balmy. Stephanie side-stepped a family group of mother, father and three excited children, almost tempted to follow them, but she’d done every single attraction and she didn’t think her aching feet could take much more. It was already after eight o’clock, way past the time that she’d planned to return to her hotel. Tempting though the thought of staying for another hour or so was, she had to get back or she would be too tired to enjoy Epcot in the morning.
With a last reluctant glance over her shoulder she started back towards the exits and the bus that would take her back to her hotel. After all these months travelling, funds were running low, so she hadn’t been able to afford the cost of hiring a car for her stay. However, she’d been lucky enough to find a hotel at Lake Buena Vista which ran a courtesy bus service to all the Disney attractions, so that hadn’t proved to be a problem.
She rounded a corner, then slowed when she noticed the child standing forlornly at one side of the path. There was something vaguely familiar about her, but it wasn’t until she shifted into the light spilling from a nearby hot-dog cart that Stephanie recognised her. Even as Stephanie hesitated, the little girl took a look around then started to cry, fat tears sliding down her pale cheeks.
Stephanie hurried forwards and crouched down beside her. ‘What’s the matter, love?’ She searched her memory and came up with the echo of a deep, gravelly voice, quickly stemming the accompanying shiver that ran down her spine. ‘It’s Jess, isn’t it? I spoke to your daddy before ... remember?’
The child sniffed, wiping a hand across her face as she stared back at Stephanie. ‘It’s Jessica Alice, and I do remember. Daddy called you “that fool woman” and was awfully cross all the way back to the hotel.’
Stephanie hid a grimace. ‘Jessica Alice is a nice name. Mine is Stephanie Jacobs. So tell me what’s wrong, Jessica. Have you hurt yourself?’ She put her bag down beside-her on the path and pulled out a tissue to wipe the child’s face, then smiled at her reassuringly.
Jessica shook her head, her blue eyes tear-sodden as they stared back at Stephanie.
‘Then what is the matter?’ Stephanie glanced round. ‘Are you by yourself? Where’s your daddy?’
‘He’s gone!’ the child wailed. ‘He said he wouldn’t be long, but he’s not come back. He’s left me!’
The child’s distress was evident, her choice of words somehow disturbing. Stephanie frowned, tossing the statement around her head to see what it was that bothered her about it before shrugging the idea aside. Naturally a child this age would be upset at being separated from her parent. She caught hold of the little girl’s hand and held it firmly, making her voice as deliberately reassuring as she could. ‘That’s the trouble with daddies; they will go wandering off on their own and getting lost. I expect he’s feeling just as scared and miserable right now.’
‘Is he?’ Jessica glanced up at her, her face very solemn.
‘Of course. I mean, being on your own among all these people... Why, even the biggest daddy would be scared.’
Jessica smiled shyly. ‘I don’t think my daddy is scared of anything.’
Amen to that, Stephanie silently endorsed. That man would be the one to do the scaring, not vice versa! I However, she kept the thought to herself and smiled