Cherish Collection January 2014 (Books 1-12). Rebecca Winters. Читать онлайн. Newlib. NEWLIB.NET

Автор: Rebecca Winters
Издательство: HarperCollins
Серия: Mills & Boon e-Book Collections
Жанр произведения: Эротическая литература
Год издания: 0
isbn: 9781472074430
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Once he could have consoled her as a brother, but those days were over. The physical attraction that had flickered between them might have been brief, but its memory was searing. Neither of them could forget it, and it would destroy everything he tried to do for her. Now she was alone as never before.

      The sight of her tears had seemed to bring a treacherous stinging to his own eyes, and bitterly he’d cursed the malign fate that made him helpless when she needed him so much.

      At last Freya had turned away and stumbled inside, leaving him distraught and asking himself for the thousandth time, What have I done?

      CHAPTER SIX

      THE RINGING OF the phone awoke Freya before dawn the next morning. It was Janine, sounding worried.

      ‘Please come,’ she said. ‘He’s gasping again.’

      Freya pulled on her dressing gown and hurried out into the corridor. To her surprise she saw Jackson there, turning the key in his own door.

      ‘What is it?’ he asked.

      ‘Amos. Mum’s just called me to say he’s gasping.’

      ‘Let’s go.’

      They found Amos sitting on the side of the bed, his chest rising and falling heavily. He looked up at Freya, and nodded when she produced the stethoscope she’d taken the precaution of bringing.

      ‘So now we have the truth,’ he said caustically. ‘Your visit is just another way of mollycoddling me.’

      ‘I’m always ready in case you need me. Now hush and let me do my job.’

      ‘Are you giving me orders?’

      ‘Yes, I am. So do as I say and be quiet.’

      ‘You’re as big a bully as your mother.’

      ‘Luckily for you I am.’

      She listened to his heart, fearing the worst, but was pleasantly surprised to hear it beating strongly.

      ‘That’s good,’ she said.

      ‘Of course it is. There’s nothing the matter with me. Why must women always make a fuss?’

      ‘Because you mean a lot to us,’ Janine said, sounding cross. ‘Although I sometimes wonder why. You miserable old so-and-so.’

      Amos gave a bark of ironic laughter. ‘And those are the words of a woman who says I mean a lot to her. Isn’t it lucky I have a sense of humour?’

      ‘No, it’s lucky you have a wife who can put up with your carry-on,’ Freya said. ‘Your health isn’t too bad but don’t overdo it.’

      ‘If you’re trying to stop me going out today, forget it. It’s our last day here before we go to Edfu and I’m not going to miss it.’

      ‘Perhaps you should,’ Jackson said. ‘You’ve seen this place. Why not stay here and rest today so that you’re fit for tomorrow?’

      ‘I’m fit for anything I say I’m fit for,’ Amos said, outraged. ‘Don’t tell me you’ve started taking their orders? That any son of mine—’

      ‘As a son of yours I’m practical,’ Jackson said. ‘And being practical means I’ll listen to suggestions from someone who knows better than I do.’ He inclined his head to Freya. ‘Find the experts and pick their brains. It’s the most profitable way forward. You taught me that.’

      ‘I’m going with you,’ Amos repeated.

      ‘All right, but take it easy,’ Freya told him. ‘Walk as little as you have to.’ She had a sudden burst of inspiration. ‘After all, our next stop is Edfu, where you and Horus will confront each other. You wouldn’t want to be taken ill before you get there, would you? Imagine missing him when you’ve come so far to meet him. He’s probably laying out the red carpet for you now.’

      Amos cast her a wry look, conveying that he understood exactly what she was up to. But to their relief his mood improved.

      ‘You’re right,’ he said. ‘Nothing must get in the way of Edfu.’

      ‘It’s still early,’ Freya said. ‘Try to get some more sleep.’

      Amos nodded and slid down in the bed. Jackson and Freya patted Janine’s shoulder, and left.

      ‘Is he really all right?’ he asked as they went along the corridor.

      ‘Yes, his heart sounds better than I expected. But he shouldn’t walk too much. It might help to have a wheelchair on hand, just in case.’

      ‘Gladly. You really got the better of him back there.’

      ‘No, you did, with your talk about profiting from the advice of experts.’ She put her hand over her mouth to smother a yawn.

      ‘And you’re the expert,’ he said. ‘You’d better get a little more sleep. You might find tomorrow tiring. Goodnight.’

      ‘Goodnight.’

      Where was he going? she wondered as he walked away. Back to Debra, perhaps.

      She remembered hearing him spoken of as ‘a man who likes to enjoy life, taking pleasure wherever he finds it’, and she guessed the pleasures must be many. Women would be drawn to both his looks and his growing fame as a television personality. And his easygoing good nature would add to his attractions.

      As for his darker side, the one that had ruined things between them, who else but her had ever discovered it?

      She had no desire to sleep. She switched on the light and took out the book about the pyramids that she’d brought with her. But even this failed to calm her mind and at last she closed it, turned the light out again and went to the window that looked out over the hotel’s garden.

      In the faint light she could just make out the figure of a man wandering beneath the trees. Something about him caught her attention. He seemed not merely alone but strangely cut off from his fellow humans.

      Then she recognised Jackson.

      So he wasn’t with Debra, she thought. Unless Debra was coming out to join him.

      But minutes passed and he was still alone. Again she had the mysterious feeling that loneliness was natural to him.

      How could that be? Nobody as popular as Jackson was ever lonely.

      Yet the thought would not be banished. For all his large family, his popularity, Jackson had nobody who was completely his. His brothers were all happily married; his father had Janine. But he drifted through life in mysterious isolation. The thought had never occurred to her before, and now she wondered why.

      He turned, looked up and saw her. She half expected him to turn away, but he raised his arm in a gesture that invited her to join him. Her heart leapt. She waved back, and hurried away to slip some shorts and a T-shirt on before going to meet Jackson.

      He was waiting for her at the door.

      ‘Thank you,’ he said. ‘I was afraid you wouldn’t come.’

      ‘But this is a lovely place. I don’t wonder you like to be here.’

      He took her hand and led her through the trees to where there were some seats at the end of the garden. The pyramids were more visible now, easing their way into the light, magical, magnificent, mysterious.

      For a while they sat in silence, relishing the experience, his hand still holding hers. Then he said softly, ‘I can’t tell you how grateful I am to you for coming to Egypt. It must have been difficult.’

      ‘I wouldn’t just abandon Amos. I know he means the world to you.’

      ‘In a way.’

      ‘In a way?’

      ‘Don’t misunderstand me. I love my father. But—how do I say it?—I don’t