Once inside, his father pounced on him.
‘I’ve had a marvellous idea,’ he said. ‘That interview we did went well, didn’t it? We could do some more.’
‘Dad, we’re leaving in a couple of days.’
‘But you could persuade them to stay a little longer. We must do it now. Later will be too late. This is no time to be giving up.’ He made a theatrical gesture. ‘Seize the moment.’
‘What—what did you say?’ Jackson stammered.
‘I said, seize the moment. That’s the philosophy I’ve lived by all my life and it’s made me a winner. You should know that by now.’
‘But is it that simple?’ Jackson asked. ‘Surely you must first recognise the moment?’
‘Of course. That goes without saying.’
‘But can you always tell that the moment has come?’
‘A strong man creates the moment.’
‘Can you really do that?’ he murmured. ‘And risk getting it wrong?’
‘If a man knows what he’s doing, he doesn’t get it wrong.’
Jackson considered this for a moment.
‘That might work sometimes,’ he mused. ‘In business. But life isn’t all money.’ Almost under his breath he added, ‘Other things matter.’
‘I’ve told you before, the rules that govern business are the same for the rest of life. It doesn’t seem that way but it works out that way. A man has to stand his ground.’
‘And risk getting it wrong? Risk losing the moment?’
‘Then create another moment. Never admit defeat. Make things happen your way.’
Jackson didn’t try to answer this. The conversation had drifted into paths he didn’t want to follow. Amos’s words were so close to what he had seemed to hear in the temple that it gave him an eerie feeling.
He told himself that it meant nothing. Amos often talked this way and his own mind had attributed the words to Horus. That must be the answer.
But still he couldn’t quite dismiss the feeling of unease.
CHAPTER TEN
IT WAS THE last night. Tomorrow they would start the journey back to Cairo. In the restaurant everyone was celebrating. There were brief speeches of triumph and satisfaction. Somebody proposed a toast to Horus and Hathor, which made them all beam. In reply Amos raised his glass to ‘My loyal subjects!’ Saying it in a humorous way that made everyone laugh and cheer.
Freya looked at Jackson, sitting on the other side of the table, joining in the toasts, enjoying every moment. He was handsome, she had to admit. More handsome than any other man at the table. And others seemed to think so too, because Debra passed him by, touching his shoulder, claiming a friendly kiss before passing on.
Again Freya felt the tremor she’d known when his lips had fleetingly brushed hers. She’d banished that memory, but it refused to be dismissed, slipping back at odd moments, warning her that nothing was finally settled. Nor did she want to dismiss it. She felt herself smiling and didn’t even try not to.
He glanced up, saw her watching him and answered her smile with one of his own. Did he know what she was thinking? she wondered. Was he remembering the same? Was that the meaning behind his smile?
At last it was time to say goodnight. They began to drift out into the hall and up the stairs. But Freya, overcome by a sudden impulse, slipped out of the front door. She wanted to be alone, to walk by the river, to give herself up to memories that she must defy yet could enjoy one last time.
There along the bank was the place where Jackson had kissed her, tenderly brushing his lips against hers as an act of kindness and friendship. How many times had she reminded herself of that? How often had she warned herself not to hope for anything else? How often had she called herself a coward for being determined to avoid love for the rest of her life, or resist it if it couldn’t be avoided?
Here was the place. Here, if nowhere else in the world, she could allow herself to remember the forbidden feelings and revel in them.
‘This is to get rid of Tommy,’ he’d said. ‘Only that. Do you understand?’
He’d tried to protect her from responding to him. And he’d failed.
Closing her eyes, she leaned against the rail, raising her face to the glowing moon, and allowed the tremors to run through her again.
For the last time, she promised herself. The very last time.
At last she opened her eyes.
He was there.
At first she thought he was a delusion, but then she realised that Jackson was standing there, just a few feet away, watching her.
‘I guess we both had the same idea,’ he said, coming towards her.
‘We both—?’ Her heart was beating with either hope or disbelief. Or perhaps the two of them.
‘Coming out here,’ Jackson said. ‘I had to take a walk along the river. I’ve loved this place and I’ll be sorry to leave. I’m glad you feel the same. It’s a pity you didn’t summon me to come with you. If you say you don’t want me I’ll go away.’
‘No, don’t do that,’ she said quickly. Pulling herself together, she assumed a nonchalant demeanour. ‘I just thought you were tired and wanted to get to bed.’
‘Meaning I’m a wimp? Thank you, ma’am. No, I wouldn’t want to miss a last look here. It’s a lovely place.’
Freya had command of herself now and managed to say lightly, ‘It’s affected us all in so many ways. Amos, my mother.... Things seem so different between them now.’
‘Yes, ever since he learned that she had her doubts about him. Perhaps it explains that dramatic gift to “Hathor”. She’s got him worried. He won’t admit it, but he’s trying to bind her to him.’
‘But Mum didn’t marry him for his money and she isn’t a woman to be impressed by grand gestures. If he’s trying to win her heart again he’s going the wrong way about it.’
‘Yes, and he thinks he’s being so clever,’ Jackson mused. ‘That’s the trouble. It’s easy to think you’re being clever when you’re actually making a woman despise you.’
She regarded him with her head on one side and a teasing smile on her face.
‘Despise you? I shouldn’t think you have much to worry about in that direction. Your fan base doubles every day, so I hear. I expect Travis is getting quite jealous.’
‘Ha-ha!’ he said ironically. ‘Yes, I have my female fans—women who don’t know me, who wouldn’t give tuppence for me if they did know me. I’m talking about real relationships. I’ve never been brilliant at those.’ He hesitated before saying, ‘There was this girl—it took me too long to realise what we might be to each other, and by the time I did—well, I’d messed up.’
She too paused before speaking, wondering if she’d divined his true meaning.
‘So what happened? Has she married someone else?’
‘No, but I expect she will.’
‘Maybe not,’ she said carefully. ‘She might have gone off the whole idea.’
‘Blaming all men because of one useless dope? That’s a bit hard, isn’t it?’
‘Perhaps she thinks all men are useless dopes,’ Freya said, elaborately casual.
‘She might be right. But some