Nick’s phone bleeped, and he glanced down at the screen briefly. ‘It looks as though the workmen have finished installing the hot tub,’ he said. ‘Shall we go down and take a look?’
‘Yes, of course.’
She followed him down the stairs and out to the courtyard, where the workmen waited, standing by their handiwork.
‘We’re all done here,’ the spokesman said. ‘I think you’ll find everything’s in order. Just turn these controls here to adjust the jets.’ He began to point out the various buttons and fittings. ‘This is your filter… and here’s where you change the heat settings. We’ve left it set to around midway. Neither too hot nor too cold, but of course it’s all a matter of personal preference.’
‘That’s great,’ Nick murmured. ‘It looks perfect. Thanks for all your hard work.’ He turned to Katie. ‘Stay and enjoy the courtyard for a minute or two, will you, while I go and see the men off? There’s an ornamental fishpond that you might like to look at, over there in the corner. I’ll be back in a few minutes.’
‘Okay.’ She watched him go, then turned and walked towards the far side of the courtyard, an attractive area, laid out with a trellised arbour and rockery. A gentle waterfall splashed into the pond where koi carp swam amongst the plants and hid beneath white waterlilies.
She gazed down at the green fronds of water plants drifting with the ripple of water from a small fountain and lost herself for a while in a reverie of a past life.
‘Sorry to have left you,’ Nick said, coming back to her a short time later. ‘I think the men did a good job. They sited the tub perfectly and left the place looking neat and tidy. Didn’t take them too long either.’
She nodded. ‘I expect you’ll appreciate your new tub for a good many years to come.’ Turning back to the pond, she added, ‘This is beautifully set out.
The water’s so clear, and the plants are perfect.’ Her voice became wistful. ‘I remember having one in our garden when I was a child… but it was never as good as this. I suppose you have to keep on top of things—make sure the filter is kept clear, and so on.’
‘That’s true. I tend to check it every so often. The pond is a hobby of mine. I find it totally relaxing, something you need so that you can wind down after a day in Emergency.’ He sent her an oblique glance. ‘Did your father set up your pond… or was it something that came with the house, so to speak?’
‘It came with the house. My father was interested in it, but he wasn’t around for long enough to take care of it, and the work fell to my mother.’
‘And she wasn’t that keen?’
‘She was keen enough when my father was with us, but after he left to go and live here in California she fell apart. She lost interest in everything.’
He frowned. ‘I’m sorry. That must have been hard.’ He scanned her face thoughtfully. ‘I’ve known Jack for some eighteen years, ever since he pipped us to the post and bought the vineyard from its previous owner. In all that time I had no idea he had a daughter back in the UK.’
‘No. It seems he kept it quiet.’
‘I suppose you had to take a lot of the burden on your shoulders—how old were you when he left?’
‘I was eight. As to any burden, I must say I didn’t really understand what was going on at the time. It was all very confusing. When I realised he wasn’t coming back, I was hurt, heartbroken, and then as the years went by I became angry and resentful. There was just my mother and me, no cosy family unit with brothers and sisters to share happy times. I missed that.’
A shadow crossed his eyes. ‘And that’s why you never came over here until now.’ He looked at her with new understanding. ‘You were waiting for him to come back to you.’
She lowered her head. ‘It wasn’t going to happen, was it? So eventually I decided that if I was to make peace with myself, I had to come and find him and sort out my demons once and for all.’
He slid an arm around her shoulders. ‘I’m sorry that you had to go through all that,’ he said quietly. ‘It must have been a terrible time for you.’ He drew her close and pressed a light kiss on her forehead. ‘It seems almost unforgivable that he should treat you that way, and yet I know Jack is a good man at heart.’
Katie didn’t answer. She couldn’t. She was too conscious of his nearness, and it brought up all kinds of conflicting emotions within her. Everything in her told her that this man was some kind of adversary. He was a threat to her father, and a danger to her peace of mind, and yet when he touched her like this, she was instantly lost in a cotton-wool world of warmth and comfort.
His arms were around her, his body shielding hers from all that might hurt her, and the searing impact of that tender kiss had ricocheted throughout her whole body. She didn’t want to move, or speak. Why couldn’t she stay here, locked in his embrace, where the world stood still and she might forget her worries?
‘Do you think you can find it in you to forgive him?’ Nick murmured. ‘He’s very ill, and there may not be too much time left.’
‘I don’t know.’ She gave a faint sigh. The spell was broken and she straightened, gazing down into the water of the pond. Fish darted among the green fronds, oblivious to the troubles of the world around them. If only she could find such inner peace.
She took a step backwards. ‘I should go,’ she said. Nick was the last person she should look to for comfort. He could well turn out to be even more of a heartbreaker than her father.
‘IS YOUR father really considering selling his vineyard to the Bellini family? That seems very strange to me.’ Eve Logan sounded doubtful at the other end of the line. ‘I haven’t had a lot of contact with him over these last few years, but I did gain the impression that the business meant an awful lot to him. I wouldn’t have thought it was something he would give it up lightly.’
‘No, probably not,’ Katie agreed. ‘When I spoke to him the other day he said he hadn’t thought it through yet, or words to that effect. I’m wondering if the Bellinis are putting undue pressure on him. He isn’t well, and I have the strong feeling that he isn’t up to it.’
‘Then perhaps it’s as well that you’re over there and able to look out for him.’
‘Yes, maybe.’
Katie cut the call to her mother a few minutes later and gazed around the apartment. She was feeling oddly restless. Ever since her visit to Nick’s home several days ago, she had been suffering from what she could only think of as withdrawal symptoms, and it was all Nick’s fault.
That kiss had been the lightest, gentlest touch, and it surely had been nothing more than a gesture of comfort and understanding, but the memory of it had stayed with her ever since. Nick had a compelling, magnetic charm that could surely melt the stoniest heart, and she was proving to be no exception.
It wouldn’t do at all. She was off men… they could string you along and lead you into thinking that everything was perfect, and then throw it all in your face with the biggest deception of all. No. Every instinct warned her that it would be far better to steer clear of Nick before he could work his magic on her. He spelled trouble and that was something she could definitely do without.
It didn’t help that she managed to catch a glimpse of his house every time she headed along the main highway on her way to or from the hospital. Today had been no exception. Nick’s home was beautiful, a jewel set in the golden, sand-fringed crown of the California coast.
Annoyingly, against all her better judgement, her thoughts kept straying