‘I was just showing Kate Martinique. We’ll be landing soon.’
Tiarnan was barely aware of Rosie ignoring him as she came and sat on Kate’s lap, pointing things out to her through the window. He sat down and could still feel the press of Kate’s fingers around his. A show of support. He’d never had that—never had that sensation of someone sharing his experience. It made him feel—He didn’t want to think about how it made him feel. Or how it felt to see Rosie sitting on Kate’s lap with such trusting ease, their two heads close together.
Kate’s assertion that she wouldn’t want Rosie to be hurt had made all sorts of hackles rise. He was the one responsible for his daughter’s well-being and security, and he had the uncustomary sensation of having allowed himself and her to be put in a vulnerable position. With an effort, he let himself tune into Rosie’s chatter to Kate about Mama Lucille and Papa Joe, and her best friend Zoe.
Still feeling exposed, and studiously avoiding looking anywhere near Tiarnan, Kate hugged Rosie’s skinny frame close until she had to take her own seat. Kate hated that her heart ached so much for Rosie and Tiarnan’s distress. She shouldn’t be allowing them to get too close. But as the plane touched down in a bright tropical paradise, all she could feel was a bittersweet joy so intense that she had to shield her face with her hair, terrified that Tiarnan or Rosie might see it.
With the time difference, it was afternoon when they arrived. The sun beat down, and it must have rained shortly before as the ground was steaming. The air was heavy and humid, warming right through to Kate’s bones and already making sweat gather at the small of her back and between her breasts.
A smiling young local man met them off the plane, with a small open-top Jeep, and Tiarnan drove it now on a narrow road along the coast. They were heading south, and Kate was happy just to take in the scenery and listen to Rosie chatting non-stop about everything and anything. It was good to see her so animated.
Before too long they came into a charming fishing village, Anse D’Arlet with a white church dominating the seafront and a long wooden promenade that stretched out over the water, where colourful boats bobbed up and down. Shops were strewn along the main street. Some of the buildings were crumbling and had a faded grandeur that just added to the appeal of this slow, peaceful-looking place.
‘This is it—our local village.’
Kate looked at Tiarnan briefly. Even he already looked more relaxed.
Rosie was standing up behind his seat, pointing a finger, and she said excitedly, ‘That’s Zoe’s house—there, Katie, look! Tiarnan, please can I get out and go see her now?’
Kate could see Tiarnan’s jaw clench, and she felt his pain at Rosie’s insistent use of Tiarnan. He looked for a moment as if he was going to say no, but then he slowed the Jeep at the bottom of a small drive and Rosie jumped out. Another small girl appeared, and the two started squealing and running towards each other. Tiarnan waved at the woman who had appeared in the doorway of the house, and Kate guessed it must be the little girl’s mother.
He turned then and shook his head at Kate. ‘See? We’ll be lucky to get her back for dinner, but she’ll want to see Mama Lucille …’
Tiarnan kept driving southwards out of the small town, and after a couple of minutes turned right towards the sea into an open set of gates that were wildly overgrown with frangipani and exotic flowers. They emerged from under a dense canopy of foliage into a small forecourt in front of an idyllic white-painted villa.
It was old colonial French-style, and had a wooden deck wrapped around it and what looked like a long balcony above, with an intricately carved railing. Shutters were painted bright blue, and everything looked pristine and lovingly cared for. A shape appeared in the open front door, and Kate saw a huge, buxom woman with the biggest, whitest smile she’d ever seen in her life.
Tiarnan had stopped the Jeep, and as he helped her out he smiled and said, ‘May I present the inimitable Mama Lucille …?’
The woman came to the top of the steps and put her hands on ample hips. She looked from left to right. ‘Where is my baby girl?’
Tiarnan took the steps two at a time and gave her a huge hug before standing back, ‘Where do you think? She had to stop and see her partner in crime—your granddaughter Zoe. No doubt they’re already driving Anne-Marie crazy.’
Mama Lucille shook her head and laughed a big belly laugh, and as Kate came shyly up the steps behind Tiarnan she could see that this woman truly was some sort of universal earth mother. She looked ageless.
Mama Lucille set Tiarnan aside and put her hands on her hips again. ‘And who is this vision?’ She glanced at Tiarnan with a wicked gleam in her dark eyes. ‘Is she an angel come to save us all?’
Before Tiarnan could answer, Kate stepped forward and smiled. ‘No angel, I’m afraid—just Kate. I’m an old friend of Tiarnan and Sorcha’s.’
Kate’s innate humility struck Tiarnan forcibly. She was one of the most famous models in the world, but she had absolutely no evidence of an ego to reflect that; no expectation that people should know her. The realisation unsettled him for a moment, and he had to concede that Kate was surprising him—exactly as she’d done in San Francisco, when he’d imagined things going differently. He was somewhat belatedly aware that he didn’t really know her that well at all, and with that awareness came a tingling sense of anticipation.
Kate was holding out her hand, but Mama Lucille waved it away and dragged Kate into her massive bosom. ‘Any friend of theirs is a friend of mine.’ She pulled back then and held Kate away from her slightly, looked her up and down critically. ‘Are you a model, the same as that sister of his?’
Kate nodded.
‘Hmph. Thought so. Too skinny—just like that other one—but I’d say she’s bigger now, after the baby!’ Mama Lucille guffawed again and pinched Kate’s cheek. ‘Don’t you worry, angel. A few days of my cooking and we’ll put some fat on those hips …’
Kate had to laugh as she imagined her agent’s horrorstruck face if she arrived back a few pounds heavier, and with that came the familiar yearning to just let go and stop being so aware of things like her weight.
Before she knew it, Mama Lucille had disappeared in a flurry of movement, with a promise of some dinner in a couple of hours. A young girl with a shy pretty smile appeared and took their bags into the house.
Tiarnan took Kate by the hand. She would have pulled away, but he held her with easy strength, looking at her with an assessing gaze that made her toes curl.
‘Come on, I’ll give you the tour.’
Kate felt dizzy by the time Tiarnan was leading her upstairs. The house was completely charming. All dark polished wooden floorboards, white walls and beautiful old furniture. White muslin curtains fluttered in the breezes that flowed through open sash windows, with latticed shutters wide open. She’d seen a butterfly dart in one window and out through the next with a flash of bright iridescence. It was truly a home. Kate could imagine the doors always open, people coming and going all day, and yet it had a tranquil air that beguiled and seduced …
‘Do Mama Lucille and Papa Joe live here too?’ Kate asked as she followed Tiarnan up the stairs and tried not to look at his bottom. He glanced back and she coloured guiltily.
‘No. Even though I’ve been trying to get them to move in for years. They’re on the other side of the property. There’s a back entrance, down by the private beach, and they live in the old gate lodge. Mama Lucille says she prefers it because there’s not enough room for her family to come and stay, and it’s the only way she and Papa Joe get peace and quiet to themselves.’
Clearly, from the warmth in his voice, Tiarnan was as crazy as Rosie was about this place and the people. It made Kate’s heart do a funny jump