He instantly glanced away as the kettle came to the boil and tried to calm his breathing as he watched her stir the hot water into the ground coffee and savoured the delicious aroma.
God, this woman was good. Even the coffee was excellent.
His eyes moved to her left hand as she brought the coffee over to the table. The pale blue sapphires had no doubt been chosen to match the colour of her eyes by her late husband—whom she was probably still crazy about.
A tinge of something approaching jealousy sneaked into Seb’s mind so quietly that he did not notice it until too late. Ridiculous!
One more reason to finish his packing and get back to his solitary life.
Ella looked up from Milou as he laughed out loud, and she sat down opposite Seb as she dried her hands.
‘What’s so funny? Don’t you like it?’
He sat back in his hard wooden chair, hands behind his head, and stretched out, unaware that in doing so he had exposed a healthy section of bare midriff complete with muscular abs covered by a band of dark hair.
‘Oh, please, not at this time of the day.’ Ella covered her eyes with one hand in dramatic horror. ‘Put it away—it’s putting me off my lunch.’
Seb glanced down, realised what she was referring to, and dropped his arms. For the first time in many years a flash of real embarrassment made him feel awkward and he busied himself pouring the coffee.
‘Is there any place or time of day when it wouldn’t be a problem?’
Had he really just said that out loud? Because for a second it sounded as though he was flirting—and he did not flirt. Ever.
‘Well. Maybe there is.’ Ella smiled closed-mouthed across the table as she accepted the coffee. ‘But it usually involves swimming pools and drinks with umbrellas in them, and since we have neither…’
‘I’ll keep my shirt tucked. Got the message.’
He took a small sip of coffee, then sighed in pleasure.
‘This is great coffee. Did you buy it around here?’
She shook her head.
‘Montpellier. I’m pleased that you like it. Nicole finds it way too strong. And my parents prefer tea.’
Seb shuddered in response. ‘I never got used to tea. Do you see your parents very often? Back in London?’
Ella took a long drink of coffee. ‘No. They gave up their home in London years ago and bought one of those huge mobile homes. They’re still working as jazz musicians and usually find gigs across Europe during the summer, then drive south for the winter. They pop in whenever they can.’ She looked over his head towards the sunlit garden and smiled. ‘But I wouldn’t have it any other way. Especially for Dan.’
She glanced down at his plate, then looked up at him, her eyes dancing. ‘You chose the cherry tart. What do you think?’
‘Really delicious. And it would be perfect for a summer party. Nicole and her guests are going to love it.’
Ella slowly lowered her cup to the table. ‘Good. Then you won’t mind if I ask you a question?’ She looked up into Seb’s face, suddenly serious and full of understanding. ‘Does Nicole know that you never had any intention of staying for her birthday party?’
Seb frowned. ‘I knew that I was going to be in the area for a few days and we agreed to spend some time together for once. As it happened my business meeting was brought forward a week. I am sorry to have missed her, but there will be other times.’
‘You do know that Nicole is my friend as well as my employer?’ Ella replied. ‘I hate to think that you are here to hurt her. Is it because of the divorce? Because I think she has suffered enough over that one.’
‘No. It’s nothing to do with that. I have every intention of apologising the first chance I get.’
Ella’s focus was still on her coffee cup and when she replied her voice was cracked with sceptical concern. ‘Then why are you still here, Seb? You were quite ready to leave this morning, but as soon as you saw your mum’s portrait something changed. Can you tell me why that was? What did you find in that picture today that was so important to you?’
Seb paused before replying, her question resonating inside his head.
He had survived the traumatic events in his life by keeping everything personal bottled up inside himself. But here, in this kitchen, it somehow made perfect sense to give Ella the explanation she needed. And perhaps by talking through the issues out loud, he might make sense of them. Just as he had planned to do with Nicole.
This could be the only chance he would ever have to tell his story to a disconnected person and know that it would be heard sympathetically. Somehow, somewhere in the last day, he had found someone he could trust with his personal problems. And that was special.
Ella watched Seb’s heavy dark eyebrows come together, his frown as deep as his heart.
She might have pushed him too far.
And in that instant she reached out and touched his hand and smiled to break the tension.
‘I am the nosiest person in this town. Please excuse me.’ Ella laughed. ‘You are a guest in this house and your personal reasons for staying around are none of my business.’
In a moment she was on her feet, reaching out for the cups and plates and desperate to change the subject. ‘Would you like to try the apricots before you leave? Yvette picked them at dawn.’
Only Seb caught her hand and kept it, calm and still. Something flicked across his face as though he was struggling to come to a decision.
‘Six months ago my dad—’ and at this Seb sighed a little too loudly ‘—had what the doctors described as a mini-stroke.’
She gasped and sat back down again. ‘Oh, no. I’m so sorry. Is he okay?’
He nodded slowly. ‘It was very small, and he was back on his feet in a few days.’
He looked up at her and his upper lip twitched. ‘It shook me up, I can tell you. My job demands regular health checks, but nothing specific. Nothing where I needed a detailed family history and blood work.’
Seb’s eyes were focused now on the palm of Ella’s hand and he spread out her fingers, moving his fingertip along the life line on her palm before speaking again. ‘I asked my company doctor to test me, in case there could be any hereditary problems. He’s a friend. A good friend. So when he came to my office and closed the door behind him I knew it must be something serious.’
Ella thought that her own heart was going to stop. ‘Oh, no. What did he say? Please?’
Seb meshed the fingers of one hand through hers as he resisted saying the words out loud.
‘He said that I needed to talk to my dad. Because he had been through our blood work three times and there was no mistake. Luc Castellano cannot be my biological father.’
‘WHAT did you do?’ Ella whispered. ‘I mean, that must have been a terrible shock.’
Seb nodded. ‘It was. There were two options. I had either been adopted, or my mother had a relationship with someone else before she married my dad. Either way I knew that I had to ask my dad face to face and ask him to tell me the truth.’
‘Of course! The wedding photographs! She was pregnant with you when she married.’ Ella paused. ‘But you didn’t expect that, did you? What did he tell you?’
Seb sat back in the hard kitchen