‘Isn’t this gorgeous?’ she gasped. ‘I just love it here. Come on in. I’ll race you to the other end.’
Lowri counted to three, then they set off for the far end, Hester careful not to overtake the child. They swam several lengths, then Hester called a halt as she saw Connah stroll up to watch them.
‘Did you see us, Daddy?’ said Lowri as she held up a hand. ‘I think Hester let me beat her.’
Connah pulled her out, then held out a hand to Hester. ‘You both looked far too energetic for me.’ He handed a towel to Hester, then enveloped his daughter in the other. ‘Hurry up and get showered and dressed, you two. I’m hungry.’
‘If you’ll give me half an hour, I’ll put supper on,’ said Hester breathlessly. So much for avoiding Connah in her swimsuit.
‘I’ll help,’ said Lowri, hurrying up the steps in front of them.
‘We’ll all help,’ said Connah firmly. ‘This is Hester’s holiday too.’
By the time Lowri and Hester were both dry and dressed and the cases had been unpacked it was rather more than half an hour, and Connah had pre-empted Hester by taking their supper out to the loggia himself.
‘It’s just cold turkey and spiced ham, and tomatoes and bread and cheese and so on tonight, as I asked,’ he said, looking pleased with himself. ‘Plus a pudding Flavia made for us.’
‘Thank you,’ said Hester, taken aback by this reversal of their usual roles.
‘My pleasure.’
As they sat down to their meal the sun began to set and Connah lit the shaded lamp on the table. He filled two glasses with sparkling white wine, and one with limonata, then raised his glass in a toast. ‘Happy holiday, ladies.’
‘You too, Daddy,’ said Lowri happily.
‘Yes, indeed,’ agreed Hester. ‘Thank you very much for inviting me.’
Lowri stared at her blankly. ‘We couldn’t have come without you!’
‘If we had, Hester,’ said Connah wryly, ‘I’d be a broken man by the time we got back if I had to cope with Lowri on my own for four weeks.’
‘I’m not that bad!’ protested his daughter. ‘Oh, look. The stars are coming out and there’s a little moon at the edge of the sky over there by the pool.’
‘All laid on specially for you,’ teased her father.
It was a magical evening, not least because Connah Carey Jones was a very different man on holiday. He treated Hester as though they were just two people enjoying the company of the child and each other, with no hint of employer and employee. The impression grew stronger when Connah insisted that he and Lowri would remove dishes and fetch the pudding while Hester just sat there and counted stars.
‘I will also make the coffee,’ he announced as he came back with a dish of pannacotta, the national favourite, for dessert.
‘There’s a caramel sauce underneath the creamy bit,’ Hester told the child. ‘Shall I spoon it over yours?’
‘Yes, please, said Lowri, licking her lips. ‘Are you having some, Daddy?’
He shook his head. ‘Not for me. I’ll stick with pecorino and another hunk of this wonderful bread.’
They lingered at the table while the sky grew dark and the stars grew brighter. The warm air was fragrant with flowers and new-cut grass and some other scent Connah told Hester came from a herb bed under the kitchen window.
‘Jay Anderson planted it for his wife, and Flavia is only too delighted to make use of it. The scent is a mixture of rosemary, thyme, sage—and basil, of course, and probably a few other things I’ve never heard of.’ Connah leaned back, relaxed. ‘I must tell Jay that if ever he feels like selling the place to think of me first.’
Lowri gazed at him, round-eyed. ‘Would you really buy it, Daddy?’
‘In the unlikely event that Jay and Stella would want to sell, yes. But they won’t part with it, cariad. And who could blame them?’
Jay Anderson had installed a large television and DVD player in the sitting room, but for once Lowri made no protest when Connah said it was late and she must go straight to bed so that Hester could come back downstairs and relax for a while in the warm night air.
‘You can read another chapter of that book you’re devouring,’ said Hester.
The child embraced her father with enthusiasm, but a yawn overtook her as she went inside with Hester. ‘I quite fancy going to bed in that dear little room next to yours,’ she admitted sleepily. ‘I was too excited to sleep much last night.’
Within minutes the face-washing and teeth-brushing routine was over and Lowri was tucked under the snow-white covers on the bed. ‘I’m too tired to read tonight,’ she said, yawning. ‘Will you kiss me goodnight, Hester?’
Touched, Hester bent to kiss the smooth, flushed cheek, brushed a hand over the silky dark hair, then said goodnight and went quietly from the room to go downstairs to Connah.
As always, his requirements had been clearly stated. Otherwise, since this was a different situation, in a different country, Hester would have been uncertain what to do once Lowri was in bed. She felt a frisson of pure pleasure at spending time alone with Connah in these circumstances, as she took a few minutes in her room to brush her hair and touch a lipstick to her mouth. Her thin cotton dress was an old one, but the gentian-blue shade deepened the colour of her eyes and the wide skirt was more holiday-friendly than the clothes she wore in Albany Square. The face that looked back at her from the mirror was flushed from the sun and the swim and the sheer pleasure of the evening. Four weeks, she told it firmly. After that it would nearly be time to leave Connah and Lowri and go on to pastures new in Yorkshire. Where she would miss Lowri badly when she was looking after a newborn baby. She would miss Lowri’s father even more. She took in a deep breath and smiled at her reflection. Instead of anticipating future pain, right now it was time to join Connah—and make the most of present pleasure.
CHAPTER SEVEN
CONNAH was waiting impatiently when Hester joined him on the loggia. ‘At last! Did Lowri con you into reading the book to her, instead?’
‘No, she was too tired.’ She smiled. ‘By the time I’d finished tidying her room she was asleep.’
‘You were a long time coming down,’ he commented, pulling out a chair for her. ‘I thought you might have had second thoughts and gone to bed.’
‘Not without saying goodnight!’
‘Goodnight, Connah,’ he ordered. ‘We’re supposed to be on first name terms, but so far, Hester, I’ve yet to hear mine from you.’
‘I find it difficult,’ she said awkwardly.
‘Why?’
‘For obvious reasons.’
He eyed her challengingly. ‘How did you address your last employers?’
‘As Leo and Julia,’ she admitted, ‘but it was a very informal household.’
‘So is mine. From now on you say Connah, or I shall address you as Miss Ward.’ He smiled suddenly. ‘Loosen up, Hester. This is a holiday. Forget your scruples and enjoy the break from humdrum routine in Albany Square.’
Hester couldn’t help laughing. ‘During my brief but eventful time in Albany Square, life has been anything but humdrum.’
‘That’s better—you should laugh more often,’ he approved. ‘Have a glass of wine.’
Oh, why not? thought Hester. ‘Thank you,’ she said sedately.
After a comfortable