CHAPTER NINE
SHAKING with fear in anticipation of a quite dreadful, horrendous scene, Samantha was shocked to find herself being suddenly lifted off her feet, carried swiftly through to her bedroom, before being lowered slowly and carefully down on to her bed.
‘I’m not going to insult either of us by asking whether the baby is mine—because, of course, it must be.’
Matt’s voice sounded amazingly calm and composed, his words seeming to echo strangely in her ears as she lay exhausted against the pillows, still not daring to open her eyes.
‘When is the baby due?’ he asked quietly, sitting down on the bed beside her.
‘January,’ she whispered.
‘So it was in New York that you conceived the baby?’
She nodded, a weak tear escaping from beneath her tightly clenched eyelids and rolling slowly down her face. ‘That first time we made love. After dinner at the Four Seasons. We didn’t...it all happened so quickly. I’m sorry, Matt.’ She gave a helpless shrug, forcing herself to open her eyes and gaze weepily up at him. ‘I guess it’s just one of those things...’
‘Shush...’ he murmured, whipping a large white handkerchief from the top pocket of his jacket and gently wiping her face.
‘I’m not saying it isn’t all a bit of a shock,’ he admitted, a slight flush on his high cheekbones as he gave a low rumble of faintly embarrassed laughter. ‘However, it’s clearly no good crying over spilt milk. You’re expecting my baby—and we must simply decide what we’re going to do about it—right?’
Not waiting for her reply, he rose from the bed and began pacing slowly up and down the room.
‘We’ve got quite a lot of time in hand before the baby’s born. So, there’s clearly no need to panic. However, there are one or two things we must get sorted out straight away. We have to arrange to get married—which means obtaining a licence from somewhere, I presume? Although I imagine your older sister, Edwina, would be able to help you with those sort of arrangements?’
‘Just a minute...’ she mumbled, struggling to sit up on the bed. She was still feeling stunned by the speed of events. Not to mention her total astonishment at Matt’s cool, calm acceptance of the fact that she was expecting his baby.
‘There won’t be any time for a honeymoon, of course, because I’m far too busy at the moment.’ He turned to flash her a quick smile before continuing to tick the items off on his fingers. ‘However, it’s going to be important to book you into a good hospital for the birth...’
‘Hang on!’ she said as the confusion and bewilderment at the speed of events gradually cleared from her mind. ‘There are still a lot of things we have to talk about.’
‘I’m assuming that you’ve already got a good doctor,’ he added, completely ignoring her muttered protest. ‘However, we ought to take advice from another top medical opinion, just to be on the safe side.’
Not at all happy about the way Matt seemed to be suddenly taking charge of her life, Samantha tried several times to halt the flow. But, as he continued to walk up and down in front of the bed, making sweeping decisions and arrangements for both herself and also her baby, she decided that she’d just have to wait until he ran out of steam. Because there was obviously a lot more at stake between her and Matt than her unplanned pregnancy.
‘In fact, the more I think about it,’ he was saying, ‘I think a country wedding—maybe in your sister’s local village church?—would be perfect at this time of year.’
And then, clearly struck by a sudden thought, he spun around on his heel to stare down at her.
‘I think the news that I’m about to be a father must have gone to my head,’ he said slowly. ‘Because there is something else, isn’t there? That crazy younger sister of yours, Georgie, made some reference to the fact that you’d been married before—right?’
Samantha gave a heavy sigh. ‘Yes...’ she nodded. ‘Yes, I’m afraid so.’
‘But you are divorced?’ he probed, coming to sit down beside her once again.
‘God—yes!’ She gave a bitter laugh. ‘I should never have married Alan in the first place. The marriage only lasted a few months—which is why I haven’t said anything about it before now. I...I really didn’t want to remind myself of just what an idiot I’d been.’
Matt shrugged his broad shoulders. ‘These things happen,’ he murmured, adding with a crooked grin, ‘However, it’s a relief to know that we haven’t got to organise a divorce before being able to make arrangements for our wedding!’
‘Slow down, Matt. For one thing, I haven’t even agreed to this marriage. And for another...’
‘Don’t be ridiculous!’ He waved away her words as if they were totally irrelevant. ‘Now, I think you’d better tell me about your first marriage. And then we can forget it ever happened, all right?’
Samantha gave a helpless shrug. She obviously didn’t want to go into all the ins and outs of her marriage to Alan. But, since she was carrying Matt’s baby, he undoubtedly had a right to know about that unhappy episode in her past.
Taking a quick decision to omit any reference to the motivation which had originally led her to agree to wed Alan Gifford, she merely confined herself to explaining—although she and her ex-husband were now good friends—exactly why the marriage had only lasted a few months. Just as long as it had taken the two young people to discover that they had absolutely nothing in common.
‘Alan hated towns. He wanted to spend his life deep in the country, where he could concentrate on his painting, while I was set on a financial career in the City. He thoroughly disapproved of the buzz I got from closing a financial deal—and I hated the place always being in a mess and smelling of paint and turpentine. On top of which, all his arty friends loathed and despised every one of my business colleagues. Quite honestly, we could hardly agree on the time of day, let alone any serious major decisions. It was a complete and utter disaster!’
‘I’m sorry,’ Matt murmured. ‘But, from what you say, it does seem as though you’ve managed to remain friends with your ex-husband. That has to count for something, surely?’
She sighed. ‘I hope so. I did go through a period of deep depression. But I came to see that just about everyone takes a wrong turning at some point. The great thing is to try and not do it too often,’ she added wryly.
‘And I guess that brings me fairly neatly to the point at issue,’ she continued, swinging her legs off the other side of the bed and walking slowly around it towards her dressing table. ‘It isn’t nearly such a simple equation—“Samantha’s pregnant: ring out the wedding bells”—as you seem to think. I’m not knocking the way you’ve taken the news...’ She turned to give him a wry smile as she pulled out a stool and sat down in front of her dressing-table mirror. ‘You’ve been remarkably kind and considerate about the situation, Matt—far more than I’d ever thought possible. But there are still some major problems which we need to discuss. The fact is...’ she swung around to face him once more ‘...I don’t see how your offering to many me—much as I appreciate your intention of doing “the right thing”—goes anywhere towards solving the differences between us.’
‘Oh, no—not that utterly stupid business you were going on about earlier this evening? I told you it was absolute rubbish!’ he grated, rising swiftly to his feet and pacing up and down the floor behind her.
‘You really must be totally paranoiac, Sam, to even think I’d do such a thing,’ he thundered angrily. ‘For one thing, you weren’t Minerva’s pension fund manger when we first met up, in New York—right? As far as I was aware, you were merely an ordinary member of your department. So, the idea of me being able to seduce an intelligent woman into behaving in a thoroughly unethical, immoral manner—or that you could manage to persuade everyone else in your firm to blindly follow your advice—is clearly absolute nonsense!’
Almost gasping, feeling as if she’d just received a hard blow to the solar plexus, Samantha stared blindly at him in the mirror. Was it possible that she’d been hopelessly wrong about him all these weeks? If so, it looked as if she might have made a quite dreadful mistake. But...but that must mean that she really had become totally paranoiac, as Matt claimed.
‘Quite frankly, Sam, I’m simply not prepared to discuss this subject any further. It’s total and utter rubbish. And if you can’t see that I can only suggest you’d better make an appointment to visit a psychiatrist!’
‘Thank you for those few kind words,’ she snapped. ‘But even if I was wrong...even if I did, perhaps, come to some wrong conclusions—I’m still going to have to give up my job, aren’t I?’
‘So...?’ He stopped his pacing for a moment to stare at her in surprise. ‘Yes...yes, I know...’ he said as she opened her mouth to utter a heated protest. ‘I’m well aware of how much you enjoy your job. You’ve obviously done very well, and have achieved considerable success. And yes...I can see that under the present circumstances, with you now expecting my baby, things might be a bit awkward for you as head of the pension fund department at Minerva.’
‘That’s putting it mildly!’ she ground out through clenched teeth.
‘Relax! It’s hardly the end of the world, Sam! In any case, and just between ourselves, this whole take-over business may well be resolved without any blood-letting on either side. Besides, leaving aside any false modesty, you are a well-qualified and highly regarded member of your profession—right?’ And when she nodded in confirmation he merely shrugged his shoulders. ‘Well, there you are.’
‘No. That’s the whole point, Matt. I don’t know where I am any longer.’ She gritted her teeth in exasperation. ‘You’re completely missing the point. There’s no way I can remain in my present job when you, I and soon the whole world will know that I’m expecting your baby. It just won’t do.’
He brushed an impatient hand through his dark hair. ‘No, you’re quite right, of course. While both you and I know—only too clearly!—that you’re capable of making a decision on the facts, everyone else would come to the conclusion that your judgement was highly suspect.’
‘You’re quite right, they would,’ she agreed with a heavy sigh.
‘Well, as I’ve already said, it’s not the end of the world. I’d obviously prefer to have a wife at home looking after my baby. However, there’s no reason why, in the fullness of time, you shouldn’t get another job in the City. I’m no anti-feminist, Sam, as well you know. And I’d certainly never try to stop you doing anything you really wanted to.’
It was no good. There was no way that he was going to see that this was, for her, a major tragedy. She loved her work, and she’d been so thrilled about her new promotion. But he really didn’t think it was important.
Despite playing lip-service to currently politically correct thinking, Matt was obviously a typical member of the male species. His work came first—and hers a very long way afterwards. But that wouldn’t matter so much if, at any point in the last hour, he’d made any mention of how he really felt about her.
‘The thing is...’ She hesitated for a moment while fiddling nervously with the silver-backed hairbrush which had belonged to her Swedish grandmother. ‘Even leaving aside the...er...question about my work—about which we clearly don’t agree—there’s still the question of our...er...personal involvement.’
‘Really, Sam—what an idiot you are!’ He laughed, coming over to stand behind her, gazing quizzically at her reflection in the mirror as he placed his hands on her shoulders.
‘I don’t think you can get much more personally involved than getting married and having a baby—do you?’ he murmured, slowly sliding his hands down over her full breasts and bringing them to rest on her stomach. ‘It’s been a bit of a shock, of course, but I’m really rather excited by the thought of becoming a father,’ he murmured, lowering his head to press a kiss on her neck.
‘That’s not what I meant,’ she murmured breathlessly, her heart rate beginning to race at the touch of his soft lips on her flesh. ‘There’s a lot more to marriage than pregnancy. I mean... this was just supposed to be a love affair. No...no emotional involvement, et cetera, et cetera. And you’ve never really been interested in any form of commitment—right?’
‘We’re going to get married. And if that isn’t a commitment I don’t know what is!’ he told her with a short, husky bark of laughter, slowly trailing his hands up over her slim figure. ‘I’m pleased about the baby, of course. But I have to say that I’m far more thrilled by the prospect of having your lovely body in my bed every single night,’ he added thickly, his fingers closing possessively about her full breasts.
Trying to ignore the siren call of his devastating sex appeal, and the sensual touch of his hands on her flesh, Samantha made a desperate attempt to pull herself together.
‘Where, exactly, is this...this bed of yours going to be located? In London? New York?’
‘What does it matter where we live, as long as we’re together, hmm...?’ he murmured, before glancing down at his watch and grimacing with annoyance.
‘Sorry, sweetheart—I’ll have to go. I’ve got an early breakfast meeting with some important guys at Claridge’s. And I’ve got a whole mass of work to do before then,’ he said, quickly straightening up and giving her a peck on the cheek, before walking towards the door.
‘Matt, we really do need to talk, and—’
‘I’m sorry, darling. But I really do have to go—right now. I realise that you can’t take any calls from me at your office.’ He turned to give her a wry grin as he walked to the door. ‘So, I’ll try and contact you here, at home, the first chance I get However, give me a ring when you’ve had a good hard think about everything we’ve discussed tonight. Believe me, there’s really no problem.’
‘Yes, Matt. I will have a good hard think about everything,’ she promised as he opened the bedroom door, swiftly blowing her a kiss before striding quickly through the main room, on his way out of the apartment
True to her promise, Samantha did think hard and long about all that had passed between them that night.
In fact, the next morning, after phoning to tell Henry that she wouldn’t be in the office that day, she did little else during the next twenty-four hours but slowly and methodically review her past and contemplate her future life—with the same degree of intense concentration that she would have brought to bear on a particularly difficult, important decision at work.
At last, after having come to a final, inescapable conclusion based on all the facts available to her, Samantha eventually picked up the telephone.
 
Matt gave a heavy sigh as he leaned back in his chair. All this zipping back and forth across the Atlantic—despite the comfort and speed of travelling by Concorde—was playing havoc with his sleep patterns.
‘OK, Ruth. I guess that just about wraps everything up—for the moment,’ he told his personal assistant. ‘I know I’ve been a hard taskmaster these last few weeks. But if you could get that e-mail off to Australia as soon as possible I’d be very grateful,’ he added with a charming, if weary smile.
‘Hurtling around the globe is not a recipe for good health,’ Ruth informed him bluntly.
Having worked in the London office of Broadwood Securities for the past fifteen years, she felt perfectly at liberty to give the company’s recently appointed chief executive the benefit of her good advice. ‘You’d better try and get a good night’s sleep. Quite frankly, Mr Warner, you’re looking pretty dreadful.’
Matt laughed. ‘Thank you, dear Ruth, for those few kind words! And believe me,’ he added with a tired yawn, ‘I fully intend to grab some sleep just as soon as I can.’
‘Humph!’ his assistant snorted in disbelief as she left the room. Her handsome new boss might be a human dynamo, but he was going to have to learn—just like everyone else she’d ever worked for—that you couldn’t cram a week’s work into twenty-four hours.
His eyes gritty with tiredness, Matt glanced down at his watch. ‘Damn!’ he muttered, realising that once again he’d missed an opportunity to call Samantha. He had no hope of getting through to her in her office, so he’d just have to wait until later this evening before contacting her at home, in her apartment.
As the afternoon wore on, and he managed to make serious inroads into the large amount of urgent work requiring his attention, Matt was just wondering whether he could chance his arm by taking a few minutes’ break for a cold shower in his executive washroom, when one of his bright young aides knocked and entered his office.
‘Well, it looks as if we’ve got some really good news at last!’ the young man told him with a wide smile. ‘The evening paper has just hit the streets. I think you’ll be pleased about a piece in their “City People” report, at the back of the business section. That woman was always going to be a thorn in our flesh. Much too feisty and independent’
‘Hmm...?’ Matt murmured, not really paying his aide a great deal of attention as he quickly scanned a fax which had just been received from their Bonn office. ‘Who’s feisty and independent?’
‘You know, that woman I warned you about—Miss...’ He glanced down at the newspaper in his hand. ‘Miss Samantha Thomas—yeah, that’s right.’
‘What?’
‘It’s like I said,’ his aide said, handing the newspaper to his boss, and pleased to see that he had engaged Mr Warner’s full and undivided attention. ‘That huge block of shares owned by Minerva was always going to be a problem, right?’ he continued cheerfully. ‘And, with her appointment as their pension fund manager, there was no saying which way that damned woman would jump. Still, with her resignation, we’ve now got a completely different ball game, right?’
Completely ignoring the young man, who was busy cracking his knuckles with excitement at the thought of a new and possibly inexperienced appointee to the position at Minerva, Matt quickly jabbed a button on the intercom and called Ruth back into the room.
‘When you’ve sent off that e-mail, and finished any other urgent business which simply cannot wait, I want you to drop everything and concentrate on this...’ He scribbled furiously on a piece of paper in front of him. ‘Here are some names and addresses. I want the phone numbers of all these people and I want them fast. And once you’ve got them on the line I want them put through to me on a priority basis. So get on with it, Ruth. And as for you...’ He jabbed an angry forefinger at the young man. ‘Get out!’
Left alone in his office, Matt once again swiftly scanned the brief report, obviously based on a press release from Minerva Utilities Management, regretting the sudden resignation, on health grounds, of their recently appointed pension fund manager, Miss Samantha Thomas.
‘Health grounds? What health grounds?’ he grated angrily, before a winking light on the telephone in front of him indicated an outside line. Seizing up the receiver, he gave a sigh of relief as he heard Edwina’s calm, cool English voice.
An hour later, he was cursing the entire population of the calm, cool English nation, swearing violently under his breath as he paced up and down the thick carpet of his luxuriously appointed office.
What the hell was going on? Nobody seemed to know where Samantha had got to. Even Edwina had professed not to have any idea why her sister had so suddenly resigned from her job.
In fact, on balance, he’d believed her when she’d told him that she really didn’t know where Samantha was. ‘I’m sorry, Matt. All I know is that her apartment seems to be empty at the moment, and she’s left no forwarding address. I don’t know what’s been going on between you two...but, whatever it is, she obviously needs help. Please try and find her as soon as possible.’
Having assured her that he would do everything within his power to trace her sister, Matt was now burning with exasperation at not being able to fulfil his promise.
Pacing up and down, buried in thought, he suddenly stopped and stood quite still for a moment, before clicking his fingers with annoyance at his own stupidity. Swiftly calling his secretary back into the room, he issued another rapid set of instructions.
When Ruth returned, some ten minutes later, he was surprised to note an amused, wry expression on her face as she placed a file on the desk in front of him.
‘That was quick!’ he murmured.
‘The most difficult part of the task you set me was obtaining a list of people employed by Minerva,’ she told him with a slight shrug. ‘Of course, once I confirmed that a Henry Graham was indeed employed by the firm, the rest was easy.’
‘You’re a marvel, Ruth!’ he breathed thankfully as he opened the file.
‘Not really, Mr Warner,’ she murmured, her amusement now clearly visible. ‘Because the Honourable Henry Graham is the only son and heir of Lord Parker, one of the directors of Minerva Utilities Management, with whom you are at the moment, I believe, involved in some...er...very private discussions.’
Matt stared at her blankly for a moment, before shaking his dark head and laughing ruefully at his own folly.
‘I should have worked it out for myself. Unfortunately, it’s that damn business of English aristocrats so often having a surname quite different to that of their title,’ he said with another bark of wry laughter. ‘OK, Ruth. It’s now Friday afternoon. So, can you please ring Lady Parker, at their country house in Surrey, and make an urgent appointment for me to see his Lordship—and his son—tomorrow morning? I’m sure I don’t have to tell you,’ Matt added, ‘that I want this call kept strictly under wraps...?’
‘You’re quite right—you don’t!’ his personal assistant retorted crushingly, causing her boss to feel as if he was back at school, being told off by a stern headmistress, as she added, ‘If you want my opinion, Mr Warner, I would sternly advise you to find your young lady and marry her as soon as possible. That way, we might all be able to get on with the far more serious business of running this company.’
‘Yes, Ruth,’ he said meekly, his green eyes glinting with amusement as her stern expression relaxed for a moment, and it seemed—although he wasn’t entirely sure—that she gave him a slight wink of her eyelid before turning to leave the room.
 
Lord Parker’s Elizabethan country mansion was surrounded by luxuriant green pastures, the large park surrounding the house dotted with clumps of ancient oak trees, under which sheep were peacefully grazing.
Having visited this house only last week, Matt couldn’t help thinking as he drove his hired car down the long, gravelled drive leading to the house that it was a perfect example of a grand English country seat. In fact, he couldn’t really blame Samantha if, instead of what little he had to offer, she had decided to accept the hand, heart and all the future worldly possessions of the Honourable Henry Graham.
However, after being greeted by Henry’s father, and escorted to the large, book-lined library, he only took five minutes to realise that Henry—however good-looking he might appear to be—was not a serious threat. There was no way that bright, clever girl Samantha Thomas would have agreed to marry such a charming nincompoop.
‘Mr Warner has given me his solemn word that he will not, in any shape or form, discuss the current take-over situation he’s facing at the moment,’ Lord Parker was telling his son firmly. ‘He merely wishes to discuss another, quite private subject with you, Henry, and I have agreed to act as an honest broker, to ensure that the Stock Exchange rules are not infringed in any way. Do you understand the position?’
‘Yeah. Relax, Dad—I’m not that stupid,’ Henry muttered, waiting until Lord Parker had left the room before informing Matt that his father could be ‘really heavy’ at times.
‘I’m perfectly well aware that you must be here because of Samantha,’ the younger man added, sitting himself down in a comfortable chair and regarding his visitor with some interest. ‘So, what is it you want to know?’
If Matt had thought that it would be easy to sort out young Henry, he soon had cause to revise his opinion. In fact, he was annoyed at himself for not remembering that, having survived with all their possessions intact for so many hundreds of years, the British aristocracy were an extremely tough, hard-nosed group of people.
Very polite and extremely courteous, Henry listened to everything Matt had to say without betraying, by even the flicker of an eyelid, that he had any interest in the subject. Even when Matt managed, at last, to provoke a reaction, the younger man remained an extremely stubborn, hard nut to crack.
‘Well, yeah,’ Henry finally admitted with a shrug, having been harshly accused of failing to declare his own romantic interest in Samantha. ‘It’s no secret that I’m crazy about her.’ Henry shrugged again. ‘I always have been. Not that she ever looked at me, of course. Sam was always far too tied up in her career to get involved with anybody in the office. Unfortunately, she now has no career —thanks to you! So, why should I help you, when all you’ve done is ruin her life? And you didn’t even have the decency to tell the poor girl that you loved her,’ Henry added grimly, by now clearly extremely angry with the stranger sitting across the room.
‘OK...calm down,’ Matthew told him soothingly. ‘If you think I’m the sort of guy who’d get someone pregnant and ask her to marry me without being in love with her, then all I can say is you’re way off beam. Of course I love the damn girl! Why else do you think I’m rushing around the countryside, trying to find out what’s happened to her?’
‘Well... from all I can gather, you never actually said that you loved her, did you? And it’s no good telling me,’ Henry added with devastating logic. ‘It’s Sam you should have told, isn’t it?’
‘Yes, you’re quite right,’ Matt acknowledged with a heavy sigh, before using every ounce of persuasion at his command in trying to extract Samantha’s whereabouts from Henry, who, he was quite convinced, knew exactly where she was to be found. And he said as much to Henry.
‘No.’ The younger man shook his head. ‘You’re wrong. Sam had me weighed up right from the time when I first started working for her. She knows that I’m not too clever. So, she’s bound to have worked out that you’d try to twist my arm—right?’
Matt nodded slowly, acknowledging what such frank honesty must have cost the younger man. ‘OK...but I’m still quite sure that you do know something,’ he said, adding forcefully, ‘I’m not leaving here until I’ve damn well got it out of you!’
Henry sighed. ‘All right—I suppose it’s male solidarity time,’ he said slowly. ‘I don’t know where she is—and that’s the honest truth. All I was able to get out of her was the fact that it’s somewhere in the English countryside—which means that you can, at least, narrow down your search by ruling out Scotland, Wales and Ireland.’
‘And...? Come on!’ Matt demanded grimly. ‘I know there’s something else. So spit it out!’
‘I could be wrong,’ Henry warned him. ‘Sam was very upset at the time and had, incidentally, just turned down my own proposal of marriage. But she did mutter something, and I quote: “If Matt really loves me, he’ll know where to find me.” So, you’d better get your thinking cap on, hadn’t you?’ he added as his father walked into the room.
‘I hope you’ve got everything sorted out,’ Lord Parker murmured, before reminding his visitor that they still had some private business to sort out between themselves.
However, as the elderly peer politely stood aside, to allow him to lead the way out of the room, Matt suddenly halted, before turning slowly around to face father and son.
‘It could be—providing that I’ve solved the puzzle correctly—that I may owe young Henry, here, an enormous debt of gratitude,’ he said slowly. ‘So, it seems only fair and just to tell you, in front of your father—’ he smiled briefly at the younger man ‘—that possibly everyone—including my dear future wife!—has seriously underestimated your capabilities. Because you strike me as having the cardinal virtues of honesty, discretion, loyalty and a tenacity of purpose which is both rare and truly admirable.
‘I don’t think you’ll ever make chairman or managing director of a company, Henry,’ he continued thoughtfully. ‘But I have no problem in believing, as you grow older and become less frivolous, that you may well eventually attain the number two position of vice-chairman or viceprincipal of an organisation.’
‘Really?’ Henry blinked, his cheeks turning pink with pleasure.
‘Oh, yes, I think so. In fact, I’ll be pleased to offer you a job in my company any time you please.’
‘Well, how about that, Dad?’ Henry turned to grin at the stunned expression on his father’s face. ‘Maybe I’m not quite so dim as you thought, after all!’
What a wonderfully hot summer it was, Samantha told herself, putting down her book with a heavy sigh, leaning back against a tussock of grass as she raised her face to gaze up through the dappled shade of the willow tree, to where the hot sun blazed down overhead.
She’d always loved this part of the country. When she’d urgently needed to get out of London, to gain some space—some peace and quiet in which to think through not only the mess she’d already made of her life, but what she was going to do in the future—it was to this deeply rural Oxfordshire village, which held such happy memories, that she’d instinctively turned.
And it had been the right decision. During the past week, she’d been able to take stock of all that had happened to her over the past three months. However, when reviewing her own behaviour, Samantha hadn’t spared herself. There was no doubt that she’d made many stupid decisions, and come to some quite wrong conclusions.
But she now had to put all that behind her—and concentrate on the future. A future which didn’t just concern herself, alone. It was the baby, to whom she would give birth in under seven months’ time, which must now be her foremost priority. And, while it would have been so easy to simply do nothing, to let Matt completely take over and run her life for her, she was now quite certain that she’d made the right decision.
However, resigning from the job she loved, and accepting her chairman’s kindly if frank agreement that she was, under the circumstances, making the right decision, bad been dreadfully upsetting.
‘We’re going to miss you, Miss Thomas,’ he’d said with a slow shake of his head. This whole situation is extremely unfortunate, of course. However, I agree with you that there was only one moral and ethical decision you could take, under these trying circumstances. And you are to be congratulated on acting so promptly in the interests of this firm.’
Pausing for a moment, he’d continued, ‘I’d like to say, strictly off the record, that I realise it can’t have been easy to come here to see me today. And, when the dust has settled...well, let’s just say that if and when you should require a job in the future I will personally guarantee to exert my best efforts on your behalf, amongst my contacts in the City.’
And that really had been very generous of him, Samantha told herself as she began packing away the remains of her picnic lunch. Almost as kind and generous as Henry, she thought with a small, rueful smile, recalling her assistant’s amazingly kind and generous offer to make an honest woman of her.
It had been impossible, of course, to keep the truth behind her sudden resignation from Henry. Turning up at her apartment with a heavy box full of her personal books and papers which she’d left in the office, he had adamantly refused to leave without being told the true reason for Samantha’s departure from a job she’d loved.
‘I’m not being kind or generous!’ Henry had exploded when, after admitting the circumstances leading up to her resignation, she’d gently but firmly rejected his offer of marriage.
‘I want you, Sam. I always have. And I couldn’t care less whose baby it is!’ he’d continued firmly. ‘It would be our child when we married, right? And besides,’ he’d added swiftly, ‘I know that Ma and Pa would be absolutely delighted that I was settling down, at last. And, of course, money’s no problem. I’ve got more than enough for both of us—and a horde of kids!’
‘Oh, Henry...you really are a very sweet, kind man,’ she’d murmured. ‘And I really do appreciate what you’ve just said. But it simply wouldn’t work, I’m afraid. Not when I’m in love with someone else. And besides,’ she’d added, trying to lighten the heavy atmosphere, ‘I’d hate to blow your chances with the chairman’s daughter!’
‘Oh, Sam!’ he’d groaned impatiently. ‘That was only a passing fancy. It’s you that I’ve always been crazy about—and well you know it!’
And it was because she did know just how it felt to be in love with someone who couldn’t return her love that she’d taken a great deal of trouble to let him down gently. And, yet again, she’d known that it had been the right decision on her part. Having once made a disastrous choice by marrying someone for all the wrong reasons, she’d been quite determined never to repeat the same mistake ever again.
The loud, rhythmic sound of water flowing over the mill beside the small bridge was definitely having a soporific effect, she thought, leaning back and yawning as she gave up the struggle to try and keep her eyes open.
The Mill and Old Swan at Minster Lovell had changed somewhat since she’d last stayed here with Matt, all those years ago. The six-hundred-year-old country inn now also provided a conference and training centre for businessmen, as well as ordinary visitors. But sitting here, under the willow trees on the other side of the river from the half-timbered old building—and with the noise of passing traffic completely drowned by the loud sound of fast gushing water—she felt as though she was quite alone on a private island.
But she couldn’t stay here buried in the country for ever, of course, Sam told herself, feeling too tired and weary after yet another sleepless night to come to any firm decision about her future. She had wondered if it might be a good idea to turn her back on the City of London, and maybe take up a job teaching economics, at a college of further education. But she could afford to wait until the posts were advertised, later on in the summer, before having to make that decision.
Because it was becoming clear that she was going to need as much time as possible to get her act together, and get over her overwhelmingly strong feelings for Matt. During the past few days, there’d been no lessening of her intense longing for him, or the aching need for the caress of his hands on her body; her nights had been haunted by his powerful, charismatic presence, as his dark shadow stalked arrogantly and forcefully through her restless and troubled sleep.
She could only hope that old cliché—time is a great healer—would eventually prove to be true. But she feared it would take a very long time, if ever, for her to finally eliminate him from her head and her heart. In the meantime, she must just concentrate on making a decision about whether to go for that teaching job. If only...if only she didn’t feel quite so tired...
How long she’d been asleep in the warm sunshine, Samantha had no idea. But, eventually becoming aware of something—an insect or a blade of grass?—tickling her cheek, she raised a sleepy hand to brush it away. Unfortunately, her actions didn’t seem to have any effect and, as the heavy mists in her brain gradually dispersed, she slowly opened her eyelids.
A second later, she had clamped them tightly shut again, her slim figure suddenly becoming tense and rigid with shock.
Oh, Lord! She was hallucinating! She must have finally lost her mind...totally flipped! Obviously, the strain of the last week had proved too much for her to cope with. Because...for one dreadful moment...she could have sworn that it was Matt’s tall figure lying beside her on the river bank. And that...that just wasn’t possible!
Once again, she could feel the piece of grass brushing gently against her cheek. Only this time it was accompanied by a low rumble of laughter, coming from beside her left ear. The sick, sudden apprehensive lurch of her stomach left her feeling as if she was in an elevator, hurtling down from an enormous height, as she forced herself to open her eyes. Slowly...very slowly and cautiously, she turned her head.
Oh, my God! It really was Matt, lying beside her on the grass, his arm, bent at the elbow, propping up his dark head as he smiled down into her utterly shocked, stunned blue eyes.