Sally Wentworth - Liberated Lady Page 6

  'Thank you,' Sara said through chattering teeth as she held her hands out to the warmth.

  'You are on the phone?' Alex was asking the farmer.

  'Oh, aye. But it'll no do you any good to use it, for the garage in Hayscroft is closed for the night and won't be open until the morning.'

  ‘Is there anywhere that would hire a car out to us, then?'

  The man shook his head. 'There's only the garage.'

  'It looks as if we'll have to put up somewhere for the night, then. I'd be very glad to pay you for your trouble if you could drive us to the nearest hotel yourself,' Alex added.

  With a slow smile the farmer again shook his head. 'If I'd had a car available I would have offered it at once, but my Range Rover is itself in the garage to be serviced.'

  Sara looked at Alex in dismay at the thought of having to go out again in the pouring rain and wade across the muddy yard and along the track.

  He gave a slight nod and turned again to the farmer. 'I wonder, could we intrude on your hospitality even further and ask you if you could put us up for the night? A couple of chairs in front of the fire would do.'

  'Bless you,' his wife said before he could answer, 'of course you can stay. I wouldn't turn a dog out on a night like this. And we can do better than a couple of chairs. You can have our spare room. I'll fill some hot water bottles and put them in the bed for you this minute. And then I'll cook you up a bite of supper.',

  'Oh, but——' Sara opened her mouth to explain that they weren't married, but Alex quickly interrupted her.

  'That's extremely kind of you, Mrs…?'

  'Mrs Hawkins. And my husband's name is Ted.’

  'Thank you, Mrs Hawkins. We'd be very glad to. accept your offer, wouldn't we,, darling?' he added, turning towards Sara and frowning at her meaningly.

  'Oh, yes. Yes, thank .you,' she replied in rather a dazed voice.

  'Good. I see you've got your cases with you, so why don't you change out of those wet clothes and I'll dry yours off in front of the stove?' Mrs Hawkins suggested to Sara. 'If you'll follow me I'll show you upstairs.'

  Alex passed Sara her suitcase and looked at her mockingly when she shot him a malevolent glance before following her hostess, up the narrow staircase.

  The spare room was low and beamed, with an old-fashioned dresser with a fly-blown mirror against, one wall and a large, high bed with a brass bedstead against the other. It was also extremely cold.

  'There's a bathroom next door,' Mrs Hawkins told her with some pride. 'There's not many hill farms as has a bathroom. I'll leave you to change while I get the hot bottles.'

  Stripping off her wet things, Sara put on a terry bathrobe and went into the bathroom looking forward to a hot soak. It wouldn't have been out of place in a museum I The only source of hot water was an archaic-looking geyser that she couldn't get to work no matter how she tried, while all the time she was getting colder and colder. In the end she had to settle for a cold wash down and scurried back to the bedroom to put on. a thick sweater and a pair of jeans. The big bed looked very inviting and she realised suddenly how tired she was. It had been a long, worrying day and she yearned to curl up under the thick feather eiderdown. But not, she thought belligerently. With Alex beside her. If his hasty interruption when she had been going to tell their hosts they weren't married meant that he had ideas in that direction, then she was prepared to disillusion him—in no uncertain terms!

  She brushed her hair, but when she went to put on fresh make-up gave a gasp of dismay as she realised that she had left her handbag in the car. Darn! Without make-up she felt strangely naked, and definitely at a disadvantage when it came to dealing with Alex Brandon. So it was with a rather defiant air about her that she went down to the living-room again, ready to snap at Alex if he so much as raised an eyebrow when he saw her.

  The long table in the centre of the room was already laid for supper and Mrs Hawkins ushered her into a chair next to Alex. He and the farmer seemed to be in the middle of an engrossing conversation on the future of pig-farming in the Common Market. His eyes swept over her as she came in, taking in her figure-hugging jeans and resting for a moment on her clean face and the distinct challenge in her brown eyes. Without comment he turned away and resumed, his conversation. Heaped plates of potato pie were placed in front of them and Sara tucked into hers hungrily, the hot food and the fire dispelling the cold inside her until at last she sat back, warm and replete and feeling terribly sleepy. She helped Mrs Hawkins to do .the washing-up and then her hostess signified that it was time for bed. Evidently they kept early hours on the farm. Once in the bedroom, Sara hastily changed into her nightdress and Was glad that she had brought a full, white cotton one with long sleeves and a delicately tucked and embroidered bodice. Turning out the light, she had to literally climb into the high bed and hastily dived between the covers before she could get cold again. The stone hot bottles had done their work well and the bed was warm and cosy.

  Ten minutes later the door was pushed open and the light switched on again as Alex came into the room carrying his case and shut the door behind him. Sara had been prepared for this; she sat up in bed and looked at him angrily. 'Just what was the big idea of giving the impression we were married?'

  He opened his case and put a few things on the top of the dresser. 'I didn't' fancy spending the night on a chair,’ he answered mildly.

  'Well, that's a pity, because that's just where you're going to have to spend it. You can stay here until the Hawkins' are safely in bed and then go back down to the kitchen,' Sara told him determinedly, adding, 'Any ideas you've got about having a one-night stand with me you can put out of your mind here and now! ‘

  'A one-night stand? What an extremely vulgar expression. I wonder, where you learnt it' He took off his shirt and threw it over the back of a chair, revealing a smooth chest and muscled arms. Then he came to sit on the edge of the bed while he took off his shoes. 'You should wait till, you're asked. I have no designs on you —only the bed. I have no intention of spending an uncomfortable night propped up on a chair when we can both get a good night's sleep in that bed.' He rose and switched off the light and Sara heard him moving about in the darkness. Then the bed creaked as he began to climb into it.

  'Don't you dare get in here!' Sara .said angrily. She tried to reach out to push him away, but her hands encountered the bare skin of his shoulder. 'Where are your pyjamas?' she asked abruptly.

  He chuckled in the darkness. 'Never wear the things. 'What?' Sara shot out of the bed and hurried to turn on the light. Still standing by the door, she said furiously, 'Get out of that bed and go down to the kitchen!'

  He raised an eyebrow. 'Like this?'

  'No, you fool! You can get dressed again.'

  Calmly Alex put his hands behind his head and looked at her sardonically. 'No way.'

  'You louse! If you don't get out of here I'll scream!'

  'Scream away—and get us both thrown out into the rain again,'

  Sara glared at him resentfully, imagining the embarrassment of-having the Hawkins' bursting in and trying to explain to them. 'If you were a gentleman you'd offer to sleep in the chair,' she told him viciously.

  'And if you were a lady I might just do that. Bui you're a liberated twentieth-century career woman, remember? Equal rights and all that. Well, that's what I'm offering you: the equal right to half of the bed, and if that doesn't suit you then you go and sleep in the chair!'

  'You pig! You know darn well I'll never share that bed with you.' ,

  'Why not? I've already told you that masculine domineering women don't turn me on. You're quite safe from me. I prefer someone that acts and feels like a woman as well as looks like one. You can sleep on top of the covers if you're afraid,’ he added.

  'You're crazy. No man and woman ever shared a bed platonically.'

  Alex's lip curled. 'You overrate yourself.' Then, 'Please yourself, I'm going to get some sleep.' He turned his back towards her and .Sara wished she had a knife to s
tick in him. For a minute longer she stood by the door undecided and getting very cold in her bare feet and thin nightdress. Then she snapped out the light; even if she had to stay awake all night she wouldn't share a bed with him. Groping her way to her clothes, she found her big coat and put it on over her nightdress, then curled up-in a chair, her feet tucked under her for warmth. It would have been warmer in the kitchen, but she was afraid of Waking the farmer and his wife if she tried to. go down there in the darkness. And besides, she wasn't going to give Alex the satisfaction of having driven her out of the room. As the night wore on she began to get even colder, her teeth chattering, her hands and feet freezing, her limbs cramped. She toyed with getting dressed again, but the thought of taking off the coat and nightdress made her flesh cringe.

  Eventually the noise of rain against the window panes stopped and later the moon came out to shine through the curtains. It outlined Alex's head against the whiteness of the pillows and she glared at him resentfully. Lord, how she hated him! She'd known him for scarcely more than a day, but already she felt more antagonistic towards him than anyone she had known in her whole life. He was hard and completely unfeeling. No wonder he wasn't married—no one in, their right mind would ever put up with him. He stirred a little and the moon accentuated his high cheekbones, his thin, curved mouth and determined chin. Sara shivered again, not entirely from cold. He looked a hard man to cross, and he and she had crossed swords with a vengeance.

  The eiderdown had slipped a little when he moved and hung over the edge of the bed. It gave her ah idea. Slowly she pushed herself out of the chair as quietly as possible, but the old wood still creaked as she rose. Hardly daring to breathe lest she wake him, she crept towards the bed and gradually began to pull the eiderdown off. It slid, warm and bulky, into her arms. Turning gleefully, she went to tiptoe back to the chair and wrap herself in it..

  'Put it back, Sara.' His voice made her jump.

  'Why should I?' She snapped at him. 'You've got the bed and the blankets. The least you can do is to let me have the eiderdown.'

  'All or nothing; the choice was yours. Now pat it back.'

  Sara tried to play on his sympathy. 'Alex, I'm freezing.'

  'Serves you right,' he said unfeelingly.

  'Oh!' she exploded. 'You're the most vile, rotten——

  Oh, what's the use?' She flung the eiderdown back over the bed and went again to the chair, colder than ever.

  It was almost three in the morning before she gave in at last and came, shivering violently, to creep on top of the bed. As she inched her way further on, Alex's voice said softly, 'Little fool,' and he pulled, the eiderdown over her, tucking her in, before going back to sleep.

  Filtered sunlight shining through the floral patterned curtains woke Sara the next morning. She moved her head away and went to go back to sleep, but something dug into her and when she went to move she found that it was the buckle of her coat. She came awake with a jolt then, fully aware of her surroundings. Quickly she turned to look at the other side of the bed, then gave agasp of relief when she saw it was empty, only the dent in the pillow Showing where Alex'-s head had lain. Sitting up, she glanced at her watch and saw it was already eight o'clock, so She jumped quickly from the warmth of the bed and peered but into the narrow landing to see if the bathroom was free. The delicious scent of frying bacon and toast wafted up the stairs and made her hurry to wash and dress. She put on the jeans and sweater again, and crossing to the window, pulled the curtains back to look out. A thin film of mist lay over the grey hills as the warmth of the April sunshine dried the rain-soaked grass; sheep bleated to their little black-legged lambs in the lush green of the pastures and above them the sun-kissed sky was clear and cloudless. It looked so beautiful that Sara paused- in brushing her . hair to just stand and take it all in, to try and hold the picture in her memory forever.

  But behind her she heard the door open and turned to see Alex standing in the doorway. Abruptly she walked towards the mirror and finished her hair, a slight flush on her face.

  'Good morning,' he greeted her. 'I came to tell you that breakfast is ready.'

  'Thanks, I'll be right down.'

  But he didn't go away, instead leaning against the door jamb, his arms folded, calmly watching her. Today he was wearing a casual navy blazer over the polo sweater.

  'Did you want something?' she asked pointedly, as she packed her nightdress in her case.

  'No,' he replied equably. 'I just thought I'd wait for you.'

  'Don't bother,' she replied tartly.

  ‘Oh, it's no bother,' he assured her maddeningly. 'How old are you?' he asked after a moment.

  'Twenty-six,' she answered automatically, then suspiciously, 'Why do you want to know?’

  'Just curiosity. In those clothes and without make-up you don't look much older than Nicky.'

  'I left my bag in the car,' she admitted, looking distastefully at her reflection in the spotted mirror.

  'You should do it more often, it softens you. I thought you were a lot older—at least thirty.'

  Sara threw her hairbrush into the case and slammed it shut. Without a word she stalked past him to go down the stairs.

  Tut, tut,' he murmured as she passed. 'Get out of the wrong side of the bed, Sara?'

  Mrs. Hawkins greeted her with a friendly smile. 'Good morning, lassie. Did you sleep well?'

  Sara's answering smile was rather stiff as she took a chair and Alex came to sit next to her, his arm along the back of her seat. ‘Very well, thank you,' she replied, pulling the chair forward so that he had to move his arm.

  Breakfast was a substantial meal arid after it Ted Hawkins offered to get out his tractor and try to pull Alex's car out, of the ditch. Sara stayed to chat to Mrs? Hawkins for a while, but it was obvious that her hostess wanted to get on with her chores, so she borrowed a pair of wellingtons and wandered out to the back of the farm and across the field. The sun felt warm and pleasant on her face, the slight breeze bringing the scent of grass .after rain. Sheep moved out of her way as she passed, butone black faced lamb, top-heavy for its spindly legs, came running behind her, following her as she walked.

  'Hey, I'm not your mother!' She turned round and laughingly picked it up. The creature bleated contentedly as she sat oh a low stone wall’ and began to. stroke it. The view from here was magnificent; the high, treeless hills with just enough cragginess in them to give a look of grandeur to .the scene but not enough to make them forbidding. It was easy to see why people came here for holidays, she thought dreamily. But only for holidays; there was something about working in London, or any big city for that matter, that set the adrenalin going and gave a stimulus to life. Okay, so it was a rat race; thousands of people couldn't stand the pace and gratefully dropped out of it, but to those who could those who weren't afraid to be ambitions, life could be steady and exciting. Exhausting too, when you worked for long periods under pressure, but always stimulating, always worthwhile.

  Alex's voice calling her name broke into her thoughts and she turned to see him beckoning to her from the farm. She put down the lamb and shooed it away, but it persistently ran after her as she joined him, her blonde hair tousled by the breeze.

  He grinned. 'You look like Mary and her little lamb.'

  Sara laughed and smiled back, then looked quickly away; she had forgotten for a moment how much she disliked him. 'Did you get the car out?'

  'Yes, it's waiting at the end of the track. I brought your bag for you. I thought you might want to put on your war-paint before we returned to civilisation,’ he added mockingly.

  Ignoring his remark, Sara hurried to get ready and collect her case. Mrs Hawkins lent her the boots again to walk down to the end of the track and came to see them off. Alex pressed some money into her hands to pay for their night's lodgings, and then they were waving the friendly couple goodbye as they set off again,

  'And no more trying to pick up the trail. This time we're going straight to the Lake District,' Alex insisted grimly
.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  It was early afternoon before they arrived at their destination, having stopped for lunch just after turning off the motorway. Sara directed Alex along the winding narrow lane towards Appleberry, Veronica Quinlan's house. She got out to open the five-barred wooden gate while Alex drove through, and looked at the house with something less than anticipation. It stood, square and grey among its screening trees, still leafless and only just beginning to bud after the long, winter. The aged grey slate of the thick walls gave the house warmth and made it look friendly and inviting, but it was with some trepidation that/Sara walked up to the door and rang thebell.

  It was opened by a short, thinly energetic woman who greeted her with a warm smile and at her enquiring look answered, 'Aye, they're here. Came about an hour ago. I've got them both in the kitchen, eating as if they hadn't had anything for a month. You didn't tell me it was a boy-friend she was bringing," Mrs Ogden added sharply.

  'No, I didn't want Miss Quinlan worried unnecessarily,' Sara told her. 'This is Mr Alexander Brandon," she added as Alex came to join her. 'He's the young man's uncle. Does Nicky's godmother know they're here yet?"

  'Aye, I told her as soon as they arrived. She's getting up now and coming down. But she has to take it easy and not get too excited, you know that, Miss Sara.'

  'Yes, I know.' She bit the tip of her finger, wondering what was best to do. Veronica Quinlan was still recovering from a major operation and her first care was that she shouldn't be upset in any way.

  'Perhaps it would be best if you talked to Miss Quinlan first,' Alex suggested.

  'Yes, I suppose so.' Sara looked at him suspiciously. 'What are you going to do?'

  He gave a slightly crooked smile. 'I could do with some exercise. I'll take a walk and come back in half an hour. Does that give you enough time?' he asked with a trace of sarcasm. n Sara flushed. 'Yes, I think so,' she replied stiffly.