mean, I know that Maud arrived from America this morning.’ Marc at last released her. ‘You see, I was just on my way out to lunch when I noticed the lady peering up at the notice-board downstairs —and she had a long way to peer, believe me,’ he teased. ‘Anyway, being the helpful soul that I am, I asked her if I could be of any help.’ He raised mocking brows at Reed. ‘She looked too young and beautiful to be your mother, old chap,’ he mocked. ‘But she assures me that’s who she is.’
‘What have you done with her?’ Reed demanded harshly.
‘Nothing, she’s right outside.’ Marc shrugged, as if he couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about.
Reed pushed him aside none too gently, coming to an abrupt halt as the tiny lady causing all the uproar appeared in the doorway.
‘Hello, darling.’ She reached up to kiss her eldest son on the cheek. ‘I was just admiring your lovely nameplate on the wall outside. You——’
‘Mother!’
‘Mrs Hunter!’
She blinked lids over surprised green eyes as Reed and Darcy spoke at the same time. ‘Yes, dears?’ she prompted interestedly, giving Darcy a chiding look as she did so. ‘I’m sure I asked you to call me Maud,’ she scolded, coming further into the room. ‘My, this is a nice office, Reed,’ she said admiringly as she looked around. ‘Do you——’
‘Mother, where the hell have you been?’ he bit out with controlled violence, his hands clenched at his sides.
She blinked again, obviously surprised by his vehemence. ‘Darling, you know I don’t like it when you swear——’
‘Not another one!’ he ground out exasperatedly, momentarily closing his eyes, the glitter even more intense when he raised his lids. ‘Mother, you disappeared from Darcy’s car two hours ago, where have you been?’ he demanded, the flame in his eyes positively primitive as Marc gave a chuckle at his omission of ‘the hell’ the second time around. Marc’s expression instantly became bland.
Darcy gave him a warning look. Ordinarily the two men were quite good friends, although on the surface they had little in common but their intense professionalism and an eye for beautiful women. Marc was completely dedicated to his work, was a perfectionist, and in a different way Reed was the same about his investments. Their approach to women was different, however, Marc being a different man then, light and frivolous, whereas Reed never let anyone too close to him, not even the women he took as his lovers. Maybe they weren’t so different in that respect after all: being light and frivolous didn’t allow for deeper relationships either! But it was obvious Reed didn’t appreciate Marc’s levity now, although from Marc’s wink in her direction he wasn’t too worried about it.
Maud’s expression seemed to say she didn’t know what all the fuss was about either. ‘I had a nice rest in Darcy’s car after the flight; I had the misfortune to be seated next to a man on the plane who just would not stop talking,’ she said disgustedly. ‘He talked all the way over here—when he wasn’t drinking,’ she added with a frown. ‘Do you know that he——’
‘Mother!’
‘I wish you would let me tell this in my own way, Reed,’ his mother admonished sternly. ‘You know how I forget things when I’m constantly interrupted— Did you say something, dear?’ She looked concernedly at Darcy as she made a choking sound.
‘No! Er—no,’ she repeated lamely.
Green eyes twinkled at her from a face still beautiful, not marred by the usual worry lines of a woman her age. And Darcy was beginning to realise why! Why hadn’t she noticed at the airport? Probably because she had been too busy trying to see where she was going to notice just how vague Maud Hunter was!
Maud turned back to her son. ‘As I was saying,’ she said pointedly. ‘I was very tired after the flight. And then this nice young lady met me at the airport.’ She beamed at Darcy. ‘She’s such a nice girl, Reed. I hope you’re good to her.’ She frowned. ‘Anyway,’ she hastily continued as her son looked as if he might explode again, ‘when I woke up I realised Darcy must have been kind enough to let me continue sleeping, and then when I got out of the car to look for her I couldn’t find her. It’s strange the things that come back to you, you know,’ she told them all, ‘because I suddenly realised I was very close to where my old friend Joyce Bennett use to live. After ten years I still remembered——’
‘Mother,’ Reed cut in on her ramblings in a strained voice. ‘You aren’t going to tell us that you calmly went off to visit a friend while Darcy was frantically trying to find you?’
‘Were you, dear?’ Maud looked at her concernedly. ‘I am sorry. You see, I——’
‘Mother, please!’
Darcy completely sympathised with Reed’s impatience this time; she felt like shaking the muddle-headed woman herself!
Maud sighed. ‘I went back to the car when I couldn’t find Darcy, but that had disappeared as well, and that was when I——’
‘Went off to visit your old friend Joyce Bennett,’ Reed finished icily.
Maud looked bewildered by his anger. ‘Well—yes. But——’
‘Didn’t you realise that Darcy would be worried about you? That I would be worried about you when she arrived back here without you?’
‘I didn’t mean to be gone quite as long as I was,’ she grimaced. ‘Once Joyce and I started talking——’
‘I’m sure,’ Reed grated. ‘I think you owe Darcy an apology—I think we both do!’
‘You do?’ His mother frowned. ‘I hope you haven’t been shouting at her, Reed,’ she rebuked. ‘It wasn’t Darcy’s fault that I was late getting here.’
‘I’m beginning to see that,’ he sighed heavily. ‘Let’s go through to my office, Mother. I’ll talk to you later, Darcy.’ It was an order, not a request.
‘Can you believe that?’ Marc chuckled as he sat on the edge of Darcy’s desk once they were alone. ‘That sweet little old lady, Reed the Rake’s mother!’
‘He isn’t a rake.’ Darcy automatically corrected Marc’s nickname for her employer, while busily tidying the papers on her desk-top that had no need of it; her desk was always completely organised. ‘And yes, I can believe she’s his mother.’ No two people who weren’t related could have eyes of such a deep green. But other than those eyes the two had no similarities whatsoever!
‘Sounds like he’s going to have his hands full.’ Marc still grinned.
‘She’s only here until tomorrow,’ Darcy supplied absently. ‘Reed is driving her down to Southampton then to get on her cruise-ship.’ He had told her that much before she left for the airport this morning, although he had told her little else about his charming but vague mother.
‘That’s what I could do with, a nice long cruise.’ Marc stretched lazily. ‘I don’t suppose you would care to come away with me this weekend?’
Her brows rose mockingly at his teasing expression. ‘I don’t suppose
