There was a pause. He viewed her reflectively, hands thrust into trouser pockets in a manner far from relaxed. She was vibrantly conscious of his lean, fit length, of the latent strength in the broad shoulders and muscular forearms revealed by the pushed-up sleeves of his sweater. A man to be reckoned with in more ways than one; certainly not a man to make an enemy of. All the same, she had no intention of allowing him to walk roughshod over Jill’s dreams.
‘For someone who only learned of the situation a few hours ago, you’ve made a remarkably fast adjustment,’ he observed. ‘Maybe you see advantages for yourself too.’
Her eyes sparked, the pie-slice’s handle digging into her palm as her fingers closed fiercely about it. She had a sudden urge to stick it between his ribs. When she did speak, her voice was low and husky.
‘I neither want nor need anything from your family! All I care about is seeing Jill to rights. I’d have preferred a different start for her, obviously, but if your brother cares as much for her as she does for him—and I believe he does—then I’m ready to back them to the hilt.’
‘Regardless of what it might do to my father?’
Claire had forgotten about that. It brought her up short for a moment.
‘I realise it will be something of a shock for him,’ she said at length, choosing her words with care, ‘and I’m sorry it happened this way, believe me, but—’
‘Not one half as sorry as I am,’ came the grim interruption. ‘I came here tonight hoping for some cooperation from you, but obviously I’m not going to get it.’
‘Not the kind you’re looking for, for certain,’ she agreed. ‘I think your brother is well able to make his own decisions.’
Ross straightened abruptly. ‘You met him less than an hour ago. You’ve no idea what he’s capable of. Jill isn’t his first love.’
Claire stared at him, the wind knocked out of her. ‘You’re telling me he’s been in this same situation before?’
‘With regard to the pregnancy, no, but little more than a year ago he wanted to marry a girl he knew at Cambridge.’
She said tartly, ‘Did he change his own mind, or did you manage to talk him out of it that time?’
‘He realised what a fool he was being.’
‘He’s graduated now, and working for his living,’ she pointed out. ‘That surely makes a difference.’
‘Older, but surely no wiser.’ Ross was giving no quarter. ‘He isn’t even sure what he wants to do with his life as yet.’
‘Yes, he is.’ Claire was determined not to let the doubts take over. ‘He wants to marry my sister.’
‘And then what?’
‘That’s up to him to decide, isn’t it? After all, he can hardly be destitute.’
‘But you’d naturally have been just as ready to go along with this if he didn’t have two pennies to rub together.’
The cynicism came across loud and clear. Not without some basis, Claire was bound to admit. She made a concentrated attempt to be totally honest about it.
‘With a baby on the way, the financial aspect has to be important, of course. I’d hate to see Jill living hand to mouth. So, in that sense, the answer has to be no, I wouldn’t have been as ready to go along.’ She gave him no time to comment, her gaze unflinching. ‘Not that I could have stopped her going ahead with the marriage regardless. At her age she’s free to do whatever she thinks fit. The same way Scott is.’
Ross’s lip curled a little. ‘He’s past the age of consent, certainly.’
‘Then I’d suggest that you leave him to sort out his own affairs,’ she said crisply. ‘You can take the big brother theme too far.’
She turned away to pick up the plate containing the pie in one hand and the jug of cream in the other, feeling the shakiness in her lower limbs without surprise. There was something about Ross Laxton that would have rubbed her up the wrong way whatever the circumstances, she acknowledged. The fact that if Jill did marry Scott there would be other encounters was something she didn’t want to think about.
He followed her back to the dining-room, taking his seat again without a word. Claire served the pie, trying hard not to let matters swamp her completely. This morning she had been worried that the weather would keep customers away again. It seemed such a ludicrously small concern now.
Scott was the first to break the silence. ‘Whatever you tried on back there, you’re not going to change anything,’ he told his brother flatly. ‘Jill and I are going to be married—and soon.’
‘So you already said.’ Ross’s tone was level, his face expressionless. ‘When do you plan on breaking the news?’
Scott hesitated, obviously a little thrown by the capitulation. ‘When do you think might be the best time?’
‘You’re the one making the decisions.’
‘In the morning, then.’
‘Do you want me with you?’ asked Jill.
The two brothers clashed glances, with the younger man’s the first to fall.
‘I think it might be best if I told them on my own,’ he said.
‘Of course.’ She was obviously relieved. She added tentatively, ‘I hope everything will be all right.’
‘So,’ said Ross meaningfully, ‘do I.’ He looked down at the untouched portion of pie on his plate, his mouth set ‘I’m afraid my appetite has deserted me.’
Claire was too het up to eat any more herself. She pushed away her own plate and got to her feet again. ‘We’ll have coffee in the sitting-room,’ she said.
This time Ross made no offer of help. She had a feeling that if he hadn’t driven Scott here to start with, he would have forgone coffee altogether. So far he had failed in his aim to call a halt to his brother’s plans, but that didn’t mean he would stop trying.
Whatever he might have in mind, he made no further reference. Scott offered no spoken demur when it was intimated that they would leave soon after the coffee had been drunk, although he was obviously reluctant to do so.
‘I’ll phone you as soon as I’ve got it over with,’ he told Jill. ‘They’ll want to meet you. You too, of course,’ he added to Claire. ‘There’ll be arrangements to make.’
‘Let’s take one step at a time,’ suggested his brother. ‘It’s hardly as if the baby is due next week!’ He gave Claire a brief nod. ‘Thanks again for the hospitality.’
She inclined her head in return. ‘You’re welcome.’
Politeness so often involved telling lies, she reflected when the two of them had departed. They had been anything but welcome. The strain of the last few hours was beginning to tell on her. It was all she could do to keep a sense
