a head injury. I just need a painkiller and sleep.’
Javier left the bedroom while Emelia changed into nightwear and after a few minutes he came back in with a glass of water and a couple of painkillers. Once she had taken them, he took the glass and set it down on the bedside table. ‘I have to fly back to Moscow tomorrow,’ he said, sitting on the edge of the bed next to her. ‘I just got a phone call while I was downstairs. I am sorry about the short notice but, with the accident and everything, I had to cut short my business there.’
‘I’m sorry to have been such a bother—’
He placed a hand over hers, silencing her. ‘I have given Aldana and the others instructions to keep a watch over you. I will only be away two days, three at the most.’
‘I’m perfectly able to look after myself.’She pulled her hand out from under his and crossed her arms over her chest. ‘I don’t need to be watched over like a small child.’
‘Emelia, there are journalists lurking about looking for a story,’ he said. ‘If you set foot outside the villa grounds you will be under siege. You are not well enough to fend off their intrusive questions. You will end up even more confused and disoriented.’
Her grey-blue eyes narrowed slightly. ‘Are these precautions for me or for you?’
He squared his shoulders. ‘What exactly are you implying?’
She bit down on her bottom lip so hard it went white. ‘I don’t know what’s going on,’ she said. ‘I don’t know what’s what any more. You say we were happily married, but you don’t seem to like me, let alone love me.’
Javier placed his hand on the curve of her cheek, turning her head to face him. ‘This is not the time to be talking about my feelings,’ he said. ‘This is the time for you to concentrate on getting well again. That’s why I want you to stay within the confines of the villa grounds.’
‘What did I used to do to occupy myself when you went away on business?’ she asked.
Javier would have dearly liked to ask her the same thing. How long had her affair gone on, for instance? How many times had she met her lover while he was abroad on business? How many of her ‘shopping trips’ to London been a cover for other activities? ‘You used the gym in the building near the pool and you occasionally practised the piano.’
She frowned as she looked down at her manicured hands with their elegant French-polished nails. When had she stopped biting her nails? And how on earth did she play the piano with them so long? She looked up at him after a moment. ‘So I wasn’t teaching?’
‘No. You said you were no longer interested in teaching children,’ he said. ‘You said it didn’t suit your lifestyle any more.’
She was still frowning. ‘I said that?’
Javier studied her for a moment. ‘You said a lot of things, Emelia.’
‘What other things did I say?’ she asked.
‘You didn’t want children, for one thing,’ he said. ‘You were adamant about it.’
Her eyes widened. ‘Not want children?’
He nodded. ‘You didn’t want to be tied down.’
She put a hand to her head, as if to check it was still there. ‘I can’t believe I didn’t want kids. That seems so…so selfish.’ She looked at him again. ‘Did you want children?’
‘No, absolutely not,’ he said. ‘Children need a lot of attention. They can be a strain on a strong marriage, let alone one that is suffering some teething problems.’
Her forehead creased again. ‘So we were having some problems?’
Javier carefully considered how to answer. ‘Very few relationships don’t go through some sort of adjustment period. It was hard for both of us initially. I travel a great deal and you were new to my country and my language. In any case, it wasn’t always convenient to take you with me because I like to concentrate on business when I am away. On the few occasions you did come with me, you were bored sitting around waiting for me. Some meetings go on and on until things are sorted out to everyone’s satisfaction.’
‘So I decided to stay at home and play the corporate wife role…’ She chewed her lip again, as if the concept was totally foreign to her.
‘Emelia.’ He took her hand in his again, stroking the back of it with his thumb. ‘It was the way things were between us. It was what we both wanted. You seemed happy with the arrangement when I asked you to marry me. You understood the rules. You were happy to play the game. You slipped into the role as if you were born to it.’
She looked at their joined hands, a sigh escaping from her lips. ‘When I was a little girl I used to wish I could see into the future.’ She looked back up into his gaze. ‘But now I wish I could see into the past.’
He let her hand go and stood up from the bed. ‘Sometimes the past is better left alone,’ he said. ‘It can’t be changed.’
She pulled the sheet up to her chest, her forehead still creased in a frown. ‘Will I see you before you leave tomorrow?’ she asked.
He shook his head. ‘I am leaving first thing.’ He bent down and brushed his mouth against hers. ‘Buenas noches.’
‘Buenas noches.’ Her voice was a soft whisper that feathered its way down his spine as he left the room.
Aldana was in the kitchen when Emelia came downstairs the next morning. The atmosphere was distinctly chilly but she decided to ignore it. Ignore the bad, praise the good seemed the best way to handle a difficult person, she thought.
‘Good morning, Aldana,’ she said with a bright smile that she hoped didn’t look too forced. ‘It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?’
The housekeeper sent her a reproachful look. ‘I suppose as usual you will turn your nose up at the food I have set out for you?’
Emelia’s smile fell away. ‘Um…actually, I am quite hungry this morning,’ she said. ‘But you shouldn’t have gone to any trouble.’
Aldana made a snorting noise and turned her attention to the bread she was making. ‘I am paid to go to trouble,’ she said. ‘But it is a waste of my time and good food when people refuse to eat it.’
‘I’m sorry if I’ve offended you in the past,’ Emelia said after a tense silence. ‘Would it help if I sat down with you and planned the week’s menus? It would save you a lot of trouble and there would be less waste.’
Aldana dusted her hands on her apron in a dismissive fashion. ‘You are not the right wife for Señor Mélendez,’ she said. ‘You do not love him as he deserves to be loved. You just love what he can give you.’
Emelia tried to disguise her shock at the housekeeper’s blunt assessment by keeping her voice cool and controlled. ‘You are entitled to your opinion but my relationship with my husband is no one’s business but my own.’
Aldana gave another snort and turned her back to open the oven, signalling the end of the conversation.
Emelia
