we give them notice of the dates and report back as soon as we return. But normally we take the pager everywhere and have to be ready to drop everything.’
‘Everything? You mean…even if…suppose you were…?’
‘At work or in the bath,’ she supplied innocently. ‘Yes, even then.’
That wasn’t quite what he’d meant, and her mischievous look showed that she understood perfectly. For a moment another memory danced between them, when the edges of his robe had fallen open just long enough to be tantalising. By mutual consent they decided to leave it there.
‘What made you want to be a lifeboat volunteer?’ he asked as he started the car.
‘My father. My mother died when I was very young and Dad raised me alone. When he went out on a call I used to love watching the boat go down the slipway into the water. All that spray coming up seemed so thrilling. He was a fisherman and I often went out with him. He taught me to be a sailor and bought me my first boat. My happiest times were spent on the water with him, and it was natural to follow him onto the lifeboats.’
‘A fisherman? You mean herring?’
She laughed, ‘Yes. There have always been shoals of herring in the water around here. Other fish too, but that’s how the island got its name.’
‘You’ve never wanted to leave it behind and move to the mainland?’
She made a face. ‘Never! There’s nowhere better in the world.’
‘You sound very sure? As simple as that?’
‘As simple as that. It’s the best place on earth, and it always will be; unless something happens to spoil it.’
Darius didn’t need to ask what she meant. He had the power to do the damage she mentioned, and they both knew it. But this wasn’t the right moment.
The drive ran along the shoreline, from where they could see the sun beginning to set.
‘I’d never seen anything like that before I came here,’ he said.
‘Never seen a sunset?’
‘Not like a Herringdean sunset. I haven’t been much by the sea. It’s usually something I see looking down on from a plane.’
‘Stop the car,’ she urged.
He did as she asked and the three of them walked to the edge of the beach and stood watching as the water turned crimson, glittering as tiny waves broke softly. None of them made a sound. There was no need. Harriet glanced at Darius and saw on his face a look akin to the one she’d first seen when they met—absorbed, ecstatic. At last he gave a regretful sigh.
‘We’d better go.’
‘You can see it from the house,’ she reassured him.
‘In a way. But somehow it’s different when you’re out here with it.’
As they walked back to the car he glanced appreciatively at her appearance. Her soft blue dress wasn’t expensive nor glamorous, but neither did it send out the warning he’d sensed from her functional bathing gear. Her light brown shoulder length hair flowed freely in soft waves. She looked relaxed and ready to enjoy herself and he found himself relaxing in turn.
The evening stretched ahead of him, warm and inviting. Another new experience. When had he last whiled away the hours with a friend?
Two friends, he realised, feeling Phantom nuzzle his hand.
‘Just wait until we get home,’ he said. ‘Kate’s got something really special for you.’
‘I’m looking forward to it,’ Harriet declared.
Man and dog stared at her, then at each other. Darius gave a shrug of resignation, and Harriet could almost have sworn that Phantom returned the gesture.
‘You have to explain things carefully to women,’ Darius told him.
Woof!
‘You meant that remark about something special for Phantom?’ Harriet demanded.
‘Who else? Kate’s taken a lot of trouble with his supper. I told her he was the guest of honour.’
Harriet chuckled. ‘I guess you’re learning.’
Kate was waiting at the door, beaming a welcome. For Phantom there was the dog equivalent of a banquet, which he tucked into with due appreciation. Her mind at ease, Harriet left him to it and followed Darius into the large dining room at the back where a table for two had been set up by the French windows. From here the lawn stretched out until it shaded into the stretch of private beach where they had first met.
‘Remember?’ he asked, filling her wine glass.
‘I remember, and I shouldn’t think you’ll ever forget,’ she said. ‘You never did send me the bill for that suit.’
‘Well, maybe I’m not the monster you think me to be,’ he said.
‘Thought, not think. I wouldn’t dare think badly of someone who treats Phantom so well.’
‘Ah, you’ve noticed that I’m grovelling to him. I’m so glad. I knew I had no chance of getting on your right side unless I got on his first.’
Harriet seemed to give this serious consideration. ‘I see. And it’s important to get on my right side?’
‘Well, I can’t let you go on being my enemy. It wouldn’t be practical.’
‘And at all costs we must be practical,’ she agreed. ‘But I have to say, Mr Falcon, that I’m disappointed at how badly you’ve misread the situation. I’d expected more efficiency from “the most fearsome man in London.”’
‘Please,’ he protested. ‘None of that. It was enough of an embarrassment when I could make a pretence of living up to it. Now—’ He shuddered. ‘But how did I misread the situation?’
‘I was never your enemy.’
‘Really? You expect me to believe that when you got a bodyguard for Phantom? Oh, yes, I heard. And then you despised me so much that you made jokes about leaving me to drown.’
‘Well, you got your own back by walking in on me right after, didn’t you? And I didn’t leave you to drown—’ She checked herself, alerted by his teasing look. ‘Oh, ha ha! Well, I guess you’re entitled to make fun of me.’
‘Yes, I think I am as well,’ he said, smiling and raising his glass. ‘Truce?’
She regarded him with her head on one side. ‘Armed?’
He nodded. ‘Safer that way for both of us.’
‘It’s a deal.’
She raised her own glass and they clinked as Kate entered with the first dish.
‘Just in time to save
