how capable he was of being master of any situation.
His attraction was all the stronger for it. Dangerously so.
Nevertheless, that still didn’t make him good relationship material.
He was a dyed-in-the-wool flirt with women.
And that wasn’t just her judgment. Michael had said so.
Regardless of what Harry Finn made her feel, she was not going to have anything to do with him apart from the business of managing this resort for a month. He could flirt his head off with her but she would stand absolutely firm on that ground.
He was not what she wanted in her life.
She had to look for someone steady, solid, totally committed to her and the family they would have together.
Not like her father.
And not like Harry, who probably treated women as though they were a carousel of lollipops to be plucked out and tasted until another looked tastier.
WHEN Harry returned he was accompanied by a middle-aged woman with whom he appeared to be on very friendly terms. They were smiling at each other as they entered the office. She had short, curly dark hair, liberally streaked with grey, a very attractive face set in cheerful lines and merry hazel eyes that invited people to enjoy life with her. Of average height, her trim figure declared her fit to tackle anything, and she exuded positive vibes at Elizabeth as Harry introduced her.
‘Sarah Pickard, Elizabeth.’
‘Hi! Welcome to Finn Island,’ the woman chimed in.
‘Thank you.’ Elizabeth smiled back as she rose from the desk to offer her hand at this first meeting. ‘I’ll have to learn a lot very fast and I’ll appreciate any help and advice you can give me, Sarah.’
She laughed and gave Elizabeth’s hand a quick squeeze. ‘No problem. I’m only ever a call away. Harry tells me you’ve been Mickey’s PA. I’m sure you’ll fit in here very quickly.’
Mickey? The familiar use of Harry’s name for his brother struck her as odd.
‘Go into the apartment with Sarah, look around, see what you need,’ Harry instructed. ‘I’ll man the desk.’
‘Okay. Thank you,’ Elizabeth replied, gesturing to Sarah to lead the way.
It was a basic one-bedroom apartment, spotlessly clean and pleasantly furnished with cane furniture, cushions brightly patterned in tropical designs. The floor was tiled and an airconditioner kept the rooms cool. The kitchenette was small, and its only equipment appeared to be an electric kettle, a toaster and a microwave oven.
‘You won’t need that for much,’ Sarah explained. ‘Meals will be brought to you from the restaurant. Just tick what you want on each menu. You’ll find tea, coffee and sugar in the cupboard above the sink, milk and cold drinks in the bar fridge.’
Elizabeth nodded, thinking the gourmet meals provided here were a wonderful perk—no shopping for food, no cooking and no cleaning up afterwards.
‘The bed linen was changed this morning so everything’s fresh for you apart from these towels.’ Which she’d collected from the bathroom as she’d showed Elizabeth the facilities. ‘I’ll send clean ones over for you. Plus a hair-dryer and toothbrush. Harry said he’d whipped you off Mickey with no time to pack anything.’
Again the familiar name usage. Elizabeth frowned quizzically. ‘He’s always been Michael to me. I’ve only heard Harry calling him Mickey. And now you.’
She laughed. ‘I’ve known those two since they were teenagers. Jack and I looked after their parents’ place in those days. I guess I was like a second mother to them. Never had kids of my own. Good boys, both of them. You couldn’t be connected to better men, Elizabeth, as employers or people.’
It was a high recommendation, though probably a biased one, given Sarah’s obvious fondness for them. ‘They’re very different,’ she commented, wanting to hear more.
‘Mickey’s more like his dad, a seriously driven achiever. It’s in his genes, I reckon. Harry’s nature is more like his mum’s. She had a very sunny disposition, radiating a joy in life that infected everyone around her. It was a wicked shame when...’ She heaved a deep sigh. ‘Well, I guess we never know the day or the hour, but I tell you, those boys are a credit to their parents. Losing them both when they did, they could have run off the rails, plenty of money to spend, but they took on the business and pushed forward. And they looked after everyone who could have been hurt by the loss. Like me and Jack.’
She paused, grimaced. ‘Here I am running off at the mouth but you know Mickey. Harry said you’ve been working closely with him for two years.’
‘Yes, I have.’
‘You’ll find Harry good to work for, too. Just a different nature, that’s all.’
Sunny...like his mother...like Lucy. Was that why Michael was so attracted to Lucy? But why wasn’t Harry? Why did he have to plague her with his endlessly provocative attention?
‘I’ll only be here for a month, Sarah. I’m the fill-in until Harry finds a replacement for Sean.’
‘Whatever...’ She waved airily. Obviously it was not something that weighed on her mind. ‘I’ll send over sets of the island uniform with the towels etc. Do you want short shorts, Bermuda length or three-quarters?’
‘Bermuda length,’ Elizabeth decided, thinking that would look more dignified for her position as manager.
‘Harry thought a bikini...?’
‘No. I’ll wash my undies out tonight. I’ll be fine, thanks, Sarah.’
She grinned. ‘I love your butterfly blouse. It’s just the kind of thing Harry’s mum used to wear.’
Lucy’s choice, Elizabeth thought. ‘I’ll gladly change it for tropical fish,’ she said. The butterfly blouse represented failure with Michael and trouble with Harry, since he saw it as sexy. ‘I’ll be more comfortable here in the island uniform.’
‘Well, it is easy. You don’t have to think about what clothes to put on. I’ll be off now. You might want to freshen up before rejoining Harry in the office.’
‘Yes, I do. Thanks, Sarah.’
She was relieved to have such a good ally in the head housekeeper. It would surely make this job easier. Sarah’s long association with the Finn family meant that she could be absolutely trusted, too.
What she’d said about the two boys lingered in Elizabeth’s mind as she made use of the bathroom facilities. The plane crash that had taken the lives of Franklyn and Yvette Finn had been frontline news about ten years ago, soon after her own mother had died. She hadn’t known the people so it had meant nothing personal to her at the time, yet it must have been a traumatic period for Michael and Harry, both young men, possibly still at university, having fun, believing there was plenty of time to work out what they wanted to do with
