Jessica’s nanny,’ Janey nodded, still smiling. ‘I would’ve thought Jemima would have mentioned that to you…?’ She frowned slightly.
As Gemini and Jemima hadn’t seen each other for well over a year now, and the baby in the carrycot looked very young indeed, there wasn’t much likelihood of that. In fact, if her sums were correct, Jemima couldn’t even have been pregnant the last time they’d met. Which begged the question—who was the baby’s father…?
‘Please, sit down,’ Gemini invited coolly, sitting down in the armchair opposite the other woman. ‘Have you worked for my sister for very long?’ she queried lightly, feeling totally in the dark here; she hadn’t even known there was a baby, let alone how old it was!
Janey shook her head. ‘Since the day she came out of the nursing-home. About six weeks,’ she supplied as Gemini still looked blank.
‘I see,’ she said slowly—not seeing anything at all.
Jemima had given birth six weeks ago…. It seemed incredible that her twin could have gone through pregnancy, and then childbirth, without Gemini knowing anything about it. Of course, the emotional connection they’d used to have as children had gone long ago, but even so Gemini thought she would have felt something!
Janey looked a little less sure of herself now. ‘Jemima has been delayed in the States for the weekend at least,’ she said slowly. ‘I would have thought she’d have called you?’
‘Called me?’ Gemini was totally at a loss now.
Not only had she not seen Jemima for over a year, the two of them hadn’t spoken to each other on the telephone, either; the rift between them was just too deep. Why on earth should Janey Reynolds assume that they might have spoken to each other now. Although the obvious answer to that was that the younger woman wasn’t aware there was a rift. Typical of Jemima!
‘About looking after Jessica for a few days until she returns,’ Janey explained with a frown. ‘You see—’
‘What!’ Gemini got up abruptly, totally aghast as what the other woman had just said. She stood as tall as any model, with the sort of slender figure that showed clothes well. Except she didn’t model clothes; she designed them. GemStone was becoming one of the leading designer labels in the world, and Gemini herself was one of the best showpieces for her own clothes: tall, elegant, with a cool beauty the press found as photogenic as each of her new collections.
But that cool beauty was definitely ruffled at the moment—when was it ever anything else when her sister was involved?
‘I’m sure you must have misunderstood Jemima,’ she told the other woman, pleasantly enough, determined not to become panicked. If she could manage to design and organise a new collection of clothes every season, she could definitely handle this—whatever this might be!
‘I don’t think so.’ Janey shook her head, still frowning. ‘As I said, Jemima has been delayed in America—’
‘I understood that bit,’ Gemini assured her coolly. ‘I simply don’t see what that delay has to do with me. You informed me that you are Jessica’s nanny—’
‘Oh, I am.’ Janey Reynolds had started to look upset now. ‘But it’s my wedding day tomorrow.’ She gave a self-conscious smile, ‘So I obviously can’t take care of Jessica until Jemima does return. Your sister assured me that it would be no problem for you to look after Jessica for a few days.’ She chewed worriedly on her bottom lip at this last disclosure.
Of course it would be no problem for Jemima if her baby were left with Gemini—it was Gemini who had the problem with it. For one thing, she knew absolutely nothing about taking care of babies, and secondly, this latest escapade was just typical of Jemima—too busy with her own life to take care of her own responsibilities!
‘Do you have a telephone number in America where Jemima might be reached?’ she prompted impatiently. ‘I’m sure if we speak to her this can all be sorted out in a matter of minutes.’ Because Gemini would insist that her sister get herself back here, delay or no delay, and take care of her own daughter!
Janey looked pained. ‘She’s following through some story or other, and she’s usually the one to call me…’
Gemini wondered just how often ‘usually’ was where her journalist sister was concerned; Jemima was dogged when it came to her work, and stopped at nothing to acquire an exclusive. Or anything else she wanted, for that matter. As Gemini knew to her cost…!
‘Just how long has my sister been in America?’ she questioned shrewdly.
‘Almost a week,’ Janey revealed reluctantly.
Unbelievable, when her baby was obviously so young. Although anything was possible with Jemima. ‘So you have no way of contacting her.’ Gemini spoke almost to herself. ‘And it’s your wedding day tomorrow, so naturally you aren’t going to be around to take care of the baby for some time…’ She looked questioningly at the nanny.
‘I’m going on a two-week honeymoon to Barbados,’ Janey replied, obviously aware by now that her presence here, with Jemima’s baby, was a complete surprise to Gemini.
Gemini should have known; only Jemima would take on for her baby a nanny who was going on holiday mere weeks after being employed!
But none of this mental berating of her sister changed the fact that there was a six-week-old baby that needed looking after—or the fact that Gemini, as her aunt, was the one expected to do it!
At twenty-nine, Gemini had never even considered having any children of her own. She was a career woman, through and through, her designs the only ‘babies’ she was interested in.
Although now it looked as if, for a few days at least, she might have to take an interest in a six-week-old baby called Jessica!
Jemima really did have the most colossal damn cheek; the rift between the two sisters had been abrupt and final, over a year ago. How on earth did Jemima have the nerve to dump her baby on Gemini now after the way she had behaved then…?
Of course, it didn’t help that she knew Nick was going to be absolutely furious about the situation.
Oh, damn Nick, and what he thought of the situation. If he were around as much this weekend as he had been the last few months he wouldn’t even know she’d ever had a baby in the house, let alone that it was Jemima’s!
She wasn’t seriously contemplating looked after Jessica herself, was she. She knew nothing about babies, not how to feed them or look after them, and at only six weeks old she was sure Jessica was going to need a lot of both. Besides, she was Jemima’s baby…!
No, the idea was utterly ridiculous. She couldn’t do it. ‘I suppose it’s too late to engage a temporary nanny for the baby until Jemima comes back…?’ she asked, frowning.
Janey grimaced. ‘At six o’clock on a Friday evening? Not much chance, I would have thought.’ She shrugged.
Then why hadn’t she brought the baby here earlier. Damn it—
Jemima…. Her sister was the one who’d instructed Janey on what she was to do, so no doubt the timing of it had been planned by Jemima too. She didn’t doubt for a moment that her irresponsible sister, in spite of the rift between the two of them, would think
