with a comb and brush Maisie forgave her instantly. ‘Thought you might need a few running repairs,’ said Jackie sympathetically. ‘Come in to my old room and titivate.’ Jackie had moved out of the family nest some years ago but, owing to the fact she often dived back home for an odd weekend when she was short on cash or needed some TLC, her room was a home from home with everything a girl needed.
Once she had applied some eyeliner and mascara Maisie felt happier, and with just a touch of foundation and some gloss on her lips she decided she looked better than when she had first arrived. She then whisked her hair into a high knot on the top of her head, which was cooler, leaving just a few curling tendrils to soften the look.
Right, she was ready. She just hoped everyone pretended to forget what had happened and that she could slip away some time soon.
The barbecue was still going on when she reappeared with Jackie, who insisted on giving her a fresh glass of wine and a new plateful of food, despite her protests that she didn’t want any. Maisie was just gazing down at her plate when a male voice spoke in her ear. ‘I’ve been waiting for you,’ said Blaine.
‘You have?’ She stared at him in surprise. ‘Why?’
His lips quirked. ‘Why do you think?’
‘I’ve absolutely no idea,’ she said with perfect honesty.
‘Come and sit down.’ The swinging seat was occupied by several small children, who looked in danger of upending it, but Blaine led her to two chairs in a corner of the garden under the shade of an old apple tree. Maisie went with him and sat down because it was easier than objecting. ‘I wanted to ask you something,’ he said once he was seated beside her, a glass of wine in his hand.
She stared at him warily. Suddenly looking presentable again wasn’t enough protection.
‘Have you had a holiday this year?’ he asked coolly.
‘What?’ She was taken aback and it showed.
‘Have you?’
She pulled herself together. ‘No.’ She was supposed to have been honeymooning in August but she wasn’t about to mention that.
‘I wondered how you’d feel about combining a holiday with some work for a few weeks?’
She stared at him as though he was mad. ‘I don’t understand.’
‘It’s very simple.’
It might be but she wouldn’t trust him as far as she could throw him.
‘My father is very ill, as you know, and my mother visits the hospital every day, often staying eight or nine hours at a time. There is an excellent hotel virtually next door to the hospital, but as she has a couple of horses and numerous cats and dogs she won’t consider staying away overnight. That’s where you would come in.’
‘Me?’
‘I need someone to babysit the animals, someone who is trained and capable. My mother wouldn’t tolerate anything less. If you were taking care of the home or, more to the point, her pets, I know I could persuade her to stay most of the time at the hotel. That way she doesn’t have the travelling and she’s safe, my father sees more of her, the animals have someone who can exercise them and who understands their needs; everyone is happy. This would be very good, yes?’ He grinned a fascinatingly sexy grin. ‘What do you think?’
The danger signals which had been activated by that grin prevented her from replying immediately. Finally she managed to say, ‘From all you’ve told me about your mother, she would never agree.’
‘Ah, but she would. I have already spoken to her.’
She stared at him disbelievingly. ‘How? When?’
‘That wonderful invention, the telephone. A few minutes ago, when you were in the house.’
She couldn’t quite take this in. ‘You mean you suggested a total stranger living in her home and looking after her animals and she agreed without even seeing me?’
‘You are not a stranger to me, Maisie, and she trusts my judgement.’
His judgement of her hadn’t been exactly flattering. Maisie eyed him suspiciously, wondering if she should speak her mind or find out more about this crazy idea—an idea which, she had to admit, she’d been stirred by the minute he’d voiced it. To get right away from everything for a while, to spend some time in the sun doing what she loved best in all the world—taking care of animals—sounded too good to be true. And when something sounded too good to be true, that was usually because it was. ‘How long are you thinking of?’ she asked carefully.
‘That is hard to say.’ He frowned thoughtfully. ‘My father is due to have heart surgery in the near future. If this is a success it will mean further time in hospital and a period of convalescence. It might be a matter of weeks or even a few months.’
Maisie knew she couldn’t ask what would happen if the operation his father was to undergo wasn’t a success. Instead she said, ‘Surely he’ll convalesce at home?’
Blaine shrugged. ‘Possibly, but your presence would still relieve my mother of taking care of the animals, which occupies a considerable amount of her time normally. Of course she could still ride if she wishes or take the dogs out, but this would be when she feels it is possible rather than because she has to. You understand? I must mention that your duties would not involve any housework or things of this nature; my mother has a very able but elderly housekeeper who has been with her since I was born. Unfortunately Liliana has no rapport with the animals in the house and is frankly terrified of the horses.’
So she wouldn’t be totally alone in a strange country. Maisie’s mind was moving rapidly. And things like shopping and so on would be taken care of. Great, a few weeks minus carting a trolley round the local supermarket was a thumbs up. But how could she pay the rent on her bedsit in advance when she didn’t have two pennies to rub together? And did he mean that his mother would pay for her ticket to Italy and things of that nature? If all this had only been discussed hastily a few minutes ago, he probably wouldn’t know, anyway.
Blaine disabused her of this notion in the next moment. ‘All travelling expenses would be taken care of,’ he said smoothly, ‘and of course you would receive an initial sum of money to take care of any bills or obligations here while you are away. Perhaps we could say until the beginning of September, for argument’s sake? And then, of course, you would be paid weekly or monthly—whichever you prefer—during your stay at my mother’s home.’
This was happening much too fast. She felt as though she had been caught up in a whirlwind. ‘What … what if your mother doesn’t like me when she meets me?’ Maisie asked a trifle shakily.
‘Of course my mother will like you. You are a family friend, are you not?’
His brother’s family, actually, and was she the only one here remembering that up until yesterday the two sections of the family had been estranged for umpteen years? Roberto and his father were still estranged, if it came to it. Her head was telling her she was mad to even consider this crazy idea. Her heart was saying she had done all the right things—had been sensible, steady, practical and down-to-earth—for all of her twenty-eight years on this planet and look where it had got her. Nowhere, that was where. And if it didn’t work out in Italy she could hightail it home and put it down
