Lucy Gordon - The Monte Carlo Proposal

Then I noticed his cufflinks. They were the shabby ones given him by Grandpa Nick. As though he was going to need good luck tonight.

He saw me looking at them, smiled self-consciously and pulled his jacket sleeves down to hide them.

‘Jack-’

‘They’ll be here in a moment. Are we ready?’

So he left me not knowing what to think, which was how it normally was these days.

Nobody was late. They all wanted to get a look at Jack. I had a busy time introducing them to him and him to them.

They were a good-looking bunch, I realised. Harry, his wife and two sons; Alec, sporting a black eye, his wife and grown-up son and daughter; Hetta with her three daughters, all beauties. Bill had no family, but he was a natural clown with a gift for making the party go. David and Ken were the other brothers, with five offspring between them.

I’d expected to hate it, but almost at once I knew that the party had the magic ingredient that would make it gel. In part it was Jack, who romanced every female in sight, from Hetta’s sultry daughter, Penny, to Lil, Alec’s stern-faced wife.

She had a lot to look stern about. Alec was fond of her, but he was a philanderer, and I guessed the black eye meant he’d been straying again.

Jack took personal charge of Lil-keeping an eye on her drink, joking with her, and looking deep into her eyes in a way that made her blush. I could see that she was forgetting everyone around her. Jack could have that effect on people.

Alec could see it too, and he didn’t like it. Leaving a group of men who were enjoying Jack’s finest single malt whisky, he edged forward until he was standing beside her.

‘Lil-’

She didn’t seem to hear.

‘Lil-’ He touched her arm.

She looked at him as if she’d never seen him before.

Alec was staggered. He was used to having Lil’s full attention, and to her letting him get away with anything because she loved him more than he loved her.

‘What is it?’ she asked.

‘Er-why don’t you come over here and talk to Bill?’

But Lil was enjoying the full blast of Jack’s charm and she wasn’t going to budge. I didn’t blame her.

‘I’ve known Bill for years,’ she told her husband firmly. ‘Why should I want to talk to him now?’

‘Well-’

She turned back to Jack. ‘Go on with what you were saying.’

Having received his dismissal, Alec drifted unhappily away.

There were other moments about that evening that I enjoyed very much. Ken, for instance, assuming that all businessmen were crooks of one kind or another, explaining to Jack in lurid detail exactly how he’d ripped off a firm called Callon Inc.

‘Very ingenious,’ Jack said, straight-faced. ‘I never knew there were such flaws in the security system. I must have a talk with them first thing on Monday.’

‘You?’

‘I own that firm. Didn’t I say?’

Ken blenched. ‘No, you didn’t say.’

‘I’m grateful to you. You’ve done me a favour. Perhaps you’d care to look over some other firms of mine and tell me where they can be attacked.’

Ken looked suspicious. ‘You mean-you’re not going to cut up rough?’

‘I’d look a bit silly doing it now, wouldn’t I?’

Later Jack had a long chat with David. I couldn’t make out details, but from the way they had their heads together it seemed very man to man. I discovered afterwards that David-who, as everyone agreed, had never been the brightest tool in the box-had asked his advice on the best way to manage the extra activities with which he supplemented the income he earned from his ‘antiques’ shop.

Only when it was too late did he remember that Jack was on the other side of the fence, so to speak. I saw him gulp as realisation hit, and I saw Jack grin at him, then put his finger over his lips.

‘You’re a fraud,’ I told him softly. ‘You’re making them think you’re one of them.’

‘Why shouldn’t I be-in spirit, anyway? Della, tell me something. Do any of your family indulge in rough stuff-knocking people about, that sort of thing?’

‘Certainly not,’ I said, offended. ‘They’ve never been like that.’

He nodded. ‘That’s what I thought. Hetta, come and have a drink with me.’

By that time there was music playing, and when they’d drunk champagne he swept her into the dance.

She was only allowed to keep him for one dance. All the pretty young girls were queuing up to be his partner, but he made them wait, asking the older women first.

I still wonder what alchemy made him invite Lil to dance to pop music. How did he know that hidden in that heavy body was the girl who’d wowed them at the disco twenty years ago? It took only a few brash chords to lure her out again, and then she and Jack were flinging themselves all over the place. Everyone cheered and clapped, and with the last chord Jack drew her back into a theatrical simulation of an embrace.

Alex didn’t like that, I was happy to see. He didn’t like it at all.

I remembered the dances on The Hawk , all the tension, the edginess, the attitudes, with nobody relaxed. Jack looked far more at home at this one, I had to admit.

Ken drifted by while Jack was dancing with Penny.

‘You’ve landed on your feet,’ he murmured to me.

Ken has always been crude.

‘It’s not like that,’ I said.

‘Go on. I know what these apartments cost. I investigated them last year for a client, and if Jack can afford this, then, like I say, you’ve landed on your feet.’

‘I haven’t landed anywhere. There’s nothing between us.’

‘So why’s he giving you a party and meeting your family? I don’t see any other guests here.’

I couldn’t answer that.

‘Well, if you don’t want him there’s plenty who do. Look at Penny, for instance.’

‘I should think everyone’s looking at Penny,’ I said, trying not to sound as grouchy as I felt.

‘Very nice-looking girl. She’s recently been doing some glamour modelling. Big success. She’s got a gift for it, if you know what I mean.’

I knew exactly what he meant.

Ken moved off and Grandad took his place, saying to me, ‘Don’t let them see you mind, luv.’

‘I do not mind,’ I said, a tad sharply.

‘Then why are you looking as if you’ve swallowed a lemon?’

‘I’m not.’

‘You are.’

‘Well, I’m a wallflower, aren’t I?’ I complained. ‘Who can I dance with?’

‘You can dance with me.’

‘Right, I will.’

We took the floor together, but I didn’t get to keep him long. Lil, still alight from her moment of glory, claimed him, and they kicked up their heels together. Alec didn’t like that either, but there was nothing he could say without looking ridiculous, Grandad being so old.

I got one dance with Jack, at the end of the evening, but it was a very sedate affair. The feel of his hands through the dress’s thin material, his warm breath on my shoulders, destroyed all my good resolutions to keep my distance.

Jack, on the other hand, seemed well able to resist the temptation to draw me close. It was almost worse than not dancing with him at all.

The evening ended in a riot of good cheer. Everyone but me seemed to know what it had all been about. They’d sized him up, he’d sized them up, they all knew where they stood with each other and seemed happy with the result.

Just one big happy family, in fact.

If there’s one thing my folks know how to do, it’s enjoy themselves. When they had gone, and the caterers had departed, the place looked as though a bomb had hit it.

Grandad and I did a bit of half-hearted tidying, but Jack said to leave the rest, because the cleaners would come in the morning.