Sue MacKay - Second Chance With Her Island Doc / Taking A Chance On The Single Dad

‘Really ridiculous,’ she emphasised. ‘Not just one but two— two! —chandeliers. For a bedroom. Ten guest chairs. Two settees and a window seat big enough to seat me, my dogs and a small army of minions—if I wanted minions, which, believe me, I don’t. And this carpet… Who chooses crimson and purple carpet with dragons woven into it? And it’s not even the main bedroom—I gather this was one of Yanni’s guest rooms. Urk. ’

‘I guess you could learn to like it,’ he said neutrally, but there was a faint smile behind his eyes. He agreed with her, then. ‘Anna, now I’m here… Headache? Pain level? One to ten, you know the score.’

‘Two,’ she admitted. ‘Nothing an aspirin won’t fix.’

‘Let’s try paracetamol instead,’ he told her. ‘I gather aspirin is what was behind Carla’s bleed. She’s been taking it for arthritis and then bumped her head. On the medicine cabinet, her son says.’

‘Ouch.’ They both knew aspirin could make a small bleed worse. ‘But now…’ She couldn’t keep anxiety from her voice.

‘She’s awake and alert. She’s a bit confused but she knows people, events, and there’s no noticeable physical damage. Her son’s with her. She’s on her way to a full neurological assessment in Italy but she may well be in the clear.’

‘Oh, Leo, that’s wonderful.’

‘It is, isn’t it?’ he said, and smiled and pulled up one of her overstuffed visitor chairs to sit beside her.

Which was discombobulating all on its own.

Leo. Beside her.

Get over it.

‘Where’s Victoir?’ she managed.

‘Do you care?’

‘He’s my…’ She hesitated. ‘Actually, I don’t know what he is. The boss of me? That’s what he’d like to think. I’m a bit over Victoir.’

‘Good for you. Are you going to sign the release so he can build his apartments?’

She stilled.

She hadn’t gone completely to bed. She’d put her head on the mound of glorious pillows and tucked the great crimson coverlet over her. Her yoga gear was pink and purple and covered her nicely.

She wanted more.

She wanted to be in crisp, professional work clothes. She didn’t want to be in a room lit by chandeliers and carpeted with dragons. Most of all, she wanted some sort of protection against this crazy situation, where on one hand she’d inherited power and on the other hand she had no power at all.

‘What’s that got to do with you?’ she asked, and then thought, I sound petty. He must have thought so, too, as his face hardened.

‘Everything. You turn this castle into apartments, you rip the heart out of my people.’

‘Why does that sound like the overstatement of the year?’

‘I’m not exaggerating. The castle takes up almost a quarter of the island. Your grandfather, your uncle and your cousin were appalling rulers but the islanders have accustomed themselves to this life for generations. The people should have risen up long ago but they haven’t. They won’t. And now… Turn the castle into a glorified gated community where the super-rich can fly in and fly out… Maybe there will be an uprising. I almost hope so, but it’ll take years, and meanwhile there’s nothing here. There’s no hope for the kids. This island needs help, Anna, and right now the only help available is from you.’

‘So how could I possibly help?’

‘By not being a Castlavaran.’

‘Don’t you get that I’m not?’ Enough. She shoved the coverlet back, folded her arms across her chest and glared.

His reaction wasn’t quite what she’d hoped. He looked totally distracted. ‘Great outfit,’ he said faintly, and the smile returned to his eyes.

‘I like pink.’ She folded her arms across her chest and glowered. ‘And purple.’

‘Why wouldn’t you? It’s amazing.’

‘Leo, the last thing I want is compliments,’ she snapped, and stood up.

Or tried to. The effects of the last twenty-four hours were still with her. She swayed.

Leo rose and caught her as she staggered. He lowered her gently so she was sitting on the side of the bed.

She should be thankful.

She wasn’t.

‘I just stood up too fast,’ she muttered.

‘I know. Anger makes us do all sorts of unwise things.’

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ She had herself together again—a bit. Oh, she wished she wasn’t wearing pink and purple. More than that, she wished she was somewhere neutral, not in this ridiculous bedroom, and not feeling so defenceless. And, yes, angry.

‘Don’t mouth platitudes at me, Leo Aretino,’ she managed, anger growing. ‘For ten years you assumed I knew what you were talking about. That I was part of this system. You assumed my cousin’s, my uncle’s, my grandfather’s greed was not only known to me but that their actions were somehow partly my fault. It’s not my fault, Leo. So now… I’m not a Castlavaran but I’m stuck.

‘The terms of this inheritance are unequivocal. The money’s to be used for the castle’s upkeep. For my upkeep. Victoir’s plan is that he build the apartments, and nominally I holiday in one. The rest are for my so-called friends to join me. We can defend it by saying it’s “for my pleasure”. It’s a way we can close off the unsafe sections and keep the rest of the place functional, even economically viable, while I get on with my life. How else can I stop the whole place from falling down? The way Victoir presents it, I don’t see that I have much choice.’

‘You can look at options.’

‘As if I’d know what they are. So if you have any, tell me, Leo, and stop treating me as the enemy.’

‘I never—’

‘You did,’ she managed. She was so mad she was trembling. Was that still the residue from the bump on the head? Or residue from being dumped ten years ago. Who knew? Not her. ‘From the moment my mother told you her maiden name, you’ve treated me like some form of alien, more, one capable of contaminating anyone who came near. So now… I accept this is your country and your concern. You don’t like Victoir’s option? Give me another.’

Her anger was almost a tangible thing. There was so much past history here, betrayal, hurt—and a love that had once consumed her.

Get over it, she told herself. Listen.

Without prejudice.

‘There is a way,’ Leo said, his calm voice trying to break through her obvious fury. ‘Anna, can you listen? I’m not sure, but there might be.’

What was he about to say? Break the Trust? Martin had said it was inviolable.

‘Like what?’ Her anger was still obvious but she couldn’t help it.

‘Using Victoir’s idea,’ he said, and she blinked.

‘The apartments.’

‘No.’ He closed his eyes for a moment, and took a couple of breaths. Calm or not, he sounded as if was holding himself in rigid control. Maybe the tension she was feeling between them wasn’t one-sided?

If so, good, she thought, and then had the grace to feel ashamed. Yes, he’d dumped her but she’d gone on to have a pretty good life. Maybe her anger was out of proportion. But still, he’d hurt her. She wanted him to acknowledge that.

But he was now intent on his plan. Focussed. For him the past was obviously well behind him.

‘Anna, maybe it’s a pipe dream,’ he told her. ‘It came to me on the way here, from something Carla said and from Victoir’s plans. But it’d take someone with a massive social conscience.’

‘And how can a Castlavaran have a social conscience?’ It was an angry mutter.

‘You’ve said you’re not a Castlavaran.’

‘You don’t believe that—or is your memory still selective?’ She glowered and then decided to be honest. To lay it all out there.

‘Leo, from the moment you told me you couldn’t marry me, you acted like you could hardly remember that my name is Raymond. I remember, though, and it still hurts. I know it’s stupid, but there it is. I even talked to our clinic’s psychologist about it. How needful was that? She says it’s tied up with my father walking away, my mother rejecting me over and over—and then you doing the same thing. She says I need to focus forward, not backward. So now… You judging me on my mother’s name looks backward to me. Leo, you’ve checked I’m not dying. I assume you’ve routed Victoir because he’s not here with his horrid documents. So what’s left? You can trust me with your pipe dream or you can leave. Take your pick.’