HELEN BROOKS - The Marriage Solution

‘Fine.’ He stood still for a brief moment, observing her quietly before striding over to the Mercedes, lost in the night shadows at the far side of the car park. She unlocked her door and slid into the car, starting the engine and turning on her lights as she waited for him to join her. The snow was falling a little more heavily now, big, flat flakes beginning to outnumber the tiny, thread-like ones of a few minutes ago. She normally found the sight entrancing but tonight her heart was too heavy for the normal elation.

As the powerful headlights of the Mercedes drew up behind her she pulled carefully out of the dark car park, the icy conditions and the fact that Carlton was just behind her making her unusually nervous. Stop it, Katie, she told herself sternly. You’re a big girl now and you’ve been driving for years.

It didn’t help.

The journey home through a world fast becoming a winter wonderland was uneventful and as she drew into the winding drive, grateful for the scrunchy pebbles under the car’s wheels instead of the black ice she had encountered more than once on the main roads, her heart plummeted right into her boots. ‘Jennifer.’

She pulled up at the side of her sister’s expensive sports car and glanced back to where Carlton had just entered the drive. What was her sister going to make of all this? And, more importantly in the circumstances, what was Carlton going to make of her sister?

She wondered, for a split-second, if she had time to dash into the house and warn Jennifer to be on her best behaviour or at least be civil, but as Carlton unfolded his long body from the front of the car and slammed the door shut she resigned herself to the fact that it was too late.

She was fumbling with her key when he reached her side, and he gestured behind her to the car as the door swung open. ‘That’s my sister’s car,’ she said hurriedly as the warm, scented air from the hall reached out a welcome. ‘She must have just arrived.’

‘Better late than never,’ Carlton murmured sardonically as he followed her into the house. ‘Or perhaps in your sister’s case that old cliché doesn’t apply?’ he added wickedly.

She didn’t have time to reply. As they entered the house both Jennifer and Mrs Jenkins appeared from the drawing-room, the former cucumber-cool and as regal as ever and the latter clearly flustered.

‘Darling...’ Jennifer’s beautiful almond-shaped blue eyes rested briefly on her sister before transferring to Carlton’s hard, dark face, whereupon they brightened considerably. ‘We’ve only just arrived, Katie,’ she continued as she remained looking at Carlton, ‘so there was no time to visit father tonight.’

‘The visiting doesn’t end till ten,’ Katie said automatically, stiffening as another figure sauntered lazily out of the drawing-room.

‘Oh, this is Donald,’ Jennifer said in an aside over her shoulder. ‘And this is...?’ She held Carlton’s impassive glance for a long moment before turning briefly to Katie. ‘Aren’t you going to introduce us to your friend, sweetie?’

‘I...’ Katie found herself at a loss for words and tried desperately to pull herself together. Why on earth had Jennifer brought her current lover here now of all times? she thought helplessly. It had to be the worst possible timing.

Donald had come to a halt just behind her sister, resting a casual hand on her shoulder as he glanced nonchalantly in Katie’s direction.

‘You must be the little sister?’ he drawled with a confidence that grated on Katie’s nerves like barbed wire. ‘Been holding the fort for Jennifer, then?’ he added patronisingly.

‘She’s been doing a lot more than that.’ Carlton’s voice was crisp and clear and both Jennifer and her swain stiffened at the tone. ‘And today has been a hard day like all the other ones before it, so might I suggest that we indulge in further niceties over a cup of coffee in the drawing-room?’ The last part of the sentence he directed at Mrs Jenkins with a warm smile that had been totally absent when he had looked at Jennifer and Donald, and the small woman nodded quickly, her eyes grateful at his mastery of the situation.

‘You go and sit down, my dear,’ Mrs Jenkins said quickly as she glanced at Katie’s drawn face. ‘I’ll bring it through in a minute.’

‘Thank you, Mrs Jenkins.’ Katie didn’t know whether to be pleased or angry at Carlton’s control over them all but it was simpler to be neither. ‘I do feel exhausted tonight.’

‘Poor darling.’ Jennifer’s voice was full of sweetness as they all walked through into the drawing-room but the hard blue eyes had difficulty in leaving Carlton’s face for more than a few moments. She turned as Katie sank down into an easy-chair by the fire and held out her hand to Carlton, her eyes frankly appraising. ‘I don’t think we’ve met,’ she said directly.

‘I’m sure we haven’t.’ The mockery was back in Carlton’s voice and his eyes were cool as they looked into the beautiful face in front of him. At twenty-eight, Jennifer was in the full bloom of her beauty and she knew it. There was no similarity between the two sisters except in the colour of their hair, but whereas Katie’s was soft and wavy Jennifer’s was cut into a sleek, expensive bob that framed the lovely heart-shaped face in which the clear, vivid blue eyes with their faintly oriental slant gave her a feline attractiveness that was infinitely seductive. ‘I’m Carlton Reef,’ he continued coolly. ‘A friend of your father.’

‘A business colleague,’ Katie added from her armchair. ‘Carlton has offered to look through Dad’s papers and see if there is any way out of the mess we’re in. He was involved in a considerable loss himself.’

‘Oh, dear.’ Jennifer reluctantly withdrew her hand as Carlton let go of hers. ‘Not too bad, I hope?’ she asked sweetly.

‘I’ll survive.’ He glanced across at Donald who had been watching the little exchange with a faint frown on his good-looking face. ‘You drove Jennifer down?’ he asked pointedly.

‘Not exactly.’ Donald stiffened even as his eyes flickered beneath Carlton’s icy gaze.

‘Donald’s a close friend of mine,’ Jennifer said easily. ‘Aren’t you, darling? We thought it would be fun to have a few days out of the city together as I had to come down here anyway.’

‘Fun?’ Katie came back into the conversation with a vengeance as she saw red. ‘You are supposed to be down here to see Dad, or had you forgotten?’ she asked furiously. ‘I hardly think “fun” comes into it!’

‘Oh, don’t be an old grouch,’ Jennifer said with a total lack of heat, which told Katie that she had other fish to fry, and, as she watched her sister eat Carlton with her eyes, she had a good idea of what they might be. ‘Donald can always take my car and disappear back to the flat, can’t you, darling?’ She glanced across at him and continued without waiting for an answer, ‘And I’ll stay here to help you, Katie.’

And pigs might fly, Katie thought balefully. She knew exactly what Jennifer had in mind—she had seen that predatory gleam in her sister’s eyes before with more than one man. And she also knew the reason for the quick turn-about regarding Donald’s visit. He would cramp her style if she were to indulge in a full-scale man-bunt.

‘How sisterly.’ Carlton’s voice was bland, but as Jennifer’s eyes returned to his face she saw the cynical mockery evident in every hard line and her mouth curved in a seductive little pout. This was the sort of man she both understood and appreciated.

‘You don’t mind going back tomorrow morning, do you, darling?’ Jennifer turned to Donald with a languid wave of a limp hand. ‘Perhaps it would be better with Father so ill.’