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As Jessica’s mother had died when Jessica was still a very young child, she really had little memory of her. Celia Diamond, Jessica’s paternal grandmother, was a tall, stately-looking woman, blonde and still beautiful despite her sixty-or-so years, but a woman who obviously found it difficult to show affection to a young child; a summons to her private sitting-room before bedtime was the most attention she paid her granddaughter.
But Jessica’s father was back now, so perhaps things would change...
And one of those changes could be the dismissal of the new nanny!
Annie’s feet dragged with reluctance as she made her way back up to the house. Nevertheless she took the path carefully—the weather seemed to be worse than when she had set out and she grabbed onto the handrail several times as she almost lost her footing on the rocky path, relieved when she saw the ominous shape of the house rising up in front of her.
Clifftop House was a magnificent building, almost gothic in proportions, and it had taken Annie a week to find her way around its many rooms. It had seemed incredible to her at the time of her arrival that one elderly lady and a small child should live in such a large house.
Although she had to admit that within several hours of Anthony’s arrival at the weekend, with his fiancée, for a week’s visit, the house hadn’t seemed big enough for all of them!
She had a feeling it was going to seem even less so with Rufus Diamonds’s impressive presence!
‘Really, Rufus, I didn’t see the point in contacting you,’ Celia Diamond was protesting impatiently as Annie moved quietly past the sitting-room doorway. ‘The doctor said it’s a simple sprain, nothing to get in a panic about, and Annie has been taking very good care of her—’
‘Who the hell is Annie?’ that oh, so familiar voice rasped harshly.
‘The new nanny you seem so angry about,’ Celia responded coldly. ‘You weren’t here, Rufus—but then, you never are,’ she added cuttingly. ‘What else was I supposed to do when Margaret walked out so unexpectedly?’
Annie couldn’t move, had become frozen to the spot the moment she heard her name mentioned...!
‘I suppose it was too much to expect that you could look after Jessica yourself,’ Rufus drawled scathingly. ‘Although you still haven’t given me an acceptable explanation as to exactly why Margaret walked out. And if this Annie is taking such good care of Jess, why is it that she’s upstairs in bed at this moment with a leg injury?’
Annie gasped at the injustice of this last remark; there was simply no way, without completely smothering the child, that she could monitor every move of her young charge. And Jessica had been riding for years; in fact, this man had bought her the horse she had fallen from!
‘Maybe I should just ask Annie that myself!’ Even as Rufus spoke, the door to the sitting-room was wrenched completely open, exposing an embarrassed Annie eavesdropping in the hallway. ‘Well?’ Rufus Diamond barked at her. ‘I presume you are Annie?’
She looked at him with widely startled eyes—and it wasn’t all due to being caught out in this way. He knew damn well she was Annie; she had told him down at the jetty that she was his daughter’s nanny.
‘Really, Rufus,’ Celia Diamond admonished haughtily. ‘Sometimes I find it difficult to believe you could possibly be David’s son; he was always such a gentleman, so aware of his position as head of this family,’ she continued scathingly.
Rufus gave her a contemptuous glance. ‘You mean you were always so aware of your position as wife of the head of this family!’ he returned disgustedly. ‘I’m sure my father only died at the relatively early age of sixty-five so that he could at last get away from you and your social-climbing!’
‘Really, Rufus!’ Celia’s gasp was one of dismay now as she clutched at the double string of pearls about her throat, her expression one of deep hurt. ‘Your long absence hasn’t made your tongue any kinder. And have you forgotten there are servants present?’ She flicked a chilling look in Annie’s direction.
She meant her, Annie realised after several stunned moments. A servant! Well...she supposed she was, in a way; she did work for these people, and was paid a wage for doing so. But even so...!
‘I don’t think Annie took too kindly to that last remark, Celia,’ Rufus Diamond interjected.
Annie turned her gaze in his direction, only to find those dark eyes regarding her with amusement. He had obviously been watching her every expression—and deriving great enjoyment from doing so!
Her head went back proudly. ‘Mrs Diamond is perfectly correct in her statement,’ she said smoothly. ‘This appears to be an extremely private family conversation. But I would be quite happy, Mr Diamond, to talk to you about Jessica’s accident at a more convenient time.’ She met his eyes challengingly, still slightly confused as to why he didn’t seem to have told his mother that the two of them had already met earlier down on the beach.
Why hadn’t he told Celia Diamond? Why hadn’t she confessed? The answer to the last was easy; she shouldn’t really have been down on the beach at all this afternoon. Celia Diamond had warned her when she’d first come to work here not to go down there when the weather was like it was today...
‘Now is a convenient time for me,’ Rufus Diamond invited her.
‘It’s Annie’s afternoon off,’ Celia told him quickly before Annie could make any sort of reply.
Rufus looked at her with narrowed eyes now. ‘Is it indeed?’ he finally drawled slowly.
Annie didn’t need to be told that, with this new information, he was again adding up two and two and coming up with the answer of five! The speculation was clearly there in his mocking gaze.
‘It is,’ she confirmed briskly. ‘But I’m not going anywhere, except upstairs to check on Jessica, so I’ll be perfectly happy to talk to you once you’ve finished your conversation with your mother—’ She broke off with a puzzled frown as her remark brought forth a harsh laugh from Rufus. ‘Did I say something...funny?’ she said haltingly—although for the life of her she couldn’t imagine what it had been.
‘To me, yes. To Celia, no,’ Rufus replied, his grin wolfish again now, as it had been down on the beach. ‘If you’ve been here two months someone really should have filled you in on the family history by now—’
‘Rufus!’ Celia admonished sharply, two spots of angry colour in her cheeks.
He gave her only a cursory glance. ‘Something else the servants shouldn’t know?’ he taunted.
Celia gave him one of her chilling looks—a look that had no visible effect on him whatsoever!—before turning back to Annie. ‘Perhaps if you wouldn’t mind going and checking on Jessica now...?’ she suggested smoothly—although it was more in the order of an instruction. ‘I’m sure you and Rufus can catch up with each other later,’ she dismissed.
Annie was beginning to wish she had never set eyes on the man!
There was no doubting that Celia Diamond could be slightly condescending in her manner, or that things had become a little complicated since Anthony had arrived with his fiancée for a visit, but for the main part Annie had enjoyed her time here, found Jessica a delight to work with. Admittedly, it hadn’t all been peace and harmony, but she loved Jessica, and anything else was just discomfort she had learnt to live with.
With the arrival of Rufus Diamond, she had a feeling all that was about to change!
CHAPTER TWO
‘ISN’T it wonderful?’ Jessica’s eyes glowed deeply blue. ‘Daddy’s home!’ She clapped her hands together in pleasure.
Annie wished she could share the young girl’s enthusiasm, but, having made her escape from the man downstairs only minutes ago, she was in no hurry to see Rufus Diamond again. Although it was obvious, from Jessica’s excitement, that his daughter couldn’t wait for him to come back up to her bedroom.
‘It’s a lovely surprise for you,’ Annie acknowledged guardedly, straightening the pillows behind her charge. ‘Does your father often return unexpectedly in this way?’
‘Always!’ Jessica nodded happily, dark curls bouncing. ‘But he leaves just as suddenly too,’ she added wistfully.
Annie realised he probably had to; as an investigative reporter he would just have to go where the story was, whenever it occurred. Which was pretty tough on his young daughter. Although, she had to admit, Jessica seemed a well-adjusted child to her; she certainly didn’t qualify as neglected or psychologically disturbed!
Annie herself was still puzzled as to what she could have said earlier to so amuse Rufus Diamond. Neither he nor Celia had offered an explanation before she’d excused herself to come upstairs to Jessica. And she had no intention of asking the little girl; that would be most unfair.
‘How are you feeling this afternoon?’ She smiled down at her young charge.
Jessica grinned back at her—her grin, Annie now knew, was not unlike her father’s! ‘Well enough to go downstairs for dinner!’ she announced cheerfully.
Annie felt her heart sink at the statement. If Jessica went down to the family dining-room for the meal, then it meant she had to join them too. And if the tension between Celia and Rufus was any indication of the man’s effect on the rest of the family it boded ill for everyone’s digestion—including her own!
‘Are you sure?’ she prompted lightly. ‘You’re still using the crutches to get about.’ The accident had happened at the weekend, three days ago, and Jessica had been advised by the doctor to rest for several days before attempting to put any stress on her ankle.
The first day or so Jessica had enjoyed being waited on, having visitors come up to her bedroom, but after that the novelty had begun to pall. Consequently, this morning she had announced she would get up for a while, although after a couple of hours’ activity she had been happy to spend the afternoon back in her bed resting. But not now, with the arrival of her father, it seemed!
‘Daddy will carry me down,’ Jessica assured her warmly, obviously liking this idea very much.
‘The sooner you get up on your own two feet, the sooner you can go back to school,’ Annie teased the little girl.
Jessica’s face lit up at the thought. ‘Can I go back tomorrow?’
Annie laughed indulgently, knowing that the week Jessica had been told to take as sick-leave from the private day school she attended twenty miles away had been an added incentive to Jessica when it came to the bed-rest. But even that had started to fade as Jessica had begun to miss her schoolfriends, especially her best friend, Lucy.
‘I think that may be a little soon.’ Annie shook her head regretfully. ‘Besides, you can spend some time with your father now.’ Her humour faded at that thought; hopefully she wouldn’t have to spend time with him too! ‘Speaking of which,’ she added briskly, ‘I had better go and shower and dress for dinner so that I can come back and help you later.’
‘Is Daddy coming back up soon?’ Jessica frowned at his non-appearance.
Very soon, if the abruptness of his conversation with Celia was anything to go by! ‘I’m sure he is.’ Annie squeezed the little girl’s hand reassuringly. ‘He was just saying hello to your grandmother when I came up.’
Jessica grimaced at this news. ‘Oh.’
Obviously the tension that existed between her father and Celia wasn’t a family secret, not even from someone as young as Jessica!
‘Try and get some rest,’ Annie encouraged. ‘Then you won’t feel sleepy over dinner.’
She wished, as she walked slowly down the hallway to her own bedroom, that she could sleep through dinner; it didn’t promise, with Rufus Diamond’s arrival, to be a very restful meal.
‘Annie!’
She turned sharply at the sound of her name being called, colour warming her cheeks as she saw Anthony hurrying towards her, her heart giving its usual leap of excitement just at the sight of him, his blond good looks breathtaking to say the least. Annie had been bowled over by him the first time she’d looked at him.
‘God, I’m sorry about earlier.’ He spoke agitatedly as he reached her side, hair windswept, sky-blue eyes troubled as he looked down at her. ‘Davina decided she just had to go into town, and I just had to drive her because the weather was so bad.’ He mimicked a good impression of the slightly breathless way his fiancée spoke. ‘I hope you didn’t wait too long for me down on the jetty,’ he said apologetically as he took one of her hands into his.
Annie was mesmerised once again by the deep blue of his eyes, her legs feeling suddenly weak, her hand trembling when it made contact with his.
How had Rufus Diamond guessed that she was waiting for his brother down on the jetty?
More important than that, how had he known she had become romantically entangled with his brother?
Because she had. Had been attracted to Anthony from the first moment she’d looked at him when he’d come to stay several weekends ago. Too late she had realised he was engaged to someone else. An engagement which was virtually impossible for him to get out of.
‘Not very long,’ she dismissed, though she had already waited almost an hour when Rufus Diamond had arrived. She sounded slightly breathless herself because of Anthony’s close proximity.
‘I’m really sorry.’ Anthony squeezed her hand, smiling. ‘I know that we need to talk, that there must be things you want to ask me.’
Annie felt that fluttering sensation in her chest again as she thought of the possibility that some of their conversation might concern how he felt about her! She wondered if he would kiss her again, as he had on Sunday.
His mother and Davina had gone off that morning to visit neighbouring friends for a couple of hours, and Anthony had cried off because he had some notes to prepare for a case he was involved in when he got back to London the following week. He had told her later that he had also hoped for an opportunity to be alone with her...!
In one way it was lucky he had stayed behind on Sunday, because he’d been the one to help her after Jessica had come off her horse, driving them to the hospital so that Jessica could have her ankle X-rayed, carrying the little girl up to her bedroom once they’d returned, sitting with them both until Jessica had fallen asleep.
And that was when he had kissed her...!
Annie had been stunned. Elated. Ecstatic. Because the attraction she had felt towards him, for so many weeks, was returned.
And then she had felt devastated. Embarrassed. Because he was engaged to marry another woman.
Anthony had explained that he no longer loved Davina, but that it was almost impossible for him to tell her so at this time, since Davina’s father was the senior partner in the law firm Anthony worked for.
Annie could sympathise with his dilemma, but she had no idea where that left her. ‘It doesn’t matter,’ she excused him now abruptly, still uncomfortable with the fact that he was engaged to Davina. ‘I—your brother is home,’ she stated flatly, not sure that she would be able to see much more of Anthony anyway, still wondering if she would have a job after today.
It was as if she had given Anthony an electric shock. He stepped back abruptly, releasing her hand as he did so. ‘Rufus is back?’ he grated incredulously, blue eyes wide open now.
‘He’s downstairs with your mother.’ Annie nodded, feeling totally miserable about the other man’s return herself. In fact, the only one who seemed pleased to see him was Jessica! ‘I’m surprised you didn’t see him on your way up,’ she added heavily. Or hear him, she added silently: Rufus Diamond hadn’t exactly been quiet over his disapproval at Jessica having a replacement nanny.
Anthony still frowned. ‘I came straight upstairs to look for you. Do you know how long he’s staying?’
‘He’s only just arrived!’ she responded ruefully.
‘His last effort to be a father to Jess amounted to a full twenty-four hours, I believe,’ Anthony scorned. ‘Have you seen him? Spoken to him?’ He looked at her searchingly. ‘I can see by your expression that you have,’ he said disgustedly. ‘Throwing his weight about as usual, no doubt?’
She moistened dry lips. ‘He didn’t seem—too happy about Margaret’s departure.’
Anthony raised dark blond brows. ‘I wonder why? I mean, a nanny is just a nanny—Oh, not you, of course, my darling,’ he quickly apologised as she looked taken aback. ‘But Jess has had a succession of nannies; I’m just surprised Rufus could tell one from another!’
Well, he certainly seemed to know the difference this time! Although Annie was still stunned by Anthony’s endearment; was she really his darling?
‘Margaret was a blonde; Annie is a redhead,’ drawled a voice that was becoming all too recognisable. ‘I think even I can tell the difference,’ Rufus Diamond said sarcastically as he strode down the hallway.
Annie was once again struck by the lack of similarity between these two men: Rufus was at least a couple of inches taller than his brother as he stood beside the younger man, his hair long, dark and shaggy, while Anthony’s was blond and kept expertly styled. Rufus was also the more powerfully built, and even the casual clothing they both wore was of a completely different style; the older man wore jeans, whereas Anthony’s trousers were tailored. And, although both men were strikingly handsome, that was in a completely different way, too: Anthony’s was a boyish handsomeness, while Rufus Diamond’s face looked as if it had been hewn from the rocks along the seashore.
If Rufus had heard that remark about Jessica’s nannies, had he also heard his brother call her his darling?
Cobalt-blue eyes were narrowed on the two of them in cool assessment before he turned to look at his brother. ‘Davina seems to be wondering where you’ve got to,’ he went on pointedly. ‘I told her to look for the first pretty face and she was sure to find you there! And I was right,’ he added softly, his speculative gaze encompassing Annie again as well now.
She felt the colour enter her cheeks, could feel its warmth. And it had nothing to do with being called pretty by this man. Why was Rufus so contemptuous of her? He didn’t even know her! From the way he talked to her, and about her, she didn’t think he was going to take the time to get to know her, either!
‘I was merely asking Anthony if he knew whether or not you were coming up to see Jessica again,’ she told him tartly. ‘She seemed to think you would be.’
‘And she was right, because here I am,’ he returned, amusement—at her expense!—darkening his eyes even more.
She met that look unblinkingly. ‘I’m sure Jessica will be thrilled,’ she said evenly.
To her surprise Rufus threw back his head and gave a shout of laughter, his expression warm now, that grin still curving his lips as he looked down at her. ‘I was wondering if this unusual colour was real or from a bottle.’ He reached out and lightly ruffled the deep red of her short, curling hair. ‘Now I know it is red! I should watch yourself with this one, Anthony,’ he told his brother. ‘She may just turn round and bite!’ And, with that last taunt left floating in the air between them, he strode off to Jessica’s bedroom, quietly going inside. Jessica’s squeals of delight were heard seconds later.
‘What did he mean by that last remark?’ Anthony asked sharply. ‘Exactly what did the two of you talk about when you met earlier?’
Annie smoothed her mussed hair with irritated fingers. Really, Rufus Diamond treated her as if she were no older than Jessica! Although, from the implications he was making concerning herself and his brother, he didn’t really believe that...!
‘Annie!’ Anthony snapped impatiently. ‘I asked what you and Rufus talked about earlier,’ he prompted at her puzzled look.
She thought back to that embarrassing conversation with him on the beach, when she had mistaken him for a trespasser—and knew she couldn’t tell Anthony about that. She felt uncomfortable enough about the encounter already, without sharing it with anyone.
‘Not a lot,’ she responded vaguely. ‘Although he did tell me to be careful on the beach; he said someone had once died there.’ She looked up at Anthony, perplexed.
He pursed his lips thoughtfully. ‘Did he, indeed?’ he said slowly. ‘Did he say who it was?’
‘No.’ She shrugged. ‘We really weren’t talking for that long.’ Only long enough for Annie to make a complete fool of herself!
‘Hmm.’ Anthony was still attentive. ‘It’s interesting that he told you about that at all.’
