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‘Turned out a winner,’ he said with some personal satisfaction. ‘A smack in the eye for that cousin of his who voted against it. Of the two of them, Zac has by far the better business sense. It’s to be hoped he’s the one to take the chair when it comes up for grabs next year.’
Which wouldn’t be likely if Brady inherited all their grandfather’s holdings, Jessica reflected. Henry Prescott’s death may no longer be imminent, but the pressure still existed. It could quite easily be another ten years or more before the man breathed his last. A lifetime, if he continued to hold the same threat over his grandsons’ heads.
If word of her stint in the retail world had reached Brady’s ears, Zac made no mention of it. He made no reference to the job she was doing either. The atmosphere between them was like sitting on a volcano, waiting for something to erupt. When he made love to her it was with passion, but precious little tenderness. Hardly surprising, she supposed, when their whole relationship was based on the former rather than the latter.
‘I’m not sure how long I can stick this for!’ she burst out one night after waiting in vain for some sign of emotional involvement on his part—any sign. ‘I feel like a whore!’
‘Whores rarely experience orgasm,’ came the seemingly unmoved response. ‘If that was acting just now, you made the wrong career move!’
There was a pause, a sudden heavy sigh. He drew her back to him, his kiss soft on her lips. ‘You’re right. I’ve been a boor. How about we agree to differ over the job thing, and start over?’
Jessica didn’t hesitate. Compromise was better by far than warfare. She gave her answer in deed rather than word, rousing him to life again—though this time in far gentler mode.
There was hope for this marriage of theirs yet, she thought in the hazy, lazy aftermath of their love-making, when they lay entwined in each other’s arms. They were closer at this moment in every sense than they had ever been.
Chapter Eight
SARAH’S totally unexpected call the following week coincided with Zac’s overnight trip to France on company business.
‘I thought it time the two of us got to know each other a little better,’ she said. ‘How about lunch tomorrow to start with? I know this little place in Covent Garden that does an absolutely glorious boeuf en croute!’ She laughed. ‘Food becomes all-important when you’re feeding two!’
‘I can imagine,’ Jessica sympathised. She hesitated. ‘You must be getting close now.’
‘Oh, there’s another couple of weeks yet,’ came the airy reply. ‘Probably more. First babies are more often late than early. The men don’t have to know about it. Not yet, anyway. We can spring it on them later when we’re firm friends. It’s about time they stopped feuding themselves.’
Jessica could only agree, though she doubted it happening. She had an hour and a half lunch break, and Covent Garden was easily reached from the office, so there was nothing to stop her from taking up the suggestion.
‘Okay, fine,’ she said.
They arranged to meet at twelve-thirty. Replacing the receiver, Jessica contemplated telling Zac about it if he rang later. However he might feel about Brady, he’d been friendly enough towards Sarah. He could surely have no objection to their seeing one another.
The question was resolved by his failure to make the call. Retiring to bed alone that night for the first time in weeks, she lay wondering what he was doing right now. Subsidiary companies were apt to lay on entertainment for visiting VIPs. For all she knew, he was out on the town with some French woman detailed to give him a good time.
She was being paranoid, and she knew it, but it made little difference. What it all boiled down to was that she still didn’t really trust him when it came to other women.
Sarah was at the restaurant before her. She looked radiant, hair and skin blooming with health and vitality.
‘I expected to feel thoroughly done in by now after carrying Junior around for eight and a half months,’ she declared cheerily when Jessica complimented her on her appearance, ‘but I never felt better! Not that I shan’t be happy to have a waistline again. Maternity clothes leave a lot to be desired in the way of fashion.’
She eyed Jessica with undisguised speculation. ‘You look a bit drained yourself. You wouldn’t, by any chance, be pregnant too?’
‘Not by any chance,’ Jessica denied smilingly.
The speculation increased. ‘You and Zac don’t want children?’
‘Not just yet, at any rate.’
‘That’s not going to put you in favour with Grandfather Henry.’
Jessica viewed the pretty face across the table in some uncertainty. ‘That’s surely not the only reason you and Brady decided to start a family?’
‘Oh, no. We’d no intention of waiting. Brady knew when he married me how much I wanted children. I always did. Ever since I had my first doll.’ She gave the sparkly little laugh again. ‘I can hardly wait to see the little love in the flesh! Scans don’t give all that good a picture. We already named him. Richard Henry Prescott.’ She wrinkled her nose. ‘I’m none too keen on the Henry myself, but Brady insisted. The initials aren’t bad at least. RHP—Right Honourable Person. Useful if he becomes Prime Minister.’
‘Very,’ Jessica agreed. She hesitated before saying diffidently, ‘Do you always give way to Brady’s preferences?’
‘Most times,’ came the untroubled answer. ‘He tends to take after his grandfather in many ways, and I’m not one for rocking any boats unnecessarily. Men like to think they’re in charge. Gives their egos a boost. I don’t imagine Zac’s any different.’
Jessica contented herself with a smile and a shrug by way of a reply, not about to be drawn. Zac was strong-minded, true, but far from egotistical.
The food proved to be as good as Sarah had forecast. It was only gradually that Jessica realised the younger girl was simply picking at her plate. The animation had faded, the faint line drawn between her brows an indication of some inner conflict.
‘What is it?’ Jessica asked urgently, seeing the line deepen even as she looked.
The blue eyes lifted to hers were surprisingly serene. ‘I think I may have started,’ she said. ‘I’ve just had a second contraction, about fifteen minutes since the first. Stronger this time too. It might be a good idea if I get out of here before my waters break. It might put the other diners off their meal.’
Jessica lost no time in calling for the bill. She also got the desk to order a taxi. Sarah was booked into a private hospital. By the time they reached the place, the pains were coming every seven minutes.
‘Will you call Brady?’ Sarah requested before she was wheeled away. She handed over her bag. ‘You’ll find his mobile number in the front of my diary if he’s not at the office. Tell him to get here as soon as possible,’ she added, face compressing again as another contraction started. ‘He wants to see the birth.’
The way things were going, it was likely that he was going to miss it, Jessica thought, but she could but try.
She got through to Prescotts on her own mobile, to be told Brady was still out to lunch. While it was likely that his set would be switched off while he was at table, she called the number she had found in the diary, vastly relieved when he answered.
Thankfully, he wasted no time on questions that could be answered later. He was on the other side of town, it appeared, which meant he would have to contend with the midday traffic. Considering what Sarah had said earlier, Jessica wouldn’t have been all that surprised if he’d commanded her to tell his wife to hold the baby back until he got there.
Having done all she could in that direction, she went to see how matters were proceeding. Sarah was already in the delivery room, she was told on reaching the floor. In the absence of a husband to hold the patient’s hand, she was asked if she would like to put on a gown and do the honours herself.
Sarah greeted her appearance with tearful gratitude. ‘It’s all happening so fast!’ she said between contractions almost running together. ‘Brady is going to be so disappointed! You’ll have to tell him every detail, Jessica.’
If she judged correctly, a second-hand account of his son’s first appearance in the world would be the last thing he’d want, Jessica reflected wryly, giving her assurance.
She’d once seen a birth on television, but the real-life experience was infinitely more moving. The hand Sarah was clinging to felt gripped by a vice in those final moments as the baby’s head emerged, yet she was too involved in what was happening to be really conscious of any pain.
There were satisfied smiles and exclamations from the attendant staff when Richard Henry Prescott let out a hearty bawl as he was lifted clear.
‘Nothing wrong with this one’s lungs!’ declared the midwife. ‘A good eight pounds, if I’m not mistaken!’
She proved right within a quarter of a pound. Wrapped in a light blanket, the child was brought back to Sarah, who was now propped up in bed looking amazingly fresh after her ordeal.
‘Isn’t he beautiful?’ she exclaimed, searching the small, perfectly formed features. ‘He looks just like his daddy!’
He did, Jessica was bound to admit. He even sported a shock of dark hair. Like all new born babies, his eyes were blue at present, but they’d no doubt turn grey later. The Prescott genes were not easily overcome.
Looking from child to mother, she felt a stirring of something close to envy. Sarah had no doubts about her marriage. She held the proof of it in her arms.
She stayed with her until Brady arrived, leaving the two of them alone to share their little miracle. Her mobile rang as she made her way down to the reception area. Zac sounded abrupt.
‘Leo says you didn’t come back from lunch. Where the devil are you? It’s gone half-past three!’
‘I’m at the hospital,’ Jessica responded. ‘Sarah had her baby sooner than expected. I should have called Leo to explain, but it all happened so fast it completely went from mind. Where are you, anyway?’
‘At home,’ he said. ‘I got an earlier flight.’ The pause was brief. ‘How come you were involved?’
‘Sarah and I were having lunch together when she started. Unfortunately, Brady missed it all, but he’s there with her now. A boy,’ she added. ‘Eight pounds, four ounces. Both doing well.’
‘Glad to hear it.’ Zac paused again. ‘How long have you and Sarah been meeting up?’
‘This was the first time. She rang me last night to suggest it.’
‘Any idea why?’
Jessica began a shrug, desisting on the realisation that he couldn’t very well see her. ‘I don’t think there was any particular reason. She just thought it time we met up again. A good thing, as it happened. We were a lot closer to the hospital than she would have been at home. I’d better ring Leo and let him know what’s happening. I’ll see you later.’
She rang off before he could say anything further, her eyes on the calendar pinned to a notice board opposite where she stood. Today was Wednesday. She and Zac had been married six weeks the previous Saturday. She’d had one period a week or so after the wedding, which meant she had been due again the previous week.
Looking a bit drained herself, Sarah had said earlier, but not for that reason, she thought now in determined rejection of any such idea. So she was a few days late. It wasn’t exactly the first time. Even allowing for the one or two occasions when Zac had neglected to use a condom, she’d been safeguarded by the Pill, anyway.
Leo received her call with obvious relief. ‘I thought you’d been in an accident or something,’ he said. ‘I was on the verge of ringing the police when Zac called. Don’t think about coming back to the office now. There’s nothing that can’t wait till morning. You go on home to that husband of yours.’
Given a choice, Jessica would have preferred to return to work, but Leo was going to think it very strange if she insisted on it. It seemed insensitive on the face of it to depart the hospital without saying goodbye to Sarah after all they’d gone through together, reluctant though she was to face the questions Brady no doubt had ready by now. There was nothing wrong in her and his wife having lunch together. He and Zac were the ones with the problem.
She found the three of them alone in the pleasant bedroom that was to be Sarah’s for the next few days while she acclimatised herself to being a mother. Brady had already acquainted himself with the details of their meeting. He unbent enough to offer his thanks for the speed with which Jessica had acted.
‘Naturally, I’d have preferred to be here myself,’ he said. The gaze he rested on the baby now sleeping soundly in the crib beside the bed was as proud as any new father’s would be. ‘A real Prescott, isn’t he? Grandfather will be delighted with him!’
‘I’m sure your grandmother will be too,’ Jessica felt bound to observe. ‘I spoke to Zac just now. He got back an hour ago.’ It was somewhat less than the truth, but she said it anyway. ‘He sends his congratulations.’
‘Tell him thanks.’ Brady had reverted to the hard-headed character she’d known in Dorset at the mention of Zac’s name. ‘You’ll be wanting to get back home yourself after all this.’
She’d heard subtler hints, Jessica thought drily. She caught Sarah’s eye, answering the appeal therein with a smile. ‘It’s certainly been an eventful afternoon! I’ll talk to you on the phone tomorrow, when you’re rested.’
She made her escape, glad to be away from the man she found so hard to like. His concern seemed to be more with his grandfather’s response to the news than his wife’s welfare right now. Sarah looked in dire need of sleep.
It took her nearly an hour to get home. The taxi dropped her at the entrance to the mews, leaving her to dash to number eleven in the sudden heavy downpour that had been threatening for the past half hour. Minus an umbrella, and wearing only a lightweight suit, she was soaked in seconds, her hair forming chestnut corkscrews as the curl took over. Zac came out from the sitting room as she opened the outer door. He viewed her bedraggled figure with unthrilled eyes.
‘You better get those things off before you get chilled,’ he said.
‘I’ll make you a hot drink,’ called Barbara from the kitchen.
‘Don’t bother,’ she called back. ‘I’m fine. I’ll be down in a few minutes,’ she added to Zac. ‘Do you want to stay in, or go out for dinner?’
‘We’ll go out,’ he said, retaining the same level tones.
Jessica headed up the spiral staircase. Reaching the bedroom, she stripped off to the skin, and took a quick shower, then donned fresh underwear and drew on a pair of black, lace-topped stockings to go with the hipskimming little black dress she fished from the wardrobe.
Her hair she left to dry naturally, after running a brush over it. A swift stroke of a mascara brush over her lashes, a dash of lipstick, and she was ready. Despite the lipstick, her face in the mirror looked colourless. She brushed on some blusher, but it seemed to fade away immediately. Imagination, she told herself brusquely. Any more, and she’d finish up looking like a china doll!
Barbara had gone by the time she got downstairs.
Turning to Zac, Jess asked, ‘Shall you be going to see the new arrival?’
‘I’d doubt Brady would look too favourably on a visit from me,’ Zac returned drily. ‘I don’t imagine he was any too pleased to know you’d been there at the birth when he couldn’t be.’
Jessica lifted her shoulders. ‘Understandable. Not that he made it all that obvious. He was just glad someone was with Sarah when it began. He’s beautiful. The baby, I mean. They’re calling him Henry, after his grandfather.’
‘Naturally.’ Zac studied her with a certain cynicism. ‘Made you feel a little broody yourself, did it?’
Her laugh was forced. ‘I can think babies are lovely without necessarily wanting one. It’s a lifetime commitment.’
‘And you don’t see us being together that long?’
Green eyes sought grey, unable to penetrate the depths. ‘Do you?’ she challenged.
‘Why not? Marriages have succeeded on far less than we have in common. Maybe a baby wouldn’t be such a bad idea?’
‘Especially if it put you back on a par with Brady.’ Jessica shook her head forcefully. ‘I’ve told you before, I’ve no intention of having a baby just to satisfy your grandfather. He might have the two of you in the palm of his hand, but he doesn’t have me!’
‘Fair enough.’ Zac sounded remarkably calm about it. ‘So we carry on the way we are for as long as it lasts. Where do you want to eat tonight?’
The swift change of subject left her floundering for a moment. She pulled herself together. ‘Anywhere. I don’t mind.’
‘The Minotaur, then.’
Eating out was the last thing Jessica felt like. Eating at all, in fact. Right now, bed and sleep offered the greatest inducement.
Whatever Zac’s inner feelings, he appeared his usual self on the surface the rest of the evening. The problem at the Lyon end had been ironed out without too much difficulty, he said. He didn’t mention how he’d passed the previous evening, and Jessica didn’t ask. It wasn’t outside the bounds of possibility that he’d simply had dinner at the hotel.
Perhaps with their earlier conversation in mind, Zac took care to use protection that night. His ardour was certainly no less for it though. Jessica responded as always, losing herself in the passionate caresses, in the feel of the lean, hard body, the power in his loins. As long as they had this, she could deal with the rest, she told herself on the edge of sleep.
She rang Sarah as promised the following morning, finding her exactly as she had left her the day before.
‘Life’s absolutely wonderful!’ the young mother exclaimed. ‘I can’t wait to get home with him, and show him off to everybody! Brady insisted on my having some help. Not a full-time nanny exactly, but she’ll be there several hours a day.’ She laughed. ‘I think he’s afraid I might find the whole thing too much for me and leave the poor little mite to fend for himself. As if I’d even consider it! You must come over to see us when we’re home. Zac too. It’s high time he and that husband of mine got together, if only socially.’
‘We will,’ Jessica promised, putting her doubts on that score aside. ‘Give Richard a kiss for me.’
‘Everything all right?’ asked Leo, emerging from the inner office as she put the phone down. ‘You look a bit tired this morning.’
‘Never tell a woman she looks tired,’ Jessica returned lightly. ‘It’s like saying she’s looking old!’
‘Hardly germane at your age.’ He smiled back. ‘Too many late nights, maybe? Zac doesn’t strike me as a man content to don a pair of slippers and watch TV of an evening.’
‘You’re right,’ she said, still on the same light note. ‘He’s far from ready to settle down to domesticity. Me too, for that matter.’
‘Well, providing you’re both of the same mind, there’s nothing to worry about. My marriage might have lasted a lot longer than it did if we’d shared the same outlook on life. I wanted kids, Christine saw them as too much of a tie. Something we should have gone into before we took the plunge, I suppose, but the subject never came up.’
Jessica kept a tight rein on her emotions as she gave him the file he asked for. So she was looking a little off-colour. Hardly a cause for concern on its own.
Except that it wasn’t on its own, of course. She was more than a week late. Still not such a lot, but she’d never fluctuated by that much before.
