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Jenny’s sharp exclamation of impatience brought a whimper of protest from the bundle in her arms—a whimper that fast developed into a full-blooded yell.
‘I think you’d better feed him now,’ she said, placing the bellowing infant in his arms and jumping to her feet as he showed signs of wanting to pass him back. ‘And, at the risk of sounding repetitive,’ she stated firmly, ‘Jamie, I really do have to be back at work by tomorrow, if possible.’
‘Surely they can give you a bit of time off, in the circumstances,’ he exclaimed, deftly transferring the baby to the crook of his arm and testing the temperature of the milk in the bottle before proceeding with the feed with a casual air of expertise that took Jenny’s breath away. ‘After all, it is your brother’s baby—’
‘And your sister’s!’ she cut in exasperatedly, drawing up a chair and sitting down. ‘Which is all beside the point. Jamie, I’ve only been in this job for a couple of weeks…it’s one in a million, as far as I’m concerned, and I don’t want to jeopardise it.’
He glanced up from the baby and pulled a wry face.
‘One in a million, eh?’
Jenny nodded. ‘And I’m on an initial three months’ trial.’
‘It seems as though we have a bit of a problem on our hands,’ he muttered, then suddenly removed the bottle from the baby and hoisted him up on his shoulder, pummelling him vigorously on the back.
‘Jamie, don’t you think you’re being a bit rough with him?’ she gasped.
‘Stop trying to teach your grandmother how to suck eggs,’ he retorted with a grin that became a chuckle when the baby obligingly burped with gusto. ‘He’s a tough little tyke,’ he laughed, transferring the baby back into his arms and resuming the feed.
Jenny raised her hand to her mouth in an attempt to hide the disbelieving laughter mounting within her—she would have given anything for a camera, preferably a cine.
‘And you can stop smirking, clever clogs,’ he warned, ‘because it isn’t nearly as simple as it looks. The first two feeds were sheer hell, until I got the knack…as you’ll soon find out.’
‘Jamie, how many times do I have to tell you?’ she exclaimed in exasperation, all trace of laughter gone. ‘I can’t look after him!’
His heavily lashed grey-green eyes lifted to hers, holding them for a brief moment before returning to the baby lying in abandoned contentment in his arms.
‘The point is, Jenny, that we’re going to have to come up with something,’ he said quietly. ‘When it comes to the crunch, no matter how successful you or I may be at the work we do, we’re neither of us indispensable—whereas, right now, your brother and my sister are…wouldn’t you agree?’
‘Of course I would,’ she muttered uncomfortably.
‘Their being part of a team geared to deal with precisely the type of catastrophe that’s just happened in Czechoslovakia and being virtually on the spot is pretty miraculous…which is why Clare regards the fact that she’s technically on a year’s maternity leave as being neither here nor there.’
‘Which is only natural—someone of her training finding herself in the middle of something as ghastly as that,’ exclaimed Jenny with a decided twinge of guilt. ‘Especially when she feels secure in the knowledge that my mother would be taking care of Jonathan. Jamie, what are we going to do?’
‘I suppose we could tell Clare the truth…Graham would obviously stay on, but there would be nothing to stop her coming back—’
‘How can you possibly say that?’ exclaimed Jenny, aghast. ‘It’s specialists like Clare and Graham that the other doctors will be turning to for advice!’
‘Well, she’s ringing here in about half an hour,’ he told her, returning the empty bottle to the tray and subjecting the baby to another bout of pummelling, ‘so we’d better think up something to tell her.’
‘Think up something?’ repeated Jenny, her heart sinking somewhat. ‘You make it sound as though you plan telling her a pack of lies!’
‘Only a fool would try that,’ he snapped with a flash of impatience that was a sharp reminder of how quick a temper he had. ‘Right now, Graham and Clare are where they’re most needed—desperately needed—and the last thing they deserve is worry over who’s looking after their baby.’
‘They’re bound to worry when they realise Mum and Dad aren’t around to do it,’ protested Jenny.
‘Why should they—there are the two of us, aren’t there? Just let me finish, for heaven’s sake!’ he barked impatiently as Jenny shook her head vehemently. ‘If I can be on the morning flight to Rio I could get back in time for you to be at work on time on Monday—Jenny, will you shut up and let me finish?’ he roared as she began protesting volubly. ‘And you can shut up too,’ he growled softly to the baby at his shoulder who, far from being disturbed by his raised voice, was gurgling with delight. ‘Jenny, all it necessitates is your having tomorrow off—on Monday you’ll be back to work as usual.’
‘Oh yes?’ demanded Jenny furiously. ‘How can you possibly get through trial runs in time to—?’
‘I shan’t be conducting the trials,’ he cut in sharply. ‘The rest of the team can handle those. The reason I have to get there by the weekend is that I’ve contracts to sign in connection with another boat, which are of great importance to my business. It’s something I should have had tied up a couple of days ago and which I can’t delay any longer, simply because those concerned only agreed to the signing taking place in Brazil in order to fit in with my schedule.’
‘And what about the race you’re entered in?’ demanded Jenny heatedly. ‘Presumably you intend returning to Brazil to participate in it—or can you navigate this new boat of yours by remote control?’
‘If you’d let me finish,’ he stated with steely softness, ‘you’d hear that on Monday, when I get back, I intend lining up some trained nannies for us to interview—’
‘Us?’
‘Damn it, I can hardly interview them on my own!’ he exploded. ‘I’ve no idea what constitutes a good nanny.’
‘And, being female, I have—is that it?’
‘Forget it!’ he snarled, rising to his feet. ‘We’ll just tell Clare the truth and let her sort it out for herself!’
‘This is little short of emotional blackmail,’ accused Jenny angrily, though even as she uttered the words she was conscious of her anger being directed more at herself than at the man towering over her and gazing down at her from chillingly impersonal eyes. ‘Oh, for heaven’s sake—this is ridiculous,’ she groaned. ‘Jamie, of course I’ll do everything in my power to ensure Clare and Graham can get on with their work with complete peace of mind over Jonathan.’
‘If that’s the case, how is it you’re so reluctant to hear what I have to suggest?’ he demanded.
Jenny gazed up at him, tempted to ask him to sit down again, not because looking up at his well over six feet of height was giving her a crick in her neck—which it was—but for other, less specific, in fact, barely definable reasons. Towering over her was the man who, from the first instant she had become aware of the opposite sex, she had unquestioningly regarded as the embodiment of male physical perfection. Yet at some point during the past few years she had unconsciously become convinced that her previous perception of his looks had had far more to do with her juvenile obsession than with any fact. And now she wasn’t in the least sure. For a reason she was unable to fathom, the sight of him standing there with one strong, darkly tanned arm supporting the baby against a broad shoulder seemed only to accentuate the extraordinary quality of his looks and the powerful, aggressively masculine magnetism he had always exuded.
‘It’s not that I’m reluctant to hear what you have to say,’ she sighed, lowering her eyes as she fought to rid herself of those deeply unsettling thoughts. ‘It’s just that for a number of purely practical reasons this couldn’t have happened at a worse time for me.’
To her relief he sat down again and began bouncing the baby on his lap.
‘Shouldn’t you try putting him in his cot?’ she suggested uncomfortably, the complete unexpectedness of his actions triggering off the thought in her once more that none of this was really happening to her.
‘He likes a bit of company after he’s eaten,’ he replied tersely, lifting the baby under the arms and letting him stand on his lap. ‘Could you be a bit more explicit about these practical difficulties you’re experiencing?’ he added in that same tone. ‘Clare will be ringing soon.’
‘My main problem is that I have nowhere to live,’ replied Jenny. ‘I told you about the flat I missed out on. Actually, I was staying with Lizzie Street until I found somewhere—you remember Lizzie, don’t you?’
He nodded impatiently, motioning her to continue.
‘It was very kind of her to offer to put me up, but I can’t possibly impose Jonathan on her as well.’
‘You wouldn’t have to—the most convenient solution for everyone is for you to stay at my place.’
He laughed as she started visibly.
‘What’s wrong, Jenny? Didn’t you know I had a place in London…or is it the idea of sharing it with me that’s the problem?’
‘My only problem is that I know you far too well, Jamie Castile,’ retorted Jenny, annoyed by the sensation of hot colour liberally washing her cheeks in response to the teasing mockery of his words.
‘I doubt if you know me nearly as well as you believe; though, to be fair, my innate nobility of spirit can hardly have escaped you,’ he murmured in drawling tones of mockery.
‘Your innate nobility of spirit?’ she drawled back, rolling her eyes heavenwards.
‘Jenny, there can’t be many healthily functioning males around into whose beds you’ve crept—nubile and devastatingly tempting—and left as pure as when you entered—’
‘That’s it!’ raged Jenny, leaping angrily to her feet. ‘I’ve had enough of you and your snide remarks—’
The two of them froze as the phone rang, the sound sending Jenny slumping back on to the seat from which she had just leapt.
‘I suggest you answer it,’ remarked Jamie coldly. ‘After all, you’re the one calling all the shots.’
Jenny levelled pleading eyes at him as the phone rang relentlessly on. His response was a dismissive shrug after which he turned his attention exclusively towards the baby trampling happily against his thighs.
Jenny snatched up the phone on the bedside table with no idea what she could possibly say.
‘Hello—Clare?’
‘Jenny! What a relief it is to hear your voice—I had visions of Jamie trying to cope on his own with Jonathan until he got him to England,’ exclaimed her sister-in-law.
‘I’m sure he’d have managed,’ said Jenny. ‘How are things going where you are?’ she added, the sound of Clare’s voice making her suddenly acutely aware of the terrible devastation by which both she and Graham must be surrounded.
‘I suppose we should all be thanking God that relatively so few were killed,’ replied Clare, exhaustion tingeing her words. ‘But one of the things for which Graham and I are specifically trained is to help the survivors cope with the horrific psychological trauma of it all. Jenny, you can’t begin to imagine what it’s like for these poor people. There are areas where entire villages have completely disappeared, some with virtually no loss of life…but it’s almost akin to experiencing death for the inhabitants…they’re huddled together, loath to leave the places where the majority of them have spent their entire lives, yet as they look around themselves they search in vain for a single landmark that can be recognised.’
‘Clare, you sound utterly exhausted!’ exclaimed Jenny anxiously.
‘That’s my own stupid fault,’ claimed Clare. ‘I’m afraid that what little opportunity I’ve had to sleep I’ve squandered worrying about Jonathan.’
‘You probably won’t like hearing this,’ chuckled Jenny, ‘but he doesn’t appear to be missing either of you in the least.’
‘That’s why I realise how stupid I’m being,’ admitted Clare sheepishly. ‘Fortunately he’s at the age where he’ll go to anyone without a qualm…it’s just that Jamie looked about as comfortable with him as a man with a time-bomb glued to his hands when they left.’
‘Is that so?’ laughed Jenny. ‘Because right at this very moment your brother is sprawled across the bed and your son is bouncing with vigorous abandonment on him. Listen carefully and you might just be able to catch the racket accompanying each bounce.’
She held out the receiver just in time to catch a particularly piercing shriek of delight from the baby, to which his uncle responded with a theatrical groan.
‘Your brat’s just pulverised several of my ribs!’ he bellowed accusingly in the direction of the receiver.
‘I take it you heard all that,’ murmured Jenny.
‘All of it—loud and clear,’ replied Clare, relieved laughter distorting her words. ‘It’s not that I even thought for one second he wouldn’t be all right with Jamie—I think I got myself into a bit of a panic when I couldn’t get through to your mother. How did she react to the news? I’m sure she’s thrilled to bits at the idea of having him to herself for a while.’
Jenny’s heart sank. ‘She’s going to be cursing fate when she finds out,’ she began, forcing a humorous brightness into her tone. ‘You see, she and Dad decided to take off for New Zealand slightly earlier than originally planned…so it’s Auntie and Uncle who’ll be having Jonathan all to themselves!’
‘Oh God!’ groaned Clare. ‘This is terrible!’
‘Terrible? Thanks a million!’ exclaimed Jenny, with all the teasing indignation she could muster. ‘Are you implying that Jamie and I aren’t fit to look after him?’
Jamie sat up at those words, silently motioning her to bring the telephone to the bed.
‘Jenny, this isn’t a joking matter,’ protested Clare as Jenny transferred herself and the telephone to the bed. ‘You both have demanding jobs!’
‘And we’re both perfectly capable of organising our work schedules to accommodate our nephew,’ stated Jenny easily, starting slightly as Jamie pressed his face hard against hers in an attempt to hear what his sister was saying.
‘I know that!’ exclaimed Clare uncertainly. ‘But it’s far too much to ask of you both.’
‘Clare, you and Graham are needed desperately right where you are,’ said Jenny quietly. ‘Of course it’s not too much to ask of us. For heaven’s sake, it’s the least we can do!’
‘And as for putting ourselves out,’ butted in Jamie against the mouthpiece, while clasping the now dozing baby to him with one arm and slipping the other round Jenny for balance, ‘on Monday we plan on setting about getting him a nanny who can take care of him during the day. How do you feel about that? I mean, we’ll get someone highly qualified and vet her as no nanny has ever been vetted before.’
‘Idiot,’ laughed Clare. ‘I know you would and I can’t fault the excellence of your idea, but he’d disrupt your lives entirely—’
‘Want to bet?’ cut in Jamie with a chuckle. ‘He’s going to have to fit around us—starting from Monday, when the three of us are going disco dancing. Then on Tuesday—’
Jenny yanked the receiver closer to her own mouth. ‘I’ve a feeling Jamie’s trying to dispel your doubts,’ she teased.
‘Jenny, I haven’t any doubts, but—’
‘No buts, Clare,’ stated Jenny firmly. ‘Not only are you where you’re most needed, but Jamie and I would probably never speak to you again if you turned our offer down.’
‘OK, OK, he’s all yours!’ protested Clare with a groaned laugh. ‘But if there’s any chance of my taking a break and getting over to England, I’ll grab it—just to check up that the pair of you aren’t turning my son into a spoiled brat!’
‘That’s typical of my sister,’ growled Jamie loudly in Jenny’s ear. ‘Doesn’t the wretched woman realise we’ll be the making of this child?’
‘Of course she does,’ chuckled Clare. ‘But listen, folks, I’ll have to go now—there’s a queue forming for use of this telephone. Either Graham or I will ring you at Jamie’s as soon as one of us can…and thanks a million, I really mean that and I hope you both appreciate how much.’
Jenny leaned over and replaced the receiver, the weight of Jamie’s body—not to mention her sudden acute consciousness of it—rendering her movements awkward.
‘What on earth are you doing?’ she demanded sharply as the increasing pressure of his arm on her shoulders threatened to send her toppling.
‘I’m trying to keep my balance,’ he muttered in a strained voice. ‘For heaven’s sake, grab the baby, will you? My arm’s completely asleep!’
Jenny eased the sleeping baby from him and placed him in the cot.
‘Shouldn’t we have changed his nappy?’ she asked uncertainly as she straightened, a groan of laughter swiftly following her words.
‘What’s so funny?’ he demanded, plainly not in the least amused as he rose, still rubbing his arm vigorously.
‘You have to admit that there is something rather incongruous in the idea of anyone consulting you concerning a baby’s welfare,’ replied Jenny, more than a little nonplussed by the hostile look to which she was being subjected.
He shrugged, then made his way to the door, obviously not about to admit anything.
‘He’d have soon let you know had he wanted his nappy changed,’ he informed her brusquely, disappearing into the sitting-room. ‘I’ll get them to send up some coffee,’ he called out. ‘We might as well get all this thrashed out tonight, as I’ll have to leave fairly early in the morning.’
Jenny followed him into the room, closing the bedroom door behind her. As he picked up the telephone extension and began ordering the coffee, Jenny spotted her overnight case, still sitting where the porter had left it. She frowned thoughtfully, wondering whether or not to offer to sleep in with Jonathan in the light of Jamie’s proposed early start.
‘You’d better sleep in with the kid,’ he informed her as he replaced the receiver, his words managing to sound more like an order than a request. ‘I’d like a night’s sleep for a change.’
‘There are a few things I’d like to make absolutely clear,’ she stated coldly, almost beside herself with anger. ‘I’ve agreed to get involved in this solely for Graham’s and Clare’s sakes. The give and take that will be necessary for this to work will in no way consist of my giving and your taking.’
As she spoke he began walking towards her, still flexing his left arm right up until the moment he drew to a halt scant inches from her.
‘It really does still rankle, doesn’t it, Jenny?’ he taunted softly. ‘The fact that you once offered me your all and I refused to take it.’
‘I’ve no idea what you’re talking about!’ she spat, lashing out wildly at him and suddenly finding herself trapped in the circle of his arms.
