Bridal Bargains

‘He’s the son my father wanted from my mother but never got.’

‘So he’s younger than you?’

She nodded. ‘Nineteen. My mother was already pregnant with him when she left us. He lives with his father in Banff.’

‘You were miserable being married to me. You needed a shoulder to cry on so you rang him up.’

‘Someone I knew loved me.’ She gave another nod, thereby missing Xander’s infinitesimal wince. ‘I didn’t expect him to climb on the next plane to England to come and sort you out. He had no idea who he was dealing with. It was almost a relief when Hugo Vance refused him access to the house.’

‘Why did he do that? If he’s your brother of course he’s welcome in our home!’

‘Marcel wasn’t on your very short accepted list.’ Nell sat up and used the crumpled tissue to dab her eyes again. ‘And he might only be nineteen but looks a lot older because he’s big—six feet three already and built to suit—a heck of a sportsman; can white-water raft like you would not believe.’

‘You’re proud of him.’

‘Mmm.’ It was that simple and neat. ‘I think Hugo Vance felt threatened by him.’

‘How is it that you or your father have never so much as spoken his name to me?’

‘My father refuses to have his name mentioned because he blames Marcel for stealing his wife away. He’s still hurting. I’ve just got used to never mentioning him because that’s the way it’s always been. And anyway, you and I didn’t have the kind of relationship that encouraged sharing secrets.’

A small silence followed while Nell dabbed at her eyes and Xander lost himself in deep thought. Then he hissed out a sigh. ‘The irony of it,’ he muttered.

Nell didn’t find anything ironical in what had been said.

‘Why was he driving your car?’ he asked suddenly.

She gave a small shift with her hunched shoulders. ‘Because I let him,’ seemed excuse enough because the hell if she was going to admit that once she’d escaped Rosemere she then had a stupid change of heart and got so upset about it, Marcel had to drive because she wasn’t fit to.

‘OK …’ said with such slow patience Nell knew that he knew she was fobbing him off. ‘Explain to me, then, if he’s so into playing your hero, why he ran away from the accident scene.’

‘He didn’t—and don’t you dare speak of Marcel in that nasty tone!’ She swung on him angrily.

‘Now I know why I’m jealous,’ Xander said bluntly.

Nell looked away again, refusing point blank to take up that comment. ‘He wasn’t licensed to drive here,’ she admitted grudgingly. ‘He wasn’t used to our narrow, winding lanes,’ and he wasn’t used to driving such a small but very powerful car. ‘When he lost control on the bend I thought we were both going to die …’

A hand arrived at the base of her spine, long fingers rubbing in a strangely painful, comforting stroke. ‘But you didn’t …’ he said gruffly.

Nell shook her head. ‘Marcel wasn’t wearing his seat belt.’ It was just another thing she’d felt guilty about. She’d been so stupidly upset she hadn’t noticed he hadn’t belted himself in. ‘If you want irony,’ she mumbled, ‘when he was thrown out of the car he suffered barely a scratch.’ She grimaced into the tissue. ‘When I realised how bad things were for me I was scared for him. I convinced him to lift me into the driver’s seat then begged him to leave. He wouldn’t go. He was upset, angry with himself, scared for me—and I’ve never seen him look so young and helpless …’ The hand at her spine rubbed again, she quivered on a sigh and swallowed fresh tears. ‘He used my mobile phone to call an ambulance then stayed beside me until we heard it arrive then he hid in the woods until I was safely inside the ambulance. I was so worried about him, I got a nurse in A&E to call his mobile and reassure him I was absolutely fine.’

‘I didn’t know that.’

‘Don’t sound so surprised,’ Nell flung out. ‘You might be the control freak around here but I know how to get my own way when I need to. I picked a young student nurse with her romantic ideals still intact. She thought she was calling up my lover—she adored being a part of my wicked tryst.’

‘You amaze me sometimes,’ he laughed though it wasn’t really a laugh. ‘I truly believed you were the most open and honest person I know but you can lie with the best of them!’

Her shrug told him she couldn’t care less what he thought or believed.

‘Where was he staying?’ he bit out next. ‘I had every hotel and pub for miles around carefully combed for him without getting back a single damn clue!’

‘He was bac

kpacking. He camped out in a farmer’s field.’

‘Enterprising of him.’

‘He’s very self-sufficient.’