Vacation with a Commanding Stranger

‘Have you managed to speak to George yet?’ she asked her cousin when she came to the phone.

‘No. It’s impossible,’ Gale told her fretfully. ‘He’s still in Japan, out in some remote region where it’s impossible to get in touch with him, apparently. The whole situation is ridiculous, Livvy. He’s my husband and yet I don’t know where he is, or how I can get in touch with him. I haven’t seen him for over three weeks. I rang Robert Forrest this morning. Or at least, I tried to. According to his secretary he wasn’t there, but she promised she would ask him to ring me.’

‘Do you think it’s wise tackling him?’ Livvy asked her. ‘I mean, he is George’s boss.’

‘Exactly. And besides, how else am I supposed to get in touch with George? I’ve tried speaking to his secretary, but she’s useless. Worse than the one he had before and she was pretty hopeless. I told George when he took her on. It was obvious what type she was, although George insisted that her qualifications were excellent. I thought at one time that he might… Well, she was that kind of woman, you know. And they do say that middle-aged men are prone to… But when Robert Forrest took over, she left and this new girl started working for George. I’ve met her and she’s pleasant enough, a world away from the other one, who had vamp written all over her.

‘Look, Livvy, I mustn’t stay on the phone too long. I’m waiting for Robert Forrest to come back to me… Is he still there, by the way—Richard whatsit?’

‘Yes,’ Livvy told her. ‘Gale, you will let me know just as soon as you have talked to George, won’t you? Only it’s beginning to be a bit of a strain, staying here, and…’

‘Livvy, you mustn’t leave. You promised me that you wouldn’t…’

Livvy sighed.

‘You promised me,’ Gale reiterated.

‘Yes, it’s all right. I’ll stay,’ Livvy assured her.

* * *

Five o’clock came and then six. It was almost dark and still there was no sign of Richard’s returning.

Make the most of it, Livvy told herself as she made herself something to eat. You’re much better off without him here. After all, that’s why you want to leave here, isn’t it? Because you know how vulnerable you are.

Vulnerable. What had happened to her went way, way beyond that. She could only hope that once she got back to the routine of her normal life she would feel differently. And stop loving him? Was it possible for such a miracle to occur?

She shivered a little and then tensed as she heard a noise outside. It wasn’t the noise her ears had been straining for for the last couple of hours, the sound made by a car engine. It hadn’t been as definite and audible as that. It had sounded more like someone moving around outside.

She got up and went to the door, opening it hesitantly and then freezing as she saw the apparition walking towards her.

It couldn’t be Richard, and yet she recognised that it was, his hair plastered to his skull by the force of the rain, his clothes similarly plastered to his body. There was mud all down one side of him and she could see a tear in his jeans.

‘What is it…what’s happened?’ she asked him anxiously, forgetting their differences as she hurried towards him.

He was limping slightly and, now that she was close to him, she could see a cut on his cheek, still oozing blood, the skin around it already discoloured.

‘It’s the lane,’ he told her

tersely. ‘It’s turned into a quagmire. I swerved to miss a bird—idiotic thing to do—and ended up in the ditch. I tried to move the car but there’s no way it can be shifted without a tow. Fortunately it hasn’t blocked the lane. I’ll give Monsieur Dubois a ring in the morning.’

‘So he was right about the tractor,’ Livvy murmured. ‘You’ve hurt yourself,’ she added. ‘Are you all right?’

‘Nothing that a hot shower won’t cure,’ he told her, grimacing as he followed her inside. ‘It’s just as well your cousin hasn’t refurnished this place yet. If she had, there’s no way I could go upstairs in this state.’

Livvy could see what he meant. He was already dripping rainwater and mud on to the kitchen floor, and, although he had claimed that he wasn’t hurt, the rawness of the gash on his face made her wince sensitively for him.

‘Mmm…if Gale were here she’d make you strip off in the kitchen.’

He gave her a brooding look, his voice harsh as he demanded, ‘I don’t think in the circumstances that that would be a good idea, do you?’

Leaving Livvy staring helplessly after him, he opened the door and went upstairs. She had been going to offer to make him a hot drink, but now…

Refusing to let the tears blurring her eyes to fall, she hurriedly cleared away the evidence of her own meal. She was going to go upstairs to her own room, and, when she did, she wasn’t going to leave so much as a crumb behind to let him think that she wanted him to be reminded of her.

She was on the landing when the bathroom door opened.

Like a film played in slow motion, she saw Richard standing there, water dripping from his body…his naked body.