Mission: Make-Over

She would have to tell her family, of course—David and Janey first and then her father. And now that David and Janey were expecting a child it might also be a good time for her to look for somewhere else to live. Fresh tears filled her eyes and, before her resolve could break and desert her completely, she picked up the papers Jake had left her and ripped them neatly into four pieces, her fingers trembling very badly as she stuffed them into an envelope, addressed it to him, then sealed it. No doubt he would be able to make his own interpretation of her actions, just as she had of his.

‘You’re doing what?’ David demanded, too stunned to keep the shock out of his voice when Lucianna broke her news to him over supper.

‘Not doing…have done,’ Lucianna informed him, doggedly refusing to look directly at him as she pretended to be busily eating the food in front of her.

Behind her back, Janey shook her head warningly at her husband. She too had been shocked by Lucianna’s news, but one look at her sister-in-law’s white face and set expression had informed her that it would be wiser not to pursue the subject.

‘She’s obviously very upset about the whole thing,’ Janey counselled David later when Lucianna had returned to her workshop, explaining quietly that she had to catalogue her equipment so that she could put it up for sale.

‘She’s upset…’ David expostulated, pushing his hands into his hair. ‘Why on earth didn’t she discuss it with us first?’

‘Perhaps because she wanted to be allowed to make her own decision and handle things by herself,’ Janey told him quietly.

‘But that damned workshop meant so much to her; it was her whole life,’ David reminded Janey in male confusion. ‘I can’t believe she’d just give it up like that.’

‘Perhaps she’s discovered something or someone that means more to her,’ Janey suggested, sighing ruefully to herself as he struggled for comprehension. David was a darling and she loved him dearly but when it came to women’s emotions, especially his sister’s, he did tend to be rather obtuse…Despairingly so at times, she acknowledged five minutes later as David spoke again.

‘You mean John’s making her give it up?’ he asked her, puzzled. ‘I know he wasn’t keen on her work but…’

‘John may have been the catalyst but somehow I doubt that he’s the cause,’ Janey responded mystifyingly—at least so far as her husband was concerned. Women! How was a mere man supposed to understand them?

As a result of his afternoon meeting, Jake had to fly to New York later in the day to discuss a takeover bid for one of the companies in which he had a major shareholding. As his plane was crossing the Atlantic, the four quarters of the contracts he had so lovingly and time-consumingly had drawn up and which Lucianna had ripped into so many useless shreds were crossing town on their way to him.

CHAPTER TEN

‘I WONDER what’s happened to Jake?’ David commented curiously to Janey as he replaced the telephone receiver. ‘That’s the third time I’ve tried him today and got no reply…’

‘Oh, didn’t I tell you? I bumped into the farm manager in town this morning and he said that Jake had had to fly to New York on business.’

Lucianna’s head was bent over the advertisement she was writing, to advertise not just the contents of her workshop but in addition the ancient racing car she had been lovingly restoring and which Jake had taunted her over what seemed like a lifetime ago now. Her hand started to tremble. When was it going to end? When was she going to stop overreacting to the mere sound of Jake’s name?

‘Isn’t it today you’re picking John up from the airport?’ Janey asked her.

‘Yes, this afternoon,’ Lucianna informed her joylessly.

It seemed almost laughable now that she had ever believed herself in love with John. A small frown pleated her forehead. She would have to tell him, of course, that their relationship was over. Not that she could believe that he would be too upset, she decided hardily. After all, he had been happy enough to leave her.

There. Lucianna glowered into the mirror at her prettily made up face and shining hair. In an hour’s time she would be picking up John at the airport and she supposed that she might as well make use of the skills she had so recently learned even if the man who was going to be given the benefit of them was no longer the man she wanted…Wanted…ached for, craved, needed…loved…And would go on loving until the day she died. But what was the point in dwelling on the agony and misery of her unwanted feelings? Jake did not love her. In fact Jake wanted her so little, valued her so little that he had been prepared to offer her money to keep her distance from him.

Swiftly she stood up. Her new jeans showed off her tiny waist and long legs and the crisp checked cotton shirt she had knotted at her waist gave her whole appearance a sharp top note of chic casualness—a far cry indeed from the image she had presented three weeks earlier when she had seen John off at the airport. The swift appraising and admiring look the salesgirl had given her when Lucianna had instinctively knotted the checked shirt instead of more plainly tucking it into her jeans had proved just how far she had come, just how much she had learned.

Rather to her own surprise she had discovered that she didn’t simply possess the flair to assess and judge what kind of clothes suited her best, but that she actually enjoyed doing so as well. But if the admiring glances she collected nowadays whenever she went out boosted her ego they still couldn’t do anything to relieve the agonising ache that was her love for Jake.

In a couple of days the local paper would come out, carrying the advertisement for the sale of her equipment. Quickly she went downstairs. Janey was in the kitchen ironing clothes for her and David’s holiday.

‘How many suitcases are you taking?’ Lucianna teased her as she walked towards the door.

The arrivals hall wasn’t particularly busy and Lucianna spotted John before he saw her. However, it wasn’t shyness or insecurity that made her hold back as she watched him look around, his gaze searching the hall for her.

Where had those feelings she had thought were so strong gone? They certainly didn’t exist any longer—at least not for John. And even odder than their complete disappearance was her sudden awareness of the petulant sulkiness of his expression and the way he focused rather longer than was necessary on the two pretty girls crossing the concourse in front of him. Squaring her shoulders, Lucianna took a step forward.

She recognised the exact second that John spotted her from the almost ludicrous change in his expression. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped and there was no doubt at all from his reaction that not only was he surprised by her metamorphosis but he was also very v

isibly impressed by it.

‘Luce!’

Lucianna grimaced and then stiffened as John reached her and grabbed hold of her, insisting on kissing her with a great deal of public swagger. Like a little boy showing off a new and much coveted toy, she reflected wryly.