certainly she doubted that she would have wanted the frilly festoon blinds and over-decorated rooms she had heard Clarissa describing so enthusiastically to her husband the afternoon she had interrupted their meeting. But Tania accepted fair-mindedly that people had different tastes and ideas.
‘Well, they are,’ Ann agreed, wrinkling her nose. ‘But I suspect that Clarissa stills gets an allowance from James. Certainly she could never afford to run that expensive Mercedes nor to buy all those designer clothes, as well as keeping both boys at such an expensive prep school, if James weren’t helping them. I doubt she even knows the meaning of the word ‘‘economy’’. They have a cleaner, and until the boys were at school they had a nanny. No matter how good Nicky’s practice is I doubt it runs to financing all that lot, and even the nicest of men must feel the burden of having his wife’s stepbrother have such a large financial say in their affairs.
‘Of course he’s tied hand and foot, really. The majority of his business has come to him through James. That’s no secret. I don’t envy him one iota … even if at times I do wonder what it would be like to be able to go out and buy all three of mine new clothes at the same time.’
Ann had laughed unselfconsciously as she made this last statement, causing Tania to warm to her even more. Had she known Ann better she might have been tempted to confide in her and ask her advice, but in the early days after Lucy’s birth being independent and showing that she could cope by herself had become such a fierce necessity in her life that she still found it very hard to lean on others, no matter how sympathetic they appeared.
This feeling she had that Nicholas was perhaps being a little more friendly towards her than was strictly necessary was something she would have to deal with on her own.
With a little tact and diplomacy, it should not be too difficult to do so, and, anyway, perhaps she was over-reacting a little, being a touch too sensitive to what was really no more than genuine friendliness on his part.
He had certainly neither said nor done anything to suggest anything different, and she certainly had far more important things to think about. Such as her shop, for instance.
Another few days and the shop would be opening. She felt her body clench with apprehension and excitement. She had taken extensive advertising in the local Press, and she had timed the opening of her business well, done all she could to ensure its success. The rest was in the lap of the gods and she could only hope that they were disposed to smile kindly on her endeavours.
With one last approving look at the window she turned on her heel and opened the shop door.
She was just about to close it behind her when she saw that a man was about to follow her inside.
For a moment, as she looked into his unsmiling face, a tiny frisson of fear ran through her.
He was totally unfamiliar to her, dressed casually in well-worn and very faded blue jeans, and a short-sleeved shirt that acknowledged the heat of the glorious summer they had been enjoying.
His dark hair was untidy and ruffled and he had a smear of oil on one cheekbone. Despite that, he had about him an aura of power and maleness that made her hesitate and then flounder a little before saying quickly, ‘I’m sorry, the shop isn’t open yet. We don’t actually open until Saturday.’
‘So I understand.’ His voice was cool, slightly abrasive, and very, very controlled, as though he was extremely angry.
She looked at him and discovered that he was. She could see it in the cold greyness of his eyes and the hard set of his mouth.
Her own eyes darkened from hazel to tawny gold in recognition of her apprehension.
‘Besides, I haven’t come to buy shoes from you, Ms Carter.’
He hadn’t? Then what did he want? Was he some kind of local official? Some kind of planning official or someone whom she had unwittingly annoyed?
As she frowned her confusion, she said uncertainly, ‘I see. Then … then, why … why have you come to see me?’
‘That,’ he told her curtly, ‘is something I think we can best discuss in privacy.’
Privacy. Her heart pounded. Once, long ago, another man had demanded privacy with her. Lucy had been the result of her acceding to that demand, and, while it was ridiculous to suppose that this man had anything like that in mind, she still could not help the tremor of fear that ran through her, making her tremble visibly.
‘I … I’m afraid that’s impossible,’ she told him huskily. ‘You see, I’m just about to collect my daughter … perhaps if I could make an appointment …’
He laughed harshly.
‘Oh, yes, that would suit you, wouldn’t it? I wonder what’s going through that devious head of yours, Ms Carter? Well, I’m sorry, but I don’t have any time to waste on conniving females. All I want from you is your assurance that from now on you will cease your relationship with my brother-in-law.’
Tania’s mouth dropped. The man had plainly made a mistake … was perhaps even mad. Anger overtook her fear.
‘I’m sorry, I can’t help you,’ she told him crisply. Really, what on earth was he talking about? He must have confused her with someone else. That could be the only explanation for his extraordinary behaviour.
She realised suddenly, her eyes rounding in shocked fascination, that he had produced a cheque-book from the back pocket of his jeans and that he was flicking it open, his mouth curling disdainfully as he derided, ‘I see. Well, maybe this will help to convince you. As you see, I’ve come prepared, Ms Carter. Naturally I didn’t expect you to cease your affair out of the goodness of a heart I’m quite sure you don’t possess. Shall we say ten thousand pounds?’
‘Ten thousand pounds …’ She felt sick with shock and pain.
‘Not enough? Well, I assure you it’s as much as you’re going to get.’
Bewilderment gave way to shock and shock to anger as she saw the look of glittering contempt in his eyes.
‘Get out of here,’ she demanded furiously. ‘Just get out before … before I call the police.’
She was speaking wildly, dangerously, her brain warned her. The man was plainly mad. Who knew what on earth he might take it into his head to do if she continued to threaten him?
She was shaking visibly as the adrenalin-fuelled fury pumped through her veins.
‘Very clever, but hardly convincing. What exactly will you tell them? That I offered you ten thousand pounds to stop you breaking up my sister’s marriage? They’d think I was treating you generously. This isn’t the city where no one gives a damn how his neighbour lives. I’ll give you twenty-four hours to think over my offer. After that … Well, let’s just say one way or another I’m going to make damn sure you stop trying to wreck my sister’s marriage.’
Speechless with shock and fury, Tania watched in silence as he opened the door and left the shop.
She was still standing where he had left her, bathed in an icy sweat of reaction and fear when Ann Fielding walked in with Lucy a few minutes later.
‘What on earth was James Warren doing here?’ she asked cheerfully as she came in. ‘I know he likes to take a sort of patriarchal interest in everything that goes on locally—that comes of being born into the town’s founding family, I suppose, but I shouldn’t have thought a children’s shoe shop would be of much interest to him. Unless …’
She shot Tania a shrewd thoughtful look, and then exclaimed in concern.
‘Tania … my dear. Lucy, run upstairs and get your mummy a glass of water, will you? I don’t think she’s feeling very well.’
Through stiff lips, Tania demanded thickly, ‘Just repeat that for me, will you, Ann?’
‘Repeat what?’ her friend asked in concerned bewilderment.
‘Tell