Nights of Passion. Anne Mather

took the offramp into a residential suburb. Here the streets were quieter, even deserted at times. Houses sheltered behind iron gates and high stone walls that were overhung with vines and bougainvillea. Some of the roads were lined with trees, palms and live oaks, the scents of night-blooming stocks mingling with the tang of the sea. Their exotic fragrance invaded the car, a heady mix of salt and sweetness.

      ‘Where are we?’ she exclaimed, not exactly worried, but not exactly relaxed either. She was sure this wasn’t the way back to her hotel.

      ‘We’re in Coral Gables,’ replied Joe casually as they negotiated a cross street where the signs were predominantly Spanish. ‘It’s an attractive neighbourhood. In actual fact, it considers itself a separate city within the Greater Miami area.’

      Rachel licked her suddenly dry lips. ‘And we’re here because …?’ Though she suspected she already knew.

      ‘You said you’d let me show you the house we were discussing earlier,’ said Joe, glancing her way. ‘Don’t worry. It’s not much farther.’

      Rachel let out a nervous breath as they turned onto a yet narrower road. She glimpsed a sign that read Viejo Avenida,which she thought meant Old Avenue. But the headlights were already illuminating wooden gates ahead, bright with scarlet hibiscus.

      ‘This is it,’ said Joe, and as if by magic the gates opened to allow them through. ‘Don’t be put off by all this vegetation. If it bothers you, I’ll have Ramon cut it back.’

      ‘Oh, no.’

      The involuntary denial was out before she could prevent it. But although she couldn’t yet see much of the house, Rachel thought the gardens were a delight. The headlights swept over an old banyan tree guarding what appeared to be a stone fountain; the fountain gleamed with lichen, a stone angel pouring water from a stone urn.

      The drive was enclosed by kudzu and oleander, and a covered porch was cloaked with flowering vines. Rachel saw this before Joe doused his headlights, and in the shadows she saw him looking at her now.

      ‘Would you care to see inside?’