“Suppose so.”
Alison told her domestic computer to connect them. Tim sat back in the couch as the big wall-mounted screen lit up, grateful to have his mother beside him. His father must have been waiting for the call: When the image came up it showed him sitting expectantly in a room with wooden floors and walls. There was a veranda behind him, with a glimpse of very blue sea in the background. It looked beautiful.
Jeff leaned forward in his cane chair, giving the screen an intent stare. “Tim. You don’t look too bad, son.”
“I’m all right.”
“I haven’t slept all night from worry.”
“It’s just some cuts and stuff.” He lifted his leg up to show the camera the thick layer of artificial skin wrapping his swollen ankle. “And this.”
“What did the doctors say?”
“Nothing much, they’re monitoring me.”
“Good. That’s good.”
Tim wondered if Jeff was feeling as discomfited as he did—he certainly looked very self-conscious. There were a whole load of things he wanted to say, maybe even shout at him again. But not with his mum and Alison in the same room.
“Uh, Annabelle says hello, and she hopes you’re all right.”
“Really?” Out of the corner of his eye, Tim could see his mother’s expression turning severe.
“Tim, I’ll be back in a few days,” Jeff hurried on. “I’d be truly grateful if I could come over and talk to you. I know I can’t put right what’s happened, but please don’t shut me out. You mean the world to me. After what happened on the Jet Ski I know that more than ever. I was really frightened for you, son. So if all you want to do is shout at me and tell me how vile I’ve been, then feel free. If that’s the price of seeing you again, I’m more than happy to pay it.”
Tim hung his head, unable to look at the camera lens. Blokes just didn’t talk all this emotional stuff, it was embarrassing. “I’ll be around for a while before I go to Oxford. If you want.”
“I do, Tim. I want that very much. And thank you for giving me the chance. I love you, son.”
“Yeah. Well. Okay. I’ll maybe see you when you get back, then.”
Jeff’s understanding smile lingered a while after the rest of the image vanished from the screen. Tim shook his head gravely, not quite sure who had been forgiving who.
“You did well,” Sue assured him. “He knows he’s the one that has to grovel.”
“I don’t think I really want that. I just…I want everything to have not happened.”
“There’s a lot of things in my life I feel the same about,” Alison said as she lit another cigarette. “You’ve just got to face them down and—”
“Move on,” Tim said. “Yeah, I think I’ve got that message now.”
HE WAITED UNTIL LATER THAT EVENING, after his mother had left and when he was alone in his room, before calling Vanessa.
“My God,” she squealed. “Are you all right? Martin called me and told me what happened. His parents were given a real dressing-down by the Tallington people for letting you out unsupervised. What were you thinking of?”
“I wasn’t, really. That was the problem. I was…I don’t know, angry with the world, I suppose.”
“Does it hurt?”
“Only when I laugh.”
Her smile of admiration was wide and sincere. Tim had never noticed before how big her smile actually was; on a face that was so compact and dainty it was almost overwhelming.
“You still staying with your aunt?”
“Till I go to Oxford, yeah.”
He hadn’t known how easy she was to chat to, either. They talked away for over half an hour, their conversation butterflying through subjects. It was strange; he didn’t try to impress her or be smart or cool. There wasn’t a lot of point—she knew him too well for that. Yet she still kept talking and joking with him. In the end he simply said: “My ankle should be all right again in a few days. Is that invitation to come and stay still open?”
“’Course it is.”
45. FIRST CONTACT
LIEUTENANT KROBER AND THE REST of the expanded Europol protection team were waiting for Jeff and Annabelle as soon as they cleared Heathrow’s customs hall. The officers closed in protectively around them before they moved down the concourse to the exit, still on a high-grade alert following the EIC’s article.
Little was said between the two of them during the drive back to the manor. When they finally got home Lucy Duke was waiting with a whole file of engagements and interviews she’d fixed up. Jeff just sighed as she started in about schedules and charm offensives and said they’d review it all tomorrow.
Annabelle almost laughed aloud at the way they got ready for bed that evening. Traveling and jet lag had left her weary without actually sleepy. So after supper they got undressed, folded their clothes neatly, slipped into dressing gowns, brushed their teeth. She felt as though they’d been married for fifty years. They lay on top of the bed, side by side, while the big wall screen buzzed away with news stream images she wasn’t watching.
By this time in the chalet, Jeff and Karenza would already have stripped her naked. She’d be writhing between their indecent bodies as they began yet another long night of glorious lechery. Five days spent performing every fantasy Jeff could think of had left her feeling strangely contented, and very secure. After that kind of intimacy you couldn’t get any closer.
They were a proper couple now. Just like Sir Mitch and Stephanie, she thought. The girls at school had always been scornful of the way she idolized Stephanie. They thought she was simply chasing fashion and celebrity for its own sake. They didn’t realize how much Annabelle admired the beach volleyball player for the way she’d conducted her life. Stephanie had grown up on an estate far worse than the one in Uppingham where the Goddards lived; she’d broken out by using her talent and exercising an unwavering determination. Stephanie set herself goals and accomplished them. Her life was an inspiration. Annabelle knew she was going to do exactly the same thing. Someday.
Actually meeting her idol that day at the launchwatch party had been among the happiest moments of her life. And Stephanie hadn’t laughed when she confessed she had ambitions, too, even though they were still vague. Stephanie knew enough about the tough side of life not to poke fun at people trying to better themselves.
Now here Annabelle was, comfy with her man. And all because of the action she’d taken to achieve that.
“I was only here for a few days before,” she said. “But it feels like home already.”
Jeff squeezed her shoulder. “It is your home.”
“Do you mean that?”
“I do.”
She rolled onto her side, and put her arm around him. “Thank you. I don’t want to go back to my dad’s house. Not now. Not after everything.”
“I don’t want you to go back to your dad, either. I told you that before Tim found us. I still mean it.”
“I think I’m a little scared of living with someone in their house. I’ve never had a boyfriend who lasted more than a couple of months before, and they were never anything like this. I feel like I should be doing something, but I don’t know what.”
“There’s no need to start psychoanalyzing this. You’re here because we fit together. We both knew that the first time we saw each other. There are no secrets, and we’ve never played games. We can talk, we make each other laugh, we make each other happy, I’ve never been so excited in bed. Trust me, that’s so much more than most relationships have.”
