For His Little Girl

'Darling-'

'Say it again. Let me hear you call me darling.'

'Darling Luke, please-there's something I-'

'Just one more week, Pippa, and I swear I won't ask for more-well, maybe two. We have so much to talk about, and it can't be done at a distance.'

Happy as she was, she knew a little spurt of anger.

It had been done at a distance when it suited him. 'There's the phone, and the e-mail-' she began to say.

'But it's different now, don't you know that? Something started to happen between us-I know you're denying it, and maybe I know why, but give me a chance. Don't throw away what we could have.'

Pippa stared, hardly able to believe her ears, while the spurt of anger leaped higher. It was different now that he wanted it to be different.

Stop it, said an inner voice. It doesn't matter anymore, and you can't quarrel with him here and now.

But the old, pugnacious Pippa reared her head, yelling, I can quarrel with him anyplace and anytime I like.

'This is the first call for British Airways Flight 1083, Los Angeles to London Heathrow…'

He seized her arms. 'You're not taking that plane.'

'You bet I'm not,' she said slowly. 'You're right. There are things to say, and I'm going to stay right here and say them.'

His heart leaped. He'd won. Of course he had. He always did. But there was something in her eyes that made him uneasy. It should have been the light of love. It looked more like the light of battle. Being Luke, he brushed it aside to be worried about later.

He took her hand firmly, and they returned to the cafe. Everyone stopped and looked up at them eagerly. 'Who's going to get their bags off the flight?' Luke asked, and a cheer went up.

Josie cast herself wildly against Pippa. 'Thank you, Mommy!' Then against Luke, who held her tight.

Zak went off to recover the bags. Luke's mother seized Pippa's hand and pulled her down beside her.

'We've had this wonderful idea,' she said. 'Why don't you let Josie stay with us for a while?'

'No, I'm sorry,' Pippa said at once. 'That's out of the question.'

They stared at her, everyone taken aback.

'Forgive me. I didn't mean to be rude. Of course I know you'll take wonderful care of her. It's just that she's never been out of my sight before.'

But very soon, you may be out of each other's sight forever. Put the thought aside. Don't look at it. But bind her tightly to those who love her.

'Please, Mommy,' Josie begged. 'Grandpa says we'll go to Disneyland every day.'

'He's never had an excuse as good as this before,' his wife put in.

'Well,' Pippa said helplessly, 'I guess maybe…a few days-'

This cheer was even louder than the other, making passersby cover their ears.

'When Zak brings the baggage, we'll just load Josie's things in our car and head for home,' Luke's dad declared.

'You mean now?' Pippa asked.

'Guess there's no time like the present.'

'Guess there isn't, at that,' Pippa said, dazed. She felt as though she'd been squashed by a friendly but determined juggernaut. They were all in it. Except perhaps Claudia.

And a few minutes later even that illusion was destroyed.

'Hey, this isn't the way back to Manhattan Beach,'' Pippa said, looking around her, puzzled.

They were in Claudia's car and she was driving them home, so she'd claimed. 'I thought we'd do a little detour,' she said airily over her shoulder.

'How big a detour?'

'Montecito, just southeast of Santa Barbara. I have a little house there, and while Josie stays with Luke's family, you'll stay with me.'

'But-'

'You'll love it, Pippa. The air is cooler and cleaner than Los Angeles. That'll suit you better.'

Pippa whirled on Luke who was sitting beside her in the back seat.

'Don't look at me,' he said with suspicious innocence. 'I've been kidnapped, too.'

'There's kidnapping,' Pippa said emphatically, 'and kidnapping!'

'Darn! I was afraid you'd spot that one.'

'Luke, you can't just sweep me off like that.'

His face was Ml of wicked fun. 'I'm not. She is.'

'But-'

He slipped both arms about her, drawing her back onto the seat beside him. 'Why don't you just lie back and enjoy it?'

She couldn't struggle anymore. He was irresistible, thank goodness! And why should she even think of struggling against something she so passionately wanted? Pippa slid down into the seat and gave herself up to Luke's embrace.

She spared a last conscience-stricken thought for Claudia, reduced to playing gooseberry in her own car. But from somewhere in the distance she heard a delighted chuckle and guessed Claudia had peeked in her rearview mirror.

They drove for nearly two hours. Then they were climbing into the hills, and, as Claudia had promised, she could feel the air growing cooler and fresher. She took a long breath of pure physical joy. In the distance the ocean sparkled. Above, the sky gleamed an impossible blue.

Suddenly Claudia took a turn that had been invisible. Another mile, driving amidst lush vegetation, and her house came into view. Pippa stared, openmouthed. Luke had said that Claudia's wealth came from oil, and now she knew it must be true.

The house was a low, rambling Spanish-style edifice-white walls, red tile roof. For a while it came and went between the trees, but then suddenly the trees cleared and it was before them like a vision.

Claudia stopped the car, tooting cheerfully, and bringing two men and two women bustling out of the house. 'Sonia, Catalina, Ruiz and Alfonso,' she said. 'They look after the house and garden.'

In moments Ruiz and Alfonso had opened the trunk to remove all the baggage, Sonia and Catalina were ushering them into the house, welcoming them volubly, assuring them that everything was prepared, the rooms were ready, the food was laid out.

Inside, the air was blessedly cool. Long white curtains wafted gently in the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Claudia escorted Pippa upstairs to a room at the front of the house.

'This is yours,' she said. 'Luke's is across the way.'

The room, which matched the one directly below, was big enough for ten. It had floor-to-ceiling windows, hung with white net curtains, and mosaic tiles on the floor. Its high ceiling and wide spaces gave it an air of peace that seemed to bless her as soon as she walked in. The bed, which could have slept an army, was covered in white lace. The furniture was rosewood, warm, glowing and beautiful.

Catalina was already there, unpacking Pippa's clothes and hanging them in the huge closets. She showed her where everything was, smiled and disappeared.

Pippa wandered out onto the wrought-iron balcony to stand looking over the pool and beyond it the sea, feeling all the troubles fall away from her soul.

'Do you like it?' Claudia asked from the doorway.

'Claudia, it's beautiful.'

'It's my room. I chose it because it overlooks the sea.'

'But I can't drive you out of your room. I'll take somewhere else.'

'Oh, but I won't be here. I have to dash off for a few days. Did I forget to mention it?'

'Yes, you somehow forgot that,' Pippa said.

'Well, I have a memory like a sieve,' Claudia declared gaily. 'I forgot to mention this, too.'