‘Go on,’ he said, grinning. ‘You can leave Catalina with me.’
She needed no more urging, but raced away with Jose in hot pursuit. It was glorious. For the first time since coming to Spain she felt free, speeding down the slope so fast that her furies were left far behind. Jose could barely keep up. At the bottom they immediately joined the queue for the ski lift, and reached the top in time to see the other four beginning the descent in a careful convoy, Catalina flanked by Sebastian and Alfonso, with Horacio bringing up the rear.
‘This I have to see.’ Jose chuckled. ‘Coming?’
‘You bet!’ she cried, taking off ahead of him.
They passed the others on the way down, reaching the bottom first and waiting for them with grins on their faces. Sebastian scowled. He was an expert skier who’d had his sport ruined by a nervous novice and, since he was no saint but a fallible man whose pleasures were few, he wasn’t in the best of moods.
‘I’m sorry,’ Catalina said, at her most charming.
‘It wasn’t your fault,’ he said resignedly. ‘But be off with you to the nursery slopes. I’ll see you at dinner. Not you,’ he detained Maggie.
‘I must go with Catalina,’ she protested.
‘Horacio can go with her,’ he growled. ‘So can Alfonso, and Jose, and every man on the mountain for all I care. Did you say something?’
‘Nothing,’ she said, trying to keep a straight face.
In the end they separated into two parties. Sebastian and Maggie returned to the top of the ‘red’, while the other four made their way to a nice, safe ‘green’.
‘Whose idea was it for Catalina to try that run?’ Maggie asked as they settled themselves on either side of the lift and felt the chain tighten, beginning to pull them up again.
‘Mine, for my sins,’ he growled. ‘I thought she just needed a little encouragement, but we proceeded at a snail’s pace, then she freaked out and we nearly had a collision with the skiers behind us-stop laughing, damn you!’ But he was grinning.
‘You’ll feel better when you’ve had a good dash down the slope,’ she said cheerfully. ‘There’s nothing like it for getting rid of the tensions. Mind you, “black” is even better.’
‘You ski “black”?’ he asked, turning his head and looking at her with interest.
‘When I can. How about you?’
‘I like it above everything.’
She looked him in the eyes. ‘Really?’ she said brightly. ‘Then I hope you’re not planning to spend your honeymoon skiing.’
Sebastian ground his teeth. ‘Perhaps you should give your attention to the snow. We’re nearly there.’
Skiing with Sebastian was even more exhilarating than with Jose, who either travelled beside or just behind her. Sebastian edged in front in what might or might not have been a silent challenge. She tested him, urging her skis faster, but he kept just ahead.
He was beautiful to watch, smooth and graceful, turning with ease, never losing his rhythm or his control. It took all Maggie’s skill to match him at every point, but she managed it. At the bottom they stood for a moment, leaning on their skis, breathing hard, smiling.
‘Again?’ he asked.
She nodded.
They took the lift again, and as they glided upwards Sebastian suddenly turned his head and gave her a full- hearted grin. He was almost a different man and she guessed, because it was the same with her, that the hell-for- leather run had done this to him. He too had known the joy of cares left far behind as he flew down the mountain, and for the first time she wondered about the weight of those cares. He was an autocrat, and sometimes a heavy- handed one, but she had seen how he’d looked after Isabella, not merely making phone calls and giving orders, but taking the old woman’s hand between his, speaking to her gently, and calming her fears with kindness.
The next moment, almost as though their minds were connected, he said, ‘When I was a boy I practically lived in these mountains. Nothing mattered to me but skiing. I lived and breathed it, and dreamed of competing in the Olympics. They say I would have won a medal, perhaps a gold.’
The last words were said without arrogance, only a touch of wistfulness.
‘What happened?’ Maggie asked.
‘When I was eighteen my father died, and I had to take charge of everything.’
‘Couldn’t you have done the Olympics first?’ Maggie asked sympathetically.
‘That’s what I thought at the time. But the lawyers explained all that I needed to do, how many people on my lands depended on me.’ He shrugged. ‘And that was that.’
That was that. With this bleak little phrase he consigned the boy’s dream to perdition, shouldering a burden years before his time. He had been the same age that Catalina was now.
‘How sad for you,’ she said.
‘Nonsense!’ he growled. ‘I always knew what my life had to be. My father trained me for it.’
‘But you didn’t expect him to die so soon, surely? There should have been a few years for your own dreams first.’
‘Yes,’ he said after a moment. ‘There should have been. Here we are at the top.’
The moment had passed. He was Sebastian again, scowling to cover his embarrassment at having given her a glimpse into his heart.
They did the run five times. As they walked back to the hotel through the snow Maggie said wistfully, ‘There’s a run here that’s so steep it’s known as the “Wall of Death”. I’ve never dared try it yet, but I’m going to come back and do it just once before I go.’
‘Don’t!’ he said at once. ‘I’ve done that run and it’s no place for a woman.’
‘How nice to know that you’ll be on your honeymoon,’ she said tartly, ‘well away from me, and unable to give me orders.’
‘You take precious little notice of any order of mine anyway.’
‘True. And this one I shall ignore completely.’
He stopped in the entrance to the hotel. ‘It’s not an order, Margarita. It’s a plea. I’ve done that run and it isn’t known as the “Wall of Death” for nothing. You’re a good skier, and perhaps if there was somebody there with you-a friend to care for you-but there won’t be. It would worry me to think of you doing it alone. Promise me that you won’t.’
There was an unfamiliar note in his voice, almost the warmth and gentleness of a true friend. It made Maggie say impulsively, ‘All right, I promise.’
He took her hand. ‘Thank you. That means a lot to me.’
But then she recollected herself, remembered that in a few weeks he would be married to another woman and out of her life forever. She swiftly withdrew her hand and said brightly, ‘I’ll hire a professional for the day and he’ll guard me like a mother hen. Now, shall we get inside? I’m hungry.’
They found the others already in the balcony cafe. The three young men rose at their approach, and Alfonso went off to find a waiter. Sebastian seated himself beside Catalina, and waved Jose to the seat on his other side. This left Horacio sitting blissfully next to Catalina. Watching the moonstruck youth strain her good nature to the limit Maggie wondered if Sebastian had more sense of humour than she’d credited him with.
Sebastian turned his attention to Jose. ‘I’ve been meaning to talk to you. I know someone who’s interested in exactly the kind of goods you supply, and would like to arrange an early meeting.’ He pushed a small paper over to Jose. ‘That’s his number. Call him now.’
Jose vanished and returned with the news that he had an appointment for the next afternoon.
‘Then you should leave immediately and spend this evening with your files,’ Sebastian said with a smile of ice. ‘This man will expect you to be extremely well prepared. Let’s say our goodbyes now, to avoid delaying you.’
Put as bluntly as that, there was no mistaking the message. Jose forced a smile, nodded and departed, hauling the reluctant Horacio with him.
Catalina was indignant. ‘How can you just steamroller over people like that?’
‘He practises,’ Maggie observed dryly.
‘No need-it comes naturally,’ Sebastian capped. ‘That young man was in the way. Now forget about him. I believe they have ballroom dancing in this hotel in the evenings, is that right?’
