‘I was in shock,’ he coolly admitted.
‘Oh, yes!’ she muttered bitterly. ‘I know that. The sight of her took your breath away.’ Renata was staggeringly beautiful; she couldn’t blame Randal for his response to the sight of his ex-wife. After all, Renata had once been his, and now she belonged to another man. That couldn’t be easy to take, especially for a very ego-driven male like Randal.
She suddenly remembered his jealousy over Tom—if he felt like that over her, how did he feel over his ex-wife and her new husband?
‘The sight of her scared me!’ he said harshly, frowning. ‘I’d stopped expecting her to turn up to see Johnny. When I saw her I was suddenly worried, afraid she was going to try to take Johnny away from me, take him off to Australia. Mothers tend to get custody in this country, especially if they can afford a good lawyer, and she can, with her new husband’s money behind her. I thought Renata would never want custody, she was always an indifferent mother—but who knows? Maybe her golfer has decided he wants a ready-made son to trot around the circuits with him? Good publicity for him, probably.’
She frowned. ‘I thought he seemed a decent sort of guy, not the type to think that way at all.’ She looked at Randal sharply. ‘You’re simply jealous of him!’
Dark red rang along his cheekbones; his eyes flashed. ‘Don’t be absurd! Jealous of him? You’re crazy. Why on earth would I be jealous of him! Over Renata? I wouldn’t have Renata back at any price.’ His grey eyes focused on her angrily. ‘I just proposed to you—doesn’t that mean anything to you? All you do in reply is accuse me of being in love with my ex-wife! What do you think that tells me? That you don’t know me at all, and, frankly, that I obviously don’t know you either, or how could you leap to such an idiotic conclusion?’
He was furious with her; she was very shaken, biting her lip. He was right—how could she have leapt to that conclusion? She didn’t know him; she had no idea what made him tick. How could you love someone without knowing them?
‘She is very beautiful,’ she offered in apology, in feeble placation.
His mouth hardened in cynicism. ‘On the outside, maybe, but inside she is far from beautiful. She’s selfish, lazy, greedy, materialistic; she was a bad wife and a bad mother. And I wouldn’t have her back for a million dollars.’
At that second the swing doors into the foyer revolved to admit Renata, the tall, tanned golfer, and Johnny, who saw them immediately and came running towards them.
‘Daddy! I played golf! Alex taught me how to play golf. I hit the ball so hard it went for mile. Alex says I’m a natural. I should play as often as possible, practise every day.’
‘Don’t chatter on and on, darling,’ Renata said in a sort of groan. ‘My God, that child babbles. He never stops.’ She sank into a spare chair at the table. ‘I need a drink. Get a waiter, Alex. Randal, darling, I think Johnny should go to bed; he’s tired and so am I—worn out, honestly. I’d forgotten how much energy kids have, and how much of a nuisance they are.’
Randal glowered. ‘Not in front of him, please!’
‘I’ll take him upstairs,’ Pippa quickly said, getting up. ‘Come on, Johnny. I expect you’ll need a bath—is he coming down to dinner, Randal?’
‘Oh, please,’ Johnny said, ‘can’t I have Room Service and watch TV instead? I’m tired, and I saw they do a great cheeseburger and fries, and a triple flavour ice cream, and Coke.’
Randal laughed. ‘Just as you like, Johnny. Room Service would be more fun, I expect. Say goodnight and thank you to your mother and Alex.’
‘Goodnight and thank you,’ Johnny gabbled towards them, then took Pippa’s hand and began dragging her towards the lift.
In the sitting room he at once grabbed the Room Service menu and sat down with it. ‘Can I order now? I’m starving.’
‘Why not? I’ll stay until the food arrives. Do you want me to order it for you?’
He gave her a scornful look. ‘I can do it!’ Picking up the phone, he began dialling. ‘Hello? Room Service?’
Pippa wandered away to the window, listening as he ordered exactly what he had said he would like. The daylight was fading a little, the spring sky coloured pink and gold. Shadows lay under the trees in the grounds of the hotel. It would be dark soon.
Johnny put down the phone. ‘They said it would be fifteen minutes.’
She walked back to sit down near him. ‘So you had a good time this afternoon.’
‘Yes, Alex is great; I like him. My friends all want to meet him. He’s a terrific golfer.’ He didn’t mention his mother, and went on to ask, ‘Am I going to be able to ride tomorrow? Dad said I could.’
‘Yes, he said he meant to go with you, but I don’t have any gear with me, so I think I’ll just stay here and rest.’
‘Okay,’ Johnny said without interest. ‘Alex and Mummy are leaving tomorrow, so I don’t suppose I’ll see them again.’ The thought did not seem to bother him. ‘She gets bored easily, Alex says. And she doesn’t like the country much; she prefers cities. She talked a lot about Sydney and New York and London, and shopping. She loves shopping. Alex says she has so many clothes they had to buy a new wardrobe. She doesn’t play golf, although she always goes with Alex when he’s playing in a tournament, but she stays in the bar, he said, and waits for him. And she doesn’t like kids much; she says she’d never have another one, not ever. Kids are boring.’
‘I’m sure she was joking,’ Pippa quickly said. How much had that hurt the
