The Theotokis Inheritance (4 page)

‘And of course Isobel was the last of her generation?’ Helena asked.

‘Yes, she was, and the only Englishwoman—the only “foreigner”—to infiltrate our community, our enclave,’ Oscar replied. ‘It had never been done before. But all the family loved her and, in spite of all the places she could have lived around the world, her base was always Mulberry Court. Though of course she travelled extensively when my uncle was alive.’

‘Yes, I know,’ Helena said. ‘I was always fascinated by her description of all the places she’d seen. She made it all so real.’

By now, her third glass of champagne was having its effect on Helena—she seldom drank, and was unused to alcohol of this quality. She certainly hadn’t expected to feel as comfortable as this with Oscar, not after all this time. Taking a grape from the cheese tray in front of them, she nibbled it thoughtfully and looked across at him.

‘So, where do you live—usually, I mean?’ she asked.

‘Oh, here, there and everywhere,’ he said casually. ‘I’ve an apartment in London, a place in Greece and an apartment on the Upper East Side, New York, but I don’t stay anywhere for long. I’ve never felt settled enough to put down any roots. I’m travelling so much all the time, but I suppose my place in Athens is my useful bolt-hole.’

Helena immediately remembered when he had promised to take her to his homeland one day, but she didn’t voice her thoughts.

They’d finished their coffee and Helena picked up her almost full glass of champagne, drinking it down to the last drop. Then, after a few moments, she said slowly, her brow slightly furrowed in thought, ‘You know, you may have a point about a possible squatter problem at Mulberry Court.’ She paused. ‘And I think I might have a solution to that, Oscar.’

‘Oh?’

‘Well…’ She spoke carefully. ‘I could arrange to come and stay at the house myself for a short while… Well, a month or so, at least.’

Oscar raised his eyebrows. ‘Would that be possible?’ he enquired. ‘I mean—your present arrangements in London, your job… your current home?”

‘Actually, it would fit in rather well,’ Helena said casually. ‘When I switch jobs—which I intend to do almost immediately—it’ll mean I’m homeless because my cottage belongs to Simon Harcourt.’ She hesitated. ‘I feel I need a sort of breathing space in my life at the moment, and I’d certainly like to get out of London—even if it is just temporarily.’

Oscar pursed his lips, thinking about this for a second. ‘The house is rather isolated, isn’t it… Are you sure you like the idea of being there on your own?’ he said.

Helena smiled briefly. ‘I’m used to being on my own,’ she said. ‘Besides, the cottages are less than a minute’s walk away… I’d always have Louise for company—and Benjamin is obviously always about as well.’

Oscar nodded slowly, feeling slightly surprised at Helena’s suggestion, but agreeing that it would be a useful move for the moment. He shrugged.

‘Well, why not?’ he said. Mulberry Court belonged to Helena now, he thought—she had a perfect right to stay if she wanted to. ‘When do you anticipate that this plan could be put into action?’ he asked.

‘By the beginning of May,’ Helena said at once—there was no need to tell Oscar she’d already given in her notice. She looked up at him, her eyes shining at how easily her hopes had materialized. ‘And I can always get temping work in Dorchester if I run short of funds.’

Oscar was about to offer some interim financial input—then thought better of it. Helena was an independent woman with clearly a very firm hold on her private affairs. And she’d already turned down one offer he’d made, in no uncertain terms.

‘Just think—I shall be Mistress of Mulberry Court!’ Helena said. ‘It’ll be like the games I used to play when I was a child… pretending, imagining things!’ She knew she still felt totally overwhelmed at all that had happened in the last few days, and being here with Oscar
was the most overwhelming thing of all! An excited giggle almost turned into an attack of hiccups as she pointlessly picked up her empty glass, then put it down again. And at once, seeing her flushed cheeks and realizing that Helena had no head for alcohol, Oscar got up and came round to her side of the table to help her to her feet.

‘It’s been a long day, and I think it’s time you were in bed, Helena,’ he said shortly.

Helena stood rather shakily and picked up her bag and, with Oscar’s hand under her elbow, they made their way upstairs, pausing outside Helena’s door for a second while she searched for her key. And with every masculine impulse urging him, Oscar was acutely aware of a treacherous warm tide of feeling in his groin. In any other circumstances, with any other woman, it would have been a foregone conclusion that he spent the night in her bed. With his hand lightly on the small of her back, he said, ‘You’re quite sure about all this—about staying by yourself at Mulberry Court?’ He hesitated. ‘If you change your mind, we can always get John Mayhew to find a suitable tenant.’

‘There’s absolutely no need for anyone else to live in our… in the house—not yet,’ Helena said quickly, looking up at him, painfully conscious of his dark, magnetic gaze as he looked down at her in the subdued lighting. ‘It’s going to all work out
perfectly
,’ she added. ‘I just know it is.’

And in an insanely impulsive, grateful reflex action, she raised her head and kissed him lightly on the cheek before turning away, but not before Oscar’s hand was at
the back of her neck, pulling her around towards him firmly, pulling her face closer to his own.

But with every warning bell ringing in her head, Helena avoided his lips, her hands shaking so much that she dropped her key. She stooped quickly to pick it up, then unlocked her door and glanced back at him, smiling tremulously.

‘Goodnight, Oscar,’ she said.

Inside, Helena closed the door behind her and stood with her back against it for a few moments, waiting for her heart to stop almost leaping from her chest. She must have been
mad
to have kissed Oscar like that, she thought, because he’d obviously read something into it which she hadn’t meant! She’d only given him a brief peck on the cheek, that was all! A sort of normal thing to someone she’d known for such a long time…

But with her skin tingling at the thought, Helena knew that Oscar had wanted to kiss her! She kept repeating the thought over and over in her mind… He’d wanted to kiss her and somehow,
somehow
, she’d managed to turn away! She’d managed to avoid the very dream she had so often relived in her mind. How had she managed to stop herself from collapsing into those strong arms, feeling the weight of him against her, letting that manly, musky smell of him ignite all her primitive instincts…?

But she
had
managed it. Because she’d been there before, she reminded herself bleakly—and she was never going to risk another unhappy ending like the one which had driven her to unimaginable despair.

* * *

In his own room two doors away, Oscar stood by the window for a few moments, clenching his jaw. He’d just had the unique experience of being turned down by a woman!

The sensuous mouth twisted as he let his mind dwell on the what-might-have-been… He would now be slowly undressing her, he thought, caressing her, using all his natural abilities to inflame her, to make her want him as much as he had wanted her.

He turned away abruptly. In the bathroom, he had a cold shower then dried himself briskly, drawing the huge towel back and forth across his tanned shoulders, his glistening muscles flexing and hardening with the effort. Catching a sight of himself in the mirror, he leaned forward thoughtfully. His brow seemed to be developing more lines every time he looked, he thought.

As for Helena… Helena was still as dove-soft, as flawless, as she had been on the first day he’d set eyes on her.

H
ELENA
woke the following morning having had the most blissful night’s sleep she could ever remember. A night full of dreams in which she’d lain in Oscar’s arms, felt his lips claim hers over and over again, felt his hands trace the curves of her body… the sort of dreams which she had stopped having a very long time ago. But last night it had been so wonderful, so real, she had awoken, her heart drumming wildly, and had fully expected to see him there, raised above her, his eyes alight with desire…

Now, she sat up and rested her head on her knees. It was so stupid of her to have given him that peck on the cheek, she told herself again. And what hot-blooded, alpha male—especially one like Oscar Theotokis—ever resisted an opportunity? Yet Helena was honest enough to admit that another millisecond, and she would have been helpless in his arms. Because, in spite of everything, she knew she probably still loved Oscar, was still in love with him, even after all these years. And the pathetic position she was in was dangerous, because he didn’t love her, not any more, and he probably never had. Lust and love were two entirely different things—everyone knew that—and it was lust
undoubtedly fuelled by that amazing champagne that he must have been feeling last night. Even so, she acknowledged a shiver of pleasure at the thought.

She got out of bed and went into the bathroom, groaning at the sight of herself. Her hair was all over the place and needed immediate attention if she was to face Oscar with no telltale signs of the restless night they had shared—if only in her dreams! She’d be sitting opposite him in an hour, having breakfast and making desultory conversation—and hoping that nothing in her eyes or manner would reveal the emotion still simmering just below the surface of her thoughts.

With rugged determination, Helena forced herself to concentrate on the present. One good thing was, she’d be able to tell Simon tomorrow that she was definitely leaving his employment. She made a face as she recalled her boss’s persistent, unwanted attentions. No, she wouldn’t be sorry to leave the Harcourt Agency, she thought. Though she would miss the other girls, plus the salary, she had to admit.

It was funny, she thought, as she smoothed lotion over her arms and body, that although she’d come to accept that she’d been left a considerable inheritance, she just couldn’t take it in, or what it might eventually mean to her when the house was sold. She certainly did not want any money in the meantime, as Oscar had suggested, because until the sale of the house, there really wasn’t any. Not really. It was still all on paper.

The far more important reason for her to feel almost dizzy with excitement was that Oscar had seemed quite happy for her to stay at Mulberry Court for a while. It
would have been
so
embarrassing if he’d found a reason to object. But he hadn’t.

Suddenly, a wave of optimism ran through Helena. She had just taken a very big step to tread a new path. And somehow she felt it was the right thing to do at this particular point. And now she had the prospect of spending spring and early summer in the place she loved best in all the world. Could it get any better?

She got ready and presently went downstairs to the restaurant. Oscar was already there, and when he saw her approach he stood up without smiling, and Helena coloured slightly. Did he remember their brief encounter last night? His undeniable gesture of familiarity? If he did, his expression gave nothing away. He was wearing casual trousers and a jacket, his round-neck, fine grey T-shirt exhibiting taut, well-toned muscles, and she deliberately avoided looking at him.

‘Hello… Did you sleep well?’ he said slowly, his voice seductively smooth, even at this early hour. Helena sat down on the chair he’d pulled out for her, tucking a stray frond of hair behind her ear.

‘Very well, thank you,’ she said, surprised at how easy it was to tell a blatant lie. She picked up the breakfast menu even though she didn’t feel like much to eat. ‘You?’ she enquired.

‘I seldom sleep more than four, maybe five hours,’ he said. ‘So I’ve been able to get some work done.’ He shrugged briefly. ‘As a matter of fact it looks as if I have to go back to Athens tomorrow. I’d hoped to be in the UK until the end of April… So if there’s anything at all that we can sort out today, that would help,’ he added, omitting to make the point that they could have
done quite a lot if Helena had fallen in with his wish to more or less empty the house of its contents straight away.

He raised a hand to summon the waiter to take their breakfast order. ‘We can at least talk with Benjamin about the grounds,’ he went on, ‘because it’s obvious that he needs to be retained until further notice, and it would have been good to have seen Louise, too… Whatever happens, the property must be adequately maintained for the next twelve months.’

Helena adjusted the knife beside her plate carefully and picked up her napkin. It was obviously back to business this morning, she thought. That spontaneous, fleetingly amorous gesture of Oscar’s last night hadn’t meant anything at all—and he’d obviously completely forgotten about it. Well, that was no surprise—and that was good—wasn’t it?

Later, as Oscar drove smoothly out of the car park, Helena settled herself back into the luxurious passenger seat and stared out of the window. So far, not a single mention had been made of her wish to stay at Mulberry Court. She hoped that he wasn’t regretting it—or maybe he’d forgotten about that too, she thought.

But, as if reading her thoughts, he said, without looking at her, ‘So, there are obviously going to be quite a few details of your own to sort out, Helena… What are you going to do about your personal belongings, your furniture?’

‘Oh, I don’t have very much at all,’ Helena assured him quickly. ‘I’ve only ever lived in furnished accommodation,’ she explained, ‘and before the cottage I
shared with Anna, my friend from university. But she got married last year.’

Helena paused before going on. ‘So, apart from books—rather a lot of books, I must admit—and clothes and bedding—and a few pictures, of course,’ she went on, ‘that’s about it. It’s only a few things so I’ll be travelling very light,’ she added.

Oscar smiled inwardly. He could already picture the sight of Helena’s elderly car crammed to the roof with her ‘few things’. And judging by everything he’d seen her wearing so far—including today’s choice of a soft jade cashmere knit over skinny jeans—the contents of her wardrobe would probably take up most of the space.

They eventually came to the narrow road which led to Mulberry Court, and almost at once the cottages came into view and Helena leaned forward excitedly.

‘Oh, look—Louise is there in the garden!’ she exclaimed.

‘She must have got back yesterday afternoon,’ Oscar said, ‘and there’s Benjamin coming down the path—with Rosie, his adored hound,’ he added.

Helena felt a surge of happiness at seeing the black Retriever bounding around the gardener’s feet. The cottage wouldn’t be the same without a dog, she thought. The fact that Bella, their black Labrador, had had to be put down just a couple of weeks before Daniel had died so suddenly had only added to Helena’s sense of loss at the time. It was as if her father and the dog had refused to be separated.

Oscar drew the car to a halt, and he and Helena got out. At once Louise turned in surprise, then ran up
and threw her arms around Helena’s neck, hugging her tightly.

‘Well, what a
wonderful
surprise to see you—and you, Mr Oscar,’ she added, smiling up diffidently.

‘I didn’t expect that we’d see you this weekend, Louise,’ Oscar began, and Louise cut in.

‘No, well, I wasn’t going to come back until Tuesday, but I don’t like the house to be unattended for too long, and anyway I was beginning to feel homesick—isn’t that silly?’ Louise’s open, friendly face broke into another grin and Helena thought—no, that’s not silly. That’s not silly at all.

By this time Rosie was determined to be noticed, winding her body around and around Helena’s legs and barking, and Helena immediately bent to make a fuss of the dog.

‘What a lovely animal,’ she said, trying to avoid a very wet kiss on the nose.

Oscar spoke again. ‘Helena, let me introduce you. Benjamin—this is Helena… Her father was my aunt’s right-hand man for many years, doing the job you’re doing. Before Helena went away to university she lived here in the cottage, so there isn’t anything she doesn’t know about Mulberry Court and its surroundings.’

Benjamin, a tall man, with a mass of unruly greying hair, shook Helena’s hand warmly. ‘Louise has told me all about your father, Helena, and I can only hope to keep up the standards he set here.’

Helena flushed with pride. ‘We were walking in the grounds yesterday, Benjamin, and everything looked wonderful,’ she assured him.

Louise pulled Helena towards her again. ‘What are
we standing out here for?’ she demanded. ‘Come in, and let me make us all some coffee.’

‘Thanks, but I must be getting on,’ Benjamin said, clicking his fingers for the dog to follow him, and after they’d made their farewells the others went into Louise’s warm and cosy cottage.

Presently, as they sat drinking their coffee, Oscar said, ‘Have you been informed of the terms of my great-aunt’s will, Louise?’

Louise looked away, her expression troubled. ‘Only that I’m to receive a very generous sum of money,’ she said. ‘And also that I’ve been asked to stay on here until the… um… future of the house is decided.’ She sighed. ‘It will be so terrible to think of new owners taking over,’ she added. ‘But I know it’s got to happen, and everyone has to face unpleasant changes from time to time.’

‘Well, you needn’t worry about that yet,’ Oscar said. He paused, clearing his throat. ‘Actually, my aunt has left the entire estate jointly between Helena and myself, but there is to be no sale for a year. And…’ he shot a quick glance at Helena ‘… as a matter of fact, in a few weeks’ time Helena will be coming to live at Mulberry Court herself.’

Louise’s face lit up with delight. ‘Well, I shall sleep easy for the first time since Mrs Theotokis died,’ she said firmly. ‘I hate not knowing what’s going on—and Benjamin has been worried, too. We’d imagined we’d be packing our bags by now.’

Oscar put his cup down and stood up. ‘Although we were up at the house yesterday, we need to take another
look around today,’ he said, looking down at Louise. ‘Something might occur to us that could be done now.’

‘I’ve been up there most days since Isobel died,’ Louise said. ‘Opened all the windows and kept the dust down.’

‘Yes, we thought everything looked as perfect as ever, Louise—’ Helena broke in ‘—including the lovely flower arrangement on the dining room table.’

Louise nodded. ‘You’ll have noticed that I’ve kept the Aga going—well, Benjamin and I take it in turns,’ she added. Then, ‘I emptied the fridge but not the freezer—and I haven’t gone through the kitchen cupboards, either.’ She hesitated. ‘I didn’t really know how much I should do for the time being. Mulberry Court has felt rather like a ship without a captain,’ she added.

‘Well, we’ll be more of a crew now, Louise,’ Helena said, ‘as soon as I’ve settled things up in London. I should be back in three, four weeks at the most.’

Oscar and Helena left the cottage and after a second Louise followed them. ‘Here—you’ll want to make yourselves a drink up there,’ she said, handing Helena a pint of milk. ‘And if there’s anything you need, just shout.’

As they drove slowly up the drive towards the house, Helena glanced across at Oscar. ‘Isobel was lucky to have such a loyal person working for her all that time, wasn’t she?’

Oscar tilted his head to one side. ‘My aunt obviously appreciated her very much.’ He narrowed his eyes briefly, thinking that it was good that Louise would be staying on at the cottage because it would be company for Helena while she was staying here.

He drew the car smoothly to a halt, and they both got out and started walking towards the main entrance of the house. The weather was bright with a high wind, making Helena’s loosely tied hair fly wildly, almost covering her face for a second or two. As they got to the large oak front door, she tucked her hair safely behind her ears and reached into her bag for the keys to the house.

‘My turn to open up today,’ she said lightly, glancing up.

Inside, every corner of the place was lit up by shafts of strong morning sunlight and, as Oscar followed Helena into the kitchen, he said, ‘I’ll go and find Benjamin, tell him he’ll be needed here for the next twelve months.’ He paused. ‘Of course, the new owners may decide to keep him on when the time comes. Left unattended, the place would be a wilderness in no time,’ he added.

Helena didn’t need reminding of that. It had always been a full-time job for her father, who’d only ever hired extra help in the autumn for harvesting the fruit.

She put her bag and the bottle of milk down and glanced up at Oscar. ‘I liked him—Benjamin,’ she said. ‘He seemed really nice, and he and Louise seemed happy enough, relaxed enough, together, didn’t they? It could have been really difficult if they hadn’t got on—living next door to each other.’ She smiled. ‘And that lovely dog… Benjamin obviously worships her,’ she added.

Oscar nodded. ‘Yes, his luck really changed when my aunt interviewed him.’

Helena looked up curiously. ‘Oh?’

‘Apparently he had lost his job in the city and was staying with a friend in the area who told him about the vacancy at Mulberry Court. When Isobel heard his story she considered that Benjamin’s genuine longing to be out in the open air—and his determination to learn quickly and to work hard if she’d give him the opportunity—were sufficient reasons to employ him.’

‘What caused all the problems?’ Helena asked.

‘Oh, it was a common scenario… successful city trader is unexpectedly made redundant, loses his wife and his home all at the same time…’ Oscar said. ‘There are apparently two children involved as well, who he doesn’t get to see very often. So Isobel decided that Mulberry Court might be just the thing for him to turn his life around. And from all outward appearances, she seems to have been right,’ he added.