Friday's Child Read online

  Mirry looked at Jay as she put the phone down after the short conversation. ‘In the bedroom. Helen said she put them away herself.’ Walking through to the adjoining room, she circled the big double bed David and Georgie had shared for thirty-five years, its faded elegance marred by the metal bed lift.

  Reaching the night-table, Mirry slid open the drawer and took out the dozen or so tightly rolled sheets of stiff paper. ‘Here they are.’ She held the bundle out to him. ‘May I go now?’

  But Jay was staring at the metal contraption over the bed, his eyes drawn back to it again after giving the rolled plans only a flicking glance as he took them from her. ‘I didn’t know my—my father was bedridden before he died.’

  ‘Your father! Of course he wasn’t.’ Already moving towards the door, Mirry looked back at him curiously. Didn’t he know? Obviously not, from the shaken look on his face. ‘The bed lift was Georgie’s. Not that she was bedridden by a long way. That was hers, too.’ She pointed at the electric wheelchair still standing in the corner. ‘I’m not sure if that’s mark seven or mark eight. She was pretty hard on her wheelchairs, taking them into places other people would hesitate to try, but then, after thirty-three years of managing them she was pretty experienced. Georgie had a riding accident just two years after she was married and broke her back,’ she added softly as he turned his stunned gaze on her.

  ‘Thirty-three years! But that means—’

  ‘That she’d already been tied to a wheelchair for three years by the time you were born,’ Mirry finished for him. ‘Odd that your mother never mentioned that fact when she was telling you the “true” version of the story.’ She walked out, leaving Jay staring after her.

  Annabel phoned later that evening. ‘Mirry? Jay’s back. He’s bringing the Charlesworth girl round to look at that horse tomorrow, but he never mentioned anything about his plans for the Hall and I didn’t like to ask. Did you—?’

  ‘I think you can safely say they’ve been brought to his notice,’ Mirry said with wry understatement. Not for anything did she want to go into details of the humiliating position she’d found herself in with Jay, but Annabel was too busying pouring out her thanks to ask questions.

  The poor girl had really got it bad, Mirry thought wryly. And why not, when Mirry herself had felt the pull of Jay’s attraction? But that was something she had to put out of her mind. She’d done all she could, now it was up to Annabel to persuade him his inheritance was worth holding on to.

  The sun was surprisingly hot for April, and as there had been no rain for more than a week the grass was quite dry once the dew was off. Simon was still at home, and where Simon was, things happened. Now he was driving the mower round the tennis courts with all the enthusiasm of a small boy.

  Years ago Aunt Georgie had had the idea of converting the Hall vegetable garden into a couple of grass courts. Donald Grey had laid them and they were still maintained—as were all the lawns at Wenlow—by the garden centre. At breakfast that Saturday morning Simon had reminded them there were likely to be people round, hoping for a game.

  Georgie had always encouraged everyone in the small Wenlow community to use the courts, so in the past it had functioned like a small private club. Mirry was the only one to feel uneasy about Jay’s reaction at discovering the local inhabitants making free with his property, but when she had voiced her doubts they had all stared at her with expressions ranging from mild curiosity to downright amazement.

  ‘Why the hell wouldn’t he want his tennis courts prepared?’ Andrew had demanded truculently. ‘He seems to expect everything else to fall into his lap.’

  ‘I did discuss it with him, Mirry,’ her father said quietly. ‘He said he’d be grateful if we’d continue to look after the garden, at least till everything’s settled.’

  Mirry found herself wondering when her father had seen Jay, what the atmosphere had been like, and whether Jay’s antagonism had been in evidence. But she couldn’t ask because she hadn’t mentioned the further clashes she’d had with him.

  Knowing he would be at the riding stables, Mirry was able to relax and enjoy her brothers’ company. As Simon finished the first court she began to mark the white lines while Nick emptied the grass cuttings into the waiting trailer. The mowing finished, Simon erected the posts, then, while Mirry and Nick finished marking the second court, started an inspection of the surrounding wire netting fence.

  ‘There’s a break here,’ he called after a while. ‘I’ll get some wire. Leave the nets till I get back, Mirry.’

  She raised her hand in acknowledgement as he loped off, but when she’d finished marking the lines and he still wasn’t back, she became impatient. Leaving Nick cleaning the marking machine at the tap, she went into the little pavilion where all the kit was stored.

  The nets had been rolled neatly at the end of last season and lay side by side on the wooden floor like a challenge. Dragging one of them across the floor to the top of the three shallow steps, she squatted down and managed to hoist it on to her shoulder. She was carefully straightening up when a roar from Simon made her stagger and she might have fallen if Nick hadn’t grabbed her from behind.

  ‘I thought I told you to leave the nets, you goof!’ Simon scolded, hefting the burden from her and allowing her buckling knees to straighten.

  ‘I could have done it if you hadn’t startled me,’ Mirry complained breathlessly. ‘You know I’m—’

  ‘—stronger than you look.’ Simon grinned at her, then remarked over the top of her tousled head, ‘What would you do with a sister like this, Jay? She refuses to take account of the fact she’s a foot shorter and only half the weight of us.’

  Mirry’s head jerked round. She had taken it for granted it was Nick who had steadied her, but she found herself staring at Jay Elphick. This morning he was wearing well-cut cavalry twills and a thin cotton sweater in shades of fawn and grey that revealed a much more muscular build than his formal clothes had done. Even more astonishing, the ice in his silvery eyes had melted and he was looking amused.

  ‘As I’ve never had one, the problem’s outside my experience.’

  Mirry didn’t know what had caused the thaw in the ice, but she responded to it with a cheeky grin. ‘Wouldn’t you know it! Another male asserting his superiority! OK, I concede you are both superior—’ she saw the two men exchange triumphant grins and added ‘—in the brawn department. So if you two strong men will carry the nets to the court, I’ll get on with the more intellectually taxing job of stringing them up.’

  ‘All right, bossy boots.’ Simon hefted the net he was holding into the surprised Jay’s arms and bounded into the pavilion to fetch the other. ‘But don’t think you’re getting away with your cheek, young Mirry. Retribution will come!’

  ‘You don’t frighten me, Simon Grey,’ Mirry jeered saucily, dancing ahead of them.

  ‘When I first saw these courts I didn’t think they’d been used for years,’ Jay said when everything was done.

  ‘Don’t you believe it!’ Simon grinned. ‘David and Georgie were keen players.’

  Jay looked at Mirry sharply. ‘I thought you said your—that Lady Jayston was confined to a wheelchair.’

  The thaw hadn’t lasted long, Mirry thought wryly.

  ‘Oh, Georgie never let a little thing like that stop her,’ Simon answered for her. ‘There wasn’t much she couldn’t do from that chair of hers. Do you play, Jay?’

  Jay was looking bemused, as if the idea of anyone playing tennis from a wheelchair was beyond his comprehension. ‘Er…no. At least, not since I was at university. Squash is my game.’

  ‘Well, nobody’s going to mind if you’re rusty,’ Simon assured him. ‘We’re a mixed bunch, from raw beginners to an ex-county player. Georgie encouraged everyone in the district to join in.’

  Mirry thought it would be the best thing that could happen, that Jay should be made to feel part of their little community, but having been slapped down by him several times she was afraid he would feel the Greys
were taking too much for granted again. ‘Maybe Jay doesn’t like the idea of having his tennis courts taken over every fine weekend, Simon,’ she suggested warily.

  Expecting Jay to agree with her, she was surprised when, after a few seconds’ silence, he said casually, ‘I’ve no objections to letting present arrangements stand…at least until I’ve decided what I’m going to do about the house.’

  Mirry wanted to ask him whether he had studied the conversion plans and if he was considering that alternative, but Simon was slapping him on the shoulder. ‘They’re a grand bunch; some very pretty girls, too. And you’ll have already met most of them. See you down here this afternoon, then, Jay.’

  Mirry was accustomed to Simon’s propensity for organising everyone and felt obliged to remind him, ‘Jay does have house guests this weekend, Simon.’

  ‘Well, bring them along, too,’ he retorted cheerfully.

  ‘And you call me bossy!’ Mirry jeered, laughing.

  ‘And so you are. I’m just displaying leadership qualities.’ Simon grinned unrepentantly. ‘And that reminds me…’ Pouncing, he swept a squealing Mirry into his arms and dumped her into the trailer full of grass cuttings. She surfaced to find Nick joining in the fun, ready with a handful of grass to stuff down her neck. Squirming away, she picked up handfuls herself and hurled them at him; then, while she was picking grass out of her mouth and shaking it out of her hair, Simon started the little tractor and moved off, jerking her on to her back again. By the time she had righted herself they were well down the path, but looking back she saw Jay still standing there, a bemused expression on his face.

  There was a good turn-out on the courts that afternoon. A spring weekend being a busy time for the garden centre, Andrew had been unable to join them, and as weekends were busy at the riding stables too, Mirry didn’t expect Annabel to be there either, but she was. Mirry couldn’t help wondering if it was at Jay’s express invitation or if she had come in the hopes of seeing him, though Jay himself hadn’t as yet put in an appearance.

  It was more than an hour later, when she came off court after a hard-fought game partnering Keir Minto against Simon and Annabel that she discovered Jay had arrived, he and his three guests clustering round Abigail’s lounger. To her surprise the men greeted Keir like an old friend, and it was he who introduced Mirry while Jay congratulated Simon and Annabel on their narrow victory.

  ‘Alan Charlesworth and his daughter Tricia, and Philip Amis. And this little firecracker is Mirry Grey. I fitted out their hotel chain with its computer system,’ Keir went on to explain. ‘Alpha Hotels.’ Mirry recognised the name. ‘So I’d met Alan and Philip many times before, though not Jay.’

  ‘You mean…Jay works for Alpha Hotels?’ Mirry asked, her eyes immediately going to Jay, only to find him watching her.

  ‘Our financial director,’ Philip Amis affirmed. ‘We were lucky to get him.’

  So much for her sister-in-law Sandra’s patronising remark about the new heir being an impecunious bank clerk!

  ‘We sort of met Miss Grey yesterday evening,’ Alan Charlesworth said, smiling, ‘though Jay’s usually impeccable manners let him down and he didn’t get round to an introduction.’

  Mirry’s cheeks burned at the reminder of Jay’s accusation of snooping, but the twinkle in the man’s eyes seemed to say the accusation had carried no weight with him. Keir was looking curious, but the last thing Mirry wanted was to have to explain, so she was grateful when his daughter asked, ‘Your leg, Miss Grey? Is it OK now?’

  ‘Fine, thanks.’ She displayed the shin which still bore a bruise and a healing cut. She was aware of the eyes of the whole group on her, especially Jay’s, and to counteract the discomfort this gave her she concentrated her attention on the young girl. ‘And please call me Mirry. I tend to look around for someone else when anyone calls me Miss Grey. Would you like a game, Tricia?’

  The girl’s glance slid sideways to Nick, who was sitting on the grass. ‘Well…I don’t have a racquet, and anyway I’m nowhere near as good as the rest of you.’

  ‘No problem. There’s a racquet.’ Mirry handed the girl her own. ‘And Nick’ll be only too happy to have a game with someone who won’t run him off his feet. He’s. not back to form yet after his accident.’ She spoke casually but watched the girl’s reaction, pleased at Tricia’s unconcealed eagerness at the suggestion, even more pleased that, though Nick’s scramble to his feet was less than athletic, he was taking care to speak slowly and distinctly as he led Tricia on to the court.

  Once again Mirry felt she was being watched, and glancing across saw the four men talking earnestly. At least, three of them were; although Jay appeared to be listening, his enigmatic grey eyes captured hers across the space.

  ‘Business!’ Abby said disgustedly. ‘I suppose I’ll have it all evening too. Jay’s bringing his guests to me for dinner.’ She brightened. ‘You wouldn’t do me a favour and come along, too, Mirry? If anyone’s guaranteed to take their minds off perpetual business…’

  ‘Me?’ Mirry glanced involuntarily at Jay, but this time his attention was centred on Annabel. ‘If you want your evening to be a success you’ll have to count me out, Abby. I’m the last person Jay would want to see.’

  Abby’s eyebrows soared. ‘I know you claim he disliked you on sight, but—’

  ‘And since then his opinion has sunk even lower,’ Mirry assured her friend.

  ‘Oh, come on, Mirry.’ Abby was openly disbelieving. ‘If he dislikes you so much, how come he’s hardly taken his eyes off you since he got here?’

  ‘Probably to give himself time to take avoiding action if I get too close,’ she retorted promptly. ‘Honestly, Abby, if you really want to please Jay, then you’ll ask Annabel to partner him.’

  ‘She does seem to have fallen for him, doesn’t she?’ Abby said thoughtfully. ‘Funny, I would have laid bets that she intended to forgive Andrew soon. But talking of partners, I’m still going to be one man heavy, so there’s no reason why both you and Annabel can’t come.’

  If there was one thing Mirry liked the idea of less than being thrust upon Jay, it was having to spend the evening watching him with Annabel. ‘I still don’t think it’s a good idea,’ she said firmly. ‘If he made one of his snide remarks, I’m quite likely to fire a rocket at him, and that could be embarrassing for everyone. Besides, it’s Simon’s last night.’

  ‘Oh, well, if you won’t, you won’t.’ Abby sighed regretfully. ‘I still think it’s a pity. Jay has a brilliant brain, and from what I’ve seen, a computer for a heart. Yet have you noticed his mouth?’

  Mirry stared at her. ‘I’ve noticed it’s the one feature he’s inherited from David… except that Jay keeps his sort of buttoned up.’

  ‘Exactly!’ Abby leaned forward confidentially. ‘The mouth of a sensualist if ever I saw one, yet he keeps all that buttoned up along with his emotions. I’ve nothing against Annabel, but she’ll never strike sparks off him like you will, Mirry. And that’s what Jay needs, someone to wake him up and show him he’s alive.’

  Before Mirry could think of a reply, Keir dropped on to his haunches on the other side of the lounger. ‘OK, honey?’ Startled, both girls looked up to see Jay and Annabel standing right behind him, and, wondering if any of them had overheard, they flushed guiltily.

  Abby recovered first. ‘Annabel, Jay’s bringing his guests along for dinner with us tonight. I know it’s short notice, but you will be able to join us, won’t you?’

  ‘Why, thank you, I’d love to,’ Annabel accepted breathlessly with a sidelong glance at Jay.

  ‘I had hoped Mirry would come along too,’ Abby went on guilelessly, ‘but she turned me down.’

  Mirry could feel Jay’s eyes boring into her, and though she tried hard to resist her own glance was drawn to him. He was angry, the clenched jaw and fiercely silver eyes betrayed it. Yet why? Certainly not because she had turned the invitation down. Maybe it was because Abby had asked her at all, thereby laying him open to the risk of hav
ing to spend time in her company. The thought was so depressing, she jumped to her feet and offered herself to make up the next foursome.

  CHAPTER SIX

  The Dower House rang with young voices that evening. Many of Simon’s friends had descended on them to make the most of this last opportunity before he returned to London. Tricia Charlesworth, too, had begged to be excused from an evening spent with adults in favour of Nick’s invitation, leaving Abby’s dinner-table even more overbalanced with males.

  Mirry was delighted to see the way Nick responded to Tricia’s interest. If he got a bit excited and slurred his speech, she showed no embarrassment, and when Simon put on a pile of records for dancing she pooh-poohed Nick’s diffidence and actually persuaded him on to the floor with her. And already Mirry had overheard them making a date to go riding together in the morning. It was just what Nick needed, she decided, a pretty girl who could see beyond his handicaps to the handsome young man he was.

  But although Mirry danced herself, and talked and laughed enough to fool anyone, half her mind was on Abby’s dinner-table, imagining Annabel blossoming under Jay’s attention.

  At least her energetic day made her tired enough to fall asleep eventually, and if she still felt a little jaded the next morning she wasn’t the only one. Simon arrived at the breakfast-table only minutes after Mirry, with a face as long as a camel’s. The girl he had taken home after the party lived on an outlying farm, and, taking what should have been a short cut along a narrow track, he’d discovered too late someone had used the track as a rubbish dump. He’d run over an old bicycle which had cut one of the tyres of his prized Lotus to ribbons.

  ‘I managed to change the wheel, but the spare’s only an emergency wheel, not meant to do a hundred miles of motorway, and there’s no hope of getting a new tyre fitted around here on a Sunday.’ Simon dragged his hands frustratedly through his hair. ‘I’ve got to get back on duty this afternoon. After all this leave there’s no excuse for being late.’