Design For Loving Page 4

  As Lyall came to stand beside her, Katie smelt the fresh fragrance of his cologne, a mixture of musky woodland scents, and she suddenly had an irresistible urge to reach out and touch him and wondered if he were aware of the magnetism too.

  As if reading her thoughts, his hazel eyes met her topaz blue ones and he gave her a devastating smile. Just then Shelley returned and the moment was gone.

  They spent the next twenty minutes discussing the layout for the exhibition. Katie had to admit that Lyall was so full of ideas that he fired them with enthusiasm and spurred them into action so that, by the end of the day, they had made great headway and things were certainly beginning to look up.

  * * *

  Katie was in the middle of supper when the phone rang. When she picked up the receiver there was silence.

  ‘Who is this?’ she asked irritated.

  She was just about to slam it down when Jack’s voice said, ‘Katie, it’s me. Are you alone?’

  Relief flooded through her. ‘Jack, thank goodness! What on earth’s going on? And where are you?’

  ‘In a call box. I haven’t much change.’

  ‘Then give me the number, I’ll call you back.’

  ‘No. It’s best you don’t know where I am. I’m in big trouble, Katie, and just needed to get away, but I didn’t want to leave without saying I’m sorry for what’s happened.’

  ‘And so you should be! We trusted you, Jack and you stole from us, there’s no other word for it! I just can’t believe the way you’ve behaved. You’d better have a good explanation.’

  ‘Please, Katie, one day I promise I’ll repay you, just trust me.’

  ‘I don’t know if I can. You’ve let Shelley and I down very badly, Jack, disappearing like that with the exhibition such a short way away. Return everything and then we can talk.’

  There was a silence and then he said, ‘I only wish I could, Katie, but I’m afraid that’s not possible. I don’t have the things anymore.’

  She was exasperated. ‘What d’you mean? What have you done with our exhibits and the money from our account?’

  There was a pause and then he said, ‘I was in debt, Katie.’

  ‘So you robbed us in order to pay off your creditors!’ She was incensed. ‘I don’t believe this! How could you, Jack? Why didn’t you confide in me?’

  ‘You were on holiday,’ he reminded her quietly.

  She swallowed, aware that if she vented her anger on him he’d more than likely ring off and then she would lose contact with him altogether.

  ‘If it hadn’t been for Lyall Travis offering to help out, Shelley and I would have been finished,’ she told him now.

  ‘Lyall! What exactly did he tell you?’

  Jack sounded suddenly wary.

  She told him what Lyall had said and how he had stepped in to help them with the exhibition.

  When she had finished, Jack said, ‘It was because of Lyall Travis that…’

  Infuriatingly his voice died away as his money ran out and she was left staring at the receiver and wondering what on earth he had been about to say.

  Four

  Later that evening, as Katie was doing some paperwork, the phone rang again, making her nearly jump out of her skin. To her relief, this time it was Aunt Alice. Katie was so pleased to hear her voice and suddenly everything seemed normal again.

  ‘Mary’s daughter’s returned from holiday, and so she’s able to take over from me now. There’s really no longer any need for me to stay. I’m thinking of coming home in a few days’ time.’

  ‘I’m delighted to hear it. We’ve all missed you,’ Katie told her old friend.

  ‘How’s Jack? I haven’t heard a word from the young rascal since I’ve been away.’

  ‘Oh, he’s fine,’ Katie said, hoping she would be forgiven for the white lie. ‘He’s away by himself for a few days, one or two things to sort out on the financial front, you know.’

  Aunt Alice chuckled. ‘Sounds like Jack — and Lyall Travis?’

  ‘Oh, he’s turned out to be a godsend. He’s quite an artist, you know, so he’s producing some pieces of jewellery for our exhibition.’

  They chatted for a time and, much to her relief, no further questions were asked about Jack.

  Katie had a restless night, mulling things over in her head and wondering if she should mention Jack’s phone call to Lyall. In the end, however, she decided it would be best to wait and see if Jack contacted her again. If only he had finished what he had started to say about Lyall. She had an uneasy feeling that she wouldn’t like what he had to tell her, but she really needed to know.

  After all, supposing she had been misjudging him and the root of the problem had been Lyall all along. Perhaps he hadn’t told her the truth about what had really happened between himself and Jack whilst she had been away. She eventually drifted off into a deep sleep to awaken unrefreshed, with a headache.

  Lyall was already hard at work when she arrived at the workshop. ‘Night on the tiles?’ he wanted to know, surveying her pale face with interest.

  ‘Certainly not, not that it’s any of your business!’ she snapped and he winked at her, hazel eyes sparkling with amusement. She realised that this man had the ability to both charm and infuriate her.

  Collecting her work, she settled at the bench and was soon immersed in engraving a complicated design on a bracelet. Soon her ill humour evaporated with her headache.

  After a short while, Shelley joined them and they worked in silence for the next half hour or so. Lyall set down the cuff links he had been working on and got to his feet.

  ‘Faye tells me you would have been at a craft fair this weekend if Jack hadn’t made off with your stuff.’

  ‘Well, that was the original plan, but we’ve had to abandon it for this year,’ Shelley told him. ‘Just as well really because it’s my youngest niece’s birthday and I’ve promised to help her with her party. I’m an expert at blowing up balloons, don’t you know!’

  ‘Full of hot air, eh?’ Lyall teased. ‘So where exactly is this craft fair tomorrow?’

  ‘Oh, near Tunbridge Wells,’ Shelley informed him. ‘The seasoned exhibitors do a kind of circuit round most of the craft fairs. It’s a good way of making yourself known to the public. We’d just managed to get two or three slots and now we’re going to have to miss this one.’

  ‘Sounds as if Jack’s got a lot to answer for. I suppose neither of you have heard from him?’

  ‘Not a dicky bird,’ Shelly told him, and Katie shook her head, unable to meet his eyes. Lying did not come naturally to her and, normally, she despised this kind of deception. When she finally looked up, she found Lyall studying her thoughtfully and was certain that he didn’t believe her. Could it be that Jack had been in contact with him too?

  Lyall consulted his watch. ‘I’ve got to collect a few items from my friends in Sevenoaks this afternoon, but I’m sure the pair of you can manage perfectly well without me.’

  Shortly after he had departed, Shelley announced that she had just remembered she’d got a dental appointment at two o’clock and so she went off too.

  Left alone, Katie found it difficult to concentrate. After a while, she decided to call it a day and returned to the cottage.

  Jack made no attempt to get in touch with her again that evening, and she realised that it would be ridiculous to hang about the entire time, on the off chance that he might ring. She was surprised that he hadn’t at least tried to text her, but, perhaps, he thought it would be too risky to use her mobile phone number.

  The next morning was glorious, June at its very best. She had a leisurely breakfast in the small cottage garden which, at this time of year, was a tangle of roses and honeysuckle. She had a small paved area with pots full of petunias and deep blue trailing lobelia.

  She was back in the kitchen when there was a knock at the front door. Her first thoughts were of Jack, but it was Lyall standing on the doorstep clutching the milk. ‘It’s much too nice a day to be moping indoor
s...let’s go to the craft fair anyway.’

  She gaped at him. ‘Whatever for? We’ve absolutely nothing to sell and it’s no good accepting orders we can’t possibly fulfil.’

  ‘Granted, but there’s no harm in taking a look at the opposition, is there? After all, how often do you get the chance to wander around and see what’s on show?’

  She considered, head on one side, her beautiful topaz blue eyes suddenly sparkling. ‘You could have a point. Some of the other folk there will also be exhibiting in London, so it could be useful to see the competition and, of course, there are lots of other things to see besides the jewellery.’

  He smiled at her sudden enthusiasm. ‘Good. You’ll come then?’

  ‘You’ll have to wait whilst I change.’

  When she came downstairs a few minutes later, dressed in a smart black skirt and a pink top, it was to find Lyall doing the washing up. ‘Oh, there’s really no need…’

  He grinned. ‘There’s every need. You’ll only have it to face when you get back. Anyway, I helped myself to a cup of coffee. You’re looking very stylish.’

  ‘Thanks.’ Feeling a warm glow at the compliment, she swept up her jacket and bag.

  ‘Aren’t you forgetting something?’ He looked so amused that she felt the colour rise to her cheeks, as she wondered if her skirt was hitched up or something. Smilingly, he indicated her feet and she realised she was still wearing her fluffy pink bedroom slippers.

  Laughingly, she found her shoes, and a few moments later they were speeding away into the Kent countryside past fields of grazing sheep and hedgerows dotted with pale pink dog roses.

  Once again she discovered him to be an easy companion, silent for a time and then chatting about general topics of interest. They stopped for coffee en route because, as Lyall said, on this occasion they weren’t in any particular hurry.

  They chatted over cups of cappuccino and she found herself relaxing in the pleasant atmosphere of the hotel lounge. It wasn’t until she had told him about her art degree course and a fair amount about her family that, rather belatedly, she recognised the skilful manner in which he was getting her to talk about herself. Well, she didn’t intend to tell him about Peter, not yet at any rate.

  She buttered a second scone. ‘All right, so you’ve managed to discover all this about me, but what about you?’

  His hazel eyes flickered, as if she had caught him off guard, but he answered coolly enough. ‘If you think I’ve got any skeletons in the cupboard then you’ll be sadly disappointed. What in particular would you like to know about me?’

  ‘Well, a bit about your background would be a good starting point.’

  ‘OK, I was born in London but, when I was around ten, my father died and so we moved to Derbyshire to live with my grandparents. My mother married a couple of years later and my sister arrived about a year after that. She lives in Australia, but I’ve already told you that.’ And what about relationships? She wanted to ask him, still convinced that he had come to Lyndhurst to recover from a broken love affair, as she herself had done, but before she could ask him anything further, he looked at his watch and got to his feet.

  ‘We’d best be making tracks if we’re to get to this craft fair before lunchtime. You can have the next fascinating instalment of my life history another time.’

  It was interesting to wander round the craft fair. Usually, when Katie had been manning a stall she only took a break of half an hour or so and spent most of that chatting with her friends. She knew several of the stall holders and they naturally wanted to know where Jack and Shelley were, and why they hadn’t got a stall.

  Lyall attracted a number of curious glances, but she was relieved that he was there to help her ward off difficult questions.

  ‘So what do you reckon to the opposition?’ he asked her now, as they moved away from a jewellery stand.

  ‘Oh, that last lot of jewellery was very attractive, but not very original. I reckon we can do equally as well, given half a chance.’

  ‘Of course, our goods are a bit pricey,’ he ventured.

  ‘I refuse to sell tat,’ she snapped back and, smilingly, he took her arm and steered her towards another stall.

  ‘I wasn’t criticising, just making a point. Our stuff is real class. It’ll knock ‘em dead.’ Relaxing she laughed. ‘I’m not sure if that’s my objective. Anyway, thanks for the vote of confidence!’

  She was all too aware of his hand on her arm and an odd little frisson shuddered down her spine. The man at her side was undeniably attractive, but what exactly did she know about him? So far he had told her very little about himself, and she couldn’t help feeling there was a great deal more to find out.

  She tried to ignore the arm. ‘There’s a refreshment tent over there, behind that group of trees, but it’ll probably be crowded.’

  It was rather a crush and quite noisy in the tent, but surprisingly, they were serving good ploughman’s lunches, which washed down with ice-cold lemonade shandy proved most acceptable. Katie spotted a couple of people she knew and waved to them. They came across bearing laden trays. ‘What’s this, taking a sabbatical?’ the cheerful red-head asked, as her companion fetched a couple of chairs.

  ‘Oh, I thought it would make a change to wander round and eye up the competition for once,’ Katie said carefully.

  The girl laughed. ‘You’ve got nothing to worry about, has she, James?’ She looked meaningfully at Lyall. ‘Aren’t you going to introduce us to your friend, Katie?’

  ‘Lyall Travis, Rachel Saunders and James Humphries. Lyall’s just joined our team in Lyndhurst. Actually, we’ve had to pull out from this function because we’ve got a bit behind with our work for the exhibition. Jack’s the one who’s taken the sabbatical; it seems he needed a break.’

  Rachel raised her eyebrows. ‘You’re kidding, but we only saw him a week or so ago, and he never said a word.’

  Katie frowned. ‘Where was this, Rachel?’

  ‘Oh, you know that exhibition in Croydon. I must admit I was a bit puzzled, as you’d said you definitely weren’t going to be there. Actually, we’d got no intention of going ourselves, had we, James? But as we happened to be in Surrey, at the time, we decided to pop in. Jack said you and Shelley were taking an early lunch break — probably round the shops. What’s wrong, Katie?’

  The slightest pressure on her arm from Lyall made her say quickly, ‘Nothing, nothing at all. I was just surprised that you’d been there, that’s all. Jack forgot to mention it.’

  Her mind was racing on. If Jack had gone to that particular exhibition then he must have been selling their stock. She couldn’t question Rachel anymore, but she was incensed to think how he had double-crossed them and how easily. He had made off with several hundred pounds worth of stock and raw materials and, for all she knew, probably intended to set up in business again and use their original designs to copy from.

  * * *

  Aunt Alice returned to Lyndhurst on Tuesday and Katie stopped by to see her during her lunch-break.

  Alice Mason gave Katie a warm hug, her kindly face wreathed in smiles. As they sat exchanging news over a cup of tea, Katie thought how tired the older woman was looking. She pushed a letter towards Katie. ‘This was waiting for me when I got back. It’s from Jack. You should have told me! I suppose I oughtn’t to be surprised that he’s gone off into the blue, but I shall miss him. Go on read it, dear. At least he had the decency to write before he took off…posted it in London on his way to goodness knows where.’

  It was brief and to the point.

  Dear Aunt Alice,

  I’m sorry to let you know like this, but something’s cropped up and I’ve got to move on. These past months in Lyndhurst have been good, but now it’s time for me to leave. Thanks for everything and please don’t think too badly of me.

  Jack.

  P.S. I’ve taken the silver cigarette box. You told me Uncle George had left it to me anyway, so I didn’t think you’d mind.

  ‘If only h
e’d asked I’d have let him have it then and there,’ Aunt Alice said, shaking her silvery head sadly, her blue eyes misting over. ‘He’s a young scallywag, but I’ll miss him, sorely.’ She reached out and took Katie’s small hands between her own gnarled ones. ‘And what about you, dear? I had such hopes for the pair of you.’

  Katie looked at her in surprise. ‘We made a good team, Aunt Alice, but if you mean what I think you do, then there was never anything more than friendship between us. I thought of Jack as a loveable, but sometimes irritating, younger brother. Anyway, this has certainly taught me one thing.’

  ‘What’s that, dear?’

  ‘Never to trust a man, and I won’t, not ever again,’ she vowed bitterly.

  ‘Oh dear, that sounds very final. I suppose what with Peter and now Jack you must be feeling very let down.’

  Katie nodded, remembering with sadness, how Peter had led her to believe they would be married just as soon as they had saved enough, and then had gone off on a conference up north and met a woman ten years his senior with a young child. Before Katie could get her head round it, he had left his job in Dorset and moved in with her. Katie blinked, surprised at how vulnerable she still felt where Peter was concerned. She had moved to Lyndhurst to make a fresh start and because her grandmother needed her, but now Gran was gone, Jack had let her down, Lyall Travis had appeared on the scene, and life was getting complicated all over again.

  ‘ Katie?’ Aunt Alice peered at her anxiously.

  ‘Oh, sorry, Aunt Alice. It was just such a shock to find Jack had cleared off like that, and I realise it must have been for you, too. We didn’t want to say anything until you returned home. Thought you’d got quite enough to deal with as it was.’

  Aunt Alice shook her head. ‘Strangely enough I’d been half expecting it, but don’t judge all men to be the same, dear. I’ll admit that I’d hoped that you and Jack might make a go of things because I’m fond of you both, but it’s probably just as well you didn’t, the way things have turned out.’