Moonlight (2 page)

Her feet
slid inside them when she stepped out onto the wet patio and looked
around. The whole world was silent and so beautifully peaceful. A
bright full moon shone down, its’ light so pure and white that it
made everything blue. The air was cold and smelled of earth. It
refreshed her and chased sleep away. It was strange how the world
could look so stunning after a storm. The tranquillity was such a
stark contrast to the rage of the lightning and thunder.

The trees
across the garden were still creepy. The tall, dark blue pines
towered over her, surrounding the house and making her feel cut off
from the world and isolated. Church bells rang out the hour in the
far distance, travelling to her across the still Earth. They gave
her courage, even though they announced that it was two in the
morning. She stepped out onto the grass and raised her eyes to the
heavens. The stars were beautiful, drowned out by the strength of
the moon but still there shining down on her. It was so
peaceful.

Something
shifted on the edge of her vision.

She
instantly looked there, her heart accelerating when she realised it
was a man sitting on one of the stone benches around the circular
fountain. The rosebushes almost blocked her view of him, but she
was sure that it wasn’t her mind and the moon playing tricks. He
wasn’t a shadow made a man by her imagination.

Heart in
her mouth, she turned to go back into the house. The crunch of
gravel under a heavy boot made her tremble and she doubled her
speed, no longer fearing disturbing him as he came towards her. She
reached the patio. It was only a few more steps to the
doors.

“
I mean you no harm,” a lush male voice said, caressing her
ears with its subtle tones and arousing her interest.

She
didn’t stop walking.

He
reached the patio too.

Turning
to face him, she backed towards the doors, her heart pounding
painfully against her chest.

“
I had not realised that someone was here.”

There was
a look in his dark eyes and a gentle tilt to his bowed lips that
said he was telling her the truth. Maybe he was. A burglar would
probably be startled if they suddenly realised they weren’t
alone.

“
Are you intending to break in?” she said, finding courage
somewhere around her feet and bolstering it so it would return to
her stomach.

His smile
widened and when he moved slightly, the moon shone on the side of
his face. God, he was good looking, and oddly familiar.

“
No, no such thing,” he said with enough hurry and horror that
she was swayed again. “I often walk here. Meredith allows me
to.”

The name
of her aunt being pronounced by his stunningly kissable lips only
mildly reassured her. She kept her distance when he stepped towards
her.

“
Do you live close by?” She managed to hold the tremble from
her voice.

He
nodded. “I can leave if it will ease your mind.”

She
frowned. He had a strange way of speaking, and now that she was
looking, an even stranger way of dressing. The tight black
trousers, shiny riding boots and loose white shirt made him look
like something out of a ‘Pride and Prejudice’ inspired fantasy
she’d had once.

He went
to leave. She made a strangled noise in her throat and held her
hand up. His head turned and he looked over his shoulder at her,
his dark eyes meeting hers and making her whole body flush. He
wasn’t the fantasy man. He was just a guy from the area that knew
her aunt. Telling herself to get a grip had no effect. The question
in his eyes demanded an answer. Was he to leave or not?

“
It’s a little late for a walk,” she said, deciding not to
answer it.

His head
tilted back and his eyes shifted to the moon. “The storm kept me
from walking.”

Moonlight
kissed his profile, making it glow softly in a way that had her
heart fluttering like a butterfly. She swallowed and gave up trying
to get a grip because there was something about him that made her
instinctively throw all self-control out of the window. Long dark
hair caressed his shoulders, tied at the nape of his neck with a
ribbon. He held a jacket in his hand, black like his
trousers.

He moved
to face her again and shadows hid his features. “May I ask why you
are here?”

Her
eyebrows rose. He didn’t have to ask if he could ask.

“
My aunt... Meredith... let me stay here while she was away. I
needed a break and some quiet.”

“
I had not realised that your aunt had a guest. If I had, I
would not have presumed that I could still walk the
grounds.”

He did
have a strange way of speaking. Something about it made her warm
inside and slowly swept her back to that fantasy. She wondered what
kind of jacket he held. In her mind, it was exactly the kind that
Mr. Darcy had worn.

“
Don’t worry about it,” she said and moved out towards the edge
of the patio, forcing him to turn so his face was again bathed in
moonlight. She didn’t venture too close, just near enough that she
could clearly see his face. His gaze pierced hers again. “Did you
come from a fancy dress party?”

He
smiled, handsome in the clear white light.

Something
about him was so familiar. It made her feel strangely comfortable
around him.

“
Have we met before?” she said, narrowing her eyes on his and
trying to discern whether he matched any face in her
memory.

He
nodded. “We have, once or twice, seen each other. You are Ashlyn,
Meredith’s youngest niece.”

Her eyes
widened with shock. He really did know her. How could he remember
her when she couldn’t recall where she’d seen him?

“
I haven’t been here for a long time,” she whispered with a
frown. “It’s been seven years... since I was twenty
six.”

He nodded
again and ran his eyes over her. They settled longest on her
face.

“
You do not look any different. Your hair perhaps and there is
a little more worry in your eyes.” Something surfaced in his eyes
that looked like concern. They softened, losing the hard edge
they’d gained during his appraisal of her.

“
I really don’t remember you at all,” she said with a nervous
giggle, fear creeping back in at the edge of her mind. He knew her
so well. How? Why was he walking the garden so late at night? “But
you are familiar.”

She
stepped forwards. He countered her with a step back, leaving her
even more curious about him. A moment ago, he’d wanted to be close,
had allowed her to move into a position that brought them within a
few feet of each other.

The
church bells chimed in the distance.

He looked
towards them, his jet eyebrows meeting in a heavy frown.

“
I must go,” he said without looking at her. “Good
night.”

Before
she could utter a word, he’d bowed stiffly in her direction and had
walked away, disappearing around the corner of the house. She
stared there a moment and then went inside.

He hadn’t
told her his name.

It didn’t
matter.

Something
told her that she’d see him again.

***

The rain
was really beginning to spoil her holiday and ruin her mood. She
huffed, turning another page of the novel. It wasn’t holding her.
She’d been so distracted all day and she knew who was to
blame.

The
mystery man.

Who was
he?

Several
times she’d picked up the phone to call her aunt to ask her about
him but each time she’d lost her nerve.

Wind
splattered the rain against the large windows of the reception
room. She curled up tighter on the armchair beside the fire and
glared through the French doors at the wet world. This wasn’t what
she’d imagined. She’d pictured sunny days spent lazing in the
garden thinking. With all this rain, she didn’t want to think. No,
it wasn’t the rain stopping her. It was him.

Whenever
she let her mind wander, he came up. Why had he been dressed like
that and who really spoke that way?

The clock
down the hall chimed the hour. Six. The weather showed no sign of
letting up. Would the man walk the garden again tonight if it did?
She told herself that she didn’t care if he did or
didn’t.

Giving up
on the book, she went to the kitchen to fix herself dinner. Not
even that could rouse her. The meal tasted plain and boring. The
wine didn’t stir any emotion inside her. She set the empty glass
down and looked at the ceiling, listening. It was quiet again. She
glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece above the cooking range.
Eight thirty. Had the rain stopped?

She
slipped from the stool, dusted her black jeans down and walked back
up the stairs to the ground floor. The dark windows in the
reception room revealed that it had stopped raining, although there
was no sign of the moon. She picked up her dark red jumper from the
back of the armchair and pulled it on. The fine strands of her rich
brown hair stood up, tousled by the neck of the jumper. She
smoothed them back and ran her hand down the length of her
ponytail. Her eyes strayed to the mirror on the far wall and she
walked over to it. She didn’t look as tired as she had done
recently and the few pounds she’d put on since her parents’ death
made her look more shapely. Her brow furrowed as she thought about
them. It had been so hard learning to live without them. Her aunt
had been so good to her and her two older sisters. She’d spent
weeks at their house, consoling them and cheering them up. It must
have been hard for her to lose her sister too. Pushing away from
the dark thoughts, Ashlyn stared into her almost black eyes for a
few seconds longer and then walked towards the French doors. She
slipped her black trainers on and then opened the doors and stepped
out onto the patio.

The
clouds were thinning to reveal patches of dark sky and an
occasional hint of the moon. It turned them white and silver where
it hung in the heavens, throwing long shadows across the
garden.

She
wandered aimlessly at first, letting her feet take her wherever
they wanted to roam, and then decided to head towards the woods.
The moon had no chance of penetrating the tall black pines. No
matter how hard she looked into the woods, nothing but darkness
greeted her. An owl hooted in some distant tree. A twig snapped
closer by, sending her heart racing. She stepped backwards, away
from the trees in case someone was in there watching her. Another
step and she hit something solid.

It
moved.

She
shrieked and turned on a pinpoint to face her attacker. He smiled
at her, still as handsome as she remembered him. Her cheeks blazed
with embarrassment. She’d never felt so foolish.

“
I was coming to see you. I did not mean to frighten you,” he
said, honeyed tones warming her.

“
I wasn’t scared.” She placed her hands on her hips to
emphasise her words, her head tilting back to show him her most
fearless expression.

He
laughed.

She
smiled at her own pathetic lie.

“
Would you take a walk with me?” Those words made her heart
beat a little quicker. She blamed the wine. It always made her
giddy.

“
Sure,” she said and started towards the fountain at a slow
pace. There was no need to rush. She looked up at the moon, clear
of cloud now, its full disc bright and almost blinding. It was
still early.

He walked
beside her, a silence between them that felt peaceful and
comfortable. Her gaze took in his profile. There was still
something familiar about him, but she couldn’t place where she’d
seen him before. She must have done. He’d said that they’d met
before. Her eyes lowered to his clothes. His black jacket was just
like Mr. Darcy’s.

“
I am sorry the weather has not been better for your stay,” he
whispered, as though he feared breaking the pleasant
silence.

She
shrugged. “It’s Britain. It’s supposed to rain.”

He smiled
again but it was short lived. “Why do you worry so
much?”

A frown
creased her brow and she stopped to look at him. Last night he’d
said that she had worry in her eyes. When she’d looked in the
mirror, she hadn’t seen any sign of it. Perhaps she’d grown used to
seeing her eyes like that and no longer saw the
difference.

“
It’s not worry,” she said and began walking again. When they
reached the fountain, she followed the path around the rosebushes
and sat down on the same pale stone curved bench he’d occupied the
night before. She tried to figure out what to say and how to say it
without getting upset. If she started crying, he’d probably leave.
She didn’t want that. She’d come here for peace and quiet, and time
away from everyone. Now she wanted something different. She wanted
to talk. She wanted to talk to him. “It’s been hard since my
parents died.”

He sat
beside her, concern etched on his face. “I am sorry. I did not
realise they had passed on.”

Her
forced smile didn’t hold. It wavered at the corners of her lips and
then failed completely. Tears stung her eyes. She held them
back.