The Marriage Merger (13 page)

“Go to bed, Jenna!” he growled.

She hesitated, anxious to defend herself,
hating what he must be thinking.

“Go on,” he muttered. “Go while you still
can.”

She wrapped her hurt around her like an
armour, and walked, erect and head held high, unhurriedly from the
room. She wasn’t going to run, to give him the satisfaction of
seeing how much pain his rejection had caused her.

But in the privacy of her room the tears of
frustration fell from her eyes even as she bit her lips to hold
them back.

After Jenna had left with Mark, Braden had
put Caitlin to bed. He’d reassured her that Jenna would return but
the girl seemed blissfully sure of that fact. Which made him start
questioning if he was the only one who thought she might desert
them.

He’d had a hell of a day. Everything that
could have gone wrong, did. And to his utter chagrin he found that
his mind wasn’t on solving business problems. All his mind’s eye
kept seeing was Jenna’s lovely smile as she accepted Mark’s
invitation. He’d wanted to tell her no, it wasn’t possible for her
to have a night off, but knew how unfair he would sound. So he’d
tried to be gracious, all the time aware of how resentful he felt
that he hadn’t offered to take her to dinner.

Tonight it had been impossible for him to
concentrate. She’d looked so beautiful in that softly swirling
dress. He imagined how it would mould around her long legs as she
danced, wondered if she would press against Mark as he held her
closely on the dance floor.

Hell, he didn’t even know if she liked
dancing or not. He’d spent so much time trying not to think about
her that he hadn’t asked her much about her likes and dislikes.

And he hadn’t been very successful in not
thinking about her - she seemed to invade his every waking thought.
He’d found himself looking forward to coming back to the penthouse
each night, reluctant to leave in the morning, pleased when he
could stay and work from his study because it gave him the chance
to see more of her. From the outside door of his study he would
watch her in the pool with Caitlin, marvelling at her patience, her
tenderness, her ability to stimulate Caitlin’s eagerness to
improve.

It irritated him that he found himself
responding to her in ways other than physical. He didn’t want to
get close to her. By her own admission she wanted what he couldn’t
give her - love, marriage. But somehow the thought of making love
to her every night and waking up to her every morning was becoming
more beguiling, less frightening.

As the minutes ticked by and turned into
hours the idea that Mark might be thinking that same thought had
popped into his head with irritating regularity. Even the scotch
did nothing to stop it. He couldn’t even get drunk. Nothing
worked.

So when he’d seen the satisfied smile on
Jenna’s face as she looked up to the stars the jealousy that had
eaten at him all evening raged to the surface. He’d wanted to make
her hurt like he had been hurting. So he’d lied about Caitlin, knew
she would be upset to think that Caitlin had fretted for her.

But then she’d tried to comfort him, her
compassionate nature not taking revenge on him, and he’d decided to
take advantage of that. He wanted her, badly. He ached for her so
much it was like having his guts twisted in a permanent knot, not
to mention other parts of his anatomy. So he’d tried gentleness,
calculating that she would succumb to a tender seduction, knowing
he had the advantage of her attraction to him that she’d been
unable to conceal.

And he would have continued with it, sensing
that tonight she was more vulnerable to his needs, but her cold
hand on his face was like a rebuke. Disgusted with himself, ashamed
of what he had almost done, but wanting her more acutely than ever,
he had told her to go away. He had seen the pain in her lovely
eyes, admired the dignity with which she walked away from him, and
hated himself like he never had before.

CHAPTER NINE

Tension. So strong it was almost
tangible.

Even Caitlin sensed it, looking worriedly
from Braden to Jenna as they ate a silent breakfast in the
courtyard. Jenna had followed Braden’s lead and responded to his
short good morning with a polite nod of her head. She had not slept
well and felt like she wanted to crawl into a hole and pull the
dirt in over her, but for Caitlin’s sake she made an effort and
asked the girl what she’d like to do today.

In response Caitlin walked back inside and
returned with a story-book. She pointed to a drawing of a family
having a picnic beside a lake. Happy families thought Jenna
bitterly. Poor kid doesn’t have much of a hope of that happening
today.

“Sorry, Possum,” she told the child, “but
today’s Friday, a work day. Uncle Braden might be able to take you
on Sunday.”

“What’s wrong with today?” Braden frowned at
her. “I see no reason to wait until Sunday if Caitlin wants to go
today.”

As the girl flung herself into his arms in
delight Jenna glared at him over her head. Was he deliberately
trying to make her appear heartless to Caitlin? She couldn’t
understand him. And spending a whole day pretending to be a happy
family was too much to contemplate after the way he had behaved
last night. She stood up.

“I’ll pack you a picnic lunch.” She couldn’t
bring herself to look at either of them. She knew Caitlin would be
disappointed if she didn’t go but she was sure Braden would be
triumphant at having driven her away again. A small hand grabbed
her arm as she turned to walk away. To her dismay she saw tears
welling up in Caitlin’s eyes. The girl pulled her back to the book
lying open on the table and pointed at the woman in the drawing,
then at Jenna.

“I think she’s telling you that you have to
come, Jenna.” Braden’s tone was neutral. Jenna glanced at him. His
expression was as bland as his voice. What did he want of her?
Couldn’t he just let her look after Caitlin and leave her alone?
She looked from his carefully controlled features to Caitlin’s
open, pleading look. She really didn’t have much choice, did
she.

“I’ll pack enough for three,” she said
quietly.

Braden held the car door open for Jenna. She
was just about to get in when he laid a restraining hand on her
arm. She flinched as though burned. He quickly removed his hand. He
started to say something, then shook his head. Suddenly he thrust
his hand towards her.

“Truce?”

It was a far cry from an apology, and an even
further one from an explanation of his behaviour of the night
before, but it looked as though it was the best she would get. If
only she didn’t love him. If only she didn’t want, no, need, him so
badly, she could have turned her back and continued on with the
cold war he had started. But it wasn’t in her nature. She was a
softie, a forgiver, a peacemaker in spite of her quick temper and
fiery spirit. She had never been able to hold a grudge, nor even
want to.

She took his large hand in her slender one
and shook firmly, willing herself to ignore the crackles of
electricity that coursed through her body at the contact. One quick
look into his eyes told her that he hadn’t been able to ignore
them. The gleam was back, and she cursed herself for being so
transparent.

"I thought we might go to Underwater World
before we go on our picnic," Braden announced as they drove out
onto the road.

Caitlin’s sharp little intake of breath and
quick clap of her hands told Jenna how delighted she was at this
prospect.

"Is it very big? Will we have enough time?"
Jenna asked.

"We'll have enough time to see through
Underwater World," Braden explained "but we won't be able to go
through The Wharf this time, it's too big. There's great shopping
there - clothes, gemstones, antiques - we'll come again so you can
buy some souvenirs."

His friendly tone surprised her, but he had
asked for a truce, hadn't he.

It wasn't long before they came to
Mooloolaba.

“Sundays are far too busy here,” he said
meaningfully to Jenna as he drove into the car park close to
Underwater World. There was already a fair crowd in evidence so
Jenna could see why he would have been reluctant to bring Caitlin
here on a busier day. Although she was far more relaxed about being
in public, a more crowded situation would be very daunting for her.
Her leg had improved tremendously but she still limped and tired
fairly easily.

Jenna was pleased at Braden’s thoughtfulness,
but not surprised. Where Caitlin was concerned, she couldn’t fault
him. It was only in his behaviour towards her that he created such
devastating confusion.

Braden purchased their tickets and soon they
found themselves in another world. At the “Touch and Feel” Lagoon
Caitlin’s small fingers delicately brushed over the many sea
creatures in the pool. Her face lit up with delight and at her
insistent motion Jenna and Braden joined her in exploring the
variety of surfaces on the undersea creatures.

Remembering her agreement to a truce Jenna
did her best not to avoid Braden, although she directed most of her
attention to Caitlin. She watched though, as he picked up a
seacucumber for Caitlin to stroke. His hands were large, with
surprisingly long fingers, and they deftly turned the creature over
for Caitlin’s inspection. Her fingers stroked, her eyes widened,
and a delighted grin split her face as she looked up at Braden. His
answering smile tore at Jenna’s heart. She ached for the love he
gave so freely to Caitlin and withheld from her.

Then his eyes sought hers, and one eyebrow
quirked upwards as though asking her to join in, and her love for
him flooded through her veins and washed into her eyes and she
found herself smiling back.

Caitlin must have sensed the lessening in the
tension between them. She drew them both into the circle of her
wonder, her delightful childish joy in all she saw. As that joy
communicated itself to them they found themselves sharing looks,
laughter, and curiosity like friends who were comfortable with one
another.

This was especially so when they went into
the amazing transparent underwater tunnel beneath an enormous pool
filled with sharks, stingrays, and thousands of colourful fish.
Half the floor of the tunnel was stationery, the other half slowly
moved around through the tunnel.

“Caitlin, look!” Jenna cried as a large
shark, its cold merciless eye never moving, nosed into the
transparent wall and opened its mouth wide in a terrifying display
of razor sharp teeth. Braden had Caitlin on his hip, his left arm
securing her close to him, and his right arm came down gently on
Jenna’s shoulders as he stepped closer. She gasped at the sudden
pounding of her heart his touch evoked. She glanced up to his face,
but he was watching the shark.

“How would you like to have to clean all
those teeth every night, Caitlin?” he asked.

Caitlin pulled a face, then smiled at Jenna.
Jenna relaxed, letting herself enjoy the wonderful sensations
Braden’s touch brought, even though he seemed oblivious to it. His
hand remained on her shoulder as they continued on through the
tunnel, and as they reached the end of the tunnel he removed it to
put Caitlin down and she felt a sharp sense of loss.

The seal show had Caitlin hopping up and down
on her seat with delight. Braden and Jenna sat on either side of
her, and their eyes kept meeting over the moving dark head. The
electricity would crackle between them, but something far deeper
seemed to be happening, a connection, a contact, that couldn’t be
explained but filled her with tentative hope.

For the rest of the morning she was acutely
aware of every nuance in his walk, his mannerisms. She watched the
crinkling at the corners of his eyes as he smiled at Caitlin; the
sub-conscious tautening in his lean, tough frame as a crocodile’s
swift movement made Caitlin grasp at him and he instinctively swung
her up in a protective gesture; the endearing way one stray curl
would escape onto his forehead and he would brush it back with an
impatient flip of his hand.

By the time Braden reminded them that it was
well after midday and they still had to drive to the picnic spot,
Jenna had tucked all these memories into a special part of her
heart, to be brought out when she was lying in her lonely bed and
needed the comfort of his presence.

There was a more relaxed atmosphere in the
car as they drove west from Mooloolaba. Braden took the motorway
back to the main highway then turned west up a steep mountain
road.

Jenna looked through the gaps in the roadside
bush as they wound their way upwards. Farms, orchards and bush
scattered over the hills and valleys of the coastal plain in a
spectacular, panoramic arc of light, dark, and olive greens. The
Pacific Ocean glistened blue on the horizon.

The harsh greens of the bush were a stark
contrast to England’s softer shades and the pungent smell of
eucalyptus and the constant drone of cicadas engulfed her in a wave
of nostalgia. She had enjoyed her travels in the other continents
but she had never lost her yearning for the unique environment of
her own country.

They finally swung onto the Maleny-Montville
Road, running along the escarpment of the Blackall Range. Now each
twist of the road revealed sweeping views on both sides - fat dairy
cattle grazing on lush green grass, avocado and other varied
orchards. Just as they entered the village of Montville Braden
swung west once again and they began a steep descent through
heavily timbered slopes.

As the road levelled out and a wide expanse
of blue water lay before them Braden turned to Caitlin with a
smile.

“Baroon Pocket Dam, Caitlin. Will this do for
our picnic?”

She nodded eagerly. With its grassy slopes
and sand and gravel foreshore it was very like her storybook
setting.