The Quality of Love (23 page)

‘I don't think there will be any problem over that,' Owen said with a reassuring smile. ‘However, if Miss Lewis would like to come
along for a day and see exactly what goes on here, it might give her a better insight into what is involved. I'd be more than pleased to show her around and tell her how we run things.'

Sarah agreed that it was a good idea. ‘It will also give you the opportunity to see if you are confident that we can work together,' she pointed out.

There was only one problem, she thought as she said goodbye to them both after agreeing to be there at eight o'clock the next morning; how much should she tell Bryn Morgan about her association with Stefan Vaughan?

She was still trying to make her mind up when she sat down with her parents for their evening meal.

‘You're very quiet tonight,' he father commented. ‘Worn out with all this job hunting, cariad?'

‘No, not really. As a matter of fact, I think I've found the ideal situation.'

Her father listened in silence as she told him about Bryn Morgan's business and how he had offered her a job.

‘I've heard of Morgan Builders, of course,' he stated when she had finished. ‘They have a very high reputation but I had no idea it was quite as large a concern as you say it is.'

‘Apparently it is growing all the time. The general manager has promised to show me around tomorrow and give me some idea of what my job would entail.'

‘So you haven't exactly got it yet?' Her father queried.

‘No, but as far as I can tell it is mine if I want it. The idea of spending a day with the general manager is to see if we get on all right as I would be working very closely with him. He seems to be an extremely nice person, though, so I don't think that is going to present any problem at all.'

‘Well, don't rush it, cariad. I can see you have doubts of some kind because you seem to be brooding about something.'

‘Yes, it's to do with Stefan, as a matter of fact,' Sarah told him worriedly.

‘That scoundrel! I thought we'd agreed never to mention his name again,' Lloyd said angrily.

‘I know, but I was told something today that I think you both should hear.'

They listened in silence as she repeated what Bryn Morgan had said.

‘I did read something about it a few days ago,' her father commented when she finished, ‘but because the name was Thomas I didn't mention it; I hoped it wasn't the same chap,' he added lamely.

‘Well, like I've just told you, it seems his real name was Stefan Vaughan Thomas but here in Cardiff he dropped the Thomas.'

‘So the fact that he was calling himself Vaughan when he married you meant that he wasn't legally married to you anyway,' Lorna said, shaking her head in disbelief.

‘I've already told you that we weren't legally married, Mam. That wedding ceremony was all a sham; just something he arranged to keep me happy, as he put it,' Sarah reminded her bitterly.

‘Yes, yes, I know you did, my lovely. I was just running through what was in my mind. Terrible old fraud, wasn't he? Thank heavens you're free of him. Do you reckon they'll send him to gaol over this?'

‘Mam, he's dead,' Sarah reminded her.

‘Oh yes, so he is. Well, it's only what he deserved. Will the man who did it be sent to gaol?'

‘Probably,' Lloyd said gravely. ‘Let's hope that nothing more about Stefan Vaughan's background comes out and you're not involved in any way, Sarah.'

‘That's the problem. I'm afraid it might, and I'm wondering whether or not I ought to tell Mr Phillips that I was involved with him for a time and that was one of the reasons I left the City Hall.'

‘Duw anwyl, why do a thing like that?' her mother exclaimed. ‘Let sleeping dogs lie. Tell him that and he won't give you the job, and you've already said how much you want it.'

‘Better for her to tell him now than for it to come out later on,' Lloyd protested.

‘Why tell him at all that's what I say,' Lorna insisted stubbornly. ‘It wasn't as though she was properly married to him, now was it?
Anyway,' she went on even more firmly, ‘he already has a wife and family so think what it will do to that poor woman if she discovers that her husband was an even bigger scoundrel than she's already been told.'

‘You certainly have a point there,' Lloyd agreed sombrely. ‘It just shows what a quagmire your life becomes when you start to lie. I understand you were taken in, cariad,' he said more kindly. ‘Even though he was a highly intelligent man he was greatly lacking in honesty and integrity.'

‘Yes, cariad, it's time to try and put it all behind you. You say this man Bryn Morgan is ready to give you a job, so the best thing you can do is take it and get on with your life and, whatever you do, don't go falling for him.'

‘I'm hardly likely to do that, Mam,' Sarah told her with a smile, ‘he's going bald, has a pot belly and is nearly sixty.'

‘He's also an outstanding businessman and, in addition, he's a city councillor and he'll probably be made an alderman in the very near future,' Lloyd added.

‘That doesn't mean he's any different to Stefan Vaughan. We all thought he was a clever businessman and look . . .'

‘Don't give it another thought, Mam.' Sarah smiled cynically as she reached out and took her mother's hand. ‘I won't be falling again for any man.'

Sarah found her job at Morgan Builders far more challenging than she'd anticipated it would be.

After the smooth, slow-moving, almost pedantic pace of life she'd known at the City Hall it took her some time to adjust to the cut and thrust and fast-moving action of the commercial world.

At the end of the first month, however, she felt she'd adapted well but she was also aware that it would have been impossible for her to do so without the help of Owen Phillips.

He didn't intrude on what she was doing but he often enabled her to make acceptable short-cuts. Also, because he'd worked there for several years he was able to give her valuable inside information about the companies and people she had to deal with and was always ready to give advice if she asked for it.

When she had been working there for six months and it was time for a review of the situation as they'd agreed, Bryn Morgan seemed to be more than happy with her progress. He also expressed his relief that she and Owen Phillips got along so well.

She felt such a debt of gratitude to Owen Phillips that on the anniversary of her starting work there she wanted to show it in some way but she wasn't quite sure how to go about it.

If it had been a woman colleague, then a bouquet of flowers or even a box of chocolates would have been ideal. Under the circumstances, though, she felt that she could hardly give either of those sorts of presents to a man. She enjoyed working with him and this had helped to bond the friendship during the year they'd now known each other and this was something she greatly valued.

Sarah pondered the problem for several days then, summoning up her nerve, she asked him if he would allow her to take him out to dinner as a way of saying thank you for all he'd done for her since she'd joined the company.

For a moment he looked startled, then, with a twinkle in his blue eyes, he said, ‘That's the first time a lady has ever invited me out. I'm very flattered but—'

‘You are going to say no,' Sarah interceded quickly, colour rushing to her cheeks.

‘On the contrary, I was going to say that I'd love to have dinner with you but that I would like to be the one to take you out. You've brought a new dimension to the office. In fact, I've never enjoyed working with anyone as much as I have with you.'

For a moment they stared at each other in silence as they weighed up the problem. Then
Sarah laughed. ‘This is beginning to sound like a mutual admiration society. I suppose we could compromise and go Dutch?' she added tentatively.

He gave a deep sigh. ‘If you insist, but I really do want to take you out. I was afraid to suggest it in case you felt uncomfortable about accepting.'

Sarah spent a lot of time deciding what to wear. She wanted to look smart, but not dressed to the nines in case he thought she was making more of the occasion than it deserved.

In the end, after trying on three or four of her dresses, she settled for a pleated dark blue skirt that reached below her knees and a long-sleeved draped blouson top that reached to her hips. This was trimmed at the bottom with a wide band of light blue.

With her hair, which she now wore in a neat bob, parted to one side, and light stockings and shoes, she felt smart but rather subdued so she added a long rope of white beads.

Finally, she very carefully outlined her mouth with a pale pink lipstick and picked up her bottle of California Poppy scent to put a dab behind her ears. Then she hesitated, studying herself critically and wondering if she hadn't already done enough. She wasn't sure how Owen might react to scent. She never wore it to work because she didn't think it was appropriate to do so and she knew some men found such pungent perfume rather distasteful.

Owen was smartly dressed in a light grey
suit, a crisp white shirt and a dark blue and grey striped tie. His face lit up in admiration when she arrived and he handed her a spray of sweet-smelling Lily of the Valley to wear as a corsage.

After the first few minutes which they spent choosing which dishes they would like from the rather long menu they slowly took stock of each other. Even though they saw each other most days they still found they had plenty to talk about.

‘I haven't a very active social life these days,' Owen confided. ‘I can't play any sports because of my leg. Before it was damaged I played rugby regularly every Saturday, unless there was a big match on at Cardiff Arms Park when, of course, I went to watch. I still do so occasionally, but it's not the same being a spectator, when you don't ever take part in the game itself.'

‘I've never really had any interest in sport,' Sarah confessed. ‘As I was growing up I was always being made to study. My dad was very keen that I should go to university and get a degree.'

‘Well, that has certainly paid dividends,' he told her, a look of admiration in his blue eyes. ‘There aren't many women who could handle legal matters as efficiently as you do.'

‘You've been a great help; without you I don't think I would have managed to learn the ropes so speedily.'

‘Yes, we seem to make the ideal team. Bryn Morgan was remarking on it only the other day.'

Getting to know Owen socially meant that they exchanged background details. Like her he was an only child which, he agreed, was probably the reason why they had such a close affinity. Unlike her he no longer had anything to do with his parents.

‘My father died while I was quite young,' he explained, ‘and when my mother married again I'm afraid I didn't get on too well with my stepfather.'

‘Why? Were you jealous of him?'

‘Yes, I suppose I was in a way. I was too young to understand that my mam was lonely and needed someone other than me in her life,' he said sadly. ‘He's a good man, pillar of the chapel and all that sort of thing, but he was inclined to be rather strict and I resented him telling me what I could or could not do. It was one of the reasons why I volunteered for the army the moment I was old enough to do so.'

She expressed surprise when Owen went on to say that he had volunteered for military service in 1918 when he was only seventeen.

‘It was a daft thing to do but I did it in order to get away from home and my stepfather. It also meant that I missed out in a number of ways. If my own father had still been alive he would probably have encouraged me to take an apprenticeship in engineering or something like that.

‘You can imagine what a shock the army was.' He smiled, as he speared the last piece of potato on his plate. ‘I'd jumped out of the frying pan into the fire. I'd exchanged a strict stepfather for an even stricter drill sergeant. It was 1918 and men at the Front were dying so fast that the moment I'd finished my initial training and knew how to handle a gun I was sent over to France.'

‘So did you see much action?' Sarah asked as she laid her knife and fork down on her plate and lightly dabbed the corner of her mouth with her napkin before taking a sip of wine.

‘Not really. The very first week I was over there I had the misfortune to be the victim of a sniper's bullet.'

‘How terrible,' Sarah exclaimed.

Owen paused as a waiter came to clear away their plates and proffer the pudding menu. He waited until they had ordered before he went on.

‘The bullet hit me in the top of my leg and shattered the bone. I didn't reach a military hospital until several days later and because I wasn't considered to be one of the more seriously injured I wasn't treated immediately. By the time they came to attend to my leg there'd been shrinkage or something. The outcome of it is that one leg is slightly shorter than the other one and of course I've walked with a limp ever since.'

‘It's hardly noticeable,' Sarah told him.

‘I'm conscious of it, though, and worst of all it has meant I can't play rugby.'

They continued reminiscing for the rest of their meal and Sarah found herself enjoying herself more and more. In fact, in her esti mation their evening was a tremendous success.

When they finally parted Owen confirmed this when he said he hoped that this was going to be the first of many such outings because he'd found her such a delightful companion. He added that he'd enjoyed the occasion immensely and found it had been a pleasant form of relaxation.

Going out for a meal together, although not on a regular basis, became quite frequent. Occasionally they also went to the pictures if there was anything on that they both wanted to see. Sarah was surprised at how similar their tastes were and found that their trips to the cinema were all the more enjoyable because of this.