Chapter Five
‘H OLLIE , ARE YOU even listening to what I’m saying?’
Hollie swallowed. No, of course she wasn’t listening—not properly, anyway.
She hadn’t been fully concentrating on Janette’s words, just as she hadn’t been concentrating on anything lately.
Not the news, nor office views, or even the fact that it was Christmas tomorrow.
The only thing which was eating up her mind was the terrible showdown she’d had with Maximo a couple of days ago, when she had told him she was expecting his baby and he had reacted with. ..
Anger?
Disbelief?
Yes, both those things—and more besides.
He had been icy with her, and distant. He had seemed to go out of his way to push her away and to view her with coldly dispassionate eyes.
Nobody would ever have guessed they’d been lovers.
Although, if you didn’t even get to share a whole night with a man—did that actually count as being a lover?
That had been bad enough but worse was to follow because when she’d arrived at work the next morning, Janette had asked could she make a cake for Maximo, to celebrate his completion on the purchase of the castle.
It had been the last thing on earth Hollie had felt like doing, but what excuse could she possibly use for declining?
I’m terribly sorry, Janette, but I’m pregnant with Maximo’s baby and he’s being so unreasonable that I’d be tempted to tip a dollop of arsenic into the mix.
No, she had nodded her head submissively, even though her heart had wrenched with bitterness and shame.
And as she had beaten the eggs and measured out the sugar, she had been unable to flush the image of Maximo’s angry face from her mind and to wonder where they went from here.
She still had the business card he’d given her, just before he’d made his arrogant assertion that she should contact his lawyers.
He had cold-bloodedly stated that his money would enable her to employ a whole stable of staff, and had ended the conversation by announcing that he had no intention of being a father to his child.
Well, that suited her just fine. Did he really imagine she, or her baby, wanted anything to do with a man who hadn’t bothered to hide his dismay when she’d told him her momentous news?
But surely the most important thing right now was to hang onto her job, at a time when she had never needed work more badly. Which was why she looked up at her boss and forced a weak smile. ‘What were you saying, Janette?’ she asked.
‘I was congratulating you on your cake, Hollie, which is absolutely lovely—though I have to say that it’s not quite up to your usual standard.’
Hollie nodded. Of course it wasn’t. It was unfortunate that a huge salt tear had plopped onto the finished product at the very last minute and Hollie’s subsequent attempts at repair work only seemed to have made it worse.
‘I know it’s not that good,’ she said.
‘It can’t be helped.’ Janette’s words were brisk.
‘I’m sure he won’t notice. It’s the thought that counts, and this will make him realise that our agency is always prepared to go the extra mile—just in case he’s thinking of buying any more local property in the area.
Just make sure you deliver it today, can you, dear? ’
‘D-deliver it?’ Hollie could see from Janette’s expression that she hadn’t quite managed to hide the horror in her voice. ‘You mean deliver the cake? To...to Maximo?’
‘To Senor Diaz ,’ Janette corrected, frosting her a severe look. ‘Since when did you start using first names with clients, Hollie? Of course, I mean you! I thought you’d be delighted to comply after the way you monopolised him at the party. And who else is going to do it?’
‘But—’
‘Most people are very busy this close to Christmas, but at least you haven’t got any family.
I’d do it myself except that I have a date through that new site—Flirty at Fifty.
I mean, it sounds almost too good to be true, but, still.
..’ Janette’s steely-eyed look couldn’t quite disguise the unmistakable glint of hope which lurked in her heavily made-up eyes.
She shrugged. ‘Mustn’t look a gift horse in the mouth and all that.
Just make sure the cake arrives at the castle this afternoon, will you?
There are a few more papers he needs to sign at the same time.
But you’d better get a move on.’ She shot a quick glance out of the agency’s big glass windows.
‘I don’t like the look of those clouds and they’re forecasting snow over the holidays.
Dave can drop you at the bottom of the lane on the way to his four o’clock appointment and you can easily walk back. ’
Behind her frozen smile, Hollie felt as if she were in pieces, chewed up by a growing feeling of dread at the thought of seeing Maximo again.
Their last meeting had been bad enough. The awkwardness and embarrassment of facing the reluctant father of her baby was an episode she wasn’t eager to repeat.
But without having to explain why she didn’t want to go—and just imagine Janette’s reaction if she did that —common sense told her that refusal simply wasn’t an option.
Common sense.
How ironic that something she had relied on all her life had deserted her when she needed it most. If she’d been sensible she wouldn’t have fallen into bed with him—seduced by a lazy smile and a hard body, and a smooth line in seduction.
She glanced out of the window, where the main street was bustling with last-minute shoppers, and as she looked up at the sky she could see that Janette hadn’t been exaggerating.
The heavy pewter clouds looked bloated and full and there was a strange saffron light radiating downwards, making the seasonal colours in the shop windows even more vivid than usual.
Christmas trees were laden with baubles and strings of fairy lights created magical grottos.
Branches of greenery and berries were swathed in thick, fake snow—but occasionally a flake of the real stuff fluttered down to lie on the glittery pavement.
Strings of tinsel sparkled as brightly as the midday sun and jolly figures of Santa were tempting little children to tug on their mother’s hand to try to get them to linger.
Hollie’s heart slammed against her ribcage.
Little children.
That was what she would have before too long. A child of her own. First there would be a baby and then the baby would grow into a toddler and then...
But, no. Before she started trying to imagine an unimaginable future, she needed to deal with the present and there was one thing which couldn’t be put off any longer.
She would deliver the wretched cake to Maximo and get him to sign the papers.
She would do both these things in a calm and outwardly relaxed manner, and if he brought up the subject of his lawyer again, she would tell him that these things would probably be better addressed once the seasonal break was over and the dust had settled.
At just after three, Dave’s rather beaten-up old car dropped her off at the bottom of the lane and, carefully clutching the cake box, Hollie began to climb the steep hill towards Kastelloes.
From here the ancient grey castle looked faintly forbidding as it dominated the green landscape with its turrets and its towers.
It hadn’t been a hotel for a long time but Hollie’s excitement at the thought of it being brought to life again had been somewhat dampened by the dramatic changes in her own fortune.
She tried to imagine bringing a new life into the world.
Would she still be able to open her tea shop with a tiny infant in tow—was that going to be possible, despite all the proud protestations she’d made to Maximo?
As her reluctant steps carried her closer to the castle, she noticed that the snow was starting to fall more heavily and coating her cheeks with big white blobs.
There was no sign of life as she walked over the drawbridge and past the old gatehouse.
No Maximo rushing out to relieve her of her burden as she came to a halt in front of the ancient oak door.
If he wasn’t in, then he wouldn’t be able to sign the papers, would he?
And Janette would just have to accept that.
But an upwards glance showed a golden light gleaming through one of the mullioned windows, indicating that someone was home, and, although her heart was plummeting, Hollie knew she couldn’t back out now.
She paid the driver and, after putting the cake box down on the doorstep, pulled the bell and heard a faint ringing from somewhere deep inside the castle.
She looked around as she waited, trying to enjoy the vision of the falling snow covering the stone pots and statues with a fine layer of white.
But more importantly, it allowed her to look away from the door, because she didn’t want Maximo opening it and finding her staring up at him with anxiety written all over her face.
She needed to show him she was in control, even if she didn’t particularly feel that way.