Chapter Two
By the time they’d said their farewells to the married couple, Dana’s body had finally stopped humming.
She was standing at the edge of the crowd, trying to make sure she was as far away from David as possible.
Standing here, away from her friends, also gave her the opportunity to slip away unnoticed.
She still couldn’t believe she’d kissed David with so much abandon. Even worse, that she did something she’d never done before—bit his lip, looking for some kind of reaction from him! And boy, oh boy, did she get a reaction.
With a last wave to the departing couple, she turned away, her only intention to get to her room as soon as possible.
Hannah caught her arm though. “Where are you off to? Please don’t leave me alone with all these happy smiling couples—I’m not going to make it!” she wailed.
“I have an early flight tomorrow morning.”
“But I thought you said it was school holiday at the moment? Why not stay in the Seychelles?”
“I wish I could but… um… there are other things…”
“Hannah, sweetheart!” Hannah’s mother called out and grabbed her daughter’s hand. “There is someone you have to meet.” And pulling a frowning Hannah behind her, she disappeared among the other guests.
Dana sighed in relief and quickly glanced around her.
Great, David was nowhere in sight. Hurrying forward, she pushed through the throng of people.
She had to get to her room before he found her again.
With everything that was on her mind, the last thing she needed was to be distracted by flutterings she didn’t know how to deal with.
For the past two years, ever since her dad’s suicide, she’d been trying to get to the truth of what had really happened.
Her brother, George, an engineer, was working and living in Dubai, and it didn’t look as if he’d be back in South Africa anytime soon.
He’d been home for their dad’s funeral, and her mother had been over to visit him last Christmas, but he had informed her in no uncertain terms that he didn’t want to have anything to do with the whole mess.
The sooner he could put the whole thing behind him, the better.
For her, it wasn’t that easy. In spite of what the papers said and what she knew other people were thinking, she believed her dad to be innocent and she wanted to prove it.
“Dana!” Caitlin called from close by.
Dana groaned softly, as she’d nearly reached the elevators. She pasted a smile on her face and turned. “I thought you guys had left.”
“We have a babysitter.” Caitlin smiled. “The first time since Donato’s birth, and I, for one, am going to enjoy a little bit more of the night. Where are you off to in such a hurry?”
“I’m leaving in the morning…”
Caitlin took her hand and pulled her to one side. “We haven’t had a chance to talk much over the past few months. How are you doing? Any news about what happened to your dad?”
“I have some leads and I want to use the holidays to see what I can find out.”
“You will tell me if you need help?”
Dana sighed. “I know it’s probably a useless battle but even after two years, I cannot accept that my dad would have knowingly been involved in a Ponzi scheme, that he committed fraud, took money from his clients, and didn’t invest it through the proper channels.
And, of course, I keep thinking if I could have gotten him out on bail, he would still be alive. ”
Caitlin gave her a hug. “And you’re trying to prove he didn’t commit suicide.”
“Everyone keeps telling me there is no other explanation, but I know him. He would never have done anything to harm his family. I firmly believe that.”
“And your mother isn’t making your life any easier.” Caitlin grimaced. “I know she’s your mother, but really, the way she’s treating you in spite of everything you do for her makes me so mad.”
“Her world collapsed when my dad died.” Dana shrugged.
She loved her mother but had never really understood her. Dana had long ago accepted the fact her mother didn’t know what to do with a little girl. George was the oldest, the one her mother wanted, but Dana wasn’t planned, a fact she’d heard often enough.
And now the irony of the whole situation was that her mom was dependent on Dana.
And she tried to keep her happy, tried to provide for her every need, but on a teacher’s salary that wasn’t easy.
There had been a life insurance policy, but according to her mother, it was not enough for her to live on.
“You can’t continue to give in to her every demand, Dana. It must be so exhausting.”
Dana shrugged and smiled. “Fortunately, your mother is close by—she has been a wonderful friend. Ever since you and I became friends at school, your mom has been my mom as well. She was the one who urged me to find out what really happened with my dad. Without all of your support, it would have been much more difficult to cope.”
“Do you have any leads at this point?”
“I do. Well, I hope so. It’s taken me two years but I’ve finally managed to track down one of the journalists who worked on the story, and I have an appointment to see him on my return. He was apparently not the one who wrote the story, but I’m hoping he can put me in touch with his colleague.”
“Please remember we want to help, okay? But enough of all this gloom. Let’s have a drink.”
“I really wish I could, but I have an early flight tomorrow.”
Caitlin frowned. “I know you said you were leaving, but I thought you’d take a later flight.”
“Who’s taking a flight?” Don asked coming up behind Caitlin and putting his arms around her.
Caitlin beamed and lifted her face for a kiss from her husband.
Dana swallowed the sudden lump in her throat.
These two obviously loved each other to bits.
She was so glad for her friend but had made peace with the fact that such bliss was meant only for a chosen few people, and clearly Dana wasn’t one of them.
“Dana is leaving early tomorrow morning,” Caitlin complained. “I thought we’d still have a few hours together tomorrow. We’re only leaving on Wednesday. You should have stayed until then.”
“I have to get back,” Dana said.
“Why don’t you go with David?” Don asked. “He’s leaving for Cape Town just before lunch on the company plane. No one else is going back so soon, so there is definitely a seat for you. Let me check with him.” He smiled, and before Dana could say anything, he was beckoning David over.
It was one of those times she wished the floor would open up so she could disappear.
“You guys have paid for my plane ticket. It’s not necessary—” she tried, but David was already strolling toward them.
“Of course we did,” Caitlin said. “You were still teaching and couldn’t fly out with us when we came.”
Dana tried to duck behind one of the people in the crowd.
“Are you still the only passenger on the plane tomorrow?” Don asked David.
Dana hissed. “Don, really, I’m totally fine. I have a ticket and—”
“Yes,” David said. “Who else needs a ride?”
“Dana here.” Don pulled her closer.
David’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“I have the plane ticket you’ve paid for, and I’m leaving early,” Dana said nearly desperately. “I don’t—”
“Oh, but you do.” David took her hand. “What kind of a friend would I be if I didn’t offer you a seat on our plane? If I’d known you were leaving, I would have suggested it myself.”
There was a glint in his eyes she didn’t trust, but short of throwing a tantrum, there wasn’t much she could do. He let go of her hand slowly.
Caitlin clapped her hands together. “Great! Now we can have another glass of wine before you need to go to bed.” She smiled and grabbed Dana’s hand. “Let’s go find a bottle of wine. We haven’t had time for a chat in ages.”
*
David stared after the two beautiful women, his body still not quite back to normal. He couldn’t remember the last time a woman had him all hot and bothered and aching for more. Much, much more.
Don slapped him on the back, bringing him back to earth. “She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” His brother smiled, also staring after the two women.
“Very beautiful,” David murmured.
“Hey, you’re talking about my wife!” Don growled and punched him on the shoulder.
“I wasn’t talking about Caitlin.” David immediately wished he could press a delete button to erase his words. He was never going to live this down.
Don laughed and grabbed their other brother’s arm as he walked past them. “You should hear what our brother has to say about Dana Roux,” he teased.
Darryn grimaced. “Please don’t tell me another one of my brothers is about to become starry-eyed over a woman. It’s becoming very boring around the lot of you.”
“I said she’s beautiful; I’m not starry-eyed. Besides, she made it abundantly clear she doesn’t like me.”
Don sobered. “It’s probably because she knows you used to be a journalist.”
Surprised, David looked at his brother. “Why? What does that have to do with anything?”
Don frowned. “I thought you knew. Because of what happened to her dad. He was believed to have been involved with some Ponzi scheme in which thousands of people lost their money. The Bob Hastings mess? Surely you remember the case? He was the mastermind behind the whole thing. You were still working as an investigative journalist at the time. It was a big scandal and front-page news in all the newspapers, including the one you worked for. The article was the reason her dad was taken into custody.”
David grimaced and nodded. How would he ever forget?
Don continued. “It was suggested that Dana’s dad was working with the Hastings fellow.
But exactly how deeply he was involved in the whole scheme is anyone’s guess.
He was arrested but committed suicide before he could testify.
The mother, who sounds to me like she was difficult to begin with, fell apart after the whole incident and is making Dana’s life a living hell.
Not that she’s complaining, but the fact she spends more time at the Sutherland house than with her mother should tell you something. ”
David stared at his brother. His brain was finally linking the dots. Roux. “You mean her dad was Gareth Roux?” he asked his brother.
Don nodded. “Yeah, that’s the name.” Don cocked his head. “Come to think of it, wasn’t it your story?”
David swore. “Yes, it was my story. It was also the story that made me quit the job and join you guys. The best decision I’ve ever made.”
Darryn frowned. “I remember you were upset about a story, but I didn’t know it was about Dana’s dad.”
“I was more than upset. I got a tip that Bob Hastings’s business might not be all it was supposed to be, heard something here and there, and told the editor about the rumors that were going around.
At that point, I didn’t have all the facts; I was still checking and double-checking everything, but I wanted to let him know what I was working on.
I still needed another couple of days to talk to people, especially about Gareth Roux’s involvement.
I wasn’t so sure he knew what was going on, but the editor smelled money and went ahead and printed what I had.
And even though he didn’t use my name in the byline, everybody at the paper knew it was my story.
I was livid. But it was too late. I realized then that the truth and ethics didn’t matter; selling papers was and still is what counts. That’s when I quit.”
He rubbed his hand over his face. “And after a few days, Dana’s dad was dead,” he murmured, still recalling how angry and dismayed he’d been.
Roux was a name he’d written in brackets on his notes; he hadn’t even begun digging up facts about the man, but the editor had printed the man’s name, and he had been questioned and taken into custody.
“Well, you had better tell her before you do more than drool over her.” Don smiled.
David nodded, his head reeling. He’d, of course, heard Dana’s surname before.
It was a common enough surname, but it had never even crossed his mind that the man who still haunted his dreams was also her dad.
He stopped investigating after he’d decided to quit his job, but the case had been bothering him all this time.
At least he now knew why he was never included in Dana’s smile. His crime was that he’d been a journalist. And if she knew he was the one responsible for everything that had happened to her dad, he would probably never see her again.
Don was right. Tomorrow, they would be spending a six-hour flight together, during which time he’d have to tell her he was the one who had spilled the story.
It wasn’t something he was looking forward to, but at least then she’d have a definite reason not to like him.
And he’d do it because it was the right thing to do, not because he was drooling over her. Was he?
He grabbed another glass of wine from a passing waiter. All he’d thought of when Don asked him if Dana could fly with him tomorrow was how interesting things could become in the small space of their aircraft. He downed the wine. Now he wished he could think up an excuse not to have to fly with her.
Not because he didn’t want to. After what had happened between the two of them tonight, there was nothing he’d like better than to explore what else lay hidden behind Dana’s cool exterior. But the whole thing had just become way beyond complicated.
There was a moment earlier tonight when she’d been in his arms, and he’d felt something so intense, so real, he’d forgotten to think, to analyze, to explain.
And truth be told, he was a little bit freaked out.
So maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea to tell her about his role in the whole scandal.
That would surely be reason enough for her to resent him for the rest of his life.
And, at the moment, that seemed like the saner option.
It would be much better if she hated him, ignored him. Life would resume its normal, boring pace, and all would be well with his heart.
Why, then, was he still looking for her? Swearing, he turned and headed in the direction of his room.