Bestseller Collection 2010 Read online

  GEMINI drew herself up stiffly. ‘What can I do for you, Jemima?’ she prompted abruptly.

  After all, this was her place of work—and just recently it was turning into nothing more than a meeting place!

  Jemima turned back from watching indulgently as Hugh played with Jessica. ‘I—Oh, you received the lilies!’ she realised happily as she saw the blooms in a vase on the table near the door. ‘I know they’ve always been your favourite flower.’

  They had, but after today that was no longer the case…! And the only reason the flowers hadn’t already been consigned to the bin was because Hugh had been horrified at the thought of throwing them away and had promised to take them home with him.

  ‘Although I thought I sent them to the house,’ Jemima added in a puzzled voice.

  ‘You did,’ Gemini dismissed briskly. ‘Nick brought them over for me earlier.’

  ‘That was nice of him.’ Her sister nodded, sitting down on the edge of Gemini’s work-table. ‘Hugh, I don’t suppose you would like to do me a favour, would you?’ She smiled across the room at him engagingly.

  He looked up from the baby, his mouth twisting derisively as he saw straight through the deliberate charm of that smile. ‘If it involves Jessica, no problem.’ He shrugged. ‘Anything else and the answer is no,’ he told her bluntly; there was no love lost between him and Gemini’s twin sister.

  ‘It involves Jessica,’ Jemima assured him dryly. ‘Would you like to take her for a short walk? Go down to the chemist at the corner and buy some baby lotion for me? Her pushchair is outside,’ she added helpfully.

  Hugh looked across at Gemini with questioning eyes, obviously waiting for an opinion on this move before giving Jemima his answer.

  In truth, Gemini didn’t want him to leave; he was the only person in the room at the moment stopping the conversation between the two sisters deteriorating into verbal abuse. But, quite honestly, loving Nick as she did, Gemini had had it with being the polite victim in all of this. So if Jemima had come here to gloat—

  ‘Please, go ahead, Hugh,’ she told him brightly. ‘And take your time,’ she added encouragingly.

  He nodded slowly, Jessica happily ensconced in his arms. ‘Fine,’ he accepted. ‘Do you have the money for the lotion!’ he prompted Jemima hardily.

  Jemima laughed softly once Hugh had left with Jessica—and the money for the lotion. ‘He really doesn’t like me, does he?’ she said ruefully.

  ‘Not much,’ Gemini confirmed uncaringly. ‘Now, why are you here, Jemima?’

  Her sister laughed again. ‘What is it with everyone today?’ She shook her head in puzzlement. ‘I thought the two of us had resolved our—differences yesterday?’

  Resolved their—! ‘Don’t be ridiculous, Jemima,’ she dismissed. ‘I looked after Jessica for you because you left me with no choice. I think, in the circumstances…’ She swallowed hard as her voice shook emotionally. ‘In the circumstances,’ she repeated determinedly, ‘it was the height of insensitivity on your part!’

  ‘Oh.’ Jemima grimaced. ‘You’re still mad at me, then?’

  Still? She only found out about it yesterday, hardly time for her to have recovered from the shock, let alone get over her feelings of betrayal!

  Gemini stood up agitatedly. ‘Of course I’m still mad at you,’ she answered impatiently. ‘I always will be,’ she added vehemently.

  However much she might have found herself illogically pleased to see her twin again yesterday, the breach between them was actually wider now than it had ever been. And nothing would ever change that…

  ‘But—’ Jemima broke off, shaking her head. ‘I came here to tell you my good news.’ She sighed. ‘I had hoped you would be happy for me,’ she added wistfully.

  Nick had seen her sister after he’d left here this morning! Which meant Jemima knew about their separation…

  In that case, it didn’t take too much imagination to realise what her sister’s good news was…!

  Gemini drew in a ragged breath. ‘I hope you’ll be happy together,’ she said stiffly.

  Her sister pulled a face. ‘You don’t sound very sincere,’ she derided.

  Gemini clenched her hands together in front of her. ‘That’s probably because at this moment I don’t feel very sincere! How could you, Jemima?’ she choked. ‘How could either of you?’ Tears glistened in the deep blue of her eyes.

  ‘But, Gemini, it’s been over a year now—’ her sister protested frowningly.

  ‘I know exactly how long it’s been,’ she cut in shakily. ‘Just don’t invite me to the wedding!’ she added vehemently; knowing her sister as she did, that was exactly what she would do next!

  Jemima shook her head dazedly. ‘I don’t understand this. I know the two of you were married rather quickly after you met, but you seemed happy enough with Nick when I saw you together yesterday…?’

  ‘I was,’ she confirmed tautly. ‘I have been.’

  Her sister shrugged. ‘Then where’s the problem?’ She grimaced. ‘Danny and I had both hoped—’

  ‘What does Danny Drummond have to do with this?’ Gemini cut in sharply.

  Her sister’s cheeks flushed prettily. ‘He’s asked me to marry him—and I’ve said yes,’ she announced awkwardly.

  Gemini stared at Jemima, totally dumbstruck. So Danny’s effort to track her sister down over the weekend had paid off, and now Jemima was going to marry him?

  Poor Nick, came her next thought. How on earth was he going to take the news that his brother had literally pipped him at the post a second time?

  Jemima sighed. ‘We’ve been going through a rough time of it lately. There’s been faults on both sides,’ she conceded heavily. ‘But the truth of the mater is, no matter what problems we may had had in the past, I do love him and want to be with him very much,’ she admitted clearly.

  Gemini felt as if she were as immovable as a statue. She could barely think, let alone attempt to move. ‘And what about Jessica?’ she managed to get out through stiff lips.

  Jemima smiled at the mention of her daughter. ‘She and Danny adore each other.’ She laughed softly.

  Gemini didn’t doubt it for a moment; she knew herself just how charming Danny could be. But where did all this leave Nick, Jessica’s father…

  ‘We had hoped that you and Nick would be our two witnesses at the wedding next month,’ her sister explained ruefully.

  No! The refusal screamed in her brain. It was bad enough that her sister had once again separated her from the man she loved; it would be impossible for her to go to the wedding and witness Nick’s pain in losing Jemima a second time.

  Gemini shook her head. ‘I’m going on an extensive buying trip next month,’ she answered stiffly.

  Now it was Jemima’s turn to look tearful. ‘Gemini, I know we haven’t been close for a while—and I know I behaved badly in the past—but can’t you see that everything turned out for the best in the end?’ she added beseechingly. ‘You and Nick were always much more suited to each other than he and I were, and—Gemini, can’t you just be happy for me?’

  ‘You’re always so irresponsible, Jemima,’ she told her sister heavily. ‘Do you ever stop to think how you’re affecting other people’s lives with your actions?’

  ‘I’m starting to,’ Jemima admitted huskily. ‘This last week brought it all home to me. I was so mad at Danny, you see, for just taking off on his work without a thought for how I was going to manage with my own work if he didn’t get back in time to look after Jessica. Which he obviously didn’t do.’ She grimaced. ‘So I left the baby with Janey, with instructions for her to bring the baby to you if Danny wasn’t back by the weekend. I was so angry with him! But once I got to the States I realised what a mistake I had made. By which time I had involved you and Nick, and it was too late to do anything about it.’

  Gemini stared at her sister uncomprehendingly. None of this made sense. What—?

  Nick had told her that Danny had a woman living at his apartment with him
. Could that woman possibly be Jemima? Was this one of the things about Danny that Nick had thought she should know?

  And if Jemima had been living with Danny all the time—!

  ‘Jemima,’ she began slowly, moistening suddenly dry lips, ‘Who is Jessica’s father?’

  Her sister looked stunned by the question. ‘Why, Danny is, of course. You don’t think I would have tried to palm someone else’s child off on him, do you?’ she added indignantly. ‘I know you don’t have a very high opinion of me, Gemini, but I think that’s going a bit far!’

  Gemini swallowed hard, unmoved by her sister’s indignation; this was too important for her to care about Jemima’s feelings at this moment! ‘But to my knowledge you and Danny broke up over a year ago,’ she reminded her probingly.

  ‘That’s true,’ her sister acknowledged abruptly. ‘We’ve fallen out half a dozen times more since then, too, but we still go back to each other. Danny and I have been living together since I found out about the baby eight months ago,’ she added dismissively.

  Danny was Jessica’s father…

  And Jessica had the green eyes of her uncle! Despite having brown eyes himself, Danny must carry the green-eyed gene!

  And Danny and Jemima had been living together for eight months. Hence Danny’s telephone calls over the weekend, when he’d returned home and tried to locate Jemima and his baby daughter. But he hadn’t asked after Jessica, only Jemima, which was why Gemini hadn’t mentioned her, either.

  Oh, God, what had she done?

  She sat down abruptly in one of the chairs, her face buried in her hands. She had thought—believed—

  Nick’s impatience with Jemima over the weekend, and again yesterday, when she’d finally come home, suddenly came back to Gemini. It hadn’t been the impatience of an indulgent if irritated lover; he had genuinely been angry with Jemima for just leaving Jessica in the way that she had. And, if that were the case, then his concern for Gemini over the weekend had been genuine too…

  As had his tenderness and passion when they’d made love two nights ago…

  What had she done?

  More to the point, what could she do about it now that she had done it?

  From what her sister had just told her, Nick obviously hadn’t been having an affair with Jemima at all, and certainly wasn’t Jessica’s father—but how could Gemini possibly go to him and tell him she now knew that? Especially when he couldn’t possibly realise she had ever thought that in the first place! She couldn’t. That was the answer.

  ‘Gemini…?’ Her sister was looking across at her anxiously.

  Gemini looked back at her blankly, lost in her own misery. Those conversations she had had with Nick over the last few days… He’d believed she was the one who was being unfaithful in their marriage. With Danny. And he had tried, in his own way, to shield her from being hurt all over again by Danny’s continued relationship with Jemima.

  Which must mean that Nick cared for her.

  But did he care enough to take her back?

  One thing she did know: she could never tell her sister of the mistaken assumptions she had made over the weekend. She could never tell anyone! Although she might have no choice, if she wanted to retrieve her marriage, but to explain his mistake to Nick…

  The realisation made her face pale even more.

  ‘Let me know when you have a specific date for the wedding,’ she told her sister distractedly. ‘I’ll try to be there.’

  Jemima stood up. ‘But you won’t be one of our witnesses?’ she pressured.

  If she hadn’t sorted things out with Nick by then, it might be her only opportunity to see him again! If he should decide to go to the wedding…

  ‘Ask me closer to the time,’ she replied. ‘And congratulations,’ she added belatedly. ‘Perhaps marriage will help the two of you feel more settled and secure with each other. I certainly think you’re doing the right thing for Jessica,’ she added warmly as she thought of her adorable niece.

  Jemima nodded, looking towards the door as Hugh could be heard returning with the baby. ‘Will you—could you mention it to Nick, do you think?’ she requested awkwardly. ‘He didn’t seem terribly pleased with me yesterday. And he and Danny haven’t spoken for months.’

  Which begged the question why ask Nick and herself to be their witnesses at all? But Gemini already knew the answer to that; she and Nick were Jemima and Danny’s only relatives.

  ‘I’ll try,’ she answered non-committally; after all, she wasn’t sure when she would be talking to Nick again. Or how.

  ‘Good enough.’ Jemima squeezed her hand gratefully. ‘It means a lot to Danny and myself,’ she added, seconds before Hugh came in holding a sleeping Jessica.

  Gemini wasn’t sure whether to cry or laugh once her sister had left with the baby. Cry because she had left Nick for absolutely no reason. Laugh because now that the danger of Jemima had passed she felt slightly ridiculous in her assumptions. Jemima, for one, had been horrified that Gemini could possibly have thought Jessica was anyone else’s daughter but Danny’s. Thank goodness her sister hadn’t realised she had thought Jessica was Nick’s!

  But what did she do now?

  She’d left Nick for all the wrong reasons, but to tell him of the things she had thought about him concerning Jemima would surely only broaden the rift between them. She felt trapped between a rock and a hard place. And in neither direction did she stand to be reconciled with Nick…

  ’I thought you intended coming to collect your things when I was safely at work?’ Nick rasped from her open bedroom doorway.

  Gemini had heard his car in the driveway as he arrived home at the end of his working day, her hands shaking slightly at the realisation that she was about to come face to face with her husband for the first time in two days. It had taken her that long to pluck up the courage to come here!

  And also to come up with a legitimate reason for seeing him at all!

  It had been the longest two days of her life, when her emotions had seesawed between despair and hope. Despair because she thought she might have lost Nick for good. Hope because part of her so wanted Nick to care for her; she didn’t believe he could have made love to her in the way he had if he didn’t feel anything for her at all. And they were married to each other…

  And so she’d decided to come to the house, ostensibly for more of her things, at a time she’d hoped Nick would be home—only to be informed by a still upset Mrs James that he had told her he would be late home this evening. The only answer to that, that Gemini could see, was that she would just have to linger over her packing for as long as possible.

  Turning slowly to face Nick across the width of her bedroom, she saw he didn’t look as if the last two days had been exactly happy ones for him either. His expression was grim, his face slightly thinner too, and those green eyes were narrowed warily.

  He was wary! Gemini’s knees were knocking together just at the sight of him, making her relieved that she had chosen to wear a deep blue trouser suit and cream blouse, the former hopefully hiding the fact that her legs were shaking from nervousness!

  She had known many emotions with Nick—gratitude, indifference, friendship, love and then passion—but she couldn’t actually remember ever feeling this emotionally frightened before… So much depended on this meeting. If they should argue again—!

  But she was determined they wouldn’t argue again. It would solve nothing and achieve even less.

  ‘You don’t mind, do you?’ she asked huskily, holding up the gold brush set he had given her last Christmas that she had been about to put in the open suitcase on her bed.

  ‘Take what you like,’ he dismissed harshly, looking extremely remote in the dark business suit and white shirt he had worn to work. ‘They’re your things.’

  Not very encouraging. Gemini grimaced inwardly. But then, what had she expected? Nick was a proud man, and she had walked out on him and their marriage; of course he was angry.

  ‘Have you seen Danny?’<
br />
  She turned sharply back to Nick, her gaze searching the grimness of his face but unable to read anything from his closed expression. ‘Is this a trick question?’ she finally replied warily.

  He gave a humourless smile. ‘Not at all,’ he drawled mockingly. ‘I merely wondered if there had been any—developments in that direction?’ He arched dark brows.

  A bubble of hysterical laughter welled up in her throat. Developments? Would he call the two of them being asked to be the witnesses at Jemima and Danny’s wedding next month a ‘development’?

  She shrugged dismissively. ‘Several, actually,’ she drawled self-derisively. ‘But I think we need to sit and talk about them in less—intimate surroundings.’ She looked pointedly around the room that had been her own bedroom until three days ago. And would be again if she had her way!

  ‘I—’ Nick broke off as he heard the approach of the housekeeper in the hallway outside. ‘Yes, Mrs James?’ he prompted kindly as she appeared in the open doorway.

  Rachel James looked awkwardly at the two of them. ‘I—wondered if Mrs Drummond would be staying for dinner?’ she prompted breathlessly, looking painfully at Gemini.

  The other woman had been so upset when Gemini had left on Tuesday, and was obviously still very shaken by the separation. But there was nothing Gemini could say or do to alleviate the other woman’s obvious unhappiness with the situation. Not when her own unhappiness was so overwhelming!

  Nick quirked dark brows at Gemini. ‘I don’t know—is she?’ he queered softly.

  ‘I’m afraid not,’ Gemini refused regretfully. ‘Hugh and Alan have invited me to have a meal with them this evening,’ she explained, so that there would be no misunderstanding about the reason for her refusal.

  Hugh had been badgering her all week to go and have a meal with Alan and himself at their apartment. He seemed determined to try and look after her—whether she wanted to be looked after or not! She had finally given in and accepted an invitation for tonight—she’d thought she might need a little cheering up after collecting some of her things from the house. She certainly hadn’t thought she would receive an invitation to dine with Nick!