Looking back over the maybe pile of dresses, Kelly had finally settled on a lovely red dress which covered enough of her to make her feel comfortable, Celeste ensuring that she had Kelly’s shoe size before telling her that she would have the whole outfit delivered on the day of the party. With one final try, she had tried to get Kelly to change her mind about the gold outfit, but when her pleas went unheard she had sighed before finally giving up.
That evening at dinner she and Marc had laughed about the dress fitting, as he had impishly once more asked her why she hadn’t taken the other dress laughing again at her expression.
“What dress….there wasn’t enough material to call it a dress” she had cried, as he had smiled a half imagining look coming over his face
“mmmmmm sounds perfect” he had said mischievously as she had made a small snorting noise
“How anybody could wear that…”
Hearing his laugh, Kelly had chuckled back, missing the look in his eyes
CHAPTER SIX
It was yet another warm sun filled Wednesday and although Kelly and Max had only been at the villa for three weeks, already they had fallen into a very comfortable routine.
After breakfast they would take a drive to one of the many beaches, parks or attractions which littered the Island, returning for lunch with Beth, after which Max would then take a sleep for an hour letting her continue with her painting. Beth would arrive with drinks late afternoon and the two women would sit chatting for half an hour or more when Beth would talk about Marc’s parents, with such love in her voice.
She had discovered that his mother had become ill when he was 12 and died when he was 13. Her death had destroyed his father who had been devoted to his wife, and unable to handle it had turning his back on his son and began drinking and womanising in an attempt to drown his grief. By the time his father had died, from a massive heart attack when Marc was only 19, he had almost destroyed the company, and it had been left to Marc to pull the company from the brink of bankruptcy.
He had proven a ruthless and determined business man who had soon established himself as a force to be reckoned with, which Kelly could totally believe, Marc was not somebody who one said no to easily she had thought with a smile.
When talking about his mother Beth’s eyes would soften.
“She was so lovely..not just beautiful….but kind” she had sighed sadly
“Marc never really got over her death”
Kelly felt that this seemed to explain a lot of the questions she had when he had invited her to stay. Knowing that he had not wanted Max to suffer the loss of a mother the way he had, had made Kelly’s heart flutter with sympathy for him.
Marc would usually arrive home in time to help put Max to bed and Kelly had watched as the bond between father and had son grown as Max would look for his father when the bath was running, peering around the door waiting for the sound of his footsteps. When he appeared he would then crawl out to meet him his arms held high to be lifted making loud “dadadada” noises, which the first time he had heard them had almost saw Marc in tears. “Did you hear” he had said in awe to Kelly, who had just nodded gulping down a lump in her throat. “Yes, I did” she had smiled back smiling warmly at him.
After their dinner together, Kelly and Marc would usually go to their own rooms, he to catch up on paper work, and she to work on illustrations for both her publisher and for Phil. The connection with Phil’s game industry was proving very successful for Kelly, who had delighted him with her initial group of proofs. They had met several times for lunch to talk over the designs, often with other graphic artists, who all seemed to love her input and ideas. Kelly had found that she had already grown to love the country, the villa, the people in it and the whole way of life, and she had found herself very happy and settled.
That evening during their usual meal Marc had nervously looked over at her, before with his voice a little unsure he had managed.
“Kelly would you do me a favour”
She had looked back with eyes full of interest
“If I can” she had answered sweetly
“I have a big charity event tomorrow night. I’m patron of a cancer charity and I’m expected to do some speeches and the like”
Kelly had smiled, remembering that it had been cancer which killed his mother, her heart reaching out to him.
With a small nervous cough he had added
“My date stood me up at the last moment………would you come with me”
Kelly had held his eyes with a look of trepidation
“Oh Marc…maybe you should find somebody else. I don’t think I would be good at that sort of thing” she had started to say as he had interrupted her with a pleading look in his eyes