Shawn had asked her to marry him, and she was close to saying yes when he told her he couldn't see them having a family. In her heart, she realized this was a deal breaker-she adored children. That's why she had become a teacher, and she couldn't imagine her future without a few of her own. And at thirty-two, she didn't want to wait much longer to start. But when she told him this, he'd become petulant, swearing that if it was so important to her, why hadn't she told him before? She had, but clearly he didn't think it important enough to remember. The fights had been terrible, and he'd grudgingly agreed in the end that maybe one child would be okay. But Chloe knew this wasn't good enough. She didn't want to raise a child with a father who was only "okay" with the idea, so she broke off the relationship. Shawn was furious. Still unable to grasp the simple concept of how important a family was to her, he became convinced it had to be more. Certain now she was having an affair, he informed her new headmaster about her lack of a degree. The headmaster wasted no time in firing her. And as if that weren't revenge enough, all their friends sided with him, so not only was she boyfriendless and childless, she was also jobless and friendless.
She didn't have the nerve to ask for a reference-even though her work record and ratings were otherwise impeccable-and things were looking pretty bleak until she saw the ad in the magazine. Looking for a mature retired female teacher as a companion/tutor for a six-year-old girl in a secluded oceanside setting in Newfoundland, the ad had read. Must live in and start immediately. She'd pictured herself taking long walks along the ocean, early nights, easy work. She was used to teaching twenty children at a time-just one would be a breeze!
She had answered the ad (quite honestly adding that she was not retired) and to her surprise received an answer right away. She had gone for the interview the very next day at the Boston offices of Byrne Enterprises. From the signs in the lobby, she determined that there were also offices in Montreal and San Francisco. The man who interviewed her introduced himself as Marcus and his employer as often away on business. He asked her several questions about her own education and interests and seemed especially pleased that, thanks to her French-Canadian mother, she spoke fluent French. Much to her relief, he did not mention references. He hired her on the spot and asked her to start on April 7. Or so she had thought.
At least the bus driver had been right. The road did lead right to the house. She saw the glow of lights through the fog only steps before reaching the door. The sound of the ocean battering against the rocks filled the air. The cliff was very close now. She put down her bags and paused to regain her breath before ringing the bell. The door was huge, made up of heavy oak panels. There was no window, and Chloe thought it looked like the door to a castle, not a house. She looked up at the facade to where it disappeared into the fog and decided that perhaps it was a castle. It was built with huge stone blocks, and light flowed from diamond-paned leaded windows. In her imagination she had pictured a cozy wooden house, its siding weathered with salt and wind, like the ones in calendar pictures of the New England coast. But this was anything but cozy. Though beautiful, it was downright daunting, and when she rang the bell she wondered for a moment if it would be answered by a hunchback named Igor.
But it wasn't Igor. It was a little girl with blond curls and an angelic face. My new student, Chloe thought, her heart already opening up to the child. But the girl obviously didn't feel the same way. She took one look at Chloe, her eyes widened with fear, and she started to scream.
* * *
Gaelan navigated his way through the fog, cursing it, his friend and assistant Marcus, the occasion that had made this trip necessary, and the woman he had just left on the side of the road. He shouldn't have been so hard on her. After all, she'd just about been run over. He'd probably scared her half to death-and to then tell her about the cliff as if he didn't care whether she walked right off it had been pretty cold, no matter what her motives for being here.
It was just that, all things combined, he had been pretty furious. The sight of her in his headlights had been a shock, and even though he had immediately slammed on his brakes, he had been sure he was going to hit her. Really, he had only yelled at her because his adrenalin had gone into overdrive.
Well, at first. What was it about her that had immediately started to irritate him? It was the way she looked up at him from the ground, he decided. The way she scrambled around picking up her things, pulling down her coat, embarrassed and modest. After Colleen, these glimpses of vulnerability in a woman no longer brought out the gentlemanly side of him but rather made him instantly angry.
Fair enough. Colleen's vulnerability had turned out to be a calculated game that was intended to trap him. Marcus constantly reminded him that not all women were like her, but Gaelan knew that when one was as rich as he was, the Colleens of the world beat a pathway to the door. The moment they got a whiff of his money they were on him like bloodhounds-even ones who had a considerable amount of their own. Where money was concerned, apparently there was never too much. And who was to say this girl wasn't one of them? Why would she have applied for the job otherwise? No attractive young woman would want to isolate herself like this-unless she had something in mind. He was sure he had fortune-hunter-proofed his ad. He had been more than clear that he wanted a mature retired teacher. Short of putting no one under the age of sixty-five need apply, how much clearer could he have been? And he had been that clear with Marcus.
He hit the steering wheel with one of his gloved hands and cursed Marcus yet again. He and Marcus had discussed this ad nauseam: Someone old enough not to get any ideas about wooing her way into his bed and fortune. Someone old enough that he, in a weak moment, would not find himself looking at her with lust. He had in mind a sexless seventy-year-old in support hose and tweed, as much a grandmother for Sophia as a tutor.
There would be no more repeats of Colleen or that last one, who had had a genuine enough teaching degree yet was not only doing her best to seduce him but also selling stories to a gossip magazine. What really happened to the sexy billionaire's wife? the headline had read. As if he kept Colleen locked up in the attic or something. And here Marcus sent this girl-and one with legs that could drive a man crazy! What part of at least seventy, support hose, and retired didn't he get?
And it wasn't just about him, either. It was about Sophia. Every time one of these women came along, the first thing they did was worm their way into Sophia's affections. The girl was so desperate for a mother, she fell head over heels in love with every woman who showed her the least bit of attention, and then he had to play the bad guy and kick them out. Best he act immediately. She'd leave first thing in the morning. Sophia should be in bed by now-with any luck she wouldn't even meet this one.
The fog was lighter on the highway, and it wasn't long before he reached the town of Puffin's Cove. He didn't want to be here, but he had promised to put in a showing at the town council meeting to support a motion on declaring a nearby wetland an environmentally protected region. Gaelan sometimes found himself at odds with some of the local businesses and politicians who believed that everything, including the environment, was fair game when it came to making money. He saw it instead as everyone's duty to make sure there was still a planet around for future generations, and he was seen by some as an environmental champion.
However, he found it hard to concentrate on the meeting, which turned out to be even more contentious than he had predicted. All he could think of was this woman, worming her way into Sophia's good graces as she planned how she would worm her way into his. Yes, better to get rid of her sooner rather than later. The child didn't need to feel like she was being deserted yet again. Damn, he was going to kill Marcus!
* * *
Chloe stepped back from the door and tried to think of a suitable reaction to the screaming girl. Fortunately, an older woman appeared in the foyer. She too seemed taken aback for a moment at the sight of Chloe, but at least she didn't start to scream. She looped a strong arm around the girl. "Stop that, child. You'll rub me nerves right raw!" The girl stopped instantly, but she stayed within the protective circle of the woman's arms, regarding Chloe now with a mixture of interest and distrust.
"Can I help you?" the woman asked Chloe. Chloe couldn't even begin to guess her age. She was a large woman and wore what Chloe's mother always called a "housedress," a shapeless garment of printed cotton for doing housework. She had thick white hair that was pulled back into a bun at the nape of her neck, and her florid face was criss-crossed with deep wrinkles. Her smile was bright, and her eyes twinkled with good humour.