The Billionaire's Secrets(2)

     



 

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.