‘My goodness…’ Molly was taken aback by that confession and not quite sure she wanted the responsibility of it. It had not taken her long to work out that, while Julieta was warm-hearted and likeable, she was also impulsive and immature for a girl of twenty-one.
Julieta gave her a warning look. ‘If the truth were to come out, my family would break us up and Fernando would lose his job, so please don’t tell anyone.’
Molly nodded and hoped that Leandro was wrong in his conviction that the handsome estate manager was a womaniser. More streetwise than the Spanish girl had ever had to be, Molly paid more heed to Fernando when he came over to speak to her. He startled her by bowing over her hand and kissing it. That gesture along with his ready smile and conversation showed him to be a man who was very much at home in female company and prided himself on the fact.
‘I’ve identified a couple of buildings that might be suitable for your purpose, Your Excellency. Would you prefer me to discuss this with your husband?’ he asked.
‘No, I’ll deal with it. My husband is a busy man,’ Molly countered.
‘I’ll let you know, then, when the sheds are ready for inspection,’ Fernando told her, tensing as Julieta sent him a flirtatious smile and then looking away with an unease that did not bode well for the relationship. Perhaps he should have thought of the risks before getting involved, Molly thought, all her concern reserved for Julieta, whom she could see was in deep enough to get badly hurt. Perspiration beading her short upper lip, Molly suddenly sucked in a deep breath, striving to counter the sickening light-headed sensation overcoming her.
‘Are you feeling all right?’ Fernando asked Molly abruptly. ‘You’ve turned very pale.’
‘I’m fine,’ Molly lied, hurriedly turning away to find somewhere to sit down. But that quick movement was too much and a wave of dizziness drenched her in a cold sweat of discomfort. With a gasp, she swayed and began to fall. A split second before she hit the floor with a crash, someone grabbed her.
When she recovered consciousness, she was in another room and Leandro was standing over her where she lay on a sofa and studying her with stark concern etched in his lean bronzed features. A middle-aged stranger was taking her pulse and viewing her with a frown while Leandro introduced him as the family doctor, Edmundo Mendoza.
‘You should be taking more rest at this time, Your Excellency,’ he censured.
‘I just felt dizzy. It was so warm and airless.’
‘You’re not used to the climate yet and in a few short weeks it will be much warmer,’ Dr Mendoza warned her. ‘Give yourself time to acclimatise.’
‘I should have ensured that you sat down,’ Leandro groaned.
‘I was just a little faint,’ Molly said dismissively.
‘But suppose that faint had occurred on the stairs,’ the doctor urged, clearly a man who liked to visualise worst-case scenarios.
‘You should rest now. Our guests will understand,’ Leandro declared.
‘I don’t need to be treated like an invalid,’ Molly muttered while she wondered if absolutely everybody present was already aware that she was a pregnant bride. She cringed at the idea.
Leandro, all macho-managing-male at that instant, scooped her up off the sofa. ‘What were you talking about with Santos? At first I thought he had said something to upset you when you turned away from him. I was coming to join you and just got there in time to catch you before you hit the floor-’
Surprised that Leandro had been watching her that closely, Molly explained her need for a place to house a kiln.
‘Why on earth didn’t you ask me to deal with that?’ he demanded.
‘I didn’t want to bother you and…I like doing things for myself,’ Molly admitted.
‘Possibly I’m going out on a limb here,’ Leandro breathed tautly, ‘but right now when you’re pregnant doesn’t seem the wisest time to be messing around with kilns and clay-’
‘Don’t be silly!’ Molly snapped, furious at that suggestion. ‘It’s not heavy work-’
‘I’m not artistic, but neither am I stupid.’ Leandro’s expressive mouth compressed. ‘Loading and unloading a kiln must be arduous-however, if you were prepared to have one of the estate workers helping you with the more demanding tasks, I would have no objection.’
‘Okay,’ Molly conceded to that arrangement with reluctance as he laid her down on the bed and took off her shoes for her. ‘But I need my own corner to work in. Will your family mind me being a potter?’