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  ‘But—’ Isobel tried to think. ‘What about Emily?’

  ‘What about Emily?’

  ‘Well, you didn’t believe she was your daughter then, did you?’

  ‘No.’ Jake conceded the fact with a rueful sigh. ‘But I’d already decided that I wanted you too much to make Em the scapegoat for my frustrations. As far as I was concerned she was your daughter. That was going to have to be enough.’

  Isobel stared up at him. ‘Do you mean that?’ she asked tremulously, and Jake rubbed his lips against her cheek.

  ‘The question is, do you want me to mean it?’ he asked gently. ‘I know I’ve behaved pretty abominably, but I’m hoping you love me enough to forgive me.’

  Isobel caught her breath, one hand curving along his jaw, where the roughness of overnight stubble was probably again leaving its mark on her skin. ‘I forgive you,’ she said. ‘And I love you. But you know that. You’ve always known that. I never wanted us to separate in the first place.’

  ‘No.’ Jake was contrite. ‘I was a fool.’

  ‘No, you were human,’ said Isobel honestly. ‘In your position, I’d probably have felt exactly the same.’

  Jake’s lips brushed hers once, twice, then clung, heating her blood as her arms crept eagerly about his waist. Dear God, she thought, she’d anticipated many things during her journey up the motorway, but in her wildest dreams she’d never imagined anything as wonderful as this.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  JAKE’S kiss deepened, hardened, lengthened, the urgency they felt for one another translating itself into a blissful surrender to the senses. The wildness that had distinguished their other encounter was tempered by the knowledge that this was not a hasty coupling in a hotel room, but an eager affirmation of their need for one another. This time there would be no regrets, no embarrassment, no desire to escape before recriminations crowded everything else out of her mind. Isobel had never stopped loving Jake. What she was beginning to believe with a sense of wonder was that perhaps he still loved her, too.

  She could feel the beat of his heart, its rapid tattoo matching hers. Her hands tugged his tee shirt out of his pants, sliding beneath to spread against the smooth, warm skin of his back, and he shivered.

  ‘I want you,’ he said, his teeth against her neck. ‘I want you so much. Sometimes I think I’ve never stopped wanting you.’

  Isobel caught her breath. ‘I want you, too.’ She lifted her face to trail her lips along the roughened line of his jaw. Her voice broke as she added, ‘So much.’

  Jake made an anguished sound deep in his throat, his hands cupping her bottom to hold her even closer. His mouth found hers again, his tongue plunging hungrily between her teeth to plunder the sweetness within. He was hungry for her, and for a few mindless minutes they were both indifferent to anything but their need of one another. The fact that Mrs Edwards might come to make a start on the breakfast and find them in what she would determine was a compromising position was submerged beneath emotions far too strong to be denied.

  Isobel felt her eyes closing, felt Jake’s fingers searching for the snap of her jeans, heard his frustrated curse when the button refused to give to his efforts. ‘Dammit,’ he said, a reluctant grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. ‘I want to love you, woman!’

  Isobel returned his smile, her love for him shining in her eyes, and he bent towards her again. ‘Do you have any idea how much I love you?’ he breathed huskily, but before she could answer she saw the sudden movement behind him. The kitchen door was opening, and in the few seconds it took her to register the fact Emily, still in her pyjamas, slipped into the room.

  ‘Who are you talking to, Daddy?’ she asked sleepily, wiping her eyes. Then she saw Isobel sliding out from behind her father and her jaw dropped. ‘Mummy! Mummy!’ she cried, as soon as she could find her tongue. ‘Oh, Mummy, you’ve come back!’

  She covered the floor in a few eager strides, flinging herself at her mother with an eagerness that nearly knocked Isobel off her feet. Her legs were already weak from Jake’s lovemaking, and she was glad that the counter was behind her for added support. Incredibly, Emily seemed to have grown in her absence, but her bony arms were incredibly sweet about her waist.

  ‘Hello, baby,’ she said, using the affectionate term she hadn’t used for years, and Emily pulled a wry face.

  ‘Where have you been, Mummy?’ she exclaimed, drawing back to look reprovingly at her. ‘I’ve missed you so much. We all have—haven’t we, Daddy?’

  ‘What? Oh, yeah, right,’ Jake’s response was ruefully resigned. He was still standing with his hands braced against the drainer, and Isobel knew he was finding it a distinct effort to hide his frustration. ‘You don’t know how much we’ve missed you.’

  ‘Oh, I’ve got some idea,’ murmured Isobel teasingly, and it felt so good when Jake pushed himself away from the sink and came to slip his arm about her shoulders.

  ‘I guess you have at that,’ he murmured, just for her, and then, putting his other arm about his daughter, he drew them close. ‘My two loves,’ he said with satisfaction. ‘What say we go out for breakfast? I think this calls for a celebration, don’t you, Em? Mummy’s back to stay and we’re all going to be a family from now on.’

  Emily gasped. ‘Is that true? Mummy, is that true? Is Daddy going to live with us from now on?’

  ‘That’s what he said,’ said Isobel gently, looking at Jake again. ‘Are you pleased?’

  ‘Of course. Of course I’m pleased!’ Emily was ecstatic. ‘Oh, Mummy, why did you stay away so long?’

  ‘Your mother needed time to forgive me,’ said Jake, taking the blame onto his broad shoulders. ‘This was never about you, Em. It was about your mother and me. And, like a lot of good men before me, I got it wrong.’

  ‘But it’s all right now?’

  ‘Yeah, it’s all right now,’ agreed Jake huskily, hugging Isobel close to him. ‘You’ll understand one day. Men can be awful idiots at times.’

  ‘Like Mr Mallory?’

  ‘Yeah.’ Jake pulled a wry face. ‘Exactly like Mr Mallory. But we put him straight, didn’t we, Em? We told him he wasn’t welcome here and this time I don’t think he’ll be coming back.’

  Isobel caught her lower lip between her teeth. ‘He—he’d upset my mother, hadn’t he?’ she murmured. ‘What was that all about?’

  ‘He didn’t like the way you’d treated him,’ Jake told her briefly. ‘He was threatening to tell you—well, you know what he was threatening to tell you. The old lady wasn’t having that.’

  ‘So that’s why she told me,’ said Isobel, her lips twisting a little bitterly. ‘I should have known.’

  ‘Don’t judge her too harshly, Belle.’ Jake could afford to be generous now. ‘She’s a sick old woman who’s wasted her life and ours trying to hang onto bricks and mortar. Deep inside she knew it wasn’t worth it, but she’ll never admit it.’

  Isobel sighed. ‘I suppose I ought to go up and tell her I’m back.’

  Jake squeezed her shoulder. ‘It would be a kindness.’

  ‘Would it?’ Isobel grimaced. ‘Do you think she cares?’

  ‘She cares,’ Jake assured her firmly. ‘Just don’t tell her I told you so.’

  ‘But where have you been, Mummy?’ protested Emily, feeling as if she was being sidelined by the adults. ‘Have you been staying at a hotel?’

  ‘Mummy can tell us all about it over breakfast,’ Jake said, nodding towards her Winnie the Poohs. ‘Why don’t you go and put some clothes on? I don’t think McDonalds is equipped to handle a pyjama party.’

  ‘McDonalds! Yippee!’ Emily was delighted at the news, and with a final look at her mother, as if to reassure herself that she was still there, she skipped excitedly out of the room.

  ‘McDonalds?’ murmured Isobel, after she’d gone. ‘So that’s how you won her round so completely.’

  ‘Hey, I have my uses,’ said Jake modestly. Then he pulled her close again. ‘Don’t think I’ve finished with you,
madam. When we get back from the restaurant I intend to have suitable compensation.’

  ‘Promises, promises,’ whispered Isobel softly. Then, before he could grab her again, she too danced lightly out of his reach.

  Her mother was awake when she entered the bedroom. Someone—Emily, probably—had drawn back the curtains, and the sun was streaming unrelentingly into the room. It highlighted her mother’s face, showed up the lines of pain and fatigue that were etched there. Isobel’s heart softened at the realisation that Lady Hannah looked so much worse now than she’d done before.

  ‘Isobel,’ she said weakly, as soon as her daughter appeared in the doorway. ‘Oh, Isobel, Emily told me you were back, but I could hardly believe it.’ She held out a trembling hand towards her. ‘Come here, darling. Please. I’m so sorry you felt you had to run away.’

  Isobel moved into the room, but she didn’t take the old woman’s hand. Instead she stood at the end of the bed, trying to decide how she really felt about her mother. There was anger there, and resentment, as well as a sense of incredulity that her mother could have deceived her for so many years.

  ‘How are you?’ she asked, deciding it was the least emotive thing she could say, and Lady Hannah’s hand fell heedlessly to the coverlet.

  ‘How do I look?’ she asked, with a little of her old arrogance. ‘I’m as well as can be expected, I suppose. Considering my own daughter walked out on me when I needed her most.’

  Isobel shook her head. ‘You don’t change, do you, Mama? You still think the world owes you its support.’

  Lady Hannah’s face exhibited its aristocratic detachment for a moment. Then it crumpled, and in a quivering voice she said, ‘Is that what you think of me?’ She bent her head and plucked at the bedcover. ‘I know I did wrong, but I did it because I thought it was best for you.’

  ‘Best for me?’ Isobel gasped. ‘You knew I didn’t care about Piers Mallory. I loved Jake. But you couldn’t stand me making a decision for myself.’

  ‘That’s not true.’

  ‘It is true.’ Isobel realised she was getting upset herself and reined in her anger. ‘Mama, for once in your life admit it: you wanted to control my life.’

  ‘I wanted you to marry someone who had the money to—to care for you.’

  ‘To care for Mattingley, you mean.’ Isobel’s fingers dug into the wooden footboard of the bed. ‘What a useless exercise that turned out to be.’

  ‘I know that now.’

  ‘You knew it then,’ Isobel contradicted her coldly. ‘You knew it as soon as you learned I was pregnant with Jake’s child. But you couldn’t admit you’d lied to me, couldn’t admit that you’d conspired with Piers to deceive Jake. You preferred to keep us apart so that I wouldn’t find out what a pathetic excuse for a mother you’d turned out to be.’

  Lady Hannah sighed. ‘If you say so.’

  ‘Isn’t it the truth?’

  ‘Yes. Yes, all right. I was foolish. But I lost out, too.’

  Isobel’s brows drew together. ‘How?’

  ‘Why do you think the estate has dwindled so inordinately all these years?’

  Isobel considered. ‘You told me it was because of death duties when Grandpa and my father died.’

  ‘That, too, of course.’ Lady Hannah moistened her lips. ‘But Piers has had his pound of flesh. He didn’t agree to keep his mouth shut for nothing, you know.’

  Isobel stared at her. ‘He’s been blackmailing you?’ She was horrified.

  ‘Not that, no.’ Lady Hannah’s fingers plucked more strenuously at the threads of the coverlet. ‘It was the land, you see. The land the Mallorys always wanted. I’ve sold him parcels of it over the years. For a pittance, of course.’

  Isobel was appalled. Leaving the end of the bed, she approached the old lady slowly. ‘So that’s why you went to Jake for money. Because you didn’t have enough to keep the house intact.’

  ‘Something like that,’ agreed her mother, looking up at her anxiously. ‘Can you ever forgive me?’

  Isobel pressed her lips together. ‘I suppose I’m going to have to,’ she said. ‘At least I’m beginning to understand what Piers has had over you all these years.’

  ‘Well, he wants it all,’ said the old lady wearily. ‘And after I’ve gone he’ll no doubt get it. I wanted to change my will and leave the house to Jake, but he won’t have any of it.’

  ‘Do you blame me?’

  Isobel glanced towards the door and saw her husband standing there, a rueful look upon his lean dark face.

  ‘Do you think I want to risk anything else coming between us?’ he asked her huskily. ‘But this house can be yours, Belle. If you want it. I’ll make sure the mortgages are paid off.’

  ‘Oh, Jake…’

  Isobel would have gone to him then, needing his strength very badly at that moment, but somehow her mother caught her hand.

  ‘Let him do it,’ she begged, as Isobel looked from her husband to her mother and back again. ‘Let him do this for you and for Emily. Don’t let Piers have his way.’

  ‘Mama—’

  ‘We’ll think about it,’ said Jake flatly, coming to take Isobel’s other hand and bestowing a kiss on her knuckles. ‘If it’s what Belle wants…’ He shrugged. ‘Why don’t you let her decide?’

  It was snowing.

  Isobel stood in the window of their bedroom at Mattingley, watching the heavy flakes beginning to cover the trees in the copse. Below her, the terrace was already coated with white, and she wondered if for once they were going to have a white Christmas.

  ‘You’re going to be frozen,’ murmured a deep voice behind her, and Isobel smiled as her husband’s arms slipped about her. He drew her back against his warm nakedness, his hands curving possessively over the full swell of her stomach.

  Isobel was already six months pregnant with their second child, and they’d decided the baby had been conceived in Jake’s room at the pub in the village.

  ‘I was just wondering if we were going to have a white Christmas,’ she said, leaning back against him and loving the lean power of his body. ‘Besides which, your son doesn’t want to go to sleep. He’d been kicking like mad for the past hour.’

  ‘Yeah, I can feel him,’ said Jake, bending his head to bestow a lingering kiss on the soft skin of her neck. ‘Is there anything I can do?’

  ‘Just hold me,’ said Isobel, tipping her head back against his shoulder. ‘It’s so peaceful here. We could be alone in the world. Thank goodness Shane agreed to act as your deputy.’

  ‘I think two other people would take exception to your theory,’ remarked Jake drily. ‘Emily’s already talking about inviting Lucy Daniels to stay. She wants to introduce her to the friends she’s made at her new school. And your mother seems to have acquired a new lease on life since she transferred the deeds of the house into your name.’

  ‘I know.’ Isobel couldn’t help feeling pleased at the reminder. It was good to know that she and her mother were reconciled at last, and the new baby would put its own seal on their relationship ‘Do you think the doctors could have been mistaken in their diagnosis about her?’

  ‘I think she feels she’s got something to live for now,’ said Jake gently. He massaged his wife’s stomach with possessive hands. ‘I know I do.’

  ‘Oh, Jake…’ Isobel turned towards him then, pressing her fullness against his swelling shaft. ‘I do love you.’

  ‘And I love you,’ he said tenderly. ‘Come back to bed.’

  ‘In a minute.’ Isobel cupped his face between her palms and looked at him. ‘I want to thank you first. You’ve done so much for us.’

  ‘Belle—’

  ‘No, I mean it.’ She brushed her lips across his protesting mouth. ‘Paying off the mortgages on Mattingley, making this a real home again.’

  ‘Sweetheart, it’s what I wanted, too.’

  ‘I know. But you didn’t have to set up an office here. And you’ve treated my mother with so much kindness and respect.’

  ‘Hey
, she’s the only mother I’m ever likely to have,’ he assured her gruffly. ‘And who else but Lady Hannah plays such a mean game of Predators?’

  ‘That’s because she is one,’ remarked Isobel drily, and then giggled. ‘Besides, I thought you said Emily was your best competition yet.’

  ‘I have to keep all my ladies happy, don’t I?’ he teased, but his eyes darkened as they rested on her mouth. ‘Now, can we go back to bed?’

  ‘Speaking of Predators,’ murmured Isobel softly. ‘I never did tell you where I thought you got that name from…’

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-8077-3

  SINFUL TRUTHS

  First North American Publication 2003.

  Copyright © 2003 by Anne Mather.

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