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Maldonado moved past me, and a moment later I heard Mary Alice’s strident voice issuing orders as I contemplated a hasty retreat to my bedroom.
I waited too long—a moment later, she marched in, coming to a dead stop when she saw me, her patrician face disdainful, and I remembered that she and Bella had always been dire enemies, both of them jockeying to be the lady of the manor.
Mary Alice Ingram was a born aristocrat, from her long, thin body to her silken hair and aquiline nose. She neither listened to nor cared for any opinions but her own, and her sister Valerie was her loyal stooge. They were both older—Mary Alice was probably forty by now, but not a line appeared in her well-preserved face or beneath her slightly protuberant eyes. Her artfully tinted hair was tucked in a perfect knot at the nape of her long, thin neck and her linen suit was both spotless and miraculously unwrinkled.
For her part, Valerie looked like a gym teacher—stolid, no-nonsense, with sturdy legs and stocky body, short-cropped hair, and the predatory look of someone who always knew some better way to do something—and the only person she listened to was her elegant older sister.
Once more, I cursed Bella and her supposedly effortless masquerade. “Mary Alice,” I said in Bella’s husky drawl. “Long time no see.”
Mary Alice looked me up and down and clearly found me wanting. “Don’t be ridiculous, Bella. We ran into other last winter at St. Tropez.” She eyed me doubtfully. “You look different.”
Holy shit. I gave her an easy smile. “I’m still the same, Mary Alice. Hello, Valerie,” I greeted the woman behind her.
Valerie, unlike her older sister, had always been victim to Bella’s charms, though if she’d ever heard some of the names Bella had called her, that would have stopped. “Podge” was downright flattery compared with Bella’s barbs.
She gave me a conflicted smile, and I figured strong-minded Mary Alice would have warned her not to have anything to do with me. At least I hoped so.
“We need our rooms, Maldonado,” Mary Alice announced. “Dinner at seven-thirty, not the usually obscene hour you Spaniards prefer. We’ll have drinks on the terrace beforehand—you can let the others know.”
“Your grandfather prefers to eat at nine.”
“Then feed him separately. I assume he’s too ill to come to the table. We’ll have dinner at a reasonable hour and then visit him.”
“Evenings aren’t good for him...” he began.
“He’ll be fine. Seeing his favorite granddaughter will give him new life.”
I rolled my eyes, and Valerie caught me. I immediately came up with an innocent smile. “You might check with Ian about that, Mary Alice,” I said. “He’s in charge now, and supposedly Marcus will be back tomorrow.” I managed not to choke on the words. “I imagine both of them are used to later meals.”
“Marcus will be here?” Mary Alice said. “How very interesting for you, Bella. I do hope you’ll manage to be civilized.”
As Podge, I’d always found Mary Alice extremely irritating. As Bella I wanted to smack her. I gave her a lazy smile. “Being civilized is highly overrated.”
Maldonado broke in. “Mrs. Ingram, you will have the pink room. Mrs. Bellamy, you’ll be in the nursery.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Maldonado. I always sleep in the Queen’s Room.”
“Miss Bella is in the Queen’s Room.”
If anything, Mary Alice appeared even more affronted. “I always sleep in the Queen’s Room,” she said again, spearing me with a meaningful glance.
“Then you’ll enjoy the change,” I said sweetly. “I’m going for a walk, Maldonado. I’ll leave you to get the cousins settled.”
And I was gone, out into the early evening light, my food clutched in my hand.
Chapter Five
The gardens of Mariposa were magnificent. Granda had always had a slew of gardeners keeping them in perfect shape, full of bright flowers and cool koi ponds and waterfalls to delight the eye. As children we’d loved it, and even now the heady scent of Granda’s prize roses hung heavy on the air. Taking in a deep breath immediately transported me back to that time, seemingly so long ago, when I’d been shy and lonely and desperately in love. And Marcus had only had eyes for Bella.
I shook off the memory, looking around me. It wasn’t the gardens that I had missed, as gorgeous and colorful as they were. Mariposa was built on the top of a small mountain, and from its lofty perch, everything one could see belonged to the Whitehead family. To the east lay the olive groves, an endless expanse stretching all the way down to the sea. To the west lay the vineyards, the smell of the grapes strong after a day of baking in the hot sun.
In a few more months they would lay down the nets for the olive harvest—blankets stretched beneath the orderly trees to collect the fruit as it fell—but for now I could wander where I pleased.
The vineyards were another matter. When I was younger I would steal grapes, but they probably loaded them with pesticides nowadays. I could still walk along the rows, feeling the good Spanish dirt beneath my feet, the stillness and peace of growing things. Or I could see if I could find my favorite spot, Pinnacle Point, a narrow outcropping of land high above the olive groves, near an ancient elm tree. When I was young it had been my castle. I would sit there and pretend I was a gypsy, living on the land and sleeping beneath the stars. The one time I’d tried it, I’d ended up in my own bed, and I never had discovered who it was who’d carried me there. I’d always liked to pretend it was Marcus, but in truth I knew better. He was too caught up in Bella to notice I was anywhere around, much less missing for the night. It would have been Maldonado or one of the field workers, I supposed. Still, when I’d awoken, I’d been tucked in, and I dreamt a gentle hand had brushed my hair away from my face with surprising tenderness. It was no wonder I had always preferred dreams to reality.
The workers had all retired for the evening, back to their homes on the hillsides, and there was no sign of Ian the Wretch. I started down the hill, nibbling on my sandwich, and by the time I reached the edge of the olive groves, the sun was dipping low in the west. The soft breeze was welcome in the accumulated heat, and I paused, looking up, wondering if I had time to find my old sanctuary. I didn’t even hear him approach.
“What are you doing down here?” Ian snapped.
