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‘Yes…yes,’ she said urgently to the English-speaking operator on the other end of the line. ‘You must connect me to Dr Martinez Bordiu immediately.’ She waited tensely for what seemed like for ever. ‘No, I don’t care how long it takes,’ she said firmly when the man finally came back on the line. ‘I must speak to him right away. It’s an emergency. Yes, thank you. I’ll wait.’ She sat back, toying impatiently with the stack of papers she had been reading. Suddenly something she hadn’t noticed before caught her eye. Slipped inside one of the glossy brochures there was a single sheet of crisp white paper. Written in a confident sweep of bold black ink across the top of the page was that day’s date and, underneath that, Xavier’s name—Xavier darling, to be precise. Sophie’s mind sucked in and analysed every word on the page in one single agonised glance.
Don’t forget our meeting this afternoon. I am lost without you, my darling.
To find his mother holding court in an elegant salon on the other side of the city amidst a coterie of admirers came as no surprise to Xavier. Señora Martinez Bordiu was imbued with a remarkable charm together with beauty and intellect that seemed only to have increased with age. Sometimes, Xavier mused, watching her from the doorway for a moment, he wondered if only he could see the deep wound that lay behind her remarkable eyes, the wound that even the passage of time could not erase.
Her laughter rang out musically above the animated chatter. Even the President was enraptured, Xavier noticed. A muscle flexed in his jaw. Enjoy it while you can, my darling mother, for I am about to break your heart.
The furrows in his brow deepened. The sound of the mobile phone in his pocket starting to ring was the last thing he needed at a moment like this.
‘Xavier…Xavier, is that you?’ Sophie heard his voice seeming muffled, far away—as if he was explaining the interruption. Of course, the person who had written him the note would be with him, Sophie reminded herself tensely. What else had she expected? But, whatever their personal situation, this was something he had to hear.
‘Sophie.’ Xavier’s voice was terse and dry, leaving her in no doubt that he didn’t welcome the intrusion.
‘Look, Xavier, I’m sorry—’
‘What is it?’
‘You must come back here right away.’
‘Out of the question,’ he said flatly.
‘But you must.’
‘I can’t. I’m not even at the hotel. I’m halfway across town.’
Sophie felt faint but she had to go on. ‘Xavier, this is really important—’
‘Look, Sophie, I just can’t get away right now. I’m afraid it’s impossible. I’ll be back with you the moment I can.’
‘No—’ She was about to explain when another sound somewhere in the background at his end of the line made her stop. It confirmed everything she had imagined.
‘Sophie…Sophie, are you still there? Are you all right?’
‘I’m fine.’ The high tinkling sound of a woman laughing—the type of laughter designed to appeal to a man—called her a liar.
‘Sophie? Sophie, tell me what’s happened.’
‘It’s nothing,’ she said, keeping her voice level. ‘I can handle it.’
‘Are you sure? Are you sure you’re all right? I’m sorry, but this isn’t a good time. I really have to go.’
I bet you do, Sophie thought tensely. The clinic in the mountains was being washed away by a freak flood, people were losing their homes, goodness knew how many injuries, or worse, were occurring—but nothing got in the way of Dr Xavier Martinez Bordiu’s pleasure!
Instantly the image of the beautiful television presenter flashed into Sophie’s mind and she made a sound of contempt for her own stupidity. No wonder they’d stayed over in Lima for so long! Hadn’t Xavier said he would do anything to raise awareness of the project? Her lips were white with tension as she ran things over in her mind. The project had enjoyed more publicity than either of them had anticipated. No wonder! Sophie gave a short, humourless laugh. Had she really allowed herself to believe that the nightly slot on the news show with the lady in question was just a lucky break?
‘I’ll speak to you soon…the moment I can.’ He cut the line.
‘Don’t worry, Xavier,’ Sophie told the empty room. ‘It’s nothing I can’t cope with.’ In fact, she thought coldly, don’t worry about anything ever again as far as I’m concerned. Just get on with doing whatever it is you’re doing—I’ll be fine without you!
As Xavier walked forward into his mother’s salon, she felt his presence immediately and, rising from her chaise longue, proceeded swiftly through the semi-circle of admirers, moving across the room towards him with the unconscious grace of a dancer.
‘My darling, Xavier.’
‘Mother, I must see you alone,’ Xavier murmured as they exchanged kisses, continental style.
‘Why, of course, beloved,’ she said at once, pulling back to search his face. ‘So, what is it, my darling?’ she demanded the moment the double doors had shut on the last of her visitors. Holding Xavier’s tightly clenched fists between her own cool hands as they sat together on the sofa, she waited.
‘I have fallen in love—’
‘But that is the most wonderful news!’
‘Is it, Mother?’ Xavier said sardonically.
‘But your face is full of pain,’ she exclaimed. ‘Tell me, Xavier, what is it? Is this woman married? Does her heart belong to someone else?’
He gave a short, ironic laugh. ‘I’m afraid it’s far worse than that.’ He watched his mother’s hand flutter to her chest, and knew the pain had already begun. He also knew he had no power to heal the wounds he must now inflict.
‘Worse?’ she gasped apprehensively, only confirming his worst fears. ‘What could possibly be worse?’
Xavier steeled himself for what he must do. Changing grip so that now he was the comforter rather than the comforted, he held his mother’s hands firmly in his own.
‘I have fallen in love with a member of the Ford family—’ As she tensed he felt a stab of pain to his chest as real as if his mother had used metal rather than the shared memories of Armando’s death to wound him. But he knew he had to go on. ‘I have fallen in love with Sophie Ford.’
‘Sophie…’
His mother breathed out the name on a sigh, and Xavier was devastated to see the tears welling in her eyes—the tears he had inflicted. ‘I am so sorry, Mother. If I could have stopped it…’ He paused, examining his own feelings in an attempt to explain what had happened. ‘But I love her so much—’ He broke off as emotion thickened his speech.
They sat together in an emotionally charged silence, reliving the past, sharing each other’s pain.
‘But Xavier,’ his mother whispered at last. ‘That poor child… Poor Sophie—’ She sighed heavily. ‘How could you ever imagine that I would disapprove? Your father and I were always so worried about her—’
She broke off and shook her head, extracting a fine lawn handkerchief from the sleeve of her day gown to try and staunch the tears now running freely down her cheeks.
‘Here, Mother, let me,’ Xavier whispered, taking it from her to complete the task. ‘Are you telling me you approve my choice of bride?’
She gasped softly. ‘Your bride?’
It was as if the sun had touched her face with warmth…and when Sophie smiled it was as if the sun rose in his heart, Xavier realised, feeling a rush of emotion. But then something darker, something urgent, jostled for attention and he turned away to shield his mother from his thoughts. ‘I think I may just have made a terrible mistake,’ he murmured.
‘A mistake?’ his mother repeated anxiously. ‘What are you talking about, Xavier?’
‘I haven’t made my feelings at all clear to Sophie. I couldn’t risk hurting you,’ he explained, switching his gaze to his mother’s face. ‘She rang me moments ago and I put her off…wouldn’t speak to her. She was distressed—’
‘You must go to her, Xavier,’ Señora Martinez B
ordiu insisted passionately.
‘Mother?’
‘If you have left her in any doubt, any doubt at all, regarding your feelings, you must go to her now,’ his mother stressed anxiously. ‘If you don’t tell her plainly, after all she has suffered, after all she has seen in that sad, sad home, I fear you may lose her for ever. Sophie is a stranger to love between a man and a woman. Go to her, Xavier, I beg you—go to her now…’
Sophie reviewed her options calmly. Xavier was right to some extent: she had been fine—up until now, she realised bitterly. But all that was over, and for good. She’d heard the laughter. She knew what it meant. And, the fact that she’d been taken for a ride in just about every way possible hit home like a sledgehammer to the guts. Getting the operator straight back on the line, she asked him to put her through to the air service base Evie worked out of and, having established that there was a pilot available to take her back to the mountains, she called the operator again. She needed a taxi to the airport.
CHAPTER TEN
