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But Adam would have no reason to say that, she told herself as she stepped out of the bath, reaching for a towel.
She smoothed body lotion in her favourite scent into her skin, aware how close to her a man, intrigued by its subtle fragrance, would need to be in order to appreciate it fully.
And she intended Adam to get pretty damned close, no matter how many girlfriends he might have in tow. Because she would be the one who would count.
She was back in her room applying a final coat of mascara to her lashes when Nicola came knocking at the door.
She looked around her, pulling a face. ‘Dana, I’m so sorry about this. When Zac announced he’d be joining us, Aunt Mimi had a panic attack and gave him the room I’d picked for you. And we’re pretty full up, so I can’t really move you.’
‘It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.’ Dana returned her cosmetics to their purse. She kept her voice casual. ‘So you weren’t expecting him?’
‘Well, eventually, just not this weekend. But his father was having heart surgery which got rescheduled, and he flew back early to be around for the operation.’ She smiled. ‘Apparently it was a great success. He must be so relieved.’
I didn’t see many signs of rejoicing, thought Dana, examining her flawless nails.
‘And he didn’t feel obliged to rush back and make sure Belisandro Australasia hadn’t collapsed in his absence?’ she queried drily.
‘Oh, he’s not going back to Melbourne,’ said Nicola with appalling cheerfulness. ‘From now on he’ll be based in Europe, waiting to take over as chairman of the whole shebang when his father retires, which might be quite soon. And he’ll be working from London, so we’ll see much more of him.’
For a moment Dana felt the room sway about her. ‘I see,’ she managed.
She swallowed. ‘How—how did the visit to the church go?’
‘Brilliantly. The country wedding is definitely on, although I don’t know what Dad will say.’
Dana’s brows lifted. ‘He’s coming, then, to give you away?’
Nicola sighed. ‘Yes, and bringing the ghastly Sadie with him unfortunately.’
Diverted momentarily from her own troubles, Dana gave her a sympathetic look. That first sailing holiday had turned life upside down for Adam and Nicola. Francis Latimer had decided he’d found his true metier, and to the shock of the entire family, he’d thrown up his safe city job and bought a struggling sailing and diving venture in the Greek islands, which by sheer hard work and force of will, he’d turned into a roaring success.
Along the way, he’d met Sadie, an Australian working for one of the large tour companies supplying him with excursion business, and a summer fling had continued throughout the winter and thereafter.
Sadie was loud, determinedly jolly and convinced she would soon have her Frankie’s children eating out of her hand. When it didn’t happen, she became increasingly resentful and family holidays turned into a hostile nightmare.
Which was how Nicola, and Adam too, had come to pass the greater part of their school vacations at Mannion, while their father spent his winters in Queensland, running a boat chartering business with Sadie’s brother Craig.
‘Well, at least you’re seeing him again.’ Dana tried to sound consoling. ‘Have you heard from your mother?’
‘An occasional letter telling us she’s happy and staying where she is. How about you?’
Dana forced a shrug. ‘Much the same, although the information filters through from Aunt Joss.’
Apparently Linda found her daughter too strong a reminder of everything that had gone wrong in her life for direct contact, and Dana had been advised to accept that and let her find her own way back. If she ever did.
But if I can offer her Mannion, she thought, then maybe I’ll discover the mother I’ve never really known. The one with hopes and dreams who existed before Jack Latimer was killed. Not the woman disowned by his mother and left out on a limb to grieve with no way back, but the smiling, pretty girl who’d helped run the Royal Oak because the landlord’s wife drank.
‘Life and soul of the place, she was,’ Betty Wilfrey, the Royal Oak’s cook had once told her. ‘Reception, bar work, chambermaiding, she could turn her hand to anything. It was never the same after she left. No wonder Bob Harvey sold up and went too before a year passed.’
And now all too many years had gone by, thought Dana. Her throat tightening, she got to her feet. ‘Should we go down?’
