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‘I’m sorry,’ said Shelley very stiffly. ‘I obviously misunderstood what you meant.’ She discovered that another stupid lump had risen in her throat, and she swallowed it down like poison. She wondered where he was living, but was damned if she was going to ask. That might look as though she cared.
‘So what are you planning to do now you’re here, Shelley?’ asked Jennie. ‘Are you back for good?’
It was a question which she was damned if she was going to consider under the critical eye of Drew Glover. ‘I haven’t decided what I’m doing. I’m just going to sit back and take stock for a little while.’
Jennie looked round the hall and shivered. ‘Well, it’s freezing in here,’ she said. ‘You can’t possibly stay here tonight.’
‘I’ve suggested to Shelley that she stay at the Westward,’ Drew put in. ‘That’s the only place where she’d be likely to get a room at this time of year.’ He turned to Shelley, his eyes glinting with devilment. ‘And if the car you’re driving is anything to go by, then you shouldn’t have a problem affording it.’
‘A problem?’ she snapped. ‘I think I can just about afford the Westward’s prices!’
Jennie screwed her face up. ‘Though I suppose there’s no reason why I shouldn’t offer to put you up for a couple of nights.’
A look passed between brother and sister. Did Shelley imagine it, or did Drew shake his head very slightly? ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea,’ he said softly.
He looked at her in that unhurried and insulting way he seemed to have perfected, his eyes flickering from the tip of her expensive leather boots up to the small diamond which glittered on a platinum chain at her throat and which matched the thin bangle at her wrist. ‘I think that Shelley has become too much of a hothouse flower to ever consider staying with you, Jennie!’
Shelley blushed. ‘Oh, please! By implying that I’m a snob—which I’m not—you have also managed to insult your sister!’ She glared at him. ‘Besides which, I don’t need you to answer for me, Drew!’
Jennie gave a small smile. ‘It’s not insulting,’ she told Shelley. ‘Drew’s right. It is a bit cramped in there.’
Shelley wondered how that could be. Five of them used to live there—and if their parents and Drew and Cathy had all gone then that left two spare bedrooms, according to Shelley’s calculations. But now did not seem a good time to ask. And besides, she really didn’t want to stay with Drew’s sister. Jennie would doubtless paint a rosy picture of how wonderful his life had been without her and she didn’t think she could face hearing it. Not at the moment.
‘I’m sure it isn’t cramped,’ she said briskly. ‘I spent many happy years growing up here and I’m the last person who would ever turn their nose up at a small house. But Drew’s right. I wouldn’t dream of imposing on you.’
‘I’ll tell you what, Jennie,’ said Drew, in a lazy voice which nonetheless sounded very like a command. ‘Why don’t you take Shelley home and give her a cup of tea, while I drive on up to the Westward and see if they have a room for her?’
Shelley met his forceful blue stare. ‘You don’t have to do that for me.’
‘I know I don’t,’ came the silky reply.
‘Then why?’
‘Like I said,’ he drawled, ‘I seem to be stuck with this annoying streak of chivalry and at heart I guess I’m just a gentleman. The Westward is full for most of the year now—and I wouldn’t want you going up there on a wild-goose chase—not if they don’t have a room.’
She looked at him assessingly. ‘I’m not sure I believe you.’
‘Well, whether you do or whether you don’t, the fact remains that you still need a warm bed for the night—’
‘There’s always the telephone,’ murmured Shelley, unwilling to be obligated to him. ‘Why don’t we ring them and see?’
He shook his head. ‘Oh, no!’ he argued softly. ‘The telephone is never as effective as face-to-face contact—surely you must have learnt that by now, Shelley! So why don’t you let me go and sweet-talk them into giving you one?’
‘Sweet-talk them? And how will you do that?’ she laughed. ‘You’ve got friends in high places now, have you, Drew?’
Only the merest quirk of his mouth betrayed his irritation. ‘Oh, I’ve done a bit of work for them, off and on over the years. They’ve always treated their tradesmen well.’
