‘You have a bolt-hole?’
He laughed again, killed the engine and swivelled so that he was looking at her. ‘I saymybolt-hole. I suppose I should sayourbolt-hole. I’ve brought you here because I want you to know that the palace is not the only residence we will occupy. You find it daunting and I can’t blame you.’
‘I think Tilly rather enjoys it, though.’ Georgie smiled. ‘She thinks it’s a hoot to drive that car of hers along some of the corridors.’
‘She does that?’ He grinned and slanted a sideways look at her.
‘Stop trying to kid me; I’ve seen you encouraging her, Abe.’
‘Why not? It is just a house, after all.’ He paused. ‘She gets to do what I never did, as it happens. I think this villa will make a refreshing change for you too.’
He was thinking of her. For once she wasn’t the postscript following behind his concerns for their daughter, but a concern in her own right, and her heart couldn’t help but warm to that idea.
He reached across to open the car door for her.
‘Dinner will be here and no one will be in attendance. No one serving the food and pouring the wine. Just the two of us. I had a light meal prepared. It’s waiting inside.’
‘That’s very thoughtful of you, Abe.’ Georgie’s heart squeezed tight with pleasure and as they walked towards the villa, small by palace standards but still imposing by any normal benchmark, she reached out for his hand and linked her fingers through his.
‘You will find that I can be very thoughtful,’ Abe murmured.
‘I didn’t think you were the sort of guy to need a bolt-hole. Why would you need a bolt-hole?’
It was so quiet here, a silent blackness all around them with just the faintest swish of breeze disturbing the endless sea of sand dunes that gave onto the coastline. It was majestic.
‘Doesn’t everyone?’
‘I never saw you as a bolt-hole kind of guy,’ she told him, and he laughed as he pushed open the door to let her slide past him.
Georgie stared around her. The villa had been aired and overhead fans swirled a cool breeze against her skin. The entrance hall was big, but the rich patina of the wooden floors made it feel warmer and more inviting than the cold marble in the palace. To one side, a staircase swept up to a galleried landing and, ahead, deep, patterned silk rugs led to various spaces and out, she guessed, to a view of the dunes rolling down to the sea.
He led her towards the kitchen, where the table had been set with the finest china and several platters were laid out with lids, which he ceremoniously opened with exaggerated flourish.
All this for her... Surely, whether he would admit it or not, this signalled more than a passing bout of thoughtfulness?
‘Makes a change, would you not agree?’ he asked, sauntering to the fridge and fetching a bottle of wine so that he could pour them both a glass.
‘A fantastic change.’ She sat and watched him and her heart sped up as he leaned over her, hands clasping the arms of her chair so that she was caged in.
‘There is something I would like to say...’
‘Is there?’ Georgie cleared her throat and longed for a sip of the wine lying tantalisingly just out of reach. His fabulous eyes were intent on her face and sent a wave of colour creeping up her cheeks.
For a few seconds, Abe continued to look at her, then he moved to one of the chairs and swivelled it so that he was facing her.
‘This is a first for me, Georgie,’ he said seriously, while she hung onto his every word with bated breath and rising hope.
Would this finally be the declaration of love she had been longing for?
‘This villa has always been my own private space because yes, I, like everyone else, enjoy having somewhere to relax, far from the stress of day-to-day life. I have never brought anyone here but I want you to see this as much yours as mine and I would like to suggest that it become our primary residence, with the palace used for more formal occasions. We could have minimum staff and not all the time. You are not in your own home at the moment, and I realise there is a leap to make so I feel that being here might bridge that gap.’
‘Ahh...’ Georgie pinned a suitably grateful smile on her face and bracingly told herself that he reallyhadbeen thoughtful in bringing her here and offering it as a place where she would certainly feel more comfortable.
But she was alarmed at how fast she had bolted towards a completely different interpretation of what she’d thought he was going to say. There was a lot to be said for taking each day one at a time. Patience was a great virtue and not to be underestimated, as her father used to tell her.‘The hare didn’t win the race, the tortoise did.’
She was a romantic at heart but being a romantic, she decided, was no excuse for being a complete idiot and she wasn’t going to let her love for him, and her dependency on him while she found her feet in this strange new world, deter her from having a few guidelines of her own.
‘I think it’s a fantastic idea, this place for us.’ She smiled warmly now. ‘You’re right. It’s a lot less daunting than living in a palace and I’ve missed...well, having my own space even if that means not having help all the time. I want to get into the kitchen and do some cooking, for a start...’
