‘Within a year of my birth he died on the track racing cars. That was his dream but he wasn’t very good at it. He was still very young but quite a challenge for my grandparents. He refused to consider further education and had no interest in business.’
‘He could’ve grown out of all that and matured,’ she said in all fairness as he led her down through an alley of ancient oak trees, the blessed shade welcome. ‘So, what happened to you and your mother?’
‘I remember her as warm and loving. She passed away from a nasty bout of flu when I was two years old,’ Tore related more slowly. ‘Her kid sister took me in…because of the money that came with me. It enabled her chosen lifestyle and those were the bad years.’
As he led her out onto another slope where a rug was spread and a picnic basket and cooler awaited them, she was too involved in the story to concentrate and she asked, ‘How did your grandparents find out about you?’
‘Essentially, they followed the money. Questions were asked when my father’s estate was being wound up because a lot of cash was missing. The trail eventually led to me,’ Tore explained. ‘And they were astonished…andhurtthat their son hadn’t told them that they had a grandchild. They tried to get legal custody of me and failed. They couldn’t get enough evidence to prove that I was in an abusive home. In the end, they circumvented the law to get me away from my aunt and I’ll always owe them for being willing to go that extra mile for my sake.’
Abusive…the bad yearshe had said and she could only wonder what that had encompassed when he had been so very young, indeed still only a baby in many ways. Regardless, he had endured and won through to gain a happier life with his grandparents. What had those unpleasant experiences taught him? They had both survived unhappy, difficult childhoods. She had learned to be afraid of angry men and wary of strangers because her father hadn’t always brought the most decent people into their home. She had learned to save rather than spend. She had learned that she, like her mother before her, had to work hard to keep herself. And finally, she had learned to forgive her mother for loving their father so much that she’d stayed with him to the detriment of both her and her daughters.
‘Do you want to explore the amphitheatre now or after lunch?’ Tore enquired.
‘Let’s do it now. I’m not sure I’ll have the energy after I’ve eaten,’ Violet warned him as she looked downhill to the large angular structure poking up out of the rough grass. ‘Although that means climbing back up the hill again…and I’m not sure I could.’
Tore laughed. ‘I’ll carry you if necessary.’
‘Take off your jacket and tie at least,’ she urged him. ‘You should’ve worn casual clothes.’
‘I was brought up to always be prepared for a board meeting,’ he teased, shooting an amused green-eyed glance at her. ‘You look amazing in red. It accentuates your light eyes and black hair. Which parent do you take after?’
‘My father. Mum’s blonde and Tabitha looks exactly like her. All I inherited was my mother’s lack of height.’
‘You never mention your father.’
‘If you’ve nothing good to say, say nothing,’ she quipped. ‘He is a drunk, a liar and a womaniser and when he was in the wrong mood, which was all too often, he hit my mother. My sister and I have had no contact with him for years and that’s how we prefer it.’
Tore grabbed her arm to steady her before she could head down the steep slope, and he guided her over to the worn steps that led into the structure. ‘It doesn’t sound like he was much of a loss.’
‘He is a remarkably talented artist when he chooses to work. But he’ll always be the man who told me and my sister that he never wanted children and that we were my mother’s responsibility.’ Pale at the memory, Violet held her head high and forced a smile. ‘My goodness, how did we get so serious today?’
Tore watched her lean back against the worn, weathered stone of the inner wall. In that colourful dress, she looked like a living flame against the grey backdrop. She kicked off her shoes and flexed her bare toes in the soft grass, innocently sensual in her enjoyment. The longer he was with her, the more boxes she ticked on his list of what made a desirable woman. She was a great mother to her adopted daughter, a hard worker and universally polite and pleasant to all. His attention rested on her vivid face, her skin flushed from the sun and exercise. There might not be much of her but she was a beauty and she had tremendous spirit. He had never liked yes-women or the bootlickers of the world. And the more he liked her, the more he reacted to the sexiness of that pouting pink mouth, those slender, shapely legs and the sparkle in those big blue eyes… And the more he knew that he needed to push her away.
Why? She would never settle for the little he had to give in the emotional field. And he didn’t want to be married, at least not until he was in his forties, when he would be mature enough to choose wisely. He had long accepted that eventually he would marry and provide his grandparents with at least one great-grandchild. And when he was older, unlike his youthful father, he would make a better parent. But he wasn’t ready for all that yet. He wasn’t ready to be a committed husband or father, nor was he ready to turn his back on his freedom and belong to one woman alone. Violet had just come along at the wrong time, he reasoned tautly.
Although she was even younger than he was and she hadn’t done much with her freedom, had she? Not only had she come to his bed untouched and ignorant enough not to even know it, but she had also taken on the burden of a child when many women would have been aghast at the responsibility. No, he needed to keep his distance or he would risk getting in so deep with Violet that he would have to stay with her. So he was making his choice, staying in control, being decisive. He would be single for at least the next decade.
As they walked back, Tore told her about the archaeological excavation that had been completed on the farm twenty years earlier. The remains of an early fortress and a settlement had been discovered, and several finds were currently on view in the town museum.
‘When did you arrange the picnic?’ she asked him as she threw herself breathlessly down on the rug.
‘When I got up this morning. I thought we would be glad of a little laziness after we’d done the scenic tour.’
‘It’s hot,’ she complained as she pulled a bottle of cold water out of the cooler and pressed it against her brow before gulping back some water to quench her thirst. Mercifully, they were seated in the shade of a thin belt of trees.
Tore rolled up his shirtsleeves and undid another button on his shirt.
‘Take it off, for goodness’ sake,’ she told him. ‘I don’t care.’
Tore stared at her and then his expressive mouth quirked and he peeled off the shirt to pitch it aside.
‘It’s not as though there’s anyone to see!’ she mocked.
An irresistible grin slanted his lean, darkly attractive face. ‘You’re very welcome to take off that dress…’
Violet, flushed from more than the heat, busied herself opening the picnic basket. She set out the tempting contents with little ooh’s and aah’s of appreciation while ignoring his challenge to strip to her underwear. ‘I’m starving,’ she confided.
‘A glass of wine?’
