Rainbow for Megan Page 8

  Megan closed her eyes. He was putting her on the rack, although he didn't know it. He was only concerned with his love. She very nearly broke down, but managed to get out, 'I must ... you don't understand.' She couldn't go on, couldn't tell him that she loved him desperately, and always would.

  She heard the indrawn breath. 'You really have gone overboard for him, haven't you ?' he said quietly. `I won't say I admire your choice. You're going to get hurt, Tuppence.' He turned away abruptly. 'Well, have it your way,' he added through clenched teeth, `just remember that I warned you!'

  Megan stood watching the tail lights of the car disappear down the lane through a haze of tears. `Going to get hurt'. The words echoed around her. As if it hadn't already happened, she thought bitterly.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  MEGAN did not go to see Ray the next day. Things were complicated enough, without adding fuel to the fire. In a village that size, not much went on that was unobserved; her visit to The Foxes, for instance, on a weekend, especially as it was probably common knowledge by now that Ray was off colour, would be bound to cause more speculation.

  Normally, Megan would not have worried, but life was no longer normal. She had been shaken out of her placid existence with a resounding crash. She sighed as she looked out of the sitting-room window, idly noticing that the lawn wanted cutting—well, that would give her something to do. Above all, she had to keep busy.

  Keeping busy was one thing, stopping one's thoughts entirely another, Megan found, as she passed up and down the strip of lawn in front of the house with the mower. She had only to close her eyes to feel again the warmth of Alain's arms. Was he at that moment holding Iris the same way? Her heart jolted when she recalled the way he had kissed her forehead afterwards. His way of saying thank you

  for playing the part so well? She thought it must have been. It was just the sort of thing a brother would have done to a kid sister he was fond of.

  Megan was grateful when Monday came. She hated to think how she would have fared had she not had a job to lose herself in. As she let herself in at The Foxes, she wondered whether Ray had recovered, and was pleased to hear his cheery greeting when he joined her in the office.

  `Joanna's here,' he said. 'She'll come and introduce herself later, she's just slipped down to the village for some extra groceries.' He grinned. 'We've decided to do a spot of entertaining, and you're cordially invited to dinner tonight—your father, too, of course.'

  For one awful moment Megan wondered whether it was going to be an invitation extended to Alain as well in return for his harvest supper invitation. She visibly blanched. In her present state of mind, she couldn't imagine a more uncomfortable evening. Ray mistook her reaction.

  `She won't bite you,' he teased. 'And it's not a big occasion, just the four of us.'

  Megan breathed a sigh of relief and accepted, warning Ray that she couldn't answer for her father, but would do her best to persuade him to come.

  Remembering Megan's worried look when the invitation was extended, Ray soothed, 'Of course, I'm biased, but I think you'll like Joanna, Megan.'

  Ray was right. Megan did take to Joanna, although on first sight she had her doubts. Joanna's dress and looks somewhat daunted Megan. She was a slim, petite dark-haired beauty, somewhere in her early thirties, Megan presumed. Her hair was beautifully coiffured, and her two-piece was no off-the-peg model. The only likeness Megan could find between them was Joanna's dark brown eyes, so like her brother's. As soon as she had introduced herself, and held out her hand smilingly to Megan, Megan found herself relaxing. The smile was so open and friendly. `Ray's told me a lot about you,' she said.

  That evening Megan and her father dined at The Foxes. To her delight, Mr. Shaw accepted the invitation, without his usual comment of 'We'll see,' which meant 'most probably not'.

  After dinner, they settled in the beautifully furnished lounge for coffee. Ray and Mr. Shaw soon became immersed in literary matters, leaving Megan and Joanna on their own.

  Joanna told Megan about her family. Of her children, now of an age to want to cut loose from the apron strings. 'I'm beginning to feel it now,' she explained, 'especially as John, my husband, has to dodge off abroad every now and again. I'm starting to feel neglected, not to mention lonely. I thought of getting a job of some sort, it wouldn't do to vegetate. I only wish Ray were nearer. I worry about him,

  whether he's looking after himself, or getting enough to eat. Stupid really, but he's the only brother I have and I'm rather fond of him.'

  Megan could well understand these feelings. Her thoughts went out to Alain; she had once felt the same way about him. 'I think you'll find he's being well looked after,' Megan assured her. 'Mrs. White is a nice old body. She makes sure he gets his meals on time, in fact I rather think she spoils him,' she added with a smile.

  Joanna answered that smile. 'So I've noticed,' she said, 'in fact I'd say he's been lucky all round, finding you and a good domestic help. Tell me, Megan, have you any strings to your bow ?'

  Megan blinked, not sure she comprehended the question.

  Joanna's brows raised. 'Courting,' she prompted.

  Megan burst out chuckling, she couldn't help it. She gave Joanna a mischievous look. 'Are you matchmaking ?' she demanded.

  This produced a peal of laughter from Joanna. can see what Ray means when he says you're fascinating,' she vowed.

  Megan looked surprised. 'Fascinating?' she echoed. `Morbidly or otherwise ?'

  Joanna started chuckling again. 'That's what I wanted to find out. I couldn't wait to see you. He did mention you a lot in his letters.'

  The rest of the evening passed pleasantly. Joanna, having to go back the next day, expressed a hope that they would meet again in the very near future; probably, she said, during the end of September, when her boys were back at boarding school and she had plenty of time on her hands.

  While Megan lay waiting for sleep to claim her that night, she thought about the conversation she had had with Joanna, of the casual way she had made enquiries about her love life. Strings to her bow, as she put it.

  Megan gulped. She had one string—a string of unbreakable strength. It stretched from her heart to Alain's, only no one must know. She turned over on her side, willing sleep to come, but it evaded her. She then wondered whether Ray was aware of his sister's plans, for Megan was sure she had plans. That she approved of Megan was clearly shown, and also the fact that she hoped her brother would marry again; even the dimmest person would have gleaned Joanna's trend of thought. Megan thanked providence Ray was entirely immune from such machinations. On these thoughts, she fell into a dreamless sleep.

  The next morning it was raining when Megan awoke. Usually she took the weather as it came, for the rain was needed just as much as the sun, but somehow that morning it only seemed a further damper of spirits. Halfway to work, she saw the rays

  of the sun shooting through the rain clouds, and the rainbow appear. And that, she thought miserably, was all she needed, noticing that it swept over the Clock House to the church. Iris, she thought bleakly, would be getting her trousseau ready.

  It was a saying in the village that a wedding was due if the arch of the rainbow enclosed the church and Clock House. The superstition only concerned the Drew family, and had proved amazingly correct down through the years. Within six months, the saying foretold. She wondered if Alain had seen it. It would cheer him up, he would know for sure that all would be well, and he would wed his Iris.

  Megan mentioned the rainbow to Ray later that morning. She knew he was vastly interested in the village folklore.

  `So he'll marry Iris, will he ?' he asked curiously.

  Megan nodded. 'And live happily ever after,' she said quietly, hoping fervently that this would be the case. She loved him enough to want this much for him.

  Ray looked at her quickly. 'I wonder,' he murmured.

  `It's never been wrong,' stated Megan. 'You wait and see.'

  `Oh, I wasn't querying the old saying,' he said
teasingly. 'Shouldn't you be getting your trousseau out too?'

  Megan stared at him. She was sure he did not mean to be unkind, but it hurt all the same. She cast around for some explanation, then got it. 'Joanna!' she explained.

  `What's Joanna got to do with it ?' he asked with raised brows.

  Too late Megan realised she had put her foot in it. She recovered swiftly. `Oh,' she said vaguely, 'she asked if I had any strings to my bow, that's all.' She started to put paper in the machine, indicating that she was about to start work.

  `Oh, no, you don't,' said Ray. 'Come on, there's more to it, if I know Joanna.'

  Megan grinned, for however much she would have liked to keep a straight face, she couldn't. 'I was trying to spare you,' she admitted. 'But it's only fair to warn you. I could be wrong, you know, but I got the distinct impression that she would like to see you married again.'

  Ray attempted a look of solemnity that did not come off, and he grinned. 'My own sister too !' he exclaimed. 'I suppose,' he asked with twinkling eyes, `it's my turn to spare your blushes by not asking who she has in mind?'

  Her laughing eyes met his. 'It would be appreciated,' she agreed.

  He threw her a wicked look before he left to start work. 'It might,' he said, 'be worth considering, so

  you can stop looking so amused, young Megan, or one of these fine days you may get a shock.'

  She sat staring at the closed door. She frowned. He was teasing her again. Wasn't he?

  A day later, Ray surprised her with, 'You didn't tell me you attended the harvest supper !'

  Megan looked away quickly, he sounded so hurt. `Mrs. White told me,' he said. 'She was saying how nice it was seeing you and Mr. Drew back together again. I gather Iris is out of favour.'

  Megan did not want to discuss that particular subject, for obvious reasons. However, she had no choice, as he obviously thought it odd she hadn't mentioned it, and she hadn't counted on Mrs. White passing on the news.

  `I take it he's forgiven you,' persisted Ray.

  She tried to be casual. 'He doesn't hold grudges,' she answered. 'He asked you to the supper too, didn't he?'

  `Yes,' agreed Ray, 'and I've been wondering why ever since.'

  `That's because you don't know him,' she said quickly. 'You just got off on the wrong foot with him, that's all.'

  `By locking you in the pavilion with me?' he asked with a grin. Then he looked hard at her. 'Why did you change your mind? You didn't want to go, did you?'

  Megan sighed; she knew she would have to be careful about the next part. 'Because he collected me,' she said simply.

  `Did he now?' murmured Ray. His eyes narrowed. `I can make a good guess why,' he added with a trace of amusement in his voice.

  Megan wished she could find the subject amusing, but it wasn't. Nothing about that evening had been amusing—heartbreaking, yes, not amusing.

  `I was wondering when he would buck his ideas up,' he commented in the same bemused tone. 'Rather a pity really, I almost hoped he'd missed the boat.'

  For a second Megan was perplexed, then she thought she had it. 'I thought you didn't like Iris,' she said half accusingly, feeling great disappointment, because she hadn't thought Ray would fall for a pretty face too.

  He looked at her in surprise. 'Iris?' he asked.

  Megan was exasperated. 'Yes, Iris. And you're wrong, Alain hasn't missed the boat, as you put it. He's just teaching her a lesson.'

  Ray's eyes widened. 'Is that what he told you? he asked.

  `Not in so many words,' Megan said slowly. But I could see what he was up to.' With this, she hastily started typing, indicating that she was tired of the subject. For once, Ray took the hint and left her to it.

  That evening when Megan got back from exercising Chas, her father told her Alain had called. 'Told him you wouldn't be long,' he informed her, 'but he had to get on. I must say it was nice having him call in again, although,' he looked at Megan under his spectacles, 'I don't think it was entirely altruistic.'

  Megan could guess what was coming next. He had had his threatened talk with her father. 'I must say,' he commented mildly, 'it's years since anyone attempted to bully me.'

  Megan found herself grinning. She placed an arm around him. 'I hope you stood up to him,' she said. `He's got a bee in his bonnet about Ray, hasn't he ?'

  Her father said nothing for a moment or two, then : `He's very fond of you, Megan.' He nodded his head. `Understandable, of course,' and he went into a reverie. 'Looked after you since you were knee high,' he mused, then shook his head. 'Afraid I've not been much of a guiding light, have I?' he said sadly.

  `Of course you have !' Megan said indignantly, thinking that Main must have really gone for him to have brought this self-condemnation about. 'I wouldn't have you any other way,' she said firmly. `The trouble with Main is, he still thinks of me as a little girl. He just won't see I've grown up.'

  There was a twinkle in Mr. Shaw's eyes as he murmured, 'Oh, I wouldn't say that.'

  `Well, I would !' stated Megan. 'Because it happens

  to be true. Why else would he make such a fuss about my working with Ray?'

  `Why else indeed,' commented her father, who appeared to find this somewhat amusing.

  Megan eyed him moodily. 'Well, I hope you put his mind at rest. He wouldn't believe me when I told him he was a perfect gentleman and that I was as safe with Ray as I was with him.'

  `Oh dear,' muttered her father, changing the subject hastily. 'Well, it will all come right in the end. Come and see the letter and contract I received this morning from the American publishers.'

  As Megan prepared the supper that evening her thoughts dwelt on Alain's visit. He hadn't even waited to see her, she thought sadly. Even though she hadn't seen him, she was still in touch with events at Clock House. She knew, for instance, that Iris had been seeing a lot of Don Lamb. They had frequently been seen in the local pub together. Alain, too, used the pub on several occasions during the week. Megan could only think Iris was getting her own back on him by such obvious behaviour.

  To think, she sighed, she had gone through all that for nothing ! She could at least have been spared that. With a pang, she remembered Alain's invitation to lunch the next day. He had asked for her help and she had not been able to give it. Would Iris be back with him now if she had done as he asked? She

  closed her eyes. If he asked again, she still wouldn't be able to help him. Yet even though she had refused to help him, he had gone out of his way to try and help her. Her hands clenched into fists and tears dimmed her eyes. Such was the difference between friendship and love.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  THE following day, Ray told Megan that he would be away for a few days, fitting in a visit to his publisher and a dinner to which he had been invited as principal guest. 'No need for you to come in,' he said. `Have a long weekend, we've nothing urgent on hand, things are going along nicely.'

  Megan was not too sure she would welcome time on her hands. It would be a little more than a long weekend, four days to be precise. She wondered how she managed to pass the time before she took up full-time work.

  Ray had told her he was driving up to London that evening, so when the phone rang at seven, and he was on the other end of the line, she was a little surprised. 'I thought you would have been there by now,' she commented, when he told her he was calling from the local pub.

  `I started out once,' he answered dryly, 'but the car packed up on me. Luckily, I hadn't got far. It's not quite so drastic as the big end, but will take a couple of hours to fix. There's no point in going back to The Foxes, so I thought you might take pity on me

  and come and join me. I hate drinking alone.'

  As much as she would have liked to refuse, Megan felt she couldn't. It wasn't that she didn't want to join him, she was very fond of him, and she owed him a lot; it was the location that was bothering her. There was only one local, and the way things had been going lately, chances were Alain would call in, not to mention the risk of run
ning into Iris and Don.

  With much misgiving, she told Ray she would be with him directly.

  One of her gloomy predictions came true soon after she had entered the lounge of the Toy Soldier. Ray came to meet her and ushered her into a corner seat, and as she sat down her eyes rested on Iris and Don in the opposite corner of the lounge. She was grateful when Ray, handing her a sherry, sat in front of her, partially obscuring their view, but she knew Iris had seen her.

  `I could see I was going to get drawn into the eternal triangle,' he said in a low voice, 'I was pounced on as soon as I entered the place. I told them I was expecting company. I don't know what I'd have done if you couldn't make it. Who's the new boy-friend?' he asked. 'Don somebody or other?'

  Megan frowned at him. 'You're too curious,' she scolded half banteringly, thinking how smart he looked in his town suit and wishing she had thought to wear something other than the usual sweater and trousers.

  Somehow it didn't go with his immaculate dress.

  He gave her a grin. 'You mean nosey, don't you? It's my trade,' he explained airily. 'I watch people, for my characters, I mean. I think I'll use him as my next murderer. Looks harmless enough, but a lot goes on beneath the surface.'

  Megan had to chuckle; he was incorrigible ! 'I should have thought you would have made Alain that,' she murmured.

  His brows raised. 'Oh, no. As much as we don't see eye to eye, I wouldn't dream of it. No, he's the detective—the hero if you like; not the dirty deed type at all, worse luck !'

  Megan smiled. At least he was true to type there. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Iris rise, none too steadily, and make her way towards them. Megan did not like the look in her eye, and suspected she had had a few more gins than was good for her. Fearing she was about to make a scene, she quickly excused herself and slipped into the powder room. A few minutes later Iris came in.

  `Didn't want your boss to hear a few home truths about you, I see,' she grated. 'Well, sneaking in here isn't going to get you out of anything. We're going to have a showdown, you and I.' She flung herself into the only chair and glowered at Megan. 'I don't know how you do it,' she said half wonderingly. 'You look so innocent, too.'