The Secret Child

Six years after their first proper meeting she met up with Luke again. It was at a birthday party in London, a trendy affair in a wine bar down by the River Thames. Alison was edging towards the door, trying to escape the crush of people and the heat and noise, when she suddenly spotted him across the room. Even though it was several years since she had last seen him, she knew him instantly. There was no mistaking Luke Davenport; he was so attractive, tall and dark with a commanding presence that drew a woman’s attention and held it.

She watched him for a moment, trying to work out who he was with, but there were so many people around him that it was an almost impossible task, so she made her way across to him.

She caught his eye as he turned and for a few seconds she could tell that he recognised her but couldn’t place her.

‘Hello, Luke; you’re a long way from home.’ Alison smiled and quite enjoyed the look of astonished recognition in his eyes as they swept over her.

‘Heavens, it’s Alison, isn’t it…? Alison Trevelyan.’ Along with the note of surprise there was a definite hint of male appreciation in his voice. He seemed to do a double take on her, noting the leather trousers that emphasised her small waist and long legs, and the sparkly halter-neck top she wore. The perusal was very far removed from the way he had looked at her the last time they had met. It was as if he was seeing her for the first time, noting the golden-red of her hair, which lay long and loose around her shoulders, and the soft curves of her body, registering her as a woman, not the gawky schoolgirl he had last encountered. ‘I hardly recognised you. You look fabulous,’ he said, and she felt a thrill of exhilaration unlike anything she had ever known.

‘What are you doing up in London?’ he asked.

‘I’m at university; my flat is just around the corner from here. How about you?’

‘I work for a company called Millington Hays. My office isn’t far from here.’

‘You’re a high-flying executive, aren’t you?’

‘Assistant Director.’

‘Sorry.’ She grinned. ‘The grapevine in Penray obviously isn’t one hundred per cent accurate.’

‘Thank heavens for that,’ Luke agreed with a grin. ‘How do you know Barbara?’

‘Who…? Oh, Barbara, the girl whose birthday party this is! Sorry.’ Alison laughed. ‘As you’ve probably just guessed, I don’t really know her at all. She’s the older sister of a friend of a friend. A whole crowd of us from university have dropped in on the spur of the moment…actually I feel like a gatecrasher because I hardly know anyone.’

‘I don’t know a lot of people here either. Barbara is a work colleague.’ He smiled at her, the kind of smile that made her feel weak inside. ‘Would you like a drink?’

Forgetting the fact that a moment ago the crowds had seemed unbearable, Alison accepted happily and followed him towards the small bar at the far side of the room.

It was hard to have a conversation because of the noise and the loud music and they had to stand very close, Luke leaning down to speak closer to her ear; the husky rasp of his voice and the feel of his breath against her sensitive skin set her pulses racing, and she was hardly able to concentrate on anything except the profound effect he was having on her senses.

Someone bumped into her and jerked her forward. Luke reached out a hand to steady her and for a second he held her close in the confined space.

The touch of his hand sent a thrill of excitement rushing through her, and as she looked up into the depths of his gorgeous eyes she was totally smitten…just as she had all those years ago as a teenager. She could hardly believe her luck that he was here now and that he was looking at her with equal interest.

He walked her home and they talked non-stop. There was this strange feeling of unity; she found herself opening up to him as if it were the most natural thing in the world, as if the divisions that had kept their families apart over the years had never existed.

She told him she was studying accountancy and they talked for a while about living in the city and the places they liked to go.

‘But don’t you miss Cornwall?’ she sighed. ‘I used to love getting up really early in the morning when I lived on the farm. Riding one of the horses across the fields towards the cliffs, breathing in the sea air, watching the fishing boats and just listening to the sound of the ocean pounding against the rocks. There is something magical about Cornwall, the way the mist and the light sparkle as a new day dawns. That feeling of peace and tranquillity…and belonging somewhere.’

As they stopped outside the house where she shared a flat with a fellow student she abruptly fell silent and looked up into his eyes with an acute feeling of shyness.

‘I talk too much, don’t I?’ she said with a nervous laugh.

‘No.’ He smiled. ‘I think you are quite enchanting, Alison Trevelyan.’ The words were said so matter-of-factly that they sounded completely sincere rather than charming. Or maybe it was just the fact that Luke was so good-looking he could get away with any old line. According to the rumours back home, Luke was a womaniser, with one beautiful woman in his life after another.

‘Bet you say that to all the girls,’ she said, trying her best not to be thrilled by the compliment.

‘Only the ones that I’d like to see more of,’ he said, a teasing glint in his eye.

Before she could say anything to that he bent his head and kissed her. She would never forget that first kiss, the sensation of desire, of being overtaken totally by emotion and need. Luke was certainly a master at turning a woman on. When he pulled back from her she was breathless with longing.

‘Can I see you again?’ he whispered, and she nodded, unable to trust herself to speak.

There followed a whirlwind of dates, a time that was so exciting that Alison found herself living for the evenings or the weekends when she would see him.

He always arrived to pick her up in his convertible blue Jaguar and took her out to clubs and restaurants and long drives in the countryside. Everything about her time with him seemed so perfect, so idyllic. She felt as if she could talk to him about anything…and yet they always skirted around the feud between their families; it was like an unspoken pact between them, as if that problem was left behind in Cornwall and was therefore nothing to do with them.

A few weeks after they had started going out together Luke drove her down to Kent. It was a beautiful evening and the countryside was filled with the sounds and scents of summer, the sky a rich, warm blue. She had thought that they were going to a restaurant but Luke surprised her with a picnic. They had a most romantic evening, seated by the banks of a river in the warm spring air. The picnic hamper was from Harrods and filled with fabulous delicacies and Luke had even brought along a bottle of chilled champagne. Alison later remembered it all so vividly that she could almost smell the blossom in the air; she remembered lying on her back in the dappled shade of an apple tree, looking up at the blue of the sky thinking how wonderful life was and that this was just perfect…

‘I’m driving down to Cornwall on Friday night, Ali, to see my father. Would you like to come with me?’

The casual invitation threw her, and suddenly made her face the fact that if she arrived back in the village with Luke in tow her father would find out she was seeing him…and there would be serious ructions. ‘I don’t think I can,’ she refused.

‘Why not? I’ll be driving back to London on Sunday so you’ll be in plenty of time for uni. I thought you’d like to go down and see your family for the weekend?’

‘I would…but…’

‘But you don’t want to go with me?’

The matter-of-fact statement made her sit up. ‘It’s not that, Luke.’ She felt herself going red as she said softly, ‘It’s just…why raise trouble? There isn’t a lot of love lost in our home for a member of the Davenport family.’

Luke inclined his head. ‘Tell me about it…’ he drawled heavily. ‘But it’s time that feud business was forgotten.’

She smiled, happy that he felt the same way as she did. ‘Yes…I agree. But if we arrive down there together they’ll all know we’re seeing each other and it will just awaken all the old animosities again… I’d rather not face all that unless…or until I have to.’

‘If that’s what you want.’ Luke shrugged. ‘But frankly I don’t care much for subterfuge.’

‘Yes, but it’s easy for you to be unconcerned; you live in London, Luke.’

‘So do you.’

‘But only for the time being while I’m at uni.’

There was a small, strained silence for a moment before she continued swiftly, ‘Anyway, maybe your father isn’t quite as…’

‘Dogmatic and domineering?’ Luke supplied the words drily and they irritated her.

‘I was going to say that maybe your father isn’t as angry about the past as mine is,’ she corrected him quietly, her loyalty to her father suddenly rearing up. ‘After all, losing my uncle like that was a dreadful blow for the whole family.’

‘I’m sure it was,’ Luke said softly. ‘But it was a terrible and tragic accident, Alison; it wasn’t anyone’s fault. Your father’s inability to accept that caused a lot of further and unnecessary distress between our two families.’

Whatever else she had been going to say on the subject was abruptly cut off as Luke moved towards her and rolled her gently back against the grass, pinning her beneath him.

‘But that’s all in the past, Alison. It’s here and now that matters.’

As his lips captured hers she forgot instantly what they had even been arguing about. He held her hands high over her head as his lips crushed hers and then as she kissed him back heatedly he relaxed his hold and they lay together in a heated blaze of an emotion that had nothing to do with anger.