Darkness Into Light

‘That makes two of us,’ Pierce Sutherland put in icily. ‘It would seem I’ve called at an inopportune time,’ he added harshly.

‘Not at all,’ she dismissed easily. ‘Gary and I have finished our meal, and …’

‘Gary?’ Pierce echoed slowly.

Danny nodded. ‘You remember, I told you about my sister’s fiancé.’

‘I remember,’ he rasped grimly. ‘Your method of solving the problem is—unique, Danielle.’

The foreign inflection he gave to her full name was very pleasant, but she couldn’t imagine what he thought was so unique about the idea of making her sister jealous. Inspired, perhaps, but certainly not unique.

‘I’ll leave the two of you to enjoy your coffee,’ he added coldly.

‘But you didn’t tell me why you came over.’ She frowned.

‘It wasn’t important.’ He turned to the younger man. ‘Sorry to have interrupted your evening.’

‘Pierce …’ She stood in the doorway and watched as he strode off into the darkness, the barking of the dogs silenced by a single word from him tonight. He was a strange man, a very strange man. Almost as strange as his uncle was reputed to be.

‘Who was that?’ Gary was naturally mystified by her visitor.

She closed the door with a sigh. She hadn’t expected to see Pierce Sutherland again, knowing that the kiss they had shared hadn’t meant the same to him as it had to her. But now that she had seen him again she hated the fact that he had left without telling her why he had come here in the first place.

‘He works for Henry Sutherland.’ She was reluctant to mention either of the nephews to Gary, knew he could be very astute when he chose to be.

‘Are you and he—friends?’ Gary probed.

‘No,’ she answered truthfully, doubting Pierce Sutherland had many friends, male or female.

‘He didn’t seem too pleased about seeing me here.’ Gary frowned.

‘You’re imagining things,’ she dismissed briskly. ‘Now, how about that coffee?’

‘That’s what I came in to tell you,’ he said ruefully. ‘Don’t bother about coffee for me, I’d better be going; I have an early shift tomorrow.’

The coffee was already made, but she didn’t try to dissuade him. Gary was a very nice man, but she had done what she set out to do, and now she didn’t mind being left on her own.

She walked down to the gate that divided her garden from the main one after Gary had left, looking over at the main house. The lights around the pool were on, and she could imagine that sleek body moving through the cool water, wishing she could join him. But things had changed in the last three days, no longer was she allowed to enter the grounds at night, the alarms left on now by strict instructions of Henry Sutherland. And poor Dave Benson was under sentence of serious reprimand when Henry Sutherland got back from his latest business trip. She had tried to get in to see the elusive billionaire before he left, intending to plead on Dave’s behalf, but she had been firmly told that Mr Sutherland wasn’t seeing anyone.

She couldn’t blame Pierce for advising his uncle to take some form of action over the incident, but she didn’t feel Dave Benson should be made to take all the blame.

She had heard the helicopter return earlier this evening, and Pierce’s presence indicated that his uncle was back in residence, but the lateness of the hour meant she would have to wait until tomorrow before seeing Henry Sutherland. She wished she knew why Pierce had come over …

‘What are you up to?’ Cheryl demanded suspiciously.

The expected telephone call from her sister came early the next evening, Cheryl sounding most indignant. ‘Sorry?’ She pretended ignorance, holding back her humour.

‘Gary said he came to dinner last night,’ Cheryl accused.

‘He did,’ she acknowledged. ‘He looks as if he’s losing weight to me,’ she added lightly. ‘I thought a home-cooked meal would be nice.’

‘Not one of your home cooked meals!’ Cheryl mocked scornfully.

‘Gary didn’t have any complaints,’ she taunted.

‘He gets a home-cooked meal every night—he lives at home with his parents!’

‘So he does,’ she smiled. ‘Then something else must be bothering him.’

‘I suppose you’re implying that it’s me,’ Cheryl said in a disgruntled voice.

‘You?’ She feigned surprise. ‘Why should Gary be worried about you?’

‘Because of Nigel!’

‘Oh, but he doesn’t know about him,’ Danny dismissed. ‘And even if he did, he may not be too worried. You’ve been away a long time, Cheryl,’ she reasoned. ‘Men tend to find themselves other—compensations for an absent fiancée.’

‘What are you implying now?’ her sister demanded waspishly. ‘That Gary has someone else?’

‘Why not? You do.’

‘That’s different—–’

‘I don’t see how,’ she mocked. ‘Gary is very handsome, he has a steady job, a lot of women would be glad to snap him up.’

‘He’s engaged to me!’

‘Engagements don’t seem to mean the same as they used to,’ she derided.

‘Do you know something I don’t?’ Cheryl asked sharply. ‘Has Gary been seeing someone else?’

‘Would it really bother you that much if he were?’

‘Of course it would!’

‘Why? I thought you were thinking of finishing with him anyway,’ Danny reasoned.

‘I am, but … Who is it, Danny?’ she demanded to know. ‘Who is Gary seeing?’

‘No one, as far as I know,’ Danny answered evasively.

‘But you said—–’ Cheryl broke off, the workings of her mind almost audible over the telephone. ‘How late did he stay last night?’ she finally asked guardedly.

‘Quite late,’ Danny prevaricated. ‘He can be a very interesting conversationalist.’

‘Are you going to invite him over again?’

‘I was thinking of asking him tomorrow,’ she invented, having hoped the once would be enough to irk her sister.