Page 198 of Save You
For a moment, there’s just the quiet crackle.Then…
“I thought you might need a little…privacy, sir.”
Eyes wide, I look at James.He seems as surprised as me.Then I burst out laughing.
James joins in, burying his face back in my throat.
25
Ruby
I see Lydia’s messages the moment Percy turns onto the Beauforts’ driveway.
Change of plans!
Dad just came home
Better tell Percy to turn around
Ruby?
She sent the first a good fifteen minutes back, and the last three minutes ago; there are three missed calls from James too.The panic starts to rise within me as I stare at my phone and wonder what to do.But before I even manage to get my thoughts together, Percy is pulling up outside their house.
I watch with growing unease as he gets out, walks around the car, and opens the door.I gulp hard as I pick up the little bag with its three tubs of Ben & Jerry’s, take the hand Percy is holding outto me, and let him help me.Once out of the car, I take a deep breath of the cool evening air and look cautiously around me.
I can see James and Lydia standing, waiting for me at the top of the steps outside the enormous front door.James has his arms crossed over his chest, but Lydia gives me a quick wave.I turn back to Percy.“I don’t know how long I’ll be able to stay.Will you be here for a while?”
A thin smile spreads over the chauffeur’s lips.“I’m always here, Ms.Bell.Mr.Beaufort just has to drop me a line and I’ll be ready to take you home.”He tips his hat slightly, then gets back into the car, presumably to park up in the huge garage at the side of the house.
I hurry up the front steps.
“Hey,” I whisper, as soon as they’re in earshot.“I only saw your texts a minute ago.Your dad is here?”
James and Lydia nod.The pair of them look anything but happy, but James pulls me into a quick hug.“Hey,” he murmurs into the crook of my neck, which gives me full-body goose bumps.
Once we’ve pulled apart, Lydia sighs.“Dad came home early especially to have dinner with us.”
“I’d better go, then, hadn’t I?”I ask uncertainly.I don’t want them to feel like I’m running away the minute things get complicated.After all, James put up with a whole evening in the company of my family.But they look so miserable about the idea of spending time with their father that I don’t want my presence to make things even worse.
James gives me a crooked smile.“I just don’t want to subject you to this ordeal.”
At that precise moment, Mortimer Beaufort appears in the hallway.
At the sight of me, his eyes widen for a split second.
I stiffen.
“Kindly invite your guest inside and shut the damn door.Do we live in a barn?”he thunders.Lydia and James look startled as they whirl around.
For a second, we stare at each other.Lydia is the first to react, pulling me gently into the house by the arm.She shuts the door behind me, and suddenly I’m just feet away from Mortimer Beaufort, who scans me over from head to foot.
I do likewise.He’s wearing a tailor-made navy suit and his sandy hair is gelled into place with a neat side parting.He’s paler than he was the last time we met, but the look in his eyes hasn’t changed—cold as ice, without even a hint of emotion.I gulp hard.My throat feels like I’ve swallowed a mouthful of sand.
The next moment, I find myself wondering why I let this man intimidate me so much.I don’t care what he thinks of me; after all, the only things I feel for him are rage, scorn, and revulsion—certainly no respect.
So I straighten my back and meet his eyes.“Good evening, Mr.Beaufort,” I say.
“Dad, I’m sure you remember Ruby,” James adds.
