Moonflower (20 page)

‘
Mrs Manning?’

‘
Yes! My, aren’t you lovely,’ she said, extending her hand.
Sophie took it and the hand that gripped hers was
strong.

‘
Mark told us that Reuben had managed to contract the most
extraordinary conservationist for Labour’s End,’ Mrs Manning said
with enthusiasm.

Sophie
smiled. ‘I see you’re all kitted out,’ she said, indicating the
khaki shirt, trousers and hiking boots adorning the other woman’s
slightly plump frame. There was a purple spray of buchu blooms in
the buttonhole of her lapel, which surprised Sophie and made her
smile.

‘
Oh, I’m so pleased you approve, Miss Kyle,’ she said without a
trace of sarcasm. ‘When I bought all this I was worried I’d look
like a bit of cliché in my get-up.’

‘
You’re spot on,’ Sophie said, looking down at her own khaki
shirt, shorts and sturdy hiking boots. ‘And please, call me
Sophie.’

‘
Sophie it is. And you must call me Ruby.’

‘
Ruby,’ Sophie repeated, more than a little surprised. She’d
expected an Elizabeth or Caroline in Prada. Not a Ruby in
khaki.

‘
I see you’ve already been introduced to our miracle buchu
plant,’ Sophie said indicating the purple spray.

‘
It was given to me by a lovely old man who suddenly appeared
beside me in all the confusion of our luggage being
unloaded.’

‘
Mr Solomon,’ Sophie said.

‘
He didn’t speak,’ Ruby told her. ‘Just popped it into my
buttonhole and said, “Hmph!” and when I turned to thank him, he was
gone.’

‘
He’s our gardener,’ Sophie explained. ‘And you should be
honoured. He doesn’t bother with just anybody.’

‘
Well, perhaps he realises that I’m an avid gardener, too. I’m
just crazy about plants and all the little creatures that rely on
them. Max? Max, come over here and meet Sophie, Reuben’s lovely
conservationist.’

Seconds
later, a tall man with dark blue eyes disengaged himself from
Reuben and the staff around him. ‘So pleased to meet you,’ he said,
coming forward to shake her hand.

Sophie
stared into eyes nearly as deep a blue as Reuben’s and felt shy
suddenly. She smiled at him, shook his hand.

‘
Mark told us about Sophie, remember,’ Ruby
prompted.

‘
Oh!’ Max said. ‘Yes, he did. Sophie. Yes.’

‘
Max isn’t particularly talkative,’ Ruby said, stepping forward
and linking her arm through her husband’s. ‘But he’s the love of my
life and a good man so there are things I put up with.’

Max
smiled good-naturedly and gently patted his wife’s hand.

Reuben
came over to join them. ‘You’ve met,’ he said, and Sophie thought
she detected a tightness in his voice.

‘
We’re practically friends already,’ Ruby said. ‘Aren’t we,
Sophie?’

Sophie
smiled broadly at her and nodded.

‘
Now when can we go out into the bush, my darling?’ Ruby asked,
releasing her husband, and threading her arm through her son’s.
‘I’m dying to see this farm you’ve been bending our ear about for
months.’

‘
Right now, if Sophie will take us.’

‘
I’d love to,’ she said. ‘I’ll bring a vehicle
around.’

‘
Last one in the vehicle’s a rotten egg,’ Ruby called, as
Sophie headed to the garages.

The late afternoon sunshine slanted across the
veld
, turning the
landscape to gold as they bounced along dirt tracks. Max and Ruby
were wonderful company. Ruby: talkative, enthusiastic and full of
jokes, with Max good-naturedly playing her foil.

Reuben
drove the vehicle, smiling happily at his mother’s banter. Sophie
turned in her seat now and then to explain some animal or feature
of the landscape to the two in the back.

Every
time she did this, Reuben’s hand would brush her bare knee as he
geared down; his touch spreading like warm sunshine through her
body.

They
stopped on a rise above a watering hole just as the sun was
beginning to dip below the horizon in a ball of flaming
peach.

‘
Oh, look at those,’ Ruby said, excitedly from the back. ‘The
little ones, what are they?’

‘
The small buck on the left?’ Sophie asked.

‘
Yes, they’re like tiny toys. So delicate.’

‘
Those are duiker,’ Sophie told her, then went on to describe
some of their habits.

Ruby and
Max were turned sideways in the vehicle, peering rapturously
through binoculars. Reuben reached a hand out to Sophie, touched
her knee, his finger tracing a line along the inside of her thigh,
making her shiver.

He took
his hand away quickly when his mother turned to ask Sophie a
question. When she’d once again resumed her vigil through the
binoculars, Sophie caught Reuben’s eye, ran her hand along the
inside of his thigh, squeezing gently. Reuben moved slightly in his
seat and, when Sophie saw his silent intake of breath, she let go
and stuck her tongue out at him.

A moment
later, as Ruby chattered happily from the back, Reuben leaned over
Sophie, supposedly to look for some item in the glove compartment,
and rubbed his arm against her breast. Now it was Sophie’s turn to
gasp silently as her nipple stood erect against the fabric of her
shirt. Reuben sat back in his seat and stuck his tongue out at
her.

Just then
Ruby turned to ask another question. ‘Good grief, Reuben. You
haven’t done that since you were a child. Sophie, I must apologise.
I did not bring my son up to stick his tongue out at
ladies.’

Sophie
laughed her deep throaty laugh and Reuben grinned beside her,
looking a little bashful.

‘
I haven’t seen you this relaxed in years,’ Ruby said, leaning
over the seat to ruffle his hair. Reuben looked decidedly
embarrassed.

‘
Though it doesn’t surprise me,’ Ruby went on. ‘You remember
how he loved the outdoors, Max? Always exploring, and there was
many a battle trying to get them inside at the end of the day. We
were lucky to bring the boys up in the Cotswolds. Lots of open
space. Nothing like this, of course,’ Ruby said, looking around
her. ‘But when Reuben bought the farm we weren’t exactly
surprised.’

‘
You remember how he was always bringing some creature or
another home with him?’ Max reminded his wife.

‘
Tortoises,’ Ruby agreed. ‘A rabbit, once. We’d have to take
them to the vet, or nurse them back to health, then make a
production of releasing them again.’

‘
We put our foot down with the snake. You remember that,
Ruby?’

‘
Sure do. Rabbit’s one thing, but I wasn’t having a snake in
the house.’

Sophie
looked over at Reuben, who gazed out at the watering hole, smiling,
lost in happy memories. No sign of Reuben Manning, the
results-driven, hard-as-nails business tycoon.

When they
got back to the house, Sophie excused herself, being mindful of not
overstaying her welcome.

Ruby
hugged her warmly and thanked her for what she called their ‘safari
adventure’.

‘
You’ll be coming to dinner with us tomorrow night, won’t you?’
Ruby asked.

At
Sophie’s blank expression, she explained, ‘Reuben’s taking us to
dinner at some fancy hotel in Cape Town. We’d love to have you
along.’

Sophie
shook her head, not wanting to put Reuben on the spot. ‘Thank you
so much for the invitation, Ruby, but I’m sure you’d like to have
some time alone with your son, and there’s a lot for me to do on
the farm.’

‘
You didn’t invite her?’ Ruby said, looking quizzically at her
son.

Reuben
said nothing, just looked horribly uncomfortable and Sophie’s heart
broke a little.

‘
Well, I’m inviting you, dear. Max and I love to dance, and
Reuben can’t sit alone all evening like a wilting violet. He needs
a partner, and we’d be much obliged if you’d be his dance partner.
You’ll wear your party dress and we’ll have a wonderful
time.’

‘
I’ll come along,’ Sophie said, ‘as long as I don’t get in
anyone’s way.’

‘
In our way… Goodness me! You’d be doing us a service, Sophie.’
She looked askance at her son. ‘Don’t know what’s wrong with him.
He isn’t usually this shy.’

Sophie
took off for a couple of hours the next day to rush back to her
flat in Cape Town to fetch the only evening gown she
owned.

Just
before the clock struck seven that evening, she stood in front of
the full length mirror that hung on the inside of her cupboard door
in the cottage.

The gown
was pale blue, full-length, just tight enough to hint at the curves
beneath the delicate fabric. Its tightly ruched bodice emphasised
the fullness of her breasts, while its thin straps covered in tiny
golden beads and amber crystals set off her tanned skin to
perfection. She wore no jewellery. She had none that would go with
a gown of this sort.

Usually
conscious of her height, Sophie felt not the least bit awkward in a
pair of gold strappy sandals. Concerned she’d take a tumble,
unaccustomed as she was to heels, she’d practised a little and had
found that if she shortened her stride and pulled herself up to her
full height, she felt as if she were gliding, the gossamer gown
floating around her.

Sophie
picked her way carefully to the house, watching for any small
cracks her heels might sink into. She almost ran down Mr Solomon
who has stepped into her path in his usual way.

‘
Hmm,’ he said, eyeing her gown critically. ‘Go to bed at
night, not a bloom on the bush; wake next morning and it’s ablaze.
Take this, girl,’ he said, handing her a spray of
jasmine.

‘
Is this South African jasmine?’ she asked, raising the spray
tightly packed with starry tubular flowers to her nose.

‘
Sacred flower of Kama, Hindu god of love. Our
version.’

‘
Beautiful. You’re a wonderful man, Mr Solomon. Thank you,
again.’

Reuben,
when he saw her, did a double take, then seemed to have been struck
dumb.

‘
Oh don’t you look lovely, my dear,’ Ruby said, giving Sophie a
careful hug. ‘Don’t you think she looks lovely, Max?’

‘
A vision,’ he agreed.

‘
We must pin those lovely flowers to your dress,’ Ruby said.
‘Wait here a moment.’

Reuben
said not a word as they were driven to Cape Town. Ruby chattered
excitedly and Sophie pointed out some of the landmarks. But Reuben
sat opposite Sophie staring out the window at the sparkling lights
of the city. They turned into the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront
built around Table Bay Harbour, and eventually stopped in front of
one of its glittering hotels.

Despite
Reuben’s silence, she was determined to at least try to enjoy the
evening, if only because she didn’t want to spoil it for Ruby and
Max. So she smiled and linked her arm through Reuben’s as they
walked into the foyer.

As soon
as the last dishes from their sumptuous dinner had been taken away,
Max and Ruby took to the dance floor.

Sophie
got up from her seat and held a hand out to Reuben.

He looked
at the proffered hand, but would not meet her eyes. In fact, he
seemed like a desperately unhappy man.

Still
keeping his gaze averted from her face, he took her hand and
followed her to the dance floor. Sophie allowed herself to be drawn
into his arms. She pressed gently against him, and they swayed
together to the sensuous sounds of a jazz duo. They had both had
several glasses of dry pungent wine and Sophie felt Reuben’s arm
tighten around her as she swayed on her heels.

His
fingers laced through hers, the heat of his palm against the small
of her back finding its way through the fabric to her skin. She
felt his breath against her forehead and the scent of jasmine was
yet another intoxication as the delicate blooms against her bodice
were crushed to his chest. Sophie’s heart swelled as she felt his
desire for her pressing against the thinness of her gown, and he
swore softly.

They
stayed on the dance floor for most of the evening. Sophie’s feet
started to ache but she didn’t care.

When they
took their seats to sip crystal glasses of cognac while Ruby and
Max chattered away, Reuben made sure some part of his body was
touching Sophie: the press of his thigh or arm, his fingers finding
their way to her back, or caressing her hand beneath the
tablecloth.

Too soon
the evening was over, and Sophie found herself wishing Ruby and Max
goodnight on the verandah.

She was
certain Reuben would come to her.

Still in
the evening gown, she pulled the quilt to the bottom of the bed,
unpinned the jasmine from her bodice and scattered the flowers on
the sheet.

Soon
afterwards, Reuben strode into the cottage and closed the door
noisily behind him. He came to her, every feature taut with tension
and barely suppressed passion. His fingers brushed her shoulders as
he pushed aside one strap then the other.