The Billionaire's Secrets (15 page)

Gaelan
sat down at the bar. “What can I ge
t you?” John asked out of habit
as he pulled from
the
shelf the single malt scotch he kept in stock especially for
Gaelan
. He poured
Gaelan
a generous shot and put the bottle on the bar next to his glass. They exchanged the usual observations on island politics and the crazy weather before John excused himself and went back into the kitchen.

Gaelan
opened a newspaper and stared at the headlines, but all he could see there was Chloe’s face and all he could remember was the incredible relief he felt as he saw her come up the rise with the bird under her arm.

He took a long drink from his scotch. He couldn’t deny it any longer. What he had feared most had come true. In
the
moment he
’d
glimpsed Chloe and saw that she was safe, he
’d
felt something dangerously close to love. And it hadn’t gone away.

Maybe it was love. What else could it be? It was more than the fire he had felt when he kissed her. It went beyond that. At the moment he knew she was safe, he wanted to take her into his arms and keep her there forever.

So much for
my
resolve
, he thought with a sigh. Determined never to fall in love again, he had done just that
in less than a week
. H
e drew his fingers through his thick hair,
then
sat for a moment with his head in his hands, eyes closed, contemplating the enormity of the mess he had got
ten
himself into.

It was not that he distrusted Chloe anymore. She was not after his money - and he suddenly felt like a fool. With all his education, he was really just another male chauvinist who thought all women were manipulative and greedy.

He remembered standing outside the classroom listening to Chloe teach
Sophia
, knowing without a doubt
Chloe
was the best thing that had ever happened to
the child
. Better than him, better than her own mother.

But God, she must
have thought
he
was a monster, the way he treated
Sophia
. How could he expect a woman so obviously fond of children to love a man w
ho couldn’t stand to be called
Daddy
?  Would Chloe understand if he told her the whole story?
Everything from the beginning?
Colleen, his brother,
Sophia
.
The whole sordid mess.

He lifted his head from his hands and poured another himself another glass of scotch. How could he expect anyone to understand the mess he had got himself into? He could hardly understand it himself. Worse yet, he couldn’t begin to imagine how he could extricate himself from it. Over the years, it had becom
e such a web of lies and deceit that
he wasn’t sure himself anymore where the truth lay.

One of the men at the tables came over and asked if he was done with the newspaper,
and
Gaelan
folded it before handing it to him. A few more people came into the bar, and
Gaelan
realised it was the after-work crowd, here for a pint to unwind from the day's frustrations.

Sooner or later, someone was going to sit down and start talking to him, and he didn’t think he could tolerate any more small talk right now. But then the thought of going home and having to deal with Chloe and
Sophia
was also beyond his capabilities. He did not know how he could look Chloe in the eye right now.  Not until he at least attempted to straighten out his life.

He pulled out his cell and called over to the vet’s office. He hadn’t completely forgotten about the bird, and he was relieved that its condition had stabilised. He asked the vet to do him a favour and call his house
to
pass on the news. He knew Chloe and
Sophia
would be relieved
and found
himself
feeling a rush of pride that the two of them had rescued the bird. Without their intervention, the bird definitely would have perished.

He made a second call to
Windy’s
nephew, Cullen, and asked him if he could drive him to the airport in St. John’s
where he would fly out on his private jet
. He wasn’t due at his office in
Montreal
until mid-week but he couldn’t face the idea of going home. He needed time to think. Surely there was something he could do to untangle the web of deceits. Not that there was any guarantee that even that action would be enough to make a life with Chloe possible. Because it was hard to know in his case what was more damning - the lies or the truth.

Chapter 5

Chloe dropped
Sophia
off at her enrichment class in Puffin’s Cove. It was located in a church
basement,
and each week there was a Friday afternoon program for gifted children in the community. Chloe was relieved that the teachers were expecting
Sophia
, because she had been unsure whether
Sophia
was to keep attending now that Chloe was her teacher.

Of course it should have been a simple matter of asking
Gaelan
, but she hadn’t seen
Gaelan
since Monday when he’d taken the injured eagle to the vet’s. After that, he apparently decided to go to
Montreal
for business
and would be gone
for at least a week.

Chloe was still furious with him. He must have seen how much his daughter needed him at such a time. The poor child had been distraught over the bird. Even when the vet called to say the bird had survived the operation,
Sophia
had still worried. Unable to sleep, she’d asked Chloe if she could sleep in her bed, and Chloe relented, making room not only for the child but the cat and the teddy bear as well.

Chloe remembered her last glimpse of
Gaelan
on the headland. He’d been efficient, she had to give him that, and his concern for the bird was obvious, but he could have shown some concern for poor
Sophia
as well
. Even if he didn’t think it was a good idea for
Sophia
to accompany him to the vet’s, at least he c
ould have provided some comfort
or a few kind words. And then to go to
Montreal
and leave it up to the vet to phone home with the news - she couldn’t think of anything more thoughtless.

In the Jeep she’d been given to drive,
Chloe had taken
Sophia
to the vet’s every day to see the bird. It was going to be okay, and the vet explained it would be released when well enough to fly. The hunter had been caught too, and it was unlikely he would be shooting any more birds as he was now forbidden to own or use a gun.

Chloe parked the J
eep
on the steep main street of the town. First she picked up
her
coat
from the drycleaners where she’d taken it after recovering it from the seat of
Gaelan’s
Rolls. They had been able to remove the bloodstains left behind by the injured bird, and Chloe was grateful for its familiar warmth.

The harbour was still choked with ice, and the boats lined up on the shore were still shrouded in their winter wrappers. A raucous group of gulls fought over the remains of a dead fish, their cries filling the cold air. Most of the town’s cafés and shops were closed until the
summer
tourist season, but Chloe found a bookshop where she purchased a novel and a history of Newfoundland.

She walked around the harbour, admiring the stark beauty of the weather-beaten greyed shops and houses. It was nice to have this afternoon to
herself
, especially knowing that
Sophia
was getting some much-needed time with children her own age. But Chloe was also aware of a melancholy loneliness. She told herself it was natural. She was far from her
family, she had no friends here and it seemed no longer in Boston
either
thanks
to Shawn, and she was
living in an isolated place. But she knew it was more than that. She found herself thinking of
Gaelan
, his dark eyes and
deep
voice finding
their
way into her dreams both at night and during the day. The sound of a footstep either imagined or real would make her heart beat louder, and she would find herself hoping he was back.

But then she would remember his self-centredness, his arrogance, his lack of affection for
Sophia
, and her feelings of attraction would be doused by anger. This teeter-totter of emotions had left her nearly exhausted. She wished she could put
Gaelan
out of her mind. Just think of him as her boss and leave it at that.

The wind off the harbour was icy
,
and the sky was leaden in colour. By the end of the day, snow or rain would start to fall. Chloe hoped it would hold off until they were home. She hated the thought of driving along the coast road in bad weather. Despite her gloves, Chloe’s hands were cold
,
and she slipped them into her coat pockets. She turned around and headed back toward the row of shops near the entrance to the harbour. On her way in, she had seen a restaurant with an open sign in the window. She would have a cup of coffee and read her new novel until it was time to pick up
Sophia
.