Davina breathed deeply. 'And you thought Steve would be shocked and wonder about me?' she said, in an even quieter voice.

Loretta shrugged. 'Men can be…let's face it, I'm sure it's only human for men to side instinctively with men and women with women, but no, I'm not accusing Steve of that, although I certainly copped enough flak from him about his father, but then I did take his mother's place. But the real thing was, I didn't want vow copping any flak. People talk here-people talk everywhere, but here… well, I was afraid that because it's such a small community you might find people looking at you strangely and I thought, heaven knows, what's between you and Steve seems to be complicated enough without that, yet.' 'So it could always be a complication?' Davina suggested.

Loretta said strongly, 'Not to those who matter, Davina. And if you think that's just easy wisdom, believe me, I know what I'm talking about.'

Davina put her cup down and wrapped her arms around herself. 'Thank you for believing in me, by the way, but I'm not sure why you do.'

'Ah, well, I happened to meet him once, your ex. Very attractive et cetera but he struck me as being incredibly full of himself. He also,' she said gently, 'tried to make a pass at me while you two were still married. If Steve knows all about it, though,' she looked at Davina queryingly before she went on, 'you must know if he believes you.'

'He does. He… does.'

'So, what's the problem?'

'Me,' Davina said barely audibly. 'He's asked me to marry him but I don't know if it's too soon, I don't know if it's just one of those intense physical attractions that will fade, if he's decided he needs a wife-I have all these doubts. I'm racked by them,' she said and wiped away a foolish tear. 'You see, I swore I would never be forced or rushed into anything again, but what's almost worse is I've got the feeling that if I ever saw Steve Warwick fall out of love with me, I think I'd die. Although I sometimes also think he's a hard man to love; he's so determined and-'

'Arrogant-one of those masterful types, not to mention downright bloody-minded sometimes,' Loretta supplied. 'And too much of a sheer male to know he's rushing things,' she added with an exasperated look.

'Well, it is a bit difficult,' Davina said awkwardly.

Loretta smiled. 'At least you've got Lavinia on your side.'

'If she ever sees Darren doing his bit, she might have second thoughts. Not-'

'No, it really is none of her business,' Loretta said ruefully. 'Not that that's ever stopped her. Well, pet, I think you're just going to have to take a stand. If you don't want to be rushed, dig your heels in-not that that will be easy; there's an awful lot of Lavinia in Steve, but I guess I don't have to tell you that.'

Davina smiled briefly.

Steve came home for a short while that evening, for a meal, a bath and a few hours' sleep. Davina cooked the meal and they all ate together and discussed the search, so once again there was little embarrassment. For one thing, it was too sobering to think of five people and a dog adrift in a dinghy.

But before he took himself to bed, he came into the kitchen and took her into his arms with no regard for whoever might wander in.

'I'm sorry about this,' he said, rubbing his chin on her hair, 'but I'm out on my feet.'

She looked up into his eyes and touched an unsteady finger to the blue shadows on his jaw, unsteady because she was suddenly weak with love. 'Don't be. It's not your fault.'

'How are they treating you?'

'Just fine,' she said wryly. 'I took Candice for a swim this afternoon and they actually both came with us. And I took some interesting, I hope, photos of the three Warwick ladies, together.'

He grimaced then his eyes narrowed on her in a way that made her pulses start to hammer. 'I don't suppose you'd like to come and… soothe me to sleep?'

'No.' Her lips curved into a smile. 'What you need is pure sleep, Mr Warwick.'

'Pure sleep?' He lifted an eyebrow.

'You know what I mean,' she said ruefully.

'Do you mean-put us in a bed together and I might not get much sleep?' he suggested gravely.

'That's exactly what I mean,' she replied equally gravely.

He laughed and kissed her. 'You'd be quite right.' Then he sobered and sighed. 'You've no idea how frustrating it is to know they must be out there somewhere…' He shrugged. 'So there's been no more radio contact?' 'No. Which makes it seem highly likely they've had to take to a dinghy or-' He stopped.

'Go to bed,' she said softly. 'Things will look better when you're not so tired.'

But the next day and night yielded nothing and most people began to believe the yacht had sunk with no survivors, although the search continued.

It was on the third morning of the search that Lavinia picked up the post and brought home two letters for Davina-one from her mother and one in a type-addressed envelope. She put her mother's in her pocket and opened the other one with a faint frown, only to go white and feel dizzy as she read it.

My dear Davina, so that's where you're hiding? I don't suppose I need to tell you how I found this out; he really is a little germ, isn't he, although quite useful? But the big news is, by a happy coincidence, I've fought my way out of all my financial difficulties and paid back all my debts. I won't bore you with the details, but I found someone to go into silent partnership with, who believed I was the unlucky victim of the recession, fiscal policies and so forth, which I was, and because my ideas made him a lot of money, quite a lot of it has now come my way and I'm respectable and wealthy again. What, you may be wondering, has this to do with you? I'll tell you. I'm now in the position of not having to stand by and watch you marry another man. Thanks to Paul, I know a lot about Steve Warwick and his quiet but substantial empire, I know all his companies that are public with him as chief shareholder and, on the day you accept his ring, I would begin to attempt to shoot down every one of them, like sitting ducks. Would I succeed? I like to think so, and even make myself some more money in the process, but if I don't, I'll still have a hell of a lot of fun along the way while causing him merry hell. You see, my dear, there are some things I can never forgive or forget. And you shouldn't forget what a genius I was at takeovers in my heyday…

Davina let the letter flutter to the kitchen floor then stooped to pick it up hastily as Candice came in. 'Davina-are you OK?'

She swallowed and tried to pin a smile to her lips. 'Fine. Did you want something?'

'You don't look too good, but I just came to talk to you,' Candice confided. 'Mum's going through a stage of trying to be a better mum, probably just in case I get spirited on to a yacht and drowned and then she'll have to feel guilty all her life.'

Davina couldn't help but laugh and then found herself saying curiously, 'Is she such a bad mum?'

'Well, what she was trying to tell me was that she might not be a con…' Candice paused and looked to Davina for help. 'Conventional?'

'That's it, a con-ven-tion-al mum, but she does love me. Do you think you'd be one of those?'

Davina looked at her affectionately. 'I don't think you can know until you become a mum. But there are worse things than having an unconventional one; I think that all that matters is that she really loves you. And so does Lavinia, and so does Steve, and, while they may sometimes argue about you, it's because you're such a special person to them.'

'Like you are to Steve?' Candice looked at her enquiringly.

Davina returned that clear, innocent gaze and wondered how on earth to answer. But all she could come up with was, 'Perhaps.' And knew it sounded lame but Steve himself walked in at that moment.

And the way he said, 'Hi, ladies!' made them both look at him searchingly.

'Have you found something?' Davina asked. 'Just as we landed, a report came in from another plane that they'd made a sighting. Not quite sure what it is, there's a lot of low cloud cover in the area, but at least it's something. I've just come to grab a cup of tea and take some sandwiches back.'

'Right.' Davina shoved Darren's letter into her pocket and turned towards the counter. 'Candice, you can help me, you can butter the bread-why don't you have a quick shower?' she added over her shoulder.

'Will do,' he said, paused, his gaze on her, then he smiled briefly and walked out.

He came back in ten minutes and drank his tea thirstily. By this time Lavinia and Loretta had been apprised of the news and were discussing the possibilities eagerly, but Steve stayed only minutes then took Davina by the hand and said, 'Come outside with me for a minute.'

She went reluctantly and as soon as they were out of sight and earshot, he said, still holding her hand, 'What's wrong?'

'Nothing,' she said quickly, perhaps too quickly, because he frowned immediately.

She tried again. 'I think we're all a bit uptight. I know I've never been involved in a sea search this closely and it-gets to you.'

'Sure?'

'Yes, Steve,' she said quietly. 'Look, don't even think about me; you need all your energy to concentrate on finding them.'

'It's very hard not to think about you,' he said with a slight smile at the back of his eyes. And as her hand trembled in his, he lifted it to his lips and kissed her knuckles. 'I'm off.'

She watched him drive away, then went to her chalet and locked herself in.


* * *

It was only after she'd reread Darren's letter a couple of times that she remembered her mother's and was horrified to discover that her mother had read the magazine articles Loretta had mentioned and was distraught and disturbed. 'I don't know why he's doing it,' she wrote, 'but the way he's telling it makes him come out smelling of roses and you, well, like some cheap girl who only married him for his money.'