It wasn’t.
It was his grandfather, whom she’d completely forgotten in her intense brooding over Jake.
‘My dear Merlina, I was just thinking of you, wondering how the family visit panned out.’
Guilt squirmed through her. ‘I’m sorry, Byron. I should have let you know.’
‘Oh, I’m sure you’ve had much more immediate things on your mind,’ he rolled out indulgently. ‘This is just an old man’s curiosity, whetted by the fact I promoted this match with my grandson.’
‘I’m afraid the match has come unstuck, Byron,’ she wearily confessed.
‘No!’ He sounded aghast. ‘I was so sure…What happened? Your family didn’t like him?’
‘That isn’t the problem. He won their stamp of approval.’ She grimaced as she added, ‘I’m the problem.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I wanted more than he was prepared to give. He isn’t exactly eager about tying himself down with parenthood.’
‘Ah! The stumbling block. Just give him time, Merlina. After all, he knows you’re a woman of steel, not like his bend-with-the-wind mother. Once you took on a responsibility you’d see it through, come what may. He just has to process that knowledge and realise he can trust you to—’
‘It’s me who doesn’t trust him, Byron,’ she cried.
‘Not trust Jake! Take it from me, Merlina, he’s a man of his word. Been like that all his life. Probably because words to him weren’t kept by those who should have kept them.’
‘But he didn’t give his word. He put it off.’
‘Hmm…that could relate to the fact that no one in our family did plan parenthood. It just happened, and more times than not, the children were raised by nannies, then shot off to boarding school, responsibility for them passed on to others. I’m inclined to think Jake would take the responsibility of parenthood very seriously.’
Merlina’s mind whirled through what Byron had just told her, relating it to her showdown with Jake. He had felt his parents had been saddled with him. He had been a burden to them, neither of them taking real responsibility for his upbringing. No sharing in golden moments. Being born into a silver spoon family did not mean Jake had been handed everything he wanted.
What happened to a child whose need for real loving was never fulfilled? Had Jake armoured himself against the need? Playboys didn’t get hurt. They didn’t get involved enough to expose themselves to hurt.
Yet he had involved himself very much with her, even to meeting her family. And he’d liked the way her family worked. It must have been a revelation to him. Even so, his natural instinct had been to shy away from plunging straight into fatherhood. She should have given him more time. He’d gone away, angry with her ultimatum.
Fear of having lost what she might have had, threaded her voice as she said, ‘I just don’t know where Jake is at, Byron. I told him to think about it but he hasn’t come back to me.’
Panic hit her as she realised she should not have taken his ring off. Nor talked about him being an obsession. Stupid pride! She should have said she loved him, should have cared more about his concerns instead of judging, sending him away….
‘I’ve made a total mess of this,’ she muttered despairingly.
‘No, no…I’m sure Jake would be thinking about it,’ Byron said soothingly. ‘Might be a bit of pride involved, but he’s not one to give up on going after what he wants, and there’s no doubt in my mind he wants you, Merlina.’
She sighed, desperately hoping that was true.
‘Just wait a bit longer,’ Byron advised.
She looked down at her very naked left hand and suddenly remembered that Byron’s ring was still in the frozen packet of peas in her refrigerator.
‘Come and have afternoon tea with me on Saturday,’ he invited. ‘We’ll make a new plan. I am, when all’s said and done, a master of manoeuvres.’
She didn’t want to manoeuvre Jake into anything. The thought of any more deception curdled her stomach. She needed to have everything straight with him.
‘I’ll have my chauffeur pick you up in the Rolls-Royce at two o’clock. Agreed?’ Byron pressed.
It was an opportunity to return the diamond engagement ring that had tricked Jake into declaring his desire for her. She wanted to be rid of it. Whatever happened—if anything happened—with Jake in the future, she wanted everything open and aboveboard.
‘Yes. Two o’clock will be fine. I’ll bring your ring with me,’ she said.
‘Splendid! I’ll look forward to seeing you again, my dear.’
‘Thanks, Byron.’
He really was a lovely man. Not only had he given her an insight into Jake’s background and his possible motivations, she knew he would be very kind and caring on Saturday. He might also give her more helpful information about his grandson, but if he came up with any schemes to fix the situation, Merlina decided she would not be a party to them.
No more traps.
No boxing anyone in.
If she and Jake were to come together again it had to be their doing, not anyone else’s.
There was no word from him on Thursday or Friday. Which meant his silence had lasted for ten days. Eleven by Saturday morning. Surely that had to mean he definitely didn’t want to have children. So it was up to her to bridge the ever-widening chasm between them, if she could get her head around giving up on having a family.
In an attempt to cheer herself up a bit, she put on the red dress with the white belt for Byron’s afternoon tea. Of course, it reminded her of being a scarlet woman for Jake and buying the ruby and diamond ring together, but she was going to be reminded of everything anyhow, talking to his grandfather about what had happened.
The Rolls-Royce arrived promptly at two o’clock. She was driven in grand style to the Vaucluse mansion. Parked in the driveway and looking very oddly out of place was a large, luxury tourist coach.
‘Why is the coach here?’ she asked the chauffeur, unable to believe Byron had opened his home and grounds to tourists.
‘I understand Mr Byron has a use for it later this evening,’ came the discreet reply.
Possibly for collecting guests who were to be taken to a party somewhere, Merlina thought. It was the kind of fun thing Byron would think of doing and it certainly avoided any drink driving charges. She dismissed it from her thoughts as they arrived at the front entrance. The chauffeur ushered her out of the Rolls-Royce and with impeccable timing, Byron’s butler opened the front door to welcome her and lead her inside.