Storm Cycle Read online

  She hadn't altogether trusted the gleam in his eye, the smoothness of his voice. She had had an uneasy suspicion that he believed after two years she would no longer want to work for him. She had endured the secretarial college for six months, when her grandfather told her Reece had had a row with his latest secretary. Immediately she heard, Zoe rushed, to confront him.

  'You promised!' she cried.

  'You haven't finished your training yet,' he rapped back.

  'I don't want to,' she replied.

  'I must be mad,' Macadam sighed, 'but if you thinkworking for me will leave you unlimited time formessing around with boats, then you'd better think again.'

  Nevertheless, Zoe had managed to survive. Not only that, she had been a success. While she mightn't be brilliant, she was highly intelligent. She could do any­thing with figures and never used a dictionary, or needed to, and anything a prospective customer wanted toknow about the boat he was buying, if Macadam wasn't there, she could tell them. If she had one bad fault it was her habit of disappearing to help one of the men. It was fortunate that Macadam always knew where to find her.

  The door opened furtively and Ian stole in. Putting an arm round Zoe's shoulders, he kissed her lightly on the cheek. 'And how's my lovely girl this morning?' he smiled.

  'Without time to provide you with an amusing half hour!' Macadam's voice hit them from behind.

  Ian flushed and went away.

  'Damn you, Macadam,' Zoe gasped, 'he wasn't doing any harm!'

  'That's a matter of opinion,' Macadam snapped, 'and don't use language like that in here.'

  'I've heard worse.'

  'So have I. When you were eight, or was it nine, and you suffered for it. I don't want to have to put you over my knee again.'

  'Then you'll have to think of something else,' Zoe taunted rashly.

  'That shouldn't be too difficult,' His eyes glinted. 'Perhaps you prefer the kind of punishment Graham was dishing out?'

  Zoe blinked. 'He was only kissing me ..."

  'You didn't mention that you'd got as far as that!'

  She flushed. It was the first time Ian had, but she wouldn't tell Macadam. Why should she? 'I'm sorry,' she said sedately.

  Macadam disappeared into his office, slamming the door.

  Ten minutes later Zoe followed.

  'Can't you knock or buzz to say you're coming?' Macadam snarled. 'You've simply no idea of the proper way of going on, nor are you willing to learn.'

  'I usually knock or ring to ask if it's all right,' she defended herself, meeting Macadam's arctic blue eyes. 'If you're suffering from a broken heart, this morning,' she added flippantly, 'the message I have might cheer you up.'

  'I won't warn you again, Zoe,' he said grimly, 'And don't bother to apologise. I dislike insincerity as much as anyone. Come on, then,' he stretched back in his chair, 'what's this great news flash that's going to change my life?'

  Goodness, she'd be lucky to get out of here alive! Taking a deep breath, she contrived to sweeten her voice. 'Miss Findlay rang to say she's giving a party—or her mother is, tomorrow night, and you're invited.'

  Dead silence. The office walls might have revealed more than Macadam's face, which was absolutely ex­pressionless. Rather desperately, Zoe tried again.

  'Then Miss Vintis. She's coming along at eleven with her father and brother. They—the father and brother, I gather—arrived unexpectedly last night and would like to meet you. She suggested eleven and asked me to ring her back if it wasn't all right. Apparently her brother is keen to check you have exactly what he wants before coming to a final decision.'

  'That's all I need!' Macadam exclaimed. 'Someone who's probably never sailed before telling me how to run my own business.'

  'It mightn't come to that,' Zoe said soothingly,

  'I haven't your faith in human nature,' he retorted.

  She shrugged and left him, hearing the mail come in.

  'You'd better get in touch with Miss Vintis and tell her I'll be delighted to see them,' Macadam said with heavy sarcasm, as she went out.

  When Zoe returned with the sorted mail and her notepad, he asked laconically, 'How would you like to go to the Findlay party, Zoe?'

  'Not particularly,' she said.

  'Well, you're going,' he informed her, 'and that's an order.'

  She laid the mail down on his desk with an uncertain frown. 'You'd better think again, hadn't you?' she lifted her eyes to meet his hooded ones. 'A, I don't have a suitable dress. B, Ian's asked me out on Saturday night, and C, the Findlays didn't invite me. They may not like it.'

  'A,' he retorted testily, 'you can buy a dress, I'll give you the money. B, you told me you hadn't given Graham a definite answer. And as for C, the Findlays can lump it if they don't like it, but you can take it from me there'll be no objections.'

  'How can you possibly know that? Macadam,' she asked anxiously, 'what makes you think I'll be accepted?'

  'If for no other reason than that you'll be with me,' he replied dryly, 'But you're as good as they are any day. Jack Findlay might happen to be related to a title, but he's no snob.'

  That Zoe couldn't deny, but he had an extremely snooty wife and daughter.

  'You wouldn't be trying to find a plausible excuse, would you?' he snapped. 'It's not often I ask you to do anything for me away from the office.'

  'And sailing,' she tacked on automatically, thinking of the long hours at sea when she'd crewed for him, helping him test new ideas and equipment.

  'You can't make me believe you're complaining about that?' Macadam jeered softly.

  'I still don't know why you're so keen to go to this party,' she murmured. 'After all, your romance is over.'

  'Is it?' He stared at her coldly. 'If it is, then you could be partly responsible.'

  Zoe went white and knew he must be aware of it. 'You mean you're going to take me there in order to make me pay for my sins? To make Ursula jealous?'

  'No,' he said shortly, 'you're wide of the mark, as usual, but I haven't time to explain.'

  Startled, she glanced at the clock. 'Oh, gosh,' she exclaimed childishly, 'they'll be here soon and I haven't even got the coffee on!'

  'No need for panic!' He reached out impatiently, pushing the mail out of sight in a drawer. 'That will have to wait, and for heaven's sake don't trip over with the coffee or spill someone's whisky on the floor. Oh, and have a clean pad ready, so if they do make up their minds about what they want, you don't get their order muddled up with someone else's.'

  'I do know that much!' Zoe bristled. How unfair could you get! 'I've never made a mistake like that all the time I've been working for you. Why should you think I'm going to do so now?'

  'Well, don't let's argue about it,' he retorted, without apology. 'Just remember what I've told you—and don't forget to look pleasant.'

  Driven to insolence, she said angrily, 'I wonder if you know the meaning of the word?'

  'Oh, get out!' he snapped, leaving his chair to turn his back on her as he walked across the room and began rummaging in a cupboard.

  Zoe spent the next few minutes calming down and seeing to the coffee. As she set a tray with four cups" and checked their supply of clean glasses, she wondered how she was going to explain to Ian about Saturday. She would much rather have gone sailing on her own than out with either of them. She couldn't very well tell Ian this, though, as he had done nothing to deserve such bluntness. Nor did she care to confess to him that Macadam had asked her out, then made it an order when she had refused. She could, of course, atill refuse to go with Macadam, she doubted if he would sack her, but an odd urgency was rapidly getting the better of her. If she didn't go she wouldn't know what was going on, and she couldn't bear to wait until some later date to discover if he and Ursula were friends again. No, she decided, her mind made up, she would go and remain glued to his side, whether he liked it or not!

  She hoped Mr Vintis and his family wouldn't be late. In the mood Macadam was in he was quite liable to disappear, leaving
Ian or her to do the negotiating. It wouldn't be the first time.

  They were on time. Mr Vintis wrote highly success­ful novels which were often made into films. Zoe had read somewhere that many writers had no idea of time, but Charles Vintis was clearly a man of method. She glanced with interest at his daughter, whom she had spoken to on the telephone but never met. They were a London family who, six months ago, had bought a house in the district and intended living here for the greater part of each year.

  From her voice, Zoe had gathered the impression that Miss Vintis was older and plain. Older she might be, but never plain. She was beautiful, with a nice open, laughing face. Zoe gazed at her in dismay. Her brother might have been a few years younger, around thirty or so. He looked all set to take over the world.

  She admired his air of supreme confidence while sus­pecting Macadam mightn't.

  'Mr Macadam is expecting you,' she smiled formally. Recalling his lecture on how a proper sec­retary should go on, she rang through to make sure he was ready to receive them. He was. 'If you'll just come this way, please?' She stood up, still smiling formally.

  Reece, however, was at the door before she reached it. 'Is he your boss?' Freddy Vintis asked in a low tone.

  She nodded primly, aware of Reece's glance flicking her coldly. 'I'll be in touch.' Freddy Vintis leaned out­rageously near her ear.

  'See to the coffee, Miss Kerr, when you have a moment, please,' Reece emphasised the "when" sar­castically, and Zoe flushed.

  Silently she fumed as she switched off the percolator, not caring if the coffee was properly ready or not. Macadam couldn't expect perfection when he so clearly indicated she fell far short of it!

  When she went through with the coffee he was ex­plaining details she knew by heart but never tired of hearing. Macadam had a way of talking about boats which never failed to grip her attention. He could make even a rowing boat sound something special.

  Freddy Vintis jumped up, taking the tray from her. He had manners, as well as everything else, she mused, suspecting, as her eyes met a pair of steely blue ones, that Macadam had read her thoughts exactly.

  As she poured coffee, Freddy Vintis hovered, never taking his eyes from her face. Obviously with a view to impressing her, he said loudly, 'I was just about to tell your boss, Miss Kerr, that I want something fast, with the most powerful engine you've got—or can get. I can't stand anything that's slow.'

  Macadam interrupted politely but coldly. 'The care­ful choice of an engine is the only way to obtain maximum results from a boat. A racer can actually be slower with more powerful engines astern. I'd advise you not to be too ambitious to begin with, Mr Vintis. The sea, especially the coastal waters around here, calls for some experience and careful navigation.'

  Freddy seemed less then impressed. 'Oh, I'll soon get the hang of it, Macadam,' he grinned airily. 'I've been reading books.'

  'All very commendable,' Macadam agreed flatly. 'I read books on the subject and wrote two myself. But, years ago, practical experience taught me that there's a world of difference between classroom navigation and doing it out there.'

  'Sure, you're probably right,' Freddy laughed, 'but that's no problem. I'll take somebody with me, the first once or twice. Miss Kerr, for instance,' he turned back to Zoe, his handsome face still wreathed in smiles, 'I bet you'd be willing to come with me and show me a thing or two?'

  Later Macadam told her grimly, 'If you dare go out with that young fool I'll have your head examined!'

  Zoe glanced up from rows of figures which were dancing crazily before her on a page. For the first time she couldn't make sense of them. She had been here in her own office answering the telephone when he had shown the Vintises out. Father and son had gone first, while Macadam had followed with Carol Vintis, steer­ing her lightly, his hand on her waist. Suddenly Zoe had felt ill. Not another! She didn't think she could stand it. A terrible pain had lanced through her heart, making her wince.

  Lowering her eyes quickly, for fear he might read what was in them, she muttered tightly, 'I didn't take his suggestion all that seriously.'

  Looking anything but satisfied, Macadam retorted, 'He will undoubtedly kill himself. A pity—maybe?'

  Zoe shrugged. 'You did your best to straighten him out, so I shouldn't let him trouble you.'

  'I'd never encourage suicide.'

  'You could always pass on a few more tips when you dine with his sister.'

  'My, Grandmama, what sharp ears you have,' he quipped tersely.

  Zoe flushed angrily. 'When she asked you if tonight's arrangements still stood, she didn't bother to lower her voice, nor did you look particularly reluctant. Why don't you take her to Miss Findlay's party on Saturday instead of me?'

  Macadam's mouth tightened, his glance smouldering over Zoe's pink face. 'I asked you, and I'd rather take you than anyone else.'

  'I don't have to believe it.'

  'I'd advise you to.' He came nearer, standing so close she could see the black rims around the pupils of his amazing blue eyes. 'Believe me, Zoe, there's a side to me you've never seen yet, so don't push me too far.'

  Another side? She was familiar with his anger, being frequently subjected to it. His hardness she accepted, because it was the kind of toughness a man needed to cope with the harsher elements involved in work such as his. The strength often required to survive at sea was bound, in time, to affect a man's whole personality. She had also, on rare occasions, known his gentleness, so this other side he hinted at could only be sexual.

  Shivering, as her pulses quickened alarmingly, she said, 'You might enjoy shocking me, Macadam, but I don't think you'd ever actually hurt me.'

  'One day I may have to.'

  He was staring, each word bitten off, and while Zoe couldn't read the look in his eyes, she felt her nerves flinch then tighten with a strange excitement. It was like being hurtled heavenwards, with no ability to resist the forces sweeping her there. Into the skies she went,;helpless to fight the turbulent emotions which seemed to be emanating directly from him. All around her were clouds, black and terrifying, ringed with fire, lines she dared not cross. Yet the clouds beckoned treacher­ously, so incredibly soft that she wanted to.

  'Macadam!' she gasped faintly, her trembling lips parting incredulously.

  'Why not try calling me Reece?' he suggested, his eyes' still hard on her face. 'It might make things easier.'

  Something in his voice jerked Zoe to her senses. She tried to grasp what it was, but before she could it was gone. As though coming out of a trance, she blinked, shaking her head. 'I don't know if I could,' she whispered.

  'Leave it,' he said expressionlessly. 'One day you might not find it so difficult.'

  'You know I like to please you,' she found herself pleading, 'although it may not always be obvious.'

  He smiled wryly at that. 'The understatement of the year.'

  'Sometimes you make it difficult,' she defended her­self indignantly.

  This time he merely raised dark brows as he turned from her to stare out of the window. 'You know what. I'd like to do? I'd like to take the ketch and go sailing. Somewhere really rough.'

  Those sort of conditions demanded a man's full con­centration, with no time to think of anything else. Why should Macadam want to forget everything? He had a good life here, hadn't he, among the islands. It must be almost as good as a man could get.

  'Alone?' she asked.

  'No—with you.'

  'Because I don't get in the way?'

  He glanced at her quickly. 'Forget it,' he shrugged. 'We've too much to do. The business would soon col­lapse if we all took days off whenever we felt like it.'

  'It would be super, though!' Her eyes danced.

  'The thought of a day's sailing always excites you, doesn't it, Zoe?' he sighed with a hint of impatience. 'Perhaps it's time you developed some enthusiasm for—other things.'

  Her face sobered warily. He sounded depressed, but it probably wasn't her fault. 'It's not fair,' she said, 'to take it o
ut on me, because you're still upset about Ursula.'

  'You're probably right,' he agreed, his eyes glinting mockingly. 'Perhaps Miss Vintis will help to heal my broken heart tonight?'

  Zoe's throat suddenly hurt. 'I didn't think you would need to take her out now.'

  'Well,' his mouth relaxed slightly, 'there certainly won't be the same necessity to discuss business, but, as you have yet to discover, there are other things.'

  Fear and rage drove Zoe from her seat to confront him. Infuriated, she gazed up at him. 'You can't be thinking of a new girl-friend already?'