To Become A Bride

She found that very hard to believe, had never known her father to have a day’s illness in his life. But that didn’t mean he was well now…

She moistened suddenly dry lips. ‘And what line of medicine did you choose to specialise in, Mr Noble?’ She tried to make her tone of voice interested rather than demanding—although by the guarded look that suddenly came over Jonas Noble’s face, she had a feeling she had failed. Damn!

‘I believe it’s called “life”, Danie; it’s the oath all doctors take,’ he returned enigmatically. ‘Is that car waiting for us?’ He indicated the gold-coloured Rolls Royce that was now parked feet away from the plane steps, the attentive Charles standing waiting with the back door open.

Danie flushed her irritation. ‘For you,’ she corrected tautly. ‘I have a few things to do here before coming over to the house,’ she amended reluctantly.

She would have liked nothing better than to arrive back at the house with him, to try and find out more about exactly what he was doing here. But, unfortunately, she had the plane to check over and refuelling to see to.

He nodded dismissively. ‘I’ll see you later, then.’ He moved lightly down the steps, grinning his thanks at Charles as he got into the back of the Rolls.

Danie stood at the top of the steps and watched the car—and Jonas Noble!—drive away, her thoughts in a turmoil.

Why did Rome need to see a doctor? Obviously because he was ill, she instantly chided herself.

But to have a doctor flown out here to see him…! Was her father’s illness that serious?

Danie suddenly felt unwell herself at the thought of that being the case. She couldn’t bear the thought of anything happening to her handsome, fun-loving father.

But Jonas Noble’s visit certainly appeared ominous…

‘I trust you had a comfortable flight?’

Jonas looked across at his host. The older man had greeted him at the door of the manor house a few minutes earlier, and the two of them were now seated in an elegant sitting-room. He had known what Jerome Summer looked like, of course, as he had seen the other man’s picture in the newspapers several times. But those photographs had only shown Rome Summer’s still boyish handsomeness, despite the fact that he was in his early fifties, and couldn’t possibly hint at the sheer vitality of the man.

But what did Rome expect him to say in answer to his question? The flight had been fine—it was Rome’s daughter that he hadn’t found comfortable.

Danie Summer—how could he possibly have known she would be female?—was as prickly as a hedgehog, with all the charm of a herd of stampeding elephants!

But she was beautiful, another little voice inside his head reminded him.

Yes, she was—if you managed to get past those prickles and the acidic tongue! Personally, he would as soon not bother.

‘Fine, thank you,’ Jonas replied brusquely, waving away the offer of a cup of coffee poured from the pot on the table that stood between the two men. ‘You explained the situation to me on the telephone early yesterday evening,’ he continued in businesslike tones. ‘So perhaps I could carry out my examination, and then we can talk some more?’

Jerome Summer didn’t move, his expression agonised now, blue eyes clouded with worry. ‘Before you do that, could I just stress, once again, how delicate this situation is—?’

‘I’ve already gathered that,’ Jonas assured him dryly. ‘Danie doesn’t know, does she?’ he prompted gently.

Rome grimaced, shaking his head ruefully. ‘Has my daughter been asking you awkward questions?’

Jonas shrugged. ‘One or two,’ he confirmed. ‘Oh, don’t worry,’ he assured as the other man began to frown, ‘a patient’s confidentiality is guaranteed as far as I’m concerned.’

Rome shook his head. ‘That won’t stop Danie.’ His frown deepened. ‘Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to have her fly you here. It just seemed the best option at the time—’

‘I think it’s a little late in the day to worry about that,’ Jonas cut in. ‘Besides, Danie is your problem, not mine,’ he added firmly. ‘I came here to carry out an examination…?’ he prompted again pointedly.

The half an hour or so of sleep he had managed to get on the plane had temporarily refreshed him, but he was no longer a young ‘junior doctor’ when a couple of hours sleep grabbed here and there had been enough to keep him going. At the moment the previous night’s lack of rest made him feel every one of his thirty-eight years!

‘I don’t mean to sound terse,’ he excused as he realised he had been exactly that. ‘I had a difficult case to deal with last night,’ he explained. ‘And lack of sleep means I’m a little short on patience today!’

‘Of course.’ Rome Summer stood up quickly. ‘I’ll explain a little more to you as we go upstairs.’

Jonas picked up his case of instruments, listening politely to the other man as they ascended the stairs, realising Rome needed to talk, that he found all of this extremely difficult to deal with.

Jonas sympathised with him, could imagine how the older man must be feeling. For a man who had controlled his world, and that of his family, for the last thirty years, Jonas realised this must all have come as a bit of a shock to Rome Summer. It was something he had no control over whatsoever. But even if the other man’s suspicions proved to be correct, it wasn’t the end of the world. Other people, other families, had gone through this sort of thing before. And would no doubt continue to do so for a long time to come!

But Rome Summer looked less than capable of dealing with it, Jonas realised a short time later, Rome haggard now as the two men returned to the sitting-room, Jonas’s diagnosis conclusive.

‘I just can’t believe it.’ Rome groaned, his face buried in his hands. ‘I had my suspicions, of course—’

‘You wouldn’t have telephoned me otherwise,’ Jonas pointed out dryly, handing the other man a cup of the now cool coffee; in the circumstances, cold or not, the caffeine would do the other man good.

‘But somehow I didn’t really believe it.’ Rome shook his head dazedly, sipping the coffee without even seeming aware of what he was doing.

Jonas let the other man sit quietly for several minutes, giving him time to get over his initial shock; no doubt the coffee would help do that, too. Once the other man had accepted the diagnosis as fact, the two of them could get down to talking over the practicalities of what needed to be done over the next few months.

Rome finally raised his head, looking across at Jonas with slightly moist eyes. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said heavily. ‘I realise I’m not taking this too well.’ He gave a rueful grimace. ‘I was wishing the girls’ mother were here. She would have known what to do.’

‘How many daughters do you have?’ Jonas enquired politely, knowing the other man still needed to talk, and remembering having read somewhere that Rome Summer’s wife had died several years ago.

‘Just the three.’ Rome sighed. ‘But sometimes it seems like twenty-three!’

Jonas imagined that Danie Summer could quite easily account for twenty of those in her own right; she was certainly spirited enough to cause any man a headache, let alone her harassed father!

‘Do they all live at home with you?’ he asked lightly, curiosity prompting him to find out if Danie had some poor man as her husband somewhere in the background!

‘None of them.’ Rome shook his head. ‘Harrie was married last month,’ he said with obvious pleasure and pride. ‘Andie is usually based in London, although she’s been staying here with me the last few weeks.’

‘And Danie?’ Jonas persisted softly.

‘I’m based, not wherever I hang my hat, but wherever I fly my aircraft!’ the woman in question told him coldly as she walked unannounced into the room.

Jonas stiffened at the sound of that caustic voice, although he literally froze with shock once he had turned to look at her. The black baseball cap was gone, and he found that those dark lashes and brows had been deceptive. Hair of the most gloriously deep red now cascaded in loose waves down the length of Danie’s spine.

If Jonas had thought her beautiful before, that red hair was definitely her crowning glory, giving prominence to her high cheekbones, bringing out the deep green colour of her eyes. There was no doubt about it—Danie Summer was one of the loveliest women he had ever set eyes on!

He stood up slowly. ‘Your aircraft?’ he questioned silkily, feeling suddenly defensive in the face of this woman’s arresting beauty.

A look of irritation darkened her features. ‘Rome’s aircraft,’ she corrected, before turning to her father. ‘Everything okay?’ she prompted sharply, looking at him searchingly.

Rome seemed to have undergone a transformation in the last few seconds, Jonas noted wryly, that boyish grin back on his face, his worried expression of a few minutes ago completely dispelled. For his daughter’s benefit, Jonas didn’t doubt. Although there was no way Rome would be able to keep the truth from Danie indefinitely…

‘Everything is fine,’ Rome told Danie lightly. ‘Jonas and I were just discussing having lunch before he returns to town.’

Jonas hesitated at the totally erroneous statement. Considering he hadn’t even had breakfast yet…! But, he had to admit, food of any kind did sound rather tempting at the moment…

‘As long as I’m not inconveniencing anyone…?’ he accepted questioningly.

Glittering green eyes were turned in his direction. ‘Since when has inconveniencing someone bothered you?’ Danie snapped.

Jonas’s mouth firmed at the insult, Rome chuckling softly as he saw his reaction. Well, Rome might find his daughter’s rudeness amusing, but Jonas found it exactly what it was—bad-mannered!

‘You can have lunch with Harrie and Quinn any time, darling.’ Rome put his arm lightly about his daughter’s shoulders.

‘But I was having lunch with them today,’ Danie complained.

So she had had other plans for today, after all… Jonas fumed inwardly; it wasn’t his fault she hadn’t been able to carry them through—her father was responsible for that.

‘Wouldn’t you rather have lunch with two attractive men?’ Rome teased his daughter.

Danie turned to give Jonas a slowly dismissive glance from head to toe. ‘Not particularly,’ she finally replied, before turning back to her father.

What this young lady needed was a smack on the backside, Jonas decided grimly. If her father didn’t feel capable of administering it, Jonas was sure there must be plenty of other men who would!

Including him…?

Jonas frowned. He had never lifted so much as a finger against a woman in his life, and no matter how much Danie Summer might deserve a good spanking, he knew he wouldn’t be the one to give it.

He had grown up in a totally female household; his mother had been widowed while still in her early thirties, and left with the sole care of Jonas and his two older sisters. Beautiful and warm-natured though she was, she had remained a widow in the succeeding years, managing, with only the help of a housekeeper, to bring the three children up alone. Meaning that Jonas, as the only male in the household, had been cosseted and spoilt by not just his mother and sisters, but the housekeeper, too.

It had been a charmed and loving childhood, instilling him with a deep respect for his mother and sisters, and a liking of women in general.

Except Danie Summer! he realised irritably.

But that, he considered, was mainly her own fault. Danie was obviously, despite her own privileged background, an accomplished and capable woman, who took her work very seriously. It was just the sharpness of her tongue that needed a little attention. A little…? Make that a lot, Jonas corrected himself firmly.

‘Pity,’ he drawled finally, easily able to meet the challenge in Danie’s dark green eyes.

Danie’s mouth twisted. ‘A little sincerity wouldn’t have come amiss in that statement!’ she countered.

‘Danie!’ Rome chided. ‘Must I remind you that Jonas is here as my guest?’

Jonas watched as Danie underwent a transformation, the tension leaving that beautiful face, to be replaced by a smile of gentle concern as she turned to look at her father.

Jonas felt something lurch in his chest at the difference that gentleness made to Danie; it was akin to the sun coming out in the midst of a stormy sky. And well worth waiting for, he acknowledged a little dazedly. Stripped of the cynicism that seemed to temper most of her conversation, Danie Summer was incredibly lovely.

‘Perhaps lunch would be nice,’ she finally conceded grudgingly. ‘Would you like to freshen up before we eat, Mr Noble?’ she offered with a politeness that had so far been lacking from their acquaintance.

He looked across at her with narrowed eyes, not fooled for a moment by her change in attitude, only to be met with a look of such innocence that he knew his suspicion was correct; Danie Summer had her own reason for her sudden politeness. And he had a feeling it could have something to do with the reason for his presence here today!

Well, she was wasting her time if she thought a little polite civility—something that should have been there from the beginning!—would charm out of him the reason for having come here to see her father. As he had assured Rome earlier, his relationship with his patient was always completely confidential.

As Danie Summer was going to quickly find out if she tried to pump him for information!

CHAPTER TWO

WHAT a complete waste of her time this had been, Danie muttered to herself as she pushed her food uninterestedly around her plate. She had intended originally to go upstairs and have lunch with her sister Andie. She’d only conceded to eating down here with her father and Jonas Noble in the hope of being able to find out a little more of the reason for the younger man’s visit. But her father was close-mouthed on the subject, and Jonas Noble was also like a clam!

Which only succeeded in making Danie’s imaginings even darker than they already were—and they were bad enough already!

Her father didn’t look ill. A little strained perhaps, his ready smile not always reaching the warmth of his blue eyes, but other than that he seemed his normal self.

The trouble was, Danie felt so alone in her wonderings. She couldn’t talk to Andie about it; her younger sister had been far from well herself since a bout of flu the previous month. Her other sister, Harrie, had only been recently married, and it would be a pity to spoil that happiness, especially if it should turn out to be unnecessary.

Audrey!

Of course, her father’s assistant of the last twelve years was sure to know exactly what was going on. She might not tell Danie, perhaps, but she couldn’t possibly be as clam-like as these two men had turned out to be!

‘I think I’ll give coffee a miss, if you don’t mind.’ Danie put her dessert fork neatly down on her plate before standing up. ‘I have a few things to do before flying back this afternoon,’ she told her father as he looked across at her enquiringly.

They were seated very cosily around the dining table; Danie grimaced at the scene: her father at the head, Jonas and herself sitting either side of him, facing each other across the table. Jonas’s appetite, Danie had noted disgustedly, had been more than healthy in comparison with her own picking at the food. Obviously the seriousness of his work didn’t affect him!

‘Of course, darling,’ her father accepted lightly. ‘I’ll give you a ring when Jonas needs to go. Oh, and I shouldn’t bother to go and see Andie,’ he added, looking concerned. ‘She was sleeping when I called in on her room earlier.’

‘Perhaps you should get Dr Noble to look at Andie before he leaves?’ Danie suggested tauntingly.

‘What on earth for?’ her father exclaimed.

She shrugged. ‘This flu seems to have been dragging on a long time. Or perhaps general medicine isn’t his field?’ she questioned challengingly.

Brown eyes levelly met the mockery in her gaze. ‘It’s been a few years,’ Jonas conceded dryly. ‘But I’m sure I could manage.’

‘I—’

‘And it’s Mr Noble, Danie,’ Jonas continued hardly. ‘Or Jonas, if you would prefer that?’

She would prefer to know exactly what sort of doctor he was! But she knew, especially since lunch, that she would get nowhere on that subject with either of these men. A talk with Audrey definitely beckoned!

‘I’ll see you later—Jonas,’ she dismissed him pointedly—after all, he’d called her Danie without ever having been invited to do so!

It wasn’t too difficult to locate Audrey; the other woman was as much of a workaholic as Rome, busy dealing with some correspondence in his study when Danie entered there a few minutes later.

The older woman looked up with a warm smile, having become like another member of the family in the twelve years she had worked for Rome. At forty-two, she was tall, blonde, and beautiful.

‘Uh-oh.’ Audrey grimaced, putting aside the letter she had been working on. ‘Who’s been upsetting you?’

Danie scowled, sitting on the side of her father’s desk. ‘Is it that obvious?’

‘Yes!’ Audrey laughed unabashedly.

Danie chose her next words carefully. Very carefully. Because, although she knew Audrey was fond of all of them, the older woman was also completely loyal to Rome. And the last thing Audrey would ever do was break a confidence of his, business or private.

‘Have you met Jonas Noble?’ Danie asked lightly.

Audrey frowned. ‘The man who was with Rome earlier?’

Danie looked at Audrey searchingly. Was she just delaying answering, or did she really not know anything? Danie would be surprised if it were the latter; Rome trusted his assistant implicitly. But if that should turn out to be the case… It made the whole situation seem even more ominous!

‘That’s the one.’ She nodded casually.

‘As a matter of fact, no,’ Audrey replied. ‘Who is he exactly?’

Danie frowned. ‘I was hoping you might be able to tell me that!’

‘Sorry,’ Audrey said. ‘But I don’t have a clue.’

Damn, damn, damn! This was much worse than Danie had thought. Never having married herself, Audrey had become one of the family, and Danie knew that Rome had absolutely no secrets from the other woman. But it now appeared Rome hadn’t told Audrey anything about Jonas Noble, either…

‘All I’ve managed to find out is that he’s some sort of doctor,’ she told Audrey.

‘Oh,’ Audrey murmured slowly.

Was it her imagination, or did Audrey’s expression suddenly look guarded? But the other woman had told her she knew nothing about Jonas Noble, and Danie believed her. So why did Audrey suddenly look so wary?

‘Any help?’ Danie went on, watching Audrey intently.

Audrey turned away from the intensity of that searching gaze. ‘Not particularly. Rome simply hasn’t mentioned him.’

Rome might not have mentioned Jonas Noble, but Danie was sure that revealing his identity as a doctor had given Audrey some idea of exactly what he was doing here…

And why shouldn’t it have done? Audrey spent more time with her father than anyone else, was sure to be aware if Rome was ill. Even if she wouldn’t talk to anyone else about it…

Danie stood away from the desk, knowing she would get nothing further out of Audrey. ‘I had better go and see if he’s ready to leave yet.’ She pulled a face at the prospect of spending yet more time in the company of Jonas Noble.

‘Have fun,’ Audrey replied distractedly, her thoughts obviously elsewhere.

Were they with Rome? Danie pondered as she walked slowly back to the dining-room. Because she had no doubt whatsoever, now that Audrey knew Jonas Noble was a doctor, she also knew exactly what he was doing here!

Danie gave an impatient sigh. If her father was ill, then she had a right to know. She wasn’t a child; for goodness’ sake, none of them was, and, although it would be upsetting to find out Rome had serious health problems, it couldn’t be any worse than how not knowing was turning out to be!

‘Why the long face, Danie?’ her father asked as he met her out in the hallway.

He was alone. Which posed the question; where was Jonas Noble?

Although, for the moment, Danie put that question aside, and looked intently at her father. ‘What’s going on, Daddy?’ she demanded.

Her father steadily held her eyes. ‘I—’

‘And don’t try and fob me off by telling me you don’t know what I’m talking about,’ Danie cut in determinedly, her expression mutinous. ‘Because you know exactly what I meant!’

Her father raised blond brows reprovingly. ‘I wasn’t about to do that, Danie,’ he answered softly, that very softness telling her that he was becoming angry himself. ‘But I’ll talk to you—to all of you—when I’m good and ready.’

Danie drew in a sharp breath. Her father was tough when it came to his business dealings, had needed to be to become the successful man he was, but he rarely, if ever, became angry with any of his daughters. The very fact that he was angry with her now told Danie just how serious this all was…

‘Where’s Jonas Noble?’ she asked tautly.

Her father relaxed slightly, a teasing light entering the blue of his eyes. ‘Unless I’m mistaken, you didn’t seem in too much of a hurry to spend time in his company earlier.’

Danie grimaced. ‘You weren’t mistaken. But as it appears I don’t have any choice in the matter—’

‘Oh, but you do.’ Rome grinned. ‘I’ve had Charles drive Jonas back to London,’ he explained at her sharply questioning look.

Danie blinked her surprise. Jonas Noble had already left? He was being driven back to town?

‘And whose idea was that?’ she snapped resentfully. Damn it, she might not have wanted to spend any more time in the man’s company, but it would at least have given her another chance to find out more about him!

‘Mine, actually,’ her father replied matter-of-factly. ‘Although Jonas seemed quite happy with the arrangement too,’ he added.

Danie would just bet he had! She hadn’t been unaware of Jonas Noble’s dislike of her, knew that he had found her brash and rude. Which she had been, she conceded ruefully. But she had also been aware, when she’d entered the sitting-room before lunch, that he had been surprised by, if not attracted to, the difference in her appearance without the baseball cap, that he had been momentarily stunned by her looks. Only momentarily, she acknowledged wryly; she was sure that not too many things wrong-footed the arrogant Mr Noble for long!

‘I was only talking to Audrey,’ Danie muttered resentfully. ‘You said you would give me a call when Jonas was ready to leave.’

Her father’s humour disappeared. ‘I preferred him to be driven back with Charles,’ he stated firmly.

Effectively removing any chance she might have to talk to Jonas Noble again!

She didn’t like this. Not one little bit. And if her father thought he had got the better of her, then he was going to be disappointed. Jonas could only have left with Charles minutes earlier, which meant they couldn’t have got very far yet.

‘Where are you going?’ her father called after her as she turned to run up the wide staircase.

Danie glanced back only briefly. ‘I think I’ll go back to town too,’ she told him.

‘But—’

‘You’ll have to excuse me, Daddy,’ she interrupted his protest, turning to go up the stairs two at a time. ‘I’m in rather a hurry.’

It took very little time to collect the things she needed from her bedroom, and race back down the stairs again. On her way to the front door she heard the murmur of voices coming from the sitting-room.

‘—will have to be told soon, Rome,’ Audrey was saying gently. ‘Very soon, I would have thought. This isn’t something you can keep to yourself for very much longer.’

It wasn’t in Danie’s forthright nature to eavesdrop, but those few words held her transfixed in the hallway, her heart beating faster, her eyes dark with apprehension as she listened to the rest of what Audrey had to say.

She’d believed Audrey when the other woman had told her earlier that she didn’t know who or what Jonas Noble was, or what he was doing here, but obviously the little Danie had told the other woman about him had given Audrey the answer to the latter at least…!