Page 8 of His Wedding Day Revenge

Jane felt the collective gaze of the villagers following as his stare turned towards her, and her chin lifted. This was not an accident.

As the villagers applauded, Jane pushed back her seat and got to her feet, throwing out a few smiling greetings as she made her way to the door with a couple of murmurs of ‘Mattie’. Actually, her boss, the local GP who was also a neighbour, had said no need to hurry back when she had offered to babysit.

Jane made it as far as the gate before a voice calling her name made her turn reluctantly back.

‘Vicar?’ she said, politely waiting for the overweight and very well-meaning cleric to catch her up.

‘Jane, dear, I’m glad I caught you. I did want to speak to you before but I was not expecting Mr Andreas to mention it tonight. I hope you don’t mind, but when he told me about the course I thought of you. And when we discussed it at our meeting, so sorry you couldn’t be there, but it was unanimous. Everyone agreed you’d be the perfect candidate—’

Jane cut him off with a laugh. ‘Perfect? I can think of four locals who are a lot more qualified than me...actually more, because I’m not qualified at all.’

‘But your enthusiasm and—’

‘I am amateur hour and we both know it.’

The vicar looked momentarily flustered, but rallied. ‘You started the ball rolling with our protests. You should be the one—’

Jane bit her lip. This was starting to feel like a conspiracy. ‘Obviously I am very flattered you thought of me, but—’ She bit back a sharp ‘I’m not a charity case’ and continued with a smile. ‘It’s out of the question, I’m afraid—’

‘You are thinking about Mattie, but I understand there are crèche facilities at the conference, and a bit of Italian sun, a break, is just what you need, my dear.’

His comment confirmed her suspicion...poor single parent Jane could never afford a break in Italy. They meant well but the idea of charity made her hackles rise. ‘I burn in the sun,’ she said in a flat little voice.

The older man laughed as if she’d made a joke.

‘Seriously. There are many more people better qualified than me for this...treat and the surgery is short-staffed.’

‘Ah, yes, we discussed this with Dr Grace and she said you are owed holiday so that’s no problem. She’s already lined up a temp.’

Jane took a deep breath. She could see her avenues of escape closing. ‘You seem to have thought of everything.’

‘So you agree? I think it would be very helpful in setting up the exchange day with the inner-city school you suggested at the last parish council meeting.’

She sighed and thought, Me and my big mouth. On the other hand, take Draco out of the equation and it was tempting... But Draco was not the sort of man who vanished in a puff of smoke. His presence was not something you could ignore.

It was a mad idea, but she admitted there were temptations: the course would be interesting...and so would seeing Draco’s home, his life... Yes, she was curious—who wouldn’t be?

She still hesitated, but she was tempted.

Finally she gave a reluctant nod. It wasn’t as if Draco would be a visible presence there. While it was great PR for him, she was confident it was the sort of thing that would be delegated.

‘There would be conditions, obviously, with Mattie. I’d need more details.’

‘Of course, of course, quite wise of you. I’ll pass on your request to Mr Andreas.’

‘Oh, I’m sure Mr Andreas has more important things to concern him. One of his many assistants will have what I need.’

‘Thanks, but I won’t,’ Grace said when Jane offered her a coffee. ‘And you know I love to babysit. I really miss the time when my two were small and didn’t answer back—speaking of which, I need to check my lot have done their homework. As you know, they run rings around their dad,’ she said with a roll of her eyes. ‘You know, Jane, I am so glad you have agreed to Tuscany. You need a break.’

‘It’s not a holiday.’

‘True, but I’m sure that you will find some time for a bit of sun and sea, maybe some down time with a good-looking Italian?’ she teased before sweeping out, her ringing phone attached to her ear.

Jane shut the door, leaned back against the wall, closed her eyes and breathed out a gusty sigh. The only sound was the clock on the wall above the open fireplace. She’d have actually welcomed some angry baby cries at that moment if only to distract her from the thoughts swirling in her head.

She had levered herself off the wall when there was a knock on the door. Grace always left something behind.

Pasting on a smile, she pulled it open. ‘What have you left this time?’ she began.

---