Page 48 of His Last Gamble

‘Out of my league?’ Charmaine finally came to her rescue, when Lucy realised she couldn’t quite think of the right words.

‘Yes, exactly. Look, sis, I know these kinds of people. I move in their world. And I know you, and it scares me a little, to think of you out here all alone among the sharks.’

Charmaine nodded. ‘So you’re warning me off. Is that it?’ She could tell this was her sister’s way of diplomatically steering her away from Payne — as far as Lucy was concerned, Charmaine didn’t know Payne was the one to have broken her heart, and her pride would probably want to keep it that way.

Lucy blinked again, surprised at the edge of hardness she suddenly detected in her sister’s voice. She’d never heard Charmaine sound so tough before.

‘What’s wrong?’ she asked sharply. ‘I just don’t want to see you get hurt, that’s all.’

‘Oh. So if I was bringing home as a fiancé some nice librarian from Oxford, or a mild-mannered accountant, you’d be happier?’

Lucy gaped. ‘What? What’s wrong with you? I don’t under—’

‘Why don’t you just say it?’ Charmaine finally cried, tired of all the subterfuge and not liking herself very much in that moment at all. But the truth was, she suddenly found herself wanting to fight like a tiger for Payne, even when her opponent was her own sister!

Just what did that say about her?

‘Why don’t we just have it out once and for all. It’s me he wants, not you. And you can’t stand it, can you?’ Charmaine cried, hating herself even more, yet unable to stop now.

Lucy felt her jaw drop open. She stared at her hard-eyed, stormy-faced sister and slowly, unbelievably, began to smile.

‘Wow! Look at you! At last. I still don’t get what it is that you’re going on about, but I’m glad to see you fighting mad. I was beginning to think you didn’t have it in you. Now, what exactly have I done to get you so good and mad?’

Charmaine gazed back, all the anger suddenly draining from her. She simply couldn’t play this game with Lucy. It just wasn’t in her.

‘You know,’ she said flatly.

But Lucy was already shaking her head. ‘Nuh-uh, not a clue. You’ll have to spell it out, I’m afraid.’

Charmaine sighed. ‘All right. Have it your way. You came back to the Bahamas to get your lover back, right? You said so.’

Lucy nodded, her eyes bright and alert and still with that unnervingly encouraging smile on her face. ‘Right.’

‘But Payne wants me. He’s proposed. And I’m not giving him up.’

There, she’d said it. She lifted her chin and stared at her sister steadily. For all their lives, Lucy had been the dominant one. The true showman of the family, Daddy’s favourite. But now, this time, Charmaine Reece was at last going to come into her own and fight for the man she loved.

And everyone had better watch out, or else!

‘OK. So, what’s your problem?’ Lucy said, sounding genuinely baffled. ‘I’m not asking you to give Payne up. I just thought he might be a bit too much for you, that’s all. But now I can tell that I needn’t worry about that! Wow, sis, when you come out of your shell you really don’t do it in half measures, do you? Looking at you now, I’d say it was Payne who had to watch out!’

Charmaine felt a slow, tightening grip gradually squeeze the breath out of her. From somewhere alarm bells began clamouring. Something was off here. Her sister wouldn’t carry the charade this far.

‘Lucy,’ she said slowly. ‘You are in love with Payne, aren’t you?’ she asked at last, almost too afraid to hear the answer.

But the look on her sister’s face said it all. She looked astonished. Amazed even.

‘Payne? Payne? No! What on earth made you think that?’ Lucy gasped.

‘Because everyone was saying it!’ Charmaine cried, pushed beyond her endurance. ‘All your friends were talking about how you’d fallen hard for this casino owner over in the Bahamas and that he’d dropped you. It was no big secret.’

Lucy suddenly clapped a hand to her mouth and looked at her sister with stricken eyes.

‘I know,’ she finally pulled her hand away and whispered. ‘And that’s my fault. All my fault,’ she confessed. ‘When I was over here before, I let everybody think that it was Payne I was involved with. Oh, I didn’t deliberately start the rumour, but when I was aware that it was going around, I did everything I could to encourage it. Payne didn’t like it when he found out, but, bless him, he acted like the perfect gentleman and never let on the truth.’

Charmaine took several long, deep breaths. Her heart felt as if it was trying to burst out of her chest and sing like a bird, but after all that had been happening to her recently, her mind was still urging caution. There had been too many misunderstandings. She had to get things absolutely straight this time.

‘Lucy, what are you going on about? If you weren’t involved with Payne, why did you want everyone to think you were?’ she demanded.

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