He wasn’t going to be on the boat for a year. Had he thought that through? No, so he’d better think it through now.
Be honest? Should he say, Jenny, I made the offer because I felt sorry for you, and there was no way you’d have accepted my offer of a loan if you knew I’m only offering three months’ work?
He wasn’t going to say that, because it wasn’t true. He’d made the offer for far more complicated reasons than sympathy, and that was what was messing with his head now.
In three months he’d be in Bangladesh.
Did he need to go to Bangladesh?
In truth, he didn’t need to go anywhere. His family inheritance had been massive, he’d invested it with care and if he wished he could spend the rest of his life in idle luxury.
Only…his family had never been like that. Excluded from the royal family, Ramón’s grandmother had set about making herself useful. The royal family of Cepheus was known for indolence, mindless indulgence, even cruelty. His grandmother had left the royal palace in fear, for good reason. But then she’d started making herself a life-giving life to others.
So she and her children, Ramón’s father and aunt, had set up a charity in Bangladesh. They built homes in the low lying delta regions, houses that could be raised as flood levels rose, homes that could keep a community safe and dry. Ramón had been introduced to it early and found the concept fascinating.
His father’s death had made him even more determined to stay away from royalty; to make a useful life for himself, so at seventeen he’d apprenticed himself to one of Cepheus’s top builders. He’d learned skills from the ground up. Now it wasn’t just money he was throwing at this project-it was his hands as well as his heart.
During the wet season he couldn’t build. During these months he used to stay on the island he still called home, spending time with his mother and sister. He’d also spent it planning investments so the work they were doing could go on for ever.
But then his mother and his sister died. One drunken driver and his family was wiped out. Suddenly he couldn’t bear to go home. He employed a team of top people to take over his family’s financial empire, and he’d bought the Marquita.
He still worked in Bangladesh-hands-on was great, hard manual work which drove away the demons. But for the rest of the year he pitted himself against the sea and felt better for it.
But there was a gaping hole where his family had been; a hole he could never fill. Nor did he want to, he decided after a year or so. If it hurt so much to lose…to get close to someone again seemed stupid.
So why ask Jenny onto his boat? He knew instinctively that closeness was a very real risk with this woman. But it was as if another part of him, a part he didn’t know existed, had emerged and done the asking.
He’d have to explain Bangladesh to her. Or would he? When he got to Cepheus he could simply say there was no need for the boat, the owner wanted her in dry dock for six months. Jenny was free to fly back to Australia-he’d pay her fare-and she could fill the rest of her contract six months later.
That’d mean he had crew not only for now but for the future as well.
A crew of one woman.
This was danger territory. The Ramón he knew well, the Ramón he trusted, was screaming a warning.
No. He could be sensible. This was a big enough boat for him to keep his own counsel. He’d learned to do that from years of sailing with deckies. The kids found him aloof, he knew, but aloof was good. Aloof meant you didn’t open yourself to gut-wrenching pain.
Aloof meant you didn’t invite a woman like Jenny to sail around the world with you.
A shame that he just had.
‘The Marquita’s reported as having left Fiji two weeks ago. We think Ramón’s in Australia.’
‘For heaven’s sake!’ Sofía pushed herself up on her cushions and stared at the lawyer, perplexed. ‘What’s he doing in Australia?’
‘Who would know?’ the lawyer said with asperity. ‘He’s left no travel plans.’
‘He could hardly expect this awfulness,’ Sofía retorted. ‘There’s never been a thought that Ramón could inherit.’
‘Well, it makes life difficult for us,’ the lawyer snapped. ‘He doesn’t even answer incoming radio calls.’
‘Ramón’s been a loner since his mother and sister died,’ Sofía said, and she sighed. ‘It affected me deeply, so who knows how it affected him? If he wants to be alone, who are we to stop him?’
‘He can’t be alone any longer,’ the lawyer said. ‘I’m flying out.’
‘To Australia?’
‘Yes.’
‘Isn’t Australia rather big?’ Sofía said cautiously. ‘I mean… I don’t want to discourage you, but if you flew to Perth and he ended up at Darwin… I’ve read about Australia and it does sound a little larger than Cepheus.’
‘I believe the smallest of its states is bigger than Cepheus,’ the lawyer agreed. ‘But if he’s coming from Fiji he’ll be heading for the east coast. We have people looking out for him at every major port. If I wait in Sydney I can be with him in hours rather than days.’
‘You don’t think we could wait until he makes contact?’ Sofía said. ‘He does email me. Eventually.’
‘He needs to take the throne by the end of the month or Carlos inherits.’
‘Carlos?’ Sofía said, and her face crumpled in distress. ‘Oh, dear.’
‘So you see the hurry,’ the lawyer said. ‘If I’m in Australia, as soon as we locate his boat I can be there. He has to come home. Now.’
‘I wish we could find him before I make a decision about Philippe,’ she said. ‘Oh, dear.’
‘I thought you’d found foster parents for him.’
‘Yes, but…it seems wrong to send him away from the palace. What would Ramón do, do you think?’
‘I hardly think Prince Ramón will wish to be bothered with a child.’
‘No,’ Sofía said sadly. ‘Maybe you’re right. There are so many things Ramón will be bothered with now-how can he want a say in the future of a child he doesn’t know?’
‘He won’t. Send the child to foster parents.’
‘Yes,’ Sofía said sadly. ‘I don’t know how to raise a child myself. He’s had enough of hired nannies. I think it’s best for everyone.’
CHAPTER THREE
THIS was really, really foolish. She was allowing an unknown Spaniard to pay her debts and sweep her off in his fabulous yacht to the other side of the world. She was so appalled at herself she couldn’t stop grinning.
Watching Cathy’s face had been a highlight. ‘I can’t let you do it,’ she’d said in horror. ‘I know I joked about it but I never dreamed you’d take me seriously. You know nothing about him. This is awful.’
And Jenny had nodded solemn agreement.
‘It is awful. If I turn up in some Arabic harem on the other side of the world it’s all your fault,’ she told her friend. ‘You pointed him out to me.’
‘No. Jenny, I never would have… No!’
She’d chuckled and relented. ‘Okay, I won’t make you come and rescue me. I know this is a risk, my love, but honestly, he seems nice. I don’t think there’s a harem but even if there is…I’m a big girl and I take responsibility for my own decision. I know it’s playing with fire, but honestly, Cathy, you were right. I’m out of here any way I can.’
And what a way! Sailing out of the harbour on board the Marquita with Ramón at the helm was like something out of a fairy tale.
Fairy tales didn’t include scrubbing decks, though, she conceded ruefully. There was enough of reality to keep her grounded-or as grounded as one could be at sea. Six days later, Jenny was on her knees swishing a scrubbing brush like a true deck-hand. They’d been visited by a flock of terns at dawn-possibly the last they’d see until they neared land again. She certainly hoped so. The deck was a mess.