He’d stopped too but he didn’t say a word.
“Okay?” she prompted on a near shout.
“No,” he said again.
“Why?” she threw her hands up in agitation. “What are you getting out of this?”
She asked and she really wanted to know. He started walking towards her again and Julia started retreating again, step for step. What he didn’t do was answer.
“Okay, play your games.” She gave in but she did it with her heart beating faster. “See if I care, I’m going to bed,” she announced to finish and turned to walk away.
“Excellent idea,” he returned immediately, his insinuation as shocking as it was clear.
“Alone!” she spat over her shoulder.
“Julia, we need to talk.”
“Not now we don’t and I’m not sure we ever do!” She whirled around and faced him. “I’m fed up with you lot. You leave me with your mother who has all the warmth of a Siberian winter. You don’t call. You don’t give a good goddamn about those children. You show up accusing me of… whatever,” she threw one arm out, dramatically, “you kiss me for no reason, stalk me around your study. Fine, okay, I get it. I’m some kind of game to you. Apparently your life is so boring you’ve run out of challenges so you have to play with humans in order to find amusement. Go for it. See if I care. You obviously don’t know how stubborn I am so have at it. You won’t win.”
And with that, Julia turned to leave.
“I think I will,” Douglas said to her back.
“Think again, I’m a lot stronger than I look,” she announced as she made her way to the door, hoping she was right. “If I can take on an asshole like Sean and emerge unscathed… well, virtually so, then you’re a pussycat.”
“I wouldn’t underestimate me,” he warned.
She thought of something, stopped at the door, turned back to face him and put her chin up.
“One rule,” Julia declared.
“No rules,” Douglas replied.
“One rule,” she ignored him, “whatever it is you’re after, you don’t drag the children into it.”
He didn’t even think, just inclined his arrogant head in agreement.
“Good. Let the games begin,” she declared sarcastically.
And before he could reply, she left, trying not to look like she was fleeing. Her heart was racing, her head was aching and she was scared to death. As she walked, she felt the arctic draught around her feet and looked down.
It wasn’t an invisible draught this time but looked like wisps of fog gathering around her ankles. She picked up the pace but it stayed with her, detached from her ankles and floated ahead. Julia watched in dread as it approached her bedroom door but then it slid past, towards the chapel, disappearing around the corner. She ran into her room, slammed the door and, for good measure, threw the bolt home.
“Dear Lord, what have I gotten myself into?” she asked the room.
The scratching at the window was her only reply.
Chapter Nine
Julia’s New Position
The next morning, Douglas arrived to an empty breakfast table. Julia had gone with Carter to take the children to school. Avoiding him no doubt.
Knowing this almost made him smile.
After breakfast, he holed himself in his study, catching up with e-mails and telephone calls he’d not been able to return while he was away with Nick. His mother arrived home with the usual fuss and fanfare and he kept his door closed. Monique knew from experience that meant he did not wish to be disturbed. For hours, he heard nothing more, Julia, Ruby nor Carter returned home. Julia would have to come through the front door, of course, the family never used anything but the front door. To do that, she’d have to pass his study.
Then it struck him that, being Julia, perhaps she didn’t use the front door.
Finally, impatient to set his plan into action, he went to find her.
Mrs. Kilpatrick was in the dining room using a foul-smelling, lemon-scented balm to polish the already exceptionally high sheen of the dining room table.
“Sir,” she muttered, not looking at him.
“Mrs. Kilpatrick,” he replied as greeting, intending to pass her as usual and go straight to Julia’s rooms.
Then he heard, “Lady Ashton got home not two hours ago.”
Mrs. Kilpatrick addressing him caused him to stop in surprise. He turned back to her, saw her eyes on him were hesitant and inclined his head as a gesture of gratitude at her unnecessary bit of news.
“Miss Julia…” she said loudly when he started to walk away.
He stopped walking and turned towards her again.
“Is at the supermarket,” she finished hurriedly.
He regarded her inquisitively.
Mrs. Kilpatrick had been in his life for as long as he could remember. She excelled at her job, never complained, was immensely loyal to his house and her work and, for all of that, he respected her.
Even so, except for when she reported the household finances to him on a quarterly basis, he wasn’t certain she’d ever spoken more than a few words to him of her own free will.
“Is that so?” he replied in an effort to be polite and he swore he saw her gulp. He couldn’t imagine what was wrong with her though he didn’t give this much thought as he had other thoughts on his mind and he started back towards his study.
Then he stopped and saw Carter outside surveying the fountain as if something was wrong with it.
If Carter was outside, how was Julia at the market?
“Tell me, Mrs. Kilpatrick, did Miss Fairfax get her driver’s license while I was away?” he asked courteously, glancing in her direction again.
She nodded. “She certainly did, sir. Pleased as pie, ‘Freedom!’ She said. ‘Relief!’”
Misinterpreting what the woman wanted him to understand, and amused at her description of Julia’s reaction, he thought she wished to report that Julia had taken a car.
“So, she’s out in one of my cars, is she?” he prompted.
She surprised him by shaking her head. “No sir. She walked.”
“Walked?” He’d never been to a grocery store but he’d driven by them and he knew the closest one was in town and that was at least three miles away. Furthermore, why didn’t she simply ask Carter to get her what she wanted from the market? “Why would she walk?”
“She’s begun to like the excursions, sir. She takes Ruby. They both come in with cheeks pink and healthy,” Mrs. Kilpatrick answered.
Douglas crossed his arms on his chest.
“Mrs. Kilpatrick. I have things to do,” he explained impatiently, his tone telling her in no uncertain terms she was wasting his time and she should get to the point.
And Douglas was impatient because he was annoyed. This was obviously Julia’s way of telling him she was not going to use his staff and that she was going to do her bit to contribute to the household by purchasing groceries since he wasn’t going to allow her to pay her way.
“Sorry sir,” Mrs. Kilpatrick bent to her task and he couldn’t help but think she looked scared to death. This annoyed him all the more.
He expected his staff to respect him, to be quiet and go about their duties but he never expected, or to this point received, fear. He knew the staff were anxious around his mother but they’d never appeared that way with him.