front of him, he watched the fire’s sensuous shadows weave and dance against the wall for hypnotic seconds before transporting the candelabra out into the hallway, almost bumping into an agitated Ailsa, who’d come to find him.
In the glow of the candle flames, her beautiful almond eyes were as bright and golden as a cat’s. ‘It must be a power cut. We haven’t had one in ages, but we do get them out here from time to time.’
‘Why doesn’t that surprise me?’ he answered. Because he hadn’t been able to keep his growing desire for her in check, Jake failed to keep the irritation from his tone. ‘Have you checked the fuse box?’
‘It was the first thing I did. None of the switches have tripped, so it must be a power cut.’
‘Take this.’ Handing her one of the candelabrum, with its flickering trio of candles, he turned back into thedining room to collect its twin. Back in the dimmed hallway, he said brusquely, ‘Let’s get back into the kitchen, shall we?’
‘Thank goodness for the range cooker.’ Returning to the stove, Ailsa resumed her stirring of the fragrant soup she was cooking. ‘At least dinner won’t be ruined.’
Setting his candelabrum down on the table, Jake moved to stand beside her. ‘Is the stove oil-fired?’
‘Yes.’
‘So it supplies the central heating too?’
She stopped stirring the soup. Her smooth brow was distinctly worried as she turned to face him. ‘I’m afraid not … But I’ve got the wood-burner in the living room. We can go and eat our dinner in there to keep warm, if you like?’
‘When you’ve had these power cuts before, have they lasted long?’
‘The last one lasted a whole day. It was a bit of a nuisance because I lost all the food in the freezer. Apart from that … we managed.’
Jake bit back an accusing retort. He didn’t have any say about where or
how
Ailsa chose to live any more—he knew that. But Saskia was a different matter. ‘I can’t say I’m en-amoured of the idea of you and our daughter just “managing”. Don’t you think that it’s crazy, choosing to live in such an isolated place where you could potentially be cut off from the rest of the world for days in bad weather, and are prey to inconvenient losses of power that could leave you without heat and light for God knows how long?’
‘That’s a bit dramatic. They have power cuts in the city, as well you know. Besides … I’ve lived here for a long time now. I’m used to it and I like it.’ Looking as though she wanted to embellish upon that statement, she chewed down on her lip instead and said nothing.
Jake sighed. ‘You should at least see about getting your own generator, so you’ll have back-up if this happens again. Look … this probably isn’t the time to get you to think about moving somewhere less remote, but now that I’ve experienced what you and our daughter have to contend with for myself, I can’t promise I’m going to leave the subject alone.’
Dropping down to a low cupboard next to the cooker, Ailsa retrieved two plain white dinner plates, along with a pair of matching soup bowls, and put them on the lowest oven shelf to warm them. As she straightened again, her previously pale cheeks were rosily flushed, Jake noticed. Was she angry at what he’d just said? If so, she’d clearly decided not to express it.
He wondered why.
The Ailsa he had known after the accident used to explode at the least little thing.
‘We’ll eat in here, shall we?’ she suggested. ‘The heat from the stove will keep us warm for a while.’
As she stole a furtive glance at the strong-boned, scarred, but still handsome visage on the other side of the table where they sat eating dinner, Ailsa was glad she hadn’t irritably responded to Jake’s declaration that she and Saskia should be living somewhere less remote. Having promised herself that she wouldn’t add to his store of unhappiness, she meant to keep that vow. By the time he came to leave she wanted
In the glow of the candle flames, her beautiful almond eyes were as bright and golden as a cat’s. ‘It must be a power cut. We haven’t had one in ages, but we do get them out here from time to time.’
‘Why doesn’t that surprise me?’ he answered. Because he hadn’t been able to keep his growing desire for her in check, Jake failed to keep the irritation from his tone. ‘Have you checked the fuse box?’
‘It was the first thing I did. None of the switches have tripped, so it must be a power cut.’
‘Take this.’ Handing her one of the candelabrum, with its flickering trio of candles, he turned back into thedining room to collect its twin. Back in the dimmed hallway, he said brusquely, ‘Let’s get back into the kitchen, shall we?’
‘Thank goodness for the range cooker.’ Returning to the stove, Ailsa resumed her stirring of the fragrant soup she was cooking. ‘At least dinner won’t be ruined.’
Setting his candelabrum down on the table, Jake moved to stand beside her. ‘Is the stove oil-fired?’
‘Yes.’
‘So it supplies the central heating too?’
She stopped stirring the soup. Her smooth brow was distinctly worried as she turned to face him. ‘I’m afraid not … But I’ve got the wood-burner in the living room. We can go and eat our dinner in there to keep warm, if you like?’
‘When you’ve had these power cuts before, have they lasted long?’
‘The last one lasted a whole day. It was a bit of a nuisance because I lost all the food in the freezer. Apart from that … we managed.’
Jake bit back an accusing retort. He didn’t have any say about where or
how
Ailsa chose to live any more—he knew that. But Saskia was a different matter. ‘I can’t say I’m en-amoured of the idea of you and our daughter just “managing”. Don’t you think that it’s crazy, choosing to live in such an isolated place where you could potentially be cut off from the rest of the world for days in bad weather, and are prey to inconvenient losses of power that could leave you without heat and light for God knows how long?’
‘That’s a bit dramatic. They have power cuts in the city, as well you know. Besides … I’ve lived here for a long time now. I’m used to it and I like it.’ Looking as though she wanted to embellish upon that statement, she chewed down on her lip instead and said nothing.
Jake sighed. ‘You should at least see about getting your own generator, so you’ll have back-up if this happens again. Look … this probably isn’t the time to get you to think about moving somewhere less remote, but now that I’ve experienced what you and our daughter have to contend with for myself, I can’t promise I’m going to leave the subject alone.’
Dropping down to a low cupboard next to the cooker, Ailsa retrieved two plain white dinner plates, along with a pair of matching soup bowls, and put them on the lowest oven shelf to warm them. As she straightened again, her previously pale cheeks were rosily flushed, Jake noticed. Was she angry at what he’d just said? If so, she’d clearly decided not to express it.
He wondered why.
The Ailsa he had known after the accident used to explode at the least little thing.
‘We’ll eat in here, shall we?’ she suggested. ‘The heat from the stove will keep us warm for a while.’
As she stole a furtive glance at the strong-boned, scarred, but still handsome visage on the other side of the table where they sat eating dinner, Ailsa was glad she hadn’t irritably responded to Jake’s declaration that she and Saskia should be living somewhere less remote. Having promised herself that she wouldn’t add to his store of unhappiness, she meant to keep that vow. By the time he came to leave she wanted
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