Temptation in Paradise. Joanna Neil
down and I’ve no wish to have my trust abused once more.’
Jessie couldn’t bear to see this happening. She had to do what she could to plead her brother’s case.
‘José, please, won’t you reconsider?’ she said quietly. ‘He said he didn’t do this … and I believe him. Won’t you give him a chance to show you that he can be trusted?’
José’s features remained etched as though in stone. ‘He’s your novio, yes? You care so much for him that you would plead for him? I’m afraid your feelings for him are misplaced, mi chica bella.’
‘No, no … you have it all wrong,’ she said anxiously. ‘He isn’t my boyfriend—he’s my brother. I know him. I understand him and I’m certain he’s telling you the truth.’
José pulled in a quick breath, his eyes glittering, and for a second or two as he studied her, she dared to think that he might relent. But instead he shook his head. ‘It’s good that you care for your brother, Jessie, but he let me down and I believe you’re letting your emotions colour your judgement. He can’t be trusted to turn up for work on time and he gave my keys to a third party. He doesn’t deserve your sympathy.’
‘I think that’s for me to decide.’ Her chin jerked upwards. ‘So let me get this straight … if the situation were reversed you would turn your back on a brother or a sister who needed your help?’
‘I didn’t say that.’
She sent him a scathing look. He had been charm itself just a short time ago, yet now he was ready to dismiss her brother without a second glance. How could she have any regard for a man who would treat her brother that way? His swift condemnation had brought all her protective instincts to the fore, and inside she was seething with resentment.
She’d been right to be wary of him. So much for any expectation of good old-fashioned chivalry or plain and simple justice.
‘You haven’t even bothered to check his story,’ she said tartly. ‘How do you know Zach and his friend didn’t organise this?’
‘Perhaps they were all in on it together. I shall have to find out.’
His answer did nothing to appease her. She’d had enough of this. She picked up her clutch bag from the table and turned towards her brother. ‘Come on, Ben. We should go. We’re through here. There’s nothing more to say.’
José’s gaze moved over her. ‘I have no argument with you, Jessie. I would very much like you to stay.’
‘And I would prefer to leave.’
Ben looked anxious, sending her a worried glance. He bent his head towards her and said in a whisper, ‘Don’t you think I should stay and help with the clearing up? I mean, we can’t leave the place like this, can we?’
‘I wouldn’t fret yourself about that,’ she said tersely, fully aware that José was watching them, a host of conflicting emotions written across his face. She was still upset by his perfunctory treatment of her brother. ‘Zach and Eric can see to all that.’
‘But they left half an hour ago,’ Ben muttered under his breath.
‘Did they?’ She gave a short laugh. ‘That was convenient, wasn’t it? I expect they found out that Dr Benitez had turned up. They knew they’d done wrong and they didn’t want to stay and face the consequences.’
She started to walk towards the side of the house and after a moment’s hesitation and a hasty glance in José’s direction Ben hurried after her.
‘Are you sure we’re doing the right thing?’ he persisted anxiously.
‘Of course,’ she said. She wouldn’t be seeing Dr José Benitez again, so what did it matter? The fact that his brooding stare was burning a hole in her back only served to stiffen her resolve all the more.
‘ARE YOU READY for your first day in the new job?’ Ben refilled his coffee cup and then did the same for Jessie, sliding a mug across the breakfast table towards her.
‘I think so.’ Jessie gave a wry smile. ‘At least, I would be if it weren’t for this throbbing hangover. I knew I shouldn’t have had that last drink at the party. I don’t know what got into me.’ Maybe it had been a nervous reaction after coming face-to-face with a man who had somehow managed to fire up all her defences.
She didn’t want to dwell on the other events of the evening, but the image of the tall, dark stranger insisted on forcing its way into her mind. She’d been upset on Ben’s behalf last night, but perhaps she shouldn’t have reacted the way she had? After all, things might have turned out better for her brother if she’d gone on trying to appease José, instead of challenging him. She’d probably made things much worse, and now it wasn’t very likely he would ever consider taking Ben on again. The pounding at her temples worsened at the thought, and she winced.
Ben helped himself to toast and spread it generously with apricot preserve. ‘It was a touch of the Caribbean getting into you, I guess,’ he said in a soothing tone. ‘It happens to the best of us.’ He watched her drizzle maple syrup on her pancake. ‘Anyway, after the way things have been for you back home lately, breaking up with Lewis and all that, you probably needed to let your hair down a bit.’
‘I suppose so.’ She gritted her teeth, thinking about her cheating ex-boyfriend. How could she have been so blind, so trusting, not to have suspected that while she had been busy working in Accident and Emergency, Lewis had been happily making out with another woman? It had hurt badly when she’d found out the truth, and even now just thinking about it made her whole body tremble.
‘You look good,’ Ben said approvingly, skimming a glance over her. She was wearing a cream blouse teamed with a flower-printed skirt that fell in soft folds over her hips and a short-sleeved, matching jacket completed the ensemble. The colours were soft pastels, easy on the eye.
‘I’m glad you think so.’ She made an effort to pull herself together. Taking her time, she finished off the pancake and drank her coffee, then asked, ‘What are you planning on doing today?’
His expression sobered. ‘I’ll look around for work. I have to find something as soon as possible—I can’t keep sponging off you. You’ve helped me out more than enough already.’
‘Don’t worry about that. Half of the rental income from the house back home is yours by right, so that should keep you going for a bit.’
He smiled. ‘Yeah, I guess. Thanks, Jessie. You’re a lifesaver.’
She left the apartment a short time later and drove her hire car from the village towards the coast on the west side of the island where the hospital was situated. She was a little apprehensive about what lay ahead, starting work in an unfamiliar hospital in a foreign land, but at least for the moment she had the wonderful island scenery to help take her mind off things.
She glanced in the rear-view mirror. Behind her, the dramatic slopes of a dormant volcano dominated the island, with dense green forest carpeting the land as far as the sea’s edge. In the distance a magnificent waterfall cascaded to a deep, wide rock pool and for a dreamy instant she wished she could be there, simply taking in the view.
The sheer beauty of her surroundings helped to calm her and she purposely tried to breathe in deeply. It was all so different from what she had known before … It was awe-inspiring and invigorating, and by the time she’d parked her car outside Mount Saint Helene Hospital, she felt much better able to face up to this new test.
The hospital was a neat, white-painted, two-storey building with a veranda running along one side where patients and their relatives could sit awhile in the warm air. Palm trees provided a modicum of shelter, and the grounds had been planted with yucca and brightly flowering hibiscus.
Jessie