‘We teach them how to use the land they have to maximise their crops—how to be self-sufficient, in other words. We help them with distributing crafts. Some of them make things for the tourist market in the city. And naturally we teach them the usual stuff.’
‘We?’
‘Yes. All of us. We work together. I’m a qualified doctor, but I’m also responsible for the formal classes. Of course, we have specialists on the compound as well. Not just the children need education; so do the adults. How to use their resources to their best advantage, how to rotate certain crops so that the land is never unused. How to take advantage of the rains when they come. Our agricultural expert is responsible for that side of things, but we all chip in.’
‘Like one big happy family.’
Destiny narrowed her eyes on him, but she couldn’t read his expression and his voice was mild.
‘Something like that.’
‘Cosy.’
‘Yes, it is. Why are you driving so slowly? I want to get back.’
Callum pressed his foot marginally harder on the accelerator and muttered something inconsequential about speed limits, fines and points on a driving licence.
‘What points?’
‘Never mind. It doesn’t matter.’ He felt his jaw begin to ache and realised that he was clenching his teeth. ‘So what do you do on those long, balmy evenings, anyway? On your compound?’
‘Long, balmy evenings? It’s not a seaside resort.’
‘No, of course not.’ Clenching again. He relaxed his jaw muscles and realised, with a twinge of disappointment, that her house was now within view. The guard barely glanced at them. He just waved them through and he pulled up very slowly in front of her house.
‘Thank you very much,’ Destiny said, fiddling with the seat belt and finally releasing it. ‘It was lovely to meet Stephanie. I’m sorry if you think that it’s my fault that you’re going to have dinner with some boring friends tomorr—’
‘Oh, forget it.’ He waved aside her apologies irritably and watched as she walked up to the front door. For a tall girl, she was surprisingly agile, graceful even. She’d never answered his question about what she spent her evenings doing, he realised. He waited, watching as various lights were turned on and switched off, tracing her progress through the house, even though he couldn’t see a thing because the curtains were all drawn. When the place was in darkness, he impulsively got out of his car, sprinted up to the front door and insistently buzzed the bell, keeping his finger on the button until he heard the sounds of shuffling behind the door.
This time Destiny looked through the peep hole and reluctantly opened the door. ‘What do you want now?’
‘It’s that damned car,’ he said, raking his fingers through his hair and casting an accusing look in the direction of the inert lump of silver metal on the road. ‘Won’t start.’
‘What?’ She’d pulled on a robe over her long, baggy tee-shirt which served as a nightgown, and now she clutched it tighter around her as she continued to eye him with mounting dismay.
What now? She didn’t want him in her house! When he wasn’t getting on her nerves he was getting under her skin, and she had enough to cope with without Callum Ross sending her normally well-behaved nervous system into overdrive.
He shook his head and then glanced at her. ‘I wouldn’t have bothered you… You hadn’t got into bed as yet, had you?’
‘About to.’
‘Well, I wouldn’t have troubled you, but it’s given up on me and I need to use a phone.’
‘A phone? At this hour? Who are you going to phone to fix your car at this hour? Do car mechanics work around the clock over here?’
‘If I could just come in—it’s a bit nippy out here…’
For a few seconds she didn’t look as though she was going to budge, but then she reluctantly stepped back and he slipped past her just in case she changed her mind and slammed the door in his face.
‘It seemed to be working perfectly fine on the drive over.’ Destiny stood where she was and folded her arms.
‘Ah, yes. That’s the problem, you see. I’ve been meaning to get it seen to for the past week or so, but I haven’t managed to find a spare moment…to book it in to a garage. Didn’t you notice that it was going particularly slowly on the way over here?’
Destiny inclined her head to one side and remained silent.
‘One minute it’s absolutely fine; the next minute it’s losing power.’ He cleared his throat and attempted to take firm control of the proceedings instead of acting like a schoolboy caught doing something underhand. Smoking behind the bicycle shed.