CHAPTER TWO

 

Changmin wanted to run away, harder and faster than she'd ever done in her life. But for dazed seconds she wasn't able to move, or think. She could only stare at him. At the nightmare made flesh, and standing in front of her.

He'd hardly changed at all. She was capable of recognising that, at least. The thick dark hair, untouched by grey, still waved untidily back from its widow's peak. He would never be handsome. His nose was too beaky, his mouth and chin too firmly uncompromising, and the grey eyes under the cynically lifted eyebrows too piercing. But he was even more of a force to be reckoned with than at their last disastrous encounter.

She was the one who'd changed, she realised with a reviving jolt of the same anger which had driven her into this room. She wasn't a naive, betrayed sixteen- year-old any longer.

The real vulnerable child was upstairs, and she was all that mattered in this situation. She lifted her chin and prayed her voice wouldn't let her down. She probably couldn't equal his own level of contempt in the look she sent him, but, by God, she was going to try.

'The reason—Mr Jung—is called Sohee, and for the past week she's been spending a regular part of the day totally unsupervised in Westcombe.'

The dark brows snapped together. 'What kind of dangerous nonsense is this?'

Changmin shook her head steadily. 'No nonsense at all. I only wish it were. The girl who looks after her has been allowing her to have tea on her own in the cafe where I work while she meets her boyfriend.' She paused. 'He has a motorcycle,' she added without expression.

There was a heavy silence. Jung Yunho was still staring at her, but Changmin had the feeling that he wasn't seeing her at all.

He said, half to himself, 'I'm going to get to the bottom of this,' and strode towards the door.

Changmin put up a detaining hand. 'If you're going to look for Cindy, she's not here. At least I don't think she is. She didn't turn up to collect Sohee as arranged. And her car is still in the market car park.'

He stopped. Looked down at her. Aware and refocusing, his face suddenly haggard. She had hated him for six years, for his lack of understanding—and compassion. She had never in the whole of her life expected to feel sorry for him, yet, somehow, she did. Here he was, in the middle of some business empire, with computers, modems and machinery as far as the eye could see, and just briefly he'd lost his power. He too was and bewildered, in a situation he couldn't control.

His voice was quiet. 'I accept what you say—everything you say. But I still think I should check—don't you?' He hesitated. 'Please sit down, Miss—?'

'Shim,' she said. 'Shim Changmin.'

He nodded, as if storing it for future reference. 'I'll have my housekeeper bring you some coffee.'
 'I think she's got her hands full giving Sohee her supper.'

'Yes, of course,' he said abruptly. 'I wasn't thinking.' He looked at her again, frowning as if puzzled. 'Where exactly did you say you'd met my daughter?'

'In the Clover Tea Rooms. I'm a waitress there. She sits at one of my tables.' She hesitated. 'I followed her out one afternoon and saw Cindy meet her. That's how I know about the boyfriend. Not through Sohee.'

He looked at her as if she were mad. 'What possible difference can that make?' 'Sohee promised not to say anything. She's frightened of breaching a confidence.'

'My God,' he said. He pointed at a cupboard. 'You'll find a decanter and glasses. Help yourself to some brandy, and pour one for me. You look as if you need it, and I know I do.'

She said huskily, 'I'm afraid I don't drink.'

'Then perhaps you should start.' The grey eyes examined her critically. 'Or are you always this pale?'

Changmin looked down at her feet. 'I have a taxi waiting. I'd really like to leave.'

'And I'd be obliged if you'd stay. After all, you marched in, issuing some pretty dire and extremely personal accusations. I'd like the chance to defend myself. But first I need to talk to Sohee.' He paused. 'Well?'

Still avoiding his gaze, Changmin nodded jerkily, and walked to an armchair beside the cheerful fire burning in the grate.

As she heard the door close she felt herself go limp.

'He doesn't remember me,' she whispered to herself. 'He didn't even recognise my name, although in fairness I only gave half of it.'

'Who are you?' he'd demanded with bitter intensity six years before. And, through a haze of shame and nausea, she'd mumbled, 'Changmin.'

Of course, she'd looked very different too. Her nondescript brown bob had been concealed under a curly blonde wig then, and her skin had been plastered with make up.

I thought I looked so glamorous—so sophisticated, she thought sorrowfully. And, instead, I was just being set up.

She shivered, and stretched out her hands to the fire. The burning logs smelled sweet, and the chair was deep and magically comfortable. It would have been very easy to lean back and give herself up to the luxury of the moment. But she couldn't afford to relax.

Jung Yunho might not have recognised her, but she knew him down to the marrow of her bones. And, when she left here tonight, she wanted him out of her system for good.

If Sohee had admitted from the first that her name was really Jung, would she have the guts to come here and face him tonight? she wondered. Probably not.

But why had Sohee told such a pointless fib in the first place? And where had the name 'Goo' come from?

I don't need to know, she reminded herself firmly. I did what I set out to do and made sure Tara was safe. That's as far as it goes. The state of the relationships in this house is none of my business.

But she couldn't help reflecting that clearly the last time she'd seen Jung Yunho he'd been a married man—Sohee would already have been born. Now, it seemed, he was a
 widower. He'd had more to concern him in the past six years than a trivial prank, however cruel. And the damage caused to herself seemed positively inconsequential compared with what he must have suffered.

Oh, pull yourself together, she thought impatiently. You've allowed yourself the statutory glimmer of compassion. The fact remains that Jung Yunho was a sadistic, heartless swine six years ago, and the evidence suggests he hasn't undergone any material alteration.

It seemed an eternity before he came back. And, she saw, he was carrying a tray with a silver coffee-pot and two cups which he set down on the desk.

He said, 'I think we should both take a deep breath and start again from scratch.' Changmin scrambled awkwardly to her feet, aware that her skirt had ridden up, revealing more of her long black-clad legs than she wished.

She said rather breathlessly, 'There's really no need for that, Mr Jung. I did what I thought was necessary, and now I'd just like to leave. My taxi's waiting.'

He shook his head. 'I paid him and sent him away.'

'You did what?' Her voice rose. The realisation that she was as good as trapped here with him made her shake inside. 'You had no right...'

'Oh, please,' he said impatiently. 'Clearly I have every right to establish just what's being going on. And when we've talked I'll run you home myself. It's the least I can do.'

My God, she thought. That's one positively diametric change from our last meeting. You tossed me out then without any regard for what might happen to me. I was little more than a child, and you treated me like a .

She said crisply, 'Another cab will be fine. I don't want to drag you away from your important business.' She put ironic emphasis on the last two words.

His brows lifted in swift acknowledgement. 'You really don't think a great deal of me, do you, Miss Shim? Would it earn me some Brownie points if I swore to you that I truly believed when I came home tonight That Soheewas safely upstairs in the care of her highly paid nanny?'

'Nevertheless,' Changmin said stiffly, 'she wasn't your first priority. You didn't actually check.'

'Touche,' he said gravely. 'Now, would you like to drink this coffee, or throw it over me?'

In spite of herself, she felt her lips twitch. He grinned back at her, and she realised it was the first time she'd ever seen him smile.

Realised, too, with a sense of shock, what a powerful attraction he could put out when he tried.

Thank God I'm immune, she told herself as she accepted the cup with a formal word of thanks and reseated herself.

'May I recap on a few points?' Jung Yunho handed her the cream jug. 'You actually saw Cindy with this guy—how many times?'

'Only once—yesterday. I followed Sohee into the street to see where she went. To make sure that she was all right.' Changmin stirred her coffee.

'It hasn't taken Cindy long to get fixed up,' he said grimly. 'We only moved down here
 three weeks ago.'

Changmin moved a restive shoulder. 'I suppose she is allowed a social life.'

'Naturally. She has most weekends off, and usually each evening too. The whole point of moving my business down here was so that I could spend more time with Sohee.'

'But I thought—' Changmin stopped abruptly.

'What did you think?'

She drank some coffee. 'That you'd have to be away a lot on business.'

'Well, it does happen, of course. I was away overnight earlier in the week. But Sohee understands, I think. At least I hope she does.'

I wouldn't count on that, Changmin thought. Aloud, she said slowly, 'She seems very mature for her age. Very self-possessed.'

'In some ways, perhaps.' He looked down at his cup. 'She's had to grow up quickly.' 'Yes.' She hesitated. 'It must have been hard on her— losing her mother like that.' 'You make it sound as if she's been deliberately careless,' he said lightly.

Her lips parted in a silent gasp of outrage. She said thickly, 'I hope you don't refer to your late wife quite so casually in front of Sohee.'

'I try not to refer to her at all,' he said curtly, his grey eyes scanning her stormy face. 'And when you talk of my "late" wife, are you referring to Ara's chronic unpunctuality, or are you under the misapprehension that she's departed this life?'

Changmin nearly spilled her coffee. 'You mean she isn't dead?'

'Good God, no,' he said derisively. 'Only the good die young, Miss Shim. On that assumption, Ara should outlive all of us.'

'Oh, Lord.' Changmin was scarlet with mortification. 'It's just that Sohee said she didn't have a mother, and I assumed...'

Jung Yunho shrugged. 'It doesn't matter, and in many ways Sohee's right. Ara and I have been divorced for the past two years, and she's pursuing her career in California. It was agreed that Sohee should remain with me.'

Changmin said numbly, 'Goo Ara —of course—the actress. I should have realised.'

'I thought you did know. After all, you addressed me as Mr Goo when you came bursting in here.'

Changmin looked at the floor. 'I—I'm sorry. That must be very—disagreeable.' 'Extremely,' he agreed calmly. 'But during the period of our marriage I became used to it, if not resigned.'

'I saw her in Tess of the D'Urbervilles on television,' Changmin blurted. 'She was wonderful.'

'Yes,' he said. 'Acting is what Ara does best. And I don't blame her for wanting to try her luck in Hollywood.' He paused. 'But I didn't want that life for Sohee. Any more than I wanted her to be called that absurd name,' he added, his mouth twisting. 'But Ara was convinced, just before the christening, that she was going to be cast as Scarlett O'Hara in some remake of Gone with the Wind that never actually transpired.'

He swallowed the rest of his coffee and put down the cup. 'But I suggest we make a joint vow to make no more assumptions. We're clearly not very good at them. You were convinced that I was an uncaring absentee father, and I assumed that because Cindy was
 pleasant and came with glowing references that she'd be reliable too.' 'What are you going to do about her?'

He shrugged. 'I'll have to find her first. All her clothes and personal things are still in her room, so I guess she'll be back, sooner or later.'

'And she left the car in the car park.' Changmin paused for a moment, then said diffidently, 'Perhaps you should phone the local hospitals—and the police. I mean—she could have had an accident.'

'At this precise moment, I'd be glad to hear she'd broken her damned neck. But you're right. I'll start ringing round after I've taken you back.'

She said with a touch of desperation, 'It would save a lot of time and trouble if you'd just get me a taxi.'

'You brought my daughter safely home. I want to do the same for you.' Which, of course, was unanswerable, Changmin thought, gritting her teeth. She said, 'I'd like to say good night to Sohee, first, if that's all right.' 'Of course. Whenever you're ready.'

Halfway up the stairs, she began to tremble. What room was Sohee going to be in? If it was—that room, then she couldn't go through with it. But then it wouldn't be. Then, as now, it would be the master bedroom.

It was still a relief when they went past the door, Changmin staring blindly ahead of her.

At the far end of the landing, there was another flight of stairs curving away to the left.

'This has always been the nursery suite,' Jung Yunho said as he led the way. 'Cindy's bedroom is up here too, and a big playroom, and there are two bathrooms, and a kitchenette to make hot drinks and snacks. It's quite self-contained.'

Changmin murmured something indistinguishable.

Sohee was in bed, looking mutinous.

'Carrie said I had to have an early night. But I wanted to come downstairs and play Snakes and Ladders with you and Changmin.'

Yunho ruffled her hair. 'I'm on Carrie's side. You've had enough fun and games for one day, madam.'

Sohee turned pleading eyes on Changmin. 'Will you come another time and play with me— please?'

This, thought Changmin, was not part of the plan.

She gave Sohee a constrained smile. 'I can't promise anything. I—I do have to work for my living. And you have Cindy to play with.'

'Not any more.' Sohee grinned naughtily. 'I heard Daddy tell Carrie that Cindy would come back over his dead body.' Her eyes brightened. 'Daddy, why can't Changmin be my nanny instead?'

There was a silence. Then Yunho said easily, 'I'm sure she has a hundred reasons. I'll leave her to tell you some of them while I make a few phone calls.'

'Don't you really and truly want to be my nanny?' Sohee asked when they were alone. 'I thought you liked me.'

'I do like you.' Changmin sat on the edge of the bed. 'But it isn't that simple. I have a job already.'
 'But it's much nicer here than it is in that cafe,' Sohee urged. 'You'd have a lovely bedroom. Would you like to look at it?' She began to scramble out of bed, and Phoebe restrained her firmly.

'And I have a home, too.' With a roof that leaks and wiring on the blink and a nosy landlord. 'Your father will soon find someone else to look after you.'

'I don't want someone else.' Sohee sounded rebellious and fractionally close to tears. Changmin took her hand. 'Look, I came to say good night, not have a fight. Everything

will work out, poppet. You'll see.'

Sohee pulled her hand away and turned over, burying her face in the pillow. 'I don't like being on my own,' said a muffled voice.

Changmin sighed soundlessly. 'Listen, if you're a good girl, and stop fussing, I'll come and play Snakes and Ladders with you one day. If your daddy will let me, that is.'

A transformed and beaming face was lifted from the pillow. 'Will you come tomorrow?'

'No, I have to go to work. Besides,' she added with a touch of sternness, 'Saturdays and Sundays are your special time with your father, aren't they?'

'Ye-e-es.' Sohee wriggled a bit. 'But he wouldn't mind if you were there too.'

'Oh, I think he might,' Changmin said lightly. And I certainly should. 'Cuddle down now, and I'll tuck you in.'

Sohee obeyed. 'You sound like a nanny,' she said.

Changmin bent and swiftly kissed a pink cheek. 'That's the easy part,' she said.

She closed the door softly behind her, and started down to the floor below. All the doors were shut there too, but she could remember what the rooms were like, she thought, her footsteps faltering a little. Especially one of them. The one with the big four-poster bed with a canopy over it. The one she'd been taken to...

Out of the past, she could remember someone saying, 'It looks like a bloody altar.' And Tony's voice drawling, 'Then let's supply the sacrifice.'

She shivered violently, trying to blot out his voice as well as the more potent memories of his lips on hers, his hands moving over her, undressing her slowly...

'Is something the matter?' Jung Yunho's voice, speaking sharply, broke across her reverie.

She realised she was standing, rooted to the spot, outside his bedroom. He was at the top of the stairs, staring at her.

He said, 'I've never heard that this house is haunted, but you look as if you've seen a ghost.'

'No—no, I'm fine. I—I thought I heard Sohee calling,' she improvised rapidly. He said abruptly, 'I'll sleep up there tonight, in case she needs anything.'

Changmin walked ahead of him down to the hall. 'You don't think there's a chance Cindy will turn up?'

'I know she won't,' he said grimly. 'You were quite right. She's in hospital—and the boyfriend too. I've just been on to the casualty department at Westcombe. They had an accident on the bike—hurrying back for Sohee, pparently.'

Changmin gasped. 'Are they badly hurt?'
 'Torn ligaments for him, and a broken collarbone for her. It could have been very much worse. I'll call in there after I've dropped you off, with a dose of unpleasant medicine for the pair of them.'

She said quickly, 'Don't be too angry with her, please. She'll know how stupid she's been, and be feeling really bad about it. And anger's such an awful thing—when you're frightened and ashamed, anyway...' Her voice tailed into silence.

'Well,' he said at last. 'That was certainly a cry from the heart.' He held out her coat for her. 'Do I really seem so formidable?'

'I—I was speaking generally.' Changmin slid her arms into the sleeves and began to Tumble with the buttons.

'Were you?' His grey gaze was searching. 'I'd have safd you had something very particular in mind, and—'

To her intense relief, his analysis was interrupted by a sharp peal of the doorbell.

Jung Yunho's brows rose. 'Now, who can this be?" he said, half to himself.

He went to the door and threw it open.

'Darling.' The woman who swept in with immense assurance was tall, with pale blonde hair swept back by a velvet Alice band. Her wine-coloured cape swirled around her. 'Mummy and Daddy are having an impromptu drinks party—such fun—and—' she gave a girlish laugh '—they've sent me over to scoop you up.'

Now that, thought Changmin, her own troubles forgotten in sudden relish, is something I'd really like to see. Yunho didn't seem a man who'd 'scoop' easily.

He said courteously, 'Good evening, Hazel. That's very kind of you all, but I'm afraid I'm not available tonight. We've had a slight domestic crisis.'

'Oh, dear.' The newcomer's rather prominent blue eyes focused on Changmin, taking in her ordinary appearance and the elderly waxed jacket she was wearing. 'Have I arrived at an awkward moment? Are you in the process of firing a member of your staff? I can wait in the car till you've finished.'

'No,' Yunho said pleasantly. 'Actually that's not it. This is Shim Changmin, who doesn't work for me in any capacity. Miss Shim, may I introduce you to Hazel Sinclair, who's the daughter of some neighbours of mine?'

Changmin murmured, 'How do you do?' and, in return, was given a bright smile which revealed very white teeth.

'All the better to eat you with, Grandma,' she said under her breath.

The social niceties concluded, Hazel Sinclair returned to her prey. 'So what's the problem, my pet? Is there anything I can do to help?'

He shook his head. 'I doubt it. Sohee's nanny's made rather a fool of herself and ended up in hospital.'

'Oh, these ghastly girls.' She flung her hands in the air. 'I really don't know how anyone copes with them. And I have to say she always did seem rather—flighty to me. Now, what you want is an older woman, a nanny of the old school, who'd keep a firm hand on poor little Sohee.'

'Is that what you think she needs?' Yunho asked mildly.

'All  small  girls  do,  my  dear.'  She  tapped  him  roguishly  on  the  arm.  'Especially
 charmers like your Sohee, who can twist their fathers round their little fingers. She's a delight, but you must be careful not to—overcompensate for the fact you're a one-parent family.'

'I am aware of that,' he said, a touch drily. 'I thought until an hour or so ago that I'd got the balance about right. Until Miss Shim arrived to correct me, that is.'

'Oh, really?' Changmin found herself subjected to a somewhat sharper scrutiny. 'Are you some kind of social worker, then?'

'No,' Changmin said. 'I'm a waitress at the Clover Tea Rooms, in Westcombe.'

'I see.' Hazel Sinclair clearly didn't. She gave a silvery laugh. 'It's not an establishment I'm familiar with, I have to say. Is it one of your haunts, Yunho? It doesn't sound very likely.'

'It isn't,' he said briefly. 'But Sohee likes it, apparently.' He paused. 'I don't want to seem ungracious, Hazel, but I was just about to run Miss Shim back to Westcombe and then visit the hospital.'

'Of course. I must be getting back myself. The first guests will be arriving.' She smiled at him dazzlingly. 'If you've time when you've completed all your errands of mercy, call round. So many people want to welcome you back after all this time. Besides, it's essential for you not to be a hermit.'

'I think I can promise that.' He took the hand she'd archly extended and dropped a quick kiss on it. 'Tonight just isn't on, Hazel, but I'll ring you next week and we'll have dinner.'

'I'll hold you to that, darling.' She bestowed a distinctly less radiant look on Changmin. 'Goodnight, Miss— er...?'

'Shim,' Changmin supplied helpfully. 'Clover Tea Rooms. Home-baking a speciality.'

As he closed the front door Behind Hazel Jung Yunho turned back to Changmin with a wintry look.

'You're not quite as demure as you look, are you, Miss Shim?'

'I don't understand.' Changmin returned the look. 'Is there a problem?'

There was a brief, oddly pregnant silence, then he said slowly, still staring at her, 'Do you know, Miss Shim? I think there might be. I really think there might.'

He sighed, swiftly and sharply. 'So—shall we go now?'
 'Please,' said Changmin. And thought, The sooner, the better.