‘You did not give me a lot of choice,’ she rebuked, mildly but softened it with a faint smile. Now was not the time to argue. ‘As for Ben—he couldn’t get on the plane fast enough. He has never flown before, and was totally fascinated.’
‘I’m going to be a pilot when I grow up, Daddy,’ Ben said.
The glimmer of a smile curved the tight line of Jed’s mouth as he bent down and swept Ben up into his arms. ‘You can be anything you like when you grow up, but right now I want you to meet your grandfather.’ And, glancing at Phoebe, he added, ‘My father wants to see you as well, Phoebe. The doctor has given him something and he is awake at the moment, but for how long…’ He shrugged his broad shoulders. ‘Come,’ he said, and, rising to her feet, she followed Jed and Ben into the other room.
A small dark-haired woman walked towards her. ‘I am Jed’s sister Cora,’ she said, and with a smile and a hello for Ben she looked up at Phoebe. ‘You must be Phoebe. I have heard so much abo
ut you, and it is lovely to finally meet you, but I wish it was in happier circumstances. You must come to dinner tonight and meet the rest of the family.’
‘No, not tonight,’ Jed cut in, putting Ben down on his feet. ‘You go and get a coffee or something. We won’t be long here, and then you can take over for a few hours while I take Phoebe and Ben home.’
With a roll of her huge dark eyes his sister murmured, ‘The oracle has spoken,’ and put her hand on Phoebe’s arm. ‘I love my brother, but I know him. Don’t let him bully you. I’ll bring the children over tomorrow morning—they will be company for Ben. Whatever Jed thinks, a sickroom is no place for young children,’ she said with a sad smile. ‘I’ll see you later.’
Phoebe smiled back, feeling marginally better. Cora seemed friendly, though her comment about having heard a lot about her had been odd, she thought as Cora left the room. Then, taking a deep steadying breath, she turned and froze as she took in the tableau before her.
A white-haired man lay on the bed, his head propped up by pillows, a discarded oxygen mask around his neck, and lines attached to his wrist and chest leading to a drip. A bank of monitors was recording all his vital functions. His face was lined with age and pain, but there was no mistaking his distinctive features.
Ben, who was just big enough to see over the bed, was looking curiously at his grandfather as Jed said something in Greek to his father, and then switched to English to introduce Ben.
She saw the old man’s dull eyes light up with such joy it brought a lump to her throat, and she saw Ben hold out his hand and the old man take it. She was looking at three generations of a family—all male, all with the same deep brown eyes, all smiling, all with the same thick slightly curling hair. They looked incredibly alike—no one could ever mistake them for anything other than family. Suddenly it hit Phoebe like a punch in the stomach. Ben fitted in seamlessly with these men. This was his family, however much she wished it wasn’t, and she had no right to deny him the benefits of his paternal family.
‘You are a very old man,’ she heard Ben say.
‘Really, Ben—it is bad manners to make personal comments.’ But her admonishment was drowned by Jed’s laugh and his father’s chuckle.
‘The truth does not hurt,’ Jed’s father said in a weak rasping voice. ‘Come closer, where I can see you.’
Phoebe moved to stand by Ben and Jed, and glanced warily down at the bed’s occupant, not quite sure what to expect.
‘You are the mother of my wonderful grandson,’ he said, eyes glistening with moisture meeting hers. ‘I thank you with my heart so very much for bringing him to me.’
‘My pleasure,’ Phoebe murmured. ‘I am pleased to meet you,’ she continued rather formally, ‘and I hope you recover soon.’ She did not trust herself to say any more, and swallowed down the emotion welling up inside her. His English was heavily accented, and nowhere near as fluent as Jed’s, and she could tell he was struggling to breathe, but there was no mistaking the genuine delight and the wealth of emotion in his tone.
His gaze swept slowly over her, and then he looked at Jed and spoke in Greek for a couple of minutes while she watched. She was amazed to see a dark flush spread over Jed’s high cheekbones, and he actually looked embarrassed when he finally responded.
Then his father turned his eyes on Phoebe, a determined gleam in the dark depths. ‘You are beautiful, Phoebe.’ He grasped her hand with a strength she would not have thought possible in his condition. ‘My son is an idiot. You must excuse him. His mother and I taught him better. He will marry you immediately, and I—’
‘Enough Father! This is not the time,’ Jed commanded, and she saw him glance and frown at the bank of monitors before looking back at his father. ‘These things can wait. You must rest.’
‘You have waited too long already,’ his father sighed, letting go of Phoebe’s hand as he sank deeper into the pillows. The small burst of strength he seemed to have had was fading as his eyes closed. ‘I no longer have time, and you would not deny an old man’s last wish to see you wed.’
Talk about emotional blackmail! The old man was a master. That was Phoebe’s first thought, but watching Jed lean forward to place the oxygen mask on his father’s face, murmuring something in his own language and then pressing a kiss on the lined brow before straightening up, she suddenly felt terribly guilty for her unkind thought. The old man really was fighting for his life…But what made warmth flow through her and moisture haze her eyes was seeing the hard, emotionless Jed she had tried for so long to hate carefully tending to his father.
‘He is asleep.’ Jed smiled down at Ben and, taking the boy’s hand, glanced at Phoebe. ‘Cora is going to sit with him. We can go now.’
He looped an arm around her shoulder and ushered them out of the room. To any onlooker she realised they must look like a real family—and would it really be so bad if they were? Shocked at where her thoughts were leading, she stiffened—and was suddenly conscious of the subtle brush of Jed’s long leg against her thigh as he ushered them along the corridor.
Self-disgust at the ease with which he could affect her physically—in a hospital of all places!—mingled with the confusion and resentment she felt towards Jed. He knew her too well in some respects. In the past he had told her often enough she was too soft-hearted for her own good with her friends, beggars and stray animals…It was all his fault she was in this almost helpless position in a foreign country.
She shrugged his hand from her shoulder and turned to look at him.
‘Not now, Phoebe. Recriminations can wait,’ he said, accurately reading her mind. ‘I have had a hell of a night and the day isn’t getting any better. As for my father…’ He shook his head. ‘Damn him—he is unbelievable.’
She glanced at him in surprise ‘That isn’t a very nice thing to say.’
‘Phoebe, all I want to do is get you two home and have a shower and a change of clothes.’ He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers, then opened them again. ‘Maybe an hour’s sleep.’
She looked at him—really looked at him—and realised with a sense of shock that Jed the dynamic, powerful man she had thought indefatigable actually looked almost exhausted…