CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Mark grinned to himself as he leafed through the documents on his way up the path to Dolly's front door. He tapped on the door and whisked her into his arms as soon as she opened it. Dolly stared at him, surprised and seemed a little breathless when he put her down.
"How's my favourite doll today?" he asked. He didn't see her face as she closed the door behind him and led the way through to the sitting room. He rolled his eyes at the sight of her laptop and the piles of paperwork around it, along with the empty cups littered around the room.
"Busy," she replied, as lightly as she could. "And you?" Even to her own ears her cheeriness sounded forced.
"You got time to talk?" he asked, sounding so excited that she couldn't help but smile.
"Sure, I need a break. I'll put the kettle on."
"Got any clean cups?" asked Mark.
"Tell you what, wise guy, you gather up the cups and you can wash up while I sort out the kettle."
"That sounds like a poor deal, Ms James." He grinned though and started to collect her cups. She couldn't help but smile at him standing at the sink washing up the cups while she leaned against the counter.
"So what's put you in such a good mood, big man?" she asked.
"I've got a place of my own lined up," he said. Dolly smiled warmly.
"That's great. I bet Kane's thrilled you won't be under his feet anymore."
"Not quite," laughed Mark. "It's the cottage in the grounds of the house. It's a good size, needs a total refurbishment but Eloise is on with that. It would be just the perfect size for two."
Dolly paused with what she was doing and felt butterflies in her stomach at his words. His meaning was fairly clear and she shivered, glad that she was turned away from him so that he couldn't see her face before she composed herself.
"Really? So were you thinking of getting a room-mate?"
"Dolly, I know we haven't been together all that long, but the cottage will take a while to complete... how would you feel about moving in with me?"
Dolly was silent for a moment, torn. This should have been one of the happiest times in her life; instead all she could think about was Charles Slater and his threats.
"I thought you'd be a bit more excited," he said, eventually when she didn't respond. Dolly turned quickly to face him and embraced him, so that she could hide her face.
"Oh Mark, I would love to," she said. "You just caught me by surprise, that's all."
Mark didn't hear anything but that she would move in with him and he lifted her off her feet, embracing her tightly. He didn't even notice when he told her that he loved her that she still didn't respond in kind.
For the next few weeks, Mark was in a daze of happiness that nothing could penetrate and he didn't even notice that Dolly was working longer and longer hours and seeing less of him than before as he worked with Eloise on plans for the cottage. Dolly managed to seem enthusiastic and happy when she was around Mark, but the reality was that she was trying to think how she could keep Charles Slater happy and most importantly protect her mother. And the other part of her, the part that was falling for Mark, wanted to run away so that she wouldn't hurt him.
That night, she carefully twisted her hair into a chignon and applied a liberal amount of make-up. They were going for a meal with Kane and Eloise that night, at Kane's house, but Mark had said that they were dressing up as Eloise couldn't manage going out at the moment with the size of her bump. She had packed a small overnight bag and her laptop in its bag and even managed to ignore Mark's expression when he saw that she had brought work with her.
"So, is Kane cooking?" she asked, turning to smile at him. Mark gathered her into his arms and kissed her.
"No chance; we don't want poisoning! Rose has cooked and left strict reheating instructions." Dolly laughed and allowed herself the luxury of growing comfortable in his embrace for a moment, before her phone beeping broke the moment.
"Sorry," she said, going to her handbag and extracting it.
Don't let me down.
Dolly grimaced and deleted the message quickly.
"Work," she said, breezily, which wasn't a total lie.
"Can't you switch it off? Just for tonight?" said Mark.
Dolly nodded and then followed him down the stairs into the dining room, where Eloise was sat at the table already and Kane was bustling around, with steaming plates of food.
"Need a hand, bro?" asked Mark.
"About time you offered," muttered Kane, as he stomped off to the kitchen again. Eloise laughed as Mark followed his brother, leaving her alone with Dolly.
"There's a bottle of white in the cooler," she said, smiling across at Dolly.
"Thanks. How are you?" Dolly poured herself a glass of wine and Eloise smiled contentedly.
"I'm fine, huge and whale like, but fine," she said. She looked across at Dolly and narrowed her eyes. "Tell me to mind my own business if you want, but..." She broke off quickly as Kane and Mark came back into the room, their banter at full swing.
"Starters," announced Kane, putting steaming bowls of soup down on the placemats with bread rolls. They sat down to eat and Eloise watched as Dolly pushed her soup around the bowl, eating only a fraction of it. She did the same with her main course and her dessert. And the wine was barely touched. She seemed distracted, only speaking when directly addressed and smiling when someone smiled at her. Eloise bided her time until Kane and Mark had gone to clear away and then she leaned across the table.
"Dolly, what's the matter?" she asked. Dolly started and looked across at her. She had thought that her behaviour had been normal, but Eloise had noticed that she wasn't right.
"I've been doing a lot of work," she said, dismissively. "I guess I'm just tired. Sorry."
"How's things with Mark?" Eloise plunged straight for the heart of the matter and Dolly looked up into her eyes, seeing nothing but warmth and care. She took a deep breath.
"Ok," she said, forcing a smile.
"If things aren't right, you can say," said Eloise, after a brief silence.
"I don't understand," said Dolly.
"Dolly, he's asked you to move in together and the cottage is being completely gutted and refurbished yet you haven't been anywhere near. That's not normal if you don't mind me saying."
"I've just been busy with work," she said, twisting her wine glass in her fingers. "I am excited, of course I am and I trust Mark's judgement. And ultimately, it is his cottage..."
"If you don't want to be with him, you should tell him before you move in together," said Eloise, softly. Dolly felt tears stinging her eyes and looked away.
"I'm just going to use the bathroom," she said, hurrying away to the sanctuary of Mark's en-suite. Once inside, with the door locked, she let her tears flow. She hated her step-father, with all the passion she could muster for putting her in this position. The thought of leaving Mark filled her with misery, but the thought of anything harming her mother hurt so much that she couldn't breathe when she thought of it. Suddenly there was a gentle knock on the door.
"Doll? You okay, darling?" Mark's voice came through the door. Hastily she wiped her eyes.
"I... I'm fine. I got something in my eye, that's all," she said.
"Come on out, let me have a look for you," he said. Slowly, she opened the door and Mark took in her tear-stained face without comment. He tilted her chin back and looked into her eyes. "Nothing there, darling."
"It must have come out while I was in the bathroom," she said. "I'm sorry, Mark, I'm kind of tired. Must be all that food."
Mark raised an eyebrow; he knew she had barely touched the food. He brought a hand to her forehead, suddenly and shrugged; her skin was cool.
"Do you mind if I go to bed? Will you apologise to Kane and Eloise for me. I feel exhausted."
She did look pale and with her make-up washed away, he could see the dark shadows under her eyes.
"Sure. You get yourself ready. I'll be up shortly," he replied.
Dolly started several minutes later when there was a knock at the door. It was Eloise.
"I'm sorry if I upset you before," she said, heaving herself into a chair by the window. Dolly sat down on the bed and drew her knees up to her chest.
"You didn't. It's just... I guess this is a pretty big thing for me. I've always lived alone and been caught up with work more than a personal life and now... I don't know; Mark is so heavy sometimes."
Eloise laughed.
"A Callaway trait," she said, with a sympathetic smile.
"Why did you leave, Eloise?" asked Dolly, suddenly, catching the other by surprise. Eloise was silent for a moment and then she glanced away, out of the window.
"Kane knows that I am no fan of his career choice. Especially when I found out I was pregnant. After what I went through with Rico, I couldn't bear the thought of a child going through anything even remotely similar. I know Kane wouldn't hurt me or our child, but he would hurt others, maybe anyone who might threaten us and I still find that hard to deal with." She looked across at Dolly. "But I love him. So we both have to compromise."
"Are you afraid of him?" asked Dolly.
"No," said Eloise, thoughtfully. "I have been but I know for a fact he wouldn't hurt me. Are you afraid of Mark? Is that what this is about?"
"Not afraid exactly, but I don't have your confidence that he wouldn't hurt me."
"Has he threatened you?" asked Eloise, a note of anger in her tone.
"No, Eloise, no. Well, not exactly. He has told me in no uncertain terms that he wouldn't be pleased if I ever wrote about him or anyone he cared about..."
"That isn't likely though... is it?" There was a brief hesitation as Eloise said this and when Dolly met her eyes, she saw curiosity there.
"Of course not. I... I care for him; I couldn't do that to him." As she said the words, Dolly knew they were true and that caused her a stab of real fear. She didn't fear Mark the way she did John Austin.
"Well, I'll let you get to sleep. I just wanted to make sure you were ok. You know, Dolly, if ever you want to talk, I'm always here. Literally at the moment because I can't fit behind the wheel of the car much less drive anywhere!" Eloise laughed and Dolly smiled.
"Thanks, Eloise. Night."
As Eloise closed the door, Dolly picked her phone up from the bedside table and switched it on. She held her breath, but there were no messages. With a sigh of relief she climbed into the bed and fell asleep almost straight away, not even stirring when Mark came up.