Love is for Ever by Barbara Rowan Read Free Book Online

matched the creamy-pink of her complexion beneath the straw brim of her hat.
    “Buenas tardes, senorita ,” he said, as she passed him on the road.
    Then a car came along behind her, and drew up a short distance ahead of her. Dr. Barr opened the door and looked back at her, smiling.
    “Can I give you a lift?” he asked. “Or are you actually enjoying your walk?”
    “I am,” she admitted. “But it is a bit hot.”
    “Then get in and I’ll drive you down to the clinic. Perhaps you’ll come and have some tea with me at the bungalow, will you? I’ve only a bachelor establishment, but the woman who looks after me is wonderful, and can produce tea on the instant.”
    “Then I'd love to accept your invitation.” And then she hesitated. “Although I didn’t let Tia Lola know I expected to be away for long.”
    “That’s all right,” he told her. “We’ll ring through and let her know where you are.”
    When they turned inter the dusty road, bordered by cacti and palm trees, which led to the bungalow, Jacqueline felt for a moment as if nostalgia was threatening to wash over her like a wave. She recognized at once the green-tiled roof of the low white house—built to a single-storey plan because her father had preferred it that way—and the white gate standing open on to a short drive, with a garage beside it halfsmothered in something that blossomed scarlet at this season of the year. But Neville Barr put out a hand and rested it lightly on her knee for a moment, and he said:
    “Don’t worry! There’s nothing inside the bungalow to remind you of the time when you stayed in it! And you needn’t see anything of the clinic today, if you don’t want to. Let’s do things gradually, shall we?”
    She was so appreciative of his understanding, and the warmth of his smile, that she flashed him a faintly tremulous smile back. He was nice, she thought. She had liked him from the moment she first saw him, and she felt she was going to go on liking him.
    He put her into a comfortable arm chair in the pleasant sitting room of his bungalow, and looking round it Jacqueline realized that he had been speaking no more than the truth when he told her there was no longer anything there to remind her of the past, or even very much of her father. In her father’s day the place had been adequately, if a trifle spartanly, furnished; but with the advent of Dr. Barr a certain amount of luxury had taken the place of utilitarianism.
    His furniture was elegant as well as comfortable, and he had excellent taste, she thought. The color scheme was well thought out and restful. There was a golden polished floor and light rugs, green woven curtains, and green tapestry-covered chairs in the main living room. There was also a very modern-looking cocktail cabinet in a corner, and a thing her father had certainly never bothered about, an artistic arrangement of flowers on a little table in the centre of the room. Beneath an arch she could see the dining alcove furnished in light wood, and with more flowers in a shallow silver bowl on the table.
    Neville caught her eyes for a moment, and asked:
    “Like it?”
    “I think it’s extremely nice,” she told him.
    "Good!” he exclaimed.
    An Island woman brought them their tea, and she was another of the smiling-eyed sort who seemed to think it pleasant that the doctor should be entertaining an attractive young woman to tea. Jacqueline poured out, but he declined any of the indigestible-looking pastries and little cakes which accompanied the tea in vast quantities, and having accepted his cup from her hand sat back and looked at her with interest.
    “Tell me,” he said, “have you made up your mind yet whether you’re going to like it here?"
    “As a guest of the Cortinas, you mean? she asked, looking directly across at him.
    ‘Yes; I know very well that the island is not entirely new to you, and your opinions about it must have been formed years ago. And that they were favorable opinions is