Promise to Obey Read Online Free PDF Page A

was soothing, the mist spinning round her like a cocoon. Perhaps she would be beamed up to some alien ship and transported to an Elysian community. It would be peaceful there.
    ‘Have you survived?’ Lucas was coming out of the mist, clad now in Wellington boots and worn anorak, his hair still plastered wet to his head. He looked breathtakingly handsome. ‘You don’t look too shattered. How did you get on with the dragon, Lady Grace?’
    ‘I think I won,’ said Jessica.
    ‘First round to you, then.’
    ‘Do you have the walker frame? Surely the hospital issued one for your mother to use? She needs it.’
    ‘It’s downstairs, in a cupboard. My mother won’t use it. Says it makes her look a cripple. It does look a bit like sheltered housing gear.’
    ‘She will be a cripple if she doesn’t get some exercise. Can you resurrect it and take it upstairs? I shall get her to use it.’
    ‘Your word is my command.’ Lucas bowed his head in mock deference, looking grave, almost grim. ‘I obey the dragon-slayer .’
    ‘Daniel and Lily,’ said Jessica, changing the subject.
    ‘My two delightful children.’
    ‘You didn’t tell me.’
    ‘Tell you what?’ He looked defensive, a hard set on his face, but still someone in charge. He looked over her head, out into the garden.
    ‘You didn’t tell me that Lily was overweight and asthmatic and that Daniel is autistic. They both need trained help.’
    ‘And aren’t you exactly the right person to do that?’ said Lucas, coming so close that she could barely stand straight. ‘I looked into your qualifications. You’ve done a lot of work with difficult children. I don’t want them regimented and put into specialist centres where children are numbers and shuffled about like pieces on a chessboard. I want them looked after at home. I want you to change their lives.’
    ‘In three months?’ Jessica was astounded at his impudence.
    ‘However long it takes.’
    Jessica took a deep breath and moved away from his closeness. Rain was dripping off his nose. His tongue came out and licked away a drip. A sharp, guilty thrill ran through her and he caught the change of expression.
    ‘You’ll stay?’ he asked with a sudden sweetness, mentally on his knees but not physically on his knees. There was an unexpected warmth in his eyes.
    ‘I suppose I’ll stay,’ she said reluctantly.
    ‘Thank you, Jessica.’ Lucas brought his hands out from behind his back. He was holding a bunch of freshly cut yellow pom-pom dahlias and white daisies. ‘I thought you might like these for your room. I think you like flowers.’
    ‘Thank you,’ said Jessica, taking the flowers. ‘But there is one more thing I must ask you. What about your wife? Will she be here too, telling me what to do, ordering me about?’
    His face froze. ‘No,’ he said. ‘Forget my wife. She’s not likely to interfere in any way.’
    ‘How can I be sure?’
    ‘You can take my word.’
    He snapped out the words and walked away. His back said don’t ask me again. It was a wall of ice. Jessica was suddenly afraid.
    She walked slowly back into the house, wondering what she had taken on.

THREE
    It was a long time before Jessica got her breath back. Lucas had tricked her into this job and that made her really mad with a complex mixture of emotions. She had been gullible, not asking the right questions, taking all he had said at face value.
    But she could also see his point of view as a father. He cared about his children and he knew they both needed help. No nanny was qualified to take on the complex task. And would she have come if he had told her the truth? Probably not. She would have said that she didn’t know enough about autism and that Lily needed a dietician, not a nurse.
    She was here now and she would have to make the best of it. She might be able to make the smallest difference, but at least she would get Lady Grace up and downstairs. Even if she had to fight that lady for every step of the way.
    It was