Antigua Kiss Read Free Page B

which matched the red linen cloth. It felt strange to be treated like a guest in her own kitchen.
    The importance of a nourishing breakfast had been impressed on her during her training, and evidently Ash also believed in beginning the day with a hearty meal. Having eaten two eggs, five rashers of bacon and two whole tomatoes, he cut himself a second thick slice of Christie's home-made wholemeal bread, and helped himself to the marmalade and some more butter.
    But there didn't appear to be an ounce of unnecessary flesh on his muscular frame, suggesting that his intake of food was balanced by a high output of energy.
    'You said you'd done well in the Caribbean. At what?' she enquired as she filled John's blue mug with milk before pouring out coffee for Ash and herself.
    'I'm a charter skipper. I cater to people, mostly Americans, who want to "get away from it all" but still have good food and modern conveniences. I provide them with a combination of the Swiss Family Robinson life with inner-spring mattresses, dry Martinis and all the other comforts of home. It's the way I like to live, too, but I have it all the year round and they only enjoy it for two to four weeks.'
    'Does the schooner belong to you?'
    He nodded. 'She was left to me.'
    'By someone on your mother's side of the family?' As far as she knew none of his paternal relations had ever owned a large schooner.

    'No, her previous owner was no relation. She was just an old lady I knew. She had no one to inherit the boat, so she left it to me. I'd been knocking about the Caribbean for a year or two by then, and the cost of buying anything seaworthy was rising a hell of a lot faster than I was earning money, so probably I should still be crewing if I hadn't run into Tugboat Annie as some people called her.'
    Christie knew him to be at least five years older than her brother-in-law, who had been twenty- seven. 'How old were you when this happened?' she asked.
    'Twenty-two. The boat badly needed a refit. It took me some time to get organised for the charter game, but at twenty-four I was in business. I've never looked back. It wasn't the future which was forecast by my father or my schoolmasters,' he added sardonically.
    'I'm sure you've been told that I left England under a cloud.'
    'I believe so. But that's long ago,' she answered, with a meaning glance at John.
    The little boy seemed intent on his breakfast, but he might be taking in more of their conversation than Ash realised. Most of it would be over his head, but with children of his age unguarded remarks by adults could result in embarrassing questions at awkward moments.
    In case Ash didn't take the hint, she asked, 'What was your mother's nationality?'
    'She was Greek. I don't remember her, only my father's second wife who didn't care for foreigners of any sort, but particularly those of my complexion. It's as well she isn't alive to see England becoming increasingly cosmopolitan.' His dark gaze flicked over Christie's fair hair and pale skin. 'Perhaps you share her views?'
    She shook her head. 'I teach at a very mixed school. There are problems when people of different nationalities and races start living together on terms of equality, but I don't believe they're insuperable. I think life would be a great deal duller without the very mixed cuisine which most people eat nowadays. I certainly shouldn't like to think I was never going to eat another pizza, or a curry, or a doner kebab.
    Food-wise, there's everything to be said for a multiracial community.'
    'My stepmother wouldn't have agreed with you. She disliked even French food,' said Ash. 'But as you have a more adventurous palate, how would it be if I took care of the supper tonight and gave you a Caribbean speciality?'
    'It would be very nice—if you think you can get the ingredients.'
    'With the number of West Indians in London—no problem,' he assured her. 'John can come shopping with me instead of staying with Mrs Kelly. It will give us a chance to get