So two weeks later, on a warm sunny day, Candy, Nigel, Jared and Caitlin met once again. They, along with the teams who had come second and third at the treasure hunt were booked to spend a weekend at a high-end country cottage. The teams had to make their own way to the cottage, and as a consequence people arrived in dribs and drabs over the course of the Friday evening and Friday night. Candace, Nigel and Caitlin had chosen to travel together. Jared drove up with Douglas and two of the girls from Douglas' team as they had come third in the treasure hunt.
Jared and Caitlin had not seen each other since the treasure hunt event. Though neither had forgotten what had transpired both had hoped they could move on and that the weekend would pass without event. Caitlin was particularly edgy, given the number of people who had seen that kiss were also going to be at the cottage, and they no doubt would be keen to see how Caitlin and Jared got on now. She just hoped she and Jared did not provide any more fodder for the curious.
Jared and Caitlin probably would not have provided further fodder, had it not been for one minor development. Or as far as Jared was concerned, not so small development.
It was just unfortunate that a couple of hours before Jared and Douglas set off for this weekend, Jared had read the latest notice in the local community e-newsletter that came out every Friday. He'd only bothered to check just in case there were last minute changes to details for the weekend plan. To say he was unhappy, after reading the two-line entry in the newsletter, was a serious understatement.
For the newsletter reported that he had was engaged to Caitlin!
Jared had read and read the two line entry several times, thinking he must have been misreading the information. But no, there it was, in black and white. Congratulations to Mr Jared D'Olivera and Miss Caitlin Fonseca on their recent engagement.
The announcement was one of three listed in the e-newsletter. Of course he'd phoned the editor, instantly and demanded to know who'd posted the message. And Jared got the shock of his life when the editor told Jared that the notice was posted by Caitlin's father! For several long seconds Jared just glared at the phone. Caitlin's father? Jared was beyond incensed. If her father seriously thought he could dragoon Jared into marrying his precious daughter he was about to learn the hard way just how wrong he was. Kissing Caitlin was one thing, but in Jared's books it did not mean marriage. Even if her father thought marriage was the next logical step.
Given he was going to be seeing Caitlin in a few hours Jared fully intended to take that opportunity to have words with Caitlin. What were she and her father thinking? Did they not realise that Jared and Caitlin would be the subject of talk when people saw them at the cottage this weekend? Or perhaps that was the plan. Make sure that Caitlin and Jared were seen together.
It wasn't exactly a cottage, but a large converted Steading with 5 large bedrooms that housed a combination of double and single beds. There were four communal bathrooms, two with baths and the two with four shower cubicles. The open plan kitchen lounge was vast, with a breakfast counter that divided the two areas. The dining table ran the length of the room and sat 20 comfortably. The sitting room was a large open plan space that linked the bedrooms to the utility areas. It was an impressive place.
It was just a pity that it planned to host a group who had yet to gel let alone get on socially. Never-the-less Lisa explained the sleeping arrangements and allocated rooms and roommates for the weekend. Caitlin found she was sharing a room with Candy and another couple of girls. It did not really bother her as she figured with Candy for company they'd both manage.
With everyone present, Lisa also took the opportunity to explain the plans for the whole weekend and in particular the details for Saturday. They would be horse riding to a lunch spot by the lake. A picnic had been arranged and they would spend a couple of hours at the lake before riding back to the stables, they would then be driven back. Take away meals had been ordered for Friday night, Saturday was a meal in town, Sunday night was up to them.
So after settling in and checking out the rest of the facilities, the groups prepared for a casual meal. Dinner was fish and chips and things were relatively relaxed when everyone settled in the kitchen to eat, share and learn a bit more about each other.
It was after the meal was over that Jared decided he ought to have a word with Caitlin. Thus far they had exchanged pleasantries, but steered clear of each other, choosing instead to spend time with groups of people they knew.
"I'd like a word." Jared took Caitlin by the arm and attempted to steer her without any further preamble or further explanation toward the door.
"What's wrong with having that word inside?" She asked. The groups had splintered into smaller clusters, and some now occupied the couches dotted in the living area, while others remained at the long table. Most had a glass of wine or a bottle of beer in their hands, and a few appeared to be holding court while the rest listened. But never in her wildest dreams had she considered the possibility that Jared would seek her out for a chat!
"Because I don't think you'd appreciate the rest of the party hearing what I have to say." Jared told her and gestured toward the entrance. Caitlin was somewhat taken aback by his blunt approach, but from his expression she realized that challenging him was not a good option. So she went with him. They walked toward the gate.
"Fine!" She spun around and stalked toward the door. When were they ever going to have a moment together that was not an incident or a fiasco! She wondered which category their current meeting would fall into. Definitely incident she thought as she replayed the tone of his voice. He wasn't happy about something. What? They hadn't met since that debacle at the treasure hunt event. She hadn't spoken to him. He hadn't spoken to her. So what could he possibly be angry about now?
"I get that you were furious about what happened at the club house." He figured that furious was an understatement. He could still remember the passion he'd seen in her eyes, and he could still remember the fact that kissing her had well and truly rattled his equilibrium. But that was then. He was over it now. More so after reading that ridiculous notice about his engagement. He was not about to be manipulated by her father just to save her reputation. Marriage was not for him. What did he know about happy families?
"Still am." Caitlin told him frankly. Why was he bringing that up again? As far as she was concerned it was over. Done and dusted. Which was a minor fiction. For she was far from over the fact he had kissed her. And she had responded. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't shift the impact of that kiss. She'd even found herself telling Georgia about what had happened and about how she couldn't stop thinking about that kiss.
"But one kiss in my book does not result in an engagement." He turned her to face him. His eyes took stock. Of course he'd taken stock of her earlier, when they had arrived at the cottage, the first person he had looked out for, was her. That had annoyed him at the time. He put it down to wanting to see whether she was going to snub him this weekend or whether she had come with an open mind. At the time he thought she looked good. Her hair was tied back, and her face was devoid of any vestige of makeup, and yet she looked good. Good bone structure. Good skin. And as he remembered great kisser! But that didn't mean he intended marrying the woman!
"I imagine with your track record that would not be realistic." Caitlin said with a great deal of frost. Her eyes skimmed over him, giving him a quick top to toe scan. That was the trouble; this man was too good looking for her! Way out of her league. "And for the record, there were two." She told him pointedly, not really sure why she was adding that. She was at this weekend under duress. She knew she as going to see him again, and she'd been far from pleased about the fact that she was still dealing with the flak from his ridiculous kiss strategy.
"Two what?" His frown deepened when she just quirked a brow. He found it difficult to think logically when he was this close to her. That in itself was annoying. He wasn't some callow youth. He was experienced. He should be able to track a conversation while standing with her. But somehow, she managed to addle his brain. His business acumen counted for nothing when he was near this woman. What was even more disconcerting was the fact she did not realize she had this impact on him. Not that he planned to clue her in anytime soon.
"Kisses." She informed him finally, in a tone dripping with ice. "You. Kissed. Me. Twice." She bit out each word as if they were utterly distasteful. Caitlin and Georgia had discussed what had happened and both sisters were of the view that the man was an idiot! But Georgia was also of the view that Caitlin liked the idiot! For the way Caitlin had described the impact of the kiss was akin to the way Georgia felt when she kissed her now husband.
Jared folded his arms. Caitlin followed suit. They stood and glared for a few seconds. Neither wanted to revisit that particular episode. Jared had told Douglas about Caitlin being far from pleased about being kissed. Douglas had laughed at Jared's consternation. It was obvious that Jared was miffed because Caitlin hadn't thanked him profusely for helping her out! Then both men had decided that Caitlin was probably just concerned about her father learning about Jared kissing his daughter. For both Jared and Douglas knew that neither of them were the kind of men, most fathers would want for their daughters. Jared and Douglas came from families that were at best described as dysfunctional. They had family histories that made soap operas look tame. But neither of the two men had allowed their start in life to dictate their futures. Influence, yes. Ensure they made their way out of the poverty ghetto, yes. But dictate, no. They were self-made men who took control of their futures rather than sit around and wait for their futures to be shaped by others. It had taken years of hard graft. But they were successful businessmen. Now. That success did not mean that old money accepted them. After all, their background was hardly the type to endear them to the average parent. So the chances of Caitlin's father wanting his daughter to have anything to do with Jared were slim to nil. Which is why Jared found the sudden engagement announcement rather strange. But on the drive up to the cottage Jared figured the engagement notice might be her father's way of dealing with damage limitation. Everyone knew that Jared was seen kissing Caitlin. Obviously in her father's books that meant a walk up the aisle!
The silence lengthened. Caitlin was determined not to give in and speak first. He wanted to talk to her, so let him do the groundwork. Eventually Jared decided she was going to be stubborn. So he would have to spell things out. "You might want to tell your father that you aren't interested in me, anymore than I am interested in you."
"Why would I want to tell my father anything about you?" Countered Caitlin. They were standing outside and given she hadn't bothered to put on a cardigan, it was starting to feel a touch cool. But the cold night air was not as frosty as his tone. Caitlin rubbed her arms to smooth out the goose pimples that appeared as her skin registered the cold night air.
"Because he announced our engagement." Jared grated pointedly.
"Don't be ridiculous." Snapped Caitlin. She was pretty sure her father had done no such thing! He hadn't even met Jared. He was not going to announce his youngest daughter's engagement to a man he hadn't met.
"It was in the e-newsletter." Jared told her and wished he'd suggested they'd stayed indoors for this conversation as he could really do with being able to read her expression and see her eyes.
But he didn't need the light to read her expression when she burst out laughing. "Someone is having you on." She stopped chuckling for Jared did not appear to find the situation amusing in the slightest. She could understand why. He had spent practically every moment, used every opportunity to make sure that people knew there was nothing going on between them, at first, but he ruined all that effort when he had opted to be seen kissing her. People, including her, were confused! And now no doubt someone was winding him up by placing a public notice about his engagement to her.
"I checked. Your father put it in." He had made inquiries. He wanted to be absolutely certain of his facts before he took her to task. He'd learnt from their first meeting to check his facts. So he had contacted the editor, asked him to remove the announcement and demanded to know who had placed it. That's when he was told it was Caitlin's father who had placed the notice.
"I doubt it." Caitlin replied with another snort. "My father is smart! He's not going to hook me up with an idiot, albeit charming idiot, like you!" She said with pseudo sincerity for the word charming. Not that her dig made any difference to Jared. He just ignored the inflection in her tone of voice.