The Firebrand Who Unlocked His Heart

by Anne Fraser

  ‘If it’s all the same to you, I think I’ll have dinner in my room tonight.’ She was pleased to hear that her voice sounded normal. ‘I’m tired and we have a long day in front of us tomorrow. I’ll be ready to set off for Dorset no later than eight tomorrow. Shall I meet you in the hall?’

  He was still grinning, but there was something disturbing in his smile…Something that sent a shiver down her spine, because her reaction to his smile wasn’t something a woman who was engaged should be feeling. What on earth was the matter with her? She had to be overtired and that was making her over-emotional. Relief made her feel light headed. Really, it was obvious when she thought about it.

  ‘Eight o’clock tomorrow it is,’ Daniel said and opened the door for her. He bent his head to hers. ‘Are you sure you won’t change your mind about dinner?’ His breath fanned her neck and little goose bumps popped out all over her body.

  ‘No, thanks,’ she said formally, and, resisting the impulse to bolt from the room, she bade him goodnight with what she hoped was a nonchalant smile and walked away.

  CHAPTER SIX

  UNTIL she saw Daniel pacing the hall at exactly eight the next morning, Colleen hadn’t been sure whether he’d keep his word. She had fully expected to find Burton meeting her to tell her that Daniel had been called into work and that Mike would be taking her instead. But as Daniel was wearing jeans and a casual short-sleeved shirt, it seemed he had decided to take the day off work after all.

  A team of contractors were busy working in the hall. Daniel hadn’t wasted any time getting the lift organised. He was deep in conversation with a man who appeared to be the foreman.

  As she waited for him to finish, she hid a yawn behind her hand. Last night, she had tossed and turned, unable to sleep for wondering what she had let herself in for. She kept replaying that moment when he’d let down her hair and her disturbing reaction to him.

  When he saw her in the hall, he came towards her. His eyes were shadowed as if he too had spent most of the night awake.

  ‘As I’m going to be unavailable for most of the day, I spent most of the night on conference calls with America. Thank God, they’re awake when most of the UK is asleep,’ he said as if he’d read her mind. She hoped to hell he couldn’t. There were all sorts of wayward thoughts rattling around in there.

  ‘Wouldn’t want you to miss out on a business deal now, would we?’ Colleen muttered under her breath, but Daniel had already turned away and was issuing a stream of instructions to Burton who was standing by the door waiting patiently with both their coats in his hand.

  ‘Shall I expect you both for dinner, sir?’ Burton asked in his mournful voice that by now Colleen was realising was the way he always spoke. God, she’d love to see him crack a smile. Did no one in this house have anything to be happy about? Then she felt ashamed. Of course they didn’t. Not too far from here was Daniel’s son, who was severely injured, and as Burton had obviously come with the bricks, he had probably known the late Mrs Frobisher well.

  ‘It’s a two-hour journey to Dorset and another two hours back,’ Daniel said. ‘I don’t know how long we’ll need to spend at the house, but I hope to be back in time for evening visiting at the hospital. Ask Mike to meet us down at the house with one of the cars. Tell him to bring the Bentley. We’ll need the boot space.’

  So Daniel had a Bentley? It wasn’t the kind of car she associated with him. Surely Daniel was more of a Porsche man?

  And it seemed she was almost right. The car waiting outside wasn’t a Porsche—it was some other equally sleek sports car, but it was definitely more in keeping with what she knew of Daniel. Which was exactly what? she thought. A big fat zero, more or less. How many cars did he have, anyway? She decided to ask him as Burton helped her into the passenger seat of the car as if she were completely unable to move her own legs.

  ‘No idea,’ Daniel answered her question as they sped away with a spurt of gravel. ‘Six? Seven? I don’t know and I don’t particularly care. I inherited them from my father. He collected cars. They’re mostly kept garaged at the house in Cambridgeshire.’

  ‘How can you not know how many cars you have?’ Colleen said. ‘And Mike told me you have, what is it, four houses? I would have thought that two max was enough for most people.’

  ‘I imagine you have an opinion on most things,’ Daniel said, sounding amused.

  Colleen smiled. ‘My brothers are always saying that I should give people a chance to speak before I rush in and tell them how I see it.’

  Daniel smiled back and the tension in the car eased as he weaved his way through the London traffic, pointing out various landmarks as they went along.

  * * *

  When they reached the motorway, he turned on the radio and fiddled with the buttons until he found a station playing classical music.

  ‘This okay for you?’ he asked.

  ‘Actually I prefer country and western myself,’ Colleen said. She slid him a glance and smiled again. ‘I did admit to having an opinion on most things.’

  Daniel caught her look and his lips twitched.

  ‘But I also like rock—you know, the golden oldies—as well as more contemporary artists,’ Colleen continued hastily. She preferred it when he didn’t look at her like that, as if she were an intriguing creature from another planet.

  Daniel found a station to satisfy them both and for the next hour and half they sat in silence, each wrapped in their own thoughts.

  ‘So you’re getting married?’ Daniel said suddenly. ‘Have you decided on a date?’

  ‘No, not yet. But with the salary I’ll be earning, I’m hoping for an autumn wedding.’

  ‘You don’t sound very excited.’

  Didn’t she?

  ‘But I am excited!’ Colleen protested, the words not sounding convincing even to her own ears. ‘We’ve been waiting for this day to come around for so long. We’ve even started building a house.’

  ‘What does he do? Your fiancé.’

  Colleen slid a look in his direction. ‘I thought you knew everything about me. You had me investigated, after all.’

  His green eyes glittered back at her and she felt that strange sensation in her stomach again. Maybe she should stop looking into his eyes?

  ‘My research didn’t include your fiancé.’

  ‘Ciaran works on the family farm with my brothers.’ Colleen decided it was time to change the subject. The discussion was bringing back that sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. And she wasn’t here to talk about herself. She was here to do a job and that meant finding out everything she could about Harry and his life before the accident.

  ‘Were Harry and his mother close?’ she asked.

  ‘Of course. Aren’t all mothers and sons?’

  Colleen bit back the retort that rose to her lips. Not all mothers and sons. Certainly not all fathers and sons. Wasn’t this man sitting next to her living proof of that? He seemed completely oblivious to the irony in his last statement.

  ‘I mean, Harry was at boarding school before his accident, right? How did he like it?’

  Daniel looked puzzled. ‘I’m pretty sure he liked it well enough. I wanted him to have the best education money could buy. It’s the same school I went to and my father before me. It never did me any harm. In fact, it toughened me up. Made me self-reliant and confident.’

  Colleen choked back the words that came to mind. In her opinion it explained a lot.

  ‘And Eleanor was happy about this?’

  ‘It was her idea. She’d been to boarding school herself and the best local schools were over-subscribed. Of course she missed him, but we both agreed it was for the best.’

  Best for whom? Colleen wondered. She couldn’t see how it was best for a young child to be sent to live with a bunch of strangers. It wasn’t as if Harry even had a brother there to help him through the inevitable homesickness. She remembered the time her youngest brother had gone away with the scouts on a two-day camp. He’d phoned home on the first
night and insisted their parents come and fetch him home.

  ‘Eleanor thought he’d have company there,’ Daniel continued. ‘Harry was shy, or so she said. She thought it would give him confidence to be with others his own age.’

  Even worse. Sending a shy, lonely boy away from home—how could anyone think that was the right thing to do? However, she wasn’t going to voice her opinion. Not now at any rate. Daniel was hurting enough as it was.

  ‘He came home every weekend. Mostly to his mother and the cottage in Devon. A couple of times to Carrington Hall.’ He pulled his hand through his hair in that characteristic way Colleen was beginning to learn meant he was baffled. ‘After the second time, he refused to come again. Probably because there was no one of his own age to play with, I guess.’

  Colleen’s heart went out to Harry. She could see the little boy wandering around that big house looking for company and not finding it. No wonder he stopped wanting to come. Hadn’t the same thought crossed his father’s mind?

  ‘He was only at boarding school for the last two years. He was at day school until he came back to the UK,’ Daniel said.

  ‘Came back to the UK?’

  Daniel’s fingers tightened on the steering wheel. ‘Harry was born in Buenos Aires. He lived there with his mother and stepfather. They only returned to the UK when Harry was ten.’

  Colleen waited for him to continue, but it was a few minutes before he did.

  ‘Harry’s mother and I divorced before Harry was born. She took him to Buenos Aires with her and the man she married when our divorce came through. Eleanor and David separated when Harry was nine. That was when she decided to bring him back.’

  That made it worse. Couldn’t Daniel see? Not only was Harry in an unfamiliar place, but he’d also been separated from the man who he’d known as his father for most of his life. Although it explained why Daniel didn’t seem to know his son very well, there was something that didn’t quite add up.

  ‘But you visited Harry in Buenos Aires?’

  Daniel’s jaw clenched. ‘No.’

  ‘Why not?’

  Daniel expelled a breath. ‘I guess there is no reason why I shouldn’t tell you. In fact, it may help.’ He paused. ‘Eleanor and I married when we were both very young—too young. She was eighteen and I was nineteen. Our parents tried to stop us, but we were in love, or so we thought, and the more they tried to stop us the more determined we were. At first we were happy. We had a flat in London and used the house in Dorset that we’re going to now at weekends. My father’s disapproval didn’t extend to cutting me off from the family money. Not that it would have made a difference if he had. To cut a long story short, I was ambitious. Soon I was working every hour I could and only coming home late at night. I even worked weekends. Eleanor started spending more and more time in Dorset. She met someone there and asked me for a divorce. She told me she was pregnant by him, so I didn’t stand in her way.’

  ‘But Harry, he looks like you.’

  A shadow crossed Daniel’s face. ‘That would be because he is my son. I didn’t find that out until Eleanor and her new partner split. Up until then she’d led me to believe that Harry was David’s child. But if I had had any doubts she was telling me the truth, the moment she showed me a picture of Harry I knew he was mine.’

  That explained a hell of a lot. No wonder Daniel knew so little about his son. ‘Why didn’t you tell me this before?’

  ‘I dislike talking about my personal life.’

  ‘But this is relevant!’

  ‘And how is my personal life relevant?’

  ‘Because anything that affects my patient is important. I need to understand the family dynamics. It can make a huge difference to a patient’s outcome.’ She tried to keep the exasperation from her voice. She took a deep breath. ‘Why did Eleanor wait so long to tell you Harry was yours?’

  ‘Because she would have known I would have fought tooth and nail to stop her leaving the country, if I’d known she was pregnant with my child. I suspect she only told me when she did, because she didn’t want Harry to miss out on his inheritance.’

  ‘So Harry didn’t know you were his father until a couple of years ago?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘That must have been difficult—for both of you.’

  ‘When I found out I was furious with Eleanor for keeping him away from me.’ His expression darkened. ‘All those years. Wasted.’

  ‘How did Harry feel when he found out you were his father and not the man he called Dad?’

  ‘Angry. Resentful. Mixed up, I guess. I tried to get to know him, but—’ He broke off and shook his head.

  ‘He did come to Carrington Hall to stay, though. He must have wanted to get to know you, too.’

  ‘He came twice. Then he made excuses not to come.’

  ‘Why did he stop?’

  ‘I don’t know. He just did. Maybe he was bored. Maybe he preferred to be in Dorset with his mother—he wouldn’t say. I didn’t think it was fair to make him come when he didn’t want to.’ His voice was casual but there was an undercurrent of something Colleen couldn’t quite place. Regret? Hurt? Bewilderment?

  ‘Didn’t you miss him when he stopped coming? I mean, you could have gone to see him—or taken him out for the day.’

  Daniel’s hands tightened on the steering wheel and the temperature in the car dropped a couple of degrees. ‘I think you’re overstepping the mark, don’t you?’ he said finally. ‘I’ve told you everything you need to know.’

  Colleen felt her hackles rise. Why did this man make it so difficult for her to feel sympathy for him? He had been put in a difficult situation that was none of his making. But had he really tried to get to know his son?

  * * *

  It was another half an hour before he spoke again. ‘Harry’s best friend at boarding school is a boy called Nathan. You might find it helpful to talk to him about Harry. Haversham should be able to find out how to get hold of him.’

  At least Daniel knew one thing about his son.

  ‘Sounds like a good idea. Perhaps you could get Haversham on to it this morning?’

  The look Daniel sent her was an indecipherable mixture of exasperation and something else she couldn’t quite read. He was so different to Ciaran. With Ciaran everything was an open book and what you saw was what you got. But she knew she had got as much out of Daniel as she was going to—for the time being.

  * * *

  The home Harry had shared with his mother was a surprise. Given the imposing grandeur of Carrington Hall, she supposed she’d expected something similar, or, at the very least, just as grand. However, the cottage was similar to the ones they’d passed when they’d come off the motorway—a neat, compact house with a thatched roof and thick, whitewashed walls covered with roses and jasmine. Although it wasn’t what Colleen had expected, the house drew her immediately.

  ‘Does your ex-wife’s husband live here now?’ Colleen asked as they stepped out of the car.

  ‘David? As far as I’m aware he’s still in Buenos Aires. Mrs Hardcastle—Dora—should be here, though. The other help left after the accident, but Dora insisted on staying. She was housekeeper to my mother when I was a child and worked for Eleanor and I when we were married. She went with Eleanor and Harry to Buenos Aires and came back with them. This is the only home she knows.’

  He tried the door, but it was locked.

  ‘She’s probably gone down to the village,’ he said, fishing a set of keys out of his pocket. He smiled wryly. ‘I can’t remember when I last used these.’

  Inside the house was a revelation. Unlike Carrington Hall, it was furnished in bright, welcoming colours and sunlight streamed through the windows. The door led through a small entrance hall and into a sitting room-cum-dining room. The sitting room was furnished with deep, squashy sofas in pale linen and piles of brightly covered cushions. The coffee tables were a mismatch of oak and pine and the scrubbed and dark-varnished wooden floors were covered with deep red rugs. An i
nglenook fireplace took up most of one side of the sitting-room wall. Just off to the right was a small but adequate kitchen and a door that Colleen guessed led up to the upstairs bedrooms.

  ‘It’s beautiful,’ Colleen said. ‘My idea of a dream cottage.’

  Daniel was looking around, his expression bleak.

  ‘My mother loved this house. When I was a child she used to bring me here for the summer. It was the only place that felt like home.’ The last words were said so softly and with such regret that Colleen wasn’t sure she had heard right. Was she seeing another chink in Daniel’s armour? Maybe he wasn’t so detached as he liked people to believe?

  ‘Eleanor asked if she and Harry could live here when they came back to the UK, so I gave it to her.’ Daniel continued. ‘I knew Harry would be happy here.’

  Colleen touched him on the arm, wanting him to know that she understood how painful it was for him to come to the place where he had once known happiness. He looked down at her hand and his muscles tensed. She removed her hand and stepped back, feeling as if she’d been stung.

  ‘Shall we have a look at Harry’s room?’ she suggested. ‘See what we should take back with us?’

  Harry’s bedroom was the first room on the right at the top of the narrow stairs. It was small, with only just enough room for a bed, a side table and a built-in cupboard. On the table was a portable TV with a computer console attached.

  ‘I bought him a new, bigger TV for his last birthday,’ Daniel said. ‘I don’t see it.’

  Colleen thought that a large flat-screen television would be totally out of place in this bedroom, but again decided to keep her counsel. The walls in Harry’s room were decorated with posters, some from movies and others of cricketers and rugby players.

  ‘Ah. Good lad. I see he supports Wasps. Next to the London Irish they’re the best,’ she said.

  Daniel wandered across to the bookshelves and was looking through the books. He seemed bemused. ‘I didn’t know he read this! I thought he was still into Harry Potter. Isn’t every kid under fifteen into Harry Potter?’