by Anne Fraser
Every now and again she would look up to find his eyes on her. He would grin as if he’d caught her out and she would look away quickly, terrified in case he noticed the blush stealing up her cheeks.
‘What do you say we go for a walk down on the beach? ‘ Abby suggested to Emma one day after work. Although it was after five, it was unseasonably warm for October.
‘Great. Can I go swimming?’ Emma asked, and before Abby could reply she was off upstairs to her small bedroom. Emma had to be constantly on the go.
Abby fetched her own costume from the bedroom opposite Emma’s. She slipped into her bikini before pulling on a long, silky cardigan to cover her until they got to the beach. Their rented home was tiny, having once been a fisherman’s cottage. It had a sitting room and a small kitchen downstairs and two bedrooms upstaires with a small bathroom separating them. Abby would have preferred something bigger, but her salary as a paramedic didn’t stretch very far. After rent and food, anything left over went on clothes and outings for Emma. Sometimes it was a struggle to make ends meet, but if the alternative had been not having Emma in her life, Abby knew it was no contest. Over the years she had scrimped and saved until she had some savings in the bank. Enough to put a deposit down on a small house when they found the right place. At least here in Penhally they had a chance of getting on the housing ladder. In London, it had been impossible.
‘I’m ready. Let’s go,’ Emma called to Abby.
The beach was a ten-minute walk from their house. Although the tourists were away, the sun still warmed the air and there were plenty of locals making the most of the last few warm evenings.
As they walked, Emma asked Abby about her job.
‘I love it. The rest of the team seem really nice. I went on my first rescue on Monday with one of the doctors. We managed to get a woman to hospital so her baby could be born safely. We also had to rescue a boy who had fallen down a cliff. Being here has different dangers from those in London. Ones that you might not even think about. So, please, Emma, you need to be very careful when you’re out with your friends.’
‘You worry too much, Mum. Nothing will happen to me.’
Abby smiled at her daughter. ‘I know it won’t. And I know I’m a worry wart. But just promise me you’ll always be careful.’ She couldn’t bear it if anything happened to her.
‘I might be a pilot when I grow up,’ Emma said, dismissing Abby’s fears. ‘I think I would like flying off to help people in trouble.’
Trust Emma to be drawn to that kind of career. The little girl loved nothing better than taking on anything that was exciting. It struck Abby that she shared at least one trait with Mac. The worst possible, in Abby’s opinion. How many more would there be? ‘You can be anything you like, darling. As long as you stick at school and do your best.’
Emma stuck out her tongue. ‘C’mon, Mum. I’ll race you to the sea.’ And with that she was off, long legs flying across the sand and her blonde hair streaming behind her. Abby laughed and raced behind her daughter, her heart feeling as light as it had for as long as she could remember.
The shore was busy with people either walking their dogs, playing ball games or paddling. To one side, in an area cordoned off, were the surfers, windsurfers and kite boarders. Abby had watched them once or twice before, impressed at their skill.
The wind down at the shore was gustier than it had been at the cottage and the surfers were taking full advantage of the substantial waves. Further out, where the waves were even bigger, was a kite boarder. Abby and Emma stopped paddling to watch as the boarder let his parachute pull him into the air. There was a collective gasp from other people who had stopped to watch as he somersaulted in the air before landing perfectly on the water. He caught the wind in his parachute to propel him across the water, faster than Abby had ever seen anyone move without the use of an engine. Just as she thought he was going to crash onto the beach, he flipped in the air again, this time landing so he faced in the opposite direction. Abby had never seen anything quite as graceful before. Although the figure was tall, well over six feet, his movements in the air were almost balletic.
‘I want to learn how to do that,’ Emma said, her eyes wide with admiration. ‘It looks so cool.’
Over my dead body, Abby thought grimly. It was far too dangerous. But she didn’t say anything. Experience of her headstrong daughter had taught her that the more Emma was told not to do something, the more she wanted to do it. In that way she was very like Sara.
‘I think you have to learn to surf or windsurf first, before you can move onto something like that,’ Abby said mildly. With a bit of luck it would take Emma years to master the basics. And by that time she would have forgotten her interest in kite surfing.
The kite surfer was racing back towards the shore. When he was only a metre or so away, he turned his board sideways and jumped off. He seemed to have given up for the day.
As he walked up the beach, Abby’s breath caught in her throat. It was Mac. He shook the water from his hair before peeling his suit down to his waist. Abby sucked in her breath. His chest was as muscled as she’d remembered, the six pack of his abdomen even more defined than twelve years earlier. All at once a memory of the first time she had seen him came flooding back.
It had been the first full day of their holiday on Mykonos and Abby had been looking forward to relaxing in the sun with Sara. The last few years had been tough. Since their mother had more or less evicted them from the family home, Sara’s behaviour had become wilder and wilder. Although Abby had trained as a paramedic, Sara had not found a job she’d wanted to do for more than a few weeks. More interested in partying than working, Sara had lost more than one job for failing to turn up for work after a late night. Abby had hoped that their holiday would give her a chance to talk to Sara and make her see that sooner or later she had to settle down.
As they’d made themselves comfortable on their sun-loungers, Abby’s attention had been caught by a tall windsurfing instructor who had been giving lessons to a group of beginners on the beach close by. His height alone would have caught her attention, but his tanned and toned physique had made him stand out like some Greek god. His sun-bleached hair had reflected the sun and when he’d grinned, which had been often, his eyes glinted. Abby had never seen anyone whose presence had been so immediate before and her stomach had flipped. He must have felt the intensity of her gaze as he’d looked up from what he was doing and, catching her eye, had winked with a wide smile. Abby had blushed and dipped her head.
Sara had noticed and followed her gaze to where Mac had returned his attention to his class and had been demonstrating how to move the sail on the board in order to catch the wind.
‘Now, that’s what I call hot,’ Sara said appreciatively. ‘I think I’ve just signed up to windsurfing classes.’ Not having a shy bone in her body, Sara sauntered over to join the group, and that was more or less the last Abby saw of her for the rest of the holiday. Instead of the girly chats Abby had envisaged, from that moment Sara spent every spare minute with Mac, leaving Abby to amuse herself.
* * *
Abby was forced back to the present as Mac noticed them standing on the beach and walked up to them. He smiled widely.
‘Fancy meeting you here,’ he said to Abby. His eyes glinted as they lingered on her bikini-clad figure and Abby resisted the impulse to wrap her arms around her body to shield herself from his appreciative gaze.
‘We were watching you out there. Pretty impressive.’ Abby’s heart was in her throat. This wasn’t how she’d planned father and daughter would meet.
‘Yes. It was really wicked,’ Emma piped up.
He turned his gaze to Emma and raised a quizzical eyebrow at Abby.
‘This is my daughter, Emma. Emma, this is Dr William MacNeil, my colleague.’ And your father.
‘I’m pleased to meet you, Emma,’ Mac said with a tip of his head.
‘How did you learn to do that?’ Emma said, unable to hide her admiration.
‘Could you teach me?’
‘Emma,’ Abby said warningly. ‘I don’t think it’s fair to ask.’
Mac caught Abby’s eyes over the top of Emma’s head.
‘Why not? I’d have to teach you how to windsurf first. And I could teach Abby, too.’ He raised a challenging eyebrow.
Emma’s face lit up. ‘Would you? That would be amazing! My dad was a windsurfer. Mum, would that be okay? Please say yes.’
Abby suppressed a groan. Emma’s dad was a windsurfer right enough. This one standing in front of them. And here he was, offering to give lessons to the child he had no idea was his daughter. Under any other circumstances, Abby would have smiled. In many ways, this was exactly what she had hoped for. Daughter and father getting to know each other, but it was all happening too fast. Abby hated to refuse Emma anything, but she had to tell her and Mac the truth before they met again.
‘We’ll see. But the weather’s going to start getting colder soon and then it will be winter. Perhaps it would be better to leave it until next year?’ she hedged.
‘But that’s ages away,’ Emma protested. ‘I can wear a wetsuit. That’ll keep me warm, won’t it, Dr MacNeil?’
‘Let’s just see how we get on. You might decide you hate it after a go or two and that’s okay. Not everyone sticks it out.’
‘I will. Mum always says I stick to everything once I make up my mind, isn’t that right?’
Abby ruffled her hair. ‘It’s true.’
‘Okay, then. How about next Saturday? If the weather holds. I can pick you and your mum up.’
Emma squealed with delight before remembering she was trying to be cool these days. She clamped her hand over her mouth. ‘Can I, Mum? Please say yes.’
Abby hated to refuse Emma anything and right now she couldn’t think of a single reason to say no. She could always cancel the lesson later. If she had to. She shivered as the sun dropped below the horizon. ‘Okay, but we’d better let Dr MacNeil get on. And I should be getting supper ready.’
‘Why don’t I take you girls out for something? My treat,’ Mac suggested.
Behind Emma, Abby shook her head at him. The last thing she wanted right now was to have these two spending time together. At least, not until she had told them the truth.
Emma’s face dropped. ‘I said I would go round to Sally’s house to watch a film. Her mother said she’d order pizza in for us.’
‘In that case …’ Mac grinned at Abby ‘… there’s no reason why we can’t go, is there?’
Abby wanted to refuse, but now that Emma and Mac had met she knew she had to speak to Mac. Putting it off would just make it harder.
‘I’ll have to drop Emma off at her friend’s and get changed first,’ she said.
‘No problem. I need to go home, too. What about if I pick you up in an hour’s time? We could go to the restaurant I mentioned the day we went for a walk.’ Without waiting for a reply, he picked up his sailing gear and walked away, whistling.
CHAPTER FIVE
ABBY was breathing so fast that too much oxygen was making her knees weak. She would have to find the words to tell Mac that Emma was his daughter. And after that she would have to tell Emma. There was no way she could let this windsurfing lesson go ahead without both of them knowing who the other truly was.
Emma chatted about Mac and kite boarding all the way back to their little cottage. ‘I can’t wait to learn how he does that. How long do you think it will take me to learn? I can’t believe you’re working with someone as cool as him. Just wait until I tell my friends.’
Abby ached for her child. Even before knowing Mac was her father, Emma was clearly starstruck. And Abby couldn’t blame her. But the very things that made him an exciting figure were the very things that could make him totally unsuitable as a father. For the umpteenth time, Abby wondered if she were about to make a dreadful mistake. Now Emma had met Mac, she’d be even more devastated if Mac wanted nothing to do with her. Whichever way Abby looked at the problem, there was no obvious right answer.
After dropping Emma off at her friend’s, Abby jumped into the shower. Then she attacked her wardrobe, pulling out one outfit after another before discarding them on the floor. She told herself she wanted to look good because she needed the confidence to face Mac with her news.
Eventually she settled on a pair of dark trousers and a deep red silk blouse. A slick of dark eye shadow and the merest hint of lipstick completed her make-up. She brushed her hair until it shone and left it loose around her face, studying herself critically in the mirror. Her eyes were bright, and two spots of bright colour on her cheeks stood out against her pale skin. Suddenly she had to laugh. When Mac saw her, no doubt he would think it was the thought of going out with him that was making her look like an over-excited schoolgirl. She had to relax. Cool, calm and collected was what the occasion demanded and she knew only too well how to do cool, calm and collected. She must never let herself forget, not even for a second, that Mac was Emma’s father. That fact alone made him totally out of bounds.
Hearing a knock on the door, she ran downstairs, grabbing her raincoat from the peg beside her door.
Mac smiled broadly at her when she opened the door. He had changed into dark jeans and a white shirt, which accentuated his tanned skin and the dazzling blue of his eyes. A shot of electricity ran up her spine. Despite the warning signals her brain was firing at her, her body clearly wasn’t listening.
Tonight he was driving a low-slung sports car instead of the Jeep. Abby looked at him questioningly.
‘The Jeep’s my day car,’ he said carelessly. ‘This one I save for night-time. What?’ He laughed, catching her look. ‘I like cars. You know—boys’ toys.’
He drove the same way he did everything else—fast, but with total concentration. Thankfully he slowed down on the narrow coastal roads where visibility was limited. Nevertheless, Abby found herself gripping her seat and pumping an imaginary brake pedal as if she could slow him down.
He caught her doing it, and grinned wickedly, but he slowed the car down even further.
‘Isn’t it beautiful?’ Abby pointed to the horizon where the sinking sun was turning the sea red. Despite the way her heart was hammering, the sight had a calming effect on her. Abby relaxed into her seat. Why did he have to be so attractive? She had thought he was the sexiest man she’d ever seen the first time she’d ever set eyes on him, and she still thought that. Boy, she should have got out more.
‘I find everything about it beautiful,’ Mac said slowly, turning his head to look at her. ‘Quite stunning.’
She couldn’t think of a reply, let alone force the words past a throat suddenly as dry as dust. Thankfully moments later they drew up outside a quaint-looking building. It was single storey with thick stone walls. It had been built close to the sea and as Abby stepped out of the car she gasped with pleasure. Stretching before her, as far as the eye could see, was the ocean. It was bluer than Mac’s eyes and crests of white tipped the waves, which boomed like thunder as they crashed onto the shore.
Mac came to stand beside her. ‘You like? ‘ he asked, his ready smile back in place. ‘See that little cove down there?’ He pointed to a sandy area to Abby’s left. ‘That’s one of my favourite places to go kite boarding.’
‘You mean you surf out there? Where all those rocks are? Isn’t it dangerous? Not to say foolhardy?’
Mac’s grin got wider. ‘Safe is boring.’
Abby craned her neck to see down to the bay. As far as she could tell, there was no path down.
‘How do you get down there? I don’t see a path.’
‘There isn’t one—that’s part of the attraction. It means I always get the place to myself.’
‘So how do you get to it? By boat?’
‘Sometimes. Sometimes I climb down. It’s more fun. It’s not really that difficult—as long as you know what you’re doing. One day I’ll show you.’
Abby shi
vered at the promise behind the words. He was making it clear he found her attractive and that he expected to see more of her. Soon he would learn that it was probably going to happen, but not for the reasons he thought.
His daredevil attitude worried her. What if Emma found her father only to lose him in some reckless escapade? She was beginning to appreciate where her daughter had got her own love of risky sports from. She’d always assumed it was from Sara, but now she knew it was from both her parents. It didn’t bode well for the future. She shivered again.
‘You’re cold. I’m sorry. Let’s get inside.’ He sniffed the air. Wood smoke mingled with the scent of the sea. ‘Smells as if they have a fire going inside. We’re early enough to grab a table that’s near the fire and also has a view of the sea.’
Abby was glad he’d put her shiver down to the cold. She was already beginning to dread telling him about Emma. What if he refused to accept she was his daughter? If he did, at least this way Emma would never need know. At least, not until she was eighteen and perhaps by then she’d be able to deal with her father’s rejection. But she was getting way ahead of herself. Unlikely though it seemed, perhaps he’d be pleased to find he had a child. He had been good with Tim and Luke. There was only one way to know for sure and no point in putting it off any longer.
Nevertheless, she waited until they had ordered. Mac was looking at her with the same air of puzzlement that he had shown when they’d been first introduced.
‘I can’t get it out of my head that we’ve met before. We haven’t, have we? You know …’ He had the grace to look embarrassed. ‘No, of course we haven’t. As I said, I would have remembered you.’
