by Anna Jacobs
“Rick found me a good one.”
“Yes. I’ll definitely ask him once I’ve made my mind up.”
When Laura got back forty minutes later, Kit was still in the kitchen, sitting with a cup of coffee and reading a book. He put it down. “Come and join me. Tell me how it went.”
“Better than I’d expected. We’re not really at ease with one another, but at least she doesn’t seem as hostile as she was. She even apologised for being a bit rude after Craig died. A bit rude! She treated me like a leper - even before he died.”
“Give her time. She’ll come round.”
“I suppose so.”
“Is there any chance of us nipping out to look at those armchairs tomorrow? Once we know what colours they come in, you can advise me on how to improve that front room.”
“I’d planned to give the place a thorough cleaning tomorrow. You’ll think I’m very slovenly if I don’t keep things nice.”
“Hell, we can get the contract cleaners in for that.”
“But I’m employed to cook and clean.”
“I think your duties are changing already. Don’t you?” He raised one eyebrow at her, smiling when she flushed. “It’s much more important to me to get the place comfortable and I don’t see why we shouldn’t enjoy ourselves, either. I’ve had months of not doing anything for fun and that’s a lot of time to make up for.” When she didn’t say anything, he added gently, “And I don’t think you’ve been happy for a while, either.”
“As long as you think I’m earning my money.”
He patted his stomach and grinned. “I most definitely do.” He got as far as the door, then turned to face her. “Hey, let’s go and buy a car tomorrow as well. I’ll soon be able to drive again and I want to be prepared the minute they give me permission.”
“Just - go out and buy a car?”
“Sure. Why not? I’ve some money earmarked for it and I’m pretty sure what sort I want.”
She smiled as she began to clear up the kitchen. He’d said he enjoyed doing things with her. Well, she enjoyed being with him. Too much. Then she frowned, remembering the morning’s conversation with her father. Kit was only thirty-eight, six years younger than she was. She hadn’t realised that. Perhaps suffering had made him look older. She’d assumed they were about the same age. Did it matter that she was older than him? It might. He had no children, was young enough to start a family, while her children were grown up. She couldn’t imagine life without Ryan and Deb. Surely he’d want children too?
So she’d better not get into this too deeply, for both their sakes. They would just have a fling and then go their own ways.
Why did that thought make her feel sad? She really had to get out of the marriage and permanency attitude. Things had changed since she was young.
* * * *
The next morning they went round a couple of car showrooms - no second-hand car for Kit. Laura watched in amazement as he looked at some quite expensive cars and eventually settled on a BMW with every extra you could imagine.
“You’re very quiet,” he said as she drove him home again.
“I’m still catching my breath after watching you spend so much money without even blinking.”
“I’m not reckless with my money, but I’ve never had a brand new car and I promised myself when I was having all those months of operations and therapy that I’d get one this time.” He stared into the distance. “I think a car will be much more important to me now I’ve got this.” He slapped his leg.
“I didn’t mean to criticise.”
“I know. And once the car arrives you can drive me round in it. We might as well enjoy the luxury.”
“Me? I wouldn’t dare.”
“Of course you would. You’re a very capable driver. Anyway, I’ll put you on my insurance so if there’s any trouble, it won’t matter.”
She shook her head. “Craig hit the roof if there was the tiniest scratch on his car, and he wouldn’t let me drive the last one.”
“Your ex-husband, Laura, sounds to have been a prize idiot.” He grinned. “You’ll note how carefully I’m tempering my language here.”
She couldn’t help laughing. And agreeing with him. In some ways Craig had been an idiot. She now knew why he had been such a penny-pincher - to save money for his little diversions. Had been angry when she realised that. Found herself laughing again and wondering what words Kit would have used if he hadn’t been treading carefully.
Suddenly she felt more carefree. Kit had that effect on her.
* * * *
That afternoon they went out and chose armchairs and a new sofa, which Kit cajoled the salesman into delivering the next day, since they had plenty in stock. He was very sure of what he wanted, comfort-wise, though he left the colours to Laura.
When they got home there was a message on the answering service that the car was ready and he insisted they take a taxi to the showroom and Laura drive him back. He was bubbling with enthusiasm, couldn’t stop talking about the car, the new chairs, his plans for the house. He seemed to be changing before her eyes, becoming a different and much happier person than the tense man who’d hired her.
She’d always found him attractive, but he was dangerously so in this mood.
Chapter 21
Ryan let a few days go by without contacting Caitlin. He wanted to phone her, knew he ought to phone her, but didn’t know what to say. His feelings for her were in a tangle. Hell, the whole situation was crazy. She was, after all, carrying his father’s child.
Where did that leave him? He didn’t know.
But he missed her! Thought about her. Worried about her. How stupid could you get, falling in love with your father’s former mistress?
One evening he sat watching the seven o’clock news on TV, not making any sense of the pictures and voices, and suddenly the longing to see Caitlin was so intense he snatched up his car keys and left his flat before he could change his mind.
He couldn’t find a parking spot nearby so left his car round the corner and walked along towards her block of flats. He could see that her car was missing but rang the door bell anyway, just in case she was there. When there was no answer he went back to sit in his car and worry about her. She didn’t sound to have any friends in Melbourne, so where was she?
He couldn’t bring himself to go home. Was that stupid or what? But her block of flats was on a cul-de-sac, so she’d have to pass him to get home and he knew her car by now.
It was an hour before she turned up, driving past without noticing him. He’d recognise her anywhere, though, with that beautiful tumbled mass of hair. Getting out of the car, he walked along the street as another vehicle passed him. Someone pulled out of a street parking space just as the second car got near the flats and the driver pulled into it quickly. A big beefy man got out and ran across to Caitlin. Ryan hurried forward, worried that the guy might be intending to mug her, but it was quickly obvious that she knew him, so Ryan stopped in the shadows to listen. Perhaps this wasn’t a good time to interrupt. Perhaps she’d met someone else.
Her voice rang out clearly, sharp with irritation. “Barry, I’m not inviting you in. We agreed to go out for dinner, that was all.”
It was her cousin from Perth! How the hell had he found her?
The guy’s voice was deep and calm. “We need to talk, Caitlin, come to some agreement.” He reached out to grasp her arm.
“I’ve said all I intend to and I don’t want you pestering me any more. It upsets me and that’s not good for the baby.”
Ryan heard her voice wobble on the last phrase and that was it. He strode across to her, seeing, even by the poor light of the security lamp in the car park, the utter relief on her face when she realised who it was. Her cousin let go of her arm and took a step backward, staring at the newcomer.
“Hi, Caitlin. The meeting ended sooner than expected, so I came over on the off-chance you’d be in.” Ryan put an arm round her shoulders and felt her tension, so pulled her closer as
he turned to face the other guy.
“Who’s this?” the cousin asked.
Ryan said only, “A friend.”
“I’m Barry Sheedy, Caitlin’s cousin. And you’re. . . ?” He stuck out one hand and looked questioningly at the younger man.
Ryan didn’t take the hand, didn’t want to. “Like I said, a friend.” He could imagine what her family would think about her seeing her dead lover’s son, so didn’t intend to reveal who he was.
“I prefer to know who I’m talking to?” Barry insisted.
“My name is my own business.”
“Well, whoever you are, my cousin Caitlin and I were having an important discussion about family matters, so I’m afraid it’s not a good night for you to see her.”
His air of calm superiority irritated the hell out of Ryan and he turned to look at Caitlin. Their eyes met and the look she gave him was desperate, pleading.
She turned to her cousin. “I don’t need you to speak for me or make decisions for me, Barry. I’ve already told you I consider our discussion finished and I don’t know why you followed me home. Come on up, Ryan. I’m tired and need to sit down.”
For a moment he thought Barry was going to punch him, then the other man breathed deeply, unclenched his fists and stepped backwards. “I’ll drop round tomorrow, then, Caitlin.”
“No, don’t do that,” she said quickly. “I’ll be out all day.”
“We still need to talk.”
“You want to talk. I don’t.”
“How can you let your parents worry about you like this? And how can it possibly be good for you to be on your own at such a time?”
“She isn’t on her own,” Ryan said as mildly as he could. “She has me.”
Barry looked at Caitlin. “Does he know?”
Ryan wasn’t going to be ignored like that. “About the baby? Of course I do. You don’t think Caitlin would conceal something like that from me, do you? After all, we’re seeing one another.”
Barry looked from one to the other, his expression suddenly ugly.
“Let’s go inside now.” Ryan tugged Caitlin towards the front door of the complex and stood behind her keeping an eye on Barry as she unlocked it. He heard her fingers fumble then a faint mutter of exasperation when she dropped the keys. But he let her pick them up herself because he didn’t trust her cousin, didn’t like the guy’s attitude at all.
When they were inside the hall, Caitlin quickly shut the front door and groaned in relief. “Let’s go up the stairs. It’ll be quicker than the lift. I want another lock between me and him.”
“I won’t let him hurt you.”
“He doesn’t attack people physically, but a verbal battering can be as bad when he’s playing on your feelings of guilt.”
“You have nothing to feel guilty for.”
She didn’t answer but threw him a look that spoke her disagreement with this statement.
Once they were inside her flat Ryan murmured, “Don’t switch the lights on yet!” and went to look out of the front window. Barry had gone back across the street to his car and was leaning against it, arms folded, watching the flats. “He’s still there. Hasn’t even got into his car.”
She came to stand beside him. “And if I know him, he won’t go away till he sees you leave. He may even try to get in to see me after you’ve gone. What am I going to do?”
“We’ll think of something. How the hell did he find you this time?”
“I don’t know. He smiled when I asked that - he has such a knowing, superior smile, it makes me sick. It’ll be something to do with computers. It always is. He boasts he can find out anything he wants to know on the Internet or by hacking into government web sites.”
Ryan felt her shiver and put his arm round her again. “Great moral principles that shows!”
“Barry’s morals have always been very flexible. My parents would never believe he could be like that, though. I think he stays in the sect because he can dominate people that way. He’s a real control freak.” She sighed. “I just wish he’d leave me alone.”
“Well, let’s sit in the dark and make him wonder what’s happening up here. He won’t be able to control that.”
She was betrayed into a sound that echoed with both surprise and laughter. “It won’t make any difference. If he’s decided to persuade me to go home, he won’t go back to Perth until he’s done just that.”
“Implacable, you said. Like a steam roller.”
“Yes.” She swung round to face him. “Never mind him. You came back.”
“Good thing I did.”
“You don’t - hate me then?”
“Of course I don’t. I never did. It’s just the circumstances that are - difficult.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Let’s sit down. You sound tired.”
“I’m absolutely exhausted and angry with myself, too. I was so surprised to hear his voice on the intercom that I let him in - well, he said he had a message from my parents. Then he wouldn’t leave, so I said I was hungry and he persuaded me to go out for a meal. I insisted on going in my own car, though. Only I couldn’t eat anything with him sitting opposite me. I know now what they mean by someone devouring you with their eyes.”
She shivered. “He talked and talked at me till my head ached, using that measured, I-know-better voice of his. I wanted to scream at him to shut up and go away, but it’d have done no good. He’d only have smiled and told me it was no use getting hysterical. He used my parents to make me feel guilty tonight. And I do feel guilty for running away, Ryan, but not guilty enough, or stupid enough, to go back to them.”
Suddenly she was weeping in his arms. “If he found me so quickly this time, where can I hide next? I can’t stay in Melbourne, obviously. He’s over here for a week! I can’t stay inside my flat for a whole week. And why should I have to?”
He held her gently, loving the way her soft hair tickled his cheek, then pushed her to arm’s length and said firmly, “Don’t cry, Caitlin. Or if you have to, wait until later. We need to work out how to get you away from him.”
She fumbled for a tissue and mopped her eyes. “Sorry. I weep so easily at the moment.”
“You can weep as much as you like once we get you away. I’ll even provide you with a free box of tissues. Expense is no object when I care about someone.” That brought a smile to her face, at least, but he thought she was looking drawn and tired. “Is there a back way out of these flats?”
“Yes. There’s a rear door which leads to the rubbish bins and there are double padlocked gates on the side street, for when the bins are emptied. All the tenants have keys to the padlock, though.”
He made up his mind to do it and to hell with complications. “My flat is smaller than yours, but if you want to come and stay with me for the rest of the week, you’re welcome.”
There was enough light from the street lamps for him to see her mouth fall open and her eyes widen in shock. “I do have a spare bed, Caitlin. You won’t need to share mine.”
“I could go to a hotel if you’d help me get away - ”
“He’d be able to trace you to a hotel, but he won’t have any idea where I live because he doesn’t know my name. Isn’t it lucky I couldn’t find a parking place and had to leave my car round the corner? He won’t even see the number plate. How much time do you need to pack?”
“A few minutes. Thanks, Ryan.”
When they’d drawn the curtains, she put the lights on and turned efficient, packing her things rapidly and setting her laptop computer out ready to take with her.
Just before they left he grinned at her and switched the living room light off, leaving only the bedroom light on. “That should upset him and keep him watching the flat.”
She smiled as they took the lift downstairs and crept out of the back entrance. She was still smiling when they arrived at Ryan’s flat.
He couldn’t help kissing her.
And she kissed him right back.
They
didn’t sleep together, though. He didn’t want to do that while she was still carrying the child. One day they would find a better way than this to be together, he hoped. Until then he’d continue to play the friend and avoid the lover role. Though it was going to be hard.
Chapter 22
Angie’s father got back from the hospital late that afternoon. “Your mother can come out tomorrow morning, but we have to watch her carefully to make sure she takes the pills. You know how she hates taking tablets of any sort and she’s already claiming that these are making her dopey.”
“All right. I’ll do my best. Though she never listens to me.”
“That’s all either of us can do: our best.”
His expression was sad. She wondered if he still loved her mother, but didn’t think it possible. How could you go on loving someone who made your life so uncomfortable? She caught sight of the clock. “I’ve got our dinner ready, Dad. I can put yours to keep warm in the oven if you don’t want to eat yet, but it’d be better if you had it now or it’ll dry out. I’ve got to get off to work soon.”
“You shouldn’t have bothered. I could have picked up some fish and chips.”
“Too fatty. You know you’re watching your cholesterol.” She went to serve the food.
He dumped his coat in the hall cupboard and sat at the table with a weary sigh. “Thanks love. I’ll have to clean our bedroom tonight. You know what she’s like if the slightest thing is out of place.” He ate a few mouthfuls, then looked at her. “I was wondering . . . ”
When he didn’t finish, she asked, “Well? Wondering what?”
“Wondering if you could go and stay at your granddad’s for a few days. Sue’s embarrassed about what’s happened and the therapist says it’ll be easier for her if she only has to worry about facing me at first.”
Angie put down her knife and fork. “But Deb’s staying there.”
“I know, love, but there are two beds and I’m sure Pop wouldn’t mind, just for a few days, given the circumstances. I’ll ring and ask him as soon as I’ve finished this, shall I?”
