‘You’ve had another quarrel!’ Mrs Carey said in exasperation.
‘Not a quarrel, Auntie Molly Carey. I have other plans.’ She smiled at her mother and said, ‘I’ve been in touch with the authorities and applied to adopt baby David.’
White-faced, Richard stood up and stared at her. ‘They won’t let you,’ he gasped. ‘A single woman? No, they’ll never agree!’
‘He’s my sister’s child, and because there’s a family connection they are considering it.’
Richard glared at her and stormed from the room. Rosita stared after him, ashamed at the way she had broken the news in front of everyone. Last evening she had told him she couldn’t marry him but hadn’t explained her reasons. Hearing of her intention to adopt or at least foster Hattie’s orphan son had been more of a shock for him than she had imagined.
She reached for her coat and went after him. As she reached the door she saw his car leaving the kerb opposite. Running to her Anglia she drove after him. His car was more powerful and if he wanted to he could easily leave her behind.
He drove out of town and, hardly registering any surprise, Rosita realized he was heading for the beach at Gull Island. It was dark and frosty and the swath of her headlights made the hedges unreal, like scenery in a play. He parked near the beach and pushed open the car door. She parked near and ran towards him. His passenger door was unlocked and she sat beside him, panting as though she had run all the way.
A moon lit the scene, casting its eerie glow over the rocks and trees around them. To their left, Luke’s cottage showed a yellow light. The island looked larger in the moonlight, rising out of a calm sea, its colours muted and dull.
‘Why, Rosita?’
‘I have to,’ she said simply. ‘The baby needs me. I can’t allow him to grow up among strangers. Kate refuses to take him. Even with her compassionate nature, she’s unable to accept her husband’s child into her home.’
He didn’t reply, but just sat, looking out across the water.
‘Richard, I’m sorry. But my own childhood, with all its trauma, makes it impossible for me to leave him. I just can’t allow David to be brought up with no one of his own. He’s my nephew.’
‘And mine,’ he said.
‘I didn’t want arguments. I just know I can do the best for him. You see that, don’t you, Richard?’
‘Why do you never trust me? Or is it that you don’t need me any more? Have Barbara and baby David taken all the love you can spare and there’s none left for me?’
‘You know I love you. All my life I’ve held on to the hope that one day, you and I – But this changes everything. I can’t ignore the helpless, adorable little scrap. I can’t allow him to go to strangers and, well, I can’t expect you to feel the same.’
‘But I do. I want him too!’ Richard turned to look at her, hardly visible in the strange light. ‘What makes you think you’re the only one to feel compassion and love for a helpless child? I want to look after him, keep him safe and surround him with love. Can’t we combine the love we have for him. Care for him together?’
‘You mean it?’
‘Of course I mean it, woman! I’ve seen him every day since he was born. I can’t explain it, but I want him.’
‘You wouldn’t resent him, being Idris’s child?’
‘Would you?’
‘Never!’
‘Rosita, I believe David’s best chance of a happy childhood is with us, you and me, plus a child of our own. D’you think you could manage two very young children?’
He opened his arms and with a sigh of relief, Rosita slid into them. ‘With you beside me, I can manage anything.’
By the same author
Time to Move On
The Runaway
Facing the World
Copyright
© Grace Thompson 2010
First published in Great Britain 2010 This edition 2012
ISBN 978 0 7090 9975 8 (epub)
ISBN 978 0 7090 9976 5 (mobi)
ISBN 978 0 7090 9977 2 (pdf)
ISBN 978 0 7090 9076 2 (print)
Robert Hale Limited
Clerkenwell House
Clerkenwell Green
London EC1R 0HT
www.halebooks.com
The right of Grace Thompson to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
Gull Island Page 39
