Single Dads Collection. Lynne Marshall
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Название: Single Dads Collection
Автор: Lynne Marshall
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Короткие любовные романы
Серия: Mills & Boon e-Book Collections
isbn: 9780008900625
isbn:
‘Want to go for a walk?’ she asked, and he nodded.
‘Beach,’ he said.
‘Maybe. Let’s find Beth and ring Georgie. If they’re busy we can go the other way and feed the ducks—’
‘Want beach! Want Harry!’ he said, his voice rising, and she soothed him and changed his nappy and took him downstairs past the reinstated stair gate.
‘Beach!’ he told Beth cheerfully. ‘San’ castle. Mummy, down!’
She put him down and he ran to the door, beaming up at her. ‘Harry,’ he demanded, but she wasn’t at all sure Harry would want to come.
‘We’ll see. I think he’s gone for a walk.’
‘With Kizzy?’ Beth asked.
‘Probably.’
They went without him, taking the buggy in case Freddie’s legs got tired, and met him on the cliff top. He was sitting with Kizzy in his arms, staring out to sea, and as Beth and Freddie ran over to him, he lifted his head and looked across at her, and for a fleeting moment his face was bleak.
Then a shutter seemed to come down, and he smiled at the children. ‘Hi, kids,’ he said, and his voice sounded rusty and unused. ‘Going to the beach?’
‘The buckets and spades are a bit of a give-away,’ Emily said with a laugh, but it cracked in the middle and he shot her a glance.
‘Come with us,’ she said softly. ‘I’ve brought your shorts—you left them drying in the bathroom. And I brought bottles and stuff for Kizzy. I had a feeling you might be here.’
‘Did you come looking for me, Emily?’
His voice was a little hard, and she looked away. ‘I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said what I did. I know it’s difficult.’
‘You have no idea,’ he murmured, and got to his feet, tucking Kizzy back in the sling. ‘Come on, then, kids. Let’s go and build sandcastles.’
They buried him again.
Buried him and jumped on him, while Em sat with Kizzy and laughed and told them to be gentle, and then Georgie came down with Harry and Dickon and Maya, and they ended up back at the Barrons’ house, having juice and biscuits and playing in the swimming pool.
And Kizzy ran out of milk.
‘Sorry, guys, time to go, we have to feed the baby,’ he said, and helped Em dry the children and walk them reluctantly home.
‘I wanted to stay,’ Beth said mournfully. ‘I like Dickon. He’s my friend. Freddie’s a baby.’
She wasn’t much more than a baby herself, he thought, smiling indulgently and hugging her slim shoulders as they walked along.
‘There’ll be other days. Maybe you can see them again tomorrow or the next day.’
‘Tomorrow,’ she said decisively, and ran to her mother. ‘Can we see them tomorrow?’
‘We’ll see,’ she said, and Beth pouted.
‘That means no,’ she explained to Harry. ‘But I want to see them.’
‘Well, we can’t always have what we want,’ he said, his heart aching, because this little family outing was getting to him, reaching parts of him that had been dormant all his life, and the process, like letting blood back into a limb that had gone to sleep, was a mass of alien sensations. And not all of them were pleasant.
She was sitting in the study, wrestling with the plans for Nick’s contract, when she heard the back door open and shut.
‘Em?’
She stood up, stretching out the kinks, and went into the kitchen to see Harry there with Kizzy in his arms, his face troubled.
‘What’s up?’ she asked.
He swallowed, looked down at Kizzy and pressed his lips together. ‘I’ve had a phone call from my boss. There’s been an earthquake.’ He hesitated, then said, ‘She wants me to go.’
‘But you’ve got another twelve days!’
‘I know. But she wants me now. It’s not for long, just three or four days, but…’He shrugged, and she felt a cold, sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.
‘Are you going?’
‘I have to.’
‘And Kizzy?’
He frowned. ‘I wanted to ask you if you’d look after her. I wouldn’t have asked, but she hasn’t given me any notice. And I know I haven’t sorted out any child care, but I’ll do it the minute I get back.’
She ignored that. She was too busy thinking about him going to an earthquake zone. Not that he hadn’t done it before, but that somehow had been more remote. Now, after these weeks, it all seemed much closer to home.
‘So, will you? Look after her?’
‘This time,’ she said, trying to inject some muscle into her voice, but it didn’t sound convincing. ‘When do you go?’
‘In the morning. Early.’
Just like that, her dream was turning to dust. She felt her eyes fill, and turned away.
‘Is Dan here?’
‘Yes, he’s watching a movie.’
‘Tell him goodbye from me. I’ll bring her round in the morning, just before I go.’
She nodded, and he turned and went out, all the spirit drained from him.
Why? Why go, she wanted to ask him, but she couldn’t. She knew why he was going—because he’d convinced himself it was who he was. Even though he clearly didn’t even want to go this time.
She snorted, shut the door and stuck her head round the sitting-room door. ‘I’m off to bed.’
‘Was that Harry?’
She nodded, but couldn’t say any more. ‘I’ll see you in the morning,’ she said, and went upstairs.
She took a shower, so the sound of running water would drown out her sobs, and then she went to bed. Not that she slept, and at four-thirty, when she heard Harry’s front door open and shut, she tiptoed into Beth’s room and watched him walking down the road, Kizzy in the sling on his front.
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