The Pregnancy Affair. Anne Mather

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СКАЧАТЬ where his ex-wife still lived. He’d bought it, ironically enough, after he and Louise had broken up. With four bedrooms and three bathrooms, it was really too big for his needs, but it meant Sean could come and stay whenever he liked.

      He came fairly often, for weekends and holidays. Joel and Louise had had a fairly amicable divorce, both admitting they’d made a mistake in rushing into marriage. Louise had married again, and, although Joel wasn’t overly fond of her new partner, he had been forced to concede that Sean should make his permanent home with them.

      Still wearing nothing but the cotton boxers he’d slept in, Joel moved to the kitchen window, staring out over the large garden that happily he employed a gardener to keep in order. An expanse of lawn, where he and Sean played football, stretched away to a hedge of conifers, and beyond the hedge there were fields where sheep and their newborn lambs grazed.

      It was all very peaceful, but Joel felt anything but untroubled at the present time. The smooth tenor of his life had been disturbed, and no matter how often he told himself that Olivia’s return meant nothing to him, he couldn’t quite make himself believe it.

      Seeing her again had definitely unsettled him. When he’d agreed to go and meet her, he’d anticipated coming away with a certain smug satisfaction that he’d done the right thing all those years ago. What he’d expected, he realised, was that the image he’d kept of her all this time would have been flawed by age and experience. But it wasn’t true. Instead, she was just as lovely, just as sexy, as he remembered.

      Which annoyed the hell out of him. Dammit, just because she’d taken care of her appearance didn’t change the woman she was inside. The most beautiful creatures in the world could be deadly. Even so…

      He scowled, rubbing his free hand over his jaw that was already rough with stubble. Then, swallowing a mouthful of his coffee, he turned away from the window and started towards the door. He needed a shave and a shower, not necessarily in that order. He’d probably feel better if he could look at himself without immediately noticing the bags beneath his eyes.

      He’d made it as far as the stairs when the doorbell rang. He glanced at his wrist, realised he wasn’t wearing his watch, and cursed under his breath. What the hell time was it? Not later than seven-thirty, surely. It had to be the mail, but he wasn’t expecting any parcels as far as he knew.

      He set his cup down on the second stair and trudged back to the door. The wooden floor was cold beneath his bare feet and he wished he’d stopped to put on a robe. But who knew he was going to have to face a visitor? he thought irritably. Particularly this morning, when he was feeling so bloody grumpy to begin with.

      The door was solid oak so he couldn’t see who it was until he’d released the deadlock and swung it open. Then his eyes widened and he stared disbelievingly at the child who was standing outside.

      ‘Sean!’ he exclaimed blankly. But then, noticing that the boy was shivering, Joel hurriedly stepped back and invited him in. He closed the door as Sean moved inside, dropping a backpack he’d been carrying on the floor. His brows drew together. ‘How the hell did you get here?’

      Sean shrugged. He was tall for his age, lean and wiry, with Joel’s dark hair and colouring and his mother’s blue eyes. He was approaching his eleventh birthday, and in recent months Joel had noticed he’d developed an increasingly stubborn attitude.

      ‘I caught the bus,’ he said at last, moving into the kitchen. ‘Got any cola?’

      Joel paused in the doorway, watching as his son took a can of cola out of the fridge and flipped the tab. ‘There are no buses this early in the day,’ he said, as Sean swallowed thirstily. ‘Does your mother know you’re here?’

      ‘She will soon,’ said Sean, removing the can from his lips and glancing about him. ‘Can I have something to eat?’

      Joel sucked in a breath. ‘What does that mean, exactly? She will soon.’ He repeated what his son had said. ‘Come on, you might as well tell me.’

      Sean shrugged. ‘I’ve left home,’ he said, opening the fridge door again and pulling out a pack of bacon. ‘Can I make myself a sandwich? I’m really hungry.’

      Joel stared at him. ‘Hold it,’ he said. ‘Before we go any further, I want you to explain how you got here and why your mother doesn’t know yet. Then I’ll ring her and put her mind at rest.’

      ‘I shouldn’t bother.’

      Sean was fiddling with the plastic wrapper of the bacon but before he could go any further his father stepped forward and snatched it out of his hands. ‘Answers, Sean,’ he said. ‘Then we can talk about breakfast. Why are you shivering? For God’s sake, have you been out all night?’

      ‘No.’ Sean was indignant, but Joel didn’t believe him.

      ‘So where have you been?’ he demanded.

      ‘I can walk, you know.’ Sean hunched his shoulders. And then, seeing his father’s expression, ‘All right, I spent the night in the barn up the road.’ He grimaced as Joel showed his horror. ‘It wasn’t so bad. There was some straw in the loft and a horse blanket. It smelled a bit, but it wasn’t bad.’

      Joel stared at him. ‘So how come your mother doesn’t know yet?’

      ‘How’d you think? She and the hulk went out last night and they don’t usually check on me when they come in.’

      ‘Don’t call Stewart “the hulk”,’ said Joel, though he had to admit Louise’s second husband did have a beer belly. ‘And what are you saying? That they went out and left you in the house on your own?’

      ‘Hey, I’m old enough,’ protested Sean, eyeing the bacon enviously. ‘Look, couldn’t we just have something to eat before you phone Mum?’

      Joel hesitated, then he tossed the bacon back to him. ‘I’ll ring your mother,’ he said resignedly. ‘Don’t set the place on fire.’

      ‘Thanks, Dad.’ Sean grinned now. ‘D’you want some, too?’

      His father shook his head. ‘I’m going to take a shower after I’ve made that call. If you’re cold, just adjust the thermostat on the Aga. You know how, don’t you?’

      Receiving his son’s assurance that he did indeed know how to adjust the stove which heated the entire house, Joel went across the hall to the stairs again and rescued his coffee. As expected, it was cool now, but he intended to ring Louise before doing anything else. And from his bedroom. He had no intention of allowing Sean to listen in.

      His ex-wife answered the phone with a note of irritation in her voice. ‘Yes?’ she said, and Joel guessed she’d probably had a late night. For the first time, he resented the fact that she and Stewart had custody of Sean. What kind of role models was he being faced with every day?

      ‘It’s me,’ he said abruptly. ‘Do you know where Sean is?’

      ‘Still in bed, I expect.’ Louise didn’t sound worried. ‘I’ve banged on his door and told him he won’t have time for any breakfast, but does he listen? No way. Anyway, if you want to speak to him, Joel, you’ll have to wait until tonight.’

      The temptation to say ‘OK’ and ring off was appealing, but the last thing Joel needed was for Stewart Barlow to accuse him of kidnapping his son. ‘He’s not in СКАЧАТЬ