The Consultant's Adopted Son

She shot to her feet, unable to sit there while thoughts like that tormented her. Gallagher had asked her to meet him at seven o’clock and it was ten minutes past the hour now. Maybe he’d decided not to come? In that case, there was no point her sitting here in this noisy pub…

‘Ms Tremayne? I’m Owen Gallagher. Thank you for agreeing to meet me.’

All of a sudden he was standing in front of her and Rose gasped. ‘But I just bumped into you at the bar!’

‘Yes. Please, sit down.’

He gestured towards the chair she’d vacated. Rose sat, simply because she couldn’t think what else to do. Why hadn’t he introduced himself before? she wondered. Why had he stood there, staring at her that way?

Oh, she’d noticed him, of course. Who wouldn’t? Even in this crowd he stood out. Tall and dark, with the kind of cleanly hewn good looks that would have appealed to any woman, Owen Gallagher wasn’t a man one could ignore. She shot him a careful look as he sat down, taking note of the beautifully tailored grey suit, the crisp white shirt, the silk tie and aura of affluence that surrounded him, and shivered. He wasn’t a man to be ignored—or crossed, for that matter—and it wasn’t pleasant to wonder what he wanted with her.

‘I may as well get straight to the point, Ms Tremayne. Eighteen years ago my late wife and I adopted your son.’

‘Your late wife?’ Rose put in hurriedly. ‘You mean she’s dead?’

‘Yes. Laura died two years ago, after a long illness.’ He didn’t appear unduly upset about having to relay the news, but Rose had dealt with too many people who’d suffered a loss to take that at face value.

‘I’m sorry,’ she said quietly. ‘It must have been a difficult time—for you and for Daniel.’

‘It was.’ Something flashed in his pewter-coloured eyes, a hint of surprise, possibly, because she’d realised that he was still grieving. Nevertheless, his tone was just as brisk when he continued.

‘Daniel was very close to his mother and Laura’s death was a massive blow to him. I think that’s what set him on his present course, in fact.’ He shrugged, his broad shoulders moving lightly under the expensive fabric. ‘If Laura had still been alive then I’m sure that things would have been very different today. Daniel certainly wouldn’t have got this ridiculous idea into his head about getting in touch with you.’

‘Getting in touch with me?’ Rose felt the room tilt and grasped hold of the table. Owen Gallagher had asked her to meet him not because their son was ill but because Daniel wanted to see her?

Her heart ricocheted around her chest as the thought sank in, although it wasn’t just the fact that Daniel had decided to contact her that shocked her. It was the way she had linked herself and Owen Gallagher together with that phrase: their son. It made her feel very odd, but she didn’t dwell on it because he was speaking again.

‘That’s right, and before we go any further, Ms Tremayne, I may as well tell you that I am totally opposed to the idea. You have played no part in Daniel’s life to this point and I cannot see any reason why you should play a part in it in the future. That’s why I wanted to see you tonight—so there would be no mistake about this.’

‘What do you mean by that?’ Rose sat up straighter. Maybe she was overreacting, but there’d been something in his voice that had turned that statement into a threat.

‘I don’t want you interfering in Daniel’s life. He’s been through a rough couple of years and he’s still very vulnerable. At the present time he’s studying for his A-level exams and I don’t intend to allow you to disrupt his life when it’s essential that he remains focused.’

‘You won’t allow it?’ she said incredulously. ‘I’m sorry, but you seem to think that you have some kind of divine right over what Daniel does. If he wants to contact me, that’s his choice. It has nothing to do with you.’

‘Which proves how little you know about being a parent.’

His deep voice was harsh, the words biting into her and causing maximum pain, but Rose knew that he didn’t care if he was hurting her. He only cared about his son, or rather what he thought was right for Daniel. He didn’t accept that Daniel had to make his own decision regarding this issue. He wanted to dictate what would happen. However, there was no way that she was letting him dictate to her!

‘I might not know very much about what it takes to be a good parent, Mr Gallagher, but I do know that if you prevent Daniel from contacting me, it could backfire on you. He will resent you interfering and that could cause a rift between you.’

‘I think I know Daniel rather better than you do, Ms Tremayne. He’s been through a very harrowing time, and what he needs more than anything else is stability in his life. Meeting you—his birth mother—for the first time would be far too stressful for him.’

‘But can’t you see that it might help him if he got to know me? He’d be able to get some sense of who he is and where he came from. That could only be a good thing.’

‘Or it could unsettle him even more. The fact is that Daniel is in no fit state to make major decisions like this at the moment. It’s taken months of hard work to get him to this stage, and I don’t intend to stand aside and watch you ruin everything.’

‘That’s a ridiculous thing to say! Why would I want to ruin anything? I want what is best for Daniel, too. How do you think he’s going to feel if I refuse to meet him? Surely that will cause him far more distress?’

‘He might be upset at first, but he’ll get over it. After all, he doesn’t know anything about you apart from the fact that you gave him up for adoption. You are a stranger to him, and that’s how I intend the situation to continue.’

‘But it isn’t up to you, is it? It’s Daniel’s decision.’ She stared him straight in the eyes. There was no way that he was going to browbeat her into submission when her son’s happiness was at stake. ‘I’m sorry, Mr Gallagher, but I have no intention of turning my back on Daniel. If he contacts me then I shall arrange to see him.’

‘Even though I’ve explained the damage it could cause?’

‘Yes, because I don’t agree with your assessment. I think that meeting me might help Daniel come to terms with what has happened.’

‘I don’t think that meeting you will make up for losing his mother. Daniel adored Laura, so if you’re harbouring any hopes that he will see you as a substitute you can forget them. It’s far more likely that he will be bitterly disappointed when you don’t live up to his expectations.’

‘That’s a risk I shall have to take,’ she said quietly, not wanting him to know how much the comment had hurt.

‘But it’s a risk I am not prepared to take, Ms Tremayne.’

He leant across the table, looking big and intimidating as he stared at her. Rose felt a flurry of fear unfurl in the pit of her stomach. She knew she would regret making an enemy of him but she refused to back down. She’d not been able to do anything for her son apart from making sure that he was well cared for, but she could do this for him now. She could find the courage to fight this man and give Daniel the freedom to choose what he wanted.

‘Are you threatening me, Mr Gallagher? Because I have to say that it sounded very much like it to me. However, if it was a threat then you should know that I don’t respond to being threatened.’

‘It wasn’t a threat, Ms Tremayne. It was merely a statement of intent. I am not prepared to let you ruin my son’s life.’

‘I see.’ She gave a bitter little laugh. ‘You seem to have made up your mind about me, don’t you? You’ve decided that I’m not a fit person to be in contact with Daniel, yet you have no basis whatsoever for thinking that I will cause him any harm.’

‘Neither do I have any reason to believe that you will help him,’ he said flatly. ‘You gave him away, Ms Tremayne, so surely that proves how little he means to you? Why bother getting involved at this point when it will only cause a lot of heartache for everyone concerned? And if you are willing to co-operate with me over this, I am prepared to be very generous.’

‘Generous…What do you mean?’

Rose’s head was spinning again. She could scarcely believe what she was hearing. Didn’t he realise how hard it had been to give away her precious child, the baby she’d nurtured inside her for all those months? Even now, eighteen years later, she still woke up in tears sometimes, remembering how it had felt in the weeks following her decision to have Daniel adopted. Only women who had been through such an experience could understand the sense of loss that had filled her. Her body had ached for her child, and her mind, too. She had grieved for her baby even though he hadn’t died, and yet this man had the temerity to accuse her of not caring.

‘What do you mean?’ she repeated, her voice rising so that the couple at the next table turned and stared at them.

‘Please, keep your voice down.’ Owen Gallagher’s expression darkened as he leant closer to her. ‘You might enjoy making a scene, but I don’t. I came here tonight to tell you that I don’t want you making contact with my son, not to have an argument. Daniel has already written to you. I managed to persuade him to delay posting his letter for a week while he thinks about what he’s doing, but that was as far as I got. However, maybe I can convince you to take a more reasonable view.’

He felt in his inside pocket and pulled out a thick brown envelope. ‘There is five thousand pounds in here, and it’s yours if you give me your word that you won’t make any attempt to reply to his letter.’

He placed the envelope in the centre of the table. Rose stared at it in horror. He really thought that he could bribe her into complying with his demands?

‘I don’t want your money!’ She shoved the envelope back at him and stood up, feeling the hot sting of tears in her eyes. She blinked them away because she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry.

‘It might surprise you to learn that I can’t be bought off, so please don’t make the mistake of trying this again, Mr Gallagher. I would hate Daniel to know the lengths to which you will go to get what you want.’

She brushed past him, forcing her way through the crowd that had gathered around the bar. One man tried to grab hold of her as she passed but Rose shrugged him off, ignoring the catcalls that followed her out of the door. She didn’t care what people called her. Foul names couldn’t hurt her; they certainly couldn’t cause the kind of heartache she was currently feeling.

There was a bus coming along the road so she ran to the stop and flagged it down. She paid her fare and sat down. The bus stopped again to let a car out of the pub’s car park and her heart began to thump when she recognised the driver of the expensive vehicle as Owen Gallagher.

He glanced around to check the road was clear and Rose’s heart beat even harder when she saw the expression on his face. She had never seen anyone who looked as tortured as he did at that moment. He looked like a man in extremis, and the thought that she was responsible for all that pain was very difficult to bear.

She sat back in the seat as he drove away. She knew that she’d made herself an enemy that day and it was the last thing she’d wanted to do. She had no idea what would happen now, but one thing was certain: Owen Gallagher would do everything in his power to keep Daniel away from her.

‘Sorry about this. I was all set to give you the grand tour when all hell broke loose. There should be an empty locker in here, so once you’ve put your coat away can you come straight through? I’ll have to fill you in as and when I get the chance.’