His Brother's Son

‘Yes.’ She rang the bell a second time, praying that Doreen would answer it soon. She didn’t know how she could explain what had happened to the money Antonio had left without giving everything away.

Tara had received most of it as her final payment for having Josh. The little bit that had been left over had been swallowed up by bills in the first few months when she’d been unable to work because she had been looking after the baby. She could account for every single penny if she had to, but it would mean her admitting that she wasn’t Josh’s real mother and that was something she desperately wanted to avoid.

‘So was it too much to expect that you might spend some of that money on making sure that Antonio’s son was properly cared for? Did it never cross your mind that you had no right to spend it all on yourself?’

She could hear the anger in his voice and her heart ran wild as she struggled to explain without telling him the truth. ‘There were expenses—’

‘Expenses? Come, Miss Williams, you must have been enjoying a very lavish lifestyle if you managed to spend all that money in less than a year!’ he shot back, glaring at her.

‘It wasn’t like that. You don’t understand,’ she said desperately, hurt beyond belief by the way he was looking at her. ‘I didn’t spend—’

The door suddenly opened and she stopped when Doreen appeared, holding Josh. Becky automatically reached out and took the child as he lunged towards her. She snuggled him close, breathing in his wonderful baby smell while she tried to calm down.

If Doreen hadn’t opened the door then she would have blurted it all out and told him that nearly every penny of Antonio’s inheritance had gone on buying his son. How would Felipe feel about that? Would he blame her for what had happened because it had been her idea?

Felipe felt his anger disappear the moment he looked at the baby in Rebecca’s arms.

The little boy was the image of Antonio!

From his shiny black curls to his chubby little feet, he was a miniature replica of his father. In that instant any doubts he’d had about the child’s parentage disappeared. This was Antonio’s son, his own flesh and blood.

He wasn’t aware of what he was doing as he held out his arms. The little boy gurgled happily as Rebecca silently handed him over. He could feel the weight of the child’s sturdy little body in his arms and had to make a conscious effort not to hold him too tightly.

He wanted to press him to his heart and keep him there, pretend, even if it was only for a moment, that he had Antonio back and that he could keep him safe from harm. It was all he had ever wanted to do and he had failed, but he wouldn’t fail this child, his brother’s son.

It was a moment which Felipe knew he would remember all his life, a moment of such pain and such joy that he found it hard to comprehend what he was feeling. It was as though all of a sudden a key had turned and the door to his heart had been flung wide open. It was a relief when the baby suddenly grabbed a handful of his hair and tugged it hard, because he wasn’t used to dealing with so much emotion.

A smile tugged at the corners of Felipe’s mouth as he gently unfurled the baby’s fingers. ‘I shall have no hair left if you keep that up, young man,’ he told him in Spanish. ‘Your uncle will be bald.’

‘He’s a devil for pulling your hair,’ Becky said softly. ‘It’s a wonder I’m not bald as well the way he tugs my hair.’

Felipe’s black brows rose in surprise. ‘You speak Spanish?’

‘Yes. I’m not very fluent, but I can get by.’ She gave him a sad little smile that made his heart ache all over again. ‘Antonio offered to give me Spanish lessons in exchange for a favour I did him. That’s how we became friends.’

She looked at the baby and sighed. ‘I’ve tried to keep it up so that I can teach Josh when he’s old enough. It seemed important that he should be able to speak his father’s language.’

Felipe was deeply moved, so much so that he didn’t dare show how much it had affected him. He passed the baby back to her, trying to put what he had learned into context. It was probably just some wonderful story that she had dreamed up to impress him…

Only he didn’t believe that.

He went back down the steps while she had a final word with the childminder. It was obvious that the woman was asking who he was, but he didn’t feel inclined to join in the conversation. He needed to clear his mind so that he could focus on what he intended to do.

Josh was Antonio’s son. There wasn’t any doubt in his mind about that. Obviously, he would need to take that into account before he made any decisions.

He took a deep breath but the tension that had been building inside him all day was suddenly worse than ever. Rebecca was the child’s mother. He would need to take account of that as well.

Doreen had been intrigued to learn that Felipe was Josh’s uncle. Becky kept trying to edge away but the woman kept asking her more questions. Becky glanced over her shoulder and sighed when she saw Felipe standing by the kerb.

It was obvious that he was impatient to leave, even though he was making an effort not to show it. However, the number of times Felipe had needed to wait for anyone had to be few and far between. He was the kind of man who was accustomed to people jumping to obey his every command.

The thought was a little disquieting, but Becky refused to let him see how on edge she felt as she finally took her leave of the childminder. Josh was gurgling away, trying to tell her what he had done during the day. They usually played a game on the way home: she asked him questions about his day and pretended she understood what he was saying to her. However, that day she felt far too self-conscious with Felipe being there. It would hardly improve his opinion of her to know that she held in-depth conversations with a nine-month-old baby!