A Man To Marry

‘Oh, look,’ Kate cut in softly. ‘We’ve bored poor Adam into falling asleep!’ she said warmly, standing up to cross the room to where the little boy lay back against the cushion behind him, his lashes long and thick as they rested against his cheeks in repose, Kate reaching out to gently smooth the silky hair from his brow.

‘He still takes the occasional nap in the afternoon,’ his father excused, abruptly standing up. ‘I’m quite happy for Adam to start here in the morning, if you are,’ he stated arrogantly. ‘Unless the two of you would like time to discuss it first?’ he questioned, that defensive wall back in place.

Cat glanced across at Kate, knowing they didn’t need to talk about it. The father could be a problem, but she knew they both thought Adam was adorable! ‘If you think Adam will stay with us?’ She looked at him enquiringly.

‘He seems quite comfortable with you.’ He still sounded surprised by this fact. ‘Although we won’t know whether or not he will stay with you until we try it,’ he added harshly.

Cat had a feeling that it would be good for both father and son to have a break from each other for a few hours. Adam would benefit from being with other children, and it couldn’t have been easy for his father to be constantly in demand over the last six months.

‘As you say,’ she nodded. ‘We won’t know until we try.’

Caleb looked at her from beneath dark brows for several long seconds, but said nothing more before gently lifting Adam and carrying him out to his car.

‘Phew!’ Cat muttered once they were back inside the house, collapsing back into one of the armchairs.

‘Ditto!’ Kate dropped down into the chair opposite, absently stroking their cat as it jumped up onto her knee.

‘Adam is adorable,’ Cat acknowledged, head back, eyes closed. ‘But the father!’ She shook her head. ‘Arrogant. Cold. So—’

‘He loves Adam,’ Kate pointed out wearily, obviously having felt the strain of their meeting as much as Cat had.

‘He’s trouble, Kate; I can feel it!’ She grimaced. ‘But Adam…’ She thought back to that tousle-haired little boy, to the trauma he had suffered that had rendered him speechless. They could help him, she felt sure of it, sensed they had already made a breakthrough when Adam had gone off with Kate, something his father had admitted he hadn’t done for the last six months. She relayed to Kate what Caleb had told her in Kate’s absence earlier. ‘I’m willing to overlook the father if we can be of help to Adam,’ she pronounced finally.

‘We can try,’ Kate said slowly. ‘Ignoring the father, I mean. I have a feeling not too many people manage to ignore Caleb Reynolds!’

So did Cat.

Which could, ultimately, be a problem for them. For all of them.

Only time would tell.

Cat stood up decisively. ‘Let’s go and make another pot of tea and take it through to Kitty.’ She was determined to dispel the mood of gloom that had fallen over them since meeting Mr Reynolds. After all, they only thought Caleb Reynolds might be more trouble than looking after his son was worth. He might never mention a particular subject again…

And, if he did, they would deal with the problem when—and if—it became necessary…

CHAPTER TWO

‘WHO on earth can that be?’ Kate sighed impatiently as the doorbell could be heard ringing as they were about to go outside into the garden. ‘Not Toby again!’

Cat smiled at her sympathetically. At the end of a long day, the children all safely returned to their parents, their own leisurely evening meal over and the clearing away completed, they liked nothing better than to relax in the privacy of their garden, making the most of the lighter nights, this evening being a particularly warm one.

The walled garden had offered two positive things when they’d first come to view the house: a safe place for the children to come outside and play in the daytime and complete privacy for themselves in the evenings and at weekends. This evening Kate had obviously been looking forward to a couple of hours’ relaxation, either with a good book, or just in gentle, meaningless conversation.

‘It’s all right,’ Cat assured her brightly. ‘You go ahead and I’ll join you in a few minutes. When I’ve got rid of Toby!’ she amended ruefully, as convinced as Kate that he had to be their unexpected visitor.

They both liked Toby, found him amusing company, but just lately he had taken to calling in on them uninvited, and too much of a good thing was just that—too much!

‘It’s you he’s come to see, anyway,’ Kate teased. ‘I’m far too bossy for him!’

Cat pushed back her tousled red curls, shaking her head. ‘Then he obviously hasn’t taken note of my fiery Irish temper! I’ll be five minutes behind you—max!’ she promised determinedly. It had been a long day for her too, and the last thing she felt like doing was fending off Toby’s obvious advances—especially as she was sure it was just a game to him.

Kate laughed softly, glowingly lovely, her hair loose about her shoulders. ‘I admire your optimism!’

Cat returned her smile before going in answer to the second ringing of the doorbell. The only positive thing about Toby’s impromptu visit this evening was that he had arrived after dinner; usually he contrived to arrive right at a mealtime, and expected to be fed!

‘The answer is no, Toby, so I’ll save you…’ Cat’s voice trailed off in embarrassed surprise as she opened the door fully and found not Toby standing on the doorstep but Caleb Reynolds!

A completely different Caleb Reynolds from yesterday, she noted, the short-sleeved open-necked blue shirt much more informal than the suit he had worn then, as were the faded denims. Somehow the casualness of his appearance made him seem younger, much less forbidding…

‘Mr Reynolds,’ she greeted awkwardly, wearing a striped sleeveless tee shirt and faded denims herself. Well, they hadn’t been expecting company…

‘And not Toby,’ he conceded drily, grey gaze lightly mocking. ‘Although, as you were saying a very firm no to him, perhaps it’s as well!’ He quirked dark, mocking brows.

Cat felt the warmth in her cheeks as she looked up at him; at only just five feet in height herself, this man towered over her. ‘Sorry about that.’ She grimaced. ‘Toby is very nice—’

‘But?’ Caleb Reynolds prompted.

‘But’ nothing she was about to regale this man with! Toby could be a pest at times, but he was also a friend, and she had no intention of discussing him behind his back with a virtual stranger. ‘What can I do for you, Mr Reynolds?’ she said briskly; he had seemed more than happy when he’d arrived to pick Adam up at twelve-thirty and found his young son sitting quietly in a corner with Kate doing a jigsaw puzzle. ‘There’s been no adverse reaction from Adam this evening concerning his morning at playschool, has there?’ She frowned concernedly.

‘Not so far, no,’ he said thankfully. ‘Hopefully there won’t be one. The thing that bothered me the most about it was getting him to stay in the first place.’

But that had been achieved quite effectively when Kate had taken Adam by the hand and offered to show him again the swings and slides he had been so interested in yesterday…

‘I was actually going to telephone you this evening,’ Caleb Reynolds continued, looking a little grim. ‘But the daughter of the woman I’ve rented the cottage from offered to babysit Adam this evening, and as he’s fast asleep— She seems quite reliable,’ he added distractedly. ‘And Adam doesn’t usually wake up once he’s asleep, so I—’

‘Jane is very reliable,’ Cat assured him, taking pity on him; it must be as difficult for him to leave Adam after what had happened as it was for Adam to leave him! ‘She helps out at the playschool part-time during the school holidays. She’s taking her A levels.’ And now, Cat realised self-disgustedly, she was the one babbling.

It was just that Caleb Reynolds was the last person she had expected to see when she’d opened the door. Although she had a feeling Kate would have handled the situation better than she was; tact and diplomacy were not her fortes!

‘Would you mind if I came in for a few minutes?’ Caleb enquired. ‘I won’t take up too much of your time,’ he said bluntly as Cat looked at him blankly. ‘I’m sure, like myself, you have other things to do this evening.’

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to invite him in, she just wasn’t sure it was convenient at the moment. They had all been going out into the garden, and— ‘Please, do come in,’ Cat invited stiltedly, thinking fast. ‘I—I believe Kate is taking a bath,’ she added hurriedly, believing no such thing! ‘I’ll just go and war—tell her that you’re here—’

‘That won’t be necessary.’ He had followed her through into the same room as yesterday. ‘Unless you feel in need of the moral support?’ he commented derisively, his presence in this utterly feminine room with its chintz curtains and covers once again malely dominating.

Cat bristled indignantly at his mocking tone. Arrogant, patronising—! Her sympathy for him of a few minutes ago completely evaporated. ‘Not in the least,’ she dismissed scathingly.

Besides, she could imagine Kate right this minute, in the most secluded part of the garden, relaxing on a lounger, Kitty at her side. No, she wasn’t about to disturb either of them; she could deal with Caleb Reynolds quite well on her own!

‘Please sit down,’ she invited tersely, waiting for him to do so but maintaining her own standing position beside the unlit fireplace. ‘And if it isn’t a problem with Adam that brought you here, then what can we do to help you, Mr Reynolds?’ she asked warily. Because this man, with his arrogant disdain, didn’t give her the impression he was in the habit of paying social calls just for the sake of it!

He looked at her consideringly for several long seconds, the silence stretching awkwardly between them. ‘Miss Rourke—or perhaps I can call you Cat?’ he drawled, seeming amused by her continued formality.

And no doubt he was amused, Cat inwardly acknowledged, but she would bet that if she stepped even one inch over what he considered the line to intrusion into his private life, rather than the polite interest she had shown so far, he would step on it—and her!—very quickly.

‘Please do,’ she accepted distantly.

‘And I’m Caleb.’