Part 6 (2/2)

She was sorely tempted to ask him into the house for a cup of coffee, but she was very conscious of the fact that it wasn't her home. He solved her dilemma for her by saying cheerfully that he couldn't stop because his mother would be expecting him in for his evening meal.

'I'll tell her that you've arrived, and no doubt she'll be down to see you in the morning. If you need anything, give us a ring, we're in the phone book.'

He drove off with a cheery wave, having a.s.sured himself that she was able to let herself in.

The house was in darkness, but lovely and warm. Meg and the cats soon made themselves at home in the small s.p.a.ce off the kitchen, which was obviously used as a store for coats and Wellingtons.

Ignoring the rest of the rooms, Heather went upstairs to find the guest suite.

The door had been left open for her, and a fire was laid ready in the grate. She smiled a little wryly at the luxury of an open fire in a bedroom that already had central heating, but appreciated the thoughtfulness of the gesture, nevertheless.

Making her way back to the kitchen, Heather discovered that the fridge was bulging with food. Noting the wrapped cheese and the bowl of eggs, she guessed that the food had been left by David's mother.

An omelette would do her for tonight. Already her stomach was full of nervous b.u.t.terflies in antic.i.p.ation of her father's operation. Tonight she would say a special prayer for his safety and his recovery. And, her conscience prodded her, perhaps she ought to say one for Kyle, too, whose generosity had made the operation possible. There had been no mistaking the relief in her father's voice when he'd talked about the business and how pleased he was that Kyle was taking it over. His only concern had been for her, and her reaction to Kyle's job offer.

She would walk Meg, and then she would have an early night. Not that she was expecting to get much sleep-her father's operation was scheduled for early in the morning and would take up the major part of the day. Once it was over, though, he should start to make rapid progress, or so the specialist had said. She could only pray that he was right. If anything should happen to her father... Suddenly and inexplicably, she longed for Kyle to be there with her. She needed his strength to lean on, she admitted, surprised by the discovery. The phone rang on the wall beside her, and she lifted the receiver hesitantly.

'Heather?'

She gave a small start. 'Kyle. Where... where are you?'

He sounded so close that he might almost have been in the next room. She heard him laugh.

'New York. But I should be back some time tomorrow evening. How's your father?'

'Apprehensive, but determined to go through with it.'

'Good. I spoke to your mother earlier. She knows that they're doing the right thing, but naturally she's worried. I only wish I could be there with you.'

'So do I.'

Was that really her saying that? Kyle must have been surprised, too, because she caught his indrawn breath and startled silence.

'You almost sounded as though you meant that.'

How well she recognised the mocking derision in his voice, but for once she was too tired, too worried to respond to it in kind.

'I do,' she told him honestly, her voice low and pained.

There was another silence and then he said mockingly, 'Can this really be the Heather I know and love, actually wanting my company? What's happened? Caught you at a weak moment, have I?'

His mockery jolted her back to reality. She almost slammed the receiver down on him, and then caught herself in time. The tears that had been threatening cleared as though by magic, her tiredness falling away, her voice suddenly crisp and acid as she responded in kind. 'You must have done, but it's gone now.'

'So you don't want me to fly home on the next available flight to hold your hand, after all?'

His voice was still mocking, but there seemed to be an odd degree of seriousness behind the mockery. Dismissing it, Heather said flippantly, 'No way!' And then for good measure, she added, 'Actually, if I need any hand-holding done, you seem to have a neighbour who'd be quite happy to oblige.'

Heaven alone knew what made her make that silly little boast, however true it might be. There was silence from Kyle's end of the line, and then when he spoke his voice sounded distant and cold.

'I take it you mean David Hartley?' he demanded, his voice hardening.

'Yes, we met when... by chance,' she amended hastily, not wanting to admit the demise of the van or the lateness of her arrival.

'Don't be deceived by that mock-naive farmer's boy air, Heather,' Kyle told her curtly. 'David Hartley is already responsible for the arrival of one illegitimate child, and I dare say he wouldn't be averse to fathering another, not if local gossip is anything to go by.'

All the breath hissed out of her lungs. Surely Kyle wasn't telling the truth? David hadn't looked the type... She paused, confused and disturbed. Why was Kyle telling her this, anyway? She and David Hartley were nothing more than mere acquaintances!

But she had stupidly implied that out of that acquaintances.h.i.+p a deep intimacy could easily grow, she admitted, angry with herself for her folly, and Kyle had always had an overdeveloped sense of responsibility where she was concerned.

She could still vividly remember the way he had waited up for her long after her parents had gone to bed, after her first adult 'teenage party'.

She was just about to make some comment when suddenly and clearly she heard a feminine voice in her ear.

'Kyle, darling,' it purred impatiently. 'How much longer are you going to be?'

'Heather-'

'Oh, don't let me keep you,' she said acidly. 'And please try to remember, Kyle, I'm not thirteen any more, and I don't need you to act the role of big brother and guardian of my morals.'

With that, she slammed the phone down, her good intentions forgotten. How dared he sit in judgement on David, when he was just as bad? What was she like, the woman who called him 'darling' so confidently?

It was none of her business, she chided herself. Besides, she was probably as anonymously beautiful and plastic as all the other women who had pa.s.sed through his life.

As she went up to bed, she refused to allow herself to think about him any more. She couldn't help wis.h.i.+ng, though, that he hadn't telephoned. Hearing his voice had disturbed her, made her all the more intimately aware of the fact that she was now living in his home. It was a disturbing awareness, and one she would rather not have had. Much rather not have had!

CHAPTER SIX.

HEATHER was up early, too keyed up about her father's operation to concentrate on anything, and yet knowing that there was no point in ringing the hospital so early. He wouldn't even be in the operating theatre yet.

She had sent him flowers and a telemessage, and although she ached to be with her mother she understood that this was a time when her parents wanted to be on their own. They had always been very close, a wonderful example of how good and long lasting a relations.h.i.+p between two people could be.

At ten o'clock, when she was making her fourth cup of coffee of the morning, she heard a car outside and immediately rushed to the back door, just in time to see a small Ford car drive up.

The smartly dressed woman who slid from behind the wheel was around her own mother's age; but, whereas her mother's normal expression was one of cheerful enthusiasm, this woman's face was set in rather harsh and disapproving lines.

She smiled thinly when she saw Heather, and introduced herself. 'Vera Hartley. I believe you've already met my son.'

Heather had met enough possessive mothers in her time to recognise the breed, and even though she knew she was being unfair she couldn't help mentally contrasting David with Kyle. Kyle would never allow a mother, no matter how much adored, to run his life for him, where it seemed that David... but no, she was jumping to conclusions, based on information already put into her mind by Kyle. Perhaps it was unfair of her, but her original impression of David as a kind-hearted, attractive young man had been shadowed by Kyle's disclosure about his illegitimate child.

She knew that Kyle would never have misled her on such a subject, and it was disquieting to realise that such an apparently open and friendly person had a very much darker side to their nature. Of course, she would hardly have expected David to disclose such personal information on so short an acquaintance, but she had, nevertheless, a feeling of being let down in her judgement of his character.

There could be a dozen or more perfectly reasonable explanations of what Kyle had told her, but she was old-fas.h.i.+oned enough to find it disquieting to learn that David had been so easily able to dismiss his responsibilities.

Now she suspected she knew why. Vera Hartley looked the sort of woman who would want to choose her only son's wife herself, and weak men like David were notorious throughout history for involving themselves in liaisons that never gained that maternal approval.

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