"No," he said flatly. "I prefer to bear my own name. But it wouldn"t surprise me to learn that Conrad"s trying to change Rachel"s name to Wyatt, too."
He was very bitter, thought Kate as he brought the Range Rover to a halt before the impressive entrance. But perhaps he had good reason. How would she have felt if Sean"s parents had tried to take Joanne away from her? It hadn"t happened, of course. Sean had never known his father, and his mother had died when he was just a teenager. Which perhaps explained why Kate"s husband had had so little respect for his own marriage.
Kate wondered if Alex would expect her to stay in the car while he went and collected his daughter, but after pushing open his own door and getting out he came round the bonnet to open hers. He"d put on a long dark overcoat over his jacket, and she couldn"t help noticing how well it suited him. But he"d left it unfastened so that when she pa.s.sed him she smelt the clean male scent of his skin.
"Ready?" he asked, and she bit her lips to stop them from trembling.
"As I"ll ever be," she conceded, with more confidence in her words than in her voice.
"Good," he said, and to her dismay he put a possessive hand beneath her elbow. "Come on. You can take your cue from me."
Which meant what? Kate looked up at him, aghast, but his attention was already concentrated on the house. His lean, dark features were harsh, and unforgiving, and she was very much afraid that Rachel would think so, too.
"Can I say something?" she asked in a low voice as he rang the doorbell, and she could tell by the way he turned to her that he half resented the distraction. But he nodded, albeit with some impatience, and she took a chance that he wouldn"t bawl her out here. "Lighten up," she said.
"You don"t want to frighten your daughter, do you?"
Alex blew out a breath. "You don"t know what-" he was beginning harshly, when the door opened to reveal a young woman in a maid"s uniform, and he bit off the words.
The maid regarded the visitors unsmilingly. "Yes?" she said insolently, and Kate waited apprehensively for Alex to put the girl in her place.
But to her astonishment he didn"t, and she watched the change come over his face. "Will you tell Rachel"s nanny that her father"s come to collect her?" he asked, with a polite smile. "She is expecting me."
Kate breathed out slowly, hardly aware she had been holding the air in her lungs until the maid flounced away. "Didn"t I do well?" Alex asked softly, and she was amazed to see that he was still smiling. "Oh, and thanks for the advice. I do tend to let the Wyatts rattle my cage."
Kate smiled back, aware that her attraction to this man was as strong as ever. What was wrong with her? she wondered. She ought to have cut her losses last week and run. Now that Joanne had been suspended from school, she was unlikely to be allowed to go on the skiing trip, which had previously provided a justification for being here.
The maid was coming back accompanied by a middle-aged woman dressed in a beige sweater and a brown pleated skirt. "The nanny," said Alex in an undertone, but there was no sign of the little girl. Kate practically felt him stiffening beside her, and she prayed he wouldn"t blow it now.
"I"m afraid Rachel and her grandfather are still down at the paddock," said the nanny politely, and to Kate"s relief there was no trace of animosity in her tone. "I don"t think Mr Wyatt expected you so early. If you"ll come in, I"ll have someone go and tell him you"re here."
"We"ll go and meet them," declared Alex at once, his relief evident. And, before the nanny could voice any objections, he anch.o.r.ed Kate with a hand at her wrist, and strode away.
They went around to the back of the house, where the Wyatts" stables adjoined a walled garden.
It was not a professional operation like Alex"s, but one or two horses nodded over the gates of the stalls. Apparently unaware that he was still gripping her wrist, Alex led the way down a path between the garden and a barn. As they reached the end of the path, Kate could see the paddock the nanny had mentioned, and a little girl, riding a sorrel pony, being led around the gra.s.sy enclosure by an elderly man with a deerstalker pulled down over his ears.
Alex"s hand tightened around her wrist for a moment and then, as if realising he might be hurting her, he let her go. And, in the same instant, the little girl noticed them, and her excited cries of, "Daddy, Daddy," caused the elderly man to turn his head in their direction.
The look Conrad Wyatt bestowed on his son-in-law was full of malevolence, and Kate, who had tended to regard the explanation Alex had given her as an exaggeration until now, shivered. There was so much resentment in the old man"s gaze and a hatred that bordered on violence. She could believe anything of him, she realised incredulously, and she looked at Alex to see how he would react.
But, to her relief, the younger man wasn"t even looking at his father-in-law. His attention was focussed on his daughter, and, ignoring her grandfather"s warning, Rachel swung her leg across the saddle and, releasing her foot from the stirrup, slid excitedly to the ground. Then, tossing her helmet on the gra.s.s, she ran towards the white railings, and Alex leant across the barrier and plucked her into his arms.
"h.e.l.lo, sweetheart."
His voice was gentler than Kate had ever heard it, and the little girl wrapped her arms about his neck. "I thought you were never coming!" she exclaimed, pressing her pink cheek against his neck.
"Grandpa said you"d prob"ly forgotten. Like you did last week."
Kate saw Alex"s expression darken. "Last week?" he echoed ominously as the old man handed the reins of the pony to a waiting groom and came towards them, and Kate wanted to grasp his arm and warn him not to say anything aggressive.
"Yes. Last week," Conrad Wyatt repeated maliciously. "Last Tuesday, as a matter of fact.
Weren"t you supposed to be coming to take Rachel out for the day?"
"He couldn"t come," broke in Kate, before Alex could answer him. Rachel had lifted her head from her father"s shoulder and was looking at her now, and Kate gave her a big smile. "Didn"t your grandpa tell you?" she continued, much to the amazement of both men. "Daddy phoned to say he was really sorry but he couldn"t make it. It was my fault. I"m afraid I"d made an absolute mess of some work I was doing, and your daddy had to help me out."
"Who are you?" asked Rachel, staring at her suspiciously, and her grandfather made a sound something like a hiss.
"Yes, who are you?" he snapped. "And what do you know about it?" He sneered. "Oh, yes. I suppose you"re another of Kellerman"s women."
"She"s my personal a.s.sistant," put in Alex coolly, and Kate could tell from his expression that he understood exactly what she was trying to do. He looked at the little girl. "I want you to meet Kate," he said, gesturing her towards him. "Kate, this is Rachel." He cast a disparaging glance in his father-in-law"s direction. "My daughter."
"h.e.l.lo, Rachel." Kate bestowed another warm smile on the little girl. She was a pretty little thing, though slightly underweight for her age, Kate decided, her seal-dark hair the image of her father"s.
"Do you live at my daddy"s house?" the child asked curiously, and before Kate could reply her grandfather gave another contemptuous snort.
"Of course she does, baby, just like all the others. Your father always had more time for his-"
"Are you coming to see your daddy"s horses?" broke in Kate, before Conrad Wyatt could provoke Alex into violence. "You"re ever so lucky that your daddy has a farm. I wish mine did."
"Rachel lives here, Miss Whoever-you-are," ground out the old man angrily. "And I"ll thank you not to interrupt when I"m talking to my son-in-law."
"I thought you were talking to Rachel," remarked Alex calmly, and Kate realised he had no intention of playing the old man"s game. He swung his daughter up onto his shoulders and she screamed excitedly. "Now, if you don"t mind, we"re wasting far too much time. Say goodbye to your grandfather, sweetheart," he added, and with Kate at his side he started back along the path.
"Bye, Grandpa," Rachel shouted back over her shoulder. Then, clinging to her father"s neck, she settled down to enjoy the ride.
"Don"t forget to have her back for five o"clock," Conrad Wyatt called after them. "Any later than that and I"ll be in touch with the police, Kellerman."
"You do that," muttered Alex, his long strides quickly opening up a s.p.a.ce between them. Kate guessed there were other words he"d have liked to use to describe his feelings, but to her relief he kept them to himself.
"Where are we going?" demanded Rachel, after her father had settled her into the back of the Range Rover and secured her seat belt. She hesitated for just a moment. "Jamaica Hill?"
"Eventually," agreed Alex, folding his length behind the wheel. "As it"s a fine morning, I thought you might like to go and feed the ducks first. Then Kate and I can have a coffee at the snack bar, and you can have a chocolate milk shake."
"Oooh, can I?"
This was evidently a treat and Kate found herself smiling as she looked out of the car window.
But she would not be sorry to leave Wyvern Hall behind. Its grim faade seemed to reflect the personality of the people who lived there, and as she looked up at the windows she saw a pale face sheltering behind the gla.s.s.
Rachel"s grandmother?
Kate frowned. The face was too quickly withdrawn to be seen clearly. All she got was an impression of vague hostility, and as there was no one else likely to look at her in that way she decided it must be Alex"s mother-in-law. Naturally, she wouldn"t approve of him bringing a woman with him, however innocent their relationship might be, and she was glad when Alex spoke again and distracted her attention. She didn"t like the feeling that shadowy face had left her with.
"You don"t mind, do you?"
Kate forced herself to remember what Alex had suggested, but his words were barely audible over the roar as he gunned the engine of the car. Still they reminded her that she"d only agreed to come with him to pick up his daughter. Glancing at Rachel again, she thought how long it seemed since she and her daughter had done anything together. Was that why Joanne had turned to shoplifting? To gain her mother"s attention?
"Do you mind?"
Alex was speaking to her again, and she blinked away her emotion. "You"re the boss," she murmured, and his lips took on an ironic curl.
"I wish I could believe that," he remarked, and she wondered rather curiously what he meant.
Still, despite its rather shaky beginning, it was a good morning. For a while, Kate managed to put her own problems aside and concentrate on putting the little girl at her ease. It didn"t take her long to realise that although she reacted like an ordinary four-year-old Rachel was by no means as confident as she appeared. Was that Alex"s fault, Kate wondered, or Conrad Wyatt"s? She suspected it was a combination of the two.
But Alex was trying his best to be a good father now, she acknowledged. And there was no doubt that Rachel idolised her father and hung on his every word. Without Conrad Wyatt"s interference these two could have worked things out, she was sure of it. And, while it was true to say that the child"s grandfather had been there when she needed him, he should have agreed to back off long ago.
Unfortunately, Conrad Wyatt wasn"t the "backing off" type. Kate had realised that within a couple of minutes of meeting the old man. If she hadn"t been there, she wondered if Alex would have let him get away with telling lies about his absence. She doubted it. Which was probably how the Wyatts had retained control of Rachel for so long.
Alex was his own worst enemy, she realised. But, for all that, she could understand why he"d behaved as he had when Pamela was killed, so why couldn"t his in-laws? The truth was, they probably could have, if they"d chosen to do so. But their daughter was dead, and Alex had played right into their hands.
Sitting in the snack bar later, watching Rachel making a valiant attempt to look as if she was enjoying the milk shake, Kate tried to understand Alex"s feelings. She guessed he was worried about the child, and she could see why. Rachel was so delicate; so fragile; she looked as if the least thing would cause her to shatter. Her eyes, green, like her father"s, were huge in the small oval of her face.
"Does he often tell Rachel lies about you?" Kate asked softly, cradling her coffee mug between her hands.
"How should I know?" Alex"s tone was grim. "I"m only her father." He forced a smile to rea.s.sure the little girl, and then shrugged his shoulders wearily. "It"s all my fault. I should never have gone to pieces as I did."
"Oh, I think that was justifiable," murmured Kate, encouraging Rachel to taste one of the warm m.u.f.fins her father had brought to tempt her. "Mmm," she said dramatically, breaking off a piece and eating it herself. "That"s scrummy. Can I have some more?"
"You can have it all," said Rachel indifferently, pushing the plate away when Kate tried to persuade her. "I don"t have to eat anything I don"t want to. My grandpa said."
Alex expelled a controlled breath. "He"s got a lot to answer for," he muttered. And then, forcing himself to taste the m.u.f.fin, he endorsed Kate"s opinion to the little girl. "Sometimes we have to do things we don"t want to do," he told her gently. "If you don"t eat anything, you"re never going to get as fat as me."
"You"re not fat!" exclaimed Rachel at once, her face dimpling, and while she was giggling her father popped a small piece of m.u.f.fin into her mouth.
"I tell you what," he said as she chewed experimentally. "Let"s see who can eat the most, shall we? And if you don"t want Daddy to blow up like a balloon you"ll have to make a proper effort."
"All right." Rachel sounded as if she might accept the challenge, but after swallowing only a couple of mouthfuls she pushed the plate away again. "I"m not hungry," she said. "I want to go to your house. You said you were going to show me the new baby horse."
"It"s not a baby horse, it"s a foal," Alex corrected her, but he accepted defeat gracefully and got to his feet. "Okay," he said. "Let"s get this show on the road. And Jamaica Hill"s not just my house, it"s yours, too."
"I don"t want to live at Jamaica Hill," said Rachel as they drove out of the park onto the Bath Road, and Alex exchanged a look with Kate that was full of pain.
"Why not?" he asked. "It"s your home. You"ve only been staying with Grandpa and Grandma because Daddy"s been sick."
"Have I?" Rachel sounded surprised at this explanation. "Grandpa said you didn"t want me to live with you any more."
Alex clenched his teeth. "That"s not true," he said harshly, and then, softening his tone, he added, "I"ve missed you a lot. Jamaica Hill"s not the same without my little girl."
Kate glanced around and saw that Rachel was looking puzzled. "It"s true," she said. "Your daddy"s really lonely in that big old house on his own."
Rachel pursed her lips. "But Grandpa said that now that Mummy"s gone I"d be just an-noosuns.
He said you"d prob"ly give my room to another little girl."
"G.o.d!"
Alex swore violently, and Kate hurried to distract his daughter from her father"s grief. "You couldn"t be more wrong," she said. "There are no other little girls at Jamaica Hill." She glanced at Alex. "I"m sure Daddy told me your teddy was asking when you were going to come and see him again."
Rachel"s lips parted. "Which teddy?"
"All of them," put in her father, with a grateful look at Kate. "So-does that mean you"d really like to come back and live with Daddy? Kate"s right. I have been lonely since you went away."
Rachel smiled. "I want to live at Jamaica Hill," she declared, nodding, and Kate saw Alex"s hands tighten on the wheel.
"You will," he said. "Just as soon as I can arrange it." He blew out a breath. "Let"s pretend you really do live there today, shall we?"
They were turning in to the gates of the estate when Rachel spoke again. "Do you wish you had a little girl, Kate?" she asked thoughtfully, and Kate wondered what she was thinking. Was it just a casual question or did it mirror something else her grandfather had said?
"I have a little girl-well, quite a biggirl really," Kate replied, glancing at Alex. "She lives with me in King"s Montford, and her name"s Joanne."
"Joanne?"
"That"s right."
Rachel considered. "Does she go to school?"
"Well, she does." Kate pulled a wry face. "But she"s-on holiday at the moment."
"Can I see her?"
"May I see her?" corrected her father automatically. And then he said, "I don"t see why not." He raised his eyebrows at Kate. "Why don"t you bring her down to the yard one day?"
"To the stables?" Kate stared at him.
"Why not?" His lips twitched. "She"s got nothing else to do, has she?"
"That"s not the point-"
"What is the point, then?" Alex frowned. "Oh, I see. She"s in the doghouse right now."
And then his features relaxed into a grin when Rachel asked, "What"s a doghouse?"
"Joanne was-naughty," Kate explained, unhappily aware that she and Alex were becoming far too familiar. But that was what happened when you allowed a relationship to encroach on your private life, she reflected. He already knew more about her than was strictly sensible. And it wasn"t just unwise, it was downright dangerous to let it go on.
"How was she naughty?" asked Rachel, and Kate was thinking so hard about how to answer her that she didn"t notice that Alex had driven up to the house. She"d been expecting him to drop her at the stables, but now he was turning off the engine and Mrs Muir was at the door of the house, waiting to greet them.
She turned to him then, her eyes wide with enquiry, and he gave her a rueful look. "Humour me,"
he pleaded softly. "I want to make up to you for what happened last week."
"But, Rachel-"
"Rachel won"t mind." He glanced round at his daughter who was busily removing her seat belt.
"You don"t mind if Kate has lunch with us, do you?"