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The moment he walked into the kitchen Meg greeted him with an ecstatic welcome. She obviously remembered him, and again Heather had to conquer a ridiculous surge of jealousy.
‘Here’s your coffee.’ She put it down. ‘I’ll just go and get the books.’
When she brought them back he was stretched out in the chair, his eyes closed. What was it about seeing such a powerful-looking man so apparently vulnerable that brought an odd lump to her throat?
Hurriedly she cleared her throat, and immediately his head lifted. She handed him the folders and he put them down, quickly checking through them.
‘There doesn’t seem to be an order book here.’
‘Oh, it’s upstairs… I’ll go and get it.’
It was in her room. She had taken it up with her last night when she’d gone to bed.
She didn’t realise that Kyle had followed her upstairs until she opened the door to her room.
She had recently completed redecorating it, using oddments of fabric and wallpapers she had picked up at bargain prices. Stencils which she had designed and painted herself broke up the starkness of the plain walls, and she had experimented on her old furniture with dragging and marbling techniques to achieve what she rather proudly felt was an extremely effective up-date.
‘I see you’ve still got Charles.’
Kyle’s voice behind her made her jump and spin round, her whole body bristling with resentment at his intrusion into her own private sanctum.
Charles was her old teddy bear, and he still held pride of place on her dressing-table. She had kept him purely out of sentiment, but now, seeing him through Kyle’s yes, she saw him as a symbol of a stupidly childish woman who refused to grow up. Snatching him up, she pushed him behind a curtain.
‘I wasn’t criticising,’ Kyle told her. ‘I’ve still got the first present your folks ever gave me. A football.’
‘I remember it…’ She did indeed. She could remember the day she and her parents had gone out to buy it. They had been so excited about the prospect of Kyle coming to live with them permanently, and she had been resentful and determined to be as difficult as possible.
They had wanted to buy him a fort, complete with toy soldiers, but had finally settled on the football. They had bought her a doll, which she had never touched, she remembered, sighing for the stubborn, difficult child she had been.
‘Heather…’
Was that really diffidence she could hear in his voice? Abruptly she turned away, not wanting to hear whatever it was he was going to say.
‘Here’s the full order book. We’d better go down, your coffee will be getting cold. Or would you like to have a look at your old room while we’re up here, just for “old times’ sake”?’
She bit her lip immediately she had made the sarcastic remark. What was the matter with her? Already she seemed to be doing her best to antagonise Kyle. She saw his mouth thin and tighten.
‘Still the same old Heather, after all.’
The weary resignation she heard in his voice was so out of character that she stared at him.
‘Kyle…’
‘Forget it. I thought you’d finally grown up, Heather, but it seems I was wrong. I’ll take all this stuff home with me and then we can discuss it over lunch tomorrow. How well do you know Bath?’
‘Reasonably,’ she responded, not sure where his question was leading.
‘I own a property just outside the city. We’ll meet there.’
Back in the kitchen he gave her the address and directions. Heather had a good idea where it was and assured him that she shouldn’t have any problems in finding it.
‘Good. I’ll see you there about twelve.’
He got up and picked up all the files, leaving Heather to almost run after him as he headed for the door in long strides.
‘Be careful when you’re driving,’ he warned her as she let him out. ‘Frost and then more snow is forecast…just as well he decided to leave.’
The taunting note in his voice reminded her of Howard’s hurried exit, and she demanded angrily, ‘Just what exactly did you say to him?’
