AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The sound of her distress raked across his consciousness, setting his heart thumping urgently. She must be in trouble to call him—as far as he could remember in all the time they had been together she had never once asked for his help.
He seized a giant golfing umbrella and bolted from his study. A car could pick them up at the entrance to the gardens and bring them back to the hotel—but he could get there quicker on foot. He didn’t want to leave Kerry alone for a second longer than he had to.
The rain stung his face as he ran, carrying the umbrella unopened in his hand, dodging pedestrians and jumping the rivers of water sluicing along the gutters. It didn’t take long to reach the National Gardens, and he sprinted along the deserted paths towards the place where she’d said she was waiting.
At last he saw her—crouched down by the pushchair in the pouring rain, attempting to keep the torn cover over the howling baby at the same time as trying to comfort him. Theo’s heart was in his mouth and he felt a powerful rush of protectiveness.
She looked up as he approached, and the forlorn look on her face cut him to the quick. An overwhelming urge to reach out to her and haul her up into his arms seized him. He wanted to kiss away her misery and make her forget her worries. But then a cold wave of bitterness washed over him as he remembered he was the one making her miserable.
He stopped abruptly beside her and hesitated. Suddenly, for the first time in his life, he didn’t know what to do.
‘It’s all right—Daddy’s here,’ Kerry said to Lucas. ‘I can pick you up now. We can hide under the umbrella together.’
Her words galvanised Theo into action. He opened the umbrella and held it over all three of them, then he reached out with one strong arm, supporting them as she stood up.
Apparently being in his mother’s arms was all that Lucas needed, because as soon as he was cradled against her shoulder he quietened down. Theo saw the tension across Kerry’s shoulders visibly ease, then she lifted her face to him.
‘I ripped the cover,’ Kerry said, trying to look at Theo across the top of Lucas’s black curls. Her long fringe was sopping wet and plastered over her eyes. ‘I folded it back for a moment, to try and calm him down, but somehow it got caught and tore. I couldn’t keep the rain off him and walk at the same time.’
She lifted a hand to push her hair back, expecting to see an expression of displeasure on Theo’s face—annoyance that she hadn’t taken better care of his son. But the look of concern she saw in his eyes made an unexpected ripple of emotion run through her. His gaze was fixed on her—not on Lucas. And she had the strangest feeling that he did care for her, maybe just a little.
‘I’m sorry—I took a shortcut through the gardens,’ she rushed on, trying to ignore the foolish feeling. She knew what Theo thought of her, and it wouldn’t do any good to let herself get carried away by pointless wishful thinking. ‘It was a silly thing to do. I should have taken shelter in a shop or café, not kept on walking in the rain—but I just wanted to get home.’
‘You couldn’t have known the cover would break,’ Theo said, lifting his hand and brushing a long wet lock of hair back from her face. His touch was gentle, and something about it made Kerry’s heart skip a beat. ‘You made a wise decision, putting it on the buggy today. I didn’t even know there was a rain cover.’
Kerry gazed up at him, struggling to concentrate on what he was saying. The tender touch of his fingers and the concerned expression on his face were making her feel oddly light-headed.
It was completely unnerving. She knew what he thought of her—he’d made it painfully clear. But the way he was looking at her now made her long to give in to the fantasy that they could b
e happy together. That one day he might come to love her—the way she loved him.
Suddenly she felt her eyes burning with tears. She dropped her gaze, flustered by the unexpected surge of confusing emotions within her. She should not let herself pine for something that could never be. She was just setting herself up for a lifetime of disappointment and heartache.
‘I’m sorry.’ The words were jerked awkwardly from Theo’s lips as he gazed into Kerry’s misery-stricken face. The haunted look in her eyes reminded him agonisingly of the previous night—when staring into her future as his wife had filled her with despair. ‘This isn’t what you wanted.’
Suddenly he couldn’t bear the thought that being with him was making her miserable—she deserved so much more.
He felt ashamed that he hadn’t realised the truth sooner. It had taken his aunt’s comment that Kerry must be a wonderful person to make him see what had been right in front of him all the time. She was wonderful.
She was gentle and compassionate, yet ready to stand up for what she believed to be right. She was overflowing with love for Lucas, and had showed unwavering loyalty to the people she cared about. She should not have to live her life in misery.
It was his fault she was unhappy. He’d brought her back to Greece in anger, expecting her to meekly do as she was told. He’d never given her any respect. He’d never considered the possibility that she meant well when she showed an interest in his life.
‘It’s stopped raining,’ Kerry said, startling him out of his thoughts. She was looking at him with an expression of confusion. ‘I’m sorry I called you—disturbed your work. If I’d lasted out a couple more minutes the storm would have been over.’
Theo looked around them in surprise and saw that she was right—the rain had stopped. A rich, earthy smell filled the air as the ground around them soaked up much needed water, and the heavy atmosphere that had pressed down on the city before the storm eased.
He folded the umbrella away and felt the sun on his face. But its warmth didn’t reach through to his cold soul. He was the cause of Kerry’s misery, and that thought cut him deeper than he would have expected.
‘Don’t apologise for calling me,’ he said. ‘I want you to feel you can always come to me—but I know I haven’t done anything to make you feel that you can. After everything that has happened I can’t blame you for not trusting me.’
Before this she’d never turned to him for help. And now he realised just how much that had hurt him. The fact that she had never contacted him about Lucas—had never wanted him to be in her life—had felt like a slap in the face. But he’d pushed it to the back of his mind, refusing to consider why it had wounded him.
‘I do trust you,’ Kerry said, looking at him earnestly. ‘I’m ashamed that I didn’t trust you enough to come to you the night Hallie crashed the car. I wasn’t thinking straight. If I’d stopped for just one moment I would have realised I’d got it wrong.’
Theo stared down at her, suddenly realising the terrible truth. If she had come to him that night, the outcome for their relationship would have been the same. Even then, when their affair had been completely harmonious, he would not have been able to stand her challenging his actions.
‘You were right when you called me a control freak,’ he said unevenly, raking his fingers through his own wet hair. ‘I didn’t know. I take my need to be in charge of my life, of my business, too far—and I can never forgive myself for hurting you.’
