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What had possessed him to go next door to a stranger’s house?
‘Archie.’ She pressed a hand to her chest to control her breathing and stop herself shouting. She just wanted to grab him and never let him go. ‘Archie, what are you doing? I’ve been looking everywhere for you.’
The man turned and Kat took a step backwards. It was Josh Sullivan.
‘Well, this is a surprise.’ His voice was cautious, a faint expression of amusement in his blue eyes as he looked at her. ‘Archie told me his mother was still asleep. I didn’t know you were the mother.’
Josh?
She stared at him stupidly. It was Josh who lived next door to her?
‘I—You…’ Momentarily distracted, she stared at him for a moment and then turned her attention back to her son. He was wearing an ancient pair of trousers that were too short for him and his T-shirt was back to front and inside out. ‘Archie, what do you think you’re doing?’ Her voice shook. ‘I looked everywhere for you. I’ve been so worried.’
He gave a tiny shrug. ‘I woke up and you were still asleep. I wanted to explore.’
To him it was as simple as that.
‘You should have waited until I’d woken up.’ She dragged her shaking fingers through her long hair. ‘You shouldn’t just wander off like that. You scared me!’
‘It’s OK, Mum,’ Archie said kindly. ‘You were obviously tired. I thought you needed a lie-in.’ His eyes were huge and anxious and she felt ripped into pieces with the worry of what might have happened to him.
Oblivious to the fact that she was dressed in her nightdress, she dropped to her knees so that she was on the same level as him. She took him by the shoulders and looked him in the eye, needing to explain why she was upset. Needing him to understand. ‘You left the house on your own and you…’ She closed her eyes, unable even to voice the words. ‘How many times have I told you not to talk to strangers? How many times, Archie?’
‘But he had a boat.’
Kat stared at her little boy, her chest rising and falling as she struggled to control her breathing. ‘He had a boat? That’s why?’ Her voice rose slightly. ‘You left the house without telling me because he had a boat?’
The thought of all the things that could have happened to him tormented her brain.
‘Yeah, I saw it from my bedroom window.’ Archie’s green eyes, so like her own, lit up and danced with excitement. He was full of life and curiosity. ‘And it’s a brilliant boat. Look at it Mum! And Josh has been helping me with my knots. I was doing it the wrong way. I was putting—’
‘But, Archie.’ Interrupting him and trying to moderate her voice, she gave him a little shake. ‘It doesn’t make any difference if he has a boat. It doesn’t make any difference if he has a whole fleet of boats! He’s still a stranger.’ She lifted her head from the boy, her hair rippling like fire down her back as she glared at Josh. ‘And as for you—what did you think you were doing?’ Her voice rose and she saw him frown.
‘For heaven’s sake, Kat—’
‘Don’t “for heaven’s sake” me,’ she spat, releasing Archie and standing up straight, her body shaking with a fury driven by pure relief that her son was safe. She still had to tilt her head to look at Josh but at least she didn’t feel at such a disadvantage, ‘He’s six years old, for God’s sake! Six years old. Don’t tell me that it didn’t occur to you that somewhere out there he had a worried mother!’ Her eyes flashed and her hair swung with every movement of her head as her temper rose. ‘And you’re just standing here, teaching him knots!’ She glared first at Josh and then the offending boat, as if her stare alone would be enough to set fire to it. Tormented by all the hideous scenarios that could have taken place, she dragged Archie into her arms and held him so tightly that he squirmed.
‘Mum, you’re hurting me!’
‘Actually, it didn’t occur to me,’ Josh said, his tone cool and a frown on his handsome face as he watched her. ‘I haven’t had much experience with children. He turned up here and asked to see the boat. I showed him. Simple as that. Then we got onto the knots.’
‘He’s six, Josh.’ She glared at him over the top of her son’s head. ‘Six-year-olds don’t just turn up! Someone, somewhere is supposed to be looking after them. And heaven knows, it isn’t always an easy job.’ She turned back to Archie as the question settled in her mind. ‘How? How did you just turn up here?’ She gave him a little shake, trying to understand how this could have happened. Desperate to protect her child. ‘How did you get out of the house? You couldn’t possibly reach the door by yourself.’
‘I stood on a chair.’
She stared at him blankly. ‘You climbed on a chair to let yourself out?’
‘I saw the boat,’ Archie said simply, as if that was sufficient explanation.
A boat had been enough for him to forget everything she’d ever taught him. She gave a shudder and then looked at Josh, who was watching the proceedings in silence, his broad shoulders leaning against the hull of the boat, his arms folded across his muscular chest. He was stripped to the waist, his bronze skin gleaming from the physical effort of working on the boat. Somehow all that relaxed masculinity made her even angrier. ‘And you seriously didn’t wonder where he came from? A little boy all on his own at this hour of the morning?’ With considerable difficulty she averted her eyes from his body, even though the desire to stare was strong.
He was built like an athlete, all sleek muscle and power, and she wished he was wearing something more than a pair of shorts. They didn’t cover anywhere near enough.
‘Calm down.’
‘Calm down? I was worried sick.’ She broke off, struggling with a ridiculous urge to burst into tears. What if something had happened to her Archie? There was a long pulsating silence broken only by the shriek of seagulls and the distant crash of waves as they hit the beach.
* * *
