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He was so observant. ‘I’m not sad,’ she lied, bending to hug him. ‘Just very tired.’
‘Maybe we should go round and play with Josh,’ Archie suggested cheerfully. ‘Josh always makes you smile and you get that funny look on your face when you’r
e with him.’ He gave a little shrug and sprinted through to the kitchen.
For a moment Kat just stared and then she followed him. ‘What do you mean by that?’
Archie dragged a chair across the room and then climbed up and opened a cupboard. ‘You’re always smiling when you’re with Josh. And so’s he.’ He stood on tiptoe and reached for a cup. ‘You both smile. So maybe tomorrow we could all spend the day together.’ The cup clasped in his hand, he jumped down from the chair. ‘We could even invite him for a sleepover. That would be fun.’
‘A sleepover?’ She felt her face heat. Did he know something? She shook herself. Of course he didn’t. He was only six years old, for goodness’ sake, and he was speaking six-year-old language. ‘Why would you invite him for a sleepover?’
‘Because that’s what you do with friends, and Josh is a friend,’ Archie said patiently, his glance telling her that he clearly thought she was a bit stupid. ‘Do you think he’d fit in the snuggle sack I had from Father Christmas?’
‘I—Well…’ Kat raked her fingers through her hair and smiled weakly. ‘Probably not, sweetheart. I think he’s a bit too big.’
‘He could just sleep in the spare bed, then.’ Evidently considering the problem solved, Archie moved the chair along, climbed up again and switched on the tap. ‘Can we have fish fingers for tea?’
Fish fingers.
The reality of her life.
Kat forced a smile. ‘Of course. Fish fingers it is. And in the morning, will you tiptoe downstairs? When I wake up I promise we’ll go to the beach and have fun.’
‘Can we go and see Josh?’
‘No!’ There was a note of panic in Kat’s voice and instinctively she modulated her tone. ‘No, sweetheart. Not tomorrow.’
‘But he doesn’t mind. He said so.’ Archie stepped into his trunks, his eyes huge. ‘He promised I could help with the boat and practise my knots.’
‘And so you can. Another time.’ When she’d managed to put her one incredible night with Josh well and truly behind her. And so far she hadn’t done very well. ‘Tomorrow it’s just us, like it always has been. That’s good, isn’t it?’
He looked at her and shrugged, disappointment written all over his face. ‘I suppose so.’
She felt something tug inside her. Why did life have to be so complicated?
CHAPTER NINE
HOPING that physical activity would burn off some of the frustration that had kept him sleepless for yet another long and restless night, Josh rose early and spent the first hour of the day clearing out the shed that he used to store all his sailing gear.
By the time he’d emptied everything out, earmarked a few things for the skip and tidied the rest away, he decided he’d earned breakfast.
For the first time since he’d woken up, he glanced up the path towards Kat’s cottage and froze as he saw Archie leaping along the path towards him.
Conscious that he was desperately in need of a shave and a shower, he searched for signs of Kat but the boy was on his own.
Of course he was on his own, Josh thought savagely as he slammed the door of the shed closed and reached for a rag to wipe his hands on. Kat had made it perfectly clear that she didn’t want anything to do with him.
He gave a sigh as the boy drew close, his eyes shining with excitement at the prospect of the new day.
Was it really fair to blame Kat for wanting to protect something so precious?
And she was right, wasn’t she? He couldn’t be trusted with her most valued possession. He didn’t have any of the skills necessary to make a good, reliable father. He didn’t know anything about what was expected.
Hell, he didn’t even know what he wanted out of life any more and she was right when she said that he shouldn’t be allowed to experiment with Archie.
‘Would you fit into a sleepover sack?’ Archie bounded up to him, as eager as a puppy, his clothes on inside out as usual. ‘Because Mum reckons you’d be too big.’
‘Sorry?’ Josh reached for his own shirt, which he’d slung over the bench before he’d started work. He stared at it for a moment then gave a little smile and pulled it inside out.
