AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Slipping off her crate, Heather crouched in front of Ryan, her hands either side of him, looking up until he couldn’t help but meet her gaze. ‘Ryan, I promise you I am only here to help you. And I’m not going anywhere until you want to leave, okay? So you can trust me.’
Ryan’s eyes were red around the rims, she realised. With unshed tears or lack of sleep? Or just the stress of being an eight-year-old earl whose life didn’t make sense any more?
Probably all three.
‘Everyone goes away—that’s what Daisy says,’ he whispered. ‘Our parents. The nannies. And Uncle Cal will go back to America as soon as he’s sent us away, too.’
The worst part was she couldn’t tell him he was wrong. Shifting to perch beside him on the box, Heather put an arm around Ryan’s shoulders. ‘Sometimes when people go they come back again, you know.’
‘Not when they’re dead,’ Ryan said bluntly. ‘Or when you throw things at them from the nursery window.’
‘Daisy threw a rubber duck at me. I stayed,’ Heather pointed out. ‘Even after you let me fall in the muddy riverbank.’
Ryan sneaked a quick look at her at that, a small smile on his face.
‘Yeah, I guess I must have looked pretty funny,’ Heather said. ‘The thing is, Ryan, I can’t bring your parents back—no one can. And maybe those other nannies weren’t meant to stay. But I will. Until September. I promise you that. And as for Uncle Cal—’
‘Don’t lie to me,’ Ryan said quickly. ‘Don’t tell me he’s staying if he isn’t.’
Heather sighed. ‘You’re right. I can’t promise you anything on Uncle Cal’s behalf—only he can do that. But I can tell you that he’s doing everything he can to make sure you and Daisy have a secure future, okay? He’s looking out for you, even if it doesn’t feel like it.’
It wasn’t enough, though, Heather knew. These kids needed more than that. And they needed more than a detached Uncle Cal tagging along on day trips or new computers to do their schoolwork on.
Which meant she needed to have another conversation with Cal Bryce. And she was pretty sure he wasn’t going to like it.
‘Come on,’ she said to Ryan. ‘Let’s go and find Daisy and Uncle Cal.’
The boy followed happily enough, apparently feeling a little better for getting some things off his chest.
It was only as they reached the high street again that Heather realised he’d never answered her question about what Daisy had wanted to be alone to do.
* * *
Cal approached the spot behind the trees slowly, quietly, not wanting to disturb Daisy as she knelt at the base of the tree stump.
Who had told her that this was where her parents had died? Had it been gossip in the town, or one of the local nannies?
Either way, she knew. And she’d wanted to come here so badly she’d sent her brother running off to cause a distraction—he was sure of it. Ryan always did do everything his big sister suggested.
Swallowing, Cal took another step forward, hating it that he was there—hating it even more that Daisy was.
The pub had fixed up the mess that had been made of their front wall, and Stan the landlord had planted some bedding plants along the new wall—green and purple, the Lengroth colours, in memory of Ross and Janey. Ross had been Stan’s best customer, by all accounts.
The tree the car had hit, after it had come through the wall, had been too damaged to be saved. That had been sawn off, a foot or so from the grass, and sanded smooth. Daisy had placed something on top of the stump, Cal realised as he got closer.
He stepped on a fallen twig, snapping it loudly underfoot, and Daisy spun around, jumping to her feet.
‘You followed me,’ she said, as if he were in the wrong. ‘You were supposed to follow Ryan.’
He’d known it had to be a plan. ‘Heather followed Ryan. He’ll be fine.’
‘He probably hasn’t gone very far anyway.’ Daisy turned back to face the tree stump again. ‘He’s always too much of a scaredy-cat to run far.’
‘You’ve done this before, then?’ Cal moved around to the other side of the stump so he could see her face.
