Page 54 of His Wedding-Night Heir

'I was perfectly safe.' she protested. 'Baz isn't bothered by storms.'

'But he's still old,' Nick said unanswerably. 'If he got sick and went down you could be injured. I won't let you take that risk.' He started the car and drove up the lane. Cally did not look back to see if their departure was being observed.

She took a deep breath. ‘As a matter of interest, why have you come home? You're supposed to be at meetings in London all day.'

'I postponed them,' he said brusquely. 'My mother's arrived.'

Cally sat up. 'But she wasn't due for another two weeks,' she said, aware that her stomach was churning again.

He shrugged a shoulder. 'She simply decided to get an earlier plane. She telephoned from Heathrow this morning, so I rang to warn you that I was bringing her down, but you weren't around.'

She looked down at her hands, knotted together in her lap. 'I'm sure Margaret was able to fill the breach.'

'Of course,' he said. 'But that doesn't let you off the hook, sweetheart. What the hell did you think you were doing?'

'I—-I didn't go to the cottage deliberately,' she said in a low voice. 'It was all a chapter of accidents. I rescued Mr Miller's dog, and got bitten, and he insisted I go back with him to have my hand seen to and shelter from the rain.' She paused. 'But I wasn't snooping.'

'Did I suggest that you were?' Nick pulled the car over to the side of the road and stopped on the verge. He said, more gently, 'Cally, we can't go on like this. There are things that need to be said, particularly now.' His mouth tightened. 'And I need to tell you—explain about Vanessa. I should have done it long ago.'

'There's no need.' It hurt to breathe, let alone speak. 'Because I already know the whole story.'

His brows snapped together in disbelief. 'She told you?'

'No,' she said. 'No, I knew—before.'

'I don't believe it,' Nick said, after a pause. 'How could you? We've always been so careful...' He stopped, apparently giving himself a mental shake. 'So where did you hear it?'

She said wearily, 'From Adele, naturally. Who else? She implied it was common gossip,' she added, after an uncertain pause. She'd opened up a can of worms here, she realised nervously. His next question was bound to be, Is that why you

left me? And she wasn’t sure she could survive the kind of revelations that were bound to follow.

'Adele,' he said quietly. 'My God—Adele. It beggars belief. But it will have to be dealt with. I've also left that too long.' He paused. 'So what did you talk about with Vanessa?'

She managed a shrug. 'Not a great deal. She gave me some unwanted advice, then asked me not to mention your relationship with her to her father.'

He looked at her, his brows raised. 'And you agreed?'

'Why not?' She braced herself. 'It's really of no concern or interest to me. After all, I'm unlikely to meet Mrs Layton again, or her father.'

He said carefully, 'I hoped you might be a little more understanding. She's been having a really bad time of late.'

'So her father said,' Cally said coldly. 'According to him, she's practically a saint. The perfect wife.'

'I think she was,' Nick returned with equal frotdeur. 'Until that motorway pile-up intervened. Now she's in limbo.'

No, Cally thought, with sudden violence. She has you. I'm the one in limbo!

Aloud, she said. 'Perhaps we should go. Your mother will be waiting.'

'My mother is resting after a hellish flight,' he returned. 'And there are still matters we need to deal with, especially as we're talking about Vanessa.'

'Don't tell me,' Cally said with bitter irony. 'You and the tenant of Southwood Cottage are simply good friends?'

'It would be better if you could refrain from mentioning her at all.' He hesitated. 'In fact, that's essential.'

'You mean your mother still has illusions?' Cally shrugged again. 'But, what the hell? Consider it done. Was there anything else?'

'A few things come to mind,' Nick said slowly. 'Such as when were you going to share your precious secret with me— tell me you were having my baby? Or did you hope it would all go away and you'd wake up one morning to find it was all a bad dream?'

Cally flushed. Naturally before I said anything I wanted to be absolutely sure.'

'Which symptoms would have convinced you?' Nick asked grimly. 'Actually going into labour?'

Her colour deepened. 'Kindly don't laugh at me.'

'Believe me,' he said, 'I've never felt less like laughing in my entire life.'

'Anyway, it wasn't much of a secret, because you've known all along,' she said tautly. 'You even told your—your Mrs Layton. And I expect you broke the news to your mother, too, and that's why she's arrived early.'

'It's her first grandchild,' he said. 'She's bound to be delighted. And she'll expect us to be thrilled too, so your performance as devoted wife will need to be stepped up a notch.'

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