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Another shot, obviously taken at a beach bar, and next to that one taken on the top of a snow-covered peak.
‘The Matterhorn.’ Jack came into the room.
‘Looks fantastic.’
‘Yeah. It’s a popular peak.’ When she turned, Jack’s eyes were fixed on the photograph and she felt a stab of jealousy for Sal. Not because of all the places she’d been, the things she’d done, but because she was the woman who’d made love with Jack and borne his child. And that was wrong, on so many levels, not least because Cass had decided that she was not going to feel anything for Jack.
‘You must miss her.’
Jack shrugged. ‘These photos are here for Ellie, not me. I cared about Sal as a friend, but there’s a part of me that can’t forgive her.’
Cass could think of a number of unforgivable things that Sal had done, but tact got the better of her. ‘What for?’
‘I’d hoped that when Sal got back from Nepal, we might be able to come to some arrangement so that Ellie would have a proper family. I was prepared to do anything to make that happen.’
‘But...surely that wasn’t her fault. She died...’
‘Yeah. She never told me that she was going to Everest without the proper permits or a place on an expedition. It was just plain crazy and I would have stopped her if I’d known.’
Jack took a last look at the photograph. ‘I didn’t have the time with my father that I wanted, but at least I knew him. Ellie doesn’t even have that; she doesn’t remember Sal at all.’
‘Ellie seems...’ Cass tried to concentrate on something else ‘...very happy. Very secure.’ She remembered seeing Jack hug Ellie when he’d left, and then, in a moment of stillness between the two, he’d put his hand on his heart. Ellie had mimicked him and then let him go without any tears.
‘She knows I’ll always come back for her.’ He shrugged. ‘But sometimes I wish...’ He shook his head, as if wishes couldn’t possibly come true.
Cass hardly dared ask. But she did, anyway. ‘What do you wish?’
A sudden heat in his eyes, which turned from fierce intensity to something warmer. ‘I miss being able to ask a woman out to dinner.’ The tips of his fingers were almost touching her arm. Almost reaching for her, but not quite.
‘And you can’t do that?’ There were plenty of single fathers that did.
‘I reckon that the one thing that’s worse for Ellie than not having a mother is having a succession of temporary ones. I can’t let her lose any more than she already has. I wish it were different, but...’
‘Yeah. I miss...’ The warmth of having someone. The tingling sense of excitement every time Jack walked into a room had made her realise just how much she missed that.
‘But aren’t you married to your work?’ He raised an eyebrow. ‘You’re not thinking of getting a divorce, are you?’
‘No. That relationship’s doing just fine, thank you.’
‘Shame.’
The thought that maybe, just maybe, there was another option left her breathless. If they both knew that nothing could come of it, if no one ever knew, then there couldn’t be any hurt. If neither of them expected anything, then surely neither of them could be disappointed.
Maybe it wasn’t quite that simple. Jack had just the kind of body, just the kind of touch, which made sex for the sake of it seem like the best idea she’d had in years. But there was more to him than that, and his tenderness could make things very complicated.
She turned away from him, breaking the spell. ‘We should get going if we want to get back to the village and then make another round trip this afternoon.’
Maybe her disappointment sounded in her voice. He smiled then caught up the bag that lay in the doorway, ushering her outside and then slinging his coat across his shoulders to run to the car.
CHAPTER EIGHT
AS SOON AS they got back to the village they started on the round of visits that Jack had promised to make, Cass acting as his guide. The first on the list was Mr Hughes. He had refused to allow his wife to stay and watch while Jack checked on his pacemaker, and Mrs Hughes had refused to stay in the kitchen, so Cass waited outside the sitting room door with her.
‘I really don’t know why he didn’t go to the hospital sooner. He missed his last appointment, and they said that he had to go in three months. He hasn’t got much left on the battery...’
Cass nodded sympathetically, wondering when Mrs Hughes was going to stop with the barrage of complaints about her husband.
‘Then, all of a sudden, it gets to be urgent and we can’t go because of the floods.’ Mrs Hughes gave a derisive sniff. ‘Silly man. I wish he’d look after himself a bit better. I do my best.’
