another big change straight on top of the last one.”
“And what kind of security can you offer him?”
“Love, and the stability of the home he’s used to.”
Gavin gritted his teeth. He hadn’t meant to play rough, but she’d left him no choice. “But you’re going to be leaving here. See what Social Services says when I tell them that.”
“Leaving here? Why should I?”
“Look, I realize that your father was still a young man and you couldn’t have dreamed that he’d die so soon.”
“What does that have to do with what we’re talking about?”
“It means that you have no right to stay in this house.”
“Why?”
“Because it belonged to Liz-half of it. The other half is still mine. Liz’s half will become Peter’s and I-”
“Wait,” she stopped him. “Liz didn’t own any part of Strand House.”
“I happen to know better. I bought this place originally and put it in our joint names, and the court awarded her half in the divorce settlement.”
“Yes, I know all about that. What I’m saying is that Liz’s share became Dad’s some years ago, and he left it to me.”
“
“It was to protect the sanctuary. He wanted to be sure that if anything happened to him I could carry on here.”
“I don’t believe what I’m hearing,” he exploded.
But he did believe it. It had an awful inevitability. He’d always known that Tony Ackroyd had been a sponger who’d battened on Liz for her property. Now he discovered that he’d been a mercilessly efficient sponger. “You really do have this neatly arranged, don’t you?” he said, breathing hard.
“I know you can’t evict me, and for the moment you can’t take Peter away from me. If you love your son, you won’t even try to.”
“Don’t lecture me about loving my son,” Gavin said dangerously.
“You frighten him-”
“I imagine anything’s impossible to you, if it doesn’t suit you. But Peter doesn’t know you any more. Can’t you understand that?”
“Yes, I’m beginning to. In fact I’m beginning to understand a good many things. You’ve turned his mind away from me, haven’t you, and you think I can’t take it back.”
“You’re right-I don’t think you can
“Oh, I have more weapons in my armory than you think. I can be patient and subtle when I have to be. You may be able to stop me removing Peter, but you can’t keep me away from him. I have as much right to live in this house as you do, and that’s what I mean to do.”
“Live here? You mean to move in?” she echoed, dismayed.
“I’ve already moved in. So I’ll be on hand to make sure my son isn’t turned against me any more.”
“But that’s-” she sought for the word.
“Impossible?”
“Impractical. How can we live under the same roof?”
“It won’t be for long,” Gavin said. “Just as long as it takes you to realize that you can’t defeat me. In the meantime, we’ll just have to learn to endure each other.”
Chapter Three
Mrs. Selena Bolden, a social worker, came the same day. She was middle-aged and hearty, with an uncomfortable likeness to a headmistress. As soon as she began to speak, Gavin’s heart sank. Mrs. Bolden had known Liz and Tony well, liked them and had moreover been fed the story of how Gavin had tried to “kidnap” Peter six years ago.
“It would be most unfortunate if there were any similar, er, incident,” she observed, looking at him closely.
Gavin controlled his temper and said calmly, “All I want to do is get to know my son again, so I’m going to live right here in my own house. At least you can’t prevent me from doing that.”
“Actually, I can,” she said smugly. “I can apply for a court order preventing you from setting foot on these premises, and I could have one by this afternoon.”
“Whoever’s house it is, the court would place the interests of the child first. Your previous attempt at kidnapping would be taken into account-”
“I keep telling you I did
“Naturally you would say that, but the attempt is on the official record.”
For the first time Gavin knew real fear. Everything he’d been so certain of was slipping away from him with terrible inevitability. Whatever the rights of the situation, it seemed that Norah Ackroyd had the power on her side, and he had no doubt she would use that power to thwart him.
But then, unbelievably, he heard her say, “Actually, Selena, I think Mr. Hunter is telling the truth.” Gavin stared at her as she went on, “I saw what happened, and I don’t think he would have really snatched Peter. Liz was hysterical and upset, and I believe she read too much into it.”
Mrs. Bolden looked skeptical. “According to the official record,” she said, like someone quoting the bible, “the little boy confirmed it.”
“He confirmed that his father asked him to go with him, yes,” Norah agreed. “But later he told me that Mr. Hunter had abandoned the idea when Peter made it clear he wanted to be with his mother. I tried to tell Liz, but she insisted I’d misunderstood. I know that I didn’t.”
“Are you saying you don’t want me to get a court order?” Mrs. Bolden demanded, sounding disappointed.
“That’s right. I don’t. As you say, Peter’s interests must come first, and right now none of us knows what’s best for him. As far as I’m concerned, Mr. Hunter can stay here. I’ll guarantee his behavior.”
“Very well. I’ll take your word for the moment.” She eyed Gavin disapprovingly. “But no attempt must be made to remove Peter. Do I have your word on that?”
“Certainly,” he said grimly.
Norah showed her out while Gavin tried to force himself to calm down. On the one hand he was possessed by sheer speechless outrage at Norah’s impertinence at guaranteeing his behavior. But he knew that he owed everything to her generous intervention. In fact he owed her his total gratitude, and that was almost the worst thing of all.
When she returned he said with difficulty, “Thank you for speaking up for me. It wasn’t what I expected.”
“I never believed that kidnap story. You had ample chance to make off with Peter, but you didn’t.”
“But you could have had me thrown out of the house,” he said bewildered. “Why pass up your advantage?”
He came from a world where only a fool let an opportunity slip, and this woman wasn’t a fool. That was clear from the shrewd intelligence in her eyes as they surveyed him, their gleam showing that she fully understood his mystification.
“Maybe I was wrong to pass it up,” she said. “We’ll just have to see how things work out.”
“I gave my word and I’ll keep it. All I want is to rebuild my relationship with Peter.”
“Well, I’ve given you the chance to do that,” she pointed out.
“But I wish you’d tell me-why did you do it?”
“Because getting to know you again might be the best thing for him.”
