Misty and the Single Dad

He was now fast asleep on Gran’s old woollen cardigan and he didn’t look as if he’d stir any time soon.

Unlike Misty, who was stirring so much she felt as if she was going nuts.

It was eight o’clock. The world must surely be awake.

So ask him now.

He heard the knock as he stood under the shower. Which was cold. The hot water service gave exactly thirty seconds of tepid water. ‘Bailey…’

‘I heard,’ Bailey yelled, sounding excited, which was pretty much how he’d sounded since Nick had said the D word last night.

‘Don’t answer it.’ He groped for his towel, swearing under his breath. It could be anyone out there. Do not take risks.

‘Bailey, don’t…’ he yelled again but it was too late. There was a whoop of pleasure from the hall.

‘It’s Miss Lawrence. Dad, it’s Miss Lawrence. She’s come to visit.’

Bailey was still in his pyjamas, clutching his teddy, rumpled from sleep. He was beaming with pleasure to see her. He looked adorable.

He also looked big with news. He was jiggling up and down, stammering with excitement.

‘I’m getting a dog,’ he told her before she could say a word, and she blinked in astonishment.

‘A what?’

‘A dog.’ He did another jig. ‘We’ve talked about it. I think we should look at the lost dogs’ home ’cos Dad says Ketchup was from the dogs’ home and he’s good. But I want a dog who can run. Dad says I can choose but he can’t be old. And he can’t be sick. We’re going to build a dog kennel, only Dad says he doesn’t know if we can buy wood and stuff on Sunday.’

His joy was enough to make the hardest heart melt, and Misty’s wasn’t all that hard to start with. A dog of his own…

This little boy had lost his mother in dreadful circumstances. His only friend was his father. But now… To have his own dog…

‘That’s…’ But she never got to answer.

Nick strode from the bathroom, snapping orders. ‘Bailey, don’t answer the door to strangers…’

He was wearing nothing but boxers.

Misty was a woman with sound feminist principles. She didn’t gasp. She didn’t even let her knees buckle, which she discovered they were more than willing to do. Women with feminist principles did not gasp at the sight of near naked men. Nor did they allow their knees to buckle, even if they wanted to.

Nick had towelled in a hurry and he wasn’t quite dry. His bare tanned chest was still wet. More, it sort of glistened under the hall light. This was a male body which belonged…which belonged somewhere else but in her universe.

‘H…hi,’ she managed, and was inordinately proud she’d made her voice work.

‘It’s Miss Lawrence,’ Bailey told Nick unnecessarily. He was still jiggling. ‘I told her we’re getting a dog.’

‘Why are you here?’ There was a pause, and Nick seemed to collect himself. It was possible he hadn’t intended to sound as if she might be a child-snatcher. He took a deep breath, started again. ‘Sorry. Obviously I need to get used to country hours. So…’ He hesitated and tried a smile. ‘You’ve already milked the cows, churned the butter…’

‘Swilled the pigs and chewed the buttercups,’ she agreed, managing to smile back. She might be disconcerted, but Nick looked even more disconcerted. Which was kind of…nice. To have such a body disconcerted because of her…

Get serious, she told herself, but it was really hard to be serious in the face of those pecs.

‘It’s me who should be sorry,’ she managed. ‘Ketchup woke me at dawn and I’ve been thinking. Actually, I was even thinking last night.’

‘Thinking?’

‘That maybe I was wrong to knock Bailey back so fast.

‘That maybe it’s not a bad idea at all. That maybe it might suit us all if you share my house.’

Silence.

More silence.

Whatever reaction she’d expected, it wasn’t this. Nick was staring at her as if he wasn’t quite sure who-or what-she was.

As well he might. He’d only met her yesterday. What sort of offer was this?

But they didn’t need to be friends to be a landlady and tenant, she reminded herself. They hardly needed to know each other. This was business.

Still there was silence. She wasn’t quite sure how to break it, and finally Bailey did it for her. ‘We can live with you?’ he breathed, and his question hauled her straight down to earth.

Uh oh. Stupid, stupid, stupid. This was not strictly business. Here was the first complication. A basic principle of teaching: don’t make children excited before plans are definite. She and Nick should have had this conversation out of Bailey’s hearing.

What had she been thinking, just to blurt it out?

She knew what she’d been thinking about. This was all about Nicholas Holt’s wet, glistening body. It had knocked the sense right out of her. Understandably, she decided. There was something about Nicholas Holt that was enough to throw any right-minded woman off balance.

‘If your father thinks it’s a good idea,’ she managed, struggling to make it good. She allowed herself to glance again at that glistening body and she thought maybe she’d made a king-sized fool of herself.

He was still looking at her as if she’d grown two heads. That was what she felt like, she decided. As if there was the one-headed Miss Lawrence, the woman who made sense. And the two-headed one who was making all sorts of mistakes.

No matter. She’d made her offer.

If he wanted to live with a two-headed twit then she’d left herself open for it to happen.

She was asking him to live with her?

No. She was asking if he’d like to rent the spare side of her gorgeous house.

Nick was cold. This house was cold.

He’d tried to make toast and the fuse had blown. Half the house was now without electricity. He’d checked the fuse box and what he saw there made him wince. This house wasn’t just bad, it was teetering on unsafe.

There were possums-or rats-in the roof. He’d lain awake all night trying to decide which.

A breeze was coming up through the floorboards.

This was not a suitable house for Bailey. He’d made that decision at about four o’clock this morning in between muttering invective at possums. He needed to go find the letting agent, throw back his keys, threaten to sue him for false advertising, find somewhere else… Before tonight?

But here was Misty, warm and smiling and friendly, saying come and live in her house, with her squishy old furniture, with a veranda that looked over the sea, with Misty herself…

Um…take Misty out of the equation fast, he told himself. This was a business proposition. A good one?

Maybe it was. It’d get him out of immediate trouble. To have his son warm and comfortable and safe…

He wouldn’t need to get a dog.

He looked down at Bailey. Bailey looked up at him with eyes that were pure pleading.

A comfortable house by the sea. No dog. Misty.

This was a very sensible plan.

‘We accept.’

He accepted? Just like that? The two words seemed to make Misty’s insides jolt. What had she just done?

But Nick was sounding cautious, as well he might. She was feeling cautious. What sort of crazy impulse had led her here?

For, as soon as he accepted, complications crowded in. Or maybe as soon as she’d seen his wet body