‘I’ve grown a lot,’ Vicki said indignantly.
‘I hadn’t noticed,’ he taunted dryly.
‘That’s because—’ Vicki broke off, biting ier lip.
Jerard’s expression sharpened. ‘Because what, Vicki?’ he prompted softly.
‘Nothing,’ she mumbled.
‘Vicki,’ he persisted gently.
‘Because—because you went away,’ the little girl choked. ‘You went away and left me,’ she added in a quavery voice.
Velvet looked sympathetically at Jerard’s pale face, as she stood up. ‘I think I’ll just go and get my handbag,’ she said brightly, leaving father and daughter alone.
Vicki was a highly sensitive little girl, and if her parents had separated, as Jerard had said they had, then her feelings of rejection were perfectly understandable. Broken marriages were always harder on the children.
A knock sounded on Velvet’s bedroom door several minutes later, and Jerard entered without waiting for acknowledgement of that knock. He looked like a man who had just been on the receiving end of a painful blow.
‘Are you all right?’ Velvet asked concernedly.
His expression was bleak. ‘My daughter has just informed me that I don’t really love her.’
‘Oh no!’
‘Yes,’ he said heavily, sitting down on the bed.
It had obviously shaken him, and Velvet’s heart went out to him. ‘But why should she think such a thing?’
‘My wife,’ he revealed harshly. ‘When Tina and I first parted it wasn’t an amicable separation, far from it, in fact. Tina was very bitter, and I didn’t realise until it was too late that she had passed that bitterness on to Vicki. Tina told her that I didn’t love or want her any more.’
‘That’s cruel!’ Velvet shook her head with the cruelty of it.
He shrugged. ‘It’s human nature, I suppose. When you’re hurt you hit out at the nearest person—and Vicki was the closest as far as Tina was concerned.’
Velvet frowned. ‘But she must realise now that you love her?’
He sighed. ‘I think she does, until something like this blows up.’ He stood up ‘We should be going, Vicki is waiting for us.’
There was still the trace of tears on Vicki’s cheeks, but otherwise her outburst might never have taken place. Jerard acted as if it hadn’t either, continuing to tease his daughter as they went to collect the car, giving Vicki some money to go and get some sweets from the hotel shop.
‘You’re puzzled, aren’t you?’ he said to Velvet.
‘A little,’ she nodded.
‘That’s understandable. But I’ve been assured by experts, a number of them, that it’s better to ignore these moods of Vicki’s. They tell me that if I just continue to show her I love her she’ll grow out of them.’
Velvet’s eyes widened. ‘Vicki is seeing a psychiatrist?’
He gave the ghost of a smile. ‘Nothing that serious. She was very disturbed by her mother’s death—a lot of children are. You’ll probably have some problems of your own once your son is old enough to ask questions.’ His voice had hardened perceptibly as he spoke of Tony. ‘Once I’ve made Vicki secure in my love, something that’s a lot harder to do than you think, she should stop having these bouts of near-hysteria.’
Remembering the times she had seen them, and the rapidity with which the moods passed, Velvet thought he was probably making good progress. The crying in the night had been the worst time, but even that had passed quite quickly.
‘Don’t concern yourself, Velvet,’ Jerard gave a strained smile. ‘This is my problem.’
‘Yes, but—’
‘I’ll work it out,’ he told her firmly. ‘Now let’s make an effort to enjoy this day out together that’s been forced on us.’
She flinched as if he had hit her, and was glad that Vicki chose that moment to rejoin them. Jerard was making it obvious that although he was being outwardly pleasant he would rather she was anywhere else but here with him.
But his act was a convincing one, so much so that she felt able to relax with him on the drive to Disneyworld. Vicki sat by the window as they took the monorail from the car park into Disneyworld itself, Velvet pressed up against Jerard’s other side, their bodies meeting from thigh to knee. It was impossible to move away, as another man was sitting on her other side, although he in no way affected her like Jerard did; the whole of that side of her body seemed to tingle.
The car had been left in Pluto car park—all the car parks were named after Disney characters. From the car park they had taken an open bus to the pay desks, and from there they had chose to be transported into Disneyworld by the monorail instead of the paddle-steamer. The monorail went straight through the middle of a hotel, through the dining-room in fact, something Vicki found highly amusing. It was rather strange to be going through a room that contained people eating a meal, although the diners seemed to take the appearance of the monorail for granted.
‘Before you ask, the answer is no,’ Jerard told Vicki firmly.
She looked disappointed. ‘Oh, but—’
‘No, Vicki. We wouldn’t have time for anything else if we ate there.’
Velvet had to admire the way he was indulgently firm with Vicki. A lot of men in his position would be inclined to spoil the little girl, but not Jerard. He let her know she was loved, but he did it with a quiet discipline Vicki couldn’t help but respect. Velvet had no doubt he would win through in the end.
Entering Disneyworld was like entering the world of her childhood dreams—old-fashioned trams and horse-drawn buggies, an old-fashioned bus driving people up and down Main Street. As they walked along the spotlessly clean sidewalk they passed a gift shop, an old cinema, an old-fashioned ice-cream parlour, and a flower market. Once they reached the end of Main Street they came to a replica of the Crystal Palace, and directly in front of them, dominating the skyline, was the fairytale castle.
‘I’d forgotten,’ Jerard murmured at her side.
She blinked up at him. ‘Forgotten what?’
‘The magic of this place.’ He smiled a completely genuine smile. ‘You should see your
