And while Caro’s mother was staying for a month, Kit certainly wasn’t going to be responsible for delaying their reunion.
‘And we’ve al been trying to ring your grandmother,’ Alex continued, ‘but…’
Kit smiled faintly. ‘But she’s a gadabout who refuses to carry a mobile phone. If you leave her a message on Tuesday you might hear back by Friday.’
‘And your mother lives—’
‘In Brisbane,’ she finished for him.
She pressed her fingers to her temples.
‘Kit?’
She glanced up.
‘I’m staying in Tuncurry until the weekend.’
‘But—’
‘It’s non-negotiable. There are things we need to discuss, but they can wait until you are wel again. It’s just as easy for me to stay here and keep an eye on you than it is to book into a motel.’
Easy for who?
‘And it’s the least I can do.’
She sagged into her pil ows, suddenly unutterably weary. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I know I hurt you, Kit.’
She wanted to look away, but those dark eyes of his held hers and something whispered between them. The memory of soaring together for one unforgettable night and touching the stars. No matter how much she wanted to deny it, this man had touched her soul. In that moment she recognized that she’d touched his too.
It didn’t mean they had a future together, though.
She saw that just as clearly.
‘I hurt you, Kit, and I know I’m disappointing you now.’ He rested his head in his hands for a brief moment. ‘Knowing me has made your life worse. I can’t begin to tel you how sorry I am about that.’
She blinked and then frowned. He looked as if he actual y meant that.
‘Helping you out for the next two and a half days is
‘Helping you out for the next two and a half days is the least I can do.’
Two and a half days? When he put it like that, it didn’t sound like much. And, frankly, there was no one else available because she had no intention whatsoever of imposing on either Caro or Doreen.
‘Don’t you think your baby’s welfare is more important than anything else at the moment?’
‘Yes,’ she whispered. She did. With al her heart.
‘So do I.’
She blinked and frowned. He did?
‘So why don’t we just do what the doctor ordered
—you rest and I’l be general dogsbody?’
She drew in a breath. What he was proposing, she may not like it, but it made sense. She let out the breath in an unsteady whoosh. ‘Okay, Alex.’ She nodded. ‘It seems to be the best solution. And…
um…thank you.’
‘No thanks necessary,’ he said roughly.
She frowned suddenly, hitched up her chin. ‘But you know what? Regardless of what you think, being pregnant, that hasn’t made my life worse. Having a baby is wonderful.’
He turned grey. She shrugged. ‘I just want you to know that you don’t have to feel guilty about that. At least, not on my account.’
If he real y did mean to walk away from his child, though, she hoped guilt would plague him every day of his sorry life.
He moved to fiddle with her CD player on the other side of the room. The sound of lapping water and soft squeals and gurgles fil ed the room.
She stared at him when he turned back around and then at the CD player. ‘What on earth is that?’
‘It’s cal ed
He’d bought her a relaxation CD!
‘I got it from one of those hippy places when I went shopping earlier.’ He rubbed the back of his neck and didn’t quite meet her eyes. ‘You know the doctor said you needed to relax. I thought the CD…’
‘I thought you went shopping for a change of clothes, a toothbrush.’
‘I did. And for food—your refrigerator was practical y empty!’
