Chapter Three
XANDER PULLED UP on the driveway. He was organising a car for Laurel to be delivered; she would need to be able to get around on her own.
Go shopping, take Dan to school next term.
As for himself, well, it was going to be complicated.
He’d spend as much time as he could now with Dan.
That was essential, his overriding priority, but he would have to put some time in back home, and Easter—Greek Easter—was looming too.
He would need to be there for that; his father would be expecting him.
And then, far more complicated yet, was going to be telling his father about Dan…
He shut his eyes a moment, only wanting to block that out. It would be difficult for his father to hear about Dan, but he had to know sometime. How he would react, Xander had no idea.
He snapped his eyes back open. First things first. Right now, he would see his son again. Spend time with him.
He swung out of the car, headed for the front door, letting himself in, striding down to the kitchen, where he could hear voices.
As he walked in, Laurel’s head whipped around.
She was sitting at the kitchen table, focussing on Dan sitting beside her as he read to her from a children’s early reading book.
As he saw Xander, Dan broke off, leapt to his feet, face alight.
“Dad!” he exclaimed, and Xander’s heart caught.
“Who’s hungry for lunch?” he announced. He’d deliberately timed his arrival for lunchtime so that Dan could have the morning to getting used to being in the cottage.
For himself he’d put in some time working from his hotel room and made use of the hotel’s gym facilities.
The hotel was a large old country house, five stars and well suited to this affluent corner of the Home Counties.
It also had a spa, and a pool, along with the gym.
An idea came to him, but he would save it for now.
“Me!” Dan was answering him about his readiness for lunch.
“Great!” Xander smiled. “Let’s get going.” His glance went to Laurel. She had not stood up and was carefully closing Dan’s reading book. Her expression was just as closed. He didn’t give a damn. “No need for you to come,” he told her.
She got to her feet, chair scraping on the tiled floor. “No, I’ll come,” she said.
He shrugged indifferently, focussing instead on Dan. That was why he was here. The only reason.
He waited while Laurel fetched a jacket for Dan, and Xander frowned. It looked shabby and distinctly second hand. None of his clothes were anything other than cheap chain store brands.
“After we’ve eaten we’ll go clothes shopping,” he announced. “Get Dan some decent clothes.”
His eyes flicked dismissively across to Laurel as well. She, too, could do with some decent clothes. What she was wearing, some cheaply made baggy top over shapeless trousers, did nothing for her.
He didn’t bother to wait for Laurel’s reply. Her opinions, her thoughts, her views were all totally irrelevant. So was she herself. Her sole purpose was to be there for Dan.
My son—
The precious words still rang in his head as they set off.
Laurel was keeping her temper. It was hard, but she was doing it, stifling the anger flaring at how Xander was ignoring her existence. Dan must have no idea of the enmity between his parents, each of them wishing the other to hell.
She’d managed to get through lunch—Xander had taken them to a family-friendly up-market country pub a few miles away, where conversation had focussed on Dan, and Laurel had mostly left them to it—and now Xander had driven them to a small retail park beside the motorway, which included an out-of-town branch of a national department store he evidently considered an acceptable place to purchase clothes for his son.
It was clear he wanted to lavish an entire new wardrobe on Dan, but Laurel was standing her ground.
“Just three things,” she’d insisted. “As he grows he can get more then.”
Xander threw her a killing look, but she didn’t care.
Dan was quite excited enough at getting a jacket sporting his favourite adventure film character, a new sweater with another, and a pair of sturdy trousers.
To defy her, Xander threw in a baseball cap and a pair of colourful socks.
Dan beamed happily, and Laurel sighed inwardly.
She didn’t want to be a killjoy, but she didn’t want Dan becoming spoilt.
Whatever his father might want. It was all too easy to get used to luxe living…
Something twisted inside her painfully. That’s what Xander had accused her of, that hideous day when he’d condemned her for taking that bracelet…
With a start she realised Xander was already heading off with Dan, making his way across the floor towards the toy section.
She hurried after them. They were looking along the shelves holding boxed construction kits.
They were Dan’s favourites, but her budget had only run to the smaller items. But now Xander was lifting down the largest box, and disbelieving delight was on Dan’s face, his eyes widening like saucers.
“It’s huge!” he exclaimed. “It’s like a giant, giant birthday present!”
Laurel watched Xander hunker down to Dan’s level. “Let’s call it that,” he said. “I wasn’t here for your birthday, so this is a bit late.”
“Oh, wow!” said Dan breathlessly.
Xander limbered to his feet. “Okay, what else?”
Laurel stepped forward. “This is great for now,” she said firmly. “Save something else for next time.”
Another killing glance came her way. “I have six birthdays to catch up on,” Xander said in a harsh voice.
She took a breath. “But not all at once,” she said.
She took Dan’s hand. “Let’s look at the books while we’re here.
” She knew the latest in a fantasy series that Dan loved had just been published, but affordable second-hand copies had not yet started to circulate.
A rush of extravagance filled her. She’d buy the full-price new one and be damned.
“This is on me,” she said determinedly, as Dan spotted the book and seized it happily.
Xander said nothing, only threw her a caustic glance as she made her purchase before getting out his gold-plated credit card to pay for the massive construction kit.
As soon as they got got back to the cottage, Dan turned to her. “Can I open it now, Mum? Can I?” he asked with eager excitement.
“Of course,” she said.
She left him and Xander to it, and went into the kitchen, hearing a cry of glee as Xander got the box open and the contents displayed.
Her heart squeezed. How could she resent Dan having such a lavish present?
They’d pinched pennies all his young life, and he’d never complained or asked for what she could not afford.
She busied herself putting on the kettle for a cup of tea, poured a diluted apple juice for Dan, then braved the fearsome-looking coffee machine that came with the house.
A packet of expensive coffee pods also came with it.
Xander would not welcome cheap instant coffee.
When she went back into the sitting room, drinks on a tray, Xander and Dan were hunkered down on the floor, getting stuck into the construction, their two dark heads close together. Laurel’s throat felt tight suddenly.
The construction kit was huge—a garage with a car lift, ramp, several floors, plus outbuildings, and came with four cars.
Xander was closely examining the instructions.
Laurel reckoned it would not be built in one go.
Dan was passing pieces to Xander, discussing with him what went where.
Silently, she handed Dan his juice, which he gulped down thirstily, then went back to his construction kit.
Xander didn’t look up as she put his coffee down on a table near him.
She took her cup of tea to the sofa, watching them. Those two dark heads together…
Father and son…
Her throat felt tight again.
Xander sat back. “I think this is a good place to stop,” he said. “We’ve made good progress, but we can’t build it all in one go. Let’s save the next bit for tomorrow, what do you say?”
Dan straightened. “Okay,” he agreed amenably. “It’s good, isn’t it?” he said admiringly at their joint handiwork.
“Very good,” Xander confirmed. He reached for his coffee, still hot. Black and unsweetened. The way he always drank it.
The way I did when she was with me—
Laurel had remembered his tastes it seemed. Without volition, his glance went to her. She was perched on the edge of the other sofa, elbows resting neatly on her knees, sipping at her tea. She looked very…demure.
That hadn’t been a word he’d associated with her during their time together—
Ardent…blazing…passionate…
No! He slammed his mind down hard. That was dangerous—far, far too dangerous.
Deliberately he hardened his expression, hardened his thoughts.
Whatever had happened seven years ago between them had ended.
Now it was enough simply to bring himself to be even superficially civil to her, and that was only for his son’s sake.
His gaze dropped to Dan, and the hardness vanished. He set aside his empty coffee mug.
“Let’s get all this upstairs,” he said, starting to gather up the unused pieces and putting them back in the box with the instructions.
Between himself and Dan they got everything up to his bedroom. There, half-completed garage safely in a corner, Xander looked around.
“You were reading this morning,” he said. “Will you read to me a bit? Show me what you can do?”
Dan nodded, fetching his early reading book. Xander settled himself down on the bed, inviting Dan to sit beside him, putting his arm around his shoulder. It felt good, very good, to have Dan snuggled against him. As he started to read out aloud, Xander felt an icy fury shaft through him.
I should have been able to hold him from the moment he was born! All through his babyhood, his infancy. She took that from me! Stole those precious years from me—