Chapter Twelve #2
‘Hello, Tasha. It’s very nice to meet you,’ I said, extending my own hand for a second before catching the confused look on the child’s face and hastily dropping my arm. Idiot. From Rhys’s hastily smothered smile, I knew he’d seen my rookie error.
‘Are we interrupting your work?’ Rhys asked, inclining his head towards my laptop and folder. I wrinkled my nose in reply.
‘Not really, I was just . . .’ I gave a small shrug, wondering if he would understand if I attempted to explain why I’d felt the need to come here.
‘I get it. I’ve been here a couple of times myself since it happened.’
That made me feel a great deal better, or was it just that I always felt a little bit better in his company? These were definitely not the kind of thoughts I should be having around his daughter – nor anybody, come to that.
‘My daddy was here when the tree was hit by a huge bolt of lightning,’ Tasha told me earnestly, as though sharing a secret.
‘Ellie knows that, sweetheart,’ Rhys said, pulling the little girl to his side and giving her a brief cuddle. ‘She was here on that day as well. It got her too.’
Tasha’s eyes widened in awe, and she gave me a very slow head-to-toe appraisal.
‘Did you get the magic marks on you too?’
I realised then what she’d been looking for, and in the same breath realised the Lichtenberg figures Rhys had acquired when the lightning had struck were fainter but still there.
I turned to study him with the same kind of scrutiny his daughter had just given me.
‘They’re starting to fade,’ he confirmed, but I saw that wasn’t entirely true. Although in places the figures were now faint and insipid, as though he’d been tattooed with invisible ink, where they disappeared beneath the collar of his shirt, the marks still looked as vivid as ever.
Tasha’s interest in me was quickly overtaken when she caught sight of a large ginger cat, who I recognised as one of the park’s most regular visitors.
‘Can I go and see the cat, Dad? I promise I won’t touch him.’
‘You can. Just stay where I can see you.’
Tasha immediately took off at a run, two blonde bunches flying like streamers through the air behind her.
‘I think he’s okay for her to pet. He’s not vicious or anything.’
Rhys’s eyes were still on his daughter, who had caught up with the moggy who was now lying on his side in one of the park flowerbeds.
‘It’s not that,’ he said, his eyes narrowing as Tasha dropped to a crouch in front of the cat but made no move to reach out and stroke him. ‘Sometimes animal fur can set off an asthma flare-up.’
In a move I suspected he’d done a thousand times before, Rhys reached into the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out a small inhaler. It lay in his palm for a moment, as though he’d needed visual confirmation that it was close at hand, before he slipped it back into his pocket.
‘She has her own on her,’ he explained, his eyes never leaving his daughter. ‘But I like to be certain that I do too.’
I felt more than a little ignorant.
‘It must be hard, having to be so vigilant.’
He gave an easy shrug. ‘You get used to it. And Tasha is very good at knowing how to avoid her triggers.’ He gave a sigh. ‘The worst of it is that she absolutely adores animals. She wants to be a vet,’ he said with a rueful expression.
His eyes took on a new gentleness as they settled on his daughter, now engaged in a deep conversation with the sunbathing feline.
Seeing Rhys in this new light was like discovering a secret room in a house you thought you knew.
It had happened to me once, professionally, and had been really thrilling .
. . but this was even better. It shone a spotlight on a whole new side of him and touched something in me that I hadn’t even known was there.
Feeling a little unsettled, I quickly scooped up the blanket and stuffed it, along with my laptop and folder, into the large canvas tote I’d brought to the park.
The sandwich remains I took to the base of the tree and made a low clicking noise, which I hoped the squirrel would understand meant I left this for you.
When I straightened up, Rhys was watching me with an intrigued smile on his face. In one hand he was carrying the tote and in the other he had my shoes.
‘Looks like Tasha isn’t the only Doctor Dolittle in the park today.’
I gave a half-embarrassed grin and reached out to relieve him of my belongings, but he just shook his head. ‘That’s okay. I’ll carry them. Unless you need these back, Shoe Girl,’ he said, his eyes going to my bare feet.
I shook my head, secretly loving the nonsense nickname he’d given me. Our footsteps fell naturally in sync as we walked towards the park cat and its newest number-one fan.
‘Do you think he has a home?’ Tasha asked Rhys wistfully as we approached.
‘I think he belongs to the lady who runs the café,’ I said gently, not wanting to disappoint Tasha, nor be part of a catnapping plot.
‘That’s good to know,’ Rhys said, dropping to a crouch to scratch the feline between his eyes.
I was going to have to look an awful lot harder to find some flaws in this man, because thus far I hadn’t stumbled across a single one.
‘I wish we could change Mummy’s mind about getting a cat. I could take my allergy pills every day.’
And there you have it. There’s the flaw, the fly in the ointment. This man has commitments and a partner who wants him back. He isn’t even remotely unattached. Why is it so hard to keep remembering that?
‘I wanted a cat too when I was your age,’ I said, joining them on the ground beside the loudly purring feline. ‘But I never got to own one.’
‘Why not?’ Tasha was now staring at me, as though sensing a kindred spirit.
‘My mum was allergic.’ Was that really true? It was a fact I’d never actually questioned until that moment.
‘Do you still live with your mum?’
I swallowed the lump of grief that threatened to lock my throat.
‘No, sweetheart, I don’t, not anymore.’
‘So why don’t you have a cat now?’
I’d had job interviews that hadn’t felt as probing. I think Rhys must have sensed my discomfort, for he ruffled his daughter’s hair. ‘Come on, you. That’s enough interrogating for one day. Let’s go and get that ice cream I promised you.’
We all got to our feet, but before I could make my excuses to leave, a small soft hand curled its way into mine.
‘Can Ellie come with us?’
I threw a surprised glance Rhys’s way. ‘Oh no, that’s fine. I don’t want to intrude—’
‘You wouldn’t be,’ Rhys replied. ‘If you can spare the time, we’d love you to join us.’
There were probably a great many excuses I could have made, should have made, but every single one escaped me as I stood there in the sunshine with Rhys and his daughter.
As we headed towards the park gates, Tasha tugged on my arm, bringing me down to her level and allowing her to whisper softly into my ear.
‘I’m sorry you never got a cat, Ellie.’
I’d thought my greatest challenge was going to be how not to fall in love with Rhys, but I realised in that moment that it might be just as hard not to fall for his daughter too.
There were smears of chocolate around her lips. They made me reach for a serviette in case I also wore traces of the most decadent ice cream I’d ever eaten. It had been big enough to feed a family of four, and I’d ended up admitting defeat long before the plate was even half cleared.
The ice cream parlour had only recently opened, and with its 1950s American décor and queue that snaked out of the door, it looked to be a huge success.
We were surrounded on every side by families seated at gingham cloth-covered tables.
I shifted a little on my milk churn stool, wondering if it was as apparent as it felt that I was an imposter here.
We might look like a family, but a beautiful blonde-haired woman was meant to be sitting in my place.
Tasha, with the determination of a pint-sized politician, had successfully managed to steer the conversation back to cats once again.
And somehow, before my dessert was gone, I found myself agreeing to only get a cat from a shelter, and if I needed help selecting one, she would happily accompany me.
Rhys waited until she had jumped down from her stool to visit the Ladies’ before saying quietly, ‘She likes you.’
His words ignited a warm glow inside me.
‘It’s one hundred per cent mutual. She’s a lovely little girl.’ I gave a small laugh. ‘And very persuasive.’
He smiled. ‘Don’t worry. I don’t think anything you’ve agreed to is legally binding. You don’t have to get a cat.’
I gave a small shrug. ‘I don’t know. Maybe I will. It’d be nice not to come home to an empty house all the time.’
I saw a dark cloud scud across his features and could have bitten my tongue for being so insensitive.
My home was empty out of choice. His was empty because his partner had left him for another man.
It was a fact I still found as astonishing as I had when he’d revealed it on the night of the last storm.
Fortunately, at that moment Tasha reappeared, changing the expression on her father’s face in a heartbeat.
The truth was glaringly obvious: Rhys wanted nothing more than to be able to see his daughter on a daily basis again.
And I’d be willing to bet that was exactly what Tasha wanted too.
The sweet taste of ice cream suddenly turned sour in my mouth.
I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t be allowing myself to become a potential obstacle, getting in the way of this family reuniting.
I should step away; that’s the advice I’d give anyone in this situation.
What I needed was some straight-talking guidance, and I knew exactly who I should ask.
The only problem was she wasn’t answering my calls.