Matilda Next Door - Kelly Hunter Page 0,53

largely by his absence.’

Tilly had no comeback, no argument against her mother’s words.

There was no more room in the vase for more flowers, although the bench still lay scattered with them. ‘You need another vase.’

Wordlessly, her mother fetched one from the cupboard. ‘On the rare occasions Henry has graced us with his presence,’ she started in again, ‘I’ve seen a reserved, buttoned-up man come and go with barely a ripple and no concern at all for the plight of the grandparents who took him in.’

‘They’re proud people. They never asked him for help. It’s only lately that they’ve needed so much help. And he’s giving it unstintingly now. He set Joe up in a furnished apartment near the hospital. He came back here to see to the farm. He’s got Joe talking about putting on a farm manager as a way of doing what needs to be done. Henry will cover the cost initially. He’s planning to base his work here. How is that not helping them?’

Her mother acknowledged Tilly’s arguments with a nod and allowed them to stand.

‘And he’s not that buttoned up. He was here the other night, totally frazzled and begging for assistance. You made fun of him, remember? And did he react like a man too caught up in his aloofness to roll with it? No, he did not.’

‘I’ll admit, he’s much better with the baby than I thought he’d be.’ Thank heaven for her mother’s inherent fairness. ‘Has Henry ever mentioned his childhood to you? Before he arrived here?’

‘Does it matter?’ Because the answer was no.

‘I know from Beth that he had an early childhood I wouldn’t wish on the devil himself. And then he came to Red Hill, and Beth couldn’t seem to see past the ghost of her daughter.’

‘All the more reason to be proud of the man he’s become.’

‘He kept his distance from them.’

‘For good reason, don’t you think? Yes, he struggles to be as open as he could be. But he does it from a place of self-sufficiency and resilience. No burdening other people with his misery—wonder if he gets that from his early childhood years too? And, okay, so he has to be asked to share what’s going on with him. He doesn’t do it automatically. Good thing I like to press and wedge myself in there with my silly questions and half-baked opinions, isn’t it? Good thing my knowledge of how to love and nurture a person is better than his, although for what it’s worth I think he’s going to be brilliant at it once he really gets going.’

‘You’re putting up a solid defence of him.’ Her mother tried a tentative smile. ‘It’s impressive.’

‘He has the purest heart of anyone I know. There’s no malice in it. It’s just guarded. He’s a gift. A gift for me.’

‘I hope so.’

Do you trust me with your happiness? he’d asked before leaving for London.

Belief was a gift too, and Tilly Moore believed in Henry Church. ‘I know so.’

*

The private investigator Henry hired was a good one. Within two days Henry had enough information to call Amanda’s solicitors and have them set up a meeting with the other party. He was currently sitting in a ludicrously expensive solicitor’s mediation room opposite a big bald, blue-eyed man called David Gayle, who readily admitted that he’d been in a relationship with Amanda that she had ended for no clear reason. He’d figured she was pregnant there towards the end of their time together. She’d said she had something to tell him. He’d been relieved when it turned out that all she wanted to say was that she didn’t think they belonged together.

The man’s gaze skipped to Rowan, who slept quietly in the pram in the corner—oblivious to the tensions playing out around her.

‘Look,’ the big man said. ‘I’m sorry Amanda’s dead. She was a fine woman and she’s gone way too soon, but even if the date of conception of that baby does match up with when I was in Amanda’s bed, you can’t prove she’s mine without a DNA test and I’m not taking one. I came here today out of courtesy, that’s all, because your solicitor assured me it was just paperwork. This ain’t my circus. I’ve no claim on the kid.’

There were a lot of things Henry could say to that. I know it’s a lot to take in, so why don’t you think on it for a while being one of them.

You might change your mind one of these days.

You