‘Not as far as I know. Caroline’s a journalist and her sole passion is her job.’
‘She might be finding it isn’t enough by now. Have you asked her?’
‘No.’ His eyes hardened again. ‘I refuse to go crawling. It’s up to her to make the first move.’
Kate shook her head impatiently. ‘Oh, come on! Forget all that macho nonsense. If you want her, make the first move yourself.’
Richard’s jaw clenched, and for a moment Kate was afraid he was going to tell her to shut up and mind her own business. But even tually a wry smile dawned in his eyes and she breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Maybe you’re right, Kate, ’he said at last. ‘I’ll go down to the flat on Sunday.’
‘Why leave it until then? Go tomorrow.’
‘She works on Saturdays.’ His mouth twisted. ‘The sky would fall in if Caroline knocked off before her beloved newspaper’s ready for Sunday breakfast tables.’
‘Insist that she does.’
‘Carry her out over my shoulder?’ he said, laughing, suddenly a different man from the wary lawyer of minutes earlier.
‘Why not?’
‘Why not, indeed!’ Richard drained his glass and got up. ‘OK, I’ll give it a whirl. Have you ever considered a career in Relate?’ he added.
She grimaced. ‘Absolutely not. This is my first—and last—venture into marriage counselling!’
He shook her hand formally as she saw him to the door. ‘Shall I let you know what happens?’
‘Yes, please. Good luck!’
Kate waved him off, then rang Jack.
‘What the blazes was all that about?’ he demanded.
‘Where are you?’
‘I’m with Dad.’
‘Can you come round for a minute?’
‘You just threw me out.’
‘If you want to know why, come back. Or not,’ she added crossly. ‘Up to you, Jack.’
‘It had better be good,’ he said ominously.
This time when Kate threw open the door Jack just stood there, waiting, tall and formidable and very much the head of Logan Development in a dark suit and long dark overcoat. ‘Don’t just stand there,’ she said irritably. ‘Come in.’
‘If you’re quite sure I’m not interrupting something,’ he said with sarcasm.
‘Oh, don’t be difficult, Jack. Do you want a drink?’ Kate turned her back on him and went along the hall to the kitchen.
Jack closed the door behind him and followed her. ‘Have you got a beer?’
‘Yes.’ She handed him a can and fetched a glass. ‘I’ve also got half a tonic waiting in the sitting room, so let’s go in there.’
‘You mean I’d better be sitting comfortably when you tell me what’s up? I saw Forster arrive as I took off just now,’ he added.
Kate threw him an exasperated look as they went back to the other room. She drew the curtains and switched on lamps and resumed her chair. Jack slung his coat on the end of the chaise and leaned back against the curved support, looking far more at ease than her previous visitor.
‘Richard asked me out on Saturday night, Jack.’
‘No surprise there.’ He shot her a look. ‘I hope you told him you were otherwise engaged.’
‘Of course I did,’ she said impatiently, and drank some tonic. ‘But I suggested he came round on his way home so I could talk to him face to face.’
Jack leaned forward, his eyes suddenly intent. ‘Why?’
‘Richard had to be told that a relationship with me was never going to happen.’
The eyes narrowed. ‘Anything to do with me?’
She shook her head. ‘No, Jack, nothing at all. There’s just no place in my life for any relationship of that kind right now, with you, Richard or anyone else. But that’s irrelevant any way, because he’s still in love with his wife.’
Jack sat back, eyebrows raised, and drank some of his beer. ‘Did he admit that?’
‘Eventually, yes. At first he went all tight-lipped and said it was up to her to make the first move. But in the end he changed his mind and he’s off to London tomorrow to make the move himself.’
‘Because you told him to?’
‘Because I advised him,’ she corrected. ‘He’s a lawyer, remember.’
Jack raised an eyebrow. ‘What happens if she shuts the door in his face? Will he come rushing back to cry on your shoulder?’
‘If he does, all he’ll get is sympathy. The situation remains unchanged.’
‘The situation being?’
‘That Joanna takes precedence over everything else in my life right now.’
Jack’s mood changed abruptly. ‘Of course. How is she, Kate? You said she enjoyed her time with you last weekend.’
‘She seems to be coping remarkably well.’
He eyed her searchingly. ‘But what happens at night, after lights out in her