I haven’t even met her yet, but I don’t relish telling my daughter I was such a foo lover Dawn.’
‘Then don’t,’ said Kate firmly. ‘We’ll play it my way, and give Jo the abridged version.’
‘Thank you, darling. I’ve never thought of myself as a coward until now. But then,’ he added, ‘I didn’t know I was a father until now, either.’
When they got to Mill House they went for a walk in the gardens with the dog before dinner, arms around each other like teenagers as they circled the millpond. Afterwards Jack went up for a shower while Kate sat in front of the fire in the living room with Bran to wait for him, her eyes thoughtful as she gazed into the flames.
‘What at you thinking about?’ asked Jack, as he joined her.
‘Would you mind if we told Joanna our story here?’ Kate curled up against him. ‘No matter how she takes it, she still has to live with me afterwards, so I’d rather we didn’t have the showdown in Park Crescent.’
‘You’d rather my house was ruined for her than yours,’ said Jack ruefully.
She nodded. ‘I tend to think in worst scenario terms.’
‘In which you’ve had some experience,’ he said grimly.
‘So have you. But let’s not spoil our evening by worrying about it. What did Molly leave us for dinner?’
By mutual consent there was no more talk of the coming confession. Instead Kate told Jack everything she could about his daughter as they enjoyed fillet of lamb cooked with garlic, thyme and cannelloni beans. They spent an hour in front of the fire afterwards and then took Bran out for a walk, but when they’d settled him down for the night Jack took Kate’s hand and led her straight upstairs.
‘I’ve got some lonely nights in front of me, so let’s go to bed,’ he said firmly, and she rubbed her face against his sleeve.
‘Yes, please!’
Jack drove Kate home early the following morning and kissed her goodbye with tension she felt as keenly as he did.
‘I’ll leave you in peace with Joanna tonight,’ he said, holding her tightly.
‘Come to supper tomorrow, then,’ said Kate.
‘I’ve got a board meeting that day,’ he said wryly. ‘It’s going to be hard to keep my mind on the job, when all I can think of is meeting my daughter for the first time.’
CHAPTER TWELVE
‘ITWAS lovely to see Grandma and Grandpa,’ said Joanna, on the journey from Worcester, ‘but I’m glad to be going home. I missed you, Kate.’
‘I missed you, too.’
‘What did you do while I was away?’
‘I worked, as usual, and I had dinner with Jack Logan—’
‘The old friend with the great dog,’ said Jo promptly, and slanted a cheeky grin at her. ‘Did you have a nice time?’
‘Very nice, thank you,’ said Kate primly. ‘I thought you might like to meet him too, so I asked him to supper tomorrow. We’ll stop in town on the way home and buy some food.’
‘Is he bringing Bran with him?’
‘No. But if you play your cards right Jack might ask you round to his place to play with Bran in the garden there. It’s huge, with a millpond.’
‘Is he rich then?’
‘He’s well off, certainly, but only because he’s worked very hard to achieve it.’
‘Will I like him?’
‘I don’t know. I hope so, Jo, because I like him a lot.’
‘Then I expect I will, too.’
‘I’m glad we’ve got a guest for supper,’ said Jo the next day, as she took a tray of cupcakes out of the oven. ‘It takes my mind off the party.’ She smiled sheepishly. ‘I keep thinking about it all the time.’
Praying that the party would live up to her expectations, Kate handed her the icing sugar. ‘How are you going to decorate the cakes?’
Jo eyed them with satisfaction. ‘I thought white icing with a chocolate mini Easter egg to finish them off. They came out well, didn’t they? I hope Mr Logan likes cake.’
‘He’ll love those,’ said Kate with absolute certainty. ‘But I think you’d better call him Jack, to avoid confusion with his father.’
As seven-thirty approached Kate wondered if Jack was in an equal state of tension. To avoid formality they were eating in the kitchen and the dress code was jeans and sweaters. Blissfully unaware of the emotion almost choking Kate, Jo laid the small kitchen table with a checked cloth, put red candles on white saucers, and then went into the sitting room to set out nuts and savoury biscuits. Kate did some deep breathing exercises, checked on