their windfall with a luxury holiday during Joanna’s autumn term, but died together when their hired car swerved off a mountain road during a storm.
Kate broke then ewsto Jo. She drove down to the school, held the child in her arms while she cried her heart out, and in her capacity as official guardian arranged for Joanna to take time off after the funeral. When the service was over Kate took Jo to stay overnight with Robert’s elderly, grief-stricken parents,then on to Anna and Ben to recuperate. Their support was a great comfort while the child struggled to come to terms with her loss, and during their week’s stay Kate took Joanna to see the house in Park Crescent. The child fell in love with it and, after much discussion, the decision was made to move from London. Instead of selling Aunt Edith’s house they would live in it together,in the town where Joanna’s mother and aunt had grown up.
The Notting Hill flat had been expensive to buy but with the improvements Kate had made over the years proved profitable to sell. The proceeds were enough to renovate and furnish the house in Park Crescent, and leave enough over for a respectable nest egg to cushion Kate’s altered lifestyle. Joanna’s education had been provided for since her birth, and her inheritance from her parents, along with the proceeds from the sale of their house, was carefully invested to provide for the future. Kate was determined to make life as happy and secure for the child as humanly possible.
Kate finished a tin of paint with a feeling of satisfaction for a job well done and called it a day. She soaked in scented hot water later with a heartfelt sigh of pleasure. Another wall had been painted and she’d taken it in her stride when Jack Logan drove off instead of calling in to see her. Her shrug rippled the water. No point in getting uptight. Casual sightings could be a fact of life from now on. She could run into Jack anywhere and any time. It was not a problem.
Anna rang later while Kate was getting dressed. ‘Hi. How’s it going?’
Kate reported on her painting progress, but Anna brushed that aside.
‘How are you, really?’
‘A bit tired, but I’ve had a long, lazy bath—’
‘I meant after meeting the old flame!’
‘Fine. Why shouldn’t I be?’
‘Not even a little bit singed round the edges?’
‘Not in the slightest.’
‘Thank goodness,’ said Anna, relieved. ‘Sleep well.’
Kate dried her hair, left it loose on her shoulders and took some coffee upstairs to the study at present doubling as both workplace and sitting room until her decorating was finished. She drew the curtains, switched on lamps and, with a sigh of satisfaction, curled up in the armchair to read the rest of the Sunday papers before supper. She frowned in surprise when the doorbell rang shortly afterwards. She got up to peer down from the window and saw a long, sleek car parked at the kerb and an all too familiar male figure standing under her exterior light. She went downstairs, fixed a polite smile on her face and opened the door to Jack Logan.
Her visitor loomed tall on her doorstep, looking very different from the night before in a battered leather windbreaker and jeans. He smiled, raking a hand through hair ruffled by the wind blowing along the street from the lake. ‘Hello, Kate. I took a chance on finding you at home. May I come in?’
‘Of course.’ She led him along the hall to the kitchen and pulled out one of the kitchen chairs. ‘Nowhere else to receive visitors yet, I’m afraid. Would you like coffee, or a drink?’
‘Coffee would be good. Thank you.’ Jack leaned against the counter, his eyes on the fall of burnished hair as he watched Kate get to work. ‘I went for a run in the park with the dog this morning, intending to call on you afterwards, but Bran and I were so wet I decided against it.’
This information won him a warmer smile. ‘Have you had the dog long?’
‘Five years.’ Jack slung his jacket on the back of a chair. ‘He’s a black retriever—great company. When I’m not around, Dad takes care of him.’
‘How is your father?’ Kate made the coffee, set the pot and a pair of mugs on the table and fetched sugar and milk, glad of homely occupation while she adjusted to Jack Logan’s dominant presence in her kitchen.