She flung open the back door and started to push objects across the seat to make room for Dominic.
‘He’ll have to sit on his booster seat, but I’ll move the seat right forward,’ Emma told him.
Guy adjusted his stance, leaning in slowly to set Dominic down. The boy tensed his body as he met the seat. Guy removed his arms from underneath him and stepped back. Dominic looked pale but that wasn’t so unusual when you’d had a shock. Guy reached forward, his fingers making contact with Dominic’s dark hair.
‘Thank you for your help,’ Emma interrupted. ‘We’d better go.’
*
Her words stung. He was being dismissed. She’d partially closed the door, stopping him from any further words or contact. This could not be. He would not let this be.
‘We must talk,’ he stated.
She shut Dominic’s door, avoided eye contact. She had almost turned her head away completely.
‘I have to get Dominic to the hospital.’
‘Emma…please…tell me.’ He reached out for her, his fingers gently grazing the skin of her forearm.
‘I have nothing to say,’ she stuttered.
‘He is my son. Isn’t he?’ He couldn’t help himself. He couldn’t skirt around the issue anymore. He thought he knew but he needed to hear it from her lips. He wanted to hear her say the words, tell him what he longed to know.
‘No, Guy. He’s not.’
*
She saw him rock on his heels as the two-letter word hit him like a lethal dart. The light went out of his eyes, his shoulders fell and his hands sank to his sides. She swallowed. She shouldn’t have been so blunt. She shouldn’t have been deliberately cruel. Had she been deliberately cruel?
And then in a matter of seconds, his demeanour altered. He lifted his head, jutted out his chin and met her eyes with his. He took a long breath and she watched his chest swell.
‘I do not believe you.’
The way he said the words burned her. He was angry. His teeth were pressed tightly together, that full mouth stretched into a furious, thin line of discontent. The dark eyelashes were hanging over his eyes, questioning and accusing.
His expression and the aura of resentment he was giving off was hurting her. She felt sick. She couldn’t bear it.
‘I need to go.’
She did need to go but whether it was for Dominic’s benefit or her own was up for debate.
‘We will talk, Emma. We need to talk,’ he said.
She closed her ears to it, shut off her mind. She tried to concentrate on the matter at hand which was getting into the car and getting away. She couldn’t go back there. She wouldn’t let him remind her of that time.
She leapt into the driver’s seat and closed the door on him. Her breathing came out in short, rapid pants. Her hands shook as she sought the ignition.
He placed his palm flat against the window. She jumped where she sat.
‘Please, Emma,’ he called from outside.
She turned her head, let herself connect to those pools of green, looking at her with such emotion. She couldn’t look away. But she had to. With a trembling hand she started the engine. He withdrew his hand and she pulled the car away.
Chapter Fourteen
The rest of the morning blurred. He wasn’t really present at the remainder of the training session. His mouth was working, giving out instructions and praise in equal measure. His body too was there, showing his pupils how to perform football skills. But his mind… Thoughts of Dominic moved around his head like a carriage on a Ferris wheel. Up and around, down, shaking and unstable.
He couldn’t believe what Emma said. He had to be Dominic’s father. He just had to be. If he wasn’t, if she had been that close to someone else, it changed everything. It would tear up the precious memories. It would demolish all the feelings he clung to in his darkest moments. She’d whispered things to him; let him in on her innermost fears. Her grief, her jealousy, and all her insecurities. Or so he’d thought.
He sucked down some water as the parents began to arrive to collect their children. Ally had come in with the clipboard and was ensuring no one left without being marked off. He looked at his watch. He should head home. Tonight was an important function for Finnerham. There was a charity auction he was going to be paraded at. But he couldn’t go without knowing about Dominic. Not only if