dropped them into her bag? Fear twisting inside her, she tried hard to think back. She’d been so distracted, as she had been the last time. She’d been shopping for Josh then, for his birthday, needing to distract herself. She’d walked out with one of the leather bags on her arm with her own. She could see how she’d done that. But this? She still couldn’t imagine taking the straighteners, even unconsciously.
Adam didn’t mention it, the ‘previous incident’, as the solicitor had referred to it, falling silent instead.
‘I didn’t realise you’d changed your name,’ he said eventually. ‘The maiden name on the paperwork, it wasn’t Tyler.’
Cassie’s stomach lurched. ‘No.’ She thought fast. ‘I wanted something zappier. Professionally, I mean. Smith was hardly that, so I changed it to Tyler.’
Adam drew in a breath, nodded tersely.
‘And then you came along and saved me. Cassie Colby is certainly zappy, you have to admit.’ She laughed, a strangled, desperate sound.
Adam said nothing. Kept his gaze fixed forward.
Cassie looked at him. He would have cracked a joke once, said At your service or something. But his shoulders were stiff, his jaw taut. He wouldn’t save her now. He didn’t believe her.
She watched him take a hand from the wheel and knead his forehead, heard his sigh. He would be wondering who could have put the stolen item into her bag. Why anyone would want to. And Cassie had no answer to give him. It could only have been the woman who was texting her, but to tell him that, she would have to tell him everything. And she couldn’t bear to imagine what she would see in his eyes then.
Eighteen
Kimberley
‘Hi.’ Kim smiled tentatively when Adam pulled his front door open. Looking him over, she was shocked. He looked dreadful, as if he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. He probably felt that he was. Kim’s heart went out to him. He’d done nothing to deserve any of the awful things that were happening in his life. The poor man must wonder what had hit him.
‘I’ve been shopping,’ she said, realising it was probably best not to probe. He didn’t know her that well, after all, and men didn’t easily share what was troubling them. Her mind went back to Josh, his evasive answers when she’d asked him what was wrong. She’d known he was hurting because of other people. He and Adam might not have been blood relations, but they were so similar in nature, easy-going and caring, they could have been father and son.
‘I thought I’d pop by and show you,’ she went on as he gazed at her distractedly.
Adam took a second to answer. Then, ‘Sorry, Kim.’ He shook his head and mustered up a smile. ‘Miles away.’
‘I gathered. Anything I can help with?’ Kim asked as he stepped out to help her with the pushchair.
‘Not really. A few problems, that’s all. I’m sure it will all sort itself out.’
Kim nodded, though she doubted it would without a little intervention. In her experience, if you wanted a problem solved, then you had to be proactive, as she was. ‘I’ve probably splurged a bit more than I should,’ she chatted on as he closed the door behind her. ‘I couldn’t resist, though. You’ll see why when I show you.’
‘Weren’t you meeting up with Cassie today?’ Adam asked, his brow creasing into a frown as he helped her unhook her bags from the handles of the pushchair.
‘I was,’ Kim said, ‘but Samuel had a touch of the sniffles, so I rang her and postponed. The nurse said it was nothing to worry about when I popped into the surgery, though, so I went on to the shops afterwards.’
‘Ah.’ Adam nodded. ‘And is he all right now?’ He looked concerned for the baby. He really was a caring man.
‘Bright as a button, as you can see,’ Kim assured him as, after glancing at her to check it was okay, he bent to lift Samuel out. Handling him carefully, he nestled him in the crook of his arm, a smile lighting his eyes as he gazed down at him. Kim reflected again on what a good father he would have been and how much he must have given up for Cassie’s sake. She wondered whether Cassie appreciated it. Appreciated him. Because looking at him now, seeing the quiet longing in his eyes, it was obvious he had wanted children of his own, dearly. He was possibly still mourning the baby he’d lost,