by Julia Bell
“Let them come tomorrow. I’ll be fine having visitors.”
“Are you sure? You only had him today.”
Anna nodded. “It’ll be my birthday and I’d love to see them.” Jason’s shocked face was a picture and she couldn’t help grinning.
He gasped in surprise. “Your…Your birthday!”
“First of September. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten?”
“I have…I did…!” he stammered.
She looked away in haughty disdain. “You didn’t forget last year when you bought me the car.”
His guilty look made her giggle. “Sweetheart, I’m so sorry. With everything that’s happened it went completely out of my head. But I’ll make it up to you, I promise. Tell me what you’d like, I’ll get you anything you want.”
She turned her head back and smiled. “I want you and the twins and Thomas. You said it yourself. Nothing you have means a thing if you don’t have your family.”
He nodded and lifted up the coin round her neck. “I ought to have learnt by now that you value the meaning of life rather than its possessions.
She eased the baby from her and after fastening her nightgown, turned him round so that she could see his tiny face. “Did you hear that, Thomas?” she said tenderly. “It looks like your daddy now understands where true happiness really lies.” She was answered with a soft burp.
Nigel and Sophia coming to say goodbye interrupted them. But their departure was delayed for another thirty minutes as they spent extra time with the new arrival.
“It makes you quite broody,” said Nigel, holding the baby in his arms.
His wife pulled a face. “You can stop that! I think three is enough!” She took the baby from him and handed him back to his mother.
“We did talk of five when we married,” Nigel insisted.
“Well, you can have the other two!” she said, pushing him out of the door.
Dave drove his car within a mile of the farm and walked the rest of the way. When he reached the low-lying buildings he could see the farmer feeding the pigs. Mr Durrant turned when he heard the footsteps in the yard. He studied the young man walking towards him. He was smartly dressed and his manner was brisk as if he was on an urgent mission. Under his arm he carried a hard hat, the kind a builder or engineer would wear.
The farmer returned his smile. “What can I do for you?”
“Could you tell me the way to the Grange?” He grimaced. “My car broke down about a mile away. I have an appointment with a…” He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. “A Mrs Margaret Harrington. I’m a structural engineer and she wants me to look at the foundations of the house.” He took out his identification badge and waved it in front of the old man’s face, smiling smugly as the farmer scratched his head.
“You’ve got a goodly way to walk, young sir. It’s over three miles to the Grange.”
Dave gave an exaggerated groan. “Oh, dear! I need to get there quickly. I’ve another job on this afternoon.”
The farmer thought for a moment. “I’m going up there in about ten minutes, to deliver some milk and eggs to the cook. I could give you a lift.”
Dave climbed into the Landrover keeping up a lively conversation, until the Elizabethan manor came into view and the farmer parked at the side of the house adjacent to the kitchen.
“If you go through the door and up the stairs you’ll come to the main hall. I’m sure you’ll find someone about to help you.”
Dave nodded and disappeared through the kitchen, thankful that there was nobody about. There wasn’t anyone in the hall either although he could hear a murmur of voices from a room leading off the hall. He climbed the stairs, the sound of a baby crying directing his attention to a half-open door just along the corridor.
He stood on the threshold, peering in but keeping back so he wouldn’t be seen. He could see Anna walking towards the basket on a stand. She was still in her dressing gown and as she picked up the small bundle and carried it to the armchair, he grinned.
Without making a sound, he entered the room and came to her side. She looked up smiling expectantly, but then her smile vanished and she opened her mouth to scream.
“Shh!” he said, putting a finger to his lips. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
Anna felt faint. She hadn’t expected to see him again, not when everyone was on the lookout for him. How had he got in? Jason had been with her only minutes before, but she had sent him downstairs to have coffee with Margaret and wait for Hollie and Martyn to arrive with Ben and Mrs Wilby. They would be here in a matter of moments.
Anna steadied her breathing. “Why have you come back? Jason has agreed to have the test. Why can’t you wait for the result?”
“I wanted to see my son.”
“That remains to be seen.” She held the baby close to her. “There’s people coming in a minute. Coming to see the baby and me. You’d better go while you have the chance.”
“May I hold him?”
“No!”
“I’ll be gentle with him.”
“Please go away.”
His eyes turned hard. “I mean to have access to him if he’s mine.”
“Then go back to Wakefield and wait.”
He looked around the room. “It’s a great place this. Centuries old. Must be worth a fortune.”
“It’s been in the family a long time.”
He nodded in appreciation. “Of course, there might be no necessity for that DNA test.”
“What do you mean?”
“If Harrington could make it worth my while, then I’ll go away and never come near the boy.”
Anna felt appalled. “Do you mean give you money? Are you talking about him buying you off? That’s despicable!”
He shrugged. “He’s loaded. Can’t think he’ll miss a million.”
“A million pounds? Are you joking?”
He turned to face her and she could see he wasn’t. “Seems a reasonable amount.”
Anna thought rapidly. “But if Jason has the test and he’s the father, then that’s the problem solved. He wouldn’t have to pay you anything because the baby would be his.”
“I’m talking about dispensing with the test. It would be a business transaction. He would understand that.”
Anna held the baby closer to her. “No! No!” She wondered if she could make for the door. But with the baby in her arms, she felt vulnerable. And she couldn’t leave him in his basket while she went for help.
“Well, it’s the test, then. May the best man win.” She watched him walking towards the door, but suddenly he turned and winked at her. “By the way. Happy birthday.”
After he was gone there was deathly quiet for a few minutes before she heard angry voices down in the hall and knew that Jason and her ex-husband had come face to face once more.
Fran appeared at the door. “Are you OK, miss? Master sent me to check on you.”
Anna stood. “I’m fine, but there’s something you have to do for me. And you must do it exactly as I say.”
Anna carried her child out of the room and along the corridor to the top of the stairs. Looking down into the vast hall she could see Dave leaning against the banister, wearing a smug smile. Jason was shouting and Margaret held her son by the arm preventing him from hitting out. Slowly, she walked down the stairs and it was when she reached halfway, that Jason broke his hold from his mother and lunged forward to grab Dave by his jacket.
“No, stop!” Anna’s voice echoed round the walls and the two men suspended their actions, staring upwards at the figure holding the baby in her arms.
She continued her descent until she reached the marble floor. She glanced at Jason and then at her ex-husband. And then undaunted, she stepped forward and placed the baby in Dave’s arms.
Jason gave a muted cry with shock and Margaret murmured something inaudible under her breath. Fran appeared and hurried downstairs carrying the Moses basket and a large bag of baby clothes. She gave Anna a quick look and then placed t
hem at the feet of the stunned man holding the child.
Dave frowned. “What’s all this! What kind of game are you playing now?”
“No game, I’m deadly serious. He’s all yours so you don’t have to bother applying for access. I’m not going to fight you any more. You can have all his things. I’ve started feeding him myself, so you’ll have to buy bottles and milk from a supermarket.”
Jason groaned as if in pain. “Oh God, someone please tell me this isn’t happening.”
Margaret held him by the wrist. “Wait,” she whispered.
Dave and Anna stared at one another and suddenly strength surged through Anna’s body like an electric charge. Fate had brought her this far and for good or ill she had to let fate decide the next step. She had to have faith and finish this once and for all.
Suddenly, the baby opened his eyes and Dave’s expression changed to one of complete surprise as he stared down at the child in his arms. For Anna, an eternity seemed to pass.
And then her ex-husband gave a lopsided grin. “There’s no doubt who fathered him. I don’t think a DNA test is necessary.” He crossed the floor and placed the baby in his mother’s arms and then took a step back, studying her. “Pam would be livid if I brought home a new baby for her to care for,” he said, laughing with amusement.
Jason’s expression showed utter contempt.
John appeared from the kitchen stairs followed by a figure that was red-faced and panting painfully.
The flustered farmer gasped for air. “Oh, I’m sorry, sir. I really am. I had no idea!”
“Is everything OK, Mrs Harrington?” asked John, as he scrutinised everyone standing in the hall.
Margaret stepped forward. “Yes, John. Everything is fine, but this gentleman needs to be shown off the premises once more.”
John clicked his tongue. “You’re like a bad penny, you are.”
Dave could only smirk at the absurdity of the situation. He turned to the farmer. “You couldn’t give me a lift to my car, could you?”
Mr Durrant nodded. “Aye, but no funny business.”
“And I’ll go with you and make sure you leave this time,” said John.
The three of them turned to descend the steps to the kitchen.
Jason came to Anna’s side and put his arm round her shoulders. “You’ve just taken ten years off my life!”
“That was an incredibly brave thing to do, to call his bluff,” said Margaret softly. “I doubt I would have had that kind of courage.” She followed John, determined to see their unwanted visitor gone from her property.
Fran had remained close by, her hand over her mouth. “Shall I take the clothes back upstairs, miss?”
Anna nodded.
Jason picked up the Moses basket and they went into the parlour. Anna lay the baby down and carefully tucked a blanket round him. She made herself comfortable on the couch.
Jason sat beside her. “What made you do that? He might have taken him!”
Anna smiled and shook her head. “I knew that once he saw Thomas and how like you he was, then he would change his mind.”
He blinked hard at the horror of it all. “Well, I hope he’s gone for good.”
“Oh, I’m sure he has. He’ll not bother us again.” She paused slightly before adding, “Please don’t ever tell the twins what happened at Christmas between their dad and me. Or what happened today.”
“Now, this is a secret I understand.”
She nodded. “It’s bad enough that they know he was unfaithful to me, never mind the other. Despite the way he is, they love him and I don’t want to set them against him.”
Jason took her hand and kissed her fingers. “You have a good heart.” And then he smiled mistily at the sleeping child. “I can’t believe he’s finally here and he’s really mine.”
She put her arms round his neck. “He’s ours.”
He held her face between his hands and kissed her lips tenderly.
Suddenly there was disruption in the hall as their visitors burst in.
“Where is he?” yelled Hollie, dragging Martyn by the hand. “Where’s our little brother?”
THE END
ALSO BY JULIA BELL
A Pearl Comb for a Lady
Songbird
Preview of A Pearl Comb for a Lady:
This story is a romance through time. Christabel is feisty with an overactive imagination. Aged 18 and living during the Battle of Waterloo, she is in love with a soldier who only wants to use her to advance his military career. Victoria, 25, living in the mid-nineteenth century is sweet- natured but haunted by the loss of her child. Finally there is Jenny, 35, a 21st Century career woman who is unable to sacrifice her pride and forgive the man she loves.
The pearl comb weaves its way through the centuries as though trying to find its true owner. And although these three women come into possession of the pearl comb, only one will wear it at her wedding.
Preview of Songbird:
Isabelle Asquith has only one ambition in life and that is to become an opera singer. To do this she must attend The Royal Academy of Music in London and become classically trained. Isabelle is a widow and has a young son to support and the fees for the academy are beyond her means as a music teacher. Her only recourse is to apply for the annual scholarship.
In the summer of 1885 after losing the scholarship for a second time and eager to earn more money, she decides to answer an advertisement. This simple act and the meeting of a mysterious man called ‘Karl’ will change her life forever. In the coming years, Isabelle is destined to discover not only her true potential, but also the lengths she is willing to go to realise her ambition.
******
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
Dear Reader,
Thank you so much for choosing to read Deceit of Angels. I love writing but having my books read makes them come alive. Until they are read, the characters are only in my imagination and they need to live and be enjoyed. So, I hope you enjoy reading all my novels and you’re able to spare a little time in telling me about it.
You can do this via email or by leaving a review on Amazon and progress can be followed on Twitter using @JuliaBellRF or via email on [email protected]
Julia Bell