One Husband Required!

by Sharon Kendrick

  ‘Sure. Katy likes you—and there’s no one better in a crisis. Plus, you once told me that you can cook,’ he added flippantly.

  She knew for a fact that he could, too—but she suspected that she wasn’t being asked to accompany him for her culinary talents. Right now, her boss needed company. And help. Practical, female assistance.

  ‘Of course I’ll come,’ she told him quietly.

  ‘Then let’s go!’ he gritted, and strode out of the office.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  ALTHOUGH it was only just past four in the afternoon, the traffic was already beginning to build up—but then it was a hot Friday in July, and everyone except the tourists was rushing to get out of the middle of the city.

  Ross and Ursula took a taxi all the way to North London, and it was getting on for five when the black cab slid to a halt in front of the large Victorian house which had been converted into a school.

  A blind at one of the downstairs windows moved fractionally as the cab braked, and Ursula paid the driver while Ross leapt out of the car. She stuffed a couple of notes into the man’s hand and then followed her boss inside, where the school secretary was waiting to meet them, her features compressed into a look of disapproval.

  ‘Hello, Mr Sheridan,’ she said primly.

  ‘Where’s my daughter?’ he demanded immediately.

  ‘She’s in with the Head at the moment. She’s—’

  ‘Is she upset?’

  The secretary looked hesitant. ‘Not what I’d call upset. Obviously, she’s a little worried—’

  ‘Maybe that’s because you adopted such a melodramatic attitude on the telephone!’ suggested Ross, his dark brows winging upwards. ‘Talking about Jane “disappearing” like that! I’m sure that there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for this.’

  But his voice lacked its usual breezy conviction, and Ursula laid a gentle hand on his forearm. It wouldn’t really help matters now if Ross started losing his temper. He needed Katy’s school on his side—not against him. ‘Please can we see Katy now?’ she asked politely.

  The school secretary looked Ursula up and down, clearly trying to place her in this whole scheme of things. Ursula could see the woman’s genuine confusion—she certainly didn’t look glamorous enough to be cast in the role of Ross’s mistress, which, judging from the expression on the secretary’s face, had been what she had been expecting!

  ‘What—both of you?’ the secretary asked.

  Ursula shook her head. ‘No. I’ll wait here while you talk to Katy, Ross.’

  ‘But I want you to come,’ he argued stubbornly.

  The secretary’s mouth grew even thinner, and Ursula knew that her presence would only complicate matters. ‘No. I’ll wait for you here,’ she repeated firmly.

  He was gone for a little under fifteen minutes, and when he returned with a white-faced Katy at his side he looked mulish, and so did Katy, but neither of them said anything more than their rather stilted goodbyes until they were all outside again in the blistering July heat.

  ‘Hello, Katy,’ said Ursula softly.

  Katy was studying her brown school sandals intently. ‘’Lo,’ she said, without looking up.

  Over her bent head Ursula looked at Ross and almost recoiled from the anger which was splintering from his dark eyes. But she was damned if she was going to wait to ask him any questions. Katy looked mixed up enough as it was. If they started clothing the whole situation in secrecy to spare her feelings then her childish imaginings would probably prove to be a whole lot worse than the truth itself.

  Ursula found herself wondering just what the truth actually was. ‘Any clues about where Jane’s gone?’ she asked bluntly.

  ‘I don’t think we need discuss that right now, do you?’ came Ross’s rather repressive reply.

  Ursula ignored him, and bent down so that she was looking directly into Katy’s eyes. ‘When did you last see Mummy?’

  Katy frowned as she tried to remember. ‘Yesterday morning.’

  ‘And did she say anything to you?’

  ‘Like what?’ asked Katy in bewilderment. ‘She asked me what kind of cereal I wanted—the usual stuff.’

  ‘And did she say anything about not coming to collect you from school this afternoon?’ Ursula asked gently.

  ‘The headmistress has already been through a hard-hitting interrogation,’ said Ross caustically. ‘And apparently has drawn a blank. She said that Katy wasn’t very co-operative.’

  But Ursula narrowed her deep blue eyes at him to warn him into silence. ‘Then the headmistress clearly knows nothing!’ she said briskly, and was rewarded with a small smile from the ten-year-old. ‘Now, Katy—think back. Was there anything which made yesterday morning different from any other?’

  Katy thought for a bit, then shrugged. ‘I don’t think so.’ She thought for a moment again. ‘Mummy was tired and grumbling a lot. She said she didn’t know why Daddy couldn’t have taken me into school and let her have a lie-in.’

  ‘I just kind of assumed that she would want to take you herself,’ said Ross evenly. ‘As she hasn’t done the school run much lately.’

  Ursula could see that he was fighting like mad to control his temper. And she didn’t blame him. ‘Anything else, Katy?’ she coaxed.

  Katy shook her head and bit down on her lip, and when she looked up at Ursula her eyes were swimming with tears. ‘Just...just Julian,’ she gulped eventually.

  Ross stilled. ‘What do you mean—just Julian?’

  ‘We had to pick up Julian on the way to school—’

  ‘What—you went over to Maida Vale?’ queried Ross incredulously. ‘At that time in the morning?’

  Katy shook her head. ‘He wasn’t at his flat—he was staying in a hotel near our house.’

  ‘Oh, was he?’ asked Ross grimly. ‘And why should that be, I wonder? Did Mummy say?’

  ‘Ross, let’s go home now,’ said Ursula urgently, because she was afraid that he was going to say far too much in front of his daughter. At this stage nothing was certain, and presumptions about why Julian had been staying so close to the house would serve no purpose whatsoever. Especially if they turned out not to be true...

  ‘The headmistress will be out in a moment,’ she continued. ‘And I’ve already seen the secretary peering out at us as though we’re cluttering up the driveway. Come on—let’s go.’

  Ross looked about to argue with her, but something in the defeat suggested by Katy’s slumped little shoulders seemed to change his mind. ‘Okay,’ he agreed. ‘Let’s go and find a cab.’

  Ursula screwed her nose up at the suggestion. The journey over had been tense enough, with the two of them reluctant to start any meaningful conversations in front of the driver. And yet small talk at a time like this would be completely inappropriate. ‘Who wants to sit in a stuffy car on an afternoon like this? Why don’t we walk? It isn’t very far, it’s a lovely day, and there’s an ice-cream van parked halfway down that road over there! What do you say?’

  ‘Oh, can we, Daddy?’ asked Katy, her face lighting for the first. time since they’d arrived at the school.

  Ross met Ursula’s eyes. ‘I guess so,’ he murmured drily.

  Soon the three of them were walking along Hampstead’s wide, tree-lined roads, with Katy busy licking at a giant chocolate and cherry cornet. As a distraction technique the ice cream was perfect. Over the little girl’s head, Ursula sent Ross a questioning look, but his eyes told her that he had no answers.

  When they reached the house the three of them looked up at the window at the same time, as if fully expecting to see Jane Sheridan standing there, waiting for them.

  But there was no sign of life.

  ‘She might be inside,’ said Ursula cheerfully, but neither Katy nor her father answered.

  The house was completely empty—that much was obvious from the moment that Ross pushed the front door open—and they followed him in and stood in silence, listening. All that could be heard was the sound of the great gra
ndfather clock ticking relentlessly away in the hall.

  ‘I’d better go and take a look upstairs,’ said Ross grimly, and the two females watched him take the stairs two at a time until he was out of sight.

  Now what? thought Ursula. She saw the uncertainty on Katy’s face and knew that the child needed some kind of distraction while the grown-ups attempted to come up with some answers. ‘Tell you what, Katy.’ She smiled. ‘Why don’t you go upstairs and get out of your school uniform? You look boiling in that blazer.’

  ‘Can I take a bath?’

  ‘Sure! Where do you want to take it?’

  ‘Oh, ha ha!’ giggled Katy, and the sound was like balm to Ursula’s ears.

  Ursula grinned. ‘Of course you can! It’s not often that a child asks for a bath!’

  ‘Well, it’s my end-of-year performance tonight,’ confided Katy. ‘And I play the springtime fairy—so I need my hair to be squeaky-clean. At least, that’s what our drama teacher says, anyway!’

  ‘Run along, then, kitten,’ said Ross, appearing suddenly at the top of the stairs, and they both looked up at him, eyes wide with questions. He shook his head, and gave Katy a small, special smile.

  ‘There’s no letter from Mummy,’ he said slowly, as he came down the stairs. ‘But I expect she’ll ring later to tell us what she’s up to.’

  Katy turned her big eyes up to gaze at her father. ‘Will she, Daddy? Honestly?’

  Ursula saw the shadows which played across his face and she knew he was wondering whether to tell the truth as he saw it, or keep a small girl’s dream alive.

  ‘I don’t know, kitten,’ he told her eventually. ‘And that’s the truth. But I’m sure she will get in touch. If only because of you. Because you know how much she loves you.’

  ‘Yes,’ said Katy dutifully, but couldn’t keep the edge of doubt from her voice.

  ‘Now what about that bath?’ Ursula reminded her softly. ‘Before your performance?’

  ‘Okay!’ said Katy, and she skipped away, actually looking quite happy.

  ‘She doesn’t seem too upset,’ observed Ross thoughtfully as he watched her go.

  And neither did he at that moment. ‘That’s kids for you,’ she said. ‘They can hurt like mad one minute, and be happily eating an ice cream the next. It’s the short attention span.’

  He nodded as he picked up a pile of mail from the telephone table, flipped through the stack of envelopes, then threw them back down again. ‘And there’s nothing there, either,’ he growled.

  ‘So now what?’

  He shrugged his shoulders. ‘How the hell should I know? It’s not the kind of situation I have to deal with every day of my life!’

  Ursula silently counted to ten—the man was clearly worried out of his head. But even so... ‘You know, it’s no good getting mad with me, Ross,’ she told him quietly.

  He raked an impatient hand back through the sudden wildness of his dark hair. ‘No. You’re right, of course. Getting angry won’t solve anything. I just wish I knew what Jane was playing at right now!’ His mouth twisted as he realised that his words could be taken two ways. ‘Though maybe I’ve got a pretty good idea.’

  Ursula stared at him in surprise. Even if the marriage had been rocky—which he had as good as admitted at Katy’s party—he had still been married for over a decade. Surely he must feel some kind of sexual jealousy at the thought of Jane running off with Julian Stringer, a man known in the music business as ‘sex on legs’?

  But she was here to offer practical help, not to try and figure what was going on in that head of his.

  ‘Shall I make you some tea?’ she asked. ‘Something to eat? Katy needs something before her performance. And while I’m cooking you can see whether you can track down Jane or not. Make a few phone calls. At least do something, Ross—don’t just stand there glaring!’

  The jet eyes glinted with reluctant admiration. ‘How come you’re never quite this bossy when we’re in the office?’

  She returned his gaze with a steady smile. ‘Because in the office I work for you. Right now, I’m here as nothing but a friend. And even in times of trouble kids need to eat—especially in times of trouble! As do their daddies. So are omelettes okay for everyone?’

  ‘Omelettes sound perfect.’ He nodded, and just as she was about to turn away he reached out and caught her arm. Ursula’s heart practically leapt out of her chest, the unexpected movement halting her in her tracks.

  It was nothing more than the lightest of touches, and yet she could do nothing to stop the delicious shiver which catapulted its way up her spine. Her breath was caught in her throat. She couldn’t remember ever being quite this close to him before, and—despite the circumstances which had brought her here—it was the most distracting experience of her life.

  She found herself longing to nestle closer, to put her arms around his neck and hug him tightly, but knew she mustn’t. Mustn’t. His wife might have left him, but he was still a married man...

  His eyes glittered, shadowed by a controlled anger which was only partially hidden by the dark, curving sweep of his lashes. She saw the unmistakable strain around his mouth, which had replaced his usual mocking smile with a grim twist of acceptance. He stared very hard at her, as if he was trying to look into her very soul. ‘Why are you doing all this for me, Ursula?’ he demanded rawly. ‘What’s in it for you?’

  Her heart thundered even more. She was not going to rise to the sudden hostility in his voice. How could she not do it for him, when she cared for him so much? ‘Because I like you, and I like Katy. Because you need a friend right now who will take you on any terms,’ she told him very quietly. ‘And I’m that friend.’ She shrugged. ‘That’s all.’

  He received this information in thoughtful silence. ‘That’s all?’ he repeated, allowing his gaze to drift to the hand which was still resting on her arm, but he still didn’t move it. ‘Not many people would put themselves out the way you have. I think you underestimate yourself, Ursula.’

  ‘D-do I?’ she stumbled, disappointed and yet oddly relieved when he let the hand fall away. And she thought that Ross underestimated himself. She couldn’t think of a single female who would turn down the opportunity to play guardian angel to Ross Sheridan and his daughter. She turned away. ‘I’d better get started on those omelettes.’

  ‘Sure.’ His eyes followed her until she was almost by the kitchen door. ‘Oh, Ursula?’

  She spun round, surprising a look of unexpected softness on his face. ‘Mmm?’

  ‘Thanks,’ he said simply.

  How could a single word convey so much emotion? Somehow it was possibly the most affectionate thing he had ever said to her, and Ursula was awfully afraid she might do something stupid. Like sob. Or fling comforting arms around him. Or tell him that she’d walk to the ends of the earth and back if he asked her to!

  Time to get out of here!

  ‘I’ll start making dinner,’ she announced briskly, and pushed open the swing door into the kitchen.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  URSULA was glad she had opted for something simple like eggs to cook—because Ross and Jane’s kitchen certainly didn’t run to the exotic. Or even to most of the essentials. It was a room designed by someone who obviously liked style, but not cooking. There were lots and lots of gadgets—upmarket nutcrackers and a gleamingly expensive chrome expresso maker. But the stock cupboard was bare except for the basics—salt, pepper, vinegar and a couple of bottles of sauce.

  She had to use Cheddar cheese instead of Parmesan for the omelette, and there was no fancy balsamic vinegar to add zing to her French dressing. But she did find a French stick in the freezer which only needed ten minutes in the oven to transform the room with its delicious smell.

  Ross came in with Katy just as she was sliding the last omelette on the plate, and Ursula looked up at him, a question in her eyes, but he shook his head and said nothing.

  Which she guessed meant that he was no nearer to finding out where Jane had gone.


  Katy’s hair was still damp, and she looked bewildered as she sat down at the window table opposite her father.

  ‘Have some bread,’ said Ursula gently, and pushed the warm bread towards her.

  ‘I’m not hungry,’ mumbled Katy.

  ‘But you must be hungry, kitten,’ argued Ross. ‘That ice cream can’t have filled you up.’

  ‘And you’ve got a performance to get through tonight,’ Ursula reminded her. ‘Just eat up a little bit, and see how you go.’

  ‘You need more than just a bit—’ Ross began to growl, but Ursula fixed him with a look of warning designed to shut him up—a message he clearly understood, since he raised his eyebrows with an air of mockery and began to pile a great spoonful of green salad onto his plate.

  Without any pressure, Katy ate over half her meal, which was more than Ursula had thought she would manage, and then asked to be excused to get ready for the play.

  ‘We need to leave at seven, Daddy.’

  Ross tore off a chunk of bread. ‘Okay.’

  Katy hesitated by the door. ‘And can...can Ursula come, too?’

  ‘Of course she can.’ Ross stared deep into Ursula’s sapphire eyes. ‘But she may be busy,’ he answered evenly, his expression telling Ursula that here was her opportunity to leave if she wanted to.

  ‘No, I’m not busy,’ she answered immediately, not caring whether that made her look lonely and desperate. The child was miserable and missing her mother, and seemed to want her support—now was not the time to play stupid games to try and make it appear to Ross that her social life was sparkling! ‘Thank you for asking me, Katy. I’d absolutely love to come!’

  ‘Good!’ Katy flashed her a grateful smile. ‘I’ll go and get ready, then!’

  There was a brief silence after she had gone. Ross wiped his mouth with his napkin and then leaned back in his chair and studied Ursula across the table.

  ‘You’re pretty good at coaxing little girls to eat,’ he remarked.

  Ursula pushed her plate away. ‘That’s not surprising, really. My sister used to need a fair bit of persuasion, too. It’s natural not to want to eat when you’re unhappy. Or sleep. Or do most, things, actually. Normal life is the hardest thing to achieve if you’re aching inside.’