Anne Fraser - Cinderella of Harley Street

‘You could come with me. They’re always looking for people.’

‘I can’t.’ His voice was flat, his expression unreadable.

The light inside her flickered and died. She had read too much into his words. He wanted her to come to him but he wasn’t prepared to do the same for her.

‘But we could meet again when you to return to London,’ he added. ‘Until then, we could write, email, phone even. I’m sure they have phones in Sudan.’ His eyes glittered in the moonlight as he searched her face. She could almost hear the thudding of her own heart.

Why not? Perhaps it was time she trusted her heart to someone. To Leith. Take a chance. The thought was hammering around inside her head. Go on, take a chance. This man could love you—really love you.

But would he love her for ever? Could love ever be for ever? Could fairy-tales come true?

She leaned towards him and pulled his head towards hers. ‘Enough of the talking,’ she said lightly. ‘Do you know it’s been at least twenty minutes since you last kissed me?’

All too soon it was their last night together. The boat was setting sail at dawn to go further up the coast and it would be leaving her behind to catch her flight to Sudan. Leith still had a few days left before he too would be returning to his job in London.

Sometimes Cassie fantasised about the life they could have together but deep down she knew it was only that—a fantasy. Despite the passion they had for one another’s bodies, they hardly knew each other. She had her life to lead, one that didn’t include children—or a permanent relationship.

But there were still a few hours left for them to be together and she was determined to make the most of every second.

She was lying in the crook of Leith’s arm as one of his hands brushed lazily along her shoulder. Over the last couple of days he’d seemed preoccupied. She’d often catch him looking into the distance as if he were miles away, but she didn’t ask. If he had something to tell her, let it be in his own time. She hated people’s questions too much to ever pry.

But tonight he seemed particularly distracted. Normally when they were together he focussed his full attention on her. She’d noticed that he did the same whatever he was doing, working, eating—or making love. At the memory of just how thoroughly he’d made love to her only moments before, her whole body tingled. She stretched languorously.

‘Penny for them,’ she said, wondering if he was thinking about a patient.

‘I’m not sure you’d want to hear them.’

A shiver ran down her spine. There was something ominous about the tone of his voice.

‘As long as you’re not going to tell me you’re married after all.’ She laughed nervously.

His hand stilled on her shoulder. ‘No,’ he said. ‘Of course it’s not that.’ He paused for a moment. ‘I had an email a couple of days ago.’

She propped herself onto her elbow and looked down at him. Anxiety fluttered when she saw he was frowning. ‘Bad news?’

‘No. Yes. Damn it. I don’t know. A bit of both.’ He swung his legs out of bed and pulled on his jeans. The only light came from the moon shining through the open curtains. Even in the half-light, he was unbelievably gorgeous with his hair tousled by their love-making, his skin golden from the African sun and his broad shoulders that tapered to slim hips and long legs. When he turned his intense green eyes on her, her heart lurched at the thought that soon she would lose him.

Since the night he’d suggested they keep in touch, he’d been strangely silent on the subject. Had he changed his mind? Or had she simply read more into his words than he’d meant? Had it been no more than a casual throw-away comment and was this the part when he told her it had been great but …?

She plucked nervously at the trimming of the sheets.

‘I’m afraid you’re going to have to explain.’

He sank down on the bed and pulled her against his bare chest. She lay there for a moment, listening to the beating of his heart.

‘I had a one-night stand a few years ago,’ he said finally. ‘Until recently I had forgotten about it.’

Cassie stiffened in his arms. She shouldn’t be surprised he had a past.

‘Her name was Jude. To be honest, I barely even remembered that. Anyway, her sister, Bella, wrote to me. It seems Jude had a child—about nine months after we had our—er—thing.’

A chill ran up Cassie’s spine. ‘You didn’t take precautions?’

He rubbed his hand across the rough stubble of his face. ‘It had been a tough day. She told me she was on the Pill. I chose to believe her.’

Cassie guessed what was coming next. ‘She had your baby.’

‘Apparently,’ he said dryly.

‘She didn’t tell you? So why has the sister written now?’ The hollow feeling in her stomach was getting worse. She wriggled out of his arms.

‘Because she’s worried. Bella’s been trying to persuade Jude to tell me that I have a son ever since Jude told her she was pregnant, but she wouldn’t.’

‘So what’s changed now?’

‘Bella doesn’t think Jude is coping with him. She’s even hinted that Jude’s been taking drugs.’ He raked his hand through his hair. ‘God, Cassie, what kind of mother would do that when she has a small child to take care of?’

Cassie hugged her knees to her chest. She knew only too well what kind of woman. Someone like her own birth mother for a start.

She felt horribly disappointed. Had she misjudged him completely? Had she been too quick to put him on a pedestal? Of course it was ridiculous to think anyone was without flaws—she of all people should know that.

‘I’m pretty sure she wasn’t on any drugs when we met. According to the family her drug taking only started a couple of years ago. And as to why she should feel it necessary not to tell me she was expecting our child, Lord knows, I haven’t all the details yet. Possibly because there was a man in her life, someone she was engaged to, when she and I had our—er—thing, and before you say anything I swear I didn’t know. Anyway, he left her when he found out the baby wasn’t his. Apparently that’s when Jude started behaving erratically.’

Poor Jude. But it was the little boy that Cassie’s heart went out to. Why did people have children if they weren’t capable of looking after them? When she felt all the old anger boil up inside her, she pushed it away before it could take hold.

‘Although he’s only four, Jude’s sister thinks that the boy is being badly affected by his mother’s behaviour.’ Leith rose from their narrow bed and started pacing up and down the small cabin.

‘What are you going to do?’

‘If he’s my child, and I have no doubt he is judging by the photo the sister emailed me, then I’m going to do whatever it takes to get access to him—fight for sole custody even if need be.’

He strode over to his laptop and flipped the lid. He typed something into the browser and turned the monitor so Cassie could see. ‘The sister sent me this picture of him.’

Cassie wrapped herself in a sheet and went to stand next to Leith. Immediately, just by looking at the little boy’s eyes, Cassie knew without doubt he was Leith’s son. The circumference of Leith’s iris was slightly irregular—barely noticeable unless, like Cassie, a person had spent a lot of time looking into his green eyes. This little boy had exactly the same irregularity in the same eye. But it wasn’t just the family resemblance that drew Cassie. In the child’s eyes she recognised the same bewilderment and pain that she’d seen in the rare photos of herself at the same age. She sucked in a breath, conscious of a knot in her stomach. An image rushed back of her as a little girl, having woken from a bad dream, sitting on the top of the stairs, praying that her mum would come and carry her back to bed, kiss her, say or do anything to make the ghosts and demons of the night go away. But when Mum hadn’t answered her calls, she had got cold and had eventually crept back to bed alone and miserable.