Eleanor Jones - A Father's Pledge

Can this single dad rise to the challenge?

Luke Travis may be a father, but he’s never really been a dad to Ben. When the nine-year-old enrolls at the boarding school where Luke works, Luke knows it’s time to step up. Except his son wants nothing to do with him. And then there’s Kat Molloy, the child therapist whose “help” conflicts with everything he believes about raising kids. Some part of him realizes they both want what’s best for Ben—and that same part of him wonders why he’s so drawn to Kat despite their differences. But Luke can’t risk letting romance get in the way of his relationship with his son...

“Ben’s been spoiled all his life,” Luke said. “That’s what his behavior is all about.”

“How do you know? How do you really know what his life has been like up to now?” Kat asked. “He’s only nine. You need to let him learn to love you, Luke.”

Their faces were so close that Kat could feel his breath on her cheek.

“That’s just it,” he murmured, his eyes soft with a vulnerability she’d never seen in him before. “What if he never forgives me and never grows to love me? Perhaps I’ve already lost my chance with him.”

On impulse, Kat moved closer. Cupping his jaw with gentle fingers, she touched her lips to his, and when his arms wrapped around her, it felt so right. His lips closed over hers, soft and yet demanding, and for an endless moment it felt as if they were one being, a part of the vast space and beauty that surrounded them...

But they weren’t alone. With a surge of guilt, Kat pulled away in panic, looking for Ben. What were they thinking?

Dear Reader,

Thank you for picking up my book, I do hope you enjoy it. There is just something timeless about the sea that draws us in. At times serene and breathtakingly beautiful, it can also be awe inspiring in its ferocity—dangerous, wild and untamed. A bit like life, really, I suppose.

I am so enjoying writing this series, Songs of the Sea, and I would love to hear your comments. You can contact me at info@holmescalesridingcentre.co.uk.

All very best wishes,

Eleanor

A Father’s Pledge

Eleanor Jones

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ELEANOR JONES was brought up on a farm in the north of England and learned to love animals and the countryside from an early age. She has ridden all her life, and after marrying her husband at just eighteen years old and having two wonderful children, they set up a riding center together. This is still thriving over thirty years later, doing hacks, treks and lessons for all ages and experiences. Her daughter competes at the national level, and she is now a partner in the business and brings her adorable three-year-old son to work with her every day. Eleanor’s son is also married with two children, and they live nearby.

Eleanor has been writing for what feels like her whole life. Her early handwritten novels still grace a dusty shelf in the back of a cupboard somewhere, but she was first published over fifteen years ago, when she wrote teenage pony mysteries.

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I would like to dedicate this book to my dear sister, Catherine, who lives by the sea.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Extract

Copyright

PROLOGUE

NEVER HAD LUKE TRAVIS felt such guilt before—guilt that sat so heavy on his heart it weighed down his every movement. Waiting there for Ben, his Ben, the nine-year-old boy he had abandoned so many years ago, to arrive at Flight—the special school where Luke worked—was both the best and worst experience of his life. He’d never expected and was totally unprepared for this. And the sad thing was that he had no excuse to give his son. Luke had just been young and selfish and irresponsible, simple as that.

He sat rigid on the wooden chair, drowning in memories. Ben’s mum, Carly, so wild and so beautiful. When you’re young and impulsive, he told himself, sometimes you make crazy decisions, blame other people and just walk away. He knew he had and he wasn’t proud of it. But now he’d been given a chance to make amends, to prove that he could be a good dad. He intended, despite the self-doubt that haunted him, to do the very best that he could for his son.

Luke glanced at the clock again and again as the time crept nearer, three thirty on a sunny afternoon. At any moment his son, the son he barely knew, the son he had left behind by persuading himself that it was the best decision for the child, would walk through the office door. And Luke had no idea what to say to him.

Then the door opened, and there he was, walking determinedly behind his grandma, Mollie, his smooth, young face an echo of Luke’s own, but was filled with anger and aggression.

“Hi,” Luke said awkwardly, offering his hand.

Ben just stared straight through him, as if he wasn’t there. The boy was right to hate him because that was what he deserved.

And then for one solitary, fleeting moment, Ben’s mask of anger slipped. His jaw quivered as his head dropped forward, revealing his vulnerability, and Luke swore to himself that from this moment forward his son would come first. It was time to make amends, to come to know him and to earn his love, no matter how hard it would be.

Luke understood now, without a shadow of a doubt, that walking away from his son had been the worst mistake of his life.

CHAPTER ONE

A LOUD SCREAM took Kat Molloy’s attention and she ran across to where Tammy Nelson was rolling on the ground, clutching her knee. Huge tears rolled down the little girl’s cheeks as Kat gave her a hug. “It’ll be okay in a minute,” she promised. “Look, it isn’t even red.”

Tammy carefully stood up, testing her weight on her injured joint. “See,” Kat said. “It’s better already.”

Tammy smiled happily, rubbing away her tears. Then she pointed in horror toward the sea, her blue eyes wide beneath their frame of ginger curls. “Miss!” she cried. “Ben’s gone right out into the water!”

Kat’s heart leaped into her throat.

“Ben!” she yelled, spotting the boy’s slight figure heading out into the waves. “Get back here...now!”

Tammy and the two other children in Kat’s care, nine-year-old Johnny Cartwright and seven-year-old Angel Dunn, stood ankle-deep in the rushing foam that shimmered onto the sand, watching in awe as the blond boy with a wicked grin waded out until the water was to his waist.