From Single Mum to Lady by Judy Campbell Read Free Book Online Page A

for heaven’s sake, not an indecent proposal!
    ‘Are you sure?’ she asked. ‘I’d be really grateful, but I may be taking you miles out of your way.’
    ‘No problem,’ he said. ‘Jump in.’
    Jandy relaxed back in the blessed warmth of the car, and glanced across at Patrick, his strong profile outlined in the dark as he looked in the rear-view mirror before pulling out into the road. Inside the car it felt intimate, cosy. Her eyes fastened on his hands on the steering-wheel, strong, capable hands, and she felt the flutter of excitement she used to feel when she went on a date with someone she liked, anticipating the evening to come. Stop this, she said fiercely to herself. Her reaction to him was becoming almost like the reflex action of a tap on the knee joint. He was a married man she’d only known for two weeks, for heaven’s sake.
    ‘This is good of you,’ she murmured. ‘I would’ve been very late picking Abigail up from the childminder. The barriers in the car park are always getting stuck—it’s the second time I’ve had to leave the car there all night.’
    ‘A damn nuisance for you. How old is your little girl?’
    ‘She’s four—Pippa takes her to and from nursery school, which is wonderful. How about your daughter—what age is she?’
    He smiled. ‘The same age as your Abigail. Her name’s Livy—short for Olivia—and she’s at nursery school as well. I’ll be picking her up from the afterschool club they have there.’
    They had stopped at traffic lights and the glow from a streetlamp fell on a photograph pinned to the dashboard. It showed a curly-headed child in the arms of an attractive, laughing woman. Jandy bent forward to look at it more closely. This must be his wife and daughter. What a lovely family he had—and what a wonderful father he would be, she thought wistfully. That was something Abigail would never know—a father’s love and attention, a man she could always trust throughout her life.
    She smothered a sigh and said brightly, ‘And this is a photo of Livy and your wife, I suppose—they’re very beautiful.’
    Patrick nodded and said briefly, ‘Yes—it’s a good photograph.’
    ‘And is your wife medical?’ asked Jandy, assuming that she worked as Patrick had to pick his daughter up.
    Patrick was silent for a moment and Jandy wondered if he’d heard her, then eventually he spoke, his voice quiet but brutally harsh. ‘My wife died three and a half years ago—she had an accident. Livy doesn’t remember her mother at all.’
    For a second the bald statement hung in the air, horrifying, unbelievable. Patrick looked across at Jandy as she caught her breath in distress.
    ‘I’m sorry,’ he said more gently. ‘I always have difficulty telling people that—but there’s no easy way to say it.’
    What an idiot I am, thought Jandy wretchedly. ‘I…I’m so sorry, Patrick. I didn’t mean to pry. I just assumed…’
    ‘It’s not your fault,’ he said tersely. ‘You weren’t to know that Rachel had died…but it’s tough being on your own.’
    There was a weary sadness in his face—Jandy guessed every time he told this story it was like knives going through him. She was silent for a few minutes, contemplating the tragedy that had happened to him—his beautiful young wife killed before her baby grew up and bringing a happy marriage to an abrupt end. He had obviously loved Rachel very much, whereas her love for Terry had long disappeared. Now she only felt contempt for the man who had treated her so badly.
    ‘Being a single parent isn’t easy,’ she said softly. ‘I know, because I’m a single parent as well.’
    He flicked a surprised look at her. ‘That’s terrible. I’m so sorry to hear that. When were you widowed?’ he asked.
    It was so stupid. She was over Terry now, long over him, and yet she still felt treacherous tears welling up in her eyes whenever someone was sympathetic—especially someone like Patrick who’d gone through traumas