The Secret Father

Lindy’s warm smile banished the anxiety from his eyes. ‘Don’t be daft!’ she advised briskly. Her fingers ran lovingly down the strong curve of his back. When they encountered the raised ridge of a recent scar, her brow puckered.

There had been anxious days after the operation had taken place. Happily, the outcome had been all anyone could wish for. Ben had a new lease of life and Sam had recovered from the major surgery remarkably swiftly. Despite the fact they were here in the Caribbean to convalesce, she had to remind Sam he was meant to be taking things easily. In fact at bedtime she had to be pretty stern and take things into her own hands!

When the Tenants had allowed Ben to come along, it had been a sign of the altered relationship between Sam and his son. Marilyn seemed to feel less threatened by Sam’s involvement in the child’s life, though caution still existed on both sides. Watching the warmth between father and son develop from tentative beginnings, Lindy had felt privileged.

‘You’re blushing!’ Sam exclaimed.

‘I’m not! Don’t tickle; that’s not fair!’ she gasped as she tried to squirm free of his hands.

‘Not until you tell me what you’re thinking about.’

‘All right, all right, stop it—please.’ Breathless, she subsided. ‘If you must know, I was thinking about last night.’

‘You have a very creative streak. I’m not easily shocked but—’ He broke off, laughing deeply at her affronted expression.

‘You snake, Sam Rourke!’

Sam caught her flailing fists. ‘Be gentle, I’m a weak man,’ he chided.

‘You’re a sinful man,’ she responded, meeting the wicked glitter of his azure eyes.

‘Do you mind?’

She didn’t; she didn’t mind in the least.