Reunited by the Tycoon's Twins

‘I’m looking, not staring.’

‘Said the serial killer.’

Finn laughed and rolled his eyes. ‘You’re not what I was expecting.’

‘How can I surprise you? You’ve known me for ever.’

‘You’ve known me for just as long. You think I couldn’t surprise you?’

She thought back to last night. Not the mistaken assumption she had made, but the way that he had reacted to it. No judgement. No offence taken. Just concerned with making her feel safe. The whole focus of his quite brilliant brain directed at making her feel secure and unthreatened and safe. And it had taken some time to kick in but here, in the sunshine, she was happy. She knew her problems would be waiting for her when they walked out of this park, but in this quiet oasis she was calm and content.

Just as she thought she might actually drop off to sleep Finn’s phone rang, surprising her out of her sleepiness. She watched as he dug in his pocket to retrieve it and guessed the identity of the caller from the slight crease on his brow.

‘Caro, hey, how are you?’ he said, and Madeleine turned away, knowing that it would be rude to eavesdrop, but not sure what else she could do when they were the only people here.

‘No, they’re asl

eep,’ Finn said, and she knew that Caro must be asking about the babies. Finn angled the phone towards the pair of them sleeping in their pram, and Madeleine realised that they must be video calling. She wondered whether Caro could see her lying there on the grass. Whether Finn had told her that she was staying with them. It didn’t matter, she reminded herself. She was just the help. Even if Caro did see her, it was up to Finn to let her know what was going on. Or not.

God, how had she even got herself down this train of thought? she asked herself. She sat up, trying to shake off the thoughts.

But, now that it had occurred to her, she couldn’t help but see this situation as an outsider would—the two of them alone in a park, the kids asleep, lying on a picnic blanket. If that were her husband...

Ex-husband, she reminded herself. Finn was Caro’s ex-husband, and had been for a year.

Why did that seem to matter to her all of a sudden? Both she and Finn couldn’t have been clearer with one another that what they had was nothing more than a practical arrangement between friends. Not even friends. Between two people who cared for Jake and were happy to do him a favour.

So why did she feel so uncomfortable now? Why did she feel the need to explain herself? She heard Finn saying his goodbyes and stared at a flowerbed across the park, trying to look completely uninterested in Finn talking to his ex-wife.

‘Sorry about that,’ he said as he slid his phone back into his jeans pocket.

‘No need to apologise,’ Madeleine said, probably a little too quickly for someone who was not meant to be listening to his conversation.

‘She hates it when they’re asleep when she calls,’ Finn said. ‘She’ll probably call back again in a bit if she can.’

‘It must be hard for her. She must really miss them. Hard for you too.’

He sighed. The smile she was used to seeing on his face was missing.

‘Her work is so important. But... I can’t lie... This wasn’t how I expected my marriage to turn out.’

‘Were you sad when it ended?’

She wasn’t sure what made her ask. Of course he had been sad. No one ended a marriage unscathed.

‘Sad, but not surprised.’

Madeleine held her breath, with the distinct impression that Finn needed to talk about this. She stayed silent, curious about whether he was going to open up to her again. What would it mean if he did? They had only spent a day in one another’s company, and already she had shared more about herself with Finn than she had with anyone else for years. If he was sharing too, then this wasn’t an arrangement any more. They were...friends.

‘I knew it was coming,’ Finn said. ‘The longer we were together, the more unhappy she became. I think when she decided to go, it was a relief for her. I...didn’t find it easy,’ Finn said, and Madeleine winced at what she guessed was a hell of an understatement.

‘Did you try—’ Madeleine started, then stopped herself. It was really none of her business. Even if they really were friends, it was surely an unwelcome degree of intrusion.

‘By the time she told me she was going, she didn’t want to try,’ he said. ‘Seems I used up all my chances without even realising it.’ His voice was tinged with regret. ‘It’s not her fault,’ he continued, and Madeleine could sense the false brightness in his voice. ‘I wasn’t a good husband. I worked too much. I never made time for her. I’ve spent my life building up the business, determined that...determined my life would be different now, and I didn’t want to take the time out of the office to make sure that that was the most important thing to her too. I guess, in the end, I chose the business over her, and it nearly cost me everything.’

Madeleine looked at him for a moment and got the impression that he was expecting her censure. Well, he might be opening up about his guilty feelings, but he could keep on looking. She wasn’t here to judge him.

‘Marriage is complicated. I’m sure you tried your best.’