‘When Verity lived here before, were you friends?’
‘What makes you ask that?’ Silas questioned her sharply.
‘Nothing.’ Honor smiled, looking up at him. ‘Well, were you?’
‘No.’ Silas told her curtly.
‘Yes. That’s what she said.’
Silas frowned.
‘She’s very pretty, though, isn’t she?’ Honor continued sunnily. ‘Riccardo certainly thought so.’
‘Very,’ Silas agreed through gritted teeth. As a young girl Verity has possessed a natural, wholesome, sweet prettiness, but as a woman she had matured into someone whose subtle sensuality…
His favourite plants were always those that took a little bit of knowing; whose attractions were not necessarily flashingly visible at first glance. He had never liked anything overblown nor obvious and Verity…Just now, kissing her, he had been overwhelmed by the urge, by the memory of a certain night they had spent together in the heat of her small New York flat when, during their lovemaking, she had wrapped her legs around him and…
Tonight, watching the way she had moved in that silky white suit she had been wearing, remembering just how lovely and equally silky and feminine her legs were…
‘I really like her and she’s going to be my friend,’ Honor informed him. ‘Can I i
nvite her round for tea tomorrow?’
‘What? No, you can’t. You’ve got school in the morning and homework.’
‘No, I haven’t. We’re having a leave day—I told you last week.’
‘What?’ Silas looked at her and groaned.
‘Honor, why on earth didn’t you remind me of that earlier?’ he demanded. ‘I’ve got a site meeting in the morning that I can’t put off.’
‘You should have left me at Verity’s,’ Honor told him practically. ‘You’ll have to ring her and ask her if she can look after me tomorrow.’
‘What? No way. What about Catherine?’
‘No.’ Honor shook her head firmly. ‘She’s got her aunt and uncle staying, remember?’
Silas groaned again.
When Honor had been a baby he had employed a succession of full-time live-in nannies to take care of her when he wasn’t there, also taking her into work with him when he could, but the situation was more complicated now that Honor was growing up. For one thing she was extremely independent and diabolically good at getting her own way so that finding the right kind of person—someone firm enough for her to respect and yet young enough not to be too restrictive with her—was proving increasingly difficult. Anna helped out when he could spare her from the garden centre, but they were too busy just now for her to be away from the centre all day.
His last housekeeper had left after Silas had made it plain that she was employed to take care of Honor’s needs and not his own, and since then he had been relying increasingly on a patchwork of haphazard arrangements, getting by on a wing and a prayer and the good offices of kind friends.
If he hadn’t hit such a busy patch with the business, he would have had time to advertise and sort something more permanent out, but as it was…
‘I expect Myra was really cross when you had to leave to go to the garden centre,’ Honor commented.
Silas gave her a wry look.
‘Just a little,’ he agreed.
The truth was that Myra had been furious. She was not a particularly maternal woman. In fact, her own two sons from her marriage lived with their father and his new partner. Silas knew perfectly well that becoming his wife was Myra’s goal but being Honor’s doting stepmother was the last thing the woman wanted.
She was a woman who, as she had told him quite openly, had a very high sex drive—so far, despite all the encouragement she had given him, Silas had kept their relationship on a purely platonic footing. Perhaps he was out of step with modern times, but sex for sex’s sake was something that didn’t appeal to him. It never had, which was why…
Silas looked down again at his daughter’s dark head. As always when he thought of Honor’s mother he was filled with a mixture of guilt and regret.
Neither of them had ever imagined when Sarah had conceived Honor that giving birth to her would result in Sarah losing her own life. If they had…