‘That’s Auntie Ellie.’ He pointed to the yellow hair he’d painted. ‘And that’s one of the dogs she’s wescued.’
Ashleigh’s eyes centred on the last remaining figure who was standing behind all the others.
‘Who is that?’ she asked, not sure she really wanted to know.
‘That’s you,’ he said, a touch of sadness creeping into his tone.
She swallowed the lump in the back of her throat and stared down at the picture. ‘Really?’
‘Yes.’ He met her eyes with a look so like his father’s she felt like crying.
‘Why am I way back there?’ She pointed to the background of his painting.
His eyes shifted away from hers, his small shoulders slumping as a small sigh escaped from his lips. ‘I miss you, Mummy.’
‘Oh, baby.’ She clutched him to her chest, burying her head into the baby-shampoo softness of his hair, her eyes squeezing shut to hold the tears back. ‘Mummy has to work, you know that, darling.’ She eased him away from her and looked down into his up-tilted face. ‘Aren’t you happy at crèche and at the times you have with Granny and Grandad?’
His little chin wobbled for a moment before he got it under control. ‘Yes…’
Ashleigh’s stomach folded as she saw the insecurity played out on his features. Hadn’t she seen that same look on Jake’s face in the past, even though, like Lachlan, he had done his level best to hide it?
‘I have to work, poppet,’ she said. ‘I have to provide for us. I can’t expect Granny and Grandad to help us for ever.’
‘But what about my daddy?’ Lachlan asked. ‘Doesn’t he want to provide for me too?’
I will kill you, Mia, so help me God, she said under her breath. This was surely her sister’s doing, for Lachlan had never mentioned anything about his father in the past.
‘He doesn’t know about you,’ she said, deciding the truth was safer in the long run.
‘Why not?’
She couldn’t meet his eyes.
Was this how it was going to be for the rest of her life, guilt keeping her from looking at eyes that were the mirror image of his father’s?
‘I couldn’t tell him…’ she said at last.
‘Why not, Mummy?’
She closed her eyes and counted to five before opening them again. ‘Because he never wanted to be a daddy.’
‘But I want a daddy,’ he said, his big dark eyes tugging at Ashleigh’s heartstrings. ‘Do you think if I met him and asked him he would change his mind?’
She looked down at the tiny up-tilted face and smiled in spite of her pain. ‘I just know he would. But you can’t meet him, sweetie.’
‘Why?’
She hugged him close, not sure how to answer.
‘Mummy?’
‘Mmm?’ She bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from falling apart.
‘I still love my daddy even if he doesn’t want to see me,’ he said solemnly.
Ashleigh felt as if someone had just stomped on her heart.
* * *
Howard couldn’t contain his delight at her decision to take on the assessment.
‘You mean he wants to give us the whole lot?’ he asked incredulously. ‘For nothing?’
She nodded, her expression unmistakably grim. ‘That’s the deal.’
‘But on market value the whole load is probably worth…’ He did a quick mental calculation from the notes Ashleigh had already prepared. ‘Close to a couple of million, at the very least!’
‘I know…’ Her stomach tightened another notch. ‘But he doesn’t want any of it.’
‘He’s mad,’ Howard said. ‘Totally out of his mind, stark staring mad.’
Ashleigh didn’t answer. She didn’t think Jake was mad, just being incredibly tactical.
Howard frowned for a moment. ‘Does he…’ he cleared his throat as if even harbouring the thought offended him ‘…does he want something in exchange, apart from you working in the house to document everything?’
‘What do you mean?’ Ashleigh hoped her cheeks weren’t as hot on the outside as they felt to her on the inside.
‘Some men can be quite…er…ruthless at times, Ashleigh, in getting what they want,’ he said. ‘No one but no one gives away a fortune of goods without wanting something in return.’
‘He doesn’t want to sleep with me, if that’s what’s worrying you,’ she said, wondering why it had hurt to say it out loud.
‘He told you that?’ Howard’s red brows rose.
She nodded.
He let out a sigh of relief. ‘You are doing me the biggest favour imaginable, Ashleigh.’ He took her hands and squeezed them in his. ‘This will secure our future. We can get married in grand style and never have to worry about making ends meet again. Think of it!’ His face glowed with delight at this stroke of good fortune. ‘My mother is thrilled. She wants you to come to dinner this evening to celebrate with us.’