‘Bring your niece in the school holidays,’ said Jack. ‘The garden in Park Crescent can’t be very big. You could give her the run of the grounds here.’
‘Poor little thing,’ said Tom with compassion. ‘It’s been a big upheaval for her. How’s she coping?’
Kate’s eyes shadowed. ‘Christmas was tricky—the first without her parents.’
‘Did she come to you in London for it?’ asked Jack.
Kate shook her head.‘ Apart from a brief stay with her grandparents, Joanna spent the entire Christmas break in the Maitland household with me. Both sets of parents were there and neighbours came in for drinks,so there was a lot goingon. One couple brought twin teenage sons along as company for Jo and she got on well with them, and spent quite a lot of time with them over the holiday. I took her shopping for furniture for her new bedroom, and we spent hour sporing over paint charts together—everything I could think of to keep her in the loop over the move to Park Crescent. But neither of us enjoyed the day she went back to school,’ she added bleakly.
‘Half term can’t be far away,’ said Jack with sympathy, but she shook her head.
‘There isn’t one this term. Her school goes for the longer Easter holiday. But I’ll drive down to take her out for lunch before then.’
Soon afterwards Tom Logan got up to go.
‘You can’t leave now, Dad,’ protested his son.
‘Early round of golf in the morning. Must get my beauty sleep.’
Kate got to her feet. ‘Then maybe you’d give me a lift, Mr Logan. You pass near my place.’
‘Don’t go yet, Kate.’ Jack put a hand on her arm.
‘No, indeed. You stay, my dear,’ said his father, kissing her cheek. ‘Otherwise I’ll feel guilty. Jack will run you home later.’
When Jack came back with the dog, Kate turned from the study of tree-fringed water in his painting. ‘Where is this?’
‘Right here in the grounds. It’s the mill pond, complete with willows and chestnut trees.’
‘You commissioned it?’
He nodded. ‘Local artist. I was impressed by an exhibition of her work. She agreed to do it once she’d approved the location.’
‘Would she have turned you down if she hadn’t?’
‘More than likely. But she took one look and named her price—which was steep. But I paid it willingly when I saw the finished work.’
Kate turned away, smiling wryly. ‘How things have changed. When we were together I was just earning peanuts and you weren’t much better off.’
‘At the time Dad and I were ploughing most of the profits back into the business.’ He bent to poke the fire. ‘If he hadn’t handed my mother’s ring over I certainly couldn’t have bought one for you right then. I had to borrow money from him for Dawn’s settlement.’
Controlling her reaction to Dawn’s name, Kate smiled brightly at Jack. ‘But nowadays Logan Development is a roaring success and you can buy what you like.’
He straightened, and gave her a look which almost had her backing away. ‘Is that your benchmark of success, Kate? To be able to buy what you like?’
Her eyes narrowed coldly. ‘If it were would I have turned my back on a highly paid job?’
‘I thought you did that to take care of your niece.’
‘If it had been absolutely vital I kept the job Joanna could have shared my flat in Notting Hill, and I would have paid someone to look after her in the school holidays. But to me it seemed far more important to make a home for her here and look after her myself.’
‘And you’re right, Kate,’ he said, with contrition. ‘You obviously care very deeply for Joanna. I don’t have a child in my life—one of the many things money can’t buy.’
She turned away, looking at her watch. ‘I should be going soon.’
‘Why? I thought the great advantage of the new job was its flexibility.’
‘I’m making a start on my bedroom. I’m sleeping in Jo’s for the time being.’