‘Exactly.’
Except having Finn hadn’t slowed his father down. And his mother certainly hadn’t insisted on having a stable home base. She’d simply towed Finn and his nanny along with them wherever they went. And when he was old enough, she hired tutors to homeschool him.
And everything inside him rebelled at blaming his parents for that.
‘A baby’s needs have to be taken into consideration and—’
She broke off when she glanced into his face. ‘I’m not criticising your parents, Finn. I’m not saying they did it wrong or anything. I’m describing how I’d want to do it. Each couple works out what’s best for them.’
‘But you’d want to be hands-on. I have a feeling that nannies and boarding schools and in-home tutors aren’t your idea of good parenting. You’d want a house in the suburbs, to host Christmas dinner—’
‘It doesn’t have to be in the burbs. It could be an apartment in the city or a house overlooking a Greek beach. And if I can afford a nanny I’ll have one of those too, thank you very much. I’d want to keep working.’
His parents had chosen to not work. At all.
‘But when I get home from work, I’d want to have my family around me. That’s all.’ Their eyes locked. ‘It’s not how my parents did it...and I’m not saying I hated boarding school, because I didn’t. I know how lucky I’ve been. I’m not saying my way is better than anybody else’s. I’m just saying that’s the way that’d make me happy.’
She’d just described everything he’d wanted when he was a child, and it made the secret places inside him ache. It also brought something into stark relief. She knew what would make her happy in her personal life—she knew the kind of home life and family that she wanted, and it was clear she wasn’t going to settle for less. So why was she settling for less in her work life?
The question hovered on his tongue. He had a ‘truth or dare’ question owing to him, but something held him back, warned him the time wasn’t right. Audra was looking more relaxed with each day they spent here. Her appetite had returned, as had the colour in her cheeks. But he recalled the expression in her eyes when he’d first turned his computer around to show her that shop, and things inside him knotted up. It was too new, and too fragile. She needed more time to pore over those pictures...to dream. He wanted her hunger to build until she could deny it no longer.
He loaded two crackers with cheese and handed her one, before lifting the lid of his computer. ‘I’ll email those designs through to you.’
‘Oh, um...thank you. That’ll be fun.’
Fun? Those walls had just gone back up in her eyes. That strange restraint pulled back into place around her. He didn’t understand it, but he wasn’t going to let her file those pictures away in a place where she could forget about them. He’d use Rupert’s office later to print hard copies off as well. She might ignore her email, but she’d find the physical copies much harder to ignore.
‘What’s on the agenda for the rest of the day?’
She sent him a cat-that-got-the-cream grin. ‘Nothing. Absolutely nothing.’
Excellent. ‘Books on the beach?’
‘You’re getting the hang of this, Sullivan.’ She rose and collected what was left of the food, and started back towards the house. ‘Careful,’ she shot over her shoulder, ‘you might just find yourself enjoying it.’
He was enjoying it. He just wasn’t sure what that meant.
He shook himself. It didn’t mean anything, other than relief at being out of hospital and not being confined to quarters. He’d be an ingrate—not to mention made of marble—not to enjoy all this glorious Greek sun and scenery.
And whatever else he was, he wasn’t made of marble. With Audra proving so intriguing, this enforced slower pace suited him fine for the moment. Once he got to the bottom of her strange restraint his restlessness would return. And then he’d be eager to embark on his next adventure—in need of a shot of pure adrenaline.
His hunger for adventure would return and consume him, and all strange conversations about children would be forgotten. He rose; his hands clenched. This was about Audra, not him.
* * *
Audra stared at the ticket Finn had handed her and then at the large barn-like structure in front of them. She stared down at the paper in her hand again. ‘You...you enrolled us in an art class?’
If Finn had been waiting for her to jump up and down in excitement and delight, he’d have been disappointed.
Which meant... Yeah, he was disappointed.