New Arrivals: Surprise Baby for Him: The Cattleman's Adopted Family / The Soldier's Homecoming / Marriage for Baby
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When Seth told her that his uncle had died, she’d pictured him as an elderly man, but he needn’t have been that old.
At a guess, she would say that Seth was around thirty, and his uncle was younger than Seth’s father, so he might have been only fifty or so when Rachel met him.
She tried to imagine Rachel falling for a fifty-year-old man. He’d need to have been a well-preserved and decidedly good-looking fifty-year-old man—but he was sure to be handsome if he was related to Seth.
It was possible, wasn’t it?
Her friend had always been a little unconventional in her tastes, and the more Amy thought about it, the more it started to make sense.
Rachel was less likely to burden an older man with the news that he was about to become a father. She’d confided to Amy that her school-days had been blighted by the fact that her parents were so much older than everyone else’s folks. Kids were cruel and their barbed comments had hurt.
And if Seth’s uncle had fathered Bella, the younger Seth’s apparent lack of grief for Rachel made more sense, too.
Slowly Amy sank back onto the pillow.
Wow!
Her head reeled with the thought that the Seth she knew, the Seth who’d kissed her and sent her to the moon, might not be Bella’s father after all. It was ridiculous, but she loved the possibility that he hadn’t been Rachel’s lover.
But hang on, girl. Don’t jump to too many conclusions.
This could be wishful thinking. If Seth wasn’t Bella’s father, why hadn’t he just come out and said so? Was he trying to protect his uncle? His reputation? Was that why he’d been so negative about Rachel’s book?
Or was her new theory total rubbish?
Amy groaned. She wouldn’t be able to get any of these answers until morning, but the questions were going to keep her awake all night.
Seth woke, as he always did, at dawn and he lay very still, with his eyes closed, listening to the silence of the sleeping house and to the warbling songs of the honeyeaters in the rainforest, signalling the start of a new day.
Out of habit, he reached for the wristwatch on his bedside table and squinted at its dial. Yep. Five-twenty a.m. on the dot.
Normally he would leap out of bed. In summer, he liked to get any heavy work out of the way before the day got too hot. But in deference to his houseguests, he stayed put. They were just across the hall and the slightest sound might disturb them. No point in waking them too early.
It had made sense, he’d thought, to put Amy and Bella together in the room across the hall. If the little girl was scared during the night, Amy would be there for her.
But he couldn’t help fantasising about Amy sleeping in a room on her own…
OK, lamebrain, what could you have done? Snuck into her room? Continued on where the kiss left off? Oh, yeah. Brilliant. Then you‘d really make a dog’s breakfast of this tricky situation.
If only he could stop thinking about her. Memories of their brief kiss had haunted him all night, reappearing and expanding out of all proportion in a string of X-rated dreams.
He wasn’t sure that he could survive too many nights with Amy in his house, sleeping in her flimsy white nightdress just across the hallway. He’d be a pile of cinders before the time was up.
Problem was, the wanting wasn’t only about physical desire.
He’d found himself enjoying simply being with Amy…hanging out…talking with her and listening to the warmth in her voice…watching the changing moods in her lovely brown eyes…admiring the sweet and tender way she cared for Bella.
For years, Seth had avoided this level of interest in any one woman, but Amy Ross had slipped quietly under his radar. She was so easy to be with and there was something delightfully refreshing about her. He liked her and he desired her, and he couldn’t stop thinking about her.
Damn it…He had to stop.
He knew he and Amy had no future. Hadn’t he learned anything from Jennifer?
His gaze flickered again to the nightstand and he saw the fancy wristwatch that had been Jennifer’s last gift, the precious farewell gift she given him before she went back to New York.
She’d been so excited about finding the watch in a jewellery shop in Cairns.
‘It tells two different time zones simultaneously, so you’ll always know what time it is in New York. Isn’t that neat, Seth? You’ll know the right time to call, and you’ll be able to picture what I’m doing. I won’t be so far away.’
‘But it can’t change the facts, Jen,’ he’d warned her. ‘You’ll still be on the other side of the world.’
‘I’ll come back. Soon. I promise.’
With that promise calming his fears, they’d made love for the last time, and if Seth closed his eyes he could still see the morning sunlight rimming Jennifer’s auburn hair with fire…could still see the rainbow flashes from the diamond he’d put on her finger.
He’d let her go home.
To America.
She’d been so sure she would simply wind things up in New York and come hurrying back to marry him.
‘I love you, Seth. I promise, darling. I don’t need the city, when I’m with you.’
I promise…
She’d been sincere at the time—he’d give her that. Jennifer had never dreamed she would find the pull of her hometown impossible to resist. In all innocence, he’d let her go back and, inevitably, she’d been seduced by the exciting bustle and buzz of the Big Apple. She’d found herself clinging once more to the security of familiar faces, to the reassurance of well-loved sights and sounds, to the comfort of crowds.
It had only taken six weeks before she’d come to her senses. She’d cried so hard when she’d telephoned Seth that he’d barely been able to make out a word she was saying, but eventually he’d understood that she wasn’t coming back, and, no, he shouldn’t fly over there to be with her.
It couldn’t work, she told him. Their worlds were too different.
For Seth, the lesson was clear.
Love, alone, was not enough.
The softest breath fanned Seth’s cheek. Startled, he turned to find Bella’s blue eyes half an inch from his.
‘What are you doing here, little one?’
‘Up!’ the little girl demanded, and before he realised quite what was happening she gripped his bed sheets, slung one leg high and hauled herself, like a tiny commando, up into the bed beside him.
‘Should you be here?’ he asked as he flung one hand out to prevent her from tumbling back to the floor. ‘Where’s Amy?’
Bella didn’t answer.
Somewhat alarmed, he scooted over to make room for her in his king-sized bed. She merely giggled and began to bounce on the mattress, sending her dark curls flying.
She was a cutie—no doubt about that—this tiny human being who was, amazingly, related to him.
Seth knelt on the bed, ready to catch her if she bounced too high, and he marvelled at her incredible energy and enthusiasm. She was such a happy little thing, so full of life, and, thanks to Amy, she had no sense of the tragedies that had robbed her of her parents.
The word orphan had always horrified Seth.
When his father died and his mother disappeared to the far side of the world, he’d been haunted by visions of storybook orphans, starving and freezing in the snow.
But he’d had his mother’s letters. Inadequate, but tangible, they’d arrived on his birthdays—and he’d had his uncle, whose kindness and love had saved him and kept him afloat.
Now, as he watched this giggling, bouncing little girl, he choked up, thinking about the man who’d fathered her.
I owe you one, mate. I owe you big time.
Except that Amy had picked up the baton. She’d assumed responsibility for her friend’s daughter and, as far as Seth could tell, she loved the kid unreservedly, as if she were her own.
He supposed the security and stability of Amy’s happy family had given her the grounding she needed to reach out without fear. Seemed she was doing damn fine splendid and she didn’t need his help.
‘You’re a lucky kid,’ he told Bella. ‘You’re much better off with her.’
Within seconds of waking, Amy saw that Bella’s bed was empty.
She bounced out of bed in a panic. Bella usually climbed straight into Amy’s bed for a morning cuddle and she’d never wandered off before.
Amy darted into the hallway. ‘Bella!’
‘She’s in here.’
In mid-dash down the hallway, Amy skidded to a halt. Seth’s voice had come from his bedroom.
Zap. Heart thumping, she turned in at his doorway.
Part of her brain must have registered that Bella was bouncing in the middle of Seth’s huge bed, but almost all of her attention was caught by his bare chest.
Oh, help.
Amy had to stare; she simply had to. Seth’s chest was so fabulously toned, so amazingly muscly and masculine and naked.
The sight of him now in his bedroom was such a different matter from seeing him by the pool yesterday. It was totally unexpected, for one thing. But now, after he’d kissed her…After her night of restless tossing and turning…
‘Bella marched in here and took over my bed,’ Seth explained, with an apologetic grin that didn’t quite hide the fact that he was checking Amy out.
It was only when she saw the unmistakable spark of appreciation in his eyes that she remembered she was in her nightdress. Her thin white cotton nightdress. Again. Which meant she was even more scantily clad than he was.
This was becoming an embarrassing habit.
Surreptitiously, she attempted to cross her arms over her chest as she backed out of the room. ‘Bella has so much energy first thing in the morning. Thanks for taking care of her.’
Frantically, she tried to beckon to the little girl. ‘Come on, now, Bella. That’s enough bouncing. Time to get dressed.’
Bella continued to bounce.
‘Hey!’ Seth caught the little girl in mid bounce and swept her so high she squealed with delight.
Amy watched the rippling sheen of his muscles and felt the oxygen sucked from her lungs.
Grinning, Seth turned to her, holding the giggling, wriggling child. ‘Here you go. She’s all yours.’
Struggling to breathe, she prepared to take Bella from him. Their forearms bumped, of course, and for a heady moment she found her hands squashed between Bella’s squirming body and the solid wall of Seth’s bare chest.
He was warm and satiny and hard…and touchable…She could feel his heat, smell his skin…
Pulling away, she blushed hotly, and turned to dash for the safety of her room, but she was distracted by a silver-framed photograph on the dresser near the door.
Clutching Bella, Amy took a second look. It was a close-up portrait of an incredibly handsome man approaching middle age.
His dark hair was feathered with silver and his face had the kind of tan that came from years of living in the outdoors. White creases showed at the corner of his eyes, but, despite the slightly weathered look, there was a breathtaking, filmstar quality about him.
‘Is this your uncle?’ she asked.
Seth’s eyes followed the direction of her gaze and she saw a flash of pain in their blue depths. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘That’s Seth. Everyone around here called him Boss, so there was no confusion about our names.’
‘He looks younger than I expected. When was the photo taken?’
‘A few years ago. Not long before he died, actually.’
Cold shivers skittered down Amy’s spine. So…Uncle Seth had been a hunk. A mature hunk certainly, but indisputably attractive.
Deep down, she sensed the truth as clearly as if the words had been spoken. This uncle had been Rachel’s grand passion.
‘Now’s not the time, Seth, but you and I need to have a talk,’ she said tightly. ‘A serious talk.’ Then she turned and fled from his room.
Chapter Seven
AMY arrived on the veranda, half an hour later, dressed for breakfast and ready for a showdown.
The questions about Bella’s father had to be answered.
Today. Preferably, this morning. She had no idea why Seth had remained silent and mysterious about Bella’s conception, but she was determined to have everything out in the open.
Perhaps he’d guessed what was on her mind. Despite his smooth smile, she could sense an extra tension in him. Good, she thought. It wouldn’t hurt for him to stew for a while; a little discomfort might make him more cooperative.
Guiltily conscious that she was thinking like an interrogator, Amy turned her attention to breakfast, which was another of Ming’s masterpieces.
While Amy helped Bella to dip toast soldiers into her softly boiled egg, she talked to Seth as any guest might, about the fruit trees scattered about the garden, and the hens in the coop at the back of the house.
‘Perhaps Bella and I could collect the eggs,’ she suggested. ‘You’d like that, wouldn’t you, poppet?’
‘You’re very welcome to collect them,’ Seth told her. ‘I’ll warn Ming that the job’s covered for the next few days.’
Playing his part as host, Seth talked politely and carefully about the scenic spots around the property. Amy was equally polite as she tried to pay attention, but she found it hard when her brain was boiling with seriously important questions.
As soon as Bella finished her breakfast Amy grabbed her chance. ‘Seth, do you think Ming could keep Bella entertained, while we have half an hour to ourselves?’
He gave an unsmiling nod and stood. ‘Ming’s a good sport. I’ll speak to him. I’m sure he’ll oblige.’
In no time, Ming appeared, dark eyes sparkling as he flashed Amy a wide grin. ‘Does Bella like to blow bubbles?’
She couldn’t help laughing. ‘Do kangaroos hop? Bella, would you like to blow bubbles?’
The little girl squealed, and as easily as that she was whisked away to the kitchen.
And Amy was alone with Seth.
‘More tea?’ he asked, smiling enigmatically as he lifted the teapot.
‘Thanks.’
She had to concentrate hard, keeping her hand steady as Seth filled her teacup and his, then set the pot down. He regarded her steadily. ‘You said we need to talk.’
‘Yes, I did.’ Amy took her time adding milk to her tea while she marshalled her thoughts. She had to get this right, had to get to the truth without making Seth angry.
Over the rim of his teacup, he watched her. ‘Am I right in guessing you have questions?’
‘Quite a few questions, actually,’ she said. ‘And I hope you’ll give me straight answers.’
His expression remained impassive. ‘Fire away.’
This was it. Time to hold her nose and jump in. ‘Are you Bella’s father?’
Seth looked her straight in the eyes. ‘No, Amy. I’m not.’
Oh, boy. She felt as if she’d dived into a pool only to discover too late that it was the shallow end. Even though she’d guessed this possibility, it was still a shock to have it confirmed. ‘You—you know that for sure?’
‘Absolutely. I didn’t sleep with Rachel. In fact, I had very little to do with her while she was here.’
I didn’t sleep with Rachel.
Amy sat very still, trying to ignore the warm wave of relief that rippled through her. It was totally inappropriate to be pleased simply because this gorgeous man hadn’t made love to her best friend.
She had to forget the way her body went into meltdown at his slightest touch. Her focus was Bella—Bella’s parentage. Bella’s future.
Bella was the only reason these questions were important. If Amy was going to take care of Bella for the next eighteen years or so, she wanted everything about Bella’s family background out in the open. No murky secrets or skeletons in the cupboard.
‘Rachel told me that Bella’s father was Seth Reardon, so I assumed you were—’
‘The culprit?’
‘Yes.’ With one finger, she traced the teacup’s handle. ‘But if it’s not you I suppose Bella’s father was—the other Seth.’
He nodded slowly. ‘Your friend and my uncle were lovers. Neither my uncle nor I knew of Bella’s existence, but if Rachel named Seth Reardon as her father, I can only assume Bella’s their child.’
So there was the truth at last—or as close to the truth as she was ever going to get.
Amy folded her arms and hugged them against her, needing a little head space to adjust to this news. Rachel’s lover was not this Seth Reardon, but a wonderfully attractive, older man. A man who, like Rachel, was no longer alive.
‘Poor little Bella,’ she said.
‘She’s fine, Amy.’
‘But she has no mother or father.’
‘She has you. You’re a terrific mother. You’re doing a fantastic job.’
She shrugged uneasily—disappointed that she couldn’t feel happier now that she’d achieved her goal. ‘Why didn’t you tell me? Why did you let me think you were Bella’s father?’
Seth switched his gaze to a distant spot in the garden. ‘Would you like to go for a walk?’
A walk? He wanted to take a walk now?
‘Are you trying to lead me up the garden path, Seth?’
He gave a soft laugh. ‘No, but I can explain things better outside.’
She shrugged uncertainly. ‘All right.’ She supposed he mightn’t want Ming to overhear them.
As they went down the short flight of timber steps the air was warm and humid and laden with the scent of frangipani. They followed a flagstone path past a bed of lush green plants with astonishing bright orange flowers shaped like lobster claws, and Amy stole a glance at Seth’s frowning face.
She wasn’t going to be put off. Now that she’d adjusted, she was getting increasingly angry that he’d let her think the wrong thing for so long. ‘Were you ever going to tell me about your uncle?’ she asked.
‘I was planning to tell you the whole story.’
‘When?’ she snapped, annoyed by his coolness. ‘When Bella turns twenty-one?’
His mouth tightened and, to her dismay, a distressing sheen brightened his cobalt eyes.
Sudden sympathy burned her throat and she stopped walking. She knew Seth had loved his uncle. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said gently. ‘I should remember that this is difficult for you, too.’
They were at the top of a long flight of stone steps that led down to the very bottom of the garden. Below the steps, the tangle of scrub began, but right in front of them lay a breathtaking view of the beach below, curling like a slice of lemon peel at the edge of the sparkling, dancing sea.
‘I always intended to tell you the truth,’ Seth said. ‘That’s why I brought you back here. But I felt it was important to get to know you first, to make sure I was doing the right thing. And I wanted you to see this place, so you had the whole picture.’
Amy looked at the sea, shimmering like aquamarine silk. She looked at the moss-green islands floating silently, then she looked back to the beautiful house, the terraced gardens, the dark forest of trees. She thought about the hundreds of hectares beyond this, all of which had belonged to Bella’s father.
‘You’re right,’ she said. ‘Seeing this place has certainly opened my eyes. It’s nothing like I expected. I suppose you have to be wary of people turning up out of the blue and claiming some kind of connection. Like land rights. But that’s not why I’ve come here, Seth. I simply wanted to find Bella’s…family. Her roots.’
‘I know,’ he said quietly. ‘And for my part, I’m very happy to have found Bella. I need family too and she’s incredibly important to me. My relatives are rather thin on the ground.’
He flashed Amy a lopsided smile and her bones threatened to melt.
He said, ‘Some time in the future, you’ll be able to tell Bella all about this place.’
Some time in the future…
She thought about going back to Melbourne and resuming her old life…
Before she’d left the city, she’d wanted nothing more than to hurry back there as soon as this mission was accomplished. But from the moment she’d first set eyes on Seth in Tamundra, she’d been foolishly losing her sense of direction.
Even if they hadn’t shared that sensational kiss last night, she’d still be in danger of swooning whenever he was near. Every moment she spent with him she was falling a little more deeply under his spell.
Newsflash, Amy. The enchantment is one sided.
Seth’s kiss might have bowled her over, but it was a mere blip on his radar. He’d shown no interest in an encore.
It was time to be sensible. She had to stick to the original plan, which meant finding out as much as she could about Bella’s father, then heading straight for home.
‘There’s something down here that I should show you while we’re talking,’ Seth said, and he began to descend the stone steps.
Amy kept pace beside him. ‘Can you tell me more about your uncle and Rachel?’
His hesitation was momentary. ‘I can tell you that he loved her. I didn’t realise it straight away, but he was head over heels.’
Amy nodded, recognising the familiar story. Guys were often falling head over heels for Rachel—except that this time, Rachel hadn’t remained immune.
‘Apparently, this was the first time my uncle had been so deeply in love since he met my mother,’ Seth said.
They’d reached the bottom of the steps and she saw a track winding through the untamed scrub. Seth slowed his pace.
‘I think Rachel felt the same way,’ Amy told him. ‘For ages, she wouldn’t talk about her baby’s father, and that was highly unusual for her. Finally she admitted that she loved him, but she didn’t think she could live here. Do you think your uncle tried to persuade her to stay?’
‘I’m sure he must have. He certainly didn’t want her to leave.’
‘But he didn’t try to come after her either.’
Seth stopped walking. His mouth was a pensive downward curve and he stood with his thumbs hooked through the belt loops of his jeans, not quite meeting Amy’s gaze. ‘I know he was worried that he couldn’t make the relationship work, but he still wanted to jump on a plane and fly down to Rachel.’
His mouth twisted unhappily. ‘I’m afraid I persuaded him that he shouldn’t try to follow her.’
‘Why?’
Her abrupt question seemed to anger him. ‘Seth was a fifty-year-old man chasing after a girl almost half his age.’
‘Stranger things have happened in the name of love.’
‘Love?’ He sent her a sharp glance.
‘Why are you looking at me like that?’
‘I don’t want to bad-mouth your friend…’
He left the sentence dangling and now it was Amy who was angry. ‘What?’ she demanded. ‘What are you not telling me?’
‘I—I wasn’t convinced that Rachel really cared for my uncle.’ He looked away, eyes squinted against the bright morning sun. ‘She was a flirt. A girl on the lookout for a holiday fling.’
Telltale wariness flickered in his eyes.
Amy gasped. ‘Don’t tell me she flirted with you, too?’
Seth sighed heavily.
‘Seth?’
‘She made it pretty obvious she was interested.’
Oh.
It was pathetic, but Amy couldn’t hold back her next question. ‘But you didn’t sleep with her, did you?’
‘I told you, no.’
With a pained grimace he kicked at a stone and sent it tumbling down the track. ‘Rachel arrived here full of flirtatious smiles and ready for fun, but I must admit she changed her tune after she met my uncle. But I still didn’t recognise how deeply he was involved. I kept trying to downplay the romance. We went through this weird kind of role reversal, where he was the reckless, love struck kid and I was the cautioning adult.’
Cords of tension stood out on Seth’s neck, and when he shoved tightly fisted hands into his jeans’ pockets, knotted veins showed in his forearms.
‘Seth, I didn’t mean to pry. You don’t have to—’
He kept talking as if he hadn’t heard her. ‘He came to me one morning in the middle of the wet season. We’d had really heavy rain and the roads were cut and he demanded that I fly him to Cairns. Come hell or high water, he was going to Melbourne. He still hadn’t heard from Rachel—no phone calls, letters, or emails.’