‘My thanks also,’ said Sam. ‘It was an unexpected treat, and much appreciated.’
When they were in the car on the way back into town, Lowri heaved a great sigh. ‘What a darling house. It must be so lovely to live there, Hester.’
‘It is, but actually I’m not there very much. In my kind of job I live in the house where I’m—employed. I don’t get home here nearly as often as I’d like.’
‘You must get very homesick.’
‘I miss my mother, certainly.’
To Hester’s dismay, tears suddenly slid down Lowri’s flushed cheeks. ‘If I had a mummy like yours I would too,’ she said, so forlornly that Hester put an arm round the child and held her close in wordless comfort all the way home.
It was so late by the time they arrived that Lowri was only too happy to go straight to bed. She fell asleep so quickly that Hester turned off the DVD player, left a night light on and went down to the kitchen. If Connah wanted to talk to his daughter tonight he was out of luck. But, as she sat down at the table with the daily paper and a mug of tea, it dawned on Hester that, unlike Lowri, a sandwich and one of her mother’s cakes had been her entire food intake for the day.
Hester toasted two slices of sourdough bread, spread them with butter and marmalade and sat down to enjoy her snack while she caught up on the day’s news. She was making a second pot of tea later when she heard footsteps on the stone stairs leading up from the basement and turned with a smile, expecting Sam. Her heart gave a deafening thump when Connah strolled into the kitchen instead, smudges of fatigue under eyes which lit with such involuntary pleasure at the sight of her that Hester sat, transfixed.
‘Hello,’ she said at last, breaking the spell.
‘Good evening, Hester,’ he said, clearing his throat, and dumped down his briefcase. ‘Sam thought you’d gone to bed.’
‘Not yet. Though Lowri’s asleep,’ she said, getting a grip. She gestured towards the teapot. ‘I’ve just made a fresh pot. Would you like some tea?’
He slung his jacket on the back of a chair and sat down at the table. ‘I had my sights set on a shot or two of whisky, but now you’ve mentioned it I think maybe I would like some tea. First, anyway.’
‘I didn’t realise you were coming back today,’ said Hester, shaken by her delight at his unexpected appearance.
Connah raked a weary hand through his hair. ‘When I spoke to you this morning it wasn’t on the agenda. But things went better than I expected, so I thought why the hell am I going back to a lonely flat tonight when I can be home with my daughter in a couple of hours?’ He smiled. ‘Of course Lowri’s asleep now, but at least I’ll be with her first thing in the morning.’
‘She’ll be thrilled. Have you had dinner? I could cook you something.’
‘I had a cholesterol-heavy lunch, so thanks for the kind thought but I won’t trouble you to cook tonight, Hester.’ He eyed her expectantly. ‘Maybe you could rustle up a biscuit or two?’
‘Of course.’ She opened the box containing her mother’s cakes. ‘Or perhaps you’d like one or two of these.’ She put a se lection on a plate and put it in front of him. ‘My mother sent them home with Lowri.’
Connah bit into an almond tart with enthusiasm. ‘Delicious,’ he said indistinctly. ‘So how did the tea party go?’
‘Huge success.’ Hester smiled. ‘But I’ll let Lowri tell you all about it tomorrow. I had a job to tear her away—it was late when we left.’
‘I hope your mother wasn’t too exhausted!’
‘She enjoyed it enormously, so did Robert. Sam, too, by the way,’ she added. ‘He was all for depositing us there and collecting us later, but my parents wouldn’t hear of it.’
‘Knowing your mother even as little as I do, I can well believe that.’ He shrugged. ‘I suppose I should have made things clearer for you from the start where Sam is concerned, Hester, but his role in the household is somewhat hard to define.’
‘It’s not a problem because Sam himself is totally clear about it. So he joined us for lunch on the shopping trip, and for tea today, but dines alone—in peace as he puts it—in his own quarters.’ Hester looked at him levelly. ‘I was quite prepared to do the same, until you instructed otherwise.’
He stared. ‘It’s utterly pointless for you to eat alone in here, while Lowri and I dine in solitary splendour in the dining room—which is the only room in the house I dislike, by the way. You might take a look at it tomorrow and tell me where I went wrong.’
Not sure she would dare to do that, Hester sat down with her own tea. ‘Did you use an interior designer?’
‘Originally, yes, but the woman had ideas so bizarrely different from mine we soon parted company. The study, the dining room and the master suite are down to me. Your room too,’ he added, ‘which is why it’s a touch stark.’
‘Not to me. It’s exactly to my taste.’
‘Good. By the way, did you apologise to Lowri for me?’
‘Yes, but I didn’t say you’d ring in case something prevented that.’ She eyed him thoughtfully. ‘She was a bit blue on the way home tonight.’
He frowned. ‘Why?’
‘Seeing me with my mother emphasized the lack of one herself.’ In for a penny, in for a pound, thought Hester. ‘She would like a baby sister. Even a baby brother would do.’
Connah stared, thunderstruck. ‘She told you that?’
‘Oh, yes. She’s madly envious of her friend Owen because he’s acquired a stepmother.’ Hester’s lips twitched. ‘Be warned. She’d like one of those too.’
‘Good God!’ He held out his cup for more tea, looking poleaxed. ‘She’s never said a word to me.’
‘It’s woman to woman stuff. Please don’t let on that I told you.’
‘I won’t, but I’m glad you warned me. I try to give her most things she wants, but in this case she’ll just have to deal with disappointment.’
Influenced by the intimacy of the situation and the lateness of the hour, Hester found herself asking a question so personal she regretted it the moment it was out of her mouth. ‘You have no plans to marry again?’
She held her breath, certain that Connah would tell her it was nothing to do with the woman he was employing to look after his daughter, but, to her immense relief, he merely shook his head.
‘Not even for Lowri will I marry just to provide her with a stepmother, Hester. She’ll have to find something else to wish for.’ His mouth turned down. ‘But at the weekend my mother informed me that Alice is expecting a baby, so in view of what you’ve just told me I suppose I can expect fireworks from Lowri when she hears that piece of news. Apparently Owen doesn’t know yet, but I doubt that a boy of his age will be thrilled.’
‘He might be if Lowri envies him.’
‘True.’ Connah eyed the empty plate in surprise. ‘I seem to have eaten all the cakes.’
‘There’s plenty more in the box. Are you sure you wouldn’t like me to cook you something?’
He shook his head and got up with gratifying reluctance. ‘I’d better take myself off to the study for some of that whisky I mentioned.’ He gave her the smile that had bowled her over when she was seventeen and was doing pretty much the same right now, all the more potent because it was the first time she’d witnessed it at full power since then. ‘You must be desperate to get to bed. Tomorrow I’ll get something sent in for once to give you the evening off. And I’ll put Lowri to bed myself,’ he added, collecting his briefcase. ‘Don’t mention that I’m home