‘Hester didn’t buy me a new swimming costume!’
‘How remiss of you, Hester,’ said Connah dryly. ‘In that case, you two can raid the shops again today with Sam while I take a trip to Bryn Derwen to tell my mother what’s happening.’
Lowri looked worried. ‘Shouldn’t I go too?’
‘Not this time. We’ll visit her when we get back.’
‘Hester too, so I can take her to see Alice and Owen.’
Connah ruffled his daughter’s hair. ‘After a holiday chasing after you in Tuscany. Hester will be glad of a break. Besides,’ he added, ‘she’ll want to visit her own mother as soon as she gets back from Italy.’
Which could mean that he didn’t want her to visit his, thought Hester, trying not to feel hurt. ‘Then when you get back from Grandma’s, Lowri,’ she said briskly, ‘we’ll be busy getting you ready for school before I leave.’
Lowri’s face fell. ‘Then I suppose you’ll be someone else’s housekeeper.’
Hester avoided Connah’s eyes. ‘I have another job to go to, yes.’
‘Where is your next post, Hester?’ asked Connah.
‘Yorkshire.’
Lowri’s mouth drooped. ‘Is that too far to come home on your day off?’
‘I’m afraid so,’ said Hester with regret.
Lowri brightened. ‘But when you come home to see your mother and Robert, couldn’t you do it at half-term? Then you could see me too.’
‘You’ll be spending next half-term with your grandma,’ Hester reminded her.
‘True,’ said Connah, and got up. ‘But you’re welcome to visit Lowri there any time you fancy a trip into Wales during the school holiday, Hester.’
She thanked him politely, sure that this was merely a courtesy to soothe his disconsolate daughter. ‘I’ll just clear away, then we’ll get ready to go shopping, Lowri.’
‘And I,’ said Connah, pulling his daughter to her feet to hug her, ‘must be off on my travels to get to Bryn Derwen in time for lunch.’
‘Are you coming home again today?’ demanded Lowri.
‘Yes,’ he assured her, ‘but not before your bedtime. If you’re asleep, I’ll see you in the morning. Now, give me a kiss, then you run upstairs and tidy your room while Hester finishes down here.’
‘OK. Give Grandma a big kiss for me.’
When the child had gone, Connah gave Hester a wry smile. ‘She’s grown very attached to you.’
‘It’s mutual,’ admitted Hester, shutting the dishwasher. ‘This is the hardest part of my job. It’s so painful to say goodbye to the children I care for.’
He watched her in silence for a while as she moved round the room, putting things away. ‘Have you never thought of having children of your own?’ he asked at last.
She shot him a startled look. ‘Of course, but only in the abstract.’
His eyes glinted. ‘By which I take it you’ve never met someone you consider suitable to father these children?’
Hester’s chin tilted. ‘That’s a very cold way to look at it.’
‘Ah! You mean you’d have to be in love with the prospective father first.’
‘He would have to be someone I cared for, certainly,’ she said stiffly. ‘And vice versa. It makes for security for the child. You should understand that. You’re a very loving father.’
He sobered. ‘The loving part is easy, but I have to function as both parents to Lowri, which is difficult sometimes. So tell me, Hester, do I shape up to the other fathers you’ve met in your line of work?’
‘Admirably.’ Hester gave the counters an unnecessary sponge-down. Something about Connah in his present mood was unsettling.
‘You’ve never asked me about Lowri’s mother.’ Connah’s eyes took on an absent look, as though he was gazing far back into the past. ‘When she died I felt as though half of me had died with her and I never want to feel that way again.’
Hester stared at him, aghast, shocked that he should tell her something so intensely private.
He looked at his watch, suddenly very much back in the present. ‘I’m late. I’ll call in on Sam on the way down to the garage and tell him to shape up for another shopping session with Lowri. He has the Bryn Derwen number if you need to contact me.’
Why couldn’t she be trusted with the number herself? Hester smiled politely. ‘Have a good trip. I hope you find your mother better.’
‘Thank you. By the way, since this holiday is entirely my idea, please use some of the money I gave you for yourself.’
She shook her head. ‘That’s very kind of you, but I already have everything I need.’
‘What an independent soul you are, Hester.’ He gave her a mocking smile. ‘See you tonight.’
Hester went upstairs to Lowri after Connah had gone, her mind still reeling—not only from shock about the revelation itself, but the fact that he’d confided something so personal to her. She wished he hadn’t. The unexpected glimpse into Connah Carey Jones’s private life left her with severe qualms about their next encounter.
Lowri’s mood improved enormously once they were back at the shopping mall, though she was disappointed when Hester refused to buy a new swimsuit.
‘I don’t need one, Lowri. Honestly. Let’s concentrate on you.’
‘And this time,’ said Sam firmly, ‘I come in every last shop with you.’
‘I hope you can keep up, then,’ said Lowri, giving him a cheeky grin.
After a couple of hours of intensive shopping Sam took charge of the bags Lowri and Hester loaded on to him but, instead of taking them up to the car park, stayed with them when they went to look for lunch.
‘Daddy told you to stick to us every minute, I suppose,’ sighed Lowri, as she studied a menu in the café they chose.
‘That’s right,’ agreed Sam cheerfully. ‘Now, what shall we eat?’
‘I’ll order a salad, then pop into the pharmacy over there while you choose yours,’ said Hester. ‘I forgot to buy more sunblock.’
‘We’ll stay put then, Lowri,’ said Sam, and gave Hester a straight look. ‘Don’t be long.’
Leaving her companions wrangling about their choices, Hester walked swiftly across the mall to make her purchases. When she hurried from the shop afterwards she collided with a man who apologised profusely as he picked up the packages she’d dropped.
‘Did I hurt you?’ he demanded.
‘Not in the least,’ she said firmly, taking her parcels.
‘Let me buy you a cup of coffee to make amends.’
‘No, thank you. I have someone waiting for me.’
‘Of course you have,’ he said with regret and, when she pointedly waited for him to go, he gave her a wry little salute and walked away.
Hester gazed after him with narrowed eyes. She wished she could have taken him up on his offer so Sam could vet him. Because she was pretty sure he was the man who’d asked for directions in Albany Square, and therefore possibly the man in the park as well. But she couldn’t risk letting him anywhere near Lowri. She hurried back to the café to find Sam and Lowri making inroads into their lunch.
‘A good thing you ordered a salad,’ said