Luckily he wasn’t looking at her. His voice was flat when he went on, ‘Apparently my wife was pregnant when she left me. I just wish I’d known I had a child and could have been involved in some part of his life. The last two days I’ve agonised over why she shut me out so completely. I rang and checked. I am Michael’s true father.’
He shrugged. The image of the pain in Scott’s face in the birthing suite that morning came back to her. ‘And you’ve learnt nothing else about your son?’
‘What’s there to learn? He’s a man now. I imagine from his side I’m the father who’s done nothing to help him. It must be more of a shock to him than it was to me.’
Bella drained her coffee and set the cup down. She glanced at the clock on the kitchen wall. ‘It’s almost time for the bus run again.’
Scott gave her a wry smile and stood to pull out her chair. ‘Well, that will end our session of truth and dare for the night. Thank goodness.’
‘It’s not healthy to keep all this stuff bottled up, Scott.’ Bella was stern in her new role. ‘When the shock wears off, you’ll be glad you told me.’
‘Right,’ Scott said cynically, and waited for her to precede him out of the room.
When they’d settled in the bus and Scott saw Bella stifle another yawn his original misgivings came back to him. ‘This is ridiculous. You shouldn’t be driving this bus. Can’t you find someone else to do it?’
Bella shook her head. ‘The government has promised funding for next year. That includes the employment of a salaried driver. I can survive until then.’
‘But why is it your problem?’
Bella shrugged. ‘Because if I didn’t do it, no one else would. I agree with my sister in the basic goodness of the younger generation. The advantages of the service are worth the effort.’
The conversation came to a halt because the bus had reached the first stop. A large group of young men and women clambered on and the noise level in the bus made conversation between Bella and Scott impossible, which was OK because he had enough to think about. Not the least was how soft Bella had felt in his arms and how hard it had been to let her go. Her support for his dilemma with his son was also surprisingly comforting.
At each stop the bus became more crowded until finally people started to get off and head home. By the time Bella had arrived back at Chisholm Road there were only Melissa and a young man left.
Bella had glanced in the rear-view mirror a few times. Blake—Bella assumed it was the Blake Melissa had befriended—had a sweet smile and laughter-filled eyes. In fact, Bella had liked him on sight.
When they moved to the front of the bus to alight, Melissa’s pleading eyes left Bella in no doubt of the young man’s identity.
‘This is Blake, Bella.’
Bella swivelled in her seat and held out her hand. Blake’s long brown hair looked clean and his goatee was interesting, though she wasn’t sure if she was thrilled with the small scorpion tattooed on his wrist or the skull and crossbones piercing his eyebrow. Scott’s going to love this, she thought.
She met the young man’s green eyes and nodded. ‘Hello, Blake.’ Blake shook Bella’s hand. ‘This is Dr Rainford.’ The two men nodded at each other but neither held out their hand. Bella smiled wryly to herself. ‘Perhaps you could come and see me tomorrow and we can discuss Melissa’s idea.’
Blake nodded. ‘Thank you. I will.’ He glanced at Scott once more and then followed Melissa out of the bus, where they went into a huddle for a minute before he headed off down the street.
Bella realised she’d been swayed to coolness by the fact that Scott was there, and the thought irritated her.
‘What was all that about?’ Scott’s timing was way out.
‘Nothing important.’ She put the bus into gear and reversed it carefully down the driveway. ‘Let’s get this bus parked. I’m tired. It’s been a long day.’
He waited until she switched off the engine in the garage before pushing his luck. ‘For nothing important, there was a lot of eye contact going on all round. What does he want?’
Bella stifled a sigh and measured her answer. ‘Blake has offered to do odd jobs around the house in exchange for lodging. I’m thinking about it.’
Scott frowned and shook his head. ‘I can do odd jobs around the house. I don’t think introducing a young man as a boarder is a good idea.’
Bella held back the comment that it was none of his business. Her voice was sweet. ‘And here I was thinking that having a large country medical practice and most nights on call would be enough to keep you busy. I must start a list of repairs for you.’
She stood up and eased herself from her seat. ‘Goodnight, Scott.’
He followed her out and towered over her beside the bus. ‘I enjoyed your company, Bella. We must do it again.’
‘Any Friday and Saturday night,’ Bella said dryly, and walked away.
Scott’s firm voice drifted across. ‘Then I’ll see you at seven tomorrow night.’
Bella thought of those moments in the kitchen and how much she had cared about Scott’s distress over his son. She closed her eyes and didn’t look back. ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea,’ she whispered to herself.
Saturday
‘BELLA, Blake’s here.’ Melissa’s voice drifted from the front door. Bella put down the morning newspaper and stood up from the kitchen table. She met Vivie’s eyes and Vivie shrugged.
At breakfast, Bella had spoken to Aunt Sophie about the possibility of a male boarder and her aunt had sent the ball back into Bella’s court with a noncommittal shrug. ‘If he’s likeable and honest, it’s not a bad thing to have a man about the house,’ she’d said.
All the other girls except Vivie had met Blake previously and thought it ‘cool’ that he might move in with them. Bella had had to bite back a smile as they’d unanimously agreed to hand the mowing and the garbage-bin duties over to him if he joined the household.
Bella walked into the hallway and smiled at Blake. ‘Come through into the kitchen, Blake, and we’ll have a coffee and see if we can work something out.’
Blake shot a glance at Melissa who nodded encouragingly and hung back to watch them go.
Vivie brought the coffee-pot over and when they were all seated at the kitchen table, Bella looked across at the young man. Tall and good-looking under the ponytail and eyebrow stud, there was something about the square chin under his goatee that invited a smile.
She couldn’t help but like him. ‘You haven’t met Vivie, have you, Blake?’
Blake smiled at the young woman. ‘Hello, Vivie.’
Vivie nodded but didn’t say anything.
‘Vivie runs the house. She shops and is a fabulous cook and we’re very lucky to have her. That’s why she’s in on this discussion.’ Vivie blushed and looked down at the tablecloth.
Bella moved on. ‘If we were to think about inviting you to move in, Blake, it’s only fair that we’d run through the expectations we have for everyone in the household.’
Blake nodded that he understood.
Bella continued, ‘Melissa said you might be willing to do some odd jobs around the house.’
Blake