Nurse, Nanny...Bride!. Alison Roberts

was a nightmare! Part of her brain, however, was registering the fact that Andrew wasn’t punishing his daughter in any way for the contradiction. Maybe he wasn’t as strict and controlling as first impressions had suggested. Or maybe he was just distracted by dealing with her for the moment. He didn’t look indecisive any longer. He looked furious. His gaze was chilly enough to send a shiver up her spine.

      ‘Where—precisely—do you live?’

      ‘In the cottage.’

      Andrew shook his head. ‘No. The tenant in the cottage is someone called Amanda.’

      Alice nodded. ‘Mandy Jones. She signed a twelvemonth lease but she decided to go to Italy with her boyfriend. I was already living with her so I took over the lease last October, when it still had six months to run.’

      ‘I wasn’t informed of any sub-lease.’

      ‘We saw the solicitor. I signed a contract.’

      ‘We’ll have to see about that. Won’t we?’

      A horrible thought occurred to Alice. What if the contract was somehow illegal? Could Andrew simply kick her out? Where on earth would she go, with a horse and dog? She touched Jake’s head with her free hand, seeking reassurance. Trying to stem the awful sinking feeling that, once again, her life was falling apart.

      ‘Alice?’

      She turned her face up to Emmy.

      ‘I’d like to get down now, please.’

      ‘Sure. Bring your leg over to this side and I’ll help you.’ Alice raised her arms and caught Emmy as she slid off the horse. Ben stood like a rock, bless him, but she held the little girl closer for just a moment when her feet touched the ground. Letting her know that she was safe. It was a long time since she’d hugged a child and her arms felt curiously empty when she let go.

      Emmy patted Jake on his head and then walked towards her father. ‘Come on, Daddy,’ she said. ‘I’m hungry and I want to go home.’ She looked over her shoulder at Alice. ‘Can I have another ride, please? Tomorrow?’

      ‘Um…you’ll need to talk to your daddy about that.’

      A discussion that was unlikely to give Emmy what she wanted, judging by the look Alice was receiving from Andrew right now. If she’d felt unwanted in Resus this afternoon when he’d chosen Jo over her, she felt far less desirable right now. More like something he needed to scrape off his shiny black shoe.

      Except his shoes weren’t very shiny any more, after storming over the paddock. The ends of his pinstriped trousers looked a little worse for wear, too. No doubt he would blame Alice when he noticed and then she would have to face him again at work in the morning. Not that she had to do anything to gain this man’s displeasure. Existing was more than enough.

      Alice had to fight the urge to burst into tears the way Emmy had on hearing her father shouting. Just as well she was good at fighting. She’d learned to tap into stronger feelings. Like anger. She raised her chin.

      ‘You might like to let Emmy’s mother know it’s not a good idea to let her wander around by herself,’ she said crisply. ‘The river’s quite deep in places and it’s not fenced off.’

      Emmy turned again. She was shaking her head. ‘I haven’t got a mother,’ she told Alice. ‘She’s dead, isn’t she, Daddy?’

      ‘Yes.’ The monosyllabic response was giving nothing away.

      It certainly wasn’t inviting even one of the questions Alice had tumbling in her head. What had happened to Melissa? How long ago? Did Emmy miss her dreadfully? Did Andrew? Was that why he had decided to come to the other side of the world to be a solo parent?

      ‘I’ve got a nanny instead,’ Emmy continued.

      ‘Not any more.’ Andrew sounded weary now. ‘Haylee’s not going to be staying with us any longer.’

      ‘Because she was so tired?’

      That got a smile. One that Alice was completely excluded from. The bond between this father and daughter was clearly strong enough for her to have been forgotten as the two of them talked to each other. That impression was deepened as Andrew bent down and Emmy raised her arms to be picked up. And when she was, she wrapped her arms around her father’s neck and her legs around his waist and tucked her head against his neck. A fluid series of movements that spoke of a well-rehearsed routine.

      ‘Yes, sweetheart. Because she was too tired to look after you properly. Now say goodbye to Alice. We’re going home.’

      Emmy peeped over the solid wall of her father’s shoulder. Big blue eyes and golden curls, just like her mother had had. The same kind of fragile prettiness that most men had found irresistible, but it had been Andrew that Mel had chosen.

      ‘Goodbye, Alice,’ the little girl said.

      ‘Bye, hon.’

      She was used to living here alone. It was more than five months since Mandy had gone. She had Ben. And Jake.

      So why on earth did watching the retreating figure of Andrew, holding his child in his arms, make her feel not only alone but lonely?

      Afraid, even.