‘Well, I’m sorry. It’s not.’
‘I’ve told you. The child is your responsibility now.’
In what way?’
‘You’re his father. You should support his upbringing.’
‘Financially? Or physically?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Are you asking for money or aren’t you, Miss Stevens?’
Caryn paused. ‘Loren—Loren told me to come to you. To bring the child to you. She said—she said you would know what to do.’
He stared at her disbelievingly. ‘And you accepted that?’
‘Why shouldn’t I?’
‘After what she had told you about me?’
Caryn shook her head. ‘That has nothing to do with it.’
‘I disagree. It has everything to do with it. What does a man like me want with an innocent child? A man who goes around seducing teenagers? A man, moreover, who you have just accused of introducing your sister to drink!’
He’s your son,’ insisted Caryn doggedly, refusing to be alarmed.
‘And your nephew. Or had you overlooked that?’
It’s nothing to do with me,’ Caryn exclaimed restlessly. ‘It’s not my child.’
His amber eyes narrowed. ‘You sound very vehement about it. Don’t you like children?’
‘It killed my sister, Mr Ross. Do you think I can forget that?’
‘Ah, I see.’ He sounded sardonic. ‘How convenient! Shift the blame—and the responsibility.’
‘I have to work for my living, Mr Ross. I don’t have time to take care of a baby.’
‘It may have slipped your notice, Miss Stevens, but I work for my living, too.’
‘That’s different.’
‘How different?’
‘You—you have money …’
‘I see. So it is money you want,’ he mocked coldly.
‘No!’
‘Why should I believe you? How do I know you’re not making the whole thing up? You’re Loren’s sister! Maybe you’re in this together!’
Her white face seemed to sober him, and he muttered a rough apology: ‘Okay, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. You’re nothing like her, thank God!’
Caryn’s throat felt tight. ‘Loren is dead.’
‘Yes, yes, so you keep telling me.’
‘It’s true!’
‘I believe it.’ He expelled his breath on a long sigh. ‘So: where is the kid?’
‘In London. Spending the day with some friends who live in the adjoining flat to mine. Laura—that’s the girl’s name—she’s expecting a baby herself in three months.’
‘Really.’ He sounded uninterested, and she wished she hadn’t volunteered the information. She had only wanted to assure him that the child was in good hands. ‘How soon can I see him?’
‘You mean—you mean you’ll have him?’ Suddenly it all seemed totally unreal.
‘You’re prepared to give him away, aren’t you? To a complete stranger?’
‘You’re his father,’ she protested, but he shook his head.
‘You can’t prove that.’
‘You can’t prove you’re not.’
‘I wouldn’t be too sure of that, if I were you.’
‘Oh, please!’ Caryn’s cry was ragged. ‘Will you or won’t you take him?’
‘Let’s say I want to examine the goods first, hmm?’ He paused. ‘Does he have a name?’
‘Yes.’ Caryn was reluctant to admit it. ‘Loren called him Tristan, but I—I—’
‘You couldn’t bring yourself to use it, is that it?’ he questioned dryly.
‘Maybe.’
He began to pace again, measuring the room with his lean, pantherlike strides. ‘So—where do you live?’
‘I can drive back and fetch him—’
‘No.’ He halted once more. ‘No, don’t do that. I’ll come to London. You’d better give me your address.’
Caryn was loath to do so. ‘I can easily bring him here.’
‘I’m sure you can,’ he agreed, ‘but I prefer to do it my way.’
‘You can’t pay me off!’ she burst out uncontrollably, and his lips curled.
‘I don’t intend to.’
A knock at the study door curtailed any response she might have made, and without waiting for his summons, Angela Ross appeared in the doorway. Her eyes flickered over Caryn without liking, and then she looked at her father.
‘Tris, how much longer are you going to be? Marcia’s made a pizza for your supper, and it’s going to be ruined if you don’t eat it soon.’
His features changed as he looked at his daughter. Watching him, Caryn felt a curious pang at the gentleness of his expression. Why couldn’t he have looked at Loren like that? she thought resentfully. Why should this girl feel herself so secure when he owed just as much allegiance to the woman who had borne his child, and to his son …
‘We’re almost through,’ he told Angela now. ‘Miss—er—Stevens is leaving.’
Caryn squared her shoulders. ‘If you’ll give me a sheet of paper, I’ll give you my address.’
She was aware of his daughter’s raised eyebrows, but she didn’t care. Angela would have to know sooner or later, and why should she protect her? It was up to her father to explain, if he could.
Angela hung around as Caryn wrote her address on the pad he handed to her, adding her telephone number in case it was needed. Tristan barely glanced at it as he tossed it on to his desk, and she was aware that he was waiting for her to go.
‘I’ll be in touch,’ he assured her politely, his eyes glinting, with suppressed anger. She guessed he had not cared for her referring to some future association in front of his daughter, but that was just too bad, she thought half defensively.
Outside, the air had never smelt so sweet, and she walked up to where she had left the car on legs that threatened to give out on her. Well, she had done it, she thought defiantly, and wondered why she was suddenly so doubtful …
Caryn spent the night at the hotel in Carmarthen and travelled back to London the next morning. The journey seemed so much shorter going back, but perhaps that was because she had more enthusiasm towards her destination.
Her flat was on the second floor of a house in Bloomsbury. It was not the most fashionable area of London, but it was civilised, and the tall Victorian houses had an atmosphere that was missing from the stark concrete and glass sky-scrapers that had sprung up all around them. Mrs Theobald, who lived on the ground floor, had window boxes, and at this time of the year they were bright with geraniums, and gave a distinct individuality to Number II Faulkner Terrace. Caryn had rung her friends from the hotel that morning, and when she reached the second floor the door of the Westons’ flat opened and Laura appeared with the baby in her arms.
‘Hi,’ she said, smiling, her freckled face showing sympathy for Caryn’s aching legs. ‘Come in and have a cuppa.