‘I have no idea, but it doesn’t really matter. She remarried,’ Seth said coldly. ‘Found herself a cashed-up Californian.’
‘Has she ever been here?’
‘Once, when she dropped me off,’ he said, unhappily aware that he’d revealed much more than he’d intended. It was time to put a stop to these personal questions. Years ago, he’d learned to live without his mother and he wasn’t going to admit to a tender-hearted woman like Amy Ross that his only contact with her had been letters on his eighteenth and twenty-first birthdays with generous cheques attached.
He drained his coffee cup and stood. ‘I’m afraid I have business to attend to and I’m sure you’d appreciate time to yourself while Bella’s asleep.’
‘I’d like to take photographs of your grounds, if that’s all right.’
‘Be my guest. But keep to the open areas. Don’t go wandering off into the rainforest, or down the track to the beach.’
Amy frowned. ‘Do you think I’ll get lost?’
‘I’m assuming you’d rather not come face to face with an amethystine python, or a salt-water crocodile.’
The colour drained from her face and he winced. In one breath he’d completely ruined her stay.
‘I’m exaggerating the danger,’ he said more gently. ‘People have been living here for decades quite safely. But I’d rather you didn’t go exploring without me.’
‘Yes,’ she acceded, still looking pale. ‘That might be best.’
‘So promise me for now that you won’t go beyond the garden.’
Amy gave him her word.
AS SHE watched Seth stride away, Amy almost changed her mind about setting foot outside the house. The spectre of snakes and crocodiles scared her to death and in a panicky rush she ran back to the bedroom to make sure that Bella was still sleeping safely.
The windows and doors to their room were screened, however, and no creepy-crawlies could find their way in, thank God. Bella was fine.
She knew Seth’s claim was true—plenty of people had lived here and avoided being eaten. Rachel had stayed here for six weeks and she’d never mentioned any special dangers. Then again, Rachel had kept quiet about a lot of things in the north.
Including Seth.
But Amy had already tortured herself enough over that man. All morning, she’d driven herself crazy fretting over his relationship with Rachel, his plans for Bella, and her own giddy pulse rate whenever he was near.
Taking several deep breaths, she swore to put him out of her mind, and she set off, camera in hand, to explore his garden.
Which was lovely. Really lovely.
Again she wondered why Rachel had never mentioned how gorgeous this place was. She’d made so few comments, hadn’t shown any pictures. Nothing. Had she saved it all for her book?
Amy didn’t know the names of many of the tropical plants, but as she walked she recognised hibiscus, orchids and bougainvilleas growing lushly amidst ferns and palms. She loved the showiness and variety of the lavishly hued tropical flowers and leaves.
The butterflies and birds were extra bright and beautiful, too. All living things here were wonderfully vivid. Nature at double strength. As she walked down twisting paths, she felt as if her senses were zapped onto high alert.
She was surrounded by fragrances—the scents of frangipani, of ginger and cardamom, mixed with a pervading smell of damp earth and vegetation. There was a constant peep-peep-peeping sound, which, Seth had already explained, came from tiny tree frogs in the nearby forest.
Here in the tropics there was a sense of life teeming and lush, pushing to the max, and she was aware of an indefinable something that stirred her, a constant pulse-raising excitement and restlessness.
Perhaps that was why her thoughts zeroed straight back to Seth.
She couldn’t help it. He was such a fascinating puzzle.
He’d said he was fine about his mother’s defection, but Amy had been watching him closely, and despite his brave words she’d seen dark pain in his eyes and in the tightening set of his mouth.
Her heart ached for him, but his brave stoicism also frightened her. How could they come to an agreement about Bella’s future when his attitude to mothers and motherhood was almost the polar opposite of hers?
Amy adored her mum and she adored caring for Bella, but if Seth had managed so famously in this remote place without any contact with his mother, he might easily assume that Bella would be fine here, too.
And where, Amy wondered, did that leave her?
It was a relief, on rounding a tall clump of pink ginger, to be distracted by an elderly man wearing a wide-brimmed hat of woven cane and happily hacking at palm fronds with a longhandled machete.
‘Hi,’ Amy called, waving to catch his attention.
In no time, she’d introduced herself and learned that he was Hans, who’d grown up in Indonesia, and had worked as a gardener on Serenity for more than twenty years.
‘Can I show you my garden?’ he asked in response to her eager compliments, and when she assured him she’d love that he grinned so widely his face disappeared into a mass of brown wrinkles.
For the next half-hour, Amy was highly entertained and educated, and she tried, once again, to put Seth Reardon and his potential threats to her happiness firmly out of her mind.
Seth didn’t return to the homestead until it was close to dusk. By then, the sky had turned smoky aqua and pink and the garden was filled with purple shadows. Amy was about to take Bella inside for her bath when she saw Seth coming across the lawn to the house.
There was something tired about his shoulders that she hadn’t noticed before, but his smile was bright when Bella ran to greet him with her usual bouncing enthusiasm.
He scooped her up in his arms and swung her so high that the little girl squealed, then begged for more.
Seth laughed. ‘That’s enough for now.’ He shot Amy a bright-eyed glance. ‘Come with me and I’ll show you magic fireflies.’
‘Fireflies?’ Amy and Bella chorused together.
He nodded towards the darkening forest. ‘Over here. Come on, I’ll show you.’
They went down a flight of stone steps to a lower terrace, crossed the lawn to a dark line of trees, and Amy saw a narrow track leading away into the shadowy depths of the forest. Seth, who was holding Bella with one arm, suddenly reached for Amy’s hand.
Heat raced over her skin like a fire out of control.
‘Stay with me,’ he said quietly and for a giddy, heart-stumbling moment, she fancied he was asking her to…stay here…
To live with him at Serenity.
And then, crazily, even though she’d only known him for two days, she felt an astonishing impulse to say yes.
‘We’ll take this track slowly,’ he said.
Oh, good grief.
Embarrassment flooded Amy as she realised her mistake. Seth wanted her to stay close to him on the darkened track. Of course he wasn’t talking about a romantic future.
Of course, of course.
Silently, she cursed her ridiculous reaction. For heaven’s sake. Her job was to protect Bella’s future happiness, and she had to remember that Seth might