‘Are you sure?’
She saw the flash of his teeth as he grinned at her. ‘Tree snakes aren’t really dangerous, unless you’re a bird or a little possum.’
Her heart was thundering like a Mack truck, but the problem wasn’t so much her fear of snakes as the intimate warmth of Seth’s hand enclosing hers. She registered every detail—the slightly rough texture of his palm, the individual pressure of each of his fingers.
Seth took them deeper into the forest, dodging hanging vines and buttressed tree roots. The frogs were silent now and the trees crowded close, but just when Amy wondered if they were mad to continue into the gathering gloom they reached a clearing—and Seth released her hand.
The sudden feeling of loss was alarming, but Amy was soon gasping with amazement as tiny pinpricks of light flitted and danced in the dusky glade. The fireflies flashed in front of them, behind them, and above them, and they looked exactly like tiny glowing fairies.
Seth was right—they were magic. Truly magic and utterly entrancing.
‘They’re so beautiful,’ Amy said softly. ‘Look Bella, see the fireflies. They’re like fairies.’
‘Fairies,’ Bella repeated in hushed awe.
‘Aren’t they pretty?’
The little girl nodded, and for once she was too entranced to speak. She simply wound her arms around Seth’s neck and hugged him more tightly, and he smiled and kissed her cheek.
‘Is that firefly all right? It doesn’t seem able to fly,’ Amy said, pointing to a blinking light that had stayed on the ground the whole time.
Seth laughed softly. ‘That’s a female. She stays down there quietly, waiting till a flashing male appeals to her, and then she flashes back, signalling her interest.’
‘Oh.’ Amy wished she hadn’t asked and she was sure she was still blushing when it was time to head back.
‘I didn’t bring a torch,’ Seth told her. ‘So you need to stay close.’
He took her hand again and she vowed to remain calm and sensible as they made their way back.
Conversation would be a helpful distraction, she decided, so she told Seth that she’d made friends with Hans, the gardener, and that she’d visited the kitchen to talk to Ming. Bella chattered about fairies, then promptly begged for another swim.
‘Not till tomorrow,’ Seth told her gently but firmly, as if he was already completely comfortable with his new role as her father.
Amy half expected Bella to ask again for a swim, pleading and putting on her whiny voice, but the little girl accepted Seth’s ruling without a murmur.
They reached the edge of the trees where they could see the lights from the house spilling across the terraced lawns, and just when Amy expected Seth to release her she felt his thumb stroke the back of her hand. Slowly. Deliberately.
Just once.
A trembling thrill raced from her breastbone to her toes.
She knew it hadn’t been an accident.
She couldn’t breathe, but then Seth released her hand and he set Bella down to run ahead of them over the smooth lawn.
Still trembling from his touch, Amy sent a quick glance in his direction, but his attention was focused entirely on Bella, and he was smiling as he watched her skipping and flapping her arms in the warm night air.
‘She’s trying to be a firefly,’ he said.
‘She’s having a great time here,’ Amy admitted softly.
‘She is, isn’t she?’ He was still smiling.
She wanted to remind him of his intention to let Bella return to Melbourne at the end of their stay, but she was silenced by the shining light in his eyes. For the first time since she’d met him, he looked genuinely happy.
After Seth showered and changed into fresh clothes, he went through to the kitchen, where he found Bella at the kitchen table, glowing pink and clean after her bath, smelling of baby talcum powder and wolfing down a bowl of Ming’s special chicken congee.
‘Hi, Sef,’ Bella called, waving her spoon at him. ‘My eating dinner.’
‘Lucky you.’ He found himself smiling back at her. He’d been smiling so much lately it was a wonder his face hadn’t cracked. ‘Is Amy about?’ he asked Ming.
‘She’s taking a shower.’ Ming turned from the stove, shot a shrewd glance Seth’s way, and grinned. ‘I reckon she’s doing the same as you.’
‘What’s that?’
‘Getting spruced up for your dinner date.’
‘It isn’t a date.’
Ming’s keen gaze took in Seth’s clean moleskin trousers and neatly pressed shirt and Seth felt the back of his neck grow hot.
‘I thought I explained,’ he said tightly. ‘Amy’s a friend of Rachel’s. You remember Rachel? Rachel Tyler?’
‘Of course.’ The cook frowned and turned back to the stove. ‘But Amy Ross is nothing like Rachel.’
‘No,’ Seth agreed as he helped Bella to scrape the last of the chicken and rice porridge from the bottom of her bowl. ‘Amy’s not remotely like Rachel. They’re chalk and cheese.’
He heard a sound behind him and turned to find Amy in the doorway. Her hair was loose to her shoulders, brushed and shining, and she was wearing a white summery dress with no sleeves and a soft, floaty skirt. She carried an apricot silk wrap, and her skin looked natural and free from make-up. She was…in a word…
Lovely…
Breathtakingly so.
And she looked as if she might, at any moment, burst into tears.
Seth cursed beneath his breath as he realised she’d overheard his conversation with Ming, and the comparison with Rachel. Damn. He’d meant it as a compliment, but it could just as easily have sounded like a put-down to her. Problem was, he couldn’t explain exactly what he’d meant by his ‘chalk and cheese’ statement without embarrassing her in front of Ming, and without casting her best friend in a bad light.
Despite the abrupt and awkward silence, Amy came into the room and flashed a bright smile, clearly determined to carry on as if she’d heard nothing. ‘Has Bella finished her dinner?’
‘She’s eaten every drop,’ Seth told her.
‘Ming, you must be a genius.’ Amy admired the empty bowl elaborately. ‘Bella doesn’t normally eat much in the evenings.’
Ming grinned. ‘Everyone likes my cooking.’
‘You should thank Ming, Bella.’
‘Thank you, Ming,’ the little girl parroted obediently, but her smile was genuine enough to melt the shy cook’s heart.
‘Now drink up your milk because it’s time for bed.’
As soon as the milk was down Amy whisked the child away.
Not once did she look at Seth.
Amy took a deep breath as she walked across the subtly lit veranda, past a table set prettily for two, with a candle under a glass dome and a pink ceramic bowl filled with floating flowers. She found Seth sitting on the top veranda step, staring out into the vast, moony black night.
‘Seth?’
His head whipped around and his gaze was fierce.
She swallowed. ‘Would you mind saying goodnight to Bella?’ Smiling awkwardly, she explained, ‘I’m afraid she won’t settle without a kiss from you.’
‘Sure.’