‘Your full name is Laura Anne Grady and you’re thirty years of age—not that you look it, I might add.’ He gave her another quick grin. ‘You look a lot younger than that. It must be your hair.’
Reaching out, he ruffled the red curls at her temple then returned his hand to the wheel. ‘All those baby-soft curls make you look more like a teenager than a grown woman.’
He carried on before she could say anything, not that there was much she could think of, Laura realised giddily. The action had been so…so natural that it would have been impossible to object. However, that didn’t mean it hadn’t disturbed her…
‘You worked as a midwife on the maternity unit for two years before you left to have your baby.’ He shot her a quizzical look and she struggled to concentrate. ‘Didn’t you think about going back there to work? Good midwives are always in demand.’
‘I did. In fact, when I left to have Robbie I intended just to take maternity leave and go back as soon as I could.’ She shrugged, unaware of the slightly wistful note in her voice. ‘However, circumstances changed and I decided that returning to work wasn’t an option.’
‘Your son has Down’s syndrome, I believe,’ Mark said quietly. He must have seen her surprise because he smiled gently. ‘Rachel told me all about him. Robbie seems to have won her over all right!’
Laura laughed at that. ‘Robbie’s a real little heartbreaker! And I’m not saying that because I’m his mother either. He simply loves people of all ages, shapes and sizes, and they seem to respond to him.’
‘A very special child indeed, but, then, you so often find that children with handicaps are blessed in other ways.’
Laura felt her eyes fill. It hadn’t been all plain sailing since she’d had Robbie—all too often she’d encountered hostility from strangers who had seen the child’s handicap and been unwilling to look beyond it. But there had been no hesitation in Mark’s assessment and it had touched her deeply.
‘Thank you for saying that,’ she said quietly. ‘Not everyone can understand that.’
‘I can imagine. Even in today’s more enlightened times there’s still a reluctance to accept people with disabilities. However, I imagine that Robbie himself is the best antidote to that kind of thinking.’
Laura laughed at that. ‘You’re right. Once people get to know him, any prejudices they have soon disappear. Robbie has the gift of making people love him!’
‘As I said, a very special little boy indeed, and I can’t wait to meet him.’
He looked expectantly at her and Laura took a shaky breath. It had been less a hint than a blatant piece of angling for an invitation, but why? Why would Mark be so…so interested in meeting her son?
She had no idea but it was obvious that he was waiting for an answer so she had no choice but to give him one. ‘You…you’ll see Robbie when you drop me off. He’s at my friend’s house. Claire offered to fetch him from school each day while I’m working when she collects her son, Ben.’
‘Handy. I imagine good child-care arrangements are crucial for any mother who wants to return to work,’ Mark observed.
‘Exactly. That’s one of the reasons this job was so attractive and why I’d decided that returning to the maternity unit wasn’t an option. Babies have a nasty habit of wanting to be born at all odd hours of the night!’
Mark laughed. ‘The theory being that they arrive exactly nine months after they were conceived.’
Laura laughed at that. ‘I imagine that’s something no one will ever prove! Anyway, knowing that I could work nine to five each day was the incentive for going after this job. I desperately need to work, of course, but Robbie’s welfare has to come first.’
‘Well, I for one am really glad that you applied for it.’ Mark gave her a smile which sent a ripple of heat through her body. There was a slight pause before he cleared his throat. However, Laura wasn’t deaf to the roughness in his voice all of a sudden.
‘Anyway, you’d better direct me before we end up in Cumbria. In this snowstorm I don’t think that would be wise, do you?’
Laura dragged her thoughts into some semblance of order and glanced out of the window. She gasped as she realised how hard it was snowing. ‘I never thought it would stick like this!’
She peered through the glass, wishing that she’d been concentrating harder. It wasn’t fair to have dragged Mark out of his way and then get them both lost!
She suddenly recognised where they were and sighed in relief. ‘Oh, take the next turning on the right. Claire and Sean live in the third house down that road.’
Mark did as she’d asked. He drew up carefully alongside the kerb, although the car still slewed because already the snow was quite deep. ‘Stay there and I’ll come round to help you,’ he ordered, getting out before she could protest.
Laura opened her door but before she could step out Mark was there, his hand fastening firmly around her elbow to steady her. ‘Careful!’ he warned solicitously. ‘It’s really slippery underfoot.’
Despite the warning and the steadying hand, Laura felt her feet skid from under her. She made a desperate grab for the nearest solid object and coloured as she found herself clinging to Mark. He grinned down at her, his grey eyes sparkling with amusement and something which made her heart beat faster than it should have been doing.
‘Twice in one day? That horoscope was uncannily accurate, wasn’t it?’
‘Uh…It looks like it.’ Laura struggled to hide her confusion as she cautiously straightened. She took a careful step back and held out her hand. ‘Thank you very much for the lift, Mark. I do appreciate it.’
‘I hope that wasn’t intended as a brush-off?’
‘I’m sorry?’ She stared at him in bewilderment, not sure what he’d meant.
He gave her a lazy grin as his hand fastened around her elbow again and he steered her towards the house. ‘You promised that I could meet Robbie, if you remember?’
‘Oh, but surely you want to get off home? I mean, it’s snowing so hard…’ She stopped and took a deep breath then looked him squarely in the eyes. ‘Why are you so keen to meet him, Mark? I don’t understand.’
He returned her look steadily enough but there was puzzlement in the depths of his eyes. ‘Neither do I understand why it’s so important, Laura.’ He reached up and brushed a snowflake off her cheek; his touch was so gentle that she shivered. ‘I just know that it is.’
There wasn’t anything she could say to that. Her heart seemed to be beating itself to death as she carried on walking towards the house on legs that weren’t quite steady. She was glad of Mark’s support because she doubted whether she could have managed the couple of yards which was all it took to reach the front door. Her mind and body seemed to belong to someone else at that moment, to someone she barely remembered from years gone by. It wasn’t really she who was experiencing this feeling of excitement and anticipation, surely?
It was a relief when the door suddenly opened and a small, familiar figure came hurtling out of the house because once again she knew who she was—Laura Grady, widow and mother!
‘Mummy! I’s had tea with Ben.’
‘Have you? Why, you lucky little boy!’
Laura swept her son up into her arms and hugged him. He planted a kiss on her cheek then promptly turned his attention to the stranger.
‘Who’s you?’ he demanded.
‘My name is Mark, Robbie. I’m a friend of your mummy’s.’
It was all the cue the child needed. Reaching over, he grabbed hold of the man’s neck and transferred his affections to his