MATT WAS SITTING on the veranda when Dr Rodrigues came to find him. He’d been trying to doze, but the events of the past ten hours had left him too full of adrenalin to rest. Now, sunlight was sparkling on the leaves of the palm trees and gilding the edge of the water with a pale translucent light.
‘Joanna is awake,’ the doctor said softly. His wife had sent for him as soon as she was confident that the baby’s head had been engaged. Then with more assurance, he added, ‘Your mother is with her.’
‘My mother!’
Matt groaned, getting to his feet at once. What the hell was Adrienne doing there? He guessed she would be the last person Joanna wanted to see. His ex-wife had been exhausted when he’d left her four hours ago, and Matt had been grateful that Elsa had taken the baby away so that Joanna could sleep.
For his part, Matt was still digesting the news that he was a father. The baby’s birth had happened so quickly. He’d always thought that first babies could take days and not hours to arrive, but he’d been wrong.
Joanna had been lucky. Her labour had been fairly arduous without any pain relief, but when they’d both gazed in wonder at the tiny baby boy who had come so precipitately into the world, everything else was forgotten.
Despite weighing more than eight pounds, he’d seemed so absurdly fragile. And for a few minutes, sitting beside Joanna on the bed, Matt had felt they were a real family at last.
Then Elsa had insisted on ushering him out of the room to allow Joanna to rest. He’d promised to return as soon as she was awake, but now it seemed his mother had beaten him to it. He couldn’t help the suspicion that her visit was not a friendly one.
Walking across the marble-tiled foyer, Matt was shocked to hear raised voices coming from the bedroom where Joanna was resting. The loudest was his mother’s, if he didn’t miss his guess. Joanna’s contribution much less aggressive. What the hell was going on?
Reaching the door, Matt was about to burst into the room, when he was halted by Adrienne’s next words.
‘It’s not your call,’ Adrienne was saying angrily. ‘Nothing you do is going to change Matt’s mind.’
Joanna’s response was spoken in a much quieter tone. ‘I just think this is Matt’s and my decision, not yours.’
‘We’ll see about that—’ Adrienne was beginning threateningly, but Matt had heard enough.
Thrusting open the door, he halted on the threshold, the scene that met his eyes filling him with a mixture of pleasure and dread. There was no sign of Elsa, but she had evidently brought the baby because Joanna was holding him close to her chest. Adrienne, meanwhile, was leaning over her, as if she was about to snatch the baby out of her arms.
‘In God’s name, what’s going on here?’ Matt demanded, glaring at his mother. The atmosphere in the room was decidedly hostile and he couldn’t understand why. ‘Don’t you think Joanna’s had enough to cope with in the last twelve hours without you causing a scene?’
Adrienne immediately stepped back from the bed. With a forced smile, she said, ‘Oh, Matt, I didn’t see you there.’ She paused to lick her lips. ‘And you couldn’t be more wrong. I don’t want to cause a scene.’ She gave the girl a tight-lipped glance. ‘Joanna simply won’t listen to reason.’
Joanna said nothing. She knew better than to try and argue with Matt’s mother in this mood. Instead, she looked down at her baby son and wondered why she’d ever thought that Adrienne had come here to heal their differences.
Matt turned to Joanna, and when she still didn’t try to defend herself, he looked again at his mother. ‘I don’t know what this is all about,’ he said, ‘but now is not the time to be upsetting anyone.’
‘I didn’t come here to upset her,’ retorted Adrienne, taking a step away from the bed. ‘But if you do intend to play some part in your son’s life, Matt, you have to make a stand.’
Matt scowled. ‘And this affects you how, exactly?’
‘Well, I am the child’s grandmother,’ declared his mother shortly. ‘If you allow Joanna to take your son back to England, you may never see him again.’
Matt sucked in a frustrated breath. ‘The child’s less than five hours old, Ma. We’ve got plenty of time to think about his future.’
Adrienne’s lips tightened. ‘Now you’re being ridiculously naïve, Matt. I’m not suggesting you ask for custody of the infant straight away. All I’m saying is—’
‘Dammit, you were casting doubts on the child’s parentage a couple days ago,’ Matt reminded her harshly. ‘I suggest you go back to Dad, Mother. I’ll let you know what’s happening when Joanna and I have had time to talk.’
Joanna sighed, shifting the baby to a more comfortable position. Although she’d had a short nap, she was still absurdly tired. And weepy, too. Hearing Matt and his mother talk about her son as if she weren’t even present made her feel invisible.
But one thing was certain: No one was going to take him away from her.
‘Anyway, we’ll talk later,’ Matt was saying now, and Joanna saw the way Adrienne cast an angry look in her direction.
Does she think I might tell Matt about her affair with my father? Joanna wondered incredulously. Just because Oliver was aware of her affair, didn’t mean he’d told her.
Joanna almost felt sorry for her. For all her bluster, Adrienne was as vulnerable as anybody else. But she seemed determined that Matt should have custody of the baby, and Joanna knew the Novaks had the money to employ lawyers to override any argument she might make.
Now Adrienne headed with evident reluctance for the door. ‘You’ll let me know what you decide, won’t you, darling?’ she said, with another hostile look in Joanna’s direction. ‘Your father and I just want to do what’s best for you, you know?’
As she was about to depart, Elsa appeared. ‘I’m sorry to intrude,’ she began. ‘Is everything all right here? The baby—’
‘The baby’s fine,’ said Matt, approaching the bed. ‘Will you let Elsa take him for a while, Jo? I’m worried about you. You look exhausted.’
Joanna gazed across at Elsa with tears in her eyes. ‘Don’t let Matt’s mother take my baby away, will you?’ she begged. ‘He’s all I’ve got.’
‘You’ve got me,’ exclaimed Matt, uncaring what his mother thought now. He sat down on the side of the bed and cupped Joanna’s face between his hands. ‘And nobody’s going to do anything without your say-so.’ He paused. ‘But perhaps you should let Elsa take him for a while.’
‘I can look after him,’ said Adrienne at once, but Matt gave her a warning look.
‘Not now,’ he said forcefully. ‘I think you’ve done enough.’
‘I was only thinking of you, Matt,’ she protested, but Matt ignored her.
‘Just go,’ he said. ‘You’ve got packing to do.’
‘Matt!’
Her voice was loud with protest and Dr Rodrigues, who had appeared behind his wife, came into the room.
‘I can hear your voices in the study, Mr Novak. I told you, Joanna needs to rest.’
Matt sighed. ‘I know. And I’m sorry.’
‘Yes, well, whatever it is you need to say to one another, surely it can wait until Joanna is stronger?’
Now Matt took charge. ‘You were just leaving, weren’t you, Ma?’ he said, looking at his mother, and Adrienne was not prepared to say any more in front of the doctor and his wife.
To Joanna’s relief, Matt saw them all out of the door and closed it. Then he turned back to the bed. ‘I’m sorry about that,’ he said huskily, resuming his seat beside her. He stroked her cheek with gentle fingers. ‘I’m sorry for a lot of things. I never meant for you to discover the truth about your dad. And the timing couldn’t have been worse!’
Joanna lifted a hand to cover his, looking up at him with anxious eyes. ‘But it is true, isn’t it? He had a gambling addiction, didn’t he?’ she whispered. ‘It explains so much.’
‘Yeah, well, the old man made me promise not to tell you.’ Suddenly Matt didn’t want to talk about it anymore. ‘Do you believe me now, Jo?’
Joanna sniffed. ‘Matt, ever since I came to the island, I’ve found myself wanting to put the past behind me. You must know that. I haven’t exactly pushed you away.’
‘I hoped that was so. But I was afraid I was getting the wrong message,’ said Matt huskily. ‘When something means so much to you, you tend not to believe it.’
Joanna squeezed his hand. ‘I’ve been such a fool. Can you ever forgive me?’
‘We’ve both been fools.’ Matt groaned. ‘Why the hell do you think I wanted you here? I wanted to take care of you. I wanted us to be together. I—hoped you might want to stay.’
Joanna met his eyes. ‘I do want to stay,’ she said eagerly. ‘I never thought I’d say that when you insisted on me coming here, but I do.’
Matt shook his head. ‘When I left your apartment in London, I was convinced that was the end of us.’
Joanna nodded. ‘So was I.’
He grimaced. ‘That’s not to say I wouldn’t have tried again. You know I love you. I never stopped loving you, no matter what garbage came out of my mouth at the time.’
‘Do you mean that?’ Joanna caught her breath, looking up at him through tear-drenched lashes. ‘You love me?’
‘Of course, I love you,’ he muttered thickly, raising her hand to his lips. His tongue brushed her knuckles with the utmost tenderness. ‘I want us to be married again. I never want to let you go.’
‘Oh, Matt, I love you, too.’ There was so much more she wanted to say to him, but it could wait. ‘I was so stupid to let anyone come between us.’
‘Hey, he was your father,’ said Matt gently. ‘I just kept on hoping that sooner or later the truth would come out.’
‘Will you forgive me for doubting you? If I promise to spend the rest of my life making amends?’
‘I may keep you to that,’ said Matt, looping one hand at her nape and pulling her towards him. Then, after kissing her until she was breathless, he added, ‘I just wanted to hear you say you love me. That’s all I ever wanted. And to be with you and our son.’
‘I’m so glad you were there at his birth. When he’s older, you’ll be able to tell him so.’
‘We’ll be able to tell him so,’ Matt amended with some satisfaction, before kissing his wife again.