CHAPTER FOUR

NICK poured himself another drink, lost in the dark thoughts of a time long gone, only dragged back to the present when he sensed that Beth was quietly watching him. There was such a stillness about this young woman—almost unnerving.

He mentally shook himself. ‘You see, I didn’t want Samantha to have a nanny for the children,’ he explained hardily. ‘She had never felt the need before, when we just had the two boys. But she claimed she wouldn’t be able to cope with everything that needed to be done once the new baby was born—’

‘Lucy?’ Beth put in softly.

‘Lucy,’ he acknowledged harshly, scowling darkly as he thought back to the time when Lucy had been born. ‘The two boys were going to be palmed off on some stranger now that Samantha was to have the daughter she had always craved. At least, that’s the way I saw it at the time.’ He shook his head self-disgustedly. ‘I’ve had plenty of time to reflect on my attitude the last five years.’

He grimaced. ‘Even more so during the last twenty-four hours; if I’m finding it difficult to cope with an eleven, eight and a five-year-old, how the hell did I expect Samantha to cope with a new baby and two active boys of six and three? Samantha had a rough time of it when Lucy was born, and was told she could probably never have any more children.’

But Samantha was expecting another baby now, he realised, and this young woman had known about it! And here he was pouring his whole damn life story out to her, a complete stranger, who had just walked in off the street into their lives. He, who rarely told people even his name if he could avoid it—the name Rafferty was synonymous with the wealth and power he had built up over the years. And he was talking to this young woman, Beth, about things he had tried not even to think about the last five years, let alone talk about. He was losing his mind!

He straightened. ‘Robert says that Samantha is off the danger list, but that there are still some fears for the baby.’ He looked at the woman challengingly. ‘So now I want to know who you are, where you came from—and how the hell you know so damn much about my family!’

Never mind the fact that he had been in the process himself of telling her totally private things about his own life; there was something not quite right about this situation. And he wanted to know exactly what it was. He certainly didn’t buy the ‘angel’ story!

But she looked so damned angelic, he acknowledged impatiently, sitting there on the edge of the armchair, her hands neatly folded together, green eyes looking up at him so candidly.

‘And don’t give me that story about angels again,’ he rasped impatiently. ‘It may have impressed the children, but I’m way past believing in Father Christmas, the Tooth Fairy—and angels!’

‘How sad,’ she said again, looking as genuinely concerned as she had when he’d told her about the death of his dog. The reason for that was quickly explained! ‘Did you know that an angel falls to earth every time someone makes that statement—?’

‘I did,’ Josh put in eagerly as the three children passed through the room on their way to get their coats. ‘I saw this film once where—’

‘I don’t believe the remark was directed at you, Josh.’ Nick spoke sternly to his youngest son.

‘Sorry,’ Josh returned brightly, completely undeterred. ‘Will we be going out soon, Beth?’ His young face was alight with excitement. ‘I haven’t got my sledge here with me, but I suppose we could—’

‘Josh!’ Nick thundered impatiently. ‘None of you are going anywhere, with or without a sledge, until Miss—Beth and I have finished our conversation. So the sooner the three of you leave the room, the sooner we can do exactly that,’ he added as Josh looked ready to come back with yet another retort.

He watched with raised brows as the three children filed off, their expressions disappointed, into the bedrooms they had been allocated for their stay, knowing that he had once again made himself unpopular. Oh, well, it was far from the first time, he acknowledged ruefully.

He turned back to Beth as soon as they were alone again. ‘And the first thing we have to get straight is that if you do stay on here to look after the children, I do not want you adding to this nonsense about angels. As far as I can tell, Jamie and Josh seem to have filled their heads with rubbish they’ve seen on one television programme or another, and an adult adding to that is unacceptable.’

He shook his head disgustedly, knowing that he was probably only impatient with the situation because he knew he should have played a more active role in the boys’ lives these last few years than he had. ‘So any further talk about angels and—What’s this?’ He frowned as Beth held out a card she seemed to have produced from one of the pockets in her denims—denims which clung to the shapely bottom he had taken such an interest in earlier.

He took the card from her hand, looking down at it uncomprehendingly. It read simply ‘Heavenly Angels’, with an accompanying telephone number underneath. What the hell—?

‘Mr Fairfax was the one to ask for help, Mr Rafferty,’ the young woman supplied. ‘He was worried about his wife and the children, and obviously yourself, and he called Heavenly Angels for help—’

‘You’re an agency,’ Nick suddenly realised with satisfaction, his expression lightening as he tapped the card in his hand. ‘An agency sent you,’ he added with some relief. Somehow, he realised, amongst all the other worries that had beset him the last twenty-four hours, Robert had found the time to contact an agency to get someone to come and help him with the children.

He wasn’t losing his mind after all. He had known there had to be some sensible explanation for this situation. Good God—angels! Ridiculous!