Читать книгу His Brother's Son - Jennifer Taylor, Jennifer Taylor - Страница 8

‘I NEED to speak to you, Miss Williams. There’s a bar across the road—maybe we can go there.’

‘I can’t.’

Felipe frowned when he heard the anxiety in Rebecca’s voice. Although he understood how stressful this situation must be for her he couldn’t understand why she sounded so scared.

Once again the idea that she might have been telling him a pack of lies about the child being Antonio’s son filled his mind. After all, why hadn’t Antonio written and told him that he’d become a father? Despite that row they’d had before Antonio had left Mallorca, his brother had never been the kind of person to harbour a grudge. There was something about this situation which didn’t add up.

‘Can’t or won’t?’ he said tersely. ‘I’m having a great deal of difficulty understanding what is going on, Miss Williams. A few hours ago you told me that you and my brother had had a son and now you refuse to talk to me about the child.’

Her lids lowered, effectively hiding her eyes from view. ‘I’m not refusing to talk to you, Dr Valdez.’ She shrugged, but he wasn’t blind to the strain that was etched on her face when she glanced up. ‘However, I thought we’d agreed that I would telephone you and arrange a time when we could meet.’

‘We did, but I can see no reason why we cannot talk now and get this all sorted out.’ He went to slide his hand under her elbow, but she stepped smartly out of reach.

‘I’ve just told you that I can’t talk to you now. I have to collect Josh. I’m late as it is because we had an emergency, and the childminder will be wondering where I am.’

She started hurrying down the path, but if she thought that he was prepared to let her walk away, she was mistaken. Who knew what she might be planning? She claimed that she’d intended to phone him, but could he trust her? What if she took Josh and disappeared? How would he feel if his brother’s only child was left in the care of a woman like her?

He strode after her, his long legs swiftly bringing him level with her. He saw her glance round, saw her pretty mouth compress, but she didn’t say a word. They walked in silence down the path and across the busy London street. It was the middle of the rush hour and the traffic was horrendous, car after car belching out fumes.

He suddenly wished that he was back home in Mallorca, breathing in the fresh, salt-laden air as it blew in from the bay. Had Antonio really preferred to exchange all that beauty for this?

‘Antonio used to love the rush hour. He spent a lot of time looking out of the window when…when he became too weak to go out.’

He heard the catch in her voice and felt his heart ache. He had tried many times to imagine how his brother must have felt, knowing that he was dying. Suddenly, he needed to know how Antonio had dealt with it.

‘How was he toward the end?’ He heard the roughness in his voice and knew that she had heard it, too, but, oddly, he didn’t feel embarrassed. He cleared his throat, deeply disturbed by the thought. ‘It must have been difficult for him to come to terms with the fact that he was dying.’

‘I think by that time he had come to accept what was going to happen.’ She smiled gently. ‘He told me that he didn’t want to waste his last few weeks on earth by feeling bitter. And, of course, having Josh helped tremendously. Knowing that a little bit of him would live on after his death gave him strength.’

‘Did he see the child, then?’ Felipe asked, keeping his gaze averted because he was deeply moved by what she had said. He wasn’t embarrassed, but he was too private a person to feel completely comfortable about exposing his feelings.

The problem was that it was so hard to think about Antonio at the end of his life; he kept having flashbacks to when he’d been born. Felipe had been fifteen when his brother had arrived in the world. His parents had been shocked at first when they’d discovered they were having another child and delighted later when the baby had been born.

Antonio had brought great joy to his parent’s lives, great joy to his own life as well. After their parents had been killed in a car accident when Antonio was ten, Felipe had willingly taken over the task of raising him.

He had done his best to guide Antonio, but maybe he’d been too strict. If he hadn’t been so set on making Antonio do as he’d wanted him to, his brother might never have left Mallorca and certainly wouldn’t have ended up having a child with Rebecca Williams. How strange it was the way everything had worked out.

‘Oh, yes. Josh was born a few weeks before…well, before Antonio died. He was in a lot of pain by then and his medication had been increased because of it. He used to sleep most of the time, but once I brought Josh home from hospital Antonio refused to take more than the barest minimum of pain relief.’

He saw her dash her hand across her eyes and could hear how her voice had thickened with tears. ‘He said that he didn’t want to miss a single minute he had left with Josh. He used to hold him all day long. My one abiding memory of Antonio is seeing him sitting by the window, cradling his son in his arms.’

Her voice broke on a sob and it seemed the most natural thing in the world to take her in his arms and hold her while she cried. In his heart, Felipe knew that he was probably making a mistake, but he couldn’t stop himself wanting to comfort her.

He drew her closer, amazed by the sense of helplessness he felt. He couldn’t assuage her grief and for some reason it hurt to know that she was crying for his brother and that there wasn’t a thing he could do about it.

He smoothed his hand over her hair, feeling the silky strands snagging against his palm. Her hair felt like gossamer, so light, so soft, so sensuous. He found himself staring at it in wonderment, watching the play of light and shadow as the pale gold strands rippled beneath his fingers. All of a sudden he wished that this moment could last for ever, that he could keep her here in his arms and never let her go. She would be safe then, because he would be able to protect her from any more pain.

A shiver ran through him and he stiffened, shocked that he should be thinking thoughts like that. This was Rebecca Williams in his arms, not some woman with whom he was thinking of having an affair. It was a relief when she abruptly stepped back so that he was forced to release her.

‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that,’ she said softly, her voice quavering, although whether it was from embarrassment or pleasure at him having held her he couldn’t decide.

He took a deep breath and deliberately rid himself of that foolish notion before it had a chance to take hold. Rebecca was wiping her eyes with a tissue and there was a strangely touching dignity about the way she stood up straighter once she had finished.

All of a sudden it struck him that she possessed certain qualities he had never expected, and it worried him to realise that he might have misjudged her when he’d been so sure that he knew everything that he needed to know. Was Rebecca really the scheming, self-serving woman he’d believed her to be? Or had he been wrong about her?

Suddenly, it seemed equally important that he find out the answer to those questions, too.

Becky took a deep breath, but she felt such a fool for breaking down. She shot a wary glance at Felipe but, surprisingly, there was no sign of the contempt which she had expected to see on his face.

Her heart gave a painful lurch as she recalled how good it had felt when he’d held her in his arms. His body had felt so strong as he’d cradled her against him. She’d had an overwhelming urge to lean on him and keep on leaning. The past year had been so hard and it would be wonderful to be able to share this burden…

But dangerous.

What would Felipe do if he found out the truth about Josh? Antonio had signed a document appointing her as the child’s legal guardian, and had got Tara to sign it, too, but would it hold up in a court of law?

That had been her fear all along, that her claim on Josh might be overruled. Antonio’s solicitor had warned them that there was always a chance of that happening, that nothing—not even a legal document—was guaranteed in this kind of a situation.

That was why she’d panicked when Tara had threatened her, yet the thought that, unwittingly, she might have put herself and Josh in even more danger filled her with dread. No matter how wonderful it had felt to have him comfort her, she had to remember that Felipe was her enemy.

‘I don’t usually go to pieces like that,’ she said stiffly. She didn’t want to think of him as her enemy, although she wasn’t sure why. She felt a ripple of alarm scurry through her when she saw his eyes suddenly narrow.

‘I don’t imagine that you usually find yourself in a position like this, Miss Williams, so, please, don’t apologise. Unfortunately, we cannot always predict how we will react.’

She wasn’t sure what he had meant by that, and frowned. Was Felipe admitting that he had reacted strangely by taking her in his arms and trying to comfort her perhaps?

Now she thought about it, it was a strange thing for him to have done. Maybe she had difficulty thinking of him as her enemy, but surely he didn’t have any problems with the idea? And yet he had held her with such tenderness, such gentleness that it hadn’t felt as though he hated her.

The thought bothered her probably more than it should have done. She tried to put it out of her head as she started walking again, trying to quell the noisy beating of her heart when he immediately followed her. It was obvious that he didn’t intend to let her out of his sight, so she decided that it would be best if she accepted that. There was no point trying to fight the inevitable when she might need her strength for more important battles.

The traffic congestion eased after a little while. This part of London was in a state of limbo, she always thought, not quite fashionable but not totally run-down. However, from the look of disdain on Felipe’s handsome face as he studied the long row of Victorian terraced houses, it could have been a slum.

He frowned when she stopped outside one of the houses and rang the bell. ‘This is where my brother’s son spends his days? Surely you could have found somewhere more suitable, a nursery where he would be properly cared for?’

‘Josh is very happy here,’ she said shortly, stung by the criticism. ‘Doreen—that’s the childminder—is marvellous with all the children; she loves them as if they were her own. Anyway, I can’t afford a nursery place for him. It costs a fortune in London to put a child into a private nursery.’

She realised her mistake the moment she saw his mouth thin into that tight line she was starting to recognise only too well. She was already preparing herself for the next onslaught before he spoke, but nothing could stem the quiver that ran through her when she heard the biting contempt in his voice.

‘But my brother left you a considerable sum, didn’t he? You were named in his will as the sole beneficiary of his estate. Sí?’

‘Yes.’ She rang the bell a second time, praying that Doreen would answer it soon. She didn’t know how she could explain what had happened to the money Antonio had left without giving everything away.

Tara had received most of it as her final payment for having Josh. The little bit that had been left over had been swallowed up by bills in the first few months when she’d been unable to work because she had been looking after the baby. She could account for every single penny if she had to, but it would mean her admitting that she wasn’t Josh’s real mother and that was something she desperately wanted to avoid.

‘So was it too much to expect that you might spend some of that money on making sure that Antonio’s son was properly cared for? Did it never cross your mind that you had no right to spend it all on yourself?’

She could hear the anger in his voice and her heart ran wild as she struggled to explain without telling him the truth. ‘There were expenses—’

‘Expenses? Come, Miss Williams, you must have been enjoying a very lavish lifestyle if you managed to spend all that money in less than a year!’ he shot back, glaring at her.

‘It wasn’t like that. You don’t understand,’ she said desperately, hurt beyond belief by the way he was looking at her. ‘I didn’t spend—’

The door suddenly opened and she stopped when Doreen appeared, holding Josh. Becky automatically reached out and took the child as he lunged towards her. She snuggled him close, breathing in his wonderful baby smell while she tried to calm down.

If Doreen hadn’t opened the door then she would have blurted it all out and told him that nearly every penny of Antonio’s inheritance had gone on buying his son. How would Felipe feel about that? Would he blame her for what had happened because it had been her idea?

Felipe felt his anger disappear the moment he looked at the baby in Rebecca’s arms.

The little boy was the image of Antonio!

From his shiny black curls to his chubby little feet, he was a miniature replica of his father. In that instant any doubts he’d had about the child’s parentage disappeared. This was Antonio’s son, his own flesh and blood.

He wasn’t aware of what he was doing as he held out his arms. The little boy gurgled happily as Rebecca silently handed him over. He could feel the weight of the child’s sturdy little body in his arms and had to make a conscious effort not to hold him too tightly.

He wanted to press him to his heart and keep him there, pretend, even if it was only for a moment, that he had Antonio back and that he could keep him safe from harm. It was all he had ever wanted to do and he had failed, but he wouldn’t fail this child, his brother’s son.

It was a moment which Felipe knew he would remember all his life, a moment of such pain and such joy that he found it hard to comprehend what he was feeling. It was as though all of a sudden a key had turned and the door to his heart had been flung wide open. It was a relief when the baby suddenly grabbed a handful of his hair and tugged it hard, because he wasn’t used to dealing with so much emotion.

A smile tugged at the corners of Felipe’s mouth as he gently unfurled the baby’s fingers. ‘I shall have no hair left if you keep that up, young man,’ he told him in Spanish. ‘Your uncle will be bald.’

‘He’s a devil for pulling your hair,’ Becky said softly. ‘It’s a wonder I’m not bald as well the way he tugs my hair.’

Felipe’s black brows rose in surprise. ‘You speak Spanish?’

‘Yes. I’m not very fluent, but I can get by.’ She gave him a sad little smile that made his heart ache all over again. ‘Antonio offered to give me Spanish lessons in exchange for a favour I did him. That’s how we became friends.’

She looked at the baby and sighed. ‘I’ve tried to keep it up so that I can teach Josh when he’s old enough. It seemed important that he should be able to speak his father’s language.’

Felipe was deeply moved, so much so that he didn’t dare show how much it had affected him. He passed the baby back to her, trying to put what he had learned into context. It was probably just some wonderful story that she had dreamed up to impress him…

Only he didn’t believe that.

He went back down the steps while she had a final word with the childminder. It was obvious that the woman was asking who he was, but he didn’t feel inclined to join in the conversation. He needed to clear his mind so that he could focus on what he intended to do.

Josh was Antonio’s son. There wasn’t any doubt in his mind about that. Obviously, he would need to take that into account before he made any decisions.

He took a deep breath but the tension that had been building inside him all day was suddenly worse than ever. Rebecca was the child’s mother. He would need to take account of that as well.

Doreen had been intrigued to learn that Felipe was Josh’s uncle. Becky kept trying to edge away but the woman kept asking her more questions. Becky glanced over her shoulder and sighed when she saw Felipe standing by the kerb.

It was obvious that he was impatient to leave, even though he was making an effort not to show it. However, the number of times Felipe had needed to wait for anyone had to be few and far between. He was the kind of man who was accustomed to people jumping to obey his every command.

The thought was a little disquieting, but Becky refused to let him see how on edge she felt as she finally took her leave of the childminder. Josh was gurgling away, trying to tell her what he had done during the day. They usually played a game on the way home: she asked him questions about his day and pretended she understood what he was saying to her. However, that day she felt far too self-conscious with Felipe being there. It would hardly improve his opinion of her to know that she held in-depth conversations with a nine-month-old baby!