Jack leaned over to kiss her. ‘No, my darling. You tell him—it’s your story.
‘It’s yours too!’
‘But you’re the heroine; I’m just the villain of the piece.’
She shook her head. ‘Not to me, Jack.’
He pulled her up into his arms. ‘Then from now on I’ll do my damnedest to be the hero.’ He kissed her again and, with a deep sigh of regret, let her go. ‘I’ll see you later.’
Kate forged through her morning’s work, then rang the Suttons in Worcester to talk to Joanna and, once assured that her child was well and happy, Kate rang Tom Logan and suggested he come round for a sandwich lunch.
When he arrived, looking rested and with his colour back, she threw her arms round him in relief. ‘Thank goodness, you look yourself again! You had me really worried yesterday.’
‘No wonder. When I saw Joanna I swear my heart stopped for a moment. I couldn’t believe my eyes. She was my Margaret to the life!’ Tom kissed her cheek. ‘Jack rang earlier to check on me. He sounded happy, Kate.’
She smiled radiantly, then bit her lip. ‘I’m happy too, except for one thing. I have to tell Joanna the truth, and I’m such a coward about it, Tom.’ Kate led him into the kitchen and took the cover from a platter of chicken sandwiches. ‘Help yourself; I’ll eat and talk at the same time.’
She told her story again briefly and succinctly, editing out the parts that would cause him unnecessary pain.
‘My dear girl,’ he said, shaken. ‘To think you’ve had to keep this to yourself all these years.’ He reached across the table to take her hand. ‘But now, my love, you’ve got to bite the bullet and tell Joanna.’
Kate nodded reluctantly. ‘But not until after the party. I want her to enjoy that before I hit her with the truth.’
Tom Logan’s grasp tightened. ‘In my opinion you and Jack should tell her together.’
‘She needn’t hear about Dawn and the baby. I’ll tell her I broke up with Jack—which is true—and he married someone else on the rebound before I knew I was expecting his child.’
Tom shook his head. ‘Even at first glance Joanna strikes me as mature for her age. I think she deserves the truth, warts and all. I’ll make that clear to Jack when he comes to collect the dog.
’
‘I can’t say I agree with Dad,’ said Jack later, as Kate received a warm welcome from Bran in the Jeep.‘ I haven’t even met her yet, but I don’t relish telling my daughter I was such a foo lover Dawn.’
‘Then don’t,’ said Kate firmly. ‘We’ll play it my way, and give Jo the abridged version.’
‘Thank you, darling. I’ve never thought of myself as a coward until now. But then,’ he added, ‘I didn’t know I was a father until now, either.’
When they got to Mill House they went for a walk in the gardens with the dog before dinner, arms around each other like teenagers as they circled the millpond. Afterwards Jack went up for a shower while Kate sat in front of the fire in the living room with Bran to wait for him, her eyes thoughtful as she gazed into the flames.
‘What at you thinking about?’ asked Jack, as he joined her.
‘Would you mind if we told Joanna our story here?’ Kate curled up against him. ‘No matter how she takes it, she still has to live with me afterwards, so I’d rather we didn’t have the showdown in Park Crescent.’
‘You’d rather my house was ruined for her than yours,’ said Jack ruefully.
She nodded. ‘I tend to think in worst scenario terms.’
‘In which you’ve had some experience,’ he said grimly.
‘So have you. But let’s not spoil our evening by worrying about it. What did Molly leave us for dinner?’
By mutual consent there was no more talk of the coming confession. Instead Kate told Jack everything she could about his daughter as they enjoyed fillet of lamb cooked with garlic, thyme and cannelloni beans. They spent an hour in front of the fire afterwards and then took Bran out for a walk, but when they’d settled him down for the night Jack took Kate’s hand and led her straight upstairs.
‘I’ve got some lonely nights in front of me, so let’s go to bed,’ he said firmly, and she rubbed her face against his sleeve.
‘Yes, please!’
Jack drove Kate home early the following morning and kissed her goodbye with tension she felt as keenly as he did.