BACK in the foyer, the twins had disappeared up the stairs and then a barely audible thumping beat vibrated through the house. He looked down where the noise seemed to be seeping through the floorboards under his feet. Thump, thump, thump. He wondered if his son liked that kind of music and even if Bella did. He was definitely too old for Bella. He thought wistfully of his own quiet house until Bella returned from the kitchen and then age was forgotten.
She was munching an apple and he couldn’t help the sudden connection in his head to Adam and Eve and the malicious serpent of desire. Even in jeans she embodied the essence of womanhood and he could feel the too-familiar surge of frustration at the unfairness of fate.
‘It seems Vivie’s gone to bed.’ Bella said as she rubbed the uneaten side of her apple against her breast to shine it. Scott almost groaned at the undulation of tissue under the fruit. Oblivious, she went on, ‘Her baby was unsettled last night and she’s probably trying to catch up on some sleep.’ Bella tilted her head and he could see she was unsure what to do with him. ‘Do you want to listen to music in the study until the next trip?’
Scott tore his eyes away from the tightness of her shirt and dragged his thoughts back under control as he followed her into the book-lined room. He remembered the room they used as a study from when Abbey had lived here, but the aura was different.
Bella had painted the walls a soft lilac and replaced the old curtains with white linen. She gestured to an under-stuffed chair as she moved across to turn on the CD player. ‘Please, sit down.’
Before he knew it Carol King had started to sing softly in the background about a life and a tapestry and he relaxed a little at the pleasant music. Bella crossed the room back to him as he sank into the chair. And sank comprehensively until his knees almost came up to his chin. He pretended to be comfortable though he felt like he’d been swallowed whole. At least it took his mind off Bella’s breasts.
Bella perched on the arm of a sister chair and Scott could see why. Bella would disappear if she sank as far as he had.
Her eyes twinkled. ‘Sorry about the chairs. There used to be a chaise longue in here but Rohan asked if Abbey could take it with her when they got married. Something to do with happy memories or something and I couldn’t say no.’ She grinned. ‘He’s so romantic and Abbey is so matter-of-fact. Love is grand if it works out.’ She shrugged and patted the chair.
‘I found these really cheap at a garage sale.’ Her smile faded and she glanced out of the window at the house next door where her sister and brother-in-law lived. ‘Poor old Rohan looked strained today while Abbey was in labour.’
She turned back to stare thoughtfully at Scott. ‘And so did you after the baby was born. What happened to a show of relief and joy at the birth of the new Roberts baby?’
She was different in her own home, more decisive and assertive, and it knocked Scott off balance. So much so that he answered by speaking about something he’d least intended. Something he hadn’t told anyone since he’d found out yesterday.
‘I was thinking about my own son.’
Bella blinked. ‘You have a son? Since when?’
She looked so incredulous that Scott winced. ‘It is possible, you know. I am a man.’
Bella snorted, not unlike her maiden aunt, and raised her eyebrows. ‘I’ve been aware of that for a while.’ And suddenly it was back—that aura between them that had shimmered in the bus. She blushed and looked away but not before he saw her moisten her lips with her tongue. That brief glimpse of pink softness almost undid all the hard work he’d expended on controlling his lust.
He rose, not without difficulty, from the softness of the upholstery, and walked over to the window. He had to move away or he’d pull her into his arms and do something he should have done many years ago.
He clung grimly to a topic that could divert him. ‘As to “since when”, a letter arrived from him yesterday. My son, Michael…’ he shook his head as if still unable to believe he was a father ‘…apparently was adopted by his maternal grandparents not long after his birth, when his mother was killed in an accident. Until they died, and he came across his birth certificate, he didn’t even know he had other parents. He only mentioned that he’d discovered his real mother was long dead and the letter was to let me know my ex-wife had died. “In case I wondered”, he added, and he might come to visit me in a month or two. He doesn’t seem very keen to meet me.’
Scott turned back to Bella and the sympathy he saw in her face made him fiercely regret telling her. ‘Considering I’ve done nothing for him, I’m not surprised, of course.’
Bella shook her head. ‘If you didn’t know about Michael then someone made it hard for both of you. Why didn’t his mother tell you?’
‘That’s not something I’m ever likely to find out. We were totally different and never really understood each other. She probably thought I’d be as useless as a father as I was as a husband.’ He saw her flinch at the bitterness in his voice. What did she expect? All those extra years he had on her were filled with mistakes.
Bella’s voice was reasonable. ‘As you’re not useless at anything else you attempt, I find that hard to believe.’
‘That’s a compliment, considering I’ve been less than pleasant to you since you came back.’
Bella patted the chair and encouraged him to sit down again. ‘We’ll talk about that another time.’ When he walked past her to his chair she touched his arm fleetingly and this time there was healing in her sympathy. To his relief she didn’t pursue the subject.
Bella outlined a few changes she was looking at for the ward and the time passed swiftly. Before he knew it, she’d glanced at her watch and stood up. ‘Let’s go drive a bus.’
This time, as they circumnavigated the town, surprisingly there was little strain—on Bella’s side anyway. More young people got on and off than the last trip and they all knew Bella.
Scott tried to concentrate on where they were driving and not the driver. He’d been aware of the bus campaign but was amazed at how much the service was used. No wonder the number of teen car accidents was down if this many kids weren’t driving the streets.
When they returned to Bella’s house the lights were out in Sophie’s rooms. They were the only ones awake in a sleeping house and there was one more run to go. He felt his inner tension increase another knot and his steps slowed.
‘Do you want to go back into the study and have some coffee?’ Bella didn’t appear to notice as she stifled a yawn.
Scott pictured another episode of trying to extricate himself from the carnivorous chair and, despite its diversional properties, he couldn’t face it. ‘Can we sit in the kitchen?’
Bella stared at him for a moment and the laughter in her eyes told him she’d guessed about the chair.
‘Certainly.’ She led the way into the old-fashioned kitchen and indicated a huge boiled fruit cake under a glass cover in the middle of the scrubbed oak table. ‘I’ll make coffee and you can cut us some of Vivie’s cake. Then you can tell me about your marriage.’
She looked so innocent as she assumed he’d just do as he was told and bare his soul. For some reason her assumption chipped a little more at his composure and he couldn’t help his
