you’d have time for a chat. I’ve been meaning to ask you about the books you said you’d sign for Darren’s school fête.’
Matt’s smile looked a little forced now. ‘Well, I am working, Em—’
‘But you’re not working right now, are you?’ she pointed out smoothly, with another impatient glance at Sara and Mrs Webb. ‘It will only take a minute. And I have driven over specially.’
Matt took a deep breath. ‘Okay,’ he said, apparently accepting defeat. ‘You’d better come in.’
Mrs Webb pulled a wry face at Sara as Emma went triumphantly up the steps and into the bootroom, and Sara felt an unexpected sense of camaraderie with the older woman. But when she started towards the dogs again Matt caught her arm.
‘What are you doing?’
‘Miss Victor asked if she could take the dogs for a walk,’ said Mrs Webb, before Sara could respond. ‘That’s all right, isn’t it?’
‘No, it’s not all right,’ he retorted, and Sara, who had been momentarily struck dumb by the possessiveness of his strong fingers, shook herself free.
‘Why not?’ she demanded, aware that Emma Proctor had paused to listen to their exchange. Her eyes challenged his. ‘I’ve got nothing to do until Rosie comes home.’
‘Because you’re not familiar with the area,’ he said tersely, clearly aware of his audience. ‘You can come with Rosie and me when we take them out later.’
‘But—’
‘I doubt if—Miss Victor, is it?—is likely to lose her bearings around here,’ observed Emma Proctor, once again reminding him of her presence. ‘This is the only house along this stretch of the coast.’
‘Even so—’
Matt didn’t say anything more, but his expression was compelling and Sara knew she couldn’t go against him. He was sticking his neck out by allowing her to stay here, and the least she could do was respect his wishes.
‘Okay,’ she said, with a small shrug. Then, because she couldn’t resist it, ‘I suppose I’ll have to go and pick Rosie up in a little while anyway.’
Matt’s expression mirrored his impatience. ‘We’ll talk about that,’ he stated flatly, and although his eyes promised a suitable retribution Sara wasn’t alarmed. He followed Emma up the steps and into the house. ‘I won’t be long.’
Sara’s lips twitched, and after Matt and Emma had disappeared she turned back to the dogs with a rueful smile. ‘Sorry, guys,’ she said, squatting down on her heels and pushing her fingers through the bars. ‘You’re going to have to wait. We all are.’
‘You’re staying on, then, are you?’
Mrs Webb’s enquiry reminded Sara that there’d been a fourth witness to their exchange. ‘For a short time,’ she said, getting to her feet again. Then, because she had to know, ‘What has he told you?’
‘Me?’ For the first time the housekeeper looked a little taken aback. ‘Matt doesn’t have to clear his arrangements with me.’
‘I know, but—’ Sara sought for words. ‘He must have said something.’
Mrs Webb folded her hands together at her waist. ‘As I say, he doesn’t have to tell me anything. If he says you’re going to be Rosie’s nanny, then that’s good enough for me.’
Sara sighed. ‘Mrs Webb—’
‘All right.’ The housekeeper gave in. ‘He asked me not to gossip about your arrival. I know you’re in some kind of trouble, and he’s trying to help you, but that’s all. I trust Matt to know what he’s doing. He is a trained psychologist, you know.’
Sara’s eyes had widened. ‘A trained psychologist?’ she echoed. ‘He didn’t tell me that.’
‘No, well, it’s not something he likes me to gossip about either,’ said Mrs Webb drily. ‘Now, I must get on…’
‘Why did he give it up?’ asked Sara, unable to stop herself, and the housekeeper sighed.
‘Can’t you guess? To pursue his writing career, of course. Rosie was just a baby at the time.’
Sara bit her lip. ‘Was that—was that when his wife left him?’
‘Miss Victor—’
‘Call me Sara, please!’
‘Sara, then.’ Mrs Webb folded her lips together for a moment before continuing, ‘Don’t you think you ought to ask Matt these questions, not me?’
Sara flushed, but she stood her ground. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said a little stiffly. ‘I didn’t mean to pry.’
‘No—’ Mrs Webb turned towards the house, only to pause with her foot on the bottom step. ‘I don’t suppose it will do any harm to tell you that Carol—that’s his ex-wife—wasn’t prepared to give up the comfortable existence she’d had as a doctor’s wife. There was no certainty Matt would have any success as a writer.’
‘But she left her baby behind,’ protested Sara, unable to conceive of any woman doing such a thing, and the housekeeper nodded.
‘Yes, well, she married one of Matt’s partners in the practice just a week after their divorce became absolute,’ she conceded with a grimace. ‘Rosie would have been in the way.’
Then, as if she realising she had already said too much, Mrs Webb disappeared into the house.
Chapter Nine
MATT stared at the blank computer screen in front of him and scowled. For the first time in his writing career he was finding it almost impossible to concentrate on his work, and it irritated the hell out of him.
He knew what was wrong with him, of course. He was getting far too involved in Sara’s life. Despite the fact that he’d promised her not to say or do anything to alert Max Bradbury to her whereabouts, the temptation to let the bastard know exactly what he thought of him was hard to resist. More than that, he itched to bury his fist in Bradbury’s face, which was totally unlike him.
He’d always considered himself a reasonable man. Hell, when Carol had first left him and shacked up with Philip Arnold he’d never even thought of resorting to violence. Which probably said more about his relationship with his ex-wife than his own character, he conceded ruefully. In all honesty, if it hadn’t been for Rosie they’d have probably split up long before they had.
So what did that say about the present situation? Why did he feel this overpowering need to protect Sara? And what had possessed him to tell Emma Proctor that she was Rosie’s new nanny? By now the news was probably common knowledge throughout the county.
Yet, during the three days that had passed since Emma’s visit, he had to admit that the demands on his time had been eased. Although he hadn’t allowed Sara to pick Rosie up from school, there was no doubt that she had taken much of the responsibility for entertaining his daughter once she was home off his shoulders.
