is a bit sudden, darling,’ said her mother.
‘Connah’s idea. I could have rung you, but I thought it better to come and see you instead.’
‘Much better,’ said Robert. ‘Have a drink. We opened a very nice red for dinner.’
‘Yes, please. Will you shudder if I ask for lemonade in it?’
‘You can have whatever you want,’ said Robert, and went into the house to fetch it.
‘Are you looking forward to the trip?’ said Moira, eyeing her thoughtfully.
Hester nodded. ‘Of course. I took Lowri shopping for bathing suits today. She’s very excited.’
‘She’s a delightful little girl. Our Mr Jones has done very well with her.’
‘True, but he’s had his mother’s invaluable help until recently. She’s taking a long time to recover from heart surgery, poor lady. Which, of course, is why I’m looking after Lowri. And a trip to Tuscany’s not to be sneezed at. I’ll be able to send you postcards from some of the places you visited.’ She grinned at Robert as he came back with the lemonade. ‘Lowri was surprised to hear you and Mother had a honeymoon, by the way.’
He chuckled. ‘Thought we were too old, of course,’ he said, and kissed his wife’s hand.
‘I promised to take her the wedding pictures,’ said Hester. ‘Could you dig them out while I round up my holiday gear from the flat?’
‘Drink your wine first,’ said Moira. ‘Relax for a while and let us enjoy your company, darling, while we can.’
Hester smiled and sat back. ‘Right. So tell me what you’ve both been up to lately.’
‘Gardening,’ they said in laughing unison.
The time flew by as Hester sat, relaxed, in the cool of the evening. In the end it was an effort to heave herself out of her chair to go up to her flat to collect the clothes bought for the French holiday that never was. When she was carrying her suitcase down the steps from the flat later, she stopped dead as she heard a new male voice. Connah, not Sam, had come to drive her back to Albany Square. And it was pointless to deny that she was utterly delighted about it.
CHAPTER SIX
CONNAH crossed the lawn to take Hester’s suitcase. ‘Sam is playing chess with Lowri,’ he informed her, smiling. ‘So, because I’m spiriting you out of the country, I came to renew my acquaintance with your mother and introduce myself to your stepfather at the same time.’
‘Come and sit down, Hester,’ said Moira. ‘Connah’s having a drink before driving you back.’
‘Tonic only,’ he assured her.
Hester sat down and let Robert refill her glass, knocked off her stride for the third time that day. ‘This is a surprise,’ she remarked.
‘I came to assure your parents that I’ll take good care of you in Italy,’ he said smoothly.
‘And we’re very pleased you did.’ Moira smiled warmly at Connah. ‘I’m so glad to see you again. I thought about you such a lot after your stay with us.’
‘I’ve never forgotten how kind you were,’ he said sombrely, then changed the subject and turned to Robert. ‘Is this garden all your work, sir?’
‘No, indeed. My lady wife works as hard as I do.’
‘And I’ve got the hands to prove it,’ said Moira, holding them up. ‘You have a delightful daughter, by the way, Mr—I mean Connah.’ She smiled wryly. ‘I confess I still tend to think of you as our mysterious Mr Jones.’
He grinned and glanced at Hester. ‘You, too?’
‘At first, but I grew out of it,’ she lied, flushing. ‘By the way, Mother, Lowri would like to visit you and Robert again when we come back, to tell you about her travels.’
‘We’ll look forward to that,’ said Robert, and patted his wife’s hand. ‘Just give Moira a couple of hours’ notice to make cakes.’
‘My daughter never stops talking about the wonderful time she had here,’ said Connah. ‘She keeps telling me she’s set her heart on a flat of her own like Hester’s one day.’
‘I know,’ said Moira, laughing. ‘She wanted you to come and see it. So now you’re here you may as well. Robert’s rather proud of it because he did the decorating himself.’
‘In that case I can hardly leave without taking a look,’ said Connah promptly. ‘With your permission, of course, Hester.’
‘Come this way,’ she said, resigned, and led the way across the garden and up the steps. ‘As I told you, there’s not much to see.’
Connah followed her into the long, uncluttered space, filling it, just as she’d feared, with his dominant male presence. ‘I can see why you feel at home in your room in Albany Square,’ he commented after a while. ‘This is remarkably similar.’
‘I’m very lucky to have it,’ Hester assured him, annoyed because she sounded breathless. ‘I chose the paint and the furniture while I was here for a weekend, and next time I came home, here it was, beautifully decorated by Robert and ready for occupation. Mother put up a couple of watercolours from my old room at home, and insisted on buying a few cushions to make this one look less spartan, but otherwise it’s all my own taste.’
‘I can see why Lowri likes it so much.’ Connah smiled wryly. ‘On the other hand, if you’d gone for carpet and wallpaper awash with cabbage roses she’d probably feel the same, just because it’s yours, Hester. She thinks the world of you.’
‘And I of her.’ Which was worrying, because in a few weeks’ time they’d have to part.
‘You can always come back and visit her in the future,’ he said softly, reading her mind, and held her eyes. ‘Your welcome would be warm, I promise.’
Hester controlled the urge to back away. ‘Thank you. But now I’d better get back to put Lowri to bed.’
The drive home was achieved in silence which neither broke until Connah turned into the private road behind the house in Albany Square.
‘You thought I was intruding tonight, Hester?’ he asked abruptly.
‘Of course not. Mother was delighted to meet you again.’
‘I had the feeling you were not.’
‘I was surprised,’ she said sedately, as the car glided into place beside Sam’s in the garage. ‘I was expecting Sam.’
‘Would you have preferred that?’ he questioned hastily.
Hester eyed him in surprise as she got out of the car. ‘Not particularly.’ Her eyes narrowed. ‘You disapprove of fraternisation among the hired help?’
Connah threw back his head and laughed. ‘So
