really… after all, I hadn’t been part of his life for some twenty years.’
‘The terms of the will were very precise.’ His brows drew together in a dark line. ‘After his second wife died, he stipulated that the property and the land should go to his children, and he named each one of you specifically. It wasn’t an afterthought. He had the will drawn up several years ago. Other bequests were added later—like the monetary gifts to his housekeeper and manager.’
‘And the collection of rare books that went to Nick Bellini.’ That was the reason for him being there, wasn’t it, on a day when she’d thought she would be safe?
He nodded. ‘Jack knew that he had a special interest in them, and he wanted to thank him for his help over the years. He said Nick had always been there to advise him about matters to do with the vineyard, and lately he had looked out for him when he was ill.’
‘It sounds as though you knew my father very well.’ Her mouth softened. ‘He must have talked to you quite a bit about these things.’
‘That’s true. I often had occasion to meet with him, so we got to know one another on a friendly as well as a professional basis. I had a lot of respect for your father.’
Katie’s mouth made a faint downward curve. It was a pity she couldn’t share that opinion. Her world had been turned upside down when she had discovered her father’s secret. Now she would remember him as a weak man who hadn’t had the courage to admit to his shortcomings. How much grief would he have spared his family if he had done that? Even her mother had echoed those thoughts at his funeral.
For Katie’s part, she wanted to weep. What was it about her that made people treat her this way? As a child, for a long time after her father left she had felt that she was unlovable… worthless… and now those feelings of rejection and isolation were intensified.
Was there anyone she could rely on? Her ex had cheated on her, and her own father had left her so that he could be with his other family. And now Nick had hurt her deeply by keeping her in the dark about her brother and sister. If he’d cared about her at all, wouldn’t he have confided in her, tried to smooth her path and let her know about something so significant as a family that was being hidden from her?
‘How are you bearing up?’ Nick came to join them, and the lawyer discreetly excused himself to go and talk to her new siblings. ‘If there’s anything I can do—’
‘You could stay away,’ she said, slanting him a brief, cool stare.
‘I’m sorry you feel that way.’ His gaze flicked over her, taking in the silky sheen of her chestnut hair, the troubled curve of her mouth, and then shifted downwards over the slender lines of her dove-grey suit. The jacket nipped in at the waist, emphasising the flare of her hips, while the slim skirt finished at the knee, showing off an expanse of silk-smooth legs. ‘I was hoping by now you’d have had time to think things through… and maybe come to the conclusion that I’d acted with the best of intentions.’
‘Then you’ll be disappointed. I won’t forgive you for holding back from me. You let me down. You betrayed my trust… my faith in you. I’d begun to think you were someone I could believe in, but it turns out you’re no different from any of the other men in my life.’
His head went back at that and sparks flared in his eyes, as though she had slapped him. A moment later, though, he recovered himself and said in an even tone, ‘I can see I’ve a lot of fences to mend. I hoped you would understand that I did what I felt was right. I had to keep my promise to your father.’
She gave an indifferent shrug. ‘That’s as may be. I’m not disputing that. You made your choice and you stuck by it. That’s fine. Just don’t expect me to agree with you. If you had any thought for my feelings at all, you would have warned me. Instead, you let me blunder on, thinking I actually had a father who loved me but who had simply made a mistake.’ Her jaw clenched. ‘But, of course, it turns out that I was the mistake. That’s laughable, isn’t it? The offspring who really mattered to him are standing over there, talking to his lawyer.’ Her gaze was steel sharp. ‘You colluded with him.’ She gave an imitation of a smile. ‘I must have thrown the cat among the pigeons, turning up here out of the blue.’
His mouth compressed. ‘You know I’m not to blame for any of that, Katie. You’re putting the sins of your father onto me. Don’t you think you’re mixing things up in your head just a little?’
‘No, I don’t. Not at all.’ Her mouth tightened. ‘You should have told me, and you could at the very least have persuaded my father to tell me, instead of leaving things until it was too late.’
She started to turn away from him. ‘I’m going to talk to Libby for a while,’ she said, ‘and maybe I’ll go and help myself to something from the buffet.’ She threw him a warning glance. ‘I hope that doesn’t mean you’ll feel obliged to butt in there as well.’
A muscle flicked in his jaw. ‘You’re mistaking concern for interference, Katie. I only want what’s best for you.’
Katie’s mouth twisted. ‘Whatever. I don’t need your help or your concern. It’s way too late for that.’ She walked away from him, going over to the buffet table where Libby was standing alone, looking lost. She had to get away from him.
The truth was, she still could not sort out in her mind where everything had gone wrong. He had stolen into her heart and she had glimpsed a snapshot of how wonderful her life might be with him as part of it. She had begun to care for him and those feelings lingered on, in spite of herself. It wrenched her heart to know what a fool she had been to fall for him.
Natasha came to join them a minute or so later. ‘I’m just going to grab a quick bite to eat and then I’ll go and fetch Sarah down from upstairs.’ She bit into a cheese topped cracker, savouring it as though she hadn’t eaten for hours.
Katie frowned. ‘Who’s Sarah?’ she asked.
‘Oh, of course, you don’t know, do you?’ Natasha smiled. ‘She’s my little girl. I laid her down in the cot upstairs before you arrived. Even with the excitement of a house full of people, she was ready for sleep.’ She helped herself to a sandwich. ‘I thought I heard her stirring a minute ago. She usually naps for a couple of hours in the afternoon, so I take my opportunities while I can.’ She waved the sandwich in explanation.
‘I’d no idea,’ Katie said. ‘You look so young, and I’d assumed you were single, like Tom.’
Natasha smiled. ‘She’s eighteen months old—I’ve been married for four years, but Greg and I separated a few months ago, so it’s just Sarah and me now.’ Her mouth flattened briefly. ‘Not that she’s any trouble. Lately, she just wants to sit quietly and play with her dolls. None of that racketing about that she used to do when she first started to walk.’ She frowned, thinking about it. ‘Perhaps I ought to take her to the doctor. She’s definitely not as lively as she used to be… but, then, I don’t want to be labelled as a fussy mother, and it could be that she’s fretting over her father.’ She crammed another cracker into her mouth, brushed the crumbs from her hands and hurried away. ‘Must go and check on her,’ she said.
Katie watched her go, feeling a little sad. There were so many things she didn’t know about her newfound family. They had at least twenty-four years of catching up to do.
‘We ought to get together over the next day or so,’ Tom said, coming to the table to pour himself a cup of coffee from the ceramic pot. ‘There’s
