for the album, Seth looked again at the photo of Amy, smiling in the background. Her dark eyes were so warm and pretty, and just looking at her made him want to smile.
She was as generous and open-hearted as his uncle had been when he’d taken Seth in after his father died, giving him a home, an education, a sense of belonging. Family.
Seth owed so much to his father’s younger and much admired brother, after whom he’d been named.
But now…damn it…what was the right thing to do?
He couldn’t turn his back on this little girl. How had Amy described her? Cutest thing on two legs.
Too true.
Thing was, it would be easy to wash his hands of this, to tell Amy she was mistaken, that he wasn’t the father. Send her packing.
Except—he felt such a weight of responsibility…and it was all so painful…and even though Amy was warm and compassionate, he didn’t feel ready to talk to a woman he’d just met about what had happened…
He needed time.
‘Wake up, Amy! Wake up!’
Amy felt small fingers trying to prise her eyelids apart.
‘It’s too early,’ she moaned, refusing to open her eyes.
She’d had a dreadful night, endlessly tossing and turning, and she felt as if she’d fallen into a deep sleep only five minutes ago. But a sudden knock at the door brought her smartly awake.
‘Man!’ Bella squealed, gleefully slipping from the bed. ‘Man at the door!’
With a groan, Amy pushed her bedclothes aside and swung her feet to the floor. She had no idea of the time, but daylight was streaming through the shutters.
Bella was banging on the door. ‘Hello, man!’
‘His name’s Seth,’ Amy grumbled. She couldn’t remember where she’d left her dressing gown and she grabbed up a silk wrap to throw around her shoulders to cover her nightgown. ‘Bella, you can’t keep calling him man. Say Seth.’
‘Sef.’
‘That’s better.’ Amy grimaced at her reflection. She looked a fright—hair everywhere, dark circles under her eyes.
There was another knock.
‘Hello, Sef man,’ Bella called through the door.
With one hand clasping the wrap modestly over her front, Amy ran frantic fingers through her hair, but she knew it wouldn’t improve her appearance. She opened the door.
Seth, freshly showered and shaved, was rather too much at such an early hour, but she didn’t have time to go weak at the knees. She was distracted by Bella’s shriek of joy.
‘Hello, Sef!’ the little girl shouted, and she beamed a gorgeous smile up at him, holding her arms up to be lifted.
For a moment, Amy thought he might resist the appeal of those little outstretched hands, but after only the briefest hesitation he bent down and scooped Bella high.
‘How are you this morning, possum?’
Giggling, Bella planted a wet kiss on his cheek and hugged him hard. Amy choked back her surprise. When had this pair become such firm friends?
She watched Seth’s ears redden, but with the typical fickleness of a two-year-old the little girl was soon wriggling to be set down again.
Seth’s smile was shy as he took in Amy’s dishevelled appearance. ‘I see I’m too early for you.’
‘I forgot you cattlemen get up at the crack of dawn.’
His eyes shimmered with mild amusement as he took in her nightgown and her efforts at modesty. He glanced at his wristwatch.
‘What’s the time?’ she asked.
‘Seven-forty.’
‘Oh…well…not exactly dawn, then.’
‘Breakfast’s at eight. Is that too early?’
‘No, that’s fine, thank you.’
She dropped her gaze, unsure what to say now. She wondered if Seth had adjusted to the news that he was Bella’s father. Even though he looked calm enough, he could be angry that she’d come to Serenity under false pretences. Last night she’d lain awake worrying and imagining that he’d send her packing this morning, straight after breakfast.
‘It’s stopped raining,’ Seth said. ‘So you might have an opportunity to take some photos after all.’
‘Really? That’s great.’ She felt her heart skip in relief. So, not straight after breakfast, at least.
Behind her, Bella began bouncing on her bed, treating it like a trampoline.
Amy whirled around. ‘Bella, stop that, or you’ll fall.’ She reached out to catch the little girl’s hand.
‘I was thinking it would be good if you could stay on for a bit longer than we’d planned,’ Seth said, ignoring the distraction.
Amy blinked at him from beneath tumbled hair.
‘You came here because you wanted me to get to know Bella,’ he said. ‘So it doesn’t really make sense that you should rush away too soon.’
‘I—I—’ Catching giggling Bella in midjump, Amy held her close to keep her still. ‘I’d have to change my flights.’
‘I’m sure we could arrange that.’
She rubbed at her forehead, trying to clear her sleep-fuzzed brain. ‘You were so upset last night. Are you sure you want us to stay?’
‘I’ve had time to think, to get used to everything. I’d like the chance to get to know Bella. I’d like her—both of you—to enjoy Serenity.’
‘Will your uncle mind?’
Seth’s face seemed to cave in. Shadows darkened his eyes and his throat worked. ‘My uncle’s not here. He died a couple of years ago.’
‘Oh, I’m sorry,’ she said, but it was hard to feel the appropriate depth of sympathy when she hadn’t known his uncle, especially when her stomach was fluttering madly at the possibility of staying on, alone with Seth.
Amy couldn’t think why she was hesitating. This invitation was exactly what she’d come north to achieve. Twenty-four hours ago, time on Serenity so that Bella could get to know her father had been her primary goal. Her dream.
Twenty-four hours ago, she hadn’t met Seth Reardon. She hadn’t developed a silly, useless and problematic crush that would only get worse if she spent more time with him. But there were other problems, too. There was every chance that Seth would fall for sweet Bella as swiftly and certainly as she had fallen.
