she teased. ‘What was the plan?’
‘You see,’ her father grinned at Jason, ‘didn’t I tell you she’s a good sport!’
She didn’t feel much like a ‘good sport’, not when she knew Garrett Kingham was going to be furious when he found out they had known since yesterday of Jason’s visit and hadn’t chosen to inform him. Oh, she hadn’t technically known about it, but she knew Garrett Kingham was never going to believe that.
‘I’ll make the tea,’ her father offered brightly now that the moment of danger had passed. ‘You two go and sit down in the other room.’
Their sitting-room also doubled as the room where her father designed and built models of old sailing ships, as her sewing-room, and sometimes as an art studio. Nevertheless it was clean and comfortable, and Sarah only had to move a couple of books from chairs to make room for them all to sit down.
Jason seemed more relaxed too now. ‘He’s just as I imagined he would be,’ he grinned.
Had Garrett Kingham ever looked as boyish as his son did now? she wondered. She doubted it. The younger son of Senator Kingham—the elder son Jonathan having followed in the career of his father and also become a senator in recent years—Garrett Kingham had been born with a golden spoon in his mouth, had gone to all the best schools, and then to the world-famous Harvard, before deciding to make a career for himself as a film director. He had fought family opposition, the prejudice towards him from others in the profession, to become one of the most ruthlessly successful directors Hollywood had ever known. And he hadn’t done any of it by being nice, let alone boyish!
Garrett Kingham had been twenty-three when Amanda had brought him home as her husband, but to the ten-year-old Sarah he had already seemed old, had already clawed his way half-way up the ladder of success, the hardness of his eyes letting everyone know that he clearly intended to make it the rest of the way up, no matter who got in his way. His marriage to Amanda had been one of the things that got in his way.
Her sister, much against her parents’ wishes, had gone off to Hollywood at the age of eighteen to ‘find success and happiness’. Six months later she had arrived home as Garrett Kingham’s bride and expecting his baby!
Sarah had watched as her parents did their best to welcome the worldly, cynical young man into their family, and Amanda had seemed happy enough with the way things had worked out, but Sarah couldn’t hide the fact that she didn’t like her new brother-in-law one bit. He had seemed to be looking down his aristocratic nose at them all the time, even insisting he and Amanda stay at a local hotel when there was a perfectly good third bedroom at the cottage that they could have used, that had always been Amanda’s room. Not that Garrett had seemed in the least concerned with the obvious dislike of a ten-year-old; he had ignored her where he possibly could.
No, even though Garrett had only been eight years older than Jason was now when she first met him, Sarah knew he had never been boyish, had probably never been young at all!
‘We’ve thought of you often over the years,’ she told Jason huskily.
‘You never missed a single birthday,’ he acknowledged gruffly. ‘Or Christmas.’
Although Garrett Kingham had never encouraged their interest in Jason after he took him away, they hadn’t thought he could possibly object to the small gifts they sent Jason on his birthday and at Christmas. The gifts were never returned, and several weeks later they would always receive a thank you letter from Jason. It had been the only contact they had had with him over the years.
‘Here we are.’ Her father came in with the tray of tea. ‘I brought you another Coke, Jason,’ he told him, sitting down to gaze at the boy fondly as Sarah poured the tea. ‘I always knew you would look like your father,’ he said ruefully. ‘Even as a baby you had none of the Harvey colouring.’
Jason’s expression was suddenly guarded, as if he sensed criticism.
‘I think it’s as well he inherited Garrett’s height,’ Sarah put in lightly, anxious to reassure Jason that her father hadn’t meant anything by his observation. ‘We Harveys aren’t known for our stature!’ She mocked her father’s and her own lack of inches, relieved when Jason gave a relaxed grin. ‘You never did tell me what plans the two of you had made for meeting today?’ she reintroduced casually.
Jason shrugged. ‘Dad’s in England making a film, and I thought it would be nice to come see the two of you.’
Garrett Kingham was actually in England! Sarah’s hands clenched in reaction to that piece of information. Ten years ago she had no longer been a child, and yet she had flown at Garrett Kingham like a wild thing; she hadn’t seen him since that fateful day. And she didn’t want to see him again now, although surely with Jason here that was inevitable.
‘He brought you over with him for a holiday?’ she asked interestedly.
‘Because he had to,’ Jason corrected harshly. ‘Unfortunately for him he couldn’t dump me on Uncle Jonathan and Aunt Shelley like he usually does because they’re away themselves at the moment.’
There was a wealth of bitterness in the words, and Sarah wondered just how often Jason had been ‘dumped’ on his aunt and uncle over the years. Too many times, by the sound of it.
Ten years ago Garrett had made it clear that any effort they made to see his son would be rebuffed, and for Jason’s sake, because they didn’t think it fair to place that sort of burden on such a young child, they had respected that decision, no matter how much it had hurt them to do so. Now that Jason was old enough to make his own decisions about such things it seemed he felt differently about his grandfather and aunt. She was glad, although she knew Garrett wouldn’t be.
‘I’m sure he doesn’t just “dump” you, Jason,’ she reproved gently. ‘He has to work, after all. And I’m sure your aunt and uncle are very nice.’
‘They’re okay,’ he dismissed. ‘But Dad doesn’t have to work; he has enough money not to.’
‘Don’t you think thirty-nine is a little young to retire?’ she chided.
Anger flared in the brilliant green eyes, and Sarah could see that the last thing Jason had expected was that she would actually defend his father over this. But she wasn’t taking anyone’s side, was just trying to show Jason that there were always two sides to everything. Secretly she thought it was a good thing that Garrett had been forced to bring his son with him this time, and not just because it gave them the opportunity to spend some time with Jason; it sounded to her as if the two of them spent too little time together even when Garrett was at home.
‘He—–’
‘I’m sorry I missed your bus arriving, Jason,’ his grandfather cut in with a warning glance at Sarah. ‘Usually it’s late, and I thought I had left home in plenty of time to meet you off it, only to find when I got to the village that today of all days it had been early!’
So that was why her father had decided to go down to the village mid-week for his tobacco; usually he took a walk down on a Saturday! ‘I gather the two of you missed each other,’ she said drily.
‘Mm,’ her father grimaced. ‘By the time I reached the village the bus had long gone, and Mrs Hall at the shop didn’t know if a young man had got off it or not. I thought perhaps Jason had changed his mind and not come after all.’
Once
