do anything while he’s laid up, so I thought I’d help out and do something fun while you’re stepping in for Dad. Stop being so hard on yourself.’
‘I’m not being hard—I’m a realist, and I think Oscar is out of his routine over here. He probably misses his nanny and preschool. Once he gets back to Sydney he’ll be fine again.’
‘I’m sure you’re right. But in the meantime let me have him for a day.’
‘Tilly’s enjoying having you both in Adelaide,’ Paul added. ‘And I’m sure she wants to make the most of it. It doesn’t happen often enough.’
‘Absolutely,’ Tilly agreed. ‘Check with Oscar and see if he’s up for it …’
‘Up for what?’ Oscar and Phoebe had left their observation spot on the lawn and walked up quietly without the others noticing.
‘A sleepover and a day with us tomorrow.’
‘Sure am—then I can go swimming with Aunty Tilly in the morning. Can I, Daddy, please?’
‘Well, I guess the decision has been made,’ Heath said, not having expected Oscar to jump at the idea of a sleepover so quickly. He’d thought they were joined at the hip, but perhaps that tie was loosening. And maybe he did need to let Tilly mother him now and then.
‘Do you want to sleep over too, Phoebe? And Daddy could too?’
Heath’s eyes widened in surprise at Oscar’s invitation to both of them.
Phoebe smiled. ‘That’s very kind of you, but I have to go home to my own bed and my pyjamas.’
‘I sleep in my T-shirt and jocks in summer,’ Oscar cut in, with a serious tone in his little voice. ‘You could do the same.’
They all smiled at Oscar’s matter-of-fact response—well, everyone bar Heath. He was still thinking about the void in his son’s life that was becoming more and more obvious. It was one that he’d thought he had managed to fill.
‘Perhaps another time,’ Phoebe said politely, thinking that there was no way she would be stripping down to her underwear for a sleepover with Heath.
Tilly tried not to laugh as she hugged her nephew and, looking at his food-stained T-shirt, she directed a request to Heath. ‘Could you drop off some fresh clothes tomorrow morning in case we want to go out?’
Still deep in thought, he responded, ‘Sure—as long as you’re sure it’s not too much trouble for him to stay?’
‘Not at all,’ Tilly said as she picked up Oscar and put him on her lap. ‘Early-morning swim for you and me, Oscar—and, Phoebe, if you’re not doing anything please come over and join us for a swim.’
Phoebe was surprised at how warm and welcoming the family was, and was very quickly feeling at home, but she declined, thinking that perhaps the offer was Tilly just being courteous.
Heath looked at his sister and then back at Phoebe without saying a word, then he kissed his son goodnight and walked out to the car. He was glad Phoebe had not accepted. She was becoming too close to his family too quickly. And starting to get under his skin a little too. He understood why she was a perfect fit for his family, with her down-to-earth personality, quick wit and sense of fun. He was also very aware that those same traits combined with her beauty were making her far too desirable to him. And he didn’t like it.
She could leave at any minute, and that wouldn’t be fair to Oscar. He didn’t want him to grow close to a person who would walk away. He needed to protect his son from that pain. And, more than that, he didn’t want their life to change.
‘I will see you in the morning,’ he called out before he drove away, with his father and Phoebe in the car.
The sun was setting as the three of them drove through the city to Phoebe’s home. Each one was thinking about the same thing. How quickly and naturally Phoebe was seeming to fit into their lives. Ken was thrilled; Phoebe was surprised—Heath was more worried than he had been in a very long time …
HEATH WOKE AT four and lay staring out his window to the dark sky that was softly lit by a haze-covered moon. He knew the warm air outside would be heavy and still. He rolled onto his back and lifted his arms above his head and thought back over the previous two days, since Phoebe had fallen into his arms.
He didn’t want to be thinking about her—and especially not at four in the morning, lying in bed—but her face wouldn’t leave his mind. When Phoebe had been close to him—close enough for him to smell the scent that rested delicately on her skin and close enough to see the sparkle in her beautiful green eyes—he had struggled to remember why he didn’t want a woman in his life on any permanent basis.
But that was something he had to remember. Particularly now.
His life had begun to change since he’d arrived back in Adelaide.
He had worried for a little while that the life he had built with his son, just the two of them, might not be enough for Oscar one day. And he feared now that that day was almost upon him. But he didn’t want to lose control. Once before he had lost control of a situation—lost his wife and almost lost his mind. He wouldn’t let it happen again. He needed to remain in control and not blindly accept change.
And he couldn’t accept Phoebe as the catalyst for that change.
He was more than concerned after seeing how comfortable the family had been with her. It was moving too fast for him. He had to put the brakes on the level of intimacy he thought they were all building with her. It needed to stop immediately. The air-conditioning repairman had notified him that the work was completed at the practice and while there were no patients booked in until the next day, he would send Phoebe a message just after nine and ask her to call into the practice to go over the patient notes. That would serve his purpose.
He needed to remind her why she was there—and it wasn’t to grow close to any member of his family, and particularly not his son. It was a relationship he didn’t want to see develop and risk it being torn apart when they headed back to Sydney and Phoebe headed back to her home country.
Phoebe woke early, picked up the paper and was halfway through the crossword when she got the call just after eight.
‘Hi, Phoebe—it’s Tilly. Would you like to jump in a cab and have breakfast by the pool with us? I’d pick you up, but by the time I load the diaper gang you could already be here.’
‘I’m not sure …’ She hesitated to accept the invitation. ‘This is your time with Oscar. I don’t want to infringe on that.’
‘Nonsense. I would love to chat to another adult. Away from the surgery my days are filled with nursery rhymes and potty-training, and Oscar could do with another set of eyes on him while he’s in the pool. It is hard with three of them, and my stomach is in a knot trying to keep a watch over them all. At their age it’s a bit like herding cats.’
‘Well, if you’re sure I can help, I’d love to.’
‘It’s
