help you?’
The woman looked around her as if she couldn’t decide whether to be daunted or impressed. ‘I’m looking for Gabriel Stearne,’ she told Tess with a belligerent air.
‘I’m afraid he’s not here at the moment. I’m his assistant,’ Tess explained. ‘Perhaps I can help you?’
‘I don’t know if you can.’ Digging around under the pram, the visitor pulled out a copy of yesterday evening’s paper. It was folded open at the picture of Gabriel and Fionnula, and she tapped the photo. ‘This is your Gabriel Stearne?’ she asked doubtfully.
Tess looked down at the stern mouth, the dark, striking brows and the unsmiling face next to the sparkling Fionnula. ‘Yes, that’s Mr Stearne,’ she said.
‘He’s not what I expected,’ the woman confessed, frowning down at the picture with Tess. ‘Leanne said he was gorgeous. The most handsome man she’d ever met, she said.’ Her mouth turned down disparagingly. ‘I wouldn’t call him handsome, myself, would you?’
‘Not personally, no,’ said Tess. It wasn’t a very loyal answer, but it was hard enough putting up with his bad temper without having to rave about his looks as well.
‘Ah, well, that’s love for you.’
There was a tiny pause. ‘Love?’ she echoed cautiously.
‘That’s what Leanne called it. Leanne’s my daughter,’ the woman explained, seeing that Tess was still looking mystified. ‘She met Gabriel on a cruise last year. She’s a croupier,’ she added proudly, ‘and he was one of the first-class passengers. She said he was a lot of fun.’
A puzzled look came over her face as she looked around the plush office. ‘Somehow I didn’t imagine him somewhere like this. Leanne always said he was a free spirit.’
She wasn’t the only one who was puzzled. Tess was still trying to come to terms with the idea of Gabriel hanging around in a casino and being a lot of fun, let alone a free spirit! She would love to know what the unknown Leanne was like.
‘Well, I’m sorry he’s not here,’ she said after a moment. ‘He won’t be back until later. Can I give him a message?’
‘You can do better than that,’ said the woman, appearing to make up her mind abruptly. ‘You can give him his son.’
For once Tess was shaken out of her composure. ‘His son?’ she repeated stupidly.
‘That’s right.’ She nodded towards the pram. ‘Harry, his name is.’
Tess stared at the pram as well. Gabriel, a father? It seemed very unlikely. ‘Um…does he know about Harry?’ she asked delicately.
‘No.’ The woman’s mouth closed like a trap. ‘Leanne would have it that he wasn’t the kind of man you could tie down. I wanted her to tell him about Harry when he was born, but she wouldn’t. She was determined to look after him herself. That’s all very well, I said, but what about the money side of things? She was going to get a job at home, but then they offered her another contract on the ship. It was just for six weeks, and such good money that she couldn’t turn it down.’
Tess was getting confused. She didn’t quite understand what her unexpected visitor was trying to say, but one thing she was sure of: the last thing Gabriel would want was to come back to the office and find himself presented with a baby. She would have to stick to essentials.
‘I think it’s up to your daughter to discuss any paternity issues with him,’ she said firmly. ‘Mr Stearne keeps his private life quite separate from the office.’
‘Leanne’s not here to discuss anything,’ the woman pointed out. ‘That’s just the point. The thing is,’ she confided, ‘I said I’d look after Harry for her while she was away, but a few days ago I heard that I’d won a trip to California. Me! It’s the first time I’ve won anything!
‘I’ve always wanted to go to the States,’ she went on wistfully, ‘but it means flying out straight away, and I thought I was going to have to turn it down until I saw in the paper last night that Gabriel Stearne was over here. I don’t see why I should give up my holiday when Harry’s father can look after him just as well.’
‘I don’t know about that,’ said Tess, alarmed. ‘He’s extremely busy.’
‘Not so busy he can’t swank around with that Fionnula Jenkins,’ said Harry’s grandmother, brandishing the paper as proof. ‘If he’s got time to do that, I reckon he’s got time to look after his own son. If you ask me, it’s high time he took some responsibility for him. Why should Leanne have to cope all by herself? She didn’t get pregnant by herself, did she?’
‘Well, no, obviously not, but—’
‘It’s not as if I’m leaving him for ever. I’m only going for a fortnight. He’s a good baby—he won’t be any trouble.’
Tess came hurriedly round the desk as she realised just what the other woman was saying. ‘You’re not seriously thinking of leaving the baby here?’ she said, appalled.
‘Why not? From everything Leanne ever said, your precious Gabriel isn’t short of a bob or two. I’m sure he’ll manage.’
‘But you can’t just abandon him!’
The woman’s chin set stubbornly. ‘I’m not abandoning him. I’m leaving him with his father.’ She leant over the pram and kissed the baby. ‘You be a good boy, love. Your gran’ll be back for you in a couple of weeks.’
She glanced at Tess and pointed at the rack underneath the pram. ‘He’s got everything he needs for a couple of days, but you’ll need to buy some more formula and nappies after that.’
‘Nappies?’ Tess was aghast. ‘You can’t just go,’ she cried, but the baby’s grandmother was already heading for the lifts. ‘Look, wait!’ she called, hurrying after her. ‘Wait!’
But her cry had woken the baby, who promptly began to yell. Distracted, Tess hesitated in the doorway. She couldn’t believe his grandmother wouldn’t come back to the crying child, but when she ran out into the corridor she was in time to see the lift doors closing and the other woman had gone.
Frantically, Tess pressed the button to call the lift back, only to see its lights descending inexorably. She looked around for help, but the entire floor seemed to be deserted. Everyone else had obviously gone home at five-thirty, like sensible people. Tess wished fervently that she had done the same.
Behind her, Harry had redoubled his cries, and she took her finger off the button. There was no way she was going to catch his grandmother. By the time the lift came back she would be long gone.
Now what was she going to do?
In the office, she could hear the baby at full throttle. Hurrying back, she was alarmed to see that his face was red and contorted. What if he was having some kind of fit? She joggled the pram ineffectually for a while and, when that didn’t work, picked him up and cuddled him gingerly against her shoulder the way she had seen her friend, Bella, do with her new baby.
‘Shh, it’s all right,’ she told him, wishing that she believed it herself. Wryly, she remembered the smug
