Chapter Six

A week later, Kat dropped her daughter off in the playground as usual and was about to walk away when Molly tugged at her hand.

“You did say I could ask Jake if I could ride Cookie today, didn’t you?”

Kat sighed. Molly was like a dog with a bone over these horses. “What I said was we would think about it this week.”

“But it is this week.” As her bright smile started to disappear, Kat knew she was toast. Her daughter knew exactly which buttons to press.

“Okay, if Jake turns up today, and if you ask him nicely and if he doesn’t mind.” That was a lot of ifs, Kat thought. “Then yes, I guess we could go after school.”

Molly wrapped her arms around her. “You’re the best,” she shrieked before letting her go.

When Kat looked over a moment later, Molly was skipping toward her class. Smiling at the sight, her heart sighed with pleasure in her chest. Molly might not have been planned, but she was by far the best thing that had ever happened to her.

Her mind was still with her daughter when an exasperated-looking Angela walked down the corridor to find her. “I’m afraid I’m about to wipe that smile right off your face.”

Kat worked through the worst-case scenarios in her head. “The school inspectors are here?”

Angela shook her head. “No, not that bad, but Rory Peters has been at it again. This time he threatened to punch three of his classmates because they refused to let him copy their homework. I tell you, that boy is nothing but trouble.”

Kat was inclined to agree, but she kept the thought to herself. It was her job to get the best out of all the children in the school, and that included the likes of Rory. Of course the boy’s plight wasn’t helped by the fact that his father seemed to have no respect for the school and its rules, either. She’d already had cause to speak to Rory’s parents twice about his behavior. The mother had just sat there and inspected her nails. The father had looked positively proud that his son had been caught fighting. “Okay, Angela, you’d better bring him in to see me.” There went all the paperwork she’d planned to deal with this morning.

Angela appeared again a few seconds later, this time with a hot mug of coffee. “I do, however, have some good news.”

“Great, I could do with some. Let me guess? The school syndicate has won the lottery? The Beckhams have announced they’re moving to Little Bright and schooling their children with us?”

Angela laughed. “Better than that. Your carpenter has arrived. I do believe at this very moment he’s flexing those impressive biceps and hammering his wood. Or whatever carpenters do.”

As Angela placed the cup on her desk, Kat was all too aware of the butterflies gathering in their masses inside her stomach—a phenomenon that had begun the instant Jake’s name was mentioned. It had been quickly followed by a scrambling of her pulse and a weak feeling in her legs. Bizarre. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t been expecting him today, because she had. He’d phoned earlier in the week to say the timber had arrived and that he’d prepare it in the workshop and then build the frame in situ. If that was okay with her. Which it definitely was. What sort of head would she be if she denied her female staff the opportunity to view an attractive male undertaking physical labor?

“Thanks, Angela.” She glanced down at the mug of coffee and then back at the office manager. “I take it Mr. Holroyd has already been furnished with a drink?”

Angela beamed at her before gently closing the door.

****

When the bell sounded, swarms of children ran into the playground. At least that’s what it looked like to Jake. Within minutes the place teamed with them. He sat for a moment, trying to control his thoughts. Trying not to think about another playground, in another school. He couldn’t allow his mind to wander that way. It was a road to disaster.

“Mr. Holroyd.”

He looked up to see Molly standing right next to him, her pretty face smiling down. God she was cute. How come he hadn’t noticed those freckles before? They dusted charmingly across the bridge of her nose and the tops of her cheeks. He wondered if her mother had the same freckles. He’d make a point of checking it out.

That was when he realized his thoughts had happily gone off in another direction entirely. Without any conscious effort on his part. “Hello, Molly. How are you? And didn’t we agree you would call me Jake?”

“My mum says that I have to call you Mr. Holroyd when you’re at school. It’s more specful.”

“Respectful?”

“Yes, that’s it. More re-spect-ful.”

“Well then, I guess you’d better do as your mother tells you. She being the head teacher, as well. So what can I do for you, Molly?”

“Can I come round and ride Cookie today? After school?”

His eyes instantly flickered over the mountain of timber that lay around him. This job wasn’t going to get done if he sloped off at three every day, or whatever time the school usually finished. Plus he’d also promised Kat that he’d make a Wendy house, whatever the hell that might entail.

“Please?” she added after a brief hesitation.

On the other hand, what man could refuse those twinkling brown eyes and that dimpled smile? A stronger man than him, that’s for certain. “Sure, you can come round. When you’re ready to go, give me a shout and I’ll pack up. I’m sure Cookie will be pleased to see you.”

He watched as she sped away to join her friends. Before his mind could turn to anything else, he heaved up a large piece of timber and began to screw it in place.

“I hope she wasn’t disturbing you.”

Jake snapped his head round so quickly he nearly hit it on the part of the frame he’d just spent all morning putting in place. Way to go. He’d always had a reputation of being calm and measured. It seemed to fly out of the window when the sexy head was around. “Molly disturbing me?” He shook his head. “No, she was just booking her riding lesson after school.” Conscious of the sweat beading on his brow, he took a swipe at it with the back of his hand. “I take it she checked with you first?”

Kat nodded, her expression slightly hesitant. “It’s fine with me, if you’re sure you don’t mind. Frankly, she’s been driving me absolutely nuts since you mentioned it. I was going to wait a while…I mean I didn’t want to intrude too soon again since our last visit.” She chewed on her bottom lip. “But she asked me again this morning, and as I knew you would be here today, I thought maybe she could ask you herself.” Finally she drew breath. “What time would be best?”

It amazed Jake how anybody could think of so many things to say. Not that he didn’t appreciate hearing her say them. He did. She had a lovely soft voice. One that didn’t grate on him, but rather weaved its way seductively through his system. He didn’t think he could get bored of listening to her. And when she toyed with that lovely full bottom lip…it didn’t take much for him to imagine his own teeth biting down on it.

“Jake?”

Christ. He cleared his throat. “I told Molly to come and get me when you’re finished.”

“Oh, okay.” She reached over to run her hand over the wood he’d started to put in place, and he took the opportunity to study her face. Yep, definitely some freckles there. Perhaps not as many as her daughter, but without doubt a small collection. “It feels nice and smooth,” she remarked.

He had an instant image of her trailing her hand over something else smooth and hard. Shit, there he went again. And in the middle of a school playground. He turned away to pick up a bracket and get himself back in check. “It should feel smooth, the hours I’ve spent sanding and treating it,” he muttered finally. “Now all I have to do is put it all together.”

Once more he found himself staring into dancing brown eyes. “You make it sound as if that’s the easy bit.”

“Trust me, it is.”

The corners of her mouth lifted. “Well then, it looks like I’ll be trusting you.”

As she smiled and walked away he gazed after her. Trust him? She should be running a million miles away from him. But he was incredibly thankful that she wasn’t.

****

Later that day, Jake once again found himself playing host to Molly and Kat. It was almost becoming a habit. Right now, however, as he saddled up Cookie, he couldn’t shake off the feeling that he didn’t want to go through with this. It had absolutely nothing to do with Molly, who was watching him with shining eyes, and everything to do with this horrid feeling of déjà vu. Tightening up the girth. Making sure the stirrups were the right length. Showing Molly how to mount. How to hold the reins. It all felt hauntingly familiar. He knew his heart was pounding too fast in his chest as he led the clearly excited little girl into the paddock. He knew his hands were clammy, his fingers trembling. Every now and again he looked over toward the fence where Kat was watching them, needing the reminder that it wasn’t his daughter on the pony. It was Kat’s.

Taking a deep breath, he tried to focus. “That’s it, Molly. Just relax into the saddle and get used to Cookie’s rhythm. You need to keep your back nice and straight.”

“Is this right?” she asked anxiously.

“That’s it. Not too stiff. The aim here is to feel balanced and secure.” He took hold of the reins and secured them more firmly through her fingers. “You need to keep your arms relaxed and move them back and forward with the movement of Cookie’s head. That way you can keep the same tension in the reins all the time.”

He walked Cookie round the paddock a few times until he was sure Molly had the hang on it. Then he brought the pony to a halt. “That’s great, Molly. You’re a natural. How about you ask Cookie to move this time?”

“What do I do?”

“To ask her to walk you have to squeeze her gently with your calves and then relax them.” He fondled the pony’s ears. “She’s a clever girl. She’ll understand. Go on. Give it a try.”

Molly gently squeezed the pony’s flanks, and Cookie immediately began to walk. Absolutely delighted, Molly gave off a peel of laughter. “She’s walking, look!”

That was all it took. Her burst of girlish laughter. Instantly he was back in another time. The girl on the pony didn’t look like Molly. Far from it. She had straight blonde hair, tied in pigtails with bright pink ribbons. Her eyes were blue, not brown, but they shone with the same joy as Molly’s. Oh God. He felt his throat tighten and was horrified to feel tears prick his eyes. There was no way he could carry on. This hurt too much. If he continued he was going to embarrass himself, horribly. With hands that visibly shook, he pulled Cookie to a stop. “Sorry, Molly, I can’t...”

He trailed off as he caught sight of the expression on Molly’s face. The pleasure had receded, replaced by disappointment. He felt like a total bastard. She’d been having the time of her life, and he’d ruined it. Breaking down like a pathetic weakling. Where had his backbone gone?

“Is something the matter?” Her brown eyes cautiously studied him.

The concern in them only made things worse. Wiping the tears from his eyes, he looked away. “Molly, you’ll have to get down. I’ve just remembered...” Miserably he trailed off again, wondering what the hell he could say. What possible reason could he give that would explain letting her down so abysmally? “There’s something I’ve got to do.”

It was an appallingly weak excuse, one that had him churning with self-disgust, but Molly must have sensed his emotional meltdown because she didn’t question him any further. He reached up and lifted her from the pony. Briefly he caught sight of a pair of sad brown eyes before she landed neatly on the ground and dashed away.

Halfway toward her mother she turned round. “Thank you.”

And then, just like that, Jake collapsed against the pony and wept. He didn’t look up to see whether Kat or Molly were watching him. He couldn’t. His agony was great enough without seeing their reaction to it. He simply rested against Cookie’s warm body and cried.

****

“I didn’t think men cried,” Molly remarked as Kat drove back down the bumpy, pothole-riddled lane. “He must be awfully sad to cry like that.” She turned to her mother. “I didn’t mean to make him unhappy. I don’t know what I said to upset him.”

“I don’t expect you said anything at all,” Kat reassured her, taking her hand off the steering wheel to squeeze her daughter’s arm.

“He was probably just remembering something.” And that something had clearly been enough to break his heart.

Kat could still picture the awful sight of Jake hunched up over the pony. It had taken all her self-control, and then some, not to rush over to him. In fact, it was only the thought of what she would do when she got there that had stopped her. She wasn’t close enough to him to throw her arms around his neck and offer comfort, though more than anything else she’d wanted to do just that. Yet if she couldn’t do that, what could she do? She didn’t know what hurt him. Just that it must be something very painful. So instead of running toward him, she’d taken her clearly upset daughter by the hand and drawn her away, giving him his privacy.

“Do you think he’ll let me have another go? Some other time, when he’s not so sad?”

Kat didn’t know what to say. Would Jake ever feel comfortable enough in their company to offer another ride to her daughter? She didn’t think so. Not now they’d witnessed him looking so distressed, so vulnerable. And wasn’t that a crying shame—and she wasn’t only thinking of Molly’s riding lesson. Selfishly she was also thinking of how she’d probably lost any chance she might have had of being able to run her hands over the body that looked so good in jeans and a tight T-shirt. Or of finding out if his kisses were as dynamite as the sexy mouth that would deliver them.

She snorted to herself. Who did she think she was, some sort of sex kitten? In her dreams.

With a despairing smile she turned her attention back to Molly. She was her reality. Not steamy sex with hot-looking carpenters.

****

Parked at the entrance to the barn driveway, Wade spotted the sports car coming his way and hastily turned on his engine and drove away. He didn’t want the woman and her daughter seeing him as they drove out. Besides, he thought with a grim smile, he’d seen enough. It wasn’t every day a man got to see a cop break down. It warmed his soul to see that all wasn’t necessarily rosy in Holroyd’s world, though he still couldn’t figure out where the woman and child came in. Were they just friends? Or, as he’d sensed earlier, was there more between them?

If there was? Well, it would be worth his while being a little more patient. Because hurting Holroyd directly, well that was like the main course. Substantial and filling. But hurting him through those he loved? That was the icing on the bleeding cake.

Chuckling to himself, he turned on the radio and began to hum along to the music.