He came too, following her into the house just as Sam was climbing the stairs with a glass of milk.
‘Is he all right?’ Kaye asked.
‘I think so. We heard him calling in his sleep and went in. He says he’s just thirsty.’
‘He won’t ever admit to having bad dreams,’ Kaye sighed.
‘He probably thinks they’re for wimps,’ Jared said.
They all looked up as Mike came flying out onto the landing, glaring down the stairs at them, astounded at the sight of Jared.
‘I’m not having nightmares,’ he cried. ‘I’m not, I’m not.’
‘All right, all right,’ Jared said easily. ‘If you say so.’
He moved a few steps up, meeting Mike who had descended far enough to glare at him.
‘I’m not.’
‘Then you’re luckier than I am,’ Jared said, sitting on the stairs as though this was the most natural thing in the world. ‘Boy, you should see some of my dreams. Real nightmares.’
‘You?’ Mike stared, not really believing what he’d just heard.
‘Sure. Sit down.’ He moved over so that Mike could settle beside him. Down below the others kept silent, watching and holding their breaths.
‘Sometimes my job’s dangerous,’ Jared said. ‘That can be the most fun, but you need to find a way of coping. Dreams can help.’
‘Help?’
‘You relive it in your sleep, and sometimes you wake up knowing that you’ve been through the worst. Or at least knowing what you should do.’
‘I don’t do dangerous things,’ Mike protested. ‘But I-’ He stopped cautiously.
‘But you still have the odd shouting match with yourself when you’re asleep? We all do sometimes.’ Jared’s tone became confiding. ‘It happened to me a lot when I was a kid, because I began to understand that I couldn’t always make the world do what I wanted.’
‘But the world does everything you want now,’ Mike said.
‘Mmm, sometimes. Now and then you have to compromise. For instance, I’m planning to take your mother out tomorrow night, but she hasn’t agreed yet so I’m counting on you to help the negotiations.’
‘Mum!’ Mike squeaked, outraged.
‘Yes, darling.’
‘Why didn’t you say yes?’
‘Because I haven’t been asked yet,’ she said, glaring at Jared.
‘Oh, did I forget that detail?’ he asked innocently. ‘I can’t think why.’
‘I can,’ she said, torn between indignation and amusement. ‘It was the quickest way of making me dance to your tune.’
‘Yeah, that must have been it,’ he mused. ‘Well, how about it, Mike? Do I have your permission?’
‘What about my permission?’ Kaye demanded.
‘I’ll leave this to you,’ Jared told Mike with a wink.
Mike nodded. ‘Don’t worry. She’ll be there. Promise.’
‘When the two of you have finished telling me what to do…’ Kaye observed.
Neither of them took any notice of her. They were too busy shaking hands.
‘I think you should go back to bed now,’ she told Mike.
‘Promise,’ he demanded.
‘Now, look-’
‘Promise or I won’t go back to bed.’
She glanced up at Jared. ‘Then I’ll have to-but only to please Mike.’
‘That’s understood,’ he said solemnly.
‘Bed,’ Ethel commanded Mike.
He nodded and put his hand in hers. Having got his own way he was as docile as a lamb.
Kaye showed Jared to the door.
‘Sorry to do it like that,’ he said, ‘but I need to get you to myself. We have a lot to talk about.’
She nodded. ‘Yes, we do.’
‘I’ll call for you tomorrow night, at seven.’
‘Good. Then you’ll be in time to help me put Mike to bed. He’d never forgive us if you didn’t.’
‘That’s what I hoped,’ he said quietly.
He touched her face with gentle fingertips. Then he was gone, walking away through the park.
Kaye almost closed the front door, but kept it open just a crack while she watched him vanish into the darkness. One question had been answered. A hundred more still remained. But the sudden peace and contentment in her heart were overwhelming.
Later that night, in his hotel room, Jared threw himself on the bed, staring up at the ceiling, trying to come to terms with the evening. In one way it had been just as he expected. In another it had been a stunning surprise.
He’d known Kaye would be changed, but he’d been unprepared for what he’d found: a woman with sad eyes and a way of withdrawing into herself without warning. She retained the wit of her younger days, but she was no longer light-hearted. Instead there was an air of haunting mystery that had never been there before.
His fault? Almost certainly. He must find out and comfort her, if she would let him. Perhaps her barricades were there to exclude him most of all? And could he blame her? No. He must accept the blame as his own.
Another new experience.
But the biggest shock had been Mike. Sitting on the stairs, reaching out to the child by sharing things they had in common, realising that they were one in mind and perhaps in heart-nothing in his life had prepared him for that. If this dazzling little boy turned out not to be his he would be bitterly disappointed.
But he had no fear of that.
From his pocket he took a small photograph of a pretty girl with a rounded face, fair hair and blue eyes. It was his own mother, taken when she was young.
In Jared’s mind Mike appeared beside the girl. He gave a sigh of satisfaction. The same face. No doubt of it.
Now he knew what he’d come to find out, and the way ahead was as clear as a racetrack, with the chequered flag in sight.
CHAPTER THREE
NEXT day he texted.
Glad rags tonight. J.
She texted back.
Shame. I was going to try out a new helmet. K.
His message came back.
Me too. J.
By seven o’clock she was ready, in a dress of deep blue that brought out the depths of her eyes, and her hair had been arranged in a clever combination of elegant and casual. Hell would freeze over before she let Jared suspect she’d taken trouble about her appearance. Even though she had.
‘You’ll knock his eyes out,’ Ethel said with satisfaction. ‘He’ll wonder how he stayed away from you for so long.’
‘That’s not the idea,’ Kaye protested untruthfully.
‘Isn’t it? You’re not human, then.’
‘It’s for Mike’s sake. He needs his father and I’m going to make sure they get to know each other. Nothing more.’
Ethel nodded wisely. ‘Well done, darling. You keep telling yourself that.’
The doorbell rang before she could think of a reply.
‘I’m not late, am I?’ Jared asked, smiling.
‘Bang on time.’
‘Mum, is that him?’ Mike’s voice came from upstairs and his face could be seen through the banisters.
‘Right here,’ Jared called, bounding up the stairs.
Their voices dropped. Mike seemed to be doing most of the talking. Kaye just heard, ‘She doesn’t like-’ and Jared’s reply, ‘I’ll remember that.’ Plainly Mike was giving his instructions and Jared was taking mental notes.
At last Jared said, ‘I’d better go now.’
‘Yes-don’t keep her waiting,’ Mike advised solemnly. ‘She gets mad.’
‘Oi, cheeky!’ Kaye called up the stairs, and was rewarded with two male guffaws.
‘Goodnight, Mike,’ she said, climbing the stairs to reach him. ‘Go to bed, go to sleep, and stop organising my life.’
‘That’s the trouble with women,’ Jared confided to the child. ‘They need us to organise them, but they won’t admit it.’