‘Dad, Dad!’
‘What are you two doing up? You should be asleep.’
‘Harry’s gone,’ Frankie wailed. ‘She took Phantom with her.’
‘Don’t panic. They’ve just gone for a walk. They’ll be back.’
‘Promise!’ she demanded.
‘Word of honour. And if she doesn’t I’ll go and fetch them. Now, back to bed.’
They vanished obediently and he, being naïve, assumed they had obeyed him. It was only later, as he strolled in the garden watching for Harriet’s return, that he realised they were looking out of the window over his head.
‘Is she coming yet?’ Mark called.
Darius was about to admonish them when he had the strangest sensation that Harriet was there, reading his mind, shaking her head in disapproval. Enlightenment dawned.
‘Come on down and we’ll wait together,’ he called back.
They darted away, appearing in the garden a moment later. Kate brought out milkshakes and they sat around a small table, chatting to pass the time. Darius described his first encounter with Phantom. Once, the thought of anyone, even-or especially-his own children-knowing about that undignified incident would have filled him with horror. Now, he found himself describing it in detail, relishing their shrieks of laughter.
Harriet would have been proud of him, he felt.
‘Perhaps we should go with her next time,’ Frankie suggested.
‘You don’t have to keep guard over her,’ Darius said. ‘She’s not going to run away.’
‘Really? She’ll stay with us for ever and ever?’
‘That’s for her to say,’ Darius said quietly.
A mysterious understanding was creeping over him. Like himself, they had seen Harriet in a light that set her apart from everyone else, as though she possessed a special power that acted like a shield against all the evil of the world. Those she defended were safe. Those she loved were fortunate beyond their dreams.
The difference between them was that they had seen at once what he had taken time to understand. And that delay might be his undoing. But for now he must profit by her influence to find the right words for his children’s questions. He crossed his fingers, hoping against hope for wisdom.
But before he could speak Harriet again intervened to save him.
‘Here she is,’ Frankie cried, bounding up and pointing to two figures emerging from the trees.
She and Mark made off at top speed and in the riot of noisy delight nobody noticed Darius closing his eyes and thanking a merciful fate. When he was calm again he strolled towards her, calling, ‘Nice to see you back.’
Harriet smiled at him. ‘Nice to be back,’ she said.
His eyes held hers. ‘Really?’
‘Yes, really. Right, you kids. Bed.’
When that job was done she leaned against the wall, yawning. ‘I’m nodding off right here.’
‘Go and get some sleep, because you’re going to need it.’
‘You too. Goodnight.’
Harriet slept until the early hours, then got up and glanced out of the window. From here she could just see a glow of light that she knew came from Darius’s office.
Throwing on her dressing gown, she slipped downstairs. From behind the door she could hear him on the phone.
‘I accessed the website half an hour ago and there’s no doubt-I know how to fight this-I’ve already put things in place that’ll make them think twice-don’t worry, I’ve got it in hand.’
He sounded almost like the man she’d heard before vowing, ‘No mercy’, but she sensed something different. The cruelty had gone from his voice and only the determination remained.
As he hung up she opened the door and found him staring at the screen. He looked round and smiled wanly.
‘Don’t you ever sleep?’ she asked.
‘I’m trying to catch up at night so that I can be free during the day. There are things I still have to do.’
‘You poor soul. Can I do anything to help?’
‘I’d be glad of a coffee.’
She disappeared into the kitchen, returning with a full mug a few minutes later, only to find him dozing. She set down the mug and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder, so that he awoke at once, looking up at her with a faint smile. She had never seen him so vulnerable, never been so dangerously close to loving him.
‘I’m going to do it,’ he said. ‘You’ll be proud of me, teacher.’
‘I was proud of you tonight,’ she said. ‘When I saw you sitting outside with them, cracking jokes. You must have been telling them a great story to make them laugh like that.’
‘Yes, they really enjoyed hearing how their dad looked like a total prat.’
‘I don’t believe you said anything like that.’ When Darius simply grinned she said, ‘Well, go on, I can’t stand the curiosity. Tell, tell!’
‘It was about our first meeting-the way Phantom flattened me on the sand. I thought they’d enjoy it, and they did.’
‘You actually managed to tell that story?’ she breathed in astonishment and admiration. ‘How come?’
‘You told me to,’ he said simply.
‘I never-’ She stopped. ‘When did I?’
‘There and then.’
‘But I wasn’t there.’
‘Yes, you were. You were right there with me. You always are. Even when you’re not there, you are there. Didn’t you know?’
‘No,’ she murmured.
His gaze intensified. ‘I guess there are a lot of things you don’t know.’
‘I guess there are.’
‘I’m glad I’m not the only one who’s confused.’
Everything was in a whirl. He was telling her something she longed with all her heart to hear, to believe; telling her not with words but with his eyes, with his hesitant tone, with his uncertainty that seemed to say everything was in her hands.
Playing for time, she said lightly, ‘The great financier is never confused.’
‘That’s what he used to think,’ he agreed. ‘So when the confusion came he didn’t know how to cope with it.’
A soft buzz came from the screen.
‘You’ve got an email,’ she said. ‘I’m going back to bed. So should you. Get some sleep.’
She slipped away and ran back to her room, telling herself that she was glad of the interruption that had saved her from saying and doing things that she would regret.
If she tried really hard she might even manage to believe that.
Mark and Frankie were instinctively happy outdoors. Town life bored them, and escaping to the island lifted them to seventh heaven. They revelled in the visit to Harriet’s little yacht, and the trip out to sea, gaining particular pleasure from their father’s ignorance, even greater than their own, and the way he addressed Harriet as ‘Captain’. Several times Harriet caught them exchanging knowing glances.
At home she took charge, banishing Darius to the office to catch up with his work while she and Kate saw to supper.
‘Isn’t Dad having supper with us?’ Mark asked.
‘The poor man’s got to do a little work,’ Harriet said. ‘Last night he worked late so that he could spend the day with you. Now, I’ll take his supper in to him.’
‘Are you and Dad going to get married?’ Frankie asked.
‘It’s much too soon to think of anything like that,’ Harriet said quickly. ‘We’re just friends for now, and we’re not rushing it. Don’t mention it to him.’
Frankie nodded wisely. Harriet was left staring at Darius’s office door. He’d been closing it when Frankie asked her question, and although Harriet tried to believe that he couldn’t have heard anything she’d noticed the way the door was suddenly still for a moment, before being shut.
At the end of the evening he emerged to join them for a walk with Phantom, and perhaps only Harriet noticed that he was unusually quiet. Later, when the children had gone to bed and the house was quiet, it wasn’t a surprise when he knocked on her bedroom door.