The Diamond Dad

'And tomorrow night, and the night after. I'm moving in, Faye.'

'Over my dead body!' she said explosively.

'It's time I studied the influences my children are receiving.'

While she stared at him, speechless, he opened the front door and began carrying in his bags that were piled up just outside.

'No!' she cried. 'This is my home. I won't have you walking in here without a by-your-leave.'

'We need to be under the same roof for a while. If you don't want me here, come back to Elm Ridge.'

'That's out of the question!'

'Then it'll have to be here.'

'There's no room for you. We only have three bedrooms. One for Adrian, one for Cindy and one for me.'

'We can work something out.'

She was distracted by the sight of Kendall's car drawing up outside. The last thing she wanted was for the two men to meet now. Luckily Kendall was in a hurry. Having watched until the children reached the house, he waved and drove off.

Adrian came in first. 'Cindy's gone round the back,' he told Faye. 'She's got dirty shoes.' His eager look faded as he saw his father, and he edged closer to Faye.

Watching their faces, Faye followed both their reactions easily. She saw Garth wait for his son's whoop of delight, then grow tense when it didn't come. Adrian seemed uncertain. In Kendall he'd found a fellow- footballer, who sympathized with him as Garth never had. Yet he loved and admired his father, and she could see that he was torn between the two loyalties.

'Hello, Daddy,' he said at last. 'What are you-? I mean- Has something happened?'

'I've come to stay for a while,' Garth said, pretending not to notice his son's awkwardness.

'Oh. That's nice.'

'Is that all you've got to say to me, son?' Garth asked, with determined cheerfulness. 'Doesn't your old man get a hug?'

Adrian hugged him obediently. Faye came to the child's rescue. 'Go and change those dirty clothes,' she said with a smile.

He turned to her with relief. 'We had ever such a good time, Mummy. I found a frog.'

'Yuk! You didn't bring it home, I hope.'

'No, I wanted to, but Ken said it would be happier where it was.'

'Thank goodness one of you's got some sense. Off now.'

When the boy had gone Faye saw the condemnation in Garth's eyes. 'I thought he at least would be pleased to see me,' he said bitterly. 'Your boyfriend's done his best to distance my son from me, hasn't he?'

'No, you did that. Ken's simply given him all the attention you never did. He's taken trouble to know who Adrian really is.'

'Evidently I'm here not a moment too soon.'

'Garth, about your staying-'

She stopped at the sound of feet pattering in from the kitchen. Next moment her little daughter was standing in the doorway, a look of ecstasy dawning on her face. Cindy drew a deep, thrilled breath, shrieked, 'Daddy!' and hurled herself into his arms.

Garth reeled under the impact, then lifted her high off the ground so that she could hug him properly. Two strong young arms tightened around his neck so firmly that he was almost strangled, but he clung on to the one person who was pleased to see him.

'Daddy, Daddy, Daddy…' Cindy squealed in delight.

'Steady, pet,' he said in a choked voice. 'I can't breathe.' He set her down and knelt to meet her eyes. 'Let me look at you. It's been a long ti- That is-er- let me have a good look at you.' He was struggling for the right words. What did you say to a little girl whom you hardly knew? But she made it easy for him, bouncing up and down, hugging and kissing him.

'You came back,' she bubbled. 'You remembered my birthday. You did, you did, you did!'

With a shock Garth's eyes met Faye's. He hadn't remembered Cindy's birthday, and even now he couldn't recall the exact date.

'Mummy said not to be disappointed if you forgot,' Cindy said. 'But I knew you wouldn't.'

He had the grace to be conscience-stricken. 'Of course I didn't forget,' he improvised. Frantically his eyes meet Faye's, asking her help.

'Daddy knows it's your birthday on Saturday,' she said. 'In fact he came over to tell us that he'll be spending the whole day with us.'

Cindy squealed again with delight. Garth ground his teeth at the way Faye had backed him into a corner. Saturday was fully booked with important meetings. Faye's eyes were still on him, understanding everything, daring him to refuse.

He thought faster than he'd ever done in his life. 'That's right,' he said. 'We'll all be going out together. You, me, Mummy and Adrian.'

'Adrian's got a football match that afternoon,' Cindy said. 'Can we all go and watch it?'

'Of course we will,' Garth responded at once. 'Actually, I thought of inviting myself to stay with you for a while. Only if you want me, of course.' He was throwing the challenge back at Faye.

'Of course we want you,' Cindy declared, shocked. 'We do, don't we, Mummy? We want Daddy ever and ever so much.'

'Well, it's not quite that simple,' Garth said, as if giving the matter serious thought. 'You see, this house has only three bedrooms, so there isn't anywhere for me.'

'But it's easy,' Cindy said. 'I'll move in with Mummy and you can have my room.'

'Can I, darling? That's very nice of you.' He looked at Faye. 'You see? It's easy.'

Cindy danced off to find her brother, singing, 'Daddy's home! Daddy's home!' The other two regarded each other.

'I think you're the most unscrupulous man I've ever known,' Faye seethed. 'How dare you use a child's love in that cynical way?'

'But perhaps I'm not being cynical, Faye. You told me I should pay them more attention, especially Cindy. That's what I'm doing. Don't you think I've made her happy?'

'For your own ends, the way everything is for your own ends.'

'She's happy. Does it matter why?'

'It will matter, when you decide to change tactics and drop her. It's bad enough that you've neglected her until now, but when she finds that this sudden interest is only a way of using her, she'll stop trusting you. I don't want her to lose faith in the world so soon.'

'Would I do that to my own child?'

'You wouldn't even know you were doing it,' she said despairingly. 'But you mustn't do this. Go away, Garth. Leave us alone. We were happy without you-'

'Was Cindy?'

'All right, we weren't happy, but we survived.'

'And you don't think you could be happy with me around?'

'I don't think anyone could be happy with you around,' she said desperately. 'You don't bring happiness, or know how to create it. You only know things. Getting them, winning them, and buying them. Go back to that. You're good at it. But with people, you only destroy…'

Her voice choked off, and she turned sharply away.

'What is it?' Garth asked, coming after her.

'Nothing!'

'You're not crying, are you?'

'No, I'm not crying,' she insisted, quickly brushing her eyes. For a moment she'd been shaken by the thought of Garth here, ruining her hard-won peace. But she definitely wasn't crying.

'Here, let me look at you,' he said, turning her to face him. He pulled a clean handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed her eyes. 'There's no need to get upset about this.' His voice softened. 'I'm not really so bad, Faye.'

'Yes, you are,' she said huskily, almost hating him for that gentle note. She could cope with him angry, but gentleness recalled too many sweet memories that she had to block out to survive.

'Then teach me to be better. While I'm here you can show me how to get closer to the children, the way you've always said I should.'

'You're not going to stay here,' she insisted, desperately trying to hold her position against his clever tactics. 'The house is too small.'

'Then you know the answer. Move back to Elm Ridge, which is big enough for all of us.'

'Never. It's all over. You've got to accept that.'

'And suppose I don't choose to?' His voice was quiet, but the undertone of stubborn determination still throbbed through it.

'Doesn't anyone else get a say? What about how your family feels?'