Her One and Only (19 page)

‘M-Mum did say once that had the pair of you been older or a bit more worldly-wise, you’d both have known that what you had together was wonderful for an intense and passionate affair, but not for marriage. She said, too, that while
she
was the one who initiated things between the two of you, you were the one with the old-fashioned moral principles who insisted that you should get married—if you were going to have sex.’

Seb grimaced. What Charlotte had just said was quite true. Eighteen months his senior, Sandra had had other boyfriends, other relationships, before she had met him—neither of them had come to their own affair as novice lovers. But with his own upbringing, his knowledge of what could happen in the aftermath of a passionate relationship for the woman who was left on her own, seen first-hand through the history of his own family—Cooke men had a certain notorious reputation for their alleged propensity to father children outside wedlock—he had felt it necessary to prove that he was different, above the kind of much criticised behaviour his name had branded him with. Perhaps his insistence on marrying Sandra had been a righteous and ridiculous piece of over-reaction, but if he was honest with himself Seb knew that, given the same situation again, he would probably have reacted in exactly the same way.

His father had always been a stern critic of the haphazard morals of some members of the Cooke clan. As a boy growing up, Seb could remember that there had been tight-lipped conversations between his parents about the sudden arrival of a new and unexpected member of the family who did not always carry his or her father’s name. Both of his parents had been insistent that that was a family inheritance of which they most certainly did not approve. And nor, no more so, did Seb.

Seb was brought back to the present as Charlotte squeezed his arm lovingly and kissed his cheek.

‘I’m glad we’ve had this little talk,’ she told him almost maternally. ‘And I wish that you could find someone nice to marry Dad... I liked Katie Crighton, didn’t you?’

Seb frowned as she looked at him, but Charlotte only returned his look with one of filial innocence and before Seb could warn her that even if he had been looking for someone, Katie Crighton was most definitely not his type, the estate agent had returned.

* * *

T
EN
MINUTES
LATER
as Seb drove out of the house’s grounds behind Katie and the estate agent, he made a mental note to get in touch with Jon Crighton and set the wheels in motion for the purchase of the apartment. Now that he had decided to buy and had had his offer accepted, he wanted to get the formalities over and done with as soon as possible so that he could move in.

* * *

A
S
SHE
DROVE
out of the house’s grounds ahead of Seb Cooke, Katie was wishing that she might have had someone else, anyone else, but him for her new and nearest neighbour. Not that she was likely to see much of him, she acknowledged, on two counts. According to what Charlotte had told her she could guess that his job would be very demanding and from the way he had looked at her she had seen that he was as pleased about having her for a neighbour as she was him. What was his wife like? she wondered. Very glamorous and sexy no doubt. He was that kind of man—you could see at a glance. He just exuded sexuality... Not like Gareth. Gareth was a man for snuggling up to in front of a lovely log fire... Gareth was a comfort and reassurance, safe and...

And there was no way that anyone, any woman, would ever describe Seb Cooke as any of those things, but most especially safe. Why, you only had to think about his family’s reputation. There was a smouldering sexual energy about him that rubbed her up the wrong way and brought all of her own antagonism towards him out, making her feel prickly and on her guard, wary and filled with unfamiliarly strong emotions.

Even the way he had looked at her. Katie tensed as she tried to banish the unwanted memory of that startling reaction she had experienced when she had almost felt as though she could sense the heat of his breath, his
mouth
on hers. It had been a mistake, an accident, a ridiculous fluke caused by heaven alone knew what mix up of signals inside her body. No doubt Seb himself would have an explanation for such awareness. He, after all, was the research scientist and no doubt fully
au fait
with the confusing mixture of chemicals and in-built programming which were responsible for what less rational people called ‘emotions.’

To her relief as she looked in her driving mirror she saw that they were going in opposite directions to their different destinations as she indicated to turn left to drive home to her parents’ house.

CHAPTER THREE

‘M
MM
...
W
HAT
A
wonderful smell,’ Katie enthused as she walked into the kitchen where her mother was busy cooking. Originally a farmer’s daughter from Cheshire, Jenny Crighton had the kind of homemaking skills that at one stage of her young married life had made her feel very dull and old-fashioned. Who wanted a wife who could grow, preserve and cook her own fruit and vegetables in an era which had fallen in love with Twiggy look-alikes; fragile, big-eyed dolly birds? Who wanted a wife with a healthy build, thick curly hair and freckles when the fashion was for chalk-white pallor and long straight locks?

It had taken a long time for her to learn that Jon Crighton, her husband, loved her very deeply, but these last few years since the birthday party thrown to celebrate her husband’s and his twin brother’s half century had seen a renaissance in their marriage and had brought her more joy and happiness than she had once believed she could ever have—and it showed. She still had the trim feminine figure of her youth, but as a young girl she had been self-effacing, a little awkward and shy, now she had a mature self-confidence that came not just from knowing how much her husband loved her nor even from being the pivot of her busy family household, but from feeling at ease with herself.

‘It’s for supper tonight. You haven’t forgotten that we’re having an informal party, have you?’

Katie gave her an apologetic look.

‘Oh heavens, yes I had,’ she admitted, adding by way of explanation, ‘It’s been such a frantic week, what with my own conveyance and then Olivia having to take extra time off.’

‘Mmm... Well, at least the doctor has confirmed the fever and temperature is only a childhood upset and not meningitis as Olivia first feared. You will be joining us this evening though, won’t you?’

‘Mmm... What time are you expecting people?’

‘In about an hour,’ her mother told her.

‘Right, I’ll go up and have a shower and get changed and then I’ll come down and give you a hand. Is Dad back?’ she asked as she helped herself to one of the too-tempting and still-warm fruit buns her mother had just put onto a wire rack to cool.

‘Yes...just... That will give you indigestion,’ she warned Katie with a mock-serious look as she tapped her hand.

‘Oh, and by the way, I rang Louise this morning...’

Katie, who had been about to go upstairs, tensed, her heart starting to thud unevenly. Every mention of her twin reminded her of Gareth and brought home to her the emptiness of her own life in contrast to the love that filled Louise’s.

‘You know we’re having a special party for your grandfather soon,’ her mother was continuing. ‘Well, both Maddy and I think that we ought to have as many from the family there as possible. Having the family around him means so much to Ben and he’s getting so frail...’

Katie’s eyebrows rose.

‘The family means so much, does it? Well he certainly doesn’t
show
it,’ she told her mother dryly. ‘With the exception of Max and of course Uncle David, I get the impression that he doesn’t care that much for anyone.’

‘Oh, that’s just his way,’ Jenny assured her sunnily. ‘You wouldn’t believe how proud he is of all of you.’

‘No, I wouldn’t,’ Katie agreed wryly. ‘He told me when he learned that Lou and I were going to study law that women and the law simply didn’t mix, and that women were far too emotional to make good lawyers...’

‘He
is
a bit old-fashioned,’ her mother acknowledged, ‘and since David left...’ She paused and sighed.

‘Do you think Uncle David
will
ever come back?’ Katie asked her mother curiously. ‘I mean, to just disappear like that... I know that Olivia makes no real secret of the fact that she doesn’t want him to come back, but Jack...’

She paused and frowned as both she and her mother remembered how, when Louise had first moved to Brussels to work, Jack and their brother Joss had illicitly taken time off school to go and search for Jack’s missing father. And then later, undeterred by Louise’s father’s decision that his twin brother should be allowed to make his own decisions as to whether or not to be reunited with his family, Jack had secretly made arrangements to fly out to Jamaica on the same plane as Jon’s eldest son Max.

Max had callously played on his grandfather’s love for him and for his son David on what was to have been, for Max, an all-expenses-paid luxury holiday and an escape from his wife and a difficult situation professionally, all cloaked in the disguise of wanting to look for David at Ben’s behest.

The ensuing near tragedy had resulted, not just in Max’s total transformation and metamorphosis, but also in a much deeper and adult understanding between Jack and his Uncle Jon, but all the family knew that a small part of Jack would also always be scarred by his father’s disappearance and his apparent rejection of him, no matter how much love and reassurance he received from Jon and Jenny.

‘I don’t know if David will ever come back,’ her mother admitted now. ‘We don’t even know where he is. For Ben’s sake...’ She paused and bit her lip but Katie knew what she was thinking.

‘Grandfather
is
getting very frail,’ she agreed quietly. ‘If Uncle David is going to come back I hope he doesn’t leave it too long...or until it’s too late...’

‘It wouldn’t be easy for David to come back and I’m not sure he actually possesses the courage he would need to do so...’ Jenny replied.

‘Mmm... He and Max were very alike, weren’t they?’ Katie acknowledged. ‘But Max has changed and so...’

‘Max
has
changed,’ her mother agreed. ‘He and Maddy will be here this evening, by the way. Maddy did say she wanted to have a word with you. They’re hoping to buy another house for the mums and babes and I suspect she’s going to ask you if you’d do all the legal work for them.’

The family charity originally begun by Ben Crighton’s sister Ruth had grown from a single house with individual rooms for young single mothers into an organisation which now provided homes for single parents of both sexes as well as their young children, and which was constantly having to find more accommodation for its protégé’s parents.

One of Maddy’s contributions had been the development of a scheme which allowed the young parents to train for jobs and then to go out to work while their children were looked after safely at an in-house crèche.

And not all of their single parents were female. They now had a small group of young men who, for one reason or another, were the sole parents to their children.

It was a very worthwhile cause and one which all the Crighton women both supported and were involved in to some extent or another. Katie and Louise had both worked voluntarily with the scheme during their university breaks and Katie was not surprised to hear that Maddy, as the charity’s main working executive, was in the process of obtaining further housing.

‘Who else is coming?’ she asked her mother as she scooped up the last few crumbs of her pilfered cake.

‘Mmm... Olivia and Caspar, Tullah and Saul and a handful of other people. Oh, and Chrissie and Guy...’

‘Guy Cooke?’ Katie enquired so sharply that her mother frowned.

‘Yes. Why?’

A long, long time ago, or so it seemed now to Jenny, Guy had made it plain to her that if she had a neglectful husband then she most certainly had a very appreciative business partner and one who, given the opportunity, would like to put their relationship on a much closer intimate footing.

But that had been before she and Jon had sorted out their problems and before Guy had met Chrissie, and so far as Jenny knew, there was now no reason whatsoever for Katie to have
that
particular note of reservation in her voice when she repeated Guy’s name, and certainly none for her unexpected emphasis on the Cooke part of Guy’s name.

Katie, of both her girls, was the one to whom Jenny felt the closest, the one who was most like her in temperament and yet, conversely, Katie was also the one who was the least forthcoming, the least given to confidence.

For a long time Jenny had been concerned about her daughter, knowing with maternal instinct that she wasn’t happy, but Katie had never been the kind of person you could coax or persuade into discussing anything she did not want to discuss. Jenny had her own ideas and thoughts about what was making her so unhappy and if she was right...

Katie had always tended to idealise people, to put them on a small pedestal, to invest them with virtues of her own making. She had a far gentler and more romantic nature than Louise, her twin, a far less robust attitude towards life—and men.

And now as she looked at her withdrawn expression, Jenny decided that it might not be a good moment to tell her that she had invited Guy to bring another Cooke along to her supper party with him.

Jenny had not yet met Seb Cooke, but she had heard all about him from both Guy and Chrissie. Naturally maternal and warm-hearted as well as being a generous hostess, Jenny had immediately suggested to them both that they should bring Seb with them when they came over to supper. From what Guy had told her about him it sounded as though, despite all his family connections in the town, he might be feeling a little isolated.

‘He isn’t the easiest of people to get to know,’ Guy had warned her. ‘In fact, some folk find him a little bit off-putting and intimidating. He’s a scientist, of course, and very analytical, and like me he’s known the burden of being a Cooke who doesn’t fit into the normal and expected male Cooke mould.’

As Katie went upstairs to change and prepare for the evening she was frowning. Her father had asked her if she would take over one of his few remaining conveyancing cases, explaining that what was to have been a simple court case had developed into something much more complicated, meaning that he couldn’t do the work as quickly as their new client wished.

‘Nice chap. You’ll like him,’ he had told Katie with a smile. ‘Seb Cooke... He...’

‘Seb Cooke! You want me to act for
him
?’

Her father had raised an eyebrow when he had heard the antagonism in her voice.

‘What’s wrong? I thought...’

‘Nothing’s wrong...’ Katie had fibbed. The situation and her own feelings were far too complicated and personal to be explained to her father. How could she tell him that the main reason she disliked Seb so much was because of his intense sexuality...that something about him, about his power as a man, made her all the more aware of her own incompleteness as a woman.

‘He’s buying the apartment adjacent to mine,’ was all she could allow herself to say.

‘Yes, I know,’ her father agreed, and then wisely decided not to pursue the subject.

Katie had changed since she had reached maturity. Something had happened to her, hurt her, and much as he longed to help, he felt that it was impossible for him to pry. She was an adult now and if she wouldn’t even confide in her mother then who was he, a mere man—a mere
father
—to push for confidences she quite plainly did not want to share.

Her father had an appointment with Seb on Monday, an appointment
she
would now have to keep in his place. Fortunately most of the work had already been done and it was simply a matter of Seb signing some forms and then, hopefully, at the end of the week when completion for the sale would take place, that would be an end of the matter. He would still be her neighbour of course, but there she would be able to keep her distance.

What kind of man was he anyway? she fumed a few minutes later as she stood under the warm lash of the shower. He was buying the apartment in his own name and not putting it into the joint names of himself and his wife. That old-fashioned kind of chauvinism was something she detested and fortunately was rare now. The majority of men accepted that their wives, their partners,
were
equal to them in every way and behaved financially accordingly.

She might, Katie conceded, be a little old-fashioned when it came to matters of personal intimacy, but she was thoroughly modern in outlook when it came to matters of equality between the two sexes, whether that equality related to financial aspects of a relationship or the emotional and physical ones, and so far as she was concerned, a man who was selfish towards his partner financially, who refused to accept that she had absolute parity with him, was just as likely to be selfish both emotionally and physically.

Max, her elder brother, had once been that type of man and she had seen at uncomfortably close quarters just how destructive an effect that had had on his marriage. What was Seb Cooke’s wife like? Katie wondered curiously. Attractive? Very, she suspected. Seb had struck her as the type of man who would, as an arrogant right, demand perfection in every aspect of his life, and then there was the stunningly attractive daughter as living proof of her parents’ good looks.

Was this wife clever, witty...fun to be with? Did those steel-grey eyes glow with warmth and passion when their glance rested on her?

Katie gave herself a small mental warning shake. If she wasn’t careful she was going to turn into the kind of sad person who, without an emotional focus of her own in her life, worried incessantly and even perhaps a little obsessively, about the flaws of people who were at best mere acquaintances. And that was behaviour that was...what? Typical of what, one hundred and fifty years ago, might have been the ways of the unmarried, and therefore supposedly the unwanted daughter of the family who remained at home to look after her ageing parents.

Well, her own parents were far from ageing and she was living in a time when it was publicly documented that the women who enjoyed the best health and the least stress, both physically and mentally, were those who had elected to remain independent—who had
chosen
to remain independent, Katie reminded herself inwardly, not those who were forced to confront the unhappy knowledge that they loved a man who did not return that love, and had no option other than to remain alone.

Perhaps it was inevitable in a way that both she and Louise
should
love the same man since they were twins...but Bobbie and Sam were twins and Bobbie loved Luke and Sam loved Liam.