Wrangling with the Laywer (10 page)

Alice nodded. She turned and outstretched her hand for her father. Harper swallowed deeply watching Gabe’s gentle hand engulf his daughter’s.

“Why don’t you go sit with the kids while I get dinner?” she told him evenly. “I’ll be through in five minutes. It’s almost ready.”

They had a strained meal. Alice didn’t eat; Gabe spent most of it staring uncomfortably at the screen. She was sure if she’d asked him that he wouldn’t have been able to recount a single thing that had happened in the childish teen soap opera. Even Finn, who could sleep through a tornado, eventually gave up munching his way through corn on the cob and joined the others on the sofa, nestling himself between Harper and Alice. Harper kissed his head, sensing his alarm. She was glad he was too young to have remembered the split between her and his father. As far as Finn was concerned, there was no reason not to be happy when there was family, food and entertaining television. The atmosphere was obviously confusing him.

Harper
suggested a bath eventually, unable to sit in silence much longer. “Could you take the dishes into the kitchen, Gabe?”

“Of course.” He looked down at Alice. It was heartbreaking to see her still disquieted expression look beseechingly up at her father. “You want to take a bath with Finn, honey? I’m just going to clean up the kitchen.”

“Are you staying?”

Harper
picked up Finn. “Come on. Let’s go run the bath. Alice will come up in a minute when she’s ready.”

In the end Gabe gave the kids their bath and read them a story or two; Alice was too upset to leave his side. So
Harper cleared up the house and gave them some space, hoping Finn was behaving himself. In the end Alice decided she wanted to sleep on the floor in Finn’s room, and Finn then decided he wanted to sleep on the floor, too, and so the camping equipment had to be searched out from the attic. Finn’s cat, Brigitte, for whom life was a haughty, anti-social affair normally, inexplicably decided she wanted to sleep snuggled at the end of Alice’s sleeping bag between the two kids. By the time Gabe and Harper backed out of the room, the two small bodies on the floor were drugged with tiredness and loosing the fight against consciousness.

Downstairs, Harper opened a bottle of wine and poured them a glass. She sat next Gabe on the sofa wordlessly.

“I’m not sure if I did the right thing, bringing her here,” Gabe admitted eventually. His expression tightened. “You’ve been fantastic with her; I’m just not sure how I’m going to get her to leave tomorrow.”

Harper had worried over the same point, but now wasn’t the time to express that. She battened her doubts behind a more cautiously optimistic tone. “Let’s just take things as they come. We can deal with that tomorrow.”

He lay back, loosening is tie further. He looked exhausted. His expensive suit, normally so pristine, was crumpled after hours of small children crawling over it and soaking it with bath water. His hair was dishevelled and a stubborn shadow had reappeared on his jaw. Oddly, he looked probably more attractive than she’d ever seen him, though she wasn’t sure if this emotion was the same as the more mind-numbing attraction she’d felt earlier in the day watching him in court. This time she felt drawn to him instead of intimidated. His predicament shocked her, even now as she watched him quietly.

“So... what happened?” She sipped her wine, cautious.

His expression was pragmatic. “She stuck a note in Alice’s backpack this morning saying she was leaving town.” The silence that followed resounded with shock. “She’s left me with sole custody. Says she’s sorry but she won’t be back. It’s all too much for her or some bullshit like this.”

Harper’s hand rose to her mouth wordlessly.

“She’s sure as hell going to regret writing that note when she does come back, tail between her legs.” His voice grated. “I’ve already called my lawyer. She hasn’t got a leg to stand on if she wants custody back.”

His anger was only barely below the surface. Harper might not have agreed with his position
, but given the circumstances she knew better than to provide an unsolicited opinion. The emotional stakes were too high.

She waited for a while before speaking. “You’ll need some help with Alice.”

He looked at her, his expression surprised. She could see he was still not quite able to accept the full magnitude of what had happened.

“I know some great nannies that could help out short-term, as soon as next week. I’ll give you some numbers.”

“I thought I might take her to my parents.”

“What about school?”

He turned, running a hand across his face. His voice was spare now. “God, I don’t know. Honestly, I have no idea what she’s going to need.”

Her father
, Harper wanted to interject. Instead she offered a wry smile. “Food. Routine.” She shrugged. “You guys are welcome to hang out here as much as you like. If she feels secure here, I mean.”

He gave her a meaningful glance. It could have been gratitude, or it could equally have been virulence; he was unreadable. The silence stretched. “I won’t let this interfere with the case.”

Harper actually laughed. Had that really been what he’d been thinking there as he’d watched her? “Gabe, I’m not worried about the case. Family’s more important than some stupid patent dispute.”

“I’m worried about the case.” He bit the words out contrarily. His eyes darted across to the window, and then at various objects around the room.

It was uncharitable, but she sensed he was more worried about his ordered, convenient life; having a child to bring up full-time was probably not on his agenda. She’d overheard him trying to fit in an appointment with his tailor on Monday before court today; she felt guiltily amused as she recalled this now. Good luck with maintaining that life now that dentist’s appointments and school runs and colds and ‘flu and Halloween parties and PTA meetings were going to start popping up all over the place.

She took another sip of wine, reordering her thoughts. Gabe was shocked. He was a sophisticated and successful man. No doubt when he’d discovered he was going to be a father he’d been shocked, too, but she imagined back then he hadn’t envisaged too much disruption in his life; he would have known the mother would take the lion’s share of the care giving role. The shock he was feeling now was probably more akin to how a woman felt when she discovered she was pregnant. This, she remembered all too well. She’d known her life would never be the same again. If Gabe believed Christine was truly gone for good, then he’d be facing exactly the same emotions right now.

He turned to her again. His dark eyes were troubled but direct. “How would you like to spend the weekend out at the Hamptons with me?”

Harper stared at him, taken-aback. With his smooth tone of voice, it sounded a bit like he was asking her on a date. He couldn’t possibly.

Could he?

“You and Finn, I mean,” he corrected, obviously picking up on her hesitation. “Alice and I are going to see my parents...” His voice trailed off, leaving her in no doubt of his enthusiasm, or lack thereof, for the trip. “I think, given the circumstances, it would be good for Alice to have some company.” His brow furrowed. “She’s calmer around Finn. And she’s still so upset... I don’t think my mother will be able to deal with it all.”

“Would there be room for all of us?”

His smile was quick. Nodding, he laughed lightly. “We’ll find space for everyone.”

Could she refuse? She felt an aftershock of disappointment when she remembered his original plan to leave Alice with her grandparents. Surely he wasn’t planning to do that this weekend? She really did not want to be involved if that was the case. She wasn’t signing up her son as a comfort blanket for when Alice realised she was being dumped by her father, so closely after her mother had left. Harper could only imagine what kind of distant relationship Gabe had with his parents; she knew the Southampton set well, and she imagined then as old money, probably uptight, and not emotionally demonstrative.

Still, how could she refuse...? Alice’s distraught face entered her mind. She combed Gabe’s features, looking for the resemblance, and seeing it marginally in the way his dark eyes watched her carefully. She let her gaze slide down the length of his angled cheekbones, and his straight, arrogant nose, to where gentle indentations remained next to his serious mouth. Those indentations creased easily when he laughed, as did the lines around his eyes. She couldn’t see how a man would maintain a face as warmly handsome as Gabe’s without being a good person inside. Jamie, who had seemed like a brutally honest judge of character if that chip on his shoulder was anything to go by, certainly seemed to look up to him.

“Okay.” She released the word on a pent-up breath. “Sure. Why not?”

He looked away, but he seemed pleased if the marginal relaxation in his brow was anything to go by.

Chapter Six

The next morning, Gabe left Alice with
Harper while he went back to his apartment in search of clothes for the weekend. In the end he visited some stores on the way back to buy clothes for Alice. Harper greeted him with delighted laughter when he arrived back at her house just before nine.

“These are so cute!” She held out the collection of casual corduroy and wool dresses and warm tights. “She’ll be so much more comfortable in these than...” Her expression stilled. “Well, you know. Those posh frocks.”

He felt satisfied that he’d started off on the right foot. By the time they were all in the car, he actually found he was looking forward to the weekend. The notion was so unfamiliar that he felt mildly disturbed by it. He searched his mind for a reason for concern; his parents would be surprised to see Harper, but he was sure that when they saw how contentedly the kids were playing and how relaxed and friendly Harper was, that they would soon relax, too. Of course, the news about Christine would go down like a lead balloon. His parents had always liked her, and vice versa. However, in the end, as Christine’s workload has increased, he’d simply stopped inviting her for the weekend, taking Alice alone. It had been shortly around this time that Alice had started developing her ‘behavioural issues’.

He glanced at his daughter in the rear view mirror. Veda had the weekend off, so Gabe was driving the town car himself. He kept the partition down, watching the two kids playing with their building blocks in the backseat.  Alice seemed contented; she raised her voice more often than Finn, but Finn was such an easy-going kid, Gabe presumed all other children would seem rowdy around him.

He was just like his mother, Gabe considered, his eyes falling to where Harper sat quietly by his side. She was enjoying the scenery now that they were out of the city, if her expression was anything to go by. Still watching the road, he stole a few glances at the straight, graceful line her neck made from her jaw down to her delicate collar bone. Her hair was still drying, glistening and fragrant, from her rushed shower that morning, and her soft white sweater and jeans moulded her curves suggestively. She looked so good he wanted to stop the car and just bury himself in her, get lost in the cushiony femininity.

“I could use a coffee.” She turned to him. Her eyes widened when she caught his expression.

He frowned, forcing his mind back on to the road. He wasn’t sure what she’d seen, but his thoughts had been pretty heavy. What the hell was wrong with him? Wasn’t it enough that he was in the middle of an emotional crisis? Wanting to have sex with her was one thing... mooning over her like some lovesick puppy was quite another.

He switched the heating down distractedly. “We can stop at a place in town.”

“Do your parents know we’re coming?”

He glanced at her, taking in her pensive features. “Of course. They’re looking forward to it.”

“Do you have a close relationship with them?”

He shrugged. What did she define as a good relationship? He visited them regularly and tried to meet their expectations; he wasn’t going to be running up the driveway and enveloping them in bear bugs if that’s what she meant.

She turned away, silent for a few seconds. He was glad she wasn’t pressing him for a detailed answer. Then curiosity seemed to get the better of her. “What do they do? Are they retired?”

He smiled, amused by her undaunted interest. “My father’s retired; he trained as a pilot in the air force originally, but entered law later in life. He’s litigator, like me. He’s still active on the board of a couple of firms in the city. He does consultation work for the government occasionally.” Guiding the car into the fast-lane, Gabe checked the traffic and the activity of the kids in the backseat before continuing. “My mother’s Deputy Secretary for Local Government for state of Albany.”

“Really?” He heard the surprise in Harper’s tone.

He smiled. “Really.”

There was a pause. When she finally spoke, Harper sounded genuinely excited. “I can’t wait to meet to them.”

He glanced at her. She was smiling out at the scenery, quiet again.  An amused frown eclipsed his brow; he couldn’t recall a time when any of his girlfriends had seemed particularly enthralled about meeting his family. He thought about this for a moment, running through the various candidates he’d brought home. He’d always found his parents’ tastes to be too exacting, but he wondered now if it had anything to do with the type of women he dated. He decided he’d have to mull that over at a later time.