Double Fault (18 page)

Mel shook her head admiringly. “I think it’s a terrific suggestion. And much better than employing a nanny who would be around all the time, even when you don’t need her.”

Kerry nodded. “The children are already showing signs of missing their nursery school but it’s too far away from
Greenleas
to make taking them there practical. A journey across town can take anything up to half-an-hour, which makes it too long a morning for them, whereas a daycare, here, would keep them occupied without the additional strain of a long car journey.

She looked at Pierce and surprised a faint hint of admiration in his eyes instead of the frown she was expecting.  He smiled. “Sounds good to me. I’ve been trying to think of a way to attract more mid-week sportsmen and women and this sounds like the answer. How long do you need to plan it?”

Kerry found herself smiling back at him. “Hardly any time at all if you’ll give me the space I need and the necessary funding. I’ve already talked to the owner of the nursery the twins used to attend and she’s keen to have a go. She’s been talking about expanding for ages so the thought of starting a daycare here had her practically drooling. Mary has signed up as a helper too.”

Mel gave a peal of laughter. “Trust Mum! She’s never said a word to me about either. Do you always play your cards so close to your chest Kerry?”

“Always,” Pierce answered for her, but this time he was laughing and he rested his hand briefly on Kerry’s shoulder as they walked Mel back to reception.

* * *

After that, things changed...not least Pierce’s attitude towards Kerry. He was still reserved but the coolness had gone and he spoke to her often, discussing his plans for
Greenleas
and even occasionally asking for her opinion, or, in the case of catering, her advice. It was the start of a new relationship between them where the traumas of the past were patched over with a new respect as well as a realization that they both had something to offer as they attempted to build a new life together.

Kerry continued to sleep in the spare room and Pierce made no attempt to dissuade her, but when he delivered her early morning mug of coffee he now sometimes stayed to talk to her, telling her what he was doing that day or listening to her own plans with every sign of interest. It had an effect on the twins as well. Soon Ben became far more manageable and Lauren stopped whining when she couldn’t have her own way.

As the weeks went by Kerry became more hopeful they had at last found a way to leave all their squabbles behind them. She was aware she still had one problem to overcome, however. Marissa!

From newspaper articles she knew she was filming an American game show to be shown in the New Year. She also knew she would soon be back in
England
for a promotional guest appearance on a late night chat show and it was that that she was dreading. Once Marissa was back in the country things between Kerry and Pierce would change. His girlfriend’s return would inevitably stretch his newfound delight in his family to the utmost.

She was lying awake early one morning thinking about this, and about the fact he hadn’t yet mentioned visiting his parents even though he’d now telephoned them with the news of his marriage, when she suddenly realized it was his birthday. She counted back to their wedding day; amazed so much time had flown by without her noticing. It was now November and today was Pierce’s thirty-fourth birthday.

She lay still for a few moments longer and then, hearing the children chattering in the next room, pushed back her covers and tiptoed into their bedroom. Ben and Lauren looked at her in surprise because they had only been awake for a few minutes and they were used to being the first ones astir. She laughed at their solemn, wide-eyed expressions.

“Come along you two. We’re going shopping.”

“Breakfast?” Ben suggested hopefully, not entirely concurring with her suggestion.

“You can have breakfast later. Right now we have to go and buy Pierce a birthday card.”

They didn’t really understand but Kerry’s enthusiasm was enough to convince them something exciting was going to happen, so they popped out from beneath their matching duvets with wide smiles and let her dress them with more cooperation than usual. She kissed them both and then led them through to her bedroom.

“Be very quiet now because Pierce is asleep,” she told them as she hastily pulled on a pair of jeans and a thick sweater.

* * *

It was almost eight o’clock when they arrived back at
Greenleas
having plundered the only shop open at that hour in the morning, the local newsagent. Ben and Lauren were each clutching birthday cards and small white paper bags, while Kerry’s purchase was wrapped in brown paper. She was also carrying a box of chocolate beans and several cake decorations.

They crept in through the side door with exaggerated whisperings and tiptoed down the passageway to Pierce’s bedroom. The children were pink cheeked with excitement.

“Pierce sleep?” Lauren demanded.

Kerry pushed open the bedroom door the tiniest crack. “I don’t know darling. Why don’t you go and find out.”

Lauren looked alarmed at this suggestion but Ben needed no further encouragement. He flung the door wide with great élan and dived into the room, landing on the bed without bothering to check if Pierce was awake. Lauren remained slightly more circumspect, clinging hold of Kerry’s hand and trying to pull her into the room after her.

Gently Kerry disengaged her fingers and gave her daughter a little push, not wishing to intrude too much on something that belonged to Pierce. She was also uncomfortably aware that he was awake and sitting on the side of his bed clad, as far as she could tell, in nothing more than a towel.

He looked up, startled, as Ben burst through the doorway and the eyes that met Kerry’s were like thunderclouds; a dark stormy grey without a trace of blue. She gave an involuntary shiver when she saw the outward manifestation of the anger that she knew must always be burning inside him, an anger that could only be directed at her. She sensed something else too, in the brief moment before the children’s excitement shattered the tension. It was a dark despair that stabbed at her like an emotional knife, destroying what little peace of mind she had managed to achieve over the past few weeks.

Was this how he really felt about her? Was she responsible for this peculiar reduction in his personality? She closed her eyes against a truth she didn’t want to face. How he must hate her for having destroyed so much; the plans he had made with Marissa, the chance of a normal family life, and the loss of his children’s early years. She couldn’t bear it, couldn’t bear to be the cause of so much suffering. There must be another way they could live.

* * *

“Aren’t you going to join us?” Pierce’s voice broke through the barrier of her misery. It was full of all the old enticements; soft, slightly husky, questioning. She opened her eyes and found she was being scrutinized by three pairs of identical blue eyes, all of them smiling and waiting for her to say something.

She stared at Pierce in bewilderment. With Ben and Lauren sitting one on either knee, he looked relaxed, the harsh grooves of unhappiness that had lined his cheeks erased by a wide smile that included her.

“We can’t open my presents without you,” he put out a hand and waited for her to take it.

Slowly she moved towards the bed. “Happy birthday,” she had to clear her throat before she could speak. “I’m afraid we left it a bit late so you’ll have to be content with what the newsagent had to offer.”

He peered into the bag Ben thrust under his nose and grinned. “I have a passion for sugar mice, surely you know that.”

“Me too! Me too!” Lauren bounced up and down on his knee impatiently while he looked in her bag. With a grin he extracted two jelly babies from the mass that had stuck together thanks to the heat of her small hands, and popped one into each of the children’s mouths.

Kerry’s earlier depression dissolved into laughter when she saw the bemused expression on his face. “Ben and Lauren chose their own presents,” she explained.

He shook his head admiringly, hugging the children to him while his eyes danced with amusement above their heads. “I’d never have guessed. How did they know exactly what I like?”

“Ben like!” His son wriggled indignantly out of his father’s arms, his mouth still full of jelly baby, and peered longingly into the bag containing the sugar mouse.

Pierce grinned as he lifted it out of reach. “Not until after breakfast young man, and I’m having the head.”

“Ben stuck out his lip mutinously. “Me head!”

“Oh Ben, it’s Pierce’s present. He can eat it all if he wants to. Come on, show him his birthday card.” In an attempt to distract Ben she picked up the envelope that he’d dropped on the floor.

It did the trick. Both children immediately tore the envelopes off their cards and held them up for inspection, pointing excitedly to where they’d each scrawled a smudged kiss in red crayon with Kerry’s help. Pierce took both cards and admired them obediently, commenting on the pictures and the children’s expertise with the crayon in equal proportion, but Kerry was aware of a change in his voice as he read the identical message on the front of each card.

“Thank you.” His kisses were for the twins but Kerry knew the words were directed at her as he carefully displayed the cards on his bedside table so the words
Happy Birthday Daddy
were easy to read. She ignored the lump in her throat, telling herself he would shortly revert to the cool, distant individual she was used to. With an effort she held out her own present.

“It was the best I could do in the circumstances. I forgot it was your birthday until I woke up this morning.”

He took it without a word, letting the twins wriggle out of his grasp as he did so, so she was suddenly alone with his near nakedness and uncomfortably aware of the length of his bare legs as they stretched out beside her. She started to get up, using the twin’s breakfast as an excuse, but Pierce caught hold of her hand and pulled her back down.

“You can’t go until I’ve opened my present can she children?” Ben and Lauren were now sitting on the floor at his feet peering hopefully into the envelopes they’d discarded. They grinned up at him as they shook their heads.

“It isn’t much,” she said as he began to unwrap it. “If I’d remembered yesterday I’d have gone into town and found something better.”

She had bought him a book; thanking her lucky stars the newsagent was forward thinking enough to display a variety of possible gifts next to the birthday cards. It was the latest offering by one of his favorite authors and she hoped it was recent enough for him not to have read it yet.

He read the blurb on the cover and then turned towards her and hugged her, his hands warm through the soft wool of her sweater. “You remembered how much I like his books. Thank you.”

She shrugged self-consciously; too aware of his physical presence to ignore the weight of his arm on her shoulders but glad he liked the book.  She wished he’d stop looking at her like that. Embarrassed by his scrutiny she forced a lighthearted laugh.

“I guess a special breakfast is in order too. Come on children, come and help me. And later on we’ll make daddy a birthday cake.”

“You mean I get to have cake as well,” suddenly the old familiar Pierce was back in force as he released her and stood up, sweeping Lauren up from where she’d been playing by his feet and tossing her into the air.

She gave a giggle that was half terror, half excitement, and clutched at his hair. Immediately Ben clambered up onto the bed and held his arms wide, demanding equal rights. His father complied, leaving Kerry free to slip silently from the room to prepare breakfast, wishing as she did so she could wipe the memory of Pierce’s muscular chest and arms right out of her mind.

* * *

The rest of the day passed without incident, with Mel, Mary and George arriving in the early afternoon to share Pierce’s birthday cake for the children’s benefit. Tea was a relaxed affair and after Ben and Lauren had each blown out the candles twice, the conversation quickly turned to Mary’s involvement in the newly organized daycare. She talked about it enthusiastically for about ten minutes until she noticed the slightly glazed expression on Pierce’s face and gave a self-conscious laugh.

“Sorry! I know I get a bit carried away.”

George rolled his eyes as he gave a good natured chuckle. “That’s a slight understatement love. You’ve been talking about it so much you’ve forgotten to offer our services for this evening yet.”

“Goodness, I quite forgot. We thought you might like us to babysit for you so you can go out and celebrate Pierce’s birthday together.”

“Thank you…” Kerry began to refuse, wondering how she could do it tactfully, because the last thing she wanted was to upset Mary and George. She didn’t want them to think their offer wasn’t appreciated, but nor did she want to give them an insight into nature of the true relationship between herself and Pierce.

“…and yes please,” Pierce finished the sentence for her with a smile of thanks. “It’s a wonderful idea now Ben and Lauren are settled. Besides, Kerry could do with a night off before the conference centre and hotel open officially and
Melanie’s Kitchen
gets into full swing.”