excited at the prospect of having Jason stay with them, if only for a few days. Sarah doubted if either of them would listen if she pointed out that it was probably because all Jason would have to do if Garrett brought him with him was sit bored around hotels, that Garrett thought it best if he stayed with his aunt and uncle at these times! Not that she thought Garrett was right completely; heaven forbid she should think that man was right about anything! But he was Jason’s father, and he was going to be worried about him once he learnt of his disappearance.
She stood up decisively as Jason came back into the room, eyeing them both suspiciously. ‘Don’t look so worried, Jason,’ she said lightly. ‘All we’ve decided is to leave a message at the hotel for your father telling him where you are.’
She made no comment as he mumbled the name of one of the most prestigious hotels in London; where else would Garrett Kingham stay, the famous film director, son and brother to Washington senators!
As soon as she got through to the hotel and asked to leave a message for Mr Kingham there was a strange clicking noise on the line and then a very short ring before the receiver was picked up the other end. ‘Hello, I—–’
‘Who is this?’ demanded a gravelly voice that was definitely American-accented.
But not Garrett’s voice, thank goodness! ‘I wanted to leave a message for Mr Kingham,’ she said awkwardly, completely disconcerted, having expected to speak to the receptionist. ‘But there seems to have been some sort of confusion, because the operator—–’
‘What’s the message?’ that gravelly voice demanded again, and Sarah instantly formed an image of a six-and-a-half-foot giant with the build of Arnold Schwarzenegger—but without the intelligence that man had displayed when she had seen him on a chat show several months ago!
‘If you gave me a chance to finish speaking I would tell you,’ she said in her sternest schoolteacher voice, receiving silent attention for her effort. ‘Could you please tell Mr Kingham that Sarah rang, and that—–’
‘Sarah who?’
This conversation wasn’t going at all as smoothly as she had hoped, and she was glad she was out in the hallway and didn’t have an audience to her embarrassment. The man on the other end of the telephone line had the finesse of a bulldozer! Although he probably had a point: Garrett Kingham probably knew a hundred women named Sarah—all of them intimately.
‘Sarah—–’ She hesitated. If she said Sarah Croft then Garrett probably wouldn’t realise who she was; she doubted he had troubled himself to learn that his once-sister-in-law had been married and divorced since they had last met. ‘Sarah Harvey,’ she decided firmly. ‘Could you tell him Jason is with us, and that—–’
‘You’ve got the kid?’ The gravelly voice was instantly alert, making Sarah wonder if she could possibly have underestimated his intelligence just because she didn’t like the sound of his voice.
She bristled indignantly. ‘His name is Jason. And yes, he’s with us. I wanted to—–’
‘What do you want?’ the man growled.
Sarah gave a start at the aggression. ‘If you would just let me finish speaking instead of—–’
‘I think I should warn you that you aren’t being clever, that the kid’s old man is angry, very angry, so if you—–’
‘No more angry than I am, let me assure you,’ she snapped furiously. ‘Now would you kindly tell Mr Kingham that Jason is with us, and that if he wants him he’s going to have to come here and get him!’ She slammed the receiver down, glaring at it indignantly, as if it were its fault she had just been spoken to so rudely. She was shaking because she was so angry, had never been spoken to in that aggressively rude way before.
Jason looked up at her searchingly as she went back into the lounge with controlled violence, pacing the room, still too angry to sit down. ‘What happened?’ he finally asked wearily.
Her eyes blazed with fiery blue sparks as she turned to face him. ‘I’ve just spoken to the rudest man—–’
‘Dad?’ He looked anxious. ‘But he isn’t supposed to be back—–’
‘It certainly wasn’t your father,’ she snapped. ‘If it had been I would have known how to deal with him. This man sounded like an all-in-wrestler and heavy-weight boxer rolled into one—–’
‘Dennis,’ Jason said knowingly.
‘Dennis?’ she repeated incredulously, trying to see the owner of that voice answering to such a name—and failing. Killer, sounded more appropriate! But he must have been a baby once; how could his mother be expected to know he would grow up to resemble a gorilla?
‘What did he say to you?’ Jason’s eyes were narrowed questioningly.
She was about to launch into a word-for-word account of the conversation when she remembered what Dennis had said about Garrett being very angry concerning Jason’s disappearance. She had no idea when Garrett was going to come for his son, and she didn’t see why Jason should be in a state of apprehension until he did deign to do so.
‘I just didn’t like his manner,’ she avoided. ‘But he said he would let your father know you’re staying with us.’
Jason frowned. ‘He didn’t say anything else?’
She gave a rueful smile. ‘I’m afraid I didn’t give him chance to; I slammed the phone down!’
Jason raised amused brows. ‘I bet Dennis just loved that!’
‘I really couldn’t give a—care less about what Dennis loves,’ she dismissed. ‘Now, how about the two of you helping me get a meal ready, and then we can all sit down and have a chat?’
They had fun all crowded together in the kitchen, tripping over each other most of the time. Jason was a little uncertain what to do at first, which reminded Sarah that he probably didn’t do any of these things for himself at home, that Garrett Kingham probably had a houseful of servants to do things for them. Jason seemed to find it all the more fun because of that.
It was an enjoyable meal, her father in his element with his grandson there, the two of them managing to draw out more information about Jason’s life with his father without being too obvious about it. He certainly didn’t sound like an underprivileged child, but his visit here today meant he obviously felt something was missing from his life. Sarah only hoped Garrett Kingham realised that was his reason for coming here before venting his ‘anger’ on anyone.
If Jason found their cottage cramped after the spacious luxury he was used to he didn’t show it, and was already sleeping like a baby by the time Sarah checked on him on the way to her own bed. Her father had gone up to his room at the same time Jason had, mainly, Sarah was sure, because he didn’t want any more lectures on how irresponsible his behaviour had been concerning Jason. Jason had acted impetuously, but her father had known better than to agree without first consulting Garrett, and he knew it; Sarah considered she had said enough on the subject to make him realise that.
She smiled indulgently as she prepared for bed. Her father really was incorrigible! He—–She fastened her robe over her cotton pyjamas as she heard the sound of a car stopping outside; it was almost midnight!
It was a clear night, and silhouetted against the moonlight was the tall figure of a man with silver-blond hair. Garrett Kingham…
WELL, she had told Dennis to tell him that if he wanted Jason he was going to have to come and get him, Sarah thought ruefully as she hurried down the stairs to answer his thunderous knocking on the door before he woke her father and Jason up too; she just hadn’t expected him to get here this quickly!
She unlocked the door, barely having time to pull back the bolt at the top