LITMIR.BIZ

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right.’ The man snatched the paper that Edward proffered. ‘And you’re sure you don’t know where he is?’

      ‘Doesn’t sound very likely to me,’ his companion sneered, forcing home the point. ‘Doesn’t he want to see his own kid?’

      Edward heard Charlotte’s sudden intake of breath and fought to stay in control of the fury that swept over him in a red-and-black wave. Much as he’d like to, getting into a fight with these guys wasn’t going to help. ‘You’ve asked your question and you’ve got your answer. You know full well that the law prevents you from harassing this lady any further or from speaking to a minor.’ He pulled his phone out of his pocket. ‘You’ve got ten seconds to get going before I call the police.’

      The two looked at each other, grins on their faces. Edward wondered how many people actually followed through with that threat. He started to thumb the numbers on the screen.

      ‘All right, mate.’ The larger of the two, who was obviously the lead man, held up his hands in surrender. ‘We’re going.’

      ‘Tell your head office to expect a letter, confirming the information that this lady’s given you. She knows nothing more which will assist you, and she wants no further contact with you.’ Edward pressed his advantage home.

      The two turned without a word and Edward watched them lumber off down the road and climb into a shiny SUV. Business was clearly booming for them.

      ‘Go and see to Isaac. I’ll just keep an eye out here for a couple of minutes.’ The SUV roared past them down the road, with the engine being gunned so that it made as much noise as possible.

      He looked around. Charlotte was still there, her face burning so red that he probably could have warmed his hands on it if he’d needed to.

      ‘Thanks, Edward. I’m sorry you had to see that.’

      ‘It’s not your fault. Those guys had no right to act the way they did.’

      Her gaze dropped to the cracked paving stones at their feet. ‘Yeah, I know. It was such a shock to see them on the doorstep, and they were so intimidating...’ She looked as if she was about to burst into tears and then visibly pulled herself together.

      Turning, she hurried back up the path and opened the front door. ‘I’m really grateful to you, Edward. I’ll...’ She had the grace to flush an even deeper red before she gave him his marching orders. ‘I’m sorry, but I need to go and see how Isaac is. Will you excuse me? I’ll see you on Monday.’

      The door closed, and Edward found himself standing alone. What was he supposed to do now? Charlotte had made her intentions more than clear, and he supposed he should leave. But he was damned if he was going to leave a woman and child alone in this situation.

      Edward strode to his car, snatched Stinky up from the front seat, and walked back to her front door.

CHAPTER THREE

      ISAAC WAS WHIMPERING in her arms. He was trying to be brave, but his little body was shaking as he clung to Charlotte. She wanted to go and find those men and punch them. More than once.

      There was a noise at the letterbox and she tried not to jump. Isaac fell silent, staring at the door.

      ‘Charlotte? Charlotte, I have Stinky here. That’s what I came for this morning. He’s too big to put through the letterbox.’

      She thought about telling Edward to leave him on the doorstep. She might possibly have been able to, whatever the consequences later on, if she hadn’t seen the look on Isaac’s face. It was as if he’d just seen the cavalry, riding hell for leather over the horizon.

      Perhaps he was right. Maybe his five-year-old mind was able to see a little more clearly than hers. She wouldn’t be all that surprised. Edward engendered such a plethora of different emotions in her that her judgement wasn’t to be trusted where he was concerned.

      ‘I’m coming...’ she called out to him, and took Isaac’s hand, leading him to the door. She took a deep breath and opened it.

      She had hardly registered it before, through her tears and her panic, but Edward’s eyes looked a brighter blue than usual. His hair darker. There was less of the suit and tie about him and a great deal more of the enigma, with his dark shirt and jacket giving him an almost dangerous look. Even the blue stuffed toy, grasped lightly in his long fingers, couldn’t dispel the feeling that here was a hero, come somehow to save her.

      ‘Hey, Isaac.’

      He might only have been able to spare her son a half-smile, but it would have melted an ice hotel, launched a battleship, and cracked a grin on the face of a statue.

      ‘I brought Stinky for you.’

      Isaac looked up at him and wiped his nose on his sleeve. Charlotte resisted the impulse to tell him to use a tissue on the grounds that she’d been doing the same herself just a moment ago. This morning Isaac could do anything he liked, as long as she could see just a glimpse of his smile.

      ‘Thank you.’ Isaac’s voice was small, quavering, and it tugged at Charlotte’s heart.

      ‘Bit of a morning, eh, little man?’ Edward suddenly seemed to realise that getting down onto Isaac’s level would be a good idea and dropped to one knee, proffering the boy’s toy.

      Isaac nodded, reaching for Stinky. Charlotte felt his hand slip out of hers and he walked uncertainly towards Edward, then seemed to throw all caution to the winds and flung his arms around Edward’s neck.

      ‘Hey... Hey, there.’ For a moment Edward’s hands fluttered awkwardly. Then he wrapped his arms around Isaac, hugging him as if he could hold him tightly enough to make everything all right.

      For a moment all Charlotte wanted was to be in on that hug.

      ‘You know what?’ Edward had got to his feet, taking Isaac with him. Safe and sound in his arms. ‘You and I have a job to do. We’re going to tell your mum that everything’s going to be okay. That we’ll look after her.’

      Isaac nodded sagely.

      ‘I think we could all do with a cup of tea. What do you say?’

      ‘I want milk.’

      ‘Good idea. I’ll have some milk, too. And we’ll make your mum a cup of tea.’

      ‘She likes coffee. The kind with the froth on top.’

      Isaac had a tight hold of Edward’s jacket collar, his other arm wrapped around Stinky. Charlotte knew that his tears weren’t too far below the surface, but Edward seemed to be reassuring him with his sheer bulk and unflappability.

      ‘Okay. Tell you what—we could go out for coffee, if you’d like.’ His gaze moved from Isaac to Charlotte. ‘What do you think?’

      ‘I...’ She wanted his arms around her so much. His comfort. Charlotte pulled herself upright, squaring her shoulders. ‘We’re all right. Really.’

      ‘Yeah. I can see that.’ He reached forward, touching her cheek so lightly that she shivered. As his hand dropped to his side his fingers skimmed his thumb, as if he wanted to test the exact nature and volume of the tears he’d brushed away.

      ‘We can manage, Edward. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t turned up just then, and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it...’ Good start. That was really going to make him feel that it was okay for him to go away now, wasn’t it?

      ‘But...?’

      ‘But I can’t keep you. You must have things to do.’

      Edward always had something to do. His head was always buried in a book, or some papers. Even when she’d chanced to see him in the street he was always deep in thought, and half the time he didn’t even acknowledge her, either because he hadn’t seen or didn’t want to see.

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