A No Risk Affair

‘Mr Thornton seemed—quite pleasant,’ she answered dismissively.

‘As good looking at his photographs?’ Caroline couldn't keep the eagerness out of her voice as she forgot for a moment her usual affected air of boredom.

Sinclair Thornton's good looks couldn't be denied, neither could his charm, and yet somehow she doubted he was exactly Caroline's type. The men the younger girl usually dated all seemed to be highly sophisticated, always perfectly dressed for the occasion, and Robyn felt sure that any denims those men owned would carry designer labels on the back and not be as disreputably faded and old as the denims Sinclair Thornton had worn this morning had been. But maybe she was misjudging Caroline, maybe the author's raw masculinity would be a welcome change after all that polished charm.

‘I've never seen a photograph of him,’ she shrugged. ‘But he is very good looking.’

Caroline chewed thoughtfully on her bottom lip, seemingly unaware that she was smudging her lipgloss by doing so, something she wouldn't be pleased about when she realised it later. ‘I wonder if it would be too forward of me to go over and introduce myself?’ she murmured to herself.

Remembering the author's casually friendly manner Robyn doubted he would find it at all forward to have a beautiful young girl introduce herself to him. ‘I'm sure he would welcome it,’ she drawled.

Caroline looked at her with narrowed blue eyes. ‘I don't want to go down there if you've already made a nuisance of yourself,’ she questioned haughtily.

Robyn held on to her temper with effort. One of these days——! She didn't have red hair for nothing, as Caroline would one day find out if she didn't stop playing ‘Lady of the Manor’ in this way! ‘I didn't make a nuisance of myself at all, he came over to borrow a cup of milk—–’

‘How original!’

‘You said it,’ she sighed wearily.

Caroline flushed at her misdirected sarcasm. ‘I'm sure he really did need the milk.’

'So am I,’ she said dryly. ‘An author would be able to think of a much better approach.’

‘Of course,’ the younger girl scorned. ‘I think I'll go and invite him over to dinner tonight, I'm sure he can't be organised enough for that yet.’

‘Er …’

‘Yes?’ Caroline prompted impatiently.

She gave a resigned sigh. ‘He's coming to the cottage for dinner this evening,’ she revealed reluctantly.

‘The cottage?’ the other girl repeated dumbfoundedly. ‘You mean with you and the twins?’

‘Well as we're the ones that live there, yes,’ she nodded.

Caroline flushed at the sarcasm. ‘What on earth possessed you to invite a man like Sinclair Thornton to dinner?’ she snapped disgustedly.

‘What on earth possessed him to accept?’ she flashed back, her eyes dark.

‘Politeness, I expect,’ Caroline returned waspishly, her eyes suddenly narrowing again. ‘You aren't seriously interested in him, are you?’ she said disbelievingly.

Robyn flushed at the younger girl's incredulity at such an idea being possible. The fact that she never dated, that a man like Sinclair Thornton would be the last man she would be attracted to if she did, didn't alter the fact that Caroline seemed to think she had no right to find any member of the opposite sex attractive, that her divorce and motherhood meant she had to be unattractive herself to any man.

‘I was merely being a polite neighbour,’ she bit out tightly. ‘If he would rather accept your invitation then I won't be in the least insulted.’ Any imp of pleasure she may have got out of this morning's teasing of Sinclair Thornton had evaporated during this unpleasant exchange with Caroline. It probably wouldn't have been funny anyway, not if Sinclair Thornton felt about children the same way Caroline did.

‘I should hope not,’ Caroline said haughtily. ‘The man is here to see Daddy, after all.’

‘Yes.’

‘I'll just go and change before going down there,’ Caroline spoke softly to herself, her smile one of anticipation.

‘Er—Caroline?’ she halted the other girl at the door. ‘The coach-party this afternoon?’ she prompted, having received no definite reply on the matter.

The pouting red mouth tightened. ‘I'll have to take them round, I expect,’ she snapped. ‘Daddy's silly to be so soft with you, you are an employee, after all.’

Robyn made no reply to this last bitchiness, although her breath left her in a barely controlled sigh once she was alone. It was true, she was an employee, but the Colonel always made allowances for the fact that she was a single parent first. She had no doubt that if, or when, anything happened to the Colonel there would be a lot of changes made.

She had never thought of herself as totally ineligible before, either. Oh the twins would be a big responsibility for any man to take on if he should happen to fall in love with her, but she had never even thought of being on her own for the rest of her life, knew that although she had had one disastrous marriage that with another man it could all be perfect. For the moment she preferred things the way they were, knew that although Kim and Andy were well-adjusted children that the fact that their father had chosen not to live with them troubled them at times. But one day they would be old enough to understand, and when that day came she would be ready herself to perhaps find a new love of her own. For the moment she was satisfied with her lot.

And for Caroline to imply she might be interested in Sinclair Thornton was ridiculous! He wasn't her type at all, and she doubted she was his either.

The twins were particularly boisterous when they got home that evening, and it took a good play and their baths to calm them down enough for their evening meal. Not that Robyn had gone to any trouble over the latter, fully expecting that Caroline would be able to convince Sinclair Thornton that dinner at the Hall would be much more comfortable. Not that Caroline had come to tell her of the change of plans, she hadn't seen the other girl all afternoon, but she took it for granted that she and the twins would be eating alone as usual. And if their neighbour did happen, by some remote chance, to come to them for dinner there was enough casserole for all of them. It may not be what he was used to, or what he would have got at the Hall, but it was good food, and well cooked.

‘Is Daddy coming to see us this weekend?’ Andy asked as she helped the two of them to dress upstairs after their bath, as alike as two peas to look at, both having Robyn's bright red hair and warm brown eyes.

‘Not this weekend,’ she dismissed lightly, brushing her daughter's unruly curls into some order before they dried.

'It's ages since he came,’ Andy said moodily.

‘He's busy,’ his sister put in quietly, the younger by five minutes, also the more introvert of the two; Kim tended to follow where Andy led, her brother outspoken as well as outgoing.

‘Yes. But——’

‘Kim's right, Andy,’ Robyn told him brightly. ‘Daddy has to work very hard. And it's only a few weeks since he telephoned you both.’ For a total of five minutes, she thought bitterly. Not once had she tried to deter Brad from seeing the children, or to influence them in any way concerning his long absences, it had all been Brad's decision, although she couldn't help the inner resentment she felt on the twins’ behalf at his lack of interest in them, knew that Kim was as hurt by it as Andy, no matter how much she defended him. Sometimes, when she felt her children's pain the most, she wished Brad would just stay out of their lives completely, let the twins forget him. But life just wasn't that tidy or straightforward. And maybe it was a selfish wish, the twins loved their father however little they saw of him, and perhaps in his own way he loved them too.

She was stopped from making further comment by the ringing of the doorbell, a glance at her watch as Andy leapt to look out of the window showing her it was exactly six o'clock!

‘There's a man outside, Mummy,’ Andy told her excitedly.

She stood up slowly, feeling a moment's panic before she instantly calmed again. Probably Sinclair Thornton had come to apologetically explain that he was going up to the Hall for dinner. Yes, that would be it. ‘Finish dressed, children,’ she told them in a preoccupied voice. ‘I—I'll go and see who it is.’ She hadn't mentioned the possibility of a guest for dinner to them, they were too often let down by their father without a complete stranger doing it too!

She checked her appearance in the mirror in the hallway before going to the door. If anything she looked even younger than she had this morning! She released her hair about her shoulders, wishing she had time to change from the cut-off denims and cream sun-top. But the doorbell ringing for a second time made that impossible.

As she had guessed, her caller was Sinclair Thornton, a bunch of tulips in one hand as his eyes gleamed at her mischievously over the petals. He wore fitted brown trousers and a lemon shirt tonight, but he looked no less ruggedly attractive in this slightly more formal clothing.

‘Hi,’ he greeted softly. ‘I'm not too early, am I?’ he added as she made no move to let him in.

‘Er—no,’ she blinked her surprise. ‘It's just—Caroline—Miss Masters, said something about inviting you up to the Hall tonight.’

‘She did,’ he nodded. ‘But I had to refuse her, after all I had already accepted your invitation.’

‘Oh but——’ She was stopped from further speech by the clatter of small feet down the stairs behind her, turning to see the twins arrive at the bottom together, looking adorably innocent with their newly washed faces and hair, wearing identical blue T-shirts and denims.

Robyn turned back to apologise to their guest for keeping him on the doorstep, her eyes widening as she saw his stunned expression, his incredulity obvious as he stared at the twins. Whatever he and Caroline had discussed after he had refused the other girl's invitation this afternoon he certainly hadn't been told of the twins’ existence!

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