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situation. 'Ain't no sense in you hanging about here this morning.
You go find Henrietta. She find something else for you to do.'
Sara went, albeit unwillingly, and Abby hoped she hadn't
made another enemy. But over the years she had had so little
time with Dominic, and she couldn't give up this opportunity, not
even to please the nursemaid.
Rosa provided fresh milk and cornflakes for the little boy,
and Abby thought how pleasant it was, sharing the meal with her
son. He was older now, more capable of conducting a proper
conversation, and he was innocently eager to talk about his
father.
'He is going to be all right now, isn't he?' he asked, pausing,
with a spoonful of cereal halfway to his mouth, and Abby sighed.
'I'm sure he is,' she said quickly, not wanting to dwell on that
aspect of the situation. 'Your daddy's a strong man. He just needs
to rest more, that's all.'
Dominic absorbed this in silence for a moment, and then he
frowned. 'What would I do if Daddy wasn't here?' he asked.
'Would I come to live with you, or would I have to stay with
Grandma Lowell?'
Abby took a careful breath. 'As that's not likely to happen '
'But if it did?'
Abby put down the knife she had been using to spread butter
on a croissant, and was annoyed to find her hand was trembling.
'I don't think we should consider such a possibility,' she declared,
helping herself to more coffee. 'Um do you see much of
Grandma Lowell? Does she come to stay on the island?'
'Not usually,' replied Dominic, resting his elbow on the table,
and propping his head on his hand. He swirled the remaining
milk round in his bowl, and grimaced. 'I go to stay with her
sometimes. I went there when Aunt Eve went away.'
Aunt Eve! Abby caught her lower lip between her teeth. It
was a yawning temptation to ask her son about his stepmother's
departure. She wouldn't have been human if she hadn't been
curious about what happened.
Still, she controlled the impulse for the moment, and thought
instead about Jake's mother. Mrs Lowell lived in Florida, like her
daughter. A widow now, she was as English as Abby herself, but
she had married an American, Jake's father, and she much
preferred the warmth of Palm Beach to the damper climate of
London. Abby couldn't say she knew her well. She had lived
with Jake for almost two years, and she had only seen her
perhaps half a dozen times. But, after Abby had had her baby, it
was Mrs Lowell who had flown to London to bring Dominic
back to Laguna Cay, and for this reason, if for no other, Abby
had come to dislike her.
Realising that Dominic was watching her now with a dark
and troubled stare, Abby forced a smile to her lips. 'Elbows off
the table,' she said lightly, making him sit up. 'What are we going
to do this morning? Would you like to go for a walk or what?'
'Don't you want me to come and live with you?'
Dominic's question was as unexpected as it was solemn, and
Abby sucked in her breath. 'Why of course I do '
'But I don't live with you, do I? I live with Daddy. And he's
almost never here.'
There was a plaintive note in his voice now, and Abby didn't
quite know how to answer him. The last thing she had expected
was that Dominic might not be happy here. But he was getting
older all the time, and perhaps he needed the companionship of
children of his own age.
'I suppose you miss Aunt Eve,' she ventured at last, loath to
bring up Jake's ex-wife, but needing to know something more
about the relationship between her son and his stepmother. 'Were
you sad when she went away?'
'Not likely.' Dominic wrinkled his nose. 'I was glad!'
'Glad?' Abby was both surprised and, undeniably, pleased.
'Yes, glad.' Dominic hunched his shoulders, and propped
both elbows on the table now. 'All she and Daddy did was fight
all the time.'
'Did they?' Abby's tongue touched her upper lip.
'She didn't like it here,' went on Dominic confidentially, and,
although Abby knew she ought to stop him, she didn't. 'She liked
it best when Daddy went away and took her with him. She said
the island was boring.'
'I see.'
Dominic frowned suddenly. 'Did you get bored?' he asked.
'Melinda said you used to live here, before I was born. Why did
you go away?'
'Oh...' Abby found that question harder to answer. 'Well, I
had to work, you see. And there are no modelling jobs on
Laguna Cay.'
Dominic did not look convinced. 'Did you fight, too?' he
pondered, his small fists cupping his chin. 'Is that why you and
Daddy don't live together like other mummies and daddies do?'
Abby decided this catechism had gone far enough. She had
no answer for him. None that his small intelligence could
comprehend, anyway. The reasons she had left Laguna Cay
would have to wait until he was much older. She only hoped he
would understand her failings better than his father had done.
Julie appeared as they were leaving the breakfast table.
Today, Jake's sister was wearing heels and a floral sundress, and
Abby raised her dark brows at the obviously more formal attire.
'I'm leaving this morning,' said Julie, by way of an
explanation. 'Bob Fletcher's flying out from Nassau to pick me
up, and I'll take the shuttle from Nassau to Miami.'
'Oh.' Abby felt suddenly anxious. 'Are you sure?'
'Sure about what?' Julie took the chair Abby had just vacated,
and helped herself to a cup of coffee. 'Sure about Bob bringing
the chopper over, or sure about taking the shuttle to Miami?'
'You know what I mean.' Abby glanced down at Dominic,
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