Free A Finer End by Deborah Crombie Page A

he knew all the rational arguments—he had even given them lip service—but in his heart he felt as abandoned and unhappy as Kit.She had left him, and days on the job without her company seemed interminable. The succession of temporary assistants only made him more irritable. At least when Gemma returned from Bramshill they’d have some off-duty time together, depending on her posting, but there would be no replacement for their partnership. “It’s something she needed to do,” he said, hearing the lack of conviction in his voice.
    Kit scowled at him, unmollified. “So why can’t you just get married, and we could be like a … you know, a regular family?”
    “That’s not in the cards,” Kincaid said, more sharply than he’d intended. Gemma had made that quite clear, and he’d done his best to be content with what they had. Neither of them, after all, had made a success of marriage the first time round, and now that Gemma had separated herself from him so deliberately, he felt even less certainty about their future.
    But what had got into Kit? Their relationship as father and son was still a touchy subject, and this was the first time he’d heard Kit directly acknowledge that they were—or could possibly be—family. “Is something going on with Ian, Kit?” he asked, studying the boy’s averted face. Kit spent the week with the man he had known for almost twelve years as his father, Ian McClellan, and most weekends with Kincaid.
    Kit chewed his lip, his eyes half shielded by the wayward lock of hair that fell across his forehead. “I’m not supposed to know. But I saw the letter, and I’ve heard him talking on the phone.”
    “What letter?”
    “The one from the university in Quebec. Offering him a job. ‘… his academic career, more opportunities, blah, blah …’ What they mean is more money.”
    “And you think Ian means to accept?”
    “He’s been dropping little hints. ‘
Wouldn’t you like to learn to ski, Kit? How’s your French coming, Kit
?’ ”
    Kincaid felt a rush of panic. After everything that had happened, all that they had been through, he would
not
lose Kit now. As calmly as he could, he said, “You don’t want to go?”
    Kit glanced at him, then away, with studied nonchalance that didn’t quite come off. “I want to stay here. With you.”
    “It would mean leaving Grantchester and living here in London.”
    “I know. Would the Major mind Tess having a run in the garden sometimes?”
    Kincaid smiled. “I think you might persuade him.” Trust Kit to think of the ragamuffin terrier first, rather than new schools, friends, and all the other logistics that boggled the mind. And nothing, of course, would be possible without Ian’s consent; he was still Kit’s legal guardian.
    Ian McClellan’s behavior had never been predictable. First he had left Kit’s mother to run off to France with a graduate student; after Vic’s death he’d refused to take any responsibility for Kit. Then, a few months ago he had come back from France, determined to make amends, and moved Kit back into the cottage in Grantchester. Now it seemed the man was itching to be off again. How would Ian feel about leaving Kit behind?
    For that matter, how would
he
fare as a single parent? It would further complicate things with Gemma, he could see that, but he knew Kit had to come first.
    “Would you … You wouldn’t mind, would you? If I came to stay with you.” This time Kit met Kincaid’s eyes.
    “There is nothing,” Kincaid answered truthfully, “that I would like more.”
    Winnie made it a point to have lunch with Fiona Allen at least once a month, sometimes at the Vicarage in Compton Grenville, sometimes at Fiona’s home on Bulwarks Lane, below the Tor. Today they’d chosen Fiona’s house, due toWinnie’s commitments in Glastonbury, and Fiona had set out a salad Niçoise in her pale Scandinavian kitchen.
    “I hate August in Somerset,” groaned Winnie, sliding into a chair and