Free Rescued by the Brooding Tycoon by Lucy Gordon Page B

asked.
    ‘Not to let myself be sidelined. I try to call them every day.’
    ‘I’m sure they’re glad of that.’
    He made a face. ‘They’re not. I made a hash of it the night of the accident and things haven’t really improved.’
    ‘Well, you weren’t at ease on the phone, I could hear that, but surely they understood what a state you were in.’
    ‘Maybe, but I’m seldom much better than I was then. I don’t know what to talk about. It was easier when we were living in the same house, but I’m not really part of their lives any more. Perhaps I never really was. Mary accused me of never putting them first.’
    She nodded. ‘Children really do like to feel that they have all your attention,’ she mused.
    Suddenly he saw her as she’d been that day in the shop, talking to the little boy as though only he existed in the entire world. And the child had responded with delight. When had he seen such a look on the faces of his own children?
    ‘You’ve got a fight on your hands,’ she said, ‘but you’ve got to go about it the right way. Do you want some advice from a friend?’
    ‘If the friend is you, yes.’
    ‘That night when you called them after the accident I heard her voice on the other end. I couldn’t make out every word but I heard enough to show me an unhappy situation. You told her you’d been “held up” and she said, “You always get held up. The children went to bed crying because you didn’t keep your word.”
    ‘And then she said, “I’m not going to let you hurt them by putting them last again.”’
    She waited to see if he would say anything, but he only clasped his hands on the table and stared at them.
    ‘Again?’ she asked.
    ‘Yes, I can’t deny it. I would plan to spend time with them, but a crisis would come up, someone I urgently needed to meet would be passing through London for just a few hours.’
    ‘Oh, you idiot!’ she breathed.
    ‘I guess I am, but I didn’t see it then. I always thought there was time to put things right.’
    ‘Yes, we always think that,’ she murmured. ‘There never is.’
    ‘You sound as though you really know.’
    ‘I guess we all know one way or another.’
    ‘Sure, but the way you said it sounded as though—’
    ‘The thing is—’ she interrupted him quickly ‘—that you have to find a new way to put things right. Concentrate on that.’
    ‘All right,’ he said, retreating before the warning she was sending out. ‘But how? One minute I thought I was in control. The next minute they were all gone, and if I was a hopeless father before I’m even worse now. When we talk on the phone I can sense them trying to get away. I’m becoming an irrelevance to them.’
    ‘Then do something about it,’ she said urgently. ‘Put a stop to it now. Never forget that cunning is better than aggression. Above all, don’t lose heart, don’t even think of giving in. Remember, you’re a match for anyone.’
    ‘If you’re going to start on that “mighty man of business” stuff again I’m out of here.’
    ‘Don’t worry,’ she said wryly. ‘I can’t take it seriously any more.’
    ‘Thanks. That about says it all.’
    ‘Friends have to be frank with each other,’ she reminded him.
    ‘I know.’ He suddenly became more urgent. ‘Harriet, I wish I could make you understand how much I need your friendship. From the moment I stepped onto that beach I knew I was in a different world, and now I know that it’s your world. All the vital things that have happened to me since I came here are connected with you.’
    ‘You never know what fate has in store.’
    ‘Yes, after we got off to such a bad start, who could have guessed that you’d be the one who’d save me?’
    ‘Be fair. It was Kate who really saved you, not just by raising the alarm, but by explaining that you’d probably gone to the wind farm, so that we knew where to look.’
    ‘I know that, and I’ve shown her my gratitude.’
    Harriet nodded. Kate had told her