A Father's Pledge

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Mike shook his head. “No one’s perfect. Have you always done everything right in your life?”

“No,” she admitted. “I’ve made lots of mistakes in my life already.”

“Well, there you go, then,” he said. “All I ask is that you and Luke make an effort to get along for Ben’s sake. Or at least make an effort when he’s around.”

“Ben is the one who matters in all this,” she agreed. “By the way, while we’re on the subject, do you know anything about Ben’s background, anything about his granddad’s illness, perhaps, that might help me understand him better?”

“To be honest, our information is much briefer than I’d like,” Mike said. “You know as much as I do. Mollie and Jim Jackson brought him up while his mum, Carly, went back to finish her studies. When she was killed in a car crash a few months ago, I can only presume their grief and loss turned their lives upside down. Grief can change your whole world in an instant, completely uproot your perceptions, priorities and ambitions.

“Ben must have been, or felt, neglected by his grandparents. He’d lost his mother suddenly and then he lost the attention of his grandmother. He reacted by becoming withdrawn and lashing out when he was put under pressure, according to his social worker.”

“But what about Luke?” asked Kat. “Why didn’t he step in when his ex-wife died?”

Mike shrugged. “Who knows... Maybe no one told him he had a son. Or no one told him what had happened to Carly.”

Kat shot him a skeptical look.

Mike raised his hand. “Obviously I’m biased. I’m fond of Luke, I’ve known him a long time and I trust him. What’s important now is that he and his son develop a stable relationship—for Ben’s sake. Our job is to help them.”

“And I want to, but Luke and I have such different opinions on what matters. He seems to think discipline is the key to everything, but he’s wrong. Chris tried to discipline Ben earlier in her math class, and he just retreated even deeper into his shell. Love and stability are what counts.”

“Maybe that’s just what Luke knows, or what he experienced growing up. Perhaps he had a heavily disciplined childhood. I’m not saying his approach is right or wrong, but he’s not a therapist. I’m hoping you’ll be more open to his parenting style, Kat, but you are the expert. And I support you in that. Just keep in mind that Ben is the priority.”

Kat nodded. “Do you know what’s wrong with Ben’s granddad?” she asked, changing the subject. “I have a hunch that his condition has something to do with this.”

“Well, no,” Mike admitted. “I know he’s quite unwell, but I didn’t think the reason why was an issue.”

Kat shrugged. “It may not be... It’s just something Ben said. Perhaps I could meet up with his grandmother, have an informal chat.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Mike said. “If you promise me that you’ll make an effort with Luke.”

CHAPTER SIX (#u4bfd1649-88da-5881-924d-3357804c4c0d)

KAT PULLED THE keys for Number Three Cove Cottages from her pocket, her fingers shaking with excitement. The key ring had a metal fish attached to it, and it shone in the sunshine. As she approached the front door, she glanced behind her, sensing someone watching. But she didn’t see a soul and was met with silence. It wasn’t silent at all, though, she realized. Jenny Brown’s Bay was lonely and beautiful and bleak, perhaps, but never, ever silent.

The waves crashed onto the shore, rushing back out into the sparkling sea in a fizz of foam. The wind moaned softly, bringing with it a salty tang that lingered on her lips, and the cry of seagulls rose into the clear blue sky. She turned back to the red door.

Ted, the old man who had given her the keys, had talked a lot about her landlady, Elsa May Malone Evans. He thought very highly of her and Bryn, and of their daughter, Emma, but Kat got the impression that he hadn’t had much to do with Mick, their little boy. The history of the place intrigued her, and she longed to know more about the Evanses and what they’d done in Jenny Brown’s Bay.

She pushed the door open and stepped into her new home, her body alive with excitement. Light filled the whole house, beaming in through the front windows. She liked that; it felt as if the house and the glorious, endless sea and sky were one. In Sandston, she had lived right on the shore, too, but the cottage had been dark and sad, or at least that was how she remembered it.

She placed her bags on the wood floor and walked through to the small but cozy kitchen. It smelled faintly of food and...paint, that was it. Elsa had mentioned that her husband was an artist. She stepped back into the hallway to study a painting she’d passed on her way in; a man throwing a stick for a yellow dog way out on the shore, and a woman with an abundance of wild, gold-streaked hair walking toward him, waving. The sea and the sky looked so real Kat could almost hear the waves. Something about the scene made her heart fill up. It seemed so full of love and yet sad, too.

She looked at the signature in the bottom right corner: Bryn Evans. So this was one of his pieces. That must be him, too, playing with the dog...and was that Elsa? The woman’s hair seemed to glint and glimmer as if it was real.

Smiling, Kat went back and carried her bags to the kitchen and started to unpack them.

Kat spent the morning trying to make the cottage her own by putting up a few pictures and carefully positioning the bright cushions she’d bought online on the well-used leather sofa. She arranged flowers in all the downstairs windows and made up her bed, too, with her pretty new sheets and duvet, and filled the fridge and cupboards with the items she’d bought in the village shop.

With a satisfied sigh, she cut a large piece of the freshly baked cake Alice had given her and sat down at the kitchen table feeling as if she was finally home.

She’d asked for the day off to move in to her new home, but she’d scheduled a sea-therapy course in the early evening. She hoped to run it right here on the shore. Only three children would participate, which was a bonus: Ben, Tammy and Millie, a withdrawn ten-year-old girl who would be attending her first sea session.

After lunch, Kat intended to wander along the shoreline in search of interesting items to inspire and captivate the children, particularly Ben. At least when he’d tried to several days ago, he’d laughed and shown some emotion other than the sulky attitude he so often adopted. And he’d taken hold of her hand; that had felt like a real breakthrough.

After she’d talked to Mike yesterday she’d thought a lot about the way Ben had behaved, ripping the heads off the flowers. That had revealed a deep anger, and she was sure that it stemmed from his relationship with his granddad. Whatever the cause, she had to try to understand what was going on in Ben’s head if she was to help him come to terms with it and move on.

The shingle crunched beneath her feet as she followed the waterline. Higher up the beach was the trail of flotsam and jetsam left by the tide. That would be a good place to start searching for something to spark the children’s imaginations.

Her search proved surprisingly successful as she came across a toy sailboat tangled up in the seaweed, several glass bottles, a shoe and even some pieces of pottery. With a satisfied smile, she headed back to the cottage. She’d enjoy showing the children her new home and she’d give them each a piece of Alice’s cake at the end of the session.

Kat set off for Flight just before five. She was due to collect the children at six, but wanted to catch up with Mike first to see if he’d thought any more about her meeting up with Mollie Jackson. She approached the house with a lingering sadness. She’d enjoyed living here for the last few weeks, right in the hub of things; maybe she should have stayed a bit longer. But she hadn’t wanted to miss the chance to rent the cottage on Cove Road. It was the perfect home.

With her mind full of ideas for the sea session, she ran up the steps and in through the huge front door. Turning right as she entered the hall, she collided with someone, lost her balance and staggered back in confusion, breathing in the spicy scent of a man’s cologne. A strong hand grabbed hold of her arm.

“You!” she gasped, looking up to meet Luke’s warm brown eyes. They sparkled with humor as she tried to pull away.

“You just can’t stay away from me, can you?” He laughed. “Joke,” he added when she stared at him in horror.

Kat put a hand to her face, embarrassed by the heat flooding into it, and he dropped her arm as if it was burning his hand.

“It’s okay,” he told her, stepping back. His tone was brusque and businesslike. “No harm done. Not to me, at least. Tell you what—you can make amends by letting me sit in on your therapy session tonight. I’m prepared to give it another shot if you are.”

“No, I...” How dare he even suggest it after the way he’d acted last time? Nothing had changed; her methods obviously weren’t up to his standards then and they wouldn’t be now.

Noting her reluctance, he smiled awkwardly. “It’ll be fine,” he insisted. “I promise not to interfere, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“I’m not worried. Do what you like. I need to go see Mike first and grab a bite. Then I’m picking the children up.”

“What time?”

She hesitated. “Just after six,” she finally said, feeling guilty about stretching the truth.

The guilt still niggled when she met up with the three children in the dining room at six and Luke hadn’t arrived. It was his own fault, though, she told herself; he was the one who’d caused the problem. And she needed to have Ben to herself if her therapy was to have a chance of success. He’d never let down his guard if his dad was there, watching his every move with his misplaced, overprotective attitude. That day in the sea was the first and only time Kat had seen Ben relaxed and having fun, even if he was trying to wind her up. After Luke had interfered, he’d switched himself right off again.

“Are we really going to the seaside again?” Tammy asked eagerly.

Kat tousled her hair. It was hard not to tousle Tammy’s mass of bright red curls. “Not only that,” she told her, “you’re going to come see my new house and have cake.”

The little girl’s brilliant blue eyes were as wide as saucers. “By the sea? You really live right by the sea?”

Kat nodded. “Nearly on the shore.”

“Are we all having cake?” Ben asked, butting in.

His gruff little voice hid a hint of excitement and Kat felt relieved that Luke wasn’t here to spoil it.

“Come on, then,” she said, eager to get going. Tammy grabbed her hand while Ben tried to appear nonchalant, as if he really didn’t care either way. The new addition, Millie, who was quiet and well behaved with short brown hair and a sweet, sad smile, followed in their wake.

As they rounded the corner, leaving the house behind, Kat glanced back. Flight seemed to smile at her, she thought, as if they shared a secret. She suppressed a smile. Luke Travis would think she was quite irresponsible if he knew what sometimes went on in her head. One thing he definitely did not have was an imagination, though she probably had too much of one, if that was possible. Well, she decided, she needed her overactive imagination. Her career depended on it.

“Come on, kids,” she called. “I’ll race you to the path.”

* * *

LUKE GLANCED AT his watch and grimaced. He’d gotten caught up talking to Mike and lost track of time. Apparently, Kat had been pushing him about the animal therapy and she’d also asked for a meeting with Mollie Jackson. He should be the one talking to Mollie; Ben was his son, and Luke was desperate to make things right between them. Somehow he had to make amends for being missing for nine years...if that was even possible.

Reaching the front hall, he looked around for any sign of Kat or the children. It was only ten past six; surely she would have waited a few minutes. By twenty past, he realized he must have missed them. But he wasn’t giving up that easily. Luke strode out into the evening sunshine, deciding he’d go down into the bay and try to catch up with them. Mike had told him about Kat renting one of the cottages right on the shore, so he guessed they’d be headed in that direction.

He jogged down the narrow cliffside path, scanning the wide expanse of sea and sand. The tide was coming in, rushing round the perimeter of the bay. Prickles of alarm ran along his spine. Jenny Brown’s Bay was renowned for being dangerous, and these were the exact conditions that could cause serious problems. Apart from the undercurrents that were capable of dragging even strong swimmers out to sea, there were also quicksands. Kat had been here for only five minutes; did she even realize what could happen? The smooth stretches of sand might look harmless, but they could set around an unsuspecting wader’s feet and legs like concrete...and if the tide came in, they’d be trapped in rising waters. He increased his pace. Where were they?

* * *

KAT HEADED ALONG the shoreline with the children running ahead. When the tide began to rush in, she settled them safely on the rocks to watch.

“It’s called the bore,” she told them. “It’s a wave that rushes around the outside of the bay just as the tide starts coming in. Unsuspecting people who have gone out too far can get trapped by the water on the sandbank in the center.”

Ben looked up with interest. “Will we get caught?”

She shook her head. “No, because we understand the dangers. Eventually the tide will rise, almost to the edge of the track if it’s a high tide. Today, though, it will probably be lower than the flotsam and jetsam that we’re going to look at in a minute.”

“What’s flotsam and jetsam?” Tammy piped up.

Kat gave what she hoped was a mysterious smile. “It’s things cast off from life,” she said. “Things that people have let drift out to sea.”

“What kind of things?” asked Ben, obviously intrigued by the idea. He looked at her with his father’s eyes and her heart tightened. How come Luke Travis always managed to rattle her, even when he wasn’t here?

“Who knows,” she said. “Bottles, perhaps, from the other side of the world, maybe even with messages in them. Or toys or pottery, just objects from people’s lives. You can depend on the sea. It comes in every day and goes out again right on cue. No matter what’s going on in the world, the tides never change. You can depend on lots of things in nature—trees and animals and plants just do what they do, year after year. Grow, blossom, bear fruit...and have babies if they’re animals, of course.”

“Can we see the flotsam and jetsam now?” Ben asked.

“Of course you can.” Kat smiled. “As long as you promise not to try and go for a swim this time.”

“He’s not here this time, though, is he?” Ben said quietly.

For a moment, Kat felt a flicker of sympathy for Luke. He may have done wrong by Ben, but maybe it wasn’t right of her to judge him too harshly. She didn’t know all the details. He was Ben’s dad, after all, and it must hurt to see that the little boy wanted nothing to do with him. “Come on, then,” she urged. “Let’s go see what treasures we can find.”

She watched in delight as the three children searched for treasure among the rubbish and seaweed that made up the flotsam and jetsam. It was Ben who found a bottle; he picked it up carefully, holding it out to catch the rays of the sun. Despite its time spent being battered by the sea, the glass sparkled.

“Where do you think it came from?” he asked her, turning it to and fro.

“Could be anywhere in the whole wide world,” Kat told him. “Spain, perhaps...or France or Scotland.”

They all peered at it with excitement in their eyes, as if expecting the bottle to suddenly reveal its secrets.

“No message,” Ben announced sadly.

“Maybe not,” Kat said. “But it does have a picture on it.”

The sailing ship embossed in the glass immediately caught the imagination of all three children.

“What if it came from a pirate ship?” Ben suggested with awe.