Page 66 of Just the Beginning

‘I sure can.’ Conscious of small ears, she framed her next question casually. ‘And the other matter?’

Pa gave her a very relieved smile. ‘Manageable, by the sounds of things.’

Anya blinked hard to ward off a sudden rush of tears. ‘That’s good. I’ll have a chat with housekeeping in the morning and we’ll make sure his suite is spick and span, and between us Steve and I will keep an eye on him.’

‘That would be a weight off my mind.’

Though she’d half expected it to be Rick who brought Davy home the following morning, it was instead one of the twins –Harry, Anya figured as he came closer and she could see there was no scar.

‘Delivery for you.’

‘Thanks, I guess. Hello, Davy.’

Davy gave her a sheepish glance from under his brows. ‘Hello, pet.’

She folded her arms. ‘Is that it?’

He shrugged. ‘I reckon so.’

‘Good. I’ll leave Harry to get you settled and I’ll come up in a bit to make you a pot of tea.’

‘I’ll be fine in the office,’ Davy protested. ‘I don’t need any mollycoddling.’

‘Behave yourself, Uncle D. The doc only let you come home because you promised to be on bed-rest for the next couple of days.’

Davy scowled at Harry. ‘No one likes a grass, boy.’

Harry seemed entirely unfazed. ‘You don’t scare me, Uncle D, but Mum bloody well does and if she finds out I let you get away with any nonsense she’ll have my guts.’ He pointed towards the door that led to the stairs. ‘Come on, let’s get you sorted. Kitchen prep started half an hour ago, so I need to get to the restaurant.’

Anya let Davy get himself settled in before she placed the ‘back in five minutes’ sign on the front desk and made sure she had the hotel phone in her pocket. She climbed the stairs to the first floor and made her way down the corridor to the corner suite of rooms where Davy lived. When she knocked he told her it was unlocked, and she found him in his chair by the window with its rather uninspiring view out over the car park.

He turned to regard her. ‘It’s a lot tidier in here than I left it. That your doing?’

She nodded as she crossed to the little kitchenette in thecorner. ‘I got housekeeping to change the bed and push the hoover around. It’s always nice to have clean sheets, I think, especially when you’ve not been feeling your best.’

‘It is, thank you.’ He was silent for a moment as she made herself busy filling the kettle and sorting out cups and the teapot. ‘Leave that for a minute will you, and come and sit down.’

There was only one chair, so Anya perched on the edge of the bed facing him. ‘I don’t want to fight with you, Davy. If you want to replace me, that’s your prerogative, but you’ll need someone to help you here.’

Davy held up a hand to forestall her. There was a livid bruise on the back of it, probably from where he’d had to have anIVline. ‘I owe you an apology. I could tell you that I wasn’t myself the other day, that it was the pain talking, but that would be a coward’s excuse. I lashed out at you because I was scared to death, and I’m afraid I took that out on you.’

She sighed. ‘I know you didn’t want me here, Davy, that Rick forced you to take me on.’

‘Forced me?’ Davy wheezed out a laugh, then winced and pressed a hand to his side. ‘I was struggling well before I banged my head, I just didn’t want to admit it. It was easier on my ego to pretend otherwise, but when Rick insisted I took someone on, it was a huge relief.’

‘You really hurt my feelings.’ It was important for her to say it. To stand up for herself and make him understand they couldn’t just brush everything under the carpet.

‘I know, pet. And I am more sorry than I can say. I know I don’t deserve it, but please try and find it in your heart to forgive a silly old fool with more pride than sense.’ He sat forward on the edge of his chair, clasping his hands together between his knees. ‘Having you here has been a blessing. More than a blessing:a joy. I hadn’t realised how lonely I was, how much I’d closed myself off from everyone, until I had you around and about the place.’

Anya rubbed her cheek where she could feel a blush of pleasure beginning to glow. ‘It’s been special for me too.’

Davy’s eyes lit up. ‘So you’ll stay?’

Anya glanced away, not liking the weight of that hope on her shoulders. ‘I don’t know yet. It depends on what you choose to do next. If you don’t want to undergo treatment then I will respect your decision, but I don’t know if I can bring myself to sit by and watch you fade away, Davy. You won’t have any problem replacing me, and I’ll bridge that gap until you do.’ She hesitated. It would be easier to walk away now, to protect herself as much as possible. But her aunt was right, life couldn’t be lived in a bubble. ‘If you decide to fight, however, I’ll fight with you, every step of the way.’

Davy shook his head. ‘You’ve already done more than enough, I wouldn’t have you go through that.’

Though her heart ached, Anya managed a wobbly smile. ‘You don’t get to make that decision for me. For all your grumping and growling, I’ve grown rather fond of you.’ She rose, needing to get out of there before she started bawling her head off. ‘Right, I’d better get back downstairs. Let me sort out your tea.’

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