Page 29 of Reunited By the Greek's Baby

Theo watched warm colour suffuse Isla’s cheeks. It made her look flustered yet proud and beautiful and his heart plunged into a faster beat.

‘But I don’t subscribe to the theory that love alone is enough to raise a child successfully. Life is easier when each day isn’t a financial struggle.’

‘Are you saying that if I don’t agree to marriage, you won’t provide financial support for the baby?’

Her words stunned him. Instead of looking worried or outraged Isla’s expression betrayed something like satisfaction, as if he’d proved her worst imaginings. Theo’s patience frayed. He was tired of her expecting the worst, making him out to be some villain.

‘I made mistakes, Isla, and I’ve apologised. But isn’t your distrust getting out of hand?’

He shook his head, annoyed at letting it get to him. He was used to being the one people trusted. Whom they turned to for help. The one who solved problems and looked after his family. Isla scored his already battered pride.

‘I meant exactly what I said, no more. My mother and I were happy but I remember days during the economic downturn when she lost her job and I went to bed hungry, even though she went without to provide for me. I remember her working for employers who took advantage of her, underpaying her and making her work long hours, but she didn’t feel she could leave, because she needed the money for me. I remember how tough it was when I was sick and she couldn’t afford babysitting but couldn’t afford to take time off work.’

Theo paused, thinking of when they’d lost their apartment and been homeless for a while. Theo had been determined to keep them both safe, though being so young, he’d worried he mightn’t be up to the task.

He recalled the gut-wrenching distress of those days. It was one of the reasons for his discreet support for subsidised housing schemes. No one should have to experience that.

‘It wasn’t just money. There were times when, I realise now, she would have loved a shoulder to lean on, to share the burden of bringing up a rambunctious boy, too full of energy. And times when I would have loved a male role model.’

His mother was amazing and he loved her dearly. Yet he understood in hindsight he’d missed what his friends had, a man to share with and learn from.

‘I remember the day we met Constantin Karalis. We were walking a couple of kilometres to the bus and this big car pulled up beside us. The man in the back seat offered us a lift but my mother refused. She wasn’t into charity and I think she was suspicious of accepting a favour from someone so obviously well-off.’

‘She expected he’d want something in return?’

‘Possibly.’ He smiled. ‘My mother is very attractive.’

‘It must run in the family.’

To his surprise an answering smile tugged the corner of Isla’s mouth. Had his revelation softened her view of him? It wasn’t the vivid blaze of delight he recalled from the past, when her grins had been pure joy, yet even this muted smile felt like an incredible win.

‘I suspect the same is true in your family.’

Her smile faded. ‘I’ve no idea. I never knew my parents.’

Astonished, Theo stared. He remembered her saying she had no family and had deliberately not prodded for more information because her tone hadn’t invited questions. He’d assumed they’d died recently.

‘I’m sorry.’ The words were inadequate. He couldn’t imagine never knowing his mother or Constantin or even Toula. He felt devastated for what she’d missed. ‘Who raised you?’

‘Not family.’ Her mouth compressed in a tight line that forestalled further questions. How could he not have known about this when in Greece he’d felt he’d known her so well? ‘You haven’t finished telling me about Constantin Karalis.’

She was trying to divert him. Curiosity seared. Theo wanted to know about Isla’s past, not just because it might help him persuade her to his way of thinking but because he wanted to knoweverythingabout her.

The realisation was profound, another reminder of his powerful feelings for her in Greece. Before his world came undone and he’d made himself push her away.

With an effort he buried his curiosity, for now.

‘Every day after that, the big car would stop before we got to the bus stop and he’d offer a lift. My mother kept refusing until the day it poured with rain and her umbrella blew inside out.’ Theo laughed. She’d been so haughty and stiff when she accepted the ride, as ifshewere bestowing the favour.

‘It was Constantin Karalis in the car?’

‘It was. He was an incredibly patient man. It took a lot to win my mother over.’

‘What exactly?’

Isla leaned closer, as if caught up in the story. Theo guessed she had no idea how engaged she looked. And how engaging. From the first there’d been something he couldn’t name, something deep and true about her that reached out to him at a subliminal level.

A smile broke across his face as he sat back. ‘He offered to take me fishing.’

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