Page 27 of Bound By Her Baby Revelation (Hot Winter Escapes)

He’d gleaned the basics of her story before but, as they drove slowly towards the halfway house, those basics became fleshed out, building a picture of a girl who had been forced to grow up way before her time.

‘So that’s pretty much what’s leading me to my involvement with the halfway house.’ Kaya blushed.

‘Ah, we get there at last.’

‘You’re laughing at me.’

‘I enjoyed the story-telling.’ He glanced across to her and, for a couple of seconds, his dark eyes remained fixed on her pink cheeks. ‘And I’m not laughing at you. I had gathered things were difficult for you growing up, but the picture you paint fills in all the blank spaces. You must have been overjoyed when your mother met the guy who eventually became your stepfather.’

‘I was,’ Kaya admitted. ‘I didn’t see it coming and it took a while. My mother had become so accustomed to falling for the wrong guy that when the right guy made it on the scene she didn’t see him at first for the great person he was.’ She smiled. ‘She got the ending she wanted. It just took a while and a lot of wrong turns to get there.’

Leo didn’t say anything. Was this the girl who believed that love stories really did come true? An alarm bell sounded, a distant one. One that made him say, thoughtfully, ‘I suppose that’s a road that plays out for some people—the wrong turns and the happy ending.’

‘But not for you?’

‘Never for me.’

Well, if she were to be silly enough to entertain any ideas about a proper relationship with this guy, then he’d as good as told her not to bother. Had he been warning her off him? Or had that just been a natural response to what she had said?

‘Up ahead, around that bend—the halfway house is there. It’s a little way out of the town. I think Julie Anne must have located it there so that none of the locals could lodge any complaints although, after all this time, they’re very kindly disposed to the girls who come and go. Once a year, there’s a fundraiser, and the proceeds go to maintenance of the place.’

Her thoughts were buzzing in her head as his flash car pulled into the courtyard outside the house. There were eight other cars parked in front, all in a neat row to the side where an attempt had been made to define some parking bays.

For a few seconds after she got out, Kaya stood by the side of the car and gazed at the building she hadn’t been near in months. When she looked at Leo, it was to see him doing exactly the same thing, looking at it.

It was large, a large, grey square with evenly spaced windows, and surrounded by trees. In summer, it was striking. Now, in winter, it looked bleak and a little run-down.

Leo had moved to stand next to her and for a few seconds he took in the sight of the place his mother had founded, his saintly mother who had been a pillar of the community, doing so much for so many, having abandoned one.

His mouth thinned.

He’d long ago trained himself never to dwell on things that couldn’t be changed, but now he could feel a groundswell of confusion and bitterness.

Next to him, Kaya resumed chatting, walking towards the house, her voice high and excited, her hands shoved into the pockets of her windcheater.

He followed. He was already regretting the impulse that had brought him here. He should have called her bluff with the ankle story, for there were no signs of any twisted ankle now. Instead, here he was, forced to accept that the woman who had given him up for adoption had managed to find it in herself to lavish her dedication on complete strangers.

And, once inside the house, nothing changed his mind. It was roomy and bustling, a mixture of offices, rooms for relaxing in, bedrooms and a kitchen that had been fashioned out of two spacious rooms knocked into one. The kitchen was big enough to sit at least a couple of dozen people at the extended pine table.

There were people everywhere. In one of the rooms, there was a table-tennis table, a cinema-sized television and pockets of deep, comfortable chairs in which young women, most either pregnant or holding tiny babies, were sitting and chatting.

Everyone knew Kaya.

From behind her, Leo watched.

She introduced him to several of the employees but she was completely absorbed in the place, laughing, chatting and glancing into rooms.

With every passing step, Leo was reminded of the life his mother had managed to build in the aftermath of walking away from him. He couldn’t wait to leave and yet...he could see the details of a life Kaya didn’t want to see erased.

It was shortly before one by the time they were heading back to the house and for a few moments, as he manoeuvred out of the courtyard and away from the halfway house, there was silence.

Leo expected that she was thinking about where they’d been. It was obvious that everyone there absolutely adored her. They had flocked around her and she had been in her element, her interest and delight shining in her eyes and in her responses.

He picked up speed. There was no need for her to give him directions. He knew the way back.

‘The place is falling apart at the seams,’ he snapped into the silence and didn’t look at her, although her lack of response said it all.

‘Is that all you noticed?’

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