Brought Together by Baby by MARGARET MCDONAGH Page B

while she cleared away her things, her back to him. He gave a cough to announce his presence, and she swung round with a little ‘Oh!’ of surprise, a faint wash of colour on her cheeks.
    ‘Hi,’ he greeted her, voice gruff, as she fumbled to turn off the radio.
    ‘Hello.’ Her smile was tentative and uncertain. ‘I’m finished.’ Her movements jerky, she continued gathering up her paintbrushes. ‘What do you think?’
    For the first time he dragged his disobedient gaze away from her and turned his attention to what had once been a square white boxroom, lacking warmth or character. What he saw rendered him speechless. The nursery had been transformedinto something any young child would dream of, with an array of colourful cartoon characters dancing across the walls.
    How had Holly achieved this? He turned a slow circle, finally arriving back to face her again, noting her nervousness as she clasped her hands together, her sky-blue eyes wide with uncertainty.
    ‘You did this?’ he managed, his tone betraying his incredulity.
    ‘Y-yes.’ She swallowed, her tongue-tip peeping out again to lick her lips. ‘I’m sorry. Once I started I got a bit carried away. If you hate it I can paint over it. I—’
    ‘Stop.’ She did, nibbling the end of one finger with even white teeth. ‘God, Holly, how did you manage it in so few days? I had no idea you had such a talent for art.’
    Once more her cheeks flushed, giving her a becoming rosy glow. ‘I haven’t—not really. But I enjoyed it. I want Max to be happy.’
    ‘Max will love it.’ Still stunned at what she had done, he surveyed the room again, a lump in his throat. ‘ I love it. It’s the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen. Thank you.’
    ‘It’s my pleasure.’
    An electric silence hummed between them and it took a tremendous effort of will for him to force himself to look away and not give in to the crazy urge to hug her. Instead, he crossed to the window, ostensibly to inspect the curtains—which, he discovered, she had made herself—but in truth it was a ruse to put distance between them.
    ‘I didn’t realise the time,’ she murmured, sounding awkward again. ‘I’d better go. If it’s all right, I’ll move my things in after breakfast tomorrow, ready for when Max comes home.’
    Tomorrow. Everything was happening so fast. ‘That’s fine.’Which was a lie. It was far from fine. He needed to reinforce his barriers if he wasn’t going to fall for her again.
    As she jogged down the stairs and closed the front door behind her he wondered what he’d agreed to. But whatever the cost to himself, Max needed Holly. He pressed the heel of one hand to his sternum, dismayed by the ache of yearning.
    Would he never learn?
    Despite everything, he was as vulnerable to Holly as he’d always been. For the sake of his son, and if his own heart wasn’t to be trampled a second time, he had a few short hours to rebuild his defences before Holly moved in and turned his life upside down.
    Again.
    * * *
    ‘Are you sure about this, Holly?’
    As George parked the car outside Gus’s house, Holly nodded in response to her friend’s anxious query. Just as she had when Gina and Ruth expressed similar concerns, she hid her fears and doubts about the wisdom of her actions. She could see no other viable option: Max’s needs overrode everything else.
    Turning her head to hide her misgivings from George’s probing gaze, Holly stared through the passenger window at Gus’s solid semi-detached Victorian villa. Situated along a tree-lined road in a quiet residential area of town, it was built of sandstone with a slate roof—typical of the local architecture—and there were views of the hills from the master bedroom upstairs. A room she didn’t want to think about.
    This house would be her home for the foreseeable future. A shiver ran down her spine. She’d worked on the nursery for four consecutive days, but she felt no less nervous at the prospect of actually