Hired for the Boss's Bedroom by Cathy Williams Page B

occasionally mention his mother, but there had been no heart-to-heart chats about feelings and emotions. How was he supposed to handle that now? ‘I expect this must bring back memories,’ Leo said, annoyed to realise that he was looking for clues on how to deal with the situation.
    ‘Yes. I think so.’ Some of Heather’s tension melted away. ‘He might need a bit of reassurance that you aren’t going to disappear with Katherine in hospital.’
    ‘Disappear?’
    ‘As in hot foot it back to London the minute you have a quick word with the consultant.’
    In truth, the reality of the situation was really only now beginning to sink in. His mother would be off her feet for some weeks. He would have to make suitable arrangements for Daniel. He could hardly be expected to abandon work for an indefinite period of time; it had been years since he had taken more than a few days off!
    ‘Right. Well, I’m going to head off to the hospital now. I take it you will be able to cover here until I return?’
    The underlying assumption was that she would be. Here was a man who took it as a given that other people would have no problem in falling in with whatever plans he had for them, even if it meant disrupting their lives.
    ‘Yes, but then I’ll need to be away.’
    ‘Naturally. Art courses to attend, friends to visit.’
    ‘How did you know about the art course?’
    Leo decided that it was definitely time to go. ‘My mother must have said something in passing.’ He began walking away. It was late, and it would probably have been more sensible to wait until morning before going to the hospital, but something had changed between his mother and him over the past weeks. Having been emotionally independent of her for more years than he cared to remember, Leo had recently made tentative steps to bridge the invisible gap that separated them. He had stepped out of his cocoon and begun to see the considerable sacrifices which she had made for him with Daniel. He had also been treated to one or two trips down memory lane, which was a place he had seldom visited, and had begun piecing together a past that might not have been quite as clear cut as he remembered.
    Now, he was reluctant to jeopardise that fragile relationship by showing up in his own sweet time, allowing his mother to assume, with that resigned air of hers, that yet again the pressing demands of work took precedence over everything else.
    ‘What time do you think you’ll be back?’ Heather pressed him for an answer.
    ‘Couple of hours. Why?’
    ‘Look at me!’ She drew his attention to her dishevelled state and then instantly regretted it when he paused to look at her. It was a thorough inspection that took in the very worst of her stay-at-home gear, the sort of clothes which would have had her instantly hanged, drawn and quartered by the Fashion Police. She hadn’t glanced into a mirror recently, but she was willing to bet that her face was shiny and her hair was a mop. ‘I need a bath,’ she muttered.
    ‘I don’t remember telling you that you couldn’t have one.’ Leo shrugged, gritting his teeth as his imagination surged beyond her unsightly garb to the body underneath. ‘I have a wardrobe of spare clothes upstairs. Feel free to take what you need.’
    Heather could think of nothing she would rather do less, but she nodded, willing him on his way so that she could take advantage of his absence to shower, change and scramble into one of the five spare bedrooms before he returned.
    Thanks to an interruption by Daniel, who had woken and had needed comforting and then a rambling story before he fell back to sleep, it was nearly midnight by the time Heather had her much-longed-for bath. She found one of Leo’s pristine white work-shirts to use as a nightie. Although it was much shorter than anything she usually dared wear, at least it was clean.
    Having had nothing to eat for the evening, she was aware of the growling pains in her stomach when she finally