A Family Forever (2 page)

He followed Harry around a corner and halted abruptly at the unexpected sight of a young girl in a pink tutu. She was twirling in circles, arms arched above her head like a ballerina.

"Who's that, Dad?"

"I don't know." But he intended to find out. It wouldn't surprise him if the local kids from the village trespassed on the property, especially as it had been empty for a while.

He'd had problems with site security at other developments. If kids played in the garden here, it didn't matter much right now, but once the building work started the area would become dangerous.

Chapter Two

The girl stared at them wide-eyed with obvious surprise as they approached. She was a pretty little thing with dark pigtails, big blue eyes, and a few freckles on the bridge of her nose. As he got closer he noticed she wasn't alone. Someone was with her, but right now that someone was kneeling with her head under a bush, giving a rather nice view of a shapely female posterior.

"Mum," the girl said to the woman as Adam approached.

"Hang on. Nearly done," a female voice replied from under the bush.

The girl rested a hand on her mother's back. "There's a man here, Mum."

"A what?"

Shuffling ensued as the woman crawled out backwards and scrambled to her feet. She was a grown-up version of the little girl, the same dark hair in pigtails, big blue eyes, and freckles. Adam suppressed a smile at the likeness. Her cheeks pinked as she pulled leaves and twigs out of her hair.

"Who are you?" she blurted.

"I might ask you the same thing."

"You might. But I asked first."

"So you did. I'm Adam Cantrell," he said with a smile to put her at ease. "The new owner of Larchfield Hall."

"Oh." Her eyes widened just like her daughter's. "I was hoping to see you. I didn't know you'd arrived yet."

"We've only been here thirty minutes."

"Oh, well, right. That's why I hadn't noticed your car yet. I'm Victoria O'Shea." She wiped her hand on the thigh of her jeans and held it out.

Adam shook it, maintaining his smile. He wasn't sure what she was doing on his property, burrowing under a bush, but there was something artless about her that he liked. He doubted she was up to no good.

"This is Sophie," Victoria said, sliding an arm around her daughter. She smiled at Harry. "What's your name?"

Adam mentally kicked himself for not introducing his son. Most of the business people he dealt with ignored Harry as if the poor kid were invisible. Adam hated that. Now he'd done the same thing.

"This is Harry," Adam said, resting a hand on his son's shoulder, trying to make up for his earlier lapse.

Victoria frowned at him and returned her attention to his son. "You enjoy taking photographs, by the look of it."

"Yes. I love it," Harry replied.

Victoria and Sophie both smiled at Harry and he smiled back.

Adam got the distinct impression Victoria disapproved of him for some reason but obviously liked his son. "So, what did you want to see me about?" Adam said.

"The garden at Larchfield is a hedgehog release site, Mr. Cantrell. I've been relocating them here for seven years." Victoria laughed. "You probably have more hedgehogs per acre in this garden than anywhere else in England."

"A Hedgehog release site?" What the heck? Nowhere in the property details or the searches his lawyers ran had it mentioned hedgehogs. If they were a protected species, it would throw a wrench in his plans big-time. "What exactly does this involve?"

"I rescue hedgehogs and nurse them back to health. When they're fit, I return them to the wild." She waved a hand. "I live about a mile away so Larchfield is really convenient for me. It's a beautiful garden for hedgehogs, and I can check their progress regularly. That's what I was doing when you came along."

She pointed at the bush. "I have a hedgehog box here with a mother and three babies inside. There are actually hedgehog boxes tucked away all over your property."

"The last owner let you do this?"

"Of course. Lady Welland was my grandmother's best friend."

"Right." Adam rubbed the back of his neck. The hedgehog boxes wouldn't last long once the contractors started clearing the site to erect the houses.

How could he not have known about this? It should have been disclosed by the vendors during the negotiations, but he supposed the executors of Lady Welland's estate were equally in the dark. This sounded like a private arrangement between neighbors.

"I've never seen a hedgehog," Harry piped up.

"Well, we'll have to fix that. Would you like to see one now?" Victoria said.

"Yes, please. Can I photograph them?"

"I don't see why not." Victoria beckoned Harry forward. "I don't want to move the box while the animals are inside so you'll have to kneel and put your head underneath the bush."

Harry crawled under and Victoria joined him. Sophie scooted around the other side of Harry and crawled under with them. Despite being rather put out and uncertain how to deal with this problem, Adam was once again distracted by the sight of Victoria's shapely jeans-clad bottom.

He stared for a moment, then started feeling like the guy left alone in the kitchen at a party. Everyone was having fun except him.

He moved behind Harry and peered through the bush over his son's head. "Can I have a look?"

"Of course." Victoria backed out again and got to her feet, brushing leaves and dirt off the knees of her jeans. She scanned him up and down, a smile pulling at the corners of her mouth. "You're not really dressed for this, Mr. Cantrell."

"Call me Adam, please."

"Okay, Adam. If you're sure you want to join us in the dirt in your snazzy trousers, crawl in beside your son."

Victoria placed a hand flat on his back as if to guide him and an unexpected rush of sensation ran across his skin.

He glanced at her blue eyes glowing with enthusiasm, a smile on her shapely lips. She was not a sophisticated beauty, but pretty in a down-to-earth sort of way. If he'd met her under different circumstances, he might have been interested in getting to know her better.

He pushed the thought from his mind and lowered his hands to the ground.

"Look, Dad. Aren't they cool?"

A large prickly creature was curled around three small prickly creatures, their brown hairy snouts sticking out of the spines. A ripe stink rose from the box, but a smile stretched Adam's lips. They were kind of cute.

"What do you think?" Victoria said from behind him.

He suddenly realized he was now the one with his rear end on display. He backed out and stood, brushing fruitlessly at the mud on his knees. "Very interesting. How many boxes do you have in this garden?"

"I'll have to check my location plan for the latest figure, but my guess is around thirty."

"And they all have babies in them right now?"

"Many of them do. It's that time of year."

That's what he was afraid of. Worst case scenario, thirty boxes each with a mum and three babies inside. That was an awful lot of cute, prickly creatures he was about to disturb when the development went ahead.

Harry appeared at his side, a grin splitting his face. "I've got some awesome photos. Hedgehogs are way cool."

"Yes. Very cool," Adam said.

Harry shot Sophie a sheepish glance. "Don't say cool, Dad. It sounds stupid when old people say it."

"I'm not ready to draw my pension yet, thank you." Adam shared a rueful smile with Victoria, her blue eyes twinkling with suppressed mirth that gave him a warm feeling inside.

"So, is it okay for me to continue using your garden as a release site? I'll make sure to knock when I arrive in the future, then you'll know I'm here," she said.

"Yes. About that." Adam rubbed a hand over his lips, not quite sure how to deal with this. His phone chimed, buying him much-needed time. He fished it from his pocket and checked the screen. The call was from the project manager at his Florida condo development. He had to take it. "Joel, hang on a moment," he said answering.

He returned his attention to Victoria. "Sorry to be rude. This is important. Tomorrow's Saturday. Why don't you and Sophie stop by in the morning for a cup of coffee? We'll have a chat about the hedgehogs. Bring the plan you mentioned, the one that shows the locations of the boxes. I'm interested to know where they are."

"Okay." A frown flitted across Victoria's face. Had she picked up on his reluctance? He hoped not. He didn't want her to worry yet, although right now he was having trouble thinking of a way around this problem that didn't involve moving all the hedgehogs.

***

Victoria strode along the footpath through the field towards home as fast as she could, hoping she didn't have another encounter with the farmer. What with the earlier confrontation and then meeting Adam Cantrell, her nerves were a little frayed. Stopping to chat with the new owner of Larchfield had put her behind; now she had to hurry or she'd be up all night marking her students' work.

Despite her earlier run-in with Farmer Andrews, she didn't have time to stick to the footpath. With a quick glance to check he wasn't around, she dashed to the fence at the end of her garden, lifted Sophie over, and then climbed over herself.

"Is Harry going to live at Larchfield, Mum?"

Sophie's question focused Victoria's mind back on the gorgeous Mr. Cantrell. She wouldn't mind having him as a neighbor, but handsome men with money always had a beautiful wife or girlfriend in tow.

Not that she had time for a relationship. She was usually hard-pressed to find time to sleep, let alone date.

"Looks like it, love." She squeezed her daughter's hand as they hurried up the strip of lawn past the wooden outbuildings that housed the rescued hedgehogs. The grass could do with being mown, but it would have to wait a few more days. She might squeeze that job in on Sunday if she got up very early and it didn't rain.

Victoria unlocked the back door with the key she kept under a pot of herbs and dragged in a breath, steeling herself for the endless tasks she had to finish before bedtime. First job on the agenda was to fix Sophie some dinner. "How about fish fingers?"

"Not again, Mum." Sophie pulled a sour face as she kicked off her tennis shoes.

"I'm sorry, love. You know how busy I am."

Sophie pouted and dropped down on a chair at the kitchen table. "All right then."

A frisson of guilt stole through Victoria. She tried to make time for Sophie and included her in as much of her work as possible. But it was so hard to strike a balance now she had a reputation as the hedgehog lady.

Local people called her at all hours of the day and night with injured animals. It was impossible to turn them away. She adored the little spiny creatures and couldn't bear to think of a hedgehog being hurt or distressed with no one to help it.

"Will Harry go to my school?" Sophie asked.

"Probably." Victoria pulled the fish finger carton from the freezer and spread some on the grill. "He might go to a private school, though."

"What's that?"

"A school for rich kids."

Sophie's face dropped. Victoria ran a hand over her daughter's hair, smoothing down the wispy escapees that had been pulled out of her braids by the undergrowth. "You like Harry, don't you?"

Sophie shrugged, but it had been obvious her daughter had taken a shine to the handsome boy.

As she prepared their meal and Sophie set the table, Victoria went back over their encounter with Adam Cantrell. He seemed like a decent guy, but very much a city type with his dress slacks and polished shoes. He certainly wasn't the sort of person she'd expected to buy Larchfield Hall.

Although she hadn't really expected anyone to purchase the run-down estate—or maybe that had been wishful thinking. She'd worried for months that a new owner might stop her releasing hedgehogs in the garden.

Adam had showed an interest in the creatures, but he hadn't given her the okay to continue using his land. A shiver of foreboding ran down her spine. There had been something a little strange about his attitude that she couldn't quite pin down.

The phone rang and she answered, keeping an eye on the grill. She arranged for a man to drop off a hedgehog he'd picked up on the edge of the road. She served up the meal and had just started eating when the phone rang again. This time it was a woman who'd found an orphaned baby hedgehog in her garden.

Victoria bolted down her food and dashed outside to do the rounds of her patients. Sophie, her trusty assistant, mixed up the dried puppy milk they used to feed the orphaned babies. Together they checked the heating pads under the boxes were working, syringe-fed the five babies currently in their care, and then fed kitten food to the four injured adults, and replenished their water.

When they got back inside the phone rang again. Running a bath and sorting out clean nightclothes for Sophie with one hand, Victoria held the phone in the other and tried to calm down a man who thought he'd run over a hedgehog with his car.