Kathy shook her head. ‘No, they’re not. My mother refused to report what you’d done even though for a time it looked as if we might not even have enough left after the sale of Treetops to keep a roof, any roof, over our heads. And do you know why she didn’t report you? … Because despite what you’d done she still loved you. You’re still family to her. Treetops had been her home for all her married life and was her last connection to her mother. It almost destroyed her to lose it because she loved every single brick of it, but even so she wouldn’t risk you being arrested. So now tell me what you’re doing here and then go.’

Bitterly ashamed, Ben bowed his head. ‘I … I suppose I wanted to see my children,’ he muttered.

‘Your children!’ Kathy barked. ‘But they’re not your children. Anyone can make a child, but it takes a real man to raise one. They’ve never been yours; you abandoned the right to call them yours before they were even born and you’re just a stranger to them. David has been far more of a father to them than you could ever be, so now I suggest you leave. Any feelings I had for you died a long, long time ago and I pray that I never have to see your face again. If I do, I should warn you I shall have no hesitation in reporting what you did to the police. My mother loved you as her own and yet you took everything that was precious away from her. You’re despicable!’

As she stared at him, she felt only contempt and yet she knew that once upon a time she would have laid down her life for him. But that seemed like a lifetime ago and now all she saw standing before her was a very old man. How could I ever have thought that I loved him or even found him attractive? she asked herself.

Ben stared at the beautiful face in front of him. Kathy had been just a naïve little girl when he left but she had turned into a beautiful young woman. And the children. Oh, how he wanted to get to know the children. Hidden amongst the bushes he had watched them, and his heart had lifted at the sight of them. But Kathy was right. He deserved everything she had said to him. It was too late to ask for her forgiveness, he had treated her shamefully and she had the handsome young doctor to care for now. But it wasn’t too late to make things right with the children. They were his children after all. He stared at the lovely face before him for one last time, then, turning, he slipped away and was soon swallowed up by the darkness.

Chapter Forty-Six