'That could be arranged,' Dan interrupted curtly, 'since it's my helicopter to do with as I wish.'
Cassie whirled to face him. 'Yours?' She was still unable to take in Dan's unexpected wealth.
'Mine!' He gave her a hard, penetrating look before returning his attention to Jason, a grim concentration drawing his dark eyebrows together.
'Oh, boy! Did you hear that, Mum?'
She gave a weak nod.
Jason glanced from his mother to Dan. 'Are you a friend of Mum's, mister?'
The corner of Dan's mouth twisted. 'I was...a long time ago.'
'And you really own that helicopter?'
Dan flicked a caustic glance Cassie's way. 'I seem to be having trouble making people believe anything I say. Yes, Jason, it is indisputably my helicopter.'
'Wow! Can I have a ride in it today? Now?'
'If you like.'
'Jason, I don't ‑'
'A ride in a helicopter!' Jason exclaimed, not even hearing his mother's objection. His beaming face was turned towards the helicopter. 'Oh, boy! Wait till Gran hears about this!'
Cassie groaned.
The sound drew a puzzled glance from her son. 'Are you all right, Mum? You look kinda sick, or something.'
'I...I have a headache. I'm afraid you'll have to leave Mr McKay's offer of a ride for today.'
'Aw, gee. ..'
Dan knelt down to Jason's eye level. 'Not to worry,' he said kindly. 'There'll be plenty of other days. By the way, how old are you, Jason?'
Cassie's heart stopped.
'Eight,' her son announced proudly, then added, 'I'll be nine in November.'
'Nine, eh?' Dan lifted his dark eyes to glare daggers at Cassie. 'In November, no less...'
It took all her inner strength to glare proudly back at him.
So now he knew for certain! It had been inevitable that he would. But what was he going to do about it? Cassie was so upset by the possibilities that her head was indeed pounding.
Dan straightened up, just as Cassie's mother puffed up the steep steps. 'My goodness, but that's a walk! Jason, you shouldn't tear ahead like that.'
Mrs Palmer's arrival did nothing to alleviate Cassie's distress. Her mother wouldn't recognise Dan, as they had never actually met, but she would know his name. Cassie hoped and prayed that she would be able to escape without effecting an introduction, but, knowing her mother, that was unlikely.
Joan Palmer was still a good-looking woman at fifty-five, with stylishly cut grey-blonde hair and a shapely figure. People said that Cassie was the spitting image of her mother as a young girl, but where Cassie was a modern, independent woman, her mother was one of the old school, who believed that the female sex was put on earth solely for the purpose of marriage. She would not miss a chance of meeting a handsome man, especially one whom she might be able to push in her daughter's direction.
Cassie's anti-social behaviour had been a source of several heated discussions over the years. The 'once bitten, twice shy' principle did not go down well at all, though Cassie could have pointed out that it had taken her mother almost nine years herself to get over her own husband's death. Roger Nolan, Cassie's employer, had been wanting to marry the attractive widow Palmer for years, but Joan had only recently given him the nod. The wedding was due to take place in two weeks' time.
Perhaps finally aware that she was staring at Dan, Joan swung her attention to her daughter. 'Well, love? Did you have any luck at the auction?'
'I'm afraid not, Mum. Everything was much too dear.'
'Guess what, Gran,' Jason piped in. 'This man here's an old friend of Mum's and he owns that helicopter over there and he's going to give me a ride in it some time, aren't you, mister?'
'I guarantee it.'
'See? He ‑'
'Hush, Jason.' Joan smiled apologetically at Dan. 'That's very kind of you, Mr...er... Cassie, aren't you going to introduce us?'
Cassie steeled herself. It wasn't going to be easy introducing a mother to the man who'd made her unmarried daughter pregnant. And Joan was bound to recognise the name at once.
Cassie's sigh carried a weary resignation. 'Mum, this is the new owner of Strath-haven, Mr McKay...Mr Dan McKay:
'Pleased to meet you, Mr Mc... Oh. . Her ready smile faded, her outstretched hand dropped. 'Oh, dear...'
It was a dreadful moment, saved by a child's innocence.
'Pleased to meet you, Mr McKay.' Jason's hand shot out like a fast ball at cricket.
'You can call me Dan, Jason.'
Cassie stiffened. It had sounded like 'Dad'. 'I think Jason should ‑'
'Dan will be fine,' he overrode her firmly. 'I prefer it.'
'Are you really going to be living here, Dan?' Jason asked, black eyes shining with uninhibited joy.
'I certainly am.'
'Oh, boy! Can I come over and visit sometimes? I won't be a bother. Really I won't.'
'Anytime...son.'
The word sent a stab of fear into Cassie. She looked at Dan appealingly. Please, don't tell him, her eyes said. Please...
His returning look was so cold, it sent shivers up her spine.