Once back at the kindergarten, Erin helped settle the children for their afternoon nap. She had intended to leave at this point, having done the favour her aunt had requested. A story-telling session from Erin Lavelle was great PR for the preschool, backing up the much-dropped fact that she was, indeed, Sarah’s niece. However, the intriguing encounter in the park demanded a change of plan.
Having taken the precaution of copying the essential details from Peter Ramsey’s card into the notebook she always carried with her, Erin slipped into the administrative office to have a private conversation with her aunt who was sitting at her desk, hunched over a newly made cup of coffee and looking as though she needed a shot of caffeine to stitch frayed nerves back together.
“That could have been nasty. Really nasty,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “Thanks for helping out, Erin. I don’t know how I would have handled it…” Her voice trailed into a heavy sigh as she shook her head over the frightening incident. “The children could have panicked…”
“It was lucky Peter Ramsey was there,” Erin quickly put in.
The name jolted Sarah out of her fretful train of thought. Her eyes sharpened to a wary alertness. “Who? Who did you say?”
“The big man. His name is Peter Ramsey. He gave me his business card…” She placed it right in front of the coffee cup, hitching her bottom onto the front edge of the desk’s large surface as she explained the card’s purpose. “He said for you to mention his name to Mrs Harper if she gets ugly over what her husband did.”
Sarah picked up the card and stared at it disbelievingly.
Erin carried on with her job as messenger. “He also gave his personal assurance that Mr Harper would seek legal help to get some custody rights, so you shouldn’t be afraid of him going off the rails again because of not being able to see his son.”
“Peter Ramsey,” her aunt said with almost breathless awe. Her eyes were goggling when she looked up at Erin. “I should have recognised him. But why on earth would he be in that park?”
Erin honed in on the most pertinent point. “Why should you have recognised him?”
“Because of who he is, of course,” her aunt brushed off impatiently, then caught Erin’s grimace of frustration. “Don’t tell me you haven’t heard of him. He’s Lloyd Ramsey’s son and heir.”
This stunning revelation was a blow to the fantasy that had been building up in her mind. “You mean the multibillionaire, Lloyd Ramsey?”
“The one and only,” her aunt confirmed.
Lloyd Ramsey was virtually an Australian legend, making so many headlines over so many years, even Erin who’d always lived in the world of books, was not ignorant of the man’s power and how he wielded his wealth. He’d been nicknamed “the shark” because he went after a bite of just about every big business enterprise going. From Sarah’s reaction to Peter’s name, apparently his son had also carved out a prominent position in Australia in more recent times.
Erin had the queasy sense he was way out of her league, occupying a far, far different world to hers. “Is Peter Ramsey a business whiz, too?” she asked.
“Very much so on the international scene,” came the heart-sinking reply. “All high-tech stuff. I’m not up with that but he’s always in the social pages, being photographed with other celebrities. Every time he changes women it’s big news.”
Erin’s stomach did a dive, too. “You mean…he’s a playboy.”
The macho BMW sports car popped back into her mind. Had he been the driver?
Her aunt shrugged. “Well, he’s still playing the field. Hasn’t married anyone yet. Probably doesn’t give much time to his relationships. Always on the go. And let’s face it, a man in his position can get any woman he wants when he wants.”
Yes. He probably could.
The excitement that had been fizzing through Erin’s bloodstream completely flattened out. The possibility of Peter Ramsey being her prince was looking dim if not downright dead.
Yet he had certainly played knight to the rescue in the park and she had felt a strong connection with him. On the other hand, their shared empathy for Mr Harper’s situation could have accounted for that feeling, plus, of course, her instinctive response to his very dynamic sexual appeal.
“Why do you think he’s involved himself with this?” Erin asked, wanting more input from her aunt.
Sarah shrugged. “Why was he in the park? Maybe the two are connected.”
“What do you mean?”
“There must have been a trigger for his action.” She paused to think through what had happened. “Maybe he overheard Mr Harper yelling out that he’d been ripped off by his wife. That could have hit a sore spot with Peter Ramsey.”