‘Then she didn’t love you,’ Caitlin said fiercely. She pushed herself up to look directly into his eyes, her own burning with a conviction so strong it refused to acknowledge the wary reservation she saw. ‘I’d stand by you through anything, David,’ she declared passionately.
There was a flicker of hope, quickly quenched. ‘It’s easier to say that than to do it, Caitlin,’ he said with a touch of harshness. ‘My mother never leaves the house. For good reason. People recoil from the sight of her.’
‘Whatever she looks like now, she’s your mother, David,’ Caitlin argued. ‘I’d never turn my back on anyone who was hurt in my family.’ Not even Michelle! ‘Do you think I would do that to someone as important to you as your mother?’
He searched her eyes, wanting to believe but not quite able to bring himself to take that last ultimate step of trust.
‘She must be one of the loneliest people in the world,’ Caitlin said with soft sympathy.
‘Yes. She’s terribly isolated. Apart from me she’s alone.’
Caitlin now understood why he had made such a rigid ritual of having breakfast with his mother every morning. Whatever turned up for him during the day—or night—at least his mother had that company to look forward to. It was a measure, a high measure of how much Caitlin meant to him that he had made this exception for her. She would willingly have staked her life that David had made no exception to his rule regarding his mother since the time of the accident.
‘You should have told me, David,’ she said seriously.
His mouth tilted with irony. ‘It’s not easy. I’m telling you now.’
‘Will you let me meet her?’
He sobered, his eyes reflecting the torment of that decision. ‘It would be an ordeal for her, Caitlin. Perhaps an ordeal for you, too. I think you should give it deep consideration before you...’
‘No,’ she interrupted firmly. ‘I don’t need to give it any further consideration at all. If I’m to be part of your life, David, don’t shut me out of your mother’s life.’
‘Caitlin...’ He winced and looked away. ‘You don’t know...what you may be letting yourself in for.’
‘I do know. You’ve told me. And I’m not flinching away from it, David. Don’t judge me,’ she pleaded. ‘Give me the chance to prove what I’m saying.’
His gaze slowly came back to hers and locked onto it with passionate intensity. ‘You could hurt my mother very deeply. That’s how Crawley was going to get at us, by using her disfigurement to cause further injury. Please be aware of that. The slightest rejection on your part...this isn’t a game you can play. It’s very real. Very painful. For my mother to... expose herself...to anyone...’
She placed her fingers over his lips, silencing him. ‘Trust me, David,’ she appealed softly. ‘I promise you, I’ll be worthy of your trust.’ If it took every ounce of courage and backbone and strength of will she could lay claim to, she would cope with whatever she had to face and deal with.
‘I’ll have to talk to her...prepare her...’
‘Then I guess we’d better go back to Sydney,’ she said with a smile.
He touched her cheek. She could feel the yearning in his fingertips. ‘I want it to turn out right, Caitlin.’
‘So do I, David,’ she said fervently. ‘So do I.’
She had all the answers now. Her understanding of the man she loved was complete. It made her love him all the more. Yet there was this last step to take, a step that might founder on his mother’s reaction to her. She could accept Mrs Hartley. No doubt of that. The burning question was whether Mrs Hartley would accept her.
Nothing was certain.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
THE meeting with David’s mother was set up for a week’s time. Caitlin gave a lot of thought to how she would handle it. She didn’t ask for any advice from David. He didn’t offer it. She knew he was tense about the outcome but there was nothing she could do to ease that.
In the meantime, other recent sources of tension between them came to resolutions that neither David nor Caitlin could have foreseen.
They spent a day with Dalhunty at the Hartley building in Chatswood, assisting the new manager to a comprehensive understanding of current business dealings. There was a new receptionist. Jenny Ashton had resigned. That was not surprising, but the fax that came in from Herr Schmidt was.
David read it to Caitlin.
‘Unaccustomed as we are to being treated in the highly original way we were treated, it is our collective wisdom that you are the man with whom we wish to do business. You represent the future of our mutual interests. Please send us a copy of your licensing contract.’
There was a PS attached to the fax.
‘Please tell Fräulein Ross that her acting in the boardroom was sublime. We are aware of the trifling exaggeration that she introduced into the sales figures for the Sutherland contract. If she is ever in need of a job, there is not one member of the delegation who would not have her on his staff. Fräulein Ross was magnificent.’