with sleeping bags, camp beds, and other essentials he and Harry needed to survive at Larchfield Hall for a week. He'd also picked up a map of the area to search for sites where Victoria might release hedgehogs. Beside him, two pizza boxes were stacked on the passenger seat and the delicious smell filled the car.
Harry had opted to stay with Sophie and Victoria instead of going with his dad. Adam wasn't often parted from his son and it seemed strange to be on his own.
When he arrived at Prickly Ball Cottage, he gathered the pizza boxes in his arms and knocked on the door. It wasn't only the name of Victoria's cottage that had a hedgehog theme. Numerous hedgehog garden ornaments peeped out from behind rocks and plants and lined the windowsills.
Victoria answered the door and grabbed the boxes from him. "Ahh. The smell of hundreds of calories waiting to find their way to my butt and thighs," she said. "You gotta love pizza."
Adam's gaze skated down her shapely figure, admiring her slim waist, heart-shaped bottom, and slender thighs. "I don't think you need to worry about calories." He grinned as she flashed him a flirty smile.
"Just as well. I'm starving."
He followed her through the cottage, ducking beneath the low door frames, which barely cleared the top of his head. The place was so small it almost gave him claustrophobia, every nook and cranny crammed with ornaments, books, and bric-a-brac.
They exited into the back garden. Victoria dumped the pizza boxes on a picnic table beside a mixed salad in a cut glass bowl and a stack of plates. She grabbed a can of kid's soda and held it out to him. "I should have asked you to fetch some drinks as well. This is all I have."
"Suits me." He was at ease and enjoying himself. It didn't matter what he drank.
They settled in lawn chairs on either side of the table and stared down the neatly mown strip of grass. Sophie was prancing about doing ballet steps while Harry photographed her.
"Ballet is Soph's latest craze. It probably won't last long before she moves on to something else. When did Harry get interested in photography?"
Adam sipped his orange soda and considered. "A couple of years ago. He's dead keen, but I can't imagine the career prospects are great, though."
"Oh, I don't know. That's what I do…or did."
"You're a photographer?" Adam had thought she spent all her time rescuing hedgehogs. But he supposed she had to earn a living as well.
"I'm a cameraman, actually—video, not stills. I specialized in working on nature programs. I've travelled all over the world filming wildlife. I had to stop when I was expecting Soph. Now I teach cinematography at the local art college."
"That sounds more like a vocation than a job. The sort of life some people dream of. You must have hated giving it up."
A wistful expression crossed her face. "I miss it sometimes. Often it was just me and a camera, watching and waiting, always dreaming of the next amazing shot. There was a real camaraderie in the production team that I miss as well."
She bit her lip as she stared at her daughter and a private smile touched her lips. "It was a great life while it lasted, but I'd give it up all over again to be with Soph. The joke is I avoided romantic entanglements so a man didn't tie me down, but in the end a man tied me down anyway, by giving me Soph."
"What happened to Sophie's father?"
"Nothing. He's still out there somewhere."
"But not in Sophie's life?" Adam shouldn't be pushing for information when he sensed she'd rather not talk about the man, but curiosity got the better of him.
"No." She sucked in a breath, released it slowly. "We were filming on the Great Barrier Reef. He owned a diving school and we used one of his boats. I had a thing with him for a couple of months. Neither of us intended the relationship to be more."
"He didn't want to be a father to Sophie?"
Victoria shrugged. "No. Anyway, he lives on the other side of the world, Adam."
Anger bubbled inside him to think
Harry had opted to stay with Sophie and Victoria instead of going with his dad. Adam wasn't often parted from his son and it seemed strange to be on his own.
When he arrived at Prickly Ball Cottage, he gathered the pizza boxes in his arms and knocked on the door. It wasn't only the name of Victoria's cottage that had a hedgehog theme. Numerous hedgehog garden ornaments peeped out from behind rocks and plants and lined the windowsills.
Victoria answered the door and grabbed the boxes from him. "Ahh. The smell of hundreds of calories waiting to find their way to my butt and thighs," she said. "You gotta love pizza."
Adam's gaze skated down her shapely figure, admiring her slim waist, heart-shaped bottom, and slender thighs. "I don't think you need to worry about calories." He grinned as she flashed him a flirty smile.
"Just as well. I'm starving."
He followed her through the cottage, ducking beneath the low door frames, which barely cleared the top of his head. The place was so small it almost gave him claustrophobia, every nook and cranny crammed with ornaments, books, and bric-a-brac.
They exited into the back garden. Victoria dumped the pizza boxes on a picnic table beside a mixed salad in a cut glass bowl and a stack of plates. She grabbed a can of kid's soda and held it out to him. "I should have asked you to fetch some drinks as well. This is all I have."
"Suits me." He was at ease and enjoying himself. It didn't matter what he drank.
They settled in lawn chairs on either side of the table and stared down the neatly mown strip of grass. Sophie was prancing about doing ballet steps while Harry photographed her.
"Ballet is Soph's latest craze. It probably won't last long before she moves on to something else. When did Harry get interested in photography?"
Adam sipped his orange soda and considered. "A couple of years ago. He's dead keen, but I can't imagine the career prospects are great, though."
"Oh, I don't know. That's what I do…or did."
"You're a photographer?" Adam had thought she spent all her time rescuing hedgehogs. But he supposed she had to earn a living as well.
"I'm a cameraman, actually—video, not stills. I specialized in working on nature programs. I've travelled all over the world filming wildlife. I had to stop when I was expecting Soph. Now I teach cinematography at the local art college."
"That sounds more like a vocation than a job. The sort of life some people dream of. You must have hated giving it up."
A wistful expression crossed her face. "I miss it sometimes. Often it was just me and a camera, watching and waiting, always dreaming of the next amazing shot. There was a real camaraderie in the production team that I miss as well."
She bit her lip as she stared at her daughter and a private smile touched her lips. "It was a great life while it lasted, but I'd give it up all over again to be with Soph. The joke is I avoided romantic entanglements so a man didn't tie me down, but in the end a man tied me down anyway, by giving me Soph."
"What happened to Sophie's father?"
"Nothing. He's still out there somewhere."
"But not in Sophie's life?" Adam shouldn't be pushing for information when he sensed she'd rather not talk about the man, but curiosity got the better of him.
"No." She sucked in a breath, released it slowly. "We were filming on the Great Barrier Reef. He owned a diving school and we used one of his boats. I had a thing with him for a couple of months. Neither of us intended the relationship to be more."
"He didn't want to be a father to Sophie?"
Victoria shrugged. "No. Anyway, he lives on the other side of the world, Adam."
Anger bubbled inside him to think
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