Fear gripped Karen's heart and panic churned through her mind. If he won custody ... he would employ the best lawyers ... she didn't haVe the money to fight him ... if she lost David ...
'Wait!'
Her urgent cry stopped him. Slowly he swung around and despite his leanness, he looked even more formidable than his father had done that first morning. Karen rose to her feet, impelled to stand up to him yet knowing she could not match his power. But marriage was equally impossible.
'Well?' he prompted.
'I need time ... time to think about it,' she blurted out.
'Certainly. I'll bend over backwards to be fair. It might make the choice a little clearer for you if you get some more accurate legal advice. I'll give you until this time next week to make up your mind. But on one condition ... '
He paused, and the savage glitter in his eyes struck more fear into Karen's heart. 'And what's that?' she asked, a sickening turmoil of emotion furring her voice.
Hal smiled and leaned indolently against the doorjamb, his arms folded as if all the time in the world was,on his side. 'You and David are to spend the weekend with me at my father's house so that we can all get to know one another better.'
Karen didn't think she could stand two days with him let alone a lifetime of marriage. She found herself wringing her hands and instantly stopped the revealing action, but she could not stop the wringing of her heart. 'Why are you doing this to me?' she asked in helpless despair.
Again that curl of the lip which was not really a smile. His eyes were cold, hard steel. 'Because I intend to have the mother of my child as my wife.'
Her stomach heaved with nausea. 'It's not me you want. It's because I look like Kirsty, isn't it? Well, I'm not Kirsty, Hal.'
He was completely lJnperturbed by her vehement denial. 'I'm well aware of that. Kirsty died in my arms, remember? It's you I want, Karen.'
'You're a monster,' Karen whispered.
'Yes--a monster without any natural feelings at all. Isn't that right, Karen?'
So he was taking his vengeance for what she had said to him in the hospital ... words spoken out of grief ... words she had believed to be true. And now she was reaping the bitterness that had been sown with a mistake ... an honest mistake. She lifted her hands in a gesture of helplessness.
'It's an impossible situation.'
'Not at all. It's quite clear cut.'
She stared at him, looking desperately for one chink in his armour, but it was impervious. 'I've always hated you,' she said in hopeless appeal.
'Your last marriage was presumably based on love, but it didn't work. Perhaps hate is a better basis for starting with--things can't get worse, they can only impmve.'
His cynicism was a sour indictment of any form of love. 'You can't want to .. .' Karen bit the words back, wary now of even mentioning the word love to Hal. 'What kind of marriage did you have in mind?'
'The normal kind.'
He pushed away form the door jam and strolled back towards her. Each lazy step seemed to carry a physical threat to Karen. She wanted to turn and run away from him, but there was no running away from this situation. She stood her ground, but everything inside her cringed from his nearness as he came to a Halt a mere pace from her.
'You've always wanted children, haven't you? So desperately that you took my child. And it would be good for David to have brothers and sisters, don't you think? I never do anything by halves, Karen. I work on the principle of all or nothing. I may have been fooled by Kirsty, but I won't let myself be cheated again. All or nothing,' Hal repeated softly, but the words carried relentless purpose.
She couldn't go to bed with him. She just couldn't, Karen thought wildly. Not even for David's sake. She would never be able to forget that Kirsty had been there before her. She stared up at the hard grey eyes and felt absolute despair.
'It can't work. Apart from hating each other we have nothing in common.'
He gave a mirthless laugh. 'My dear Karen, it's not hatred but love that will bind us together. We both love David; we have that in common. We both loved Kirsty; we have that in common. And we both face a life of personal loneliness, fighting over the love of a child. And that, too, we have in common.'
He made a very deliberate point of looking at his watch. 'I'll give you five minutes to make up your mind about the weekend.'
As much as she recoiled from the idea, Karen knew that she had to keep her options open. And Owen would be there. Surely Owen's presence would ensure that the weekend was passed in a reasonably civilised manner. And it gave her more time; that was the important thing. Time to see Barry on Monday night, before she had to make all irrevocable decision.
'I'll come.'
'Good!' For a moment there was a glint of satisfaction in his eyes, but it winked out as Hal continued speaking. 'One more thing, Karen. If any of the advice you received was any good, you'll know that David has the right to know his natural parents. Before I pick you up tomorrow night, I insist that you tell him I'm his father.'
'To-tomorrow night?'
'It's Friday tomorrow,' he reminded her drily. 'The weekend is usually regarded as starting after work on Friday. I'll be here for you and David at six o'clock. You'll be dining with my father and myself after we put David to bed.'
So little time to get her thoughts and feelings into order! And to prepare David!
'You can tell David I had to go away and was caught up in wars overseas, but now I'm back home and I'm back for good.' Hal's eyes carried a savage indictment as he added, 'No need to tell him that his very existence was kept hidden from me.'
Her cheeks burnt with guilty shame. But it hadn't been all her fault. Couldn't he see that? She tried to reach past his bitterness. 'I'm sorry, Hal, but I had no reason not to believe what Kirsty told me.'
'And a very good reason to believe her,' he mocked.
Karen dropped her gaze, weary from battling the pressure he was exerting on her mind and emotions. She saw his hand lift and flinched away from its touch as he attempted to tilt her chin. Her eyes flashed up to Hal's, sharp with the fear of his forcefulness.
He was about to speak when his face suddenly went rigid. His gaze seemed fastened on the base of her throat. The hand he had lifted reached forward and pulled at the fine gold chain which Karen always wore, the exact match of the fine gold chain that Kirsty had worn. Every nerve in Karen's body tensed in protest, yet she could not move. Hal stared down at the little jade koala for a long time, and somehow Karen was mesmerised by his absorption in it. A muscle flinched along his jawline. When he finally looked up, his eyes held a wild, dangerous glitter.
'Well, a koala is easier to catch than a bird, isn't it?'
Her heart leapt as he moved closer. No-o-o ... the word quivered through her mind as his hands moved around her back, gathering her into an embrace. She meant to say it out loud. She told herself to say it out loud. But somehow it got strangled in her throat as one of his hands slid up under her hair and caressed the back of her neck.