The Heart of Deception

Chapter 4

Lauren awoke to the crowing of a rooster in the distance. The dim light of dawn crept in through the open curtains. She looked up at the unfamiliar mosquito nets draped over the bed and lay still for a moment, feeling a little disorientated.

Then she remembered where she was and what had happened the day before. Suddenly awake, she hopped out of bed and padded down the passage to the nursery, to find Jessica still asleep in her cot. The baby had wriggled out from under her warm quilt. She gently covered her up again, before returning to her room.

After a quick visit to the bathroom, she slipped into her bathing suit and bundled her hair into a swimming cap. Easing the sliding door open, she stepped out onto the veranda, into the brisk morning air. Downstairs, behind the house, she found the twenty-metre long, narrow swimming pool. The water was cold, and after doing one hundred laps, she bounded out of the pool feeling refreshed and breathless.

Enveloped in a large fluffy towel, Lauren hurried back to her room, where she changed into her beloved old grey tracksuit and Ugg boots. She rubbed her damp hair dry and then headed towards the kitchen to make herself a hot drink.

Five minutes later, bundled up in the doona from her bed, she was rocking on the porch swing. She wrapped her cold hands around a large mug of steaming Milo as she watched the sunrise.

“This is the life,” Lauren sighed contentedly, as she sipped the sweet, malted drink.

The view of the mountains from the veranda, outside the rumpus room was magnificent. It was easy to see why Captain Cook had named them the Glasshouse Mountains when he first saw them though his telescope two hundred years ago. They shimmered like glass as the early morning sunlight shone directly onto their smooth surfaces, still wet from the rain that had fallen overnight.

Returning to the kitchen, Lauren prepared as much as she could for breakfast, before warming up one of the baby’s bottles. And a little after six-thirty, Jessica woke up, gurgling and happy. Lauren changed her saturated nappy, chatting cheerfully to the infant all the time. They cuddled up in Lauren’s doona on the swing chair out on the veranda while she fed Jessica her first bottle for the day.

The baby had almost finished her formula, when Lauren became intuitively aware of someone watching them. Without turning to look, she knew it was her brother-in-law. Kurt seemed to radiate an electrical presence she picked up like radar.

The longer he remained motionless, the more uncomfortable Lauren felt. Eventually, Jessica swallowed the last of her feed. Lauren lifted her upright on her lap.

“Look, Jessie,” she said, still facing the baby. “There’s your Daddy. Have you got a ‘Good morning’ smile for him?”

“She always has a smile for me, don’t you sweetheart?” he grinned.

Kurt stepped outside, and crouched in front of his daughter He took one of Jessica’s tiny hands in his big one, and kissed the little fingers.

“How about her mother?” he asked, his blue eyes challenging her good-humouredly.

Lauren felt her insides melt as she gazed down into his handsome, unshaven face. His hair was ruffled and his eyelids still heavy from sleep. The pillow print on his left cheek, gave him a disarmingly boyish look.

Seeing his athletic frame wrapped in only a midnight-blue dressing gown, played havoc with her sanity. She found herself longing to welcome Kurt’s masculine body snuggling against hers on the swing. To have his early morning stubble brushing against her face, as his generous, smiling mouth took possession of hers.

I can’t believe it! I’m doing it again! Where are these crazy ideas coming from? Lauren’s face flushed thankfully, as common sense came to the rescue. She had almost placed a caressing hand against Kurt's roughened cheek!