"What's that you're taking?" Luke asked, seeing her slip something into her mouth.

"Just an aspirin," she said quickly. "Bit of a headache."

A wise look came over Josie's face, aging her several years. "Have you got another one of your headaches?" she asked kindly. To Luke she explained, "She's always getting them."

"Darling, don't exaggerate. I get tired with so much work to do in that stuffy boarding house, and today's been a long day." Pippa laughed. "I don't know why I'm having a shower as though it was breakfast time, when it's actually evening."

"It'll make you feel better," Luke said. "Wash the cobwebs away."

He was right. After a shower she felt like a new woman. She dressed hurriedly and returned to the kitchen, where Josie was trying to decide on the rival merits of toffee or banana ice cream, and finally honoring them both with her approval.

"You've cleaned both plates," Luke declared, as though astonished.

"She's ten," Pippa reminded him. "What did you expect?"

Josie opened her mouth to say something, but no sound came out. She had been up for twenty-four hours, and before their eyes jet lag overcame her like a cloud. Her eyes closed, her head fell forward, and she would have fallen off the bar stool had Luke not caught her in his arms.

They went up in procession to the bedroom, where Luke deposited the little girl on the bed. "Leave her as she is," he said, pulling the coverlet over her. "She doesn't want to be bothered with getting undressed now.''

"Night, Mommy," Josie murmured with her eyes closed.

"Night, darling." Pippa bent and kissed her.

"Night, Daddy."

"Night, sweetheart." He leaned down and kissed the child quite naturally, without a hint of the awkwardness many men would have felt.

That was Luke, Pippa remembered: easy, tactile, uninhibited, the warmth and charm always available on tap-as long as they weren't crushed by too many expectations.