“One parent.”

“And I don’t think they’ll let him be taken away from me by a father he hardly knows any more.” The phone rang and she answered it quickly. She barely said a word, but whatever she heard seemed to please her because her face brightened. Finally she said, “I’ll tell him at once. Thank you very much.” She hung up and faced Gavin. “That was the Social Services. Angus has been on to them. They’ll be sending someone to see you.”

“Need I ask what this ‘someone’ is going to say? You seem confident that you have it all stitched up.”

“They’ll oppose any attempt to remove Peter from me so soon after the accident. He needs security, not another big change straight on top of the last one.”

“And what kind of security can you offer him?”

“Love, and the stability of the home he’s used to.”

Gavin gritted his teeth. He hadn’t meant to play rough, but she’d left him no choice. “But you’re going to be leaving here. See what Social Services says when I tell them that.”

“Leaving here? Why should I?”

“Look, I realize that your father was still a young man and you couldn’t have dreamed that he’d die so soon.”

“What does that have to do with what we’re talking about?”

“It means that you have no right to stay in this house.”

“Why?”

“Because it belonged to Liz-half of it. The other half is still mine. Liz’s half will become Peter’s and I-”

“Wait,” she stopped him. “Liz didn’t own any part of Strand House.”

“I happen to know better. I bought this place originally and put it in our joint names, and the court awarded her half in the divorce settlement.”

“Yes, I know all about that. What I’m saying is that Liz’s share became Dad’s some years ago, and he left it to me.”

“What? That’s impossible.”

“It was to protect the sanctuary. He wanted to be sure that if anything happened to him I could carry on here.”