Chapter 9
Nine
When her phone rang the next morning, she didn’t open her eyes immediately, hoping it was a wrong number and they’d hang up.
The insistent noise continued, though, and with a drawn-out sigh, she searched blindly for the phone before holding it up and seeing a number she didn’t recognise on the screen.
‘Hello?’ she answered, swearing to herself that if this was a telemarketer, or worse, some kind of scammer, she would lose her shi—
‘Kenzie?’
The voice instantly made her sit upright, wide awake. ‘Yes.’
‘It’s Ewan … Campbell,’ he added, almost uncertainly, as though she’d possibly forgotten who he was.
‘Hi.’
A silence fell for a moment and Kenzie wondered if maybe the line had dropped out before he spoke again. ‘I guess we need to talk.’
Her heart dropped. This was the moment that everything was going to change forever. A sickening sensation began to pool in the base of her stomach.
‘I’d like to meet our daughter.’
For a moment, Kenzie couldn’t answer, a surge of protectiveness roaring through her. Poppy was her daughter.
‘Kenzie?’ he added uncertainly when she didn’t say anything.
‘I’m visiting my family for the weekend, in Burrumba, down in New South Wales. I won’t be home until Tuesday.’
‘I was planning to head down to South Australia tomorrow. Maybe I could stop in on my way south?’
Well, that didn’t sound overly demanding or threatening. He’d be away for a while once she got back, so he obviously wasn’t planning on stepping into a hands-on daddy role immediately. ‘Sure. If you want.’
‘Text me the address. I’ll see you tomorrow.’
‘Okay.’ Tomorrow? ‘See you then.’ She congratulated herself on sounding so calm. Years of practice had honed her skills: the groom’s lost his wedding suit? No worries. The bride’s hyperventilating outside the church? I got this.
Then it hit her: He’s coming here tomorrow.
What would she say to Poppy? Was there time to prepare her?
No, she thought frantically, not yet. She didn’t even know for sure he wanted anything to do with her.
Maybe he was just being decent and wanted to tell her face to face that he had no interest in being a father.
No, she cautioned herself firmly. She’d just wait and see what happened once he got here.
Everything was fine, she thought, fighting back a nervous eye twitch and concentrating on breathing.
Ewan stared down the long stretch of highway, absently taking in the rows of cane growing in the fields as far as the eye could see, and tried to stop thinking about how nervous he was.
He was meeting his daughter for the first time and he had no idea what he was going to say.
He wished he’d thought to ask Kenzie how they were going to handle this situation, but he hadn’t been thinking straight.
She’d thrown him when she’d said they weren’t in town.
Maybe this worked out better. He’d been busy packing up his belongings from the apartment he and Sasha had been living in, and collecting his things from the front desk of the office, as instructed by her father. He was now officially homeless and jobless.
He glanced at his fuel gauge and realised he’d need to fill up again soon.
He missed the old highway, with its curves and corners, and all the small towns it used to meander through, places you could stop and break up the trip.
Now it was all motorways and straight stretches of road with absolutely nothing of any interest to help pass the time.
Ugly service centres that looked like carbon copies of each other had replaced the smaller, friendlier service stations in previously bustling coastal holiday towns.
It was difficult to even get your bearings because there were no longer any distinguishing landmarks to determine where you were.
A road trip back to South Australia seemed like the perfect time to process everything that had happened, but first he had to talk to Kenzie.
He couldn’t leave without explaining that he needed to sort out his future before he wrapped his head around the whole fatherhood thing. She deserved that much.
His thoughts went once more to Poppy
He had a kid.
Kenzie tried not to look at the clock. The hands would have barely moved since last time her anxious gaze had flown to the wall to check, and yet surely it must have been ages …
Nope. Three minutes later than the last check. He’d texted her his estimated time of arrival to be forty minutes and that was forty-seven minutes ago.
She let out a frustrated growl as she headed out onto the verandah to watch the two little figures in the distance spending some quality time with two very pretty horses.
Her mum had offered to keep Poppy occupied to allow Kenzie and Ewan to talk alone for a bit before he met his daughter, but the waiting for his arrival was almost torture.
The sound of an engine and then crunching tyres on gravel sent even more butterflies through her. She drew in a deep breath and closed her eyes. It is going to be fine. Everything is fine.
The four-wheel drive utility that was heading down the hill was not what she’d imagined Ewan turning up in.
Last time she’d seen him, he’d been driving a sleek Mercedes sedan.
The big, rugged-looking machine he was in today looked far more suited to a country boy than a businessman from the Gold Coast.
Kenzie walked out to wait for him as he parked his ute in front of a large silver farm shed and climbed out.
There was very little of the company executive in the man who walked towards her, except maybe the short haircut.
The business suit had been replaced with a pair of denim jeans, a pair of tan workboots and a light blue button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows.
As he came to a stop before her, her gaze lifted and she found that the smooth-shaven face now sported stubble that made him seem a little less like the confident businessman she’d been introduced to a few days earlier and a lot more like the younger version of himself that she now remembered with uncomfortable accuracy.
‘Hi,’ Ewan said, reminding her she hadn’t greeted him yet.
‘You found the place, okay?’
‘Yeah, no trouble. I haven’t been out this way before.’
‘Yeah. It’s a good spot. Close enough to the coast to go to the beach whenever you want and still have decent farmland.’
‘What do you run?’
‘Pardon?’ Kenzie replied blinking at him.
‘Stock wise,’ he added.
‘Oh. Uh … cows, mainly …’ She shrugged. ‘I don’t actually know any kind of farm terminology.’
His lips twitched slightly as he nodded. ‘Really? You could have fooled me, “cows, mainly” was pretty technical.’
‘Oh, right, sorry, Mr Executive. I suppose you have lots of experience with the whole agriculture thing,’ she shot back, lifting an eyebrow.
He shrugged lightly but his smile had vanished. ‘I know a bit. I’m not an executive. Never really was, to be honest.’
‘Oh.’
‘I take it you heard the wedding was called off,’ he added dryly.
‘Called off?’ she asked, startled. ‘Are you serious?’
‘Yep.’
For a moment, Kenzie could only stare at him, completely dumbfounded by the news. ‘I’m so sorry. I had no idea.’ Oh crap. ‘Maybe once things settle down—’
‘It’s over,’ he cut in abruptly.
‘Oh. Well, I’m …’ she stammered, unsure exactly what to say when there were a multitude of questions racing through her head. ‘I know it’s probably my fault, for telling you … but I honestly didn’t expect it to break up you and Sasha.’
‘She didn’t give you any grief about the cancellation?’ he asked, ignoring her apology.
‘No. Which is weird, considering.’
‘I didn’t tell her about you.’
‘You didn’t?’ Kenzie frowned. ‘Why not?’
‘Because there wasn’t any point ruining your business.’
‘Didn’t she want to know who the mother was?’
‘She wasn’t exactly interested in hearing the details. She made it clear that she didn’t want us to have any contact with the child, and I told her I couldn’t do that.’
‘So she broke up with you?’ Kenzie gaped at him.
‘Sasha doesn’t deal well with competition,’ he said, wincing slightly. ‘I think she saw a child as something that would take away part of my attention. She’s … got a few insecurities.’
Ya think? ‘So you chose to end your relationship?’
‘I didn’t end it. I told her I couldn’t walk away from my responsibilities, and she decided she didn’t want to be married to someone who had a child with another woman.’
‘If you’d had any other wedding planner, you’d still be getting married.
’ It wasn’t her fault his wedding had been cancelled, but she did feel bad for him.
The timing was terrible. ‘If I’d had any other wedding planner, I’d never have found out I had a daughter.
’ He shrugged, his gaze moving to the yard behind her.
‘Poppy’s out with my mum, feeding horses. She’ll be up soon. Come on in,’ Kenzie said.
‘So, this is your parents’ place?’ he asked as they took a seat at the table on the verandah.
‘My mum and stepdad’s. My grandparents own the other half and the house you drove past, but they’re off on a holiday around Australia.’
‘Nice spot,’ he remarked as they looked out at the view surrounding them.
‘They built it not long after the fires went through here a few years ago. This whole area was practically burned to the ground. Jack owns the neighbouring place. He lost his house,’ she said, nodding her head in the direction of the creek, ‘but he still runs his cattle and a B and B over there.’
‘I remember that season. It was a bad one. It’s hard to believe a fire went through here now,’ Ewan said, looking around.
‘It’s amazing how the land comes back after something that terrible.
’ It had been a bad season. She could still remember how scared she’d been for those few days when she’d been unable to contact her mother.
Seeing the devastation on the news and posted all over social media, knowing her mum had been out here, farm-sitting for her parents, had been one of the most worrying moments of her life.
‘The land can take care of itself. It’s the people who take a lot longer to recover after a disaster of that magnitude,’ Ewan pointed out. ‘I saw a lot of farmers at breaking point after that. I know a lot who never returned to their properties.’
‘Would you like a cuppa?’ Kenzie asked, before remembering this wasn’t exactly a social visit.
‘I’m okay for the moment. I guess we should talk about where we go from here?’
Kenzie tried for a smile but it probably came out looking more like a cringe when he seemed to swallow nervously before taking a breath.
‘I have to be honest. I wasn’t sure how I felt about all this when you first told me.
It was a bit of a shock to be told I’ve suddenly become a father. It was hard to wrap my head around.’
‘I get that.’
He looked at her for a moment, and she sensed he was weighing up his next words. She found herself holding her breath.
‘I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.
I want to meet her, get to know her,’ he explained, and he must have caught the sudden fear in her eye, because he nodded, clearly trying to reassure her.
‘I understand someone coming into her life is a big deal and I don’t expect you to just hand her over.
I don’t know how you want to go about it.
All I know is I want the chance to meet her and see what happens. ’
‘It is a big deal. It’s a huge deal. She doesn’t understand any of this and I don’t want to introduce you as her father if you don’t plan on becoming part of her life.
’ Ewan opened his mouth, but Kenzie continued firmly.
‘I know that sounds like I’m moving faster than you’re probably prepared for, but it’s something that you need to understand.
I won’t have her hurt or confused. I’d rather you be someone who’s visiting, just until we can figure out how to make this work—or even if you want to make it work.
I meant it when I told you before that I don’t want anything from you.
I never expected to find you. I can provide just fine for us, and she has all the family and love a child could ever want. We have everything we need.’
She saw his jaw tighten but swallowed past the uncertainty. ‘I’m just saying that if you’d rather not mess up your life, I won’t have any hard feelings towards you.’
‘I guess you don’t really have any kind of previous history to base it on,’ he said tightly, ‘but ignoring my responsibilities is not who I am.’
‘You’re right, I don’t know you. You didn’t have any responsibilities after that night. I did. And I handled them,’ she said plainly. ‘Which is why I can continue to raise my child without your help.’