Chapter 14
Fourteen
Kenzie shook her head but couldn’t help the smile that lingered on her lips as she watched her mother and Jack ride across the paddock on the farm bike.
‘They’re like a pair of teenagers sometimes,’ she said, as her mother’s delighted laughter floated back to where they stood beside the work ute they’d be driving back.
‘I think it’s great. It’s not something you see a lot of.’
‘What isn’t?’ she asked.
‘Parents still in love.’
‘I think different people show affection in different ways.’
‘Yeah, I guess.’
Kenzie climbed into the driver’s seat after buckling Poppy in the middle seat and turned the key in the ignition as Ewan closed his door. ‘How long will it take you to drive to your parents’ place?’
She’d heard him talking to Jack about his plans to leave tomorrow morning, and wondered when he was going to bring it up with her.
‘I think it’s about nineteen hours, give or take, from here.’
‘Wow, that’s a big drive.’
‘Yeah. It’s not too bad, though.’
The ute bounced across the paddock as they followed the cow tracks back to the house. Poppy’s head rested on Ewan’s arm, and he rearranged his position so his arm was around her and she could lie against his side. In five seconds flat, she was out to it.
‘Big day,’ he commented, and Kenzie bit the inside of her lip against a wave of emotion that filled her at the image the two of them made.
‘I’m glad you decided to stop in,’ she said after a few moments. ‘I think it was a good way to break the ice with Poppy.’
‘I’d like to spend some more time with her,’ he said, pausing briefly. ‘And I’d like her to meet my family.’
Kenzie’s stomach clenched. His family? This was moving too fast. He’d barely got to know her. Introducing her to more new people would be even more confusing.
‘Well, let me know when you’re back on the Gold Coast. I’m sure we can organise something when your family come up for the holidays,’ she said, wondering how that would play out.
‘Normally, that would be the ideal solution. But I’m not sure when I’ll be going back.
’ Ewan shrugged. ‘I figured a couple of weeks off to visit and let things cool down back on the coast would be the smartest bet at this point, until I work out what I’m going to do.
It’s also the perfect opportunity to spend some quality time with Poppy. ’
Kenzie started. ‘What? You mean … now?’ Was he out of his mind? ‘There’s no way she’d cope being away from me and among people she doesn’t know. You’re still basically a stranger to her,’ Kenzie said, amazed that her voice sounded reasonably steady.
She saw his face tighten, but regardless of any hurt feelings, it was the truth.
‘She has a right to know her other grandparents and family,’ he said calmly, if a little stilted.
‘I agree,’ Kenzie said, ‘but we have to work up to all this. She’s never left me before.’
‘I wasn’t planning to take her alone,’ he replied. ‘You’d come too.’
‘To South Australia. To meet your family?’ she said, hoping her mouth wasn’t gaping.
‘Why not? You’re their granddaughter’s mother. They’ll want to meet you.’
‘But we’re … not … I mean, I’m nothing to them,’ she finished weakly.
‘You’re the mother of their grandchild,’ he pointed out firmly.
She could just see it now: ‘Mum, Dad, this is the woman I slept with one night five years ago on a drunken weekend.’ Kenzie squeezed her eyes shut and suppressed a shudder.
This was all just so weird. But even she could admit he was right; it wasn’t exactly fair to make his parents wait.
She could only imagine her own mother in that position.
‘I don’t think—’
‘You just said you didn’t want her going anywhere without you.
This would solve that problem without it taking months to build a relationship you would be satisfied enough with to let Poppy go away without you.
’ Ewan shook his head. ‘I don’t want my family to have to wait that long before they meet her. ’
‘We were going to take this slow,’ Kenzie said, staring at the path ahead, trying to unclench her jaw as anger mixed with alarm.
‘And I agree … to a point. But my mother’s had a grandchild for four years who she’s never met. We have four years to make up for,’ he said, gentling his voice slightly.
Some of the anger began to dissolve, but not the anxiety.
‘Okay. Maybe … we could look at a few weeks from now,’ she said, mentally flipping through her appointment book.
‘You can drive down with me tomorrow, which gives me more time to get to know Poppy, and I can fly you both home later.’
Kenzie braked hard, jolting them to a halt, and looked at him. ‘I can’t. I have to get back to work.’
‘Aren’t you the boss?’ he asked, raising his eyebrows.
‘Yes, but that doesn’t mean I can just take time off whenever I feel like it.’
‘I think making sure your daughter is comfortable with meeting the rest of her family warrants a couple of weeks, don’t you?’
‘A couple of weeks?’ she echoed. ‘I can’t take that much time off work.’
‘You’ve had her for four years,’ he replied quietly. ‘I don’t think a fortnight is asking too much.’
His words hit her square in the chest, making her pause as an avalanche of emotions tumbled about her, guilt being the major one.
Logically, she knew she had nothing to feel guilty about, but she appreciated that, from his position, this whole thing was unfair.
But, damn it, they were dealing with a little girl, not a piece of property.
Protecting Poppy was her first priority.
‘I understand your frustration, I do,’ she said, holding Ewan’s concerned gaze. ‘But visiting your whole family like this is too much too soon. Poppy needs to get to know you before she meets an entire family.’
‘My family lives three states away, Kenzie. I don’t get to drive down and see them for the weekend,’ he argued. ‘This trip was unexpected, and I have no idea when I’ll be able to get down there again. I wouldn’t be suggesting this if I thought there would be a better time to do it.’
‘I don’t know,’ Kenzie said, frowning. ‘It’s … it’s a lot to think about.’
‘I get this is difficult and not exactly ideal, but this way, you can feel safe knowing Poppy’s okay, and my family get to know her without the pressure of only a weekend or so.
Mum’s so excited, knowing she now has a granddaughter.
I have a feeling she’s already gone overboard, buying all the girl things she’s never been able to before,’ he said, a faint smile touching his mouth.
He looked down at their daughter, asleep on him.
‘Us Campbells go in for the long haul, Kenzie.’
Kenzie felt as though she was losing her grip on the tight control she’d spent four years perfecting.
‘I need to think about it,’ she said, easing off the brake and resuming the journey to the house.
She couldn’t wait to put some distance between them in order to think straight.
Because, somehow, she knew he wasn’t going to let her think on it very long.
‘It’s a big ask,’ Sam said after Kenzie pulled her mother aside to tell her about Ewan’s proposal, ‘but I wonder if maybe it’s not such a bad idea?
I mean, it would be different if he were asking to take her alone, but he does have a point that it makes meeting his family a bit smoother if you’re involved. ’
‘Yeah, I know,’ Kenzie sighed. ‘It’s just … meeting his family? That’s such a huge deal. I don’t know anything about them.’
Her mother nodded slowly. ‘They’re Poppy’s family. I think you owe it to Poppy and the Campbells to let them get to know each other.’
‘What if we do all this, and then he decides he doesn’t want to play daddy anymore?’ Kenzie asked quietly.
Sam nodded, tilting her head slightly as she studied her daughter’s troubled expression.
‘There’s always that possibility, I suppose.
But unfortunately, no one can protect their children from everything.
You could be happily married for years and then suddenly everything changes and you end up divorced.
You can’t protect your kids from that. You can’t protect them from losing a parent, or having to move or the death of a pet.
Life is going to throw things at them. All you can do is help them to prepare for it,’ she said gently.
‘And, for what it’s worth, I think Ewan is very genuine.
He seems mature enough to know what he wants. ’
She knew what her mother was saying made sense. Yet she was still uneasy about allowing these strangers into her daughter’s life.
‘I’m sure Ewan and his family will understand that things should move slowly. I don’t think you need to worry about Poppy being overwhelmed by it all, she’ll take meeting new people in her stride just like she’s always done.’
‘I think I’m the one who’s feeling overwhelmed,’ she admitted in a small voice.
‘If it gets too much, you can book your ticket home whenever you like,’ her mum said, giving her a comforting hug. ‘But I think you should at least give them a chance.’
Ewan had taken the beer Jack had offered him, showered off the day’s sweat and dust and changed into fresh clothes. He’d then headed out onto the wide verandah to relax and wait for dinner.
He looked up when he heard footsteps and straightened in his seat as Kenzie rounded the corner.
She’d also changed from the jeans and shirt she’d been wearing into a bright yellow sundress that skimmed her tanned thighs.
He dragged his gaze away from her legs and up to her face, which was wearing a somewhat tense expression.
‘I’ve been thinking about the trip,’ she started, sounding a little hesitant.
He held his breath as he waited for her to say she didn’t think it was a good idea. He could hardly blame her, really. They were pretty much strangers and he was asking her and her child to get in a car and travel more than seventeen hundred kilometres across the country with him.
‘We’ll do it.’
‘Really?’ She raised her eyebrows, and he hurried to correct his reaction. ‘I mean … great.’
‘Are you sure? If you’ve changed your mind, it’s okay.’
‘No, I want you both to come. That’s great.’
She bit her lip before nodding and taking a seat across from him. ‘So, what’s the plan?’
‘The plan?’
‘For the drive. We should probably work out where we’re stopping and what route to take. You know,’ she said, looking at him oddly, ‘make a plan.’
‘Uh, sure. Uh, I just take the usual route. Inland and down.’
‘It’s just that I put it into maps and there were two options: down the coast and across and the way you just mentioned.’
‘It’s a better drive inland,’ he told her.
‘Okay. What about stops? A break every two hours?’
‘Every two hours?’ he echoed.
‘You should be stopping every two hours to avoid fatigue,’ she said.
Who actually does that? Who the hell had time to waste, stopping every two hours? He sure as hell never did. He had somewhere to be, and usually just drove till he got there.
‘You’ll have a preschooler in the car. She’ll need to stop for toilet breaks.’
‘Okay, well, why don’t we just play it by ear? Pull up when we need to?’
She didn’t look completely reassured. This was clearly part of the reason she was such a great wedding planner, but making a detailed plan for a road trip was going a little overboard.
‘Also, we’ll need to break the trip up overnight.’
‘Okay,’ he agreed. He usually pulled over and slept on the side of the road in his car, but he wasn’t going to ask Kenzie and Poppy to do that. ‘I’m happy to pay for a room. I think that’s a good idea.’
‘Two rooms,’ she said, looking uncomfortable, but firm. ‘I’m happy to pay for a room for Poppy and me.’
‘I’ll pay for your room. This whole thing was my idea. That’s no problem.’
The conversation was interrupted when her parents came out, carrying the food.
As they ate, Ewan took stock of the situation.
She’d agreed to travel with him back to Laire-Mor so his family could meet Poppy.
Part of him tried to justify that he was only doing what his mother had suggested—enabling his parents to meet their new grandchild as any family would want to do—but there was a smaller part that was relieved Kenzie had said yes, so he wouldn’t have to make the trip home alone.
Which was stupid. He and Kenzie hardly knew each other.
Yet, somehow, he found her presence calming.
He found himself dropping his usual guard around her—as he had done that night five years earlier.
There was something about her that made him feel like he could tell her anything.
This trip was vital if he planned on moving forward with Poppy in his life. He wanted to do things right and without causing any stress to his daughter or disrupting her life too much. That’s all this was, he told himself, firmly putting any other ideas aside. It was all about Poppy.
After dinner, Kenzie told Poppy about the road trip. Ewan watched his daughter carefully as she digested the news, before turning her sweet face to him. ‘Do your mummy and daddy have horses?’
‘Uh, no. There’s no horses,’ Ewan said, panicking briefly when her face fell. ‘But there are chooks and cows and a few dogs,’ he said hurriedly, relieved when a spark of interest returned.
‘Cats?’ Poppy asked, eyeing him almost suspiciously. He had a feeling her decision as to how impressed she was going to be about the trip hinged on his answer.
‘There are a few that hang around the sheds to keep the mice down.’
‘I like cats. Not as much as I like horses, though,’ she added, frowning a little as she remembered the lack of horses. He saw Kenzie try to suppress as smile.
‘I’m sure we can find lots of other animals to keep you busy.’ He’d come up against a number of tough negotiators in his line of work, but he was fairly sure none of them had ever made him sweat the way this four-year-old was.
‘Okay,’ she said with a decisive nod. ‘Let’s do it.’
He hadn’t realised he’d been holding his breath until the air rushed from his lungs at her answer, and he fought against the sudden urge to high-five the air in relief.