Chapter 21
Twenty-one
Kenzie nervously ran her hands down the skirt of the sundress she’d changed into after her shower, then walked out onto a patio area, where drinks and some food had been set up outside.
Poppy had skipped ahead of her, and she called for her to wait, but her daughter was already heading towards Vera and Ewan, sitting side by side and clearly in deep conversation.
The smell of a barbecue wafted on the breeze, meat sizzling on a hotplate off to one side, where Peggy manned the barbecue tongs.
Callum sat in a single timber lounge chair, beer glass in hand as he silently surveyed the paddocks beyond.
‘Come and take a seat,’ Vera beckoned, smiling.
Kenzie glanced at Ewan, feeling her cheeks heat as she recalled what they’d been doing not so long ago. Before his ex-fiancée called, she reminded herself, looking away quickly.
Talk about a dousing of cold water.
‘What can I get you to drink?’ Ewan asked, cutting into her humiliated thoughts.
‘Just a soft drink will do.’
‘There’s wine, or spirits if you’d prefer?’ he replied, heading towards the bar.
‘No, thanks. I’m happy with a soft drink.’
It was obvious she was going to need a clear head around this man, if she wanted to keep her distance … not to mention her dignity.
Later, as they sat down to eat, Vera said, ‘So, you’re an events organiser, Kenzie? I hear you’ve done very well with it.’
‘I am, and yes, I’ve been lucky enough to have a few big opportunities come my way early on, and it helped me establish a really solid client base.’
‘Kenzie’s being modest,’ Ewan put in. ‘Luck had nothing to do with it. You don’t become in demand unless you’re consistently providing a top-level experience.’
‘So, weddings are where the money is, then?’ Callum asked.
Kenzie turned to look at him. ‘The weddings are the most intensive to do and obviously require a lot more time to plan, but our corporate work is quite lucrative. We tend to do a lot more of that kind of work day to day.’
‘I could certainly have used you here to help organise some of the events we’ve hosted. I tip my hat to you. I couldn’t imagine doing that day in and day out,’ Vera said. ‘I’m exhausted after all the worrying and stress.’
‘There’s always a bit of stress involved, but we’ve developed a routine with most of these things, so it usually flows pretty well. Although that’s not to say there’s never an unexpected crisis now and again,’ Kenzie added with a smile.
‘You were the wedding planner for my son and his fiancée?’ Callum asked, carefully sawing through his steak without looking up.
Kenzie forced herself not to squirm in her seat. ‘Yes,’ she said, brightly. ‘Although I didn’t know it was Ewan at the time. I’d only dealt with Sasha and Mrs Delsanto.’
‘What were the chances you’d meet up again like that?’ Vera said with a small chuckle.
‘Yes … what were the chances of that happening?’ Callum echoed, looking up from the dissection of his meal with a raised eyebrow.
Kenzie felt her appetite disappear, but she was used to dealing with much bigger fish than Callum bloody Campbell. She smiled her professional smile and chose to respond to the statement at face value, ignoring the man’s unsubtle implications. ‘It was a pretty big surprise, that’s for sure.’
‘We’re always looking for workers over at the feedlot, if you’re interested, son,’ Callum said, turning his interest from Kenzie to spear Ewan with a direct look.
‘Won’t pay as much as your big corporate job, though, and you’d have to get your hands dirty.
They’re probably not used to that anymore, I’d imagine. ’
‘Actually, Ewan helped my stepdad with some cattle work just before we came down here,’ Kenzie said sweetly.
‘Like I said before, I haven’t decided what I’ll do yet,’ Ewan said, Kenzie’s comment going ignored between the two men. ‘I came back for a visit, not a job.’
‘A man of leisure,’ Callum said dryly. ‘How nice.’
‘Not everyone’s out to create a dynasty, Dad,’ Ewan said calmly.
‘That’s for bloody sure,’ the older man muttered.
‘I think it’s past bedtime for you, missy,’ Kenzie said, jumping up and using her yawning child as an opportunity to escape. ‘Thank you for dinner. Say goodnight to everyone,’ she said, holding her hand out to Poppy.
‘I’ll come up with you,’ Ewan said, standing and walking past before she could tell him not to bother. She followed him into the house, where he stood to one side and waited for her to fall into step beside him.
‘You didn’t have to leave,’ she said, mindful of Poppy’s presence but eager to not jump from one bad situation to another. ‘I’m sure you had lots to catch up on.’
‘I want Ewan to tuck me in,’ Poppy piped up.
‘Ewan probably has other things to do.’
‘No, he doesn’t,’ Ewan said pointedly, smiling down at Poppy.
‘It’s your first night home. It seems a bit rude that you’re not spending time with your family.’
‘In case you didn’t notice, conversation isn’t really something you have with my father,’ he said drolly. ‘And I want to talk to you about the phone call earlier. It wasn’t what you were probably thinking it was,’ he added as they climbed the staircase.
‘One, two, three,’ Poppy started counting aloud as her short legs took the steps.
‘It’s none of my business,’ she told him, hoping she sounded casual.
The look he gave her suggested she did not. ‘She was calling because she couldn’t find the spare key to her apartment. I told her where I left the envelope. End of story.’
‘Like I said, it’s none of my business.’
‘If it were me, I’d want to know.’
‘Lucky I’m not you,’ she said coolly. ‘I really don’t care.’
‘I think you do,’ he said, lowering his voice, also mindful of Poppy walking ahead. ‘Otherwise, you wouldn’t be angry at me.’
‘Why are you angry at Ewan, Mummy?’ Poppy asked as she continued to count.
‘I’m not angry at Ewan,’ she said in a tight voice.
‘That is how she sounds when she’s angry,’ Poppy told him, looking back over her little shoulder.
Christ, how many more bloody steps are there? Kenzie took a deep breath in and forced a patient expression onto her face.
‘Okay. Well, I just wanted to let you know what the call was about, in case you were wondering.’
‘I wasn’t.’
Finally, they reached the top of the stairs, and Kenzie hustled her daughter to get into her pyjamas.
While Poppy went through the motions of getting ready for bed, she asked Ewan a million questions about when he was a little kid, and—even though she’d deny it if anyone asked—Kenzie was kind of interested too.
‘Was this your bedroom when you were a little kid?’ she asked.
‘No,’ Ewan said shaking his head, ‘but there was a family who lived here a long time before I did who had little kids who lived in this room.’
‘Where was your bedroom when you lived here?’
‘It’s the same one I’m in now, just down the hall from yours and Mummy’s.’
‘Did you have any brothers and sisters to play with?’
‘I had a brother and a sister.’
‘Where are they?’
‘My sister lives with her kids just down the road. You’ll probably meet her tomorrow, and my nephews.’
‘Where does your brother live?’
‘He doesn’t live here anymore,’ Ewan said, then looked across at Kenzie with a question in his eyes.
Her heart stuttered, before she gave him a small nod.
‘He died, before you were born.’
‘Oh,’ she said, looking up at him sadly. ‘Like Rodney.’
He frowned quizzically, and Kenzie made a small sound before answering. ‘Yeah, like Rodney.’
‘Mummy forgot to feed him, and he died.’
At his raised eyebrows, Kenzie closed her eyes briefly before explaining. ‘Rodney was Poppy’s pet slater bug.’
‘A slater bug?’ he echoed slowly.
‘You know,’ Poppy said, ‘the little centipede thingies that curl up in a ball when you touch them?’
‘You had a pet slater bug?’ he asked.
Poppy nodded her head solemnly. ‘His name was Rodney.’
‘Yes, well … yeah,’ Ewan said, letting out a long breath.
‘Okay, enough talk,’ Kenzie said. ‘Hop into bed and I’ll read one book.’
‘I want Ewan to read me the princess story.’ At the comical look of discomfort on his face, Kenzie almost felt justified in saying yes, just so she could listen, but she took pity on him.
‘Not the princess one, it’s too long. Just a short one,’ she said firmly, waiting for her daughter to choose one from the backpack Kenzie held open.
Poppy eventually settled on a book and Kenzie stepped back to allow Ewan to take a seat on the edge of the bed. Before he’d even reached the third page, she was out like a light.
‘Does she always go to sleep that quick?’ he asked, slowly standing up so as not to jostle the bed.
‘Not always, just when she’s had a busy day.’
Kenzie made sure the night-light was on and went through the connecting door to her bedroom, making sure it was left open in case Poppy woke up during the night.
‘Well, goodnight,’ she said, pointedly, standing in the doorway.
‘Do you want to talk about this afternoon?’ he asked.
‘Not particularly,’ she said.
‘Do you regret it?’ he asked.
‘I …’ she started, then stopped. Regret was a rather harsh word. She definitely regretted being snapped out of whatever weird moment it had been by his ex calling him, though. That hadn’t been particularly fun. ‘No. But I don’t think it should happen again.’
‘Why not?’
His tone, a mix of determination with a dash of hurt, caught her off guard. ‘Because it’ll just complicate things.’
He opened his mouth to protest, but she shook her head firmly. ‘Look, it’s been a really long few days and I’m tired. I just want to get some sleep.’
‘Okay,’ he said, stepping back. ‘You’re right. Maybe we both need to sleep on it and talk about it later.’
She’d rather not talk about it—she’d rather never speak of it again—but for now, she’d take that and call it a win. ‘Goodnight,’ she said, letting out a relieved breath when he gave her a wave and left the room without further comment.
As she climbed into bed a short time later, she admitted the truth to herself: she really didn’t regret the kiss.
And that was what scared her.