Chapter 33
Thirty-three
Ewan heard his messages notification go off, but left his phone in his pocket as he pushed Poppy on the swing.
He’d never imagined one little girl could entrap his heart so quickly. His thoughts went briefly to her mother and conceded, well, maybe, except for Kenzie. But this was different, a whole new experience.
‘Higher, Daddy!’ She laughed now as he pushed her again. He wondered if there would ever come a time when hearing that word wouldn’t make his throat thicken. It still managed to catch him off guard.
‘Push me higher,’ she continued when the swing began to slow down.
He remembered last time they’d been doing this and how anxious Kenzie had been. He hadn’t really got it then, but now, he sort of did.
Kenzie wasn’t a natural risk-taker. She liked things to be calm and orderly and planned out. She liked to feel safe. The fact that the night they met, she hadn’t been in her usual comfort zone was an even bigger deal now that he’d got to know her. If she had been, they’d probably never have met.
Thank God for small mercies. Poppy wouldn’t have existed.
He’d probably have gone on to marry Sasha.
His mind tried to digest all that for a minute before his phone beeped again, dragging his thoughts away.
He closed the door firmly on the what-ifs, grateful that somehow all the little happy accidents had conspired to lead him to where he was right in this very moment.
When his phone beeped a third time, he swore quietly and dug it from his pocket to see who was so determined to get his attention … and then his stomach dropped as a name came up on the screen. Sasha.
With a heavy feeling of trepidation, he opened the messages and then swore again, this time slightly louder.
‘Mummy doesn’t like that word,’ Poppy said, tipping her head back to look at him as she swung backwards and forwards.
‘Sorry. That is a bad word. I just need to …’ He stared at the image on the next message and bit back an even worse word he was positive Kenzie wouldn’t like.
A series of screenshots of some photos, from both the vineyard’s Facebook page and Floss’s personal one, of himself and Kenzie and one taken by Floss the day before yesterday of himself, Kenzie and Poppy stared back at him with the public caption underneath of, Now it all makes sense, from Sasha’s own Facebook account.
The text message that followed was a series of unhinged accusations. Now I get it. It was her. She was the woman who contacted you about the baby.
You slept with our wedding planner! There’s no use denying it. Her daughter looks just like you! I feel like such an idiot. And to think I begged her to be our wedding planner.
Well, when it gets around that she’s a backstabbing whore who likes to sleep with her clients’ grooms, she’s not going to have a business for very much longer.
Ewan felt sick. ‘Sorry, Poppy, we have to go. I’ve got to see Mummy about something.’
‘Okay, but can I have one more go on the flying fox? Mummy always lets me have one more go on something before we leave the park,’ she added, and he suspected she was absolutely playing his weakness right now, and she was absolutely right.
He followed her across to the platform to lift her up and send her flying across to the other end of the ride, until she bumped and bounced her way backwards.
He was distracted for most of the drive back to the property, but grateful that Poppy was such a chatterbox and really only required the odd, Really? or Wow here and there to keep her happy.
Sasha was more than capable of trying to destroy Kenzie’s business, and he wasn’t sure he could do anything to stop it.
This is all my fault.
Kenzie had just finished with a client call when she noticed a new notification on her phone and opened her Facebook page, smiling when she saw that she’d been tagged on the vineyard’s page.
The photo was of her and Ewan laughing at something Floss had said, a bottle of the shiraz strategically placed on the table for prime promotion.
The photo had captured Ewan’s smile and everything that she loved about it—the little crinkles around his eyes as well as the slightly lopsided grin that somehow managed to look both adorable and sexy as hell.
She noticed there was one comment and wondered if it was from him. Her smile abruptly slid from her face as she saw Sasha’s name, and her blood went cold inside her veins: Now it all makes sense.
As the shock wore off, it was quickly replaced by dread. This was what she’d been fearing right from the very start: Sasha finding out about Ewan and her having a past. It was every bit as horrible as she’d imagined it.
She’d posted her comment on social media, where everyone would see. It wasn’t going to take long before other people she knew heard the story, and then everything was going to explode.
Floss’s name came up on the screen, momentarily covering the photo and she answered, her lips feeling stiff.
‘I need to tell you something,’ she started.
‘I’ve seen it,’ she said quietly.
‘I’m so sorry, Kenzie,’ she said. ‘I had no idea she even followed my page. I’m taking the photo down, there’ll be nothing there anymore.’
‘It wasn’t your fault,’ Kenzie said, crossing to the window to see Ewan and Poppy had returned from town. ‘I’ve got to go, Ewan just got home.’
‘Yeah, I just saw him drive past. I’ll talk to you later.’
By the time she said goodbye and started walking downstairs, they were inside. She pushed away the uncomfortable feeling and smiled as she hugged her daughter. ‘Did you have fun?’
‘We had ice cream and went to the park, and Daddy pushed me so high that I almost touched the clouds,’ she said triumphantly.
Kenzie raised her eyebrows at Ewan, who cleared his throat quickly and tilted his head slightly. ‘That is probably a slight exaggeration. We went a sensible, safe height, because I’m a responsible adult,’ he added, side-eyeing his daughter, who giggled.
For a moment, she managed to forget her earlier worries, lost in how cute they both were, even when they were clearly conspiring against her.
‘I think Peggy has some afternoon tea for you in the kitchen,’ Ewan said to Poppy, and they watched her happily run off in search of the housekeeper.
Kenzie prepared herself to tell him the news, but before she could, he took her hand and led her back outside. ‘Something’s come up on social media,’ he started, looking anxious.
‘I know. I’ve seen it, and your sister called just before you got home.’
He searched her face for a moment before he pulled out his phone and opened the screen, holding it out to her. ‘There’s something else,’ he said reluctantly.
Kenzie took the phone and saw the text message from Sasha.
Her fingers went numb where they wrapped tightly around the phone.
Sasha was going to destroy her reputation and ruin her business.
She shook her head slowly, and tears began to sting her eyes.
This couldn’t be happening. Not now … not after all the hard work she’d done, building her business.
What was she going to tell her staff? How was she going to support herself and Poppy if she didn’t have a job?
A million other thoughts raced through her head, making it pound in time with her heartbeat.
‘It’s going to be okay,’ Ewan said gently, taking a step towards her.
‘It’s not,’ Kenzie said, shaking her head harder. ‘You read what she said. She wants to destroy me. Once she tells everyone, I’m going to lose all credibility. This industry is built on reputation.’
‘Tell them what? We didn’t do anything wrong.’
‘We didn’t have to do anything. All she has to do is put the suggestion out there and the rumour mill will do the rest.’
‘Then we’ll get some legal advice and make sure she can’t.’
‘It’s social media, Ewan. Once it gains traction, there’s no way of stopping it. The damage will be done.’
‘She’s right,’ Floss said from behind them, making Kenzie jump. She turned around to face her. ‘This is my fault. If I hadn’t put the photo up, she wouldn’t have found out.’
‘It’s not your fault,’ Kenzie said, suddenly feeling weary. ‘It was just a harmless photo. Besides, you took it down, so there’s nothing there anymore to cause a stir.’
‘I know women like Sasha Delsanto,’ Floss said. ‘They don’t give up that easily.’
‘I would have to agree with Floss here. If there’s one thing Sasha hates, it’s losing, and if she’s convinced she was somehow cheated, she’s not going to let that go without making a huge drama out of it, if only to save face,’ Ewan said.
Her phone rang and Kenzie checked the number it hesitantly. ‘It’s the office.’ She sent the others a quick glance and answered. ‘Tara. Hi.’
‘Hi Kenzie. I’m not sure what’s going on exactly but I’ve just had a phone call from a journalist from Nuptialpalooza, the online magazine, wanting to contact you for comment? They wouldn’t say what it was about exactly, but he sounded very keen to talk to you.’
‘Oh God,’ Kenzie moaned, looking at Floss and Ewan. ‘It’s already started.’
‘Kenzie? Is everything okay?’ Tara asked nervously.
‘Not really,’ Kenzie sighed, explaining briefly what had happened.
‘Oh no,’ Tara said, deep concern conveyed in her tone. ‘What are we going to do?’
Floss waved a hand briefly to get Kenzie’s attention. ‘Do you mind if I cut in for a sec?’
Kenzie nodded and put the phone on speaker. ‘Tara, I’ve got Ewan and his sister, Floss, here. I think we need to make some kind of crisis plan.’
‘Hi Tara, it’s Floss. I’m the reason all this has blown up, but I think I might have a way to stop it,’ Floss said, ‘or at least to stop it making Sasha look like some kind of victim here, if she’s determined to ruin Kenzie’s reputation.
We need to get ahead of this. Get our own story out there first, before she can twist everything around. ’