Chapter 36
Thirty-six
She bit the inside of her lip for a moment, considering her options. She couldn’t leave without a vehicle, and she didn’t want to wait up here, so she reluctantly followed him.
She didn’t have to wonder where he was; she heard the raised voices before she was even halfway down the stairs.
‘What on earth is going on in there?’ Vera asked, coming along the hallway as Kenzie reached the bottom of the stairs.
Kenzie didn’t bother trying to explain—no doubt she’d find out soon enough—but she wouldn’t have her daughter overhearing any of it. ‘Where’s Poppy?’ she asked, not even caring that it came out as a demand.
‘She’s outside with the boys. Floss dropped them off a few minutes ago. What’s all this about?’
Kenzie shook her head, irritably. Was Vera involved? She felt betrayed by everyone at this point. She continued to the office where all the commotion was coming from.
‘What the hell gave you the right to go ahead and do something like this?’ Ewan demanded. The two men stood either side of the wide desk, their faces angry masks.
‘Common sense. Do you honestly think I’m going to just take her word that the kid’s yours?’
‘It’s none of your damn business,’ Ewan snarled.
‘Are you that stupid?’ Callum demanded. ‘She conveniently bumps into you out of the blue. Breaks up your pending marriage, then tells you that you fathered her kid. And you blindly accept it?’
‘It’s got nothing to do with you.’
‘It’s got everything to do with me if it threatens Laire-Mor.’
‘It won’t, so back the hell off.’
‘You’re damn right it won’t. I just proved the kid isn’t yours. You’re welcome.’
‘You did what?’ Vera demanded, moving past Kenzie and into the room.
‘It’s all here in this report,’ he said triumphantly, waving the report that had been on his desk in the air, ignoring the shocked look on his wife’s face. ‘He’s not the father.’
‘I don’t understand,’ Vera said, turning her bewildered glance onto Ewan then Kenzie.
‘She lied,’ Callum said drolly.
‘I did not lie,’ Kenzie said, her anger reigniting at his smug look.
‘There must be some kind of mistake,’ Vera stammered.
‘The only mistake here is that she thought she could pull the wool over everyone’s eyes to get hold of our money.’
‘I don’t want your money,’ Kenzie snapped. ‘And I also didn’t give anyone permission to take a DNA sample from my daughter.’ She glared at the three people before her. ‘Poppy and I will be leaving today.’
‘Wait,’ Vera said, sending Kenzie a pleading look. ‘I had no idea about this.’
‘Apparently no one did,’ she said sarcastically, before her tone hardened once more, ‘and yet somehow that company got hold of samples from both Ewan and Poppy. I trusted you to be alone with my child, and you betrayed that trust.’
‘I swear to you, I didn’t,’ Vera said, shaking her head adamantly. ‘I would never.’
The distress on the older woman’s face made Kenzie’s heart squeeze, but she quickly steeled herself against it. ‘Someone did.’ Vera instantly turned to face her husband. ‘What did you do?’
‘I told you I was protecting our interests, and luckily I did,’ he said. ‘She clearly managed to con you two into believing her lies.’
‘I didn’t give you a sample of anything,’ Ewan said, breaking into the conversation with a quiet coldness.
For a moment, annoyance crossed the old man’s face before he gave an impatient wave of his hand. ‘DNA is incredibly easy to find. I didn’t need your involvement. And it doesn’t matter because you now have the truth, thanks to me.’
Kenzie shook her head silently. ‘If you can find someone to run Poppy and me into town, I’ll handle the rest from there,’ she said stiffly, walking from the office with as much dignity as she could muster.
She climbed the stairs and collected their suitcases, giving her beautiful bedroom one last look before closing the door behind her.
Tears threatened but she fought them off, straightening her shoulders.
She would not give Callum the satisfaction of seeing her cry.
He’d probably only use it against her and say she was after sympathy.
She felt helpless, stranded at the mercy of these people who thought she was some kind of con-woman. She took her phone out and scrolled through her contacts until she found the one she needed and quickly typed a message, hitting send before she could think too much about it.
Kenzie placed the suitcases near the back door and stepped outside, smiling briefly at Peggy, who was supervising the three children playing tag in the backyard.
‘Poppy,’ she called, waving her daughter over and fixing a bright smile on her face. ‘Sweetie, we’ve had a change in our plans. We have to leave to go back to Nan’s.’
‘No,’ she said, staring at her mother and looking distraught.
‘I know, it’s not what we planned, but we have to go.’
‘I don’t want to go. I want to stay here with Daddy and Granny.’
‘Guess what, though?’ she added, forcing a cheeriness she was far from feeling into her voice.
‘We’re going to go on a plane. Won’t that be exciting?
’ she said, seeing the tiniest flicker of interest cross her daughter’s face.
Flying on a plane had been a big item on Poppy’s to-do list for quite some time.
The rumble of a car pulling up on the gravel out the front of the house made Kenzie straighten and turn.
‘That must be Aunty Floss,’ she said, her heart giving a small ping of pain at the title.
After today, there probably wouldn’t be any further contact with her.
She just hoped Floss would be sympathetic to her plight and help her now.
As she walked back inside the house, she heard voices in low conversation and braced herself. Vera and Floss turned to face her as she approached, and Kenzie bit down on the inside of her lip at the devastation written across Vera’s face.
‘I don’t understand,’ Floss said, looking from her mother to Kenzie uncertainly.
‘I know it’s a lot to ask, Floss, but could you please give us a lift into town? I’ll organise my flight home from there.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous. We’re not kicking you out with nowhere to go,’ Vera said stiffly.
‘I can’t stay here. Thank you for your hospitality and for everything you’ve done,’ Kenzie said, her words faltering slightly as her throat thickened.
‘Granny,’ Poppy said in a small voice, clearly picking up that something was wrong. It tore Kenzie’s heart to shreds.
‘It’s all right, darling,’ Vera said gently, stroking the child’s head before looking up at Kenzie. ‘Stay the night and book your flights for tomorrow. There’s no need to run off and stay in town.’
‘I can’t,’ Kenzie said firmly.
‘Then come and stay at my place. How about a sleepover with the boys, Poppy?’ Floss cut in, smiling at Poppy, who immediately brightened before looking up at Kenzie with a raised eyebrow.
‘Okay, fine,’ Kenzie agreed, realising she really didn’t have much choice. If Floss didn’t drive her into town, she wasn’t going anywhere.
‘Come on, then. Let’s put your suitcases in the car.’
Kenzie took a step, before turning back to face Vera. ‘Thank you.’
‘Kenzie, wait,’ Ewan called, coming from the side of the house.
Tears pricked her eyes once more. ‘I can’t talk about this anymore.’
‘I need to understand. Why would you tell me I was her father if there was a chance that I wasn’t?’
Kenzie sent him a helpless look. ‘There’s nothing to understand. That report is wrong. There was never anyone else.’
‘I want to believe you,’ he said.
‘Then believe me,’ she said, searching his frustrated gaze, waiting. The silence continued to stretch out between them, and she gave a small shrug before opening his sister’s car door. He wanted to believe her … but he didn’t.
That was all there was to say.