Then she remembered one late, drunken night not too long ago with Freya. Her sister had pulled out pen and paper and listed all the men under forty who still lived in Maleny. Hamish’s name had been on it, but Freya had also admitted sheepishly that he was with Sloan Greenwood.
Greer slid him a sideways glance. She couldn’t see a ring on his left hand, but that didn’t mean anything these days. He was handsome and his features were kind. A girl would be silly to let such a man go.
Greer mentally shook herself. She had made up her mind. Baby first, boyfriend later.
“I should get going.” She stood, clumsily bumping the table in her haste to stand. “Sorry.”
Greer didn’t miss the amused expression that crossed her friend’s face.
“Let’s catch up again soon. We have so much to discuss,” Meredith said with a wink.
She smiled back at her before turning to Hamish. “Thanks again for the coffee.”
There was that smile again, just a hint of it, and she strode away quickly before it did things to her libido.
Like remind her she had one.
Chapter 2
With Freya back in Justin’s arms, enjoying their reunion, dinner at Emerald Hills was a cosy gathering of just Greer and her parents.
“Did you put something new in the lasagna tonight?” her father asked as he crossed his cutlery on the empty plate.
She swallowed her last mouthful and studied him. “I may have smuggled a few extra vegies in it.”
He waggled a finger at her, his lips curved. “I knew it. You girls are always sneaking healthy things into my diet.”
“It’s because we love you.” She batted her eyelashes at him. He might pretend not to care about his health, but he wasn’t silly enough to turn down a meal so painstakingly prepared by his beloved daughter.
Since Justin’s father had died suddenly, the Montgomerys had been extra cautious about their lifestyles. When she could, Greer sourced organic meat and vegetables and ethically produced groceries. Her own vegie patch provided a constant supply for the kitchen table, and her supplier for the café was a local family who practiced permaculture and regenerative farming. She loved chatting to them about their modern ideas and how to nurture the land.
Greer and her mother cleared the table and took the dishes into the kitchen where they worked together stacking the dishwasher.
Nina scooped leftovers into glass container. “This’ll do your father nicely for lunch tomorrow.”
Greer closed the washer door and stifled a yawn.
Her mother turned to study her with those knowing eyes that seemed to see right into her soul. “Are you okay? You’ve seemed rather … distracted these last few days.”
“I’m fine,” Greer lied. Nina was not the type to push her daughter for answers and knew that Greer would come to her when the time was right. It was one of the many things Greer respected and loved about her mother.
“You’re not pushing yourself too hard, are you? You are allowed to take more than a day off.”
“I’m fine. Besides, what would I do with time off? I love cooking and running the restaurant.” Even in her spare time, Greer could be found in the kitchen, experimenting with new recipes or practicing tricky techniques. Being a chef was all she had ever wanted to do.
That and becoming a mother.
“I am tired though. I think I’ll go to bed.
“Alright then.” Nina hugged her daughter in a tight, reassuring embrace. “See you in the morning.”
Greer walked through to the lounge where her father had settled into his leather recliner. She kissed his weathered forehead. “Goodnight, Dad.”
“Night, love. Don’t let the bedbugs bite,” he repeated the phrase from her childhood.
In the privacy of her room, she perched on her bed and flipped open her laptop. Time to make a decision. She wasn’t getting any younger.
But five minutes later, instead of continuing her sperm donor research, Greer found herself browsing social media for Hamish Pearson.
She’d spent most of this evening trying not to think about her friend’s tall, dark, and rather yummy younger brother.
Greer clicked on his name in the search bar. He’d obviously not set privacy settings or he just didn’t care who viewed his page. She browsed his profile, stopping when the three sweetest words jumped out from the screen.
Relationship status: Single.
She scrolled through photos he had been tagged in with his friends. In the comments on the most recent post, someone mentioned they were sorry to hear about what Sloan had done and that they’d separated.
So, he and Sloan had only been broken up a little while. Maybe three months, judging from the date of the comment. No way did she want to be his rebound girl.
But could he be the answer to her current dilemma? She liked what she saw. His genes would do nicely mixed with hers, so long as there were no serious issues with the family medical history, of course.
At another time, she would consider waiting until he was ready and seeing if they would be a compatible couple. But dating took time and she wanted a family ASAP. Besides, she might spend months getting to know Hamish only for it to not work out. Then she’d be back here at square one.
That was if he even liked her in that way.
Would he be willing to be her baby daddy? All she needed was his sperm, and there’d be no need for intimacy, not with the advanced medicine and technology available to them today. His part was certainly easy enough.
Curious, Greer clicked on his ex’s profile. Sloan Greenwood was stunning. One of those health fanatics, she was built like an Amazon with long golden blonde hair and bright blue eyes to complement a soft honey complexion. She had a sharp jawline and an intense stare. If this was Hamish’s type, then Greer was way out of his league—and not in a good way.
Biting her lip, she clicked back to Hamish’s profile, then another click later she was on the Maleny Roast’d business page. The regular posts here were well-written, with his passion for all things coffee-related obvious in every word and photo.
Oh, he got sexier by the minute.
Sure, he was four years her junior and she normally preferred older men, but that just meant his swimmers would be even better candidates.
Greer leaned against the padded headboard of her bed. Would Hamish be willing to supply her order? It’d be so much easier than scrolling through profiles, deciding what sperm she preferred. While she’d do it if she had no other choice, it did all resemble going to the shops to find a pair of jeans. Greer liked the idea of using someone she knew was a nice guy. This felt right—like she had met him at the perfect time. Like the universe was sending her a message. Hope floated inside her before she could squash it.
Would it just end up being an embarrassing encounter she spent the rest of her life trying to live down?
Or would he be willing to help her? To give her this gift she so wanted?
The answer would definitely be no if she never asked the question.
Chapter 3
Hamish turned his face to the slowly descending sun. Long summer days were turning into cooler autumn ones.
The thwack of Linc’s club connecting with the golf ball pulled Hamish out of his daydream and back to the golf green.
“See that? So close,” his friend said excitedly as he punched the air.
Hamish preferred to relax alone in nature, bushwalking rather than playing golf, but had to admit his swing had improved since taking up the sport with his golf-obsessed best friend. “Come on,” he said as he tugged his golf bag and they walked toward the next tee. “How’s business going anyway?”
Linc grinned broadly. “Great. Got plenty stored up for all the orders. You should try this IPA I made. It’s really refreshing.”
While Hamish blended coffee beans, Linc had been a home-brew enthusiast. So much so that his craft beer and cider were now highly sought-after and commercially available.
“When are you going
to open a bar? It’d do really well.” Hamish had complete faith in his friend’s talents. Although not a big drinker, he did enjoy Linc’s alcoholic concoctions.
“All in good time. A bar is a big commitment.”
“Yeah, and commitment is not your strong suit.” Hamish laughed. Linc was a player on and off the golf course, and whenever they went out, Hamish usually found himself the third wheel. Linc’s charm and good looks made even the strongest hearts swoon.
One-night stands had never been Hamish’s thing. He and Sloan had started dating in grade ten and had been each other’s firsts. It had all been too good to be true.
Hamish had always wanted to fall in love, have kids, and live in the country, growing old with troops of grandbabies to entertain. Sloan had said she wanted the same thing. They’d even talked about getting married at one of the many beautiful locations around Maleny.
Once upon a time, they had both wanted the same things.
Now he had nothing except crushed dreams and empty promises.
“Plus, if I owned the bar, I’d have to work there. I’m not sure being on the other side, serving the drinks, is really my thing.”
Arriving at the last hole, Hamish pulled out a club, lined himself up, and swung. His ball landed firmly in the sand. Just like his love life—stuck and going nowhere.
He wouldn’t mind going a round with Greer Montgomery though with that thick, glossy brown hair that fell halfway down her back and just begged to be touched. And as for her mouth … he’d had to force himself to focus on her brilliant dark eyes and not on how full and soft and kissable her lips were.
Sliding his club back and admitting another defeat, Hamish took the opportunity to ask a distracted Linc if he knew her.
“Freya’s sister? Yeah, I’ve seen her around. Bit high and mighty in my opinion,” Linc said as he prepared to swing. “Beats me why she came back here when her career was going so well.”
Linc had a good point. Why had she come back after such a long time away? There weren’t any Michelin-starred restaurants in Maleny. The Emerald Hills café was certainly a tourist attraction and a great place to eat, but it was counter service instead of bleached white table clothes and expensive champagne.
He had heard Meredith talk about Greer, but he’d never had the opportunity to meet her again. His life had been too busy and full with getting his business off the ground and keeping Sloan happy.
Just like he’d been too busy to notice his girlfriend of eight years was attracted to women too. Not just any woman, but her personal trainer. All that time she had been working out at the gym, she had also been working on getting herself a new lover. Someone who could please her in a way Hamish never could.
The pain was still raw. He had trusted Sloan and she had betrayed him. Cheated on him, just like his mother had cheated on his father before breaking their family apart.
His father had never gotten over it.
Hamish doubted he ever would either.
The men collected their balls on the way to Linc’s car.
“Want to stop by the pub? I hear there’s a team of Swedish netball players in town.” Linc wiggled his ginger eyebrows.
“Not tonight, mate. Besides, you don’t need me—you do well enough on your own.”
Linc’s face grew serious then. “How are you going to get out of this slump though if you don’t put yourself out there? I mean, you’ve only ever been with one girl.”
“And look how that turned out! Maybe I’m just meant to stay single,” Hamish said quietly, admitting the secret thought that had been nagging at him.
“No way. You’re a catch. Sloan didn’t realise what she was giving up. Although to be a fly on the wall in her bedroom …”
“Dude!” Hamish gave him a don’t-go-there look.
Linc chuckled, the teasing in his voice gone. “Enjoy being single. I never understood why you wanted to give up the best years of your life. Experiment, flirt, find out what you really want in a woman. You might be surprised.”
Hamish pondered his friend’s advice. He was young and still had a lot he wanted to accomplish, but instead of spending his money and wasting his nights chasing girls, he should be focusing on his business.
Women like Greer were just a distraction. A lovely distraction, to be fair, but a distraction all the same.
Greer was halfway through the breakfast service at their family’s busy restaurant when Freya waltzed into the kitchen.
“Good morning.” Her sister came to stand beside her, peeking over her shoulder.
“Morning.” Greer shot her a smile before opening the oven door and pulling out a tray of freshly baked chocolate croissants and placing them on the table to cool.
“Mum’s worried about you. You haven’t told her …” Freya looked around to make sure none of the other kitchen staff were listening.
Greer removed her oven mitts, took her sister’s hand, and led them out the back door.
It was a bright humid morning after a soggy night. The hills were greener than usual and the sky a tad bluer.
“Do you remember Hamish Pearson?”
Freya cocked her head and squinted her eyes. “Meredith’s little brother? Of course.” Freya’s voice took on a cheeky tone. “Why?”
“I ran in to him yesterday afternoon at Meredith’s place when I made the delivery. He struck me as …”
“Hot and single!” Freya teased.
“Well, yes, but—”
“He’s a few years younger than you.’
“So?” Greer shrugged. Four years wasn’t that much of a gap. Was it?
“Last I heard, he got seriously burned by his high-school sweetheart. Apparently, she was having an affair with a biker chick.”
“Yeah,” Greer replied, her heart aching for Hamish. “I saw something like that on Facebook last night.”
“Stalking him already?”
“It’s not like that.” Greer dummy-punched her sister’s shoulder.
“Then how is it? You two hit it off?”
“I don’t have time to get to know him. I just thought a real man might be better than some test tube filled with tadpoles. Look, we both know in Maleny terms I’m an old goose. Everyone meets someone in high school and they usually get married soon after.”
“Not everyone.” Freya placed balled hands on her hips.
“Fair enough, but I’ve got no time to waste. This is my only option.”
Freya shook her head as if clearing her mind. “So what? You want to ask him to impregnate you?”
“Sort of. I want to get to know him and if he seems … well, decent I suppose, perhaps he might consider …”
“Being the fix to your problem,” Freya finished her sentence.
“Yeah.”
“He does have nice DNA.” A sly smile curled Freya’s lips up. “You know I support you, no matter what.”
Greer pulled her sister in for a hug. Freya was her best friend and Greer was so lucky to have her.
Finally, Freya stepped back. “I’ve got to go. Have a booking to finalize and a video to edit for the website.” Her sister waved as she dashed back into the kitchen.
Greer wondered what her next step should be. Showing up to his place of work unannounced probably wouldn’t be the best way to broach the subject of sperm donation with a man she hardly knew.
An idea popped into her head as she made her way back in to her kitchen. Perhaps if she accidently-on-purpose ran in to him in town and they had another coffee …
Chapter 4
Greer parked her car in a spot out the front of the local park in the main street. It was late afternoon and the sun hung lazily on the edge of the horizon. A warm breeze had begun to dance through the trees.
In her rear-view mirror she watched as two young mothers strolled out of the park with prams. Subconsciously, Greer rubbed her own, empty, flat belly and sighed. Her heart clenched as one of the babies wailed. She’d give anything to have her own bub.
She’d always
thought she’d find someone she could settle down with, once she returned from her travels. She’d spent so many years making a name for herself and cultivating a nice nest egg, and now she had no one to enjoy it with.
Greer turned her attention back to the main street. She’d spent every afternoon this week looking for an excuse to roam Maleny in the hopes of spotting Hamish.
Perhaps another cup of coffee at Meredith’s? He probably visited his sister regularly.
Greer opened the car door and climbed out. She paused and looked up and down the road before crossing it, then headed off down the footpath toward Meredith’s.
Damn, it was already closed. Greer leaned against the window, cupping her hands so she could see into the dark interior. Nope, Meredith had already gone home to her husband. Lucky lady.
Her shoulders sagging with disappointment, Greer turned toward the local IGA Supermarket. Since she was in town, she might as well grab a few things to restock the refrigerator.
As she wandered down the empty footpath, she pulled her phone from the back pocket of her jeans and opened her Facebook app. She typed in Hamish’s name again and scrolled through his profile. No new updates to give her a clue about his current whereabouts. He was probably at work, busy roasting orders.
On an impulsive whim, Greer tapped on her phone screen and sent him a friend request. What did she have to lose after all? He probably wouldn’t even check it and she’d never hear back from him.
Greer moved off his page and back to her Facebook feed. Freya had posted a new behind-the-scenes video on the Emerald Hills page and Greer brought the phone closer to her face and pressed play as she continued walking.
It’d been a long day at the roastery and Hamish sucked in deep, calming breaths as he strode through town. He had finally perfected his latest blend and taken a large and most welcome order from a popular coffee franchise in Sydney. So, when Linc had called and asked to meet at the pub, Hamish had agreed, but only for one celebratory drink.
Their Perfect Blend Page 2