by Helen Lacey
“I’d rather not.”
Cameron laughed again. “He’s a good dog.”
“Who needs a breath mint.”
“Did you just make a joke, Grace?”
She pushed her handbag to the feet. “Unbelievable, I know. Imagine, me with a sense of humor.”
Cameron was imagining a lot of things. Like tugging her perfectly pulled-back hair down for one. There wasn’t a tendril out of place. He couldn’t see her eyes shielded behind designer sunglasses and wanted to know if they were scorching through him. And the leather jacket fitted like it had been tailored for her. Nothing out of place. Immaculate and beautiful.
She looked at him. “Where exactly are we going?”
“Burdon Creek. It’s three hundred and eighteen kilometers west of Bellandale and has a population of one hundred and six. One shop, which is also a gas station, a pub and a post office, and that’s about it.”
“And the family is happy to settle there?”
“Yes,” he replied. “There’s a bigger town a few miles up the road where they can get everything they need. It will be good for Dylan. He was a troubled kid when we first met. His father bailed when he was young and his mother had been in and out of drug rehab for years. His two half siblings lived with their father, but he was killed last year in an industrial accident and the kids went back to their mother and Dylan and Emily.” Cameron knew how difficult it had been for Dylan to adjust to having his brother and sister living in the small house he shared with his mother, older sister and grandmother. “When his mother was arrested for possession the kids were placed in their grandmother’s care. It was her third offense and she got four years’ jail time.”
“And the children have stayed with their grandmother?”
“Yeah. Pat’s a good woman and really wants to give the kids a stable home. But the house she was in only had two small bedrooms. For the past ten months we’ve been raising money to pull together a deposit so she could buy a home for the kids. A few local businesses came on board and we found the place at Burdon Creek. It needed a bit of work, but most of the structural stuff has been done now. We had contractors volunteer and the past few months they’ve been traveling back and forth to get the place ready for Pat and the kids.”
Grace flipped her sunglasses off and looked at him. “So in between my tutoring Emily what else will we be doing?”
“Painting, moving a bit of furniture, decorating...that sort of thing.”
Her perfectly arched brows rose dramatically. “Decorating?”
“I thought you’d be good at it,” he said.
“Why?”
He shrugged. “Because you did the decorating for Noah’s showroom last year. And you always look like you’ve stepped off the pages of one of those glossy magazines.”
Cameron looked at her and swore he saw a smile tug at the corner of her mouth.
“Is that a compliment?” she asked quietly.
“Absolutely.”
“Thank you...I think.” The smile grew wider. “But you should know I hired an interior decorator to do my apartment and Noah’s showroom. I just supervised.”
Cameron grinned. “Looks like you’re in charge of moving furniture then.”
She laughed delightfully and his insides crunched. It was way too easy being with her like this. He relaxed and pressed a button on the iPod in the center console. Coldplay’s unique sound filled the space between them and he wondered for a moment if she’d prefer something else. But she pushed her head back against the headrest, replaced the glasses and closed her eyes. Jed made a weary sound and stretched himself out on the backseat and Cameron headed west.
* * *
Grace slept. Not the kind of sleep she got in her bed. This was a deep calm. With the music playing and the soft hum of the motor she was unusually relaxed. Her typical day in a car was driving to and from the office in rush-hour traffic before fighting for a parking space.
She opened her eyes a few times over the following hour or so and watched as the landscape changed. The sugar cane farms were replaced by cattle and pasture and the homes became more infrequent the farther they drove. They didn’t speak, which suited her fine and he seemed as content as she was to listen to the music and enjoy the scenery.
The smelly hound in the back didn’t stir and she was grateful for that.
Cameron pulled into a roadhouse midmorning, where they refueled and grabbed coffee to go.
“Pat will want to feed us when we arrive,” he told her as they walked back to the car. “But if you’re hungry we can—”
“I’m fine,” she said. “I had a big breakfast.” She reached into her handbag and pulled out a small paper bag. “I have muffins for the road.”
Cameron grabbed the bag and took a look inside. “You’ve been holding out on me for the past hour and a half?”
Grace colored. His words smacked of intimacy. And she wondered how she would hold out being with him for the next few days. Because it seemed so incredibly normal to be walking beside him in the morning sunshine.
She shrugged lightly. “I did some baking yesterday. Help yourself.”
Cameron took a muffin and ate it in about three bites. “It’s good.” He unlocked the car and stared at her. He waited until she was in the car before getting in himself. He patted the dog and then wiped his hands on a towel on the backseat. “So, what else can you cook?”
“I just took a Thai cooking class. And I make some mean sushi.”
He looked like she’d said rat bait. “Oh. Sushi...I’ve never tried it.”
“It’s delicious,” she said and clicked her tongue.
His gaze went instantly to her mouth and Grace couldn’t stop her lips from pouting ever so slightly. There was something intensely erotic about him looking at her mouth and she felt the sensation right down to the blood in her bones. He turned away before she did, but Grace swore she saw something in his eyes, a kind of raw hunger that turned his irises to a deep chocolate. He cleared his throat and started the engine and she tried not to think about how warm her skin was. Or how much she liked the sensation.
* * *
Burdon Creek was in the middle of nowhere. It was a quiet, sleepy-looking place that had aura of another time about it. They drove slowly down the one main street and continued past the gas station. The farm was about ten miles from the town center and when they arrived Cameron got out of the car to open the rickety gate.
The house stood at the end of the long gravel driveway. It was old, but she saw where the contractors had worked hard to repair the roof and the large veranda. It needed painting on the outside and the garden was overrun with twisted bougainvillea vine.
There were stables some way from the house and a large machinery shed. A boy in dark overalls was walking across the yard and came over to greet them. It was Dylan, and when they got out Cameron shook his hand.
“I’ve been feeding the horses,” Dylan announced, looking immensely pleased with being in charge of the task.
“The neighbor supplied the kids with a couple of horses for the weekend,” Cameron told her as he let the dog out. The big drooling beast made his way around the car and Grace held herself rigid as he pushed against her leg.
“He wants a pat,” Dylan told her and came over and rubbed the dog’s head. “He always wants pats. Nan said we could get a dog once we get a fence around the house.”
“Cam!”
They all turned at the sound of the loud greeting. A sixtysomething woman stood on the porch with a walking stick in her hand. She had a mop of frizzy gray hair and a beaming smile. Cameron walked across the yard and hugged the woman close when he reached her. Grace stood still, watching the exchange. She’d never been a hugging sort of person. Even with her family. Of course, it was impossible to avoid it with Evie and M.J., because they
were both warm and affectionate, but her parents and Noah seemed to respect her need for personal space.
“Who’s this?” the woman asked as both silvery brows rose. “A girl?”
Grace walked across and stood at the bottom of the short stairway. “I’m not really a girl...I’m the decorator.”
Cameron laughed and once the introductions were made Patricia Jennings invited them inside. The house was in various states of repair. Plasterers had been in to replace walls and most of it required painting. There was some furniture scattered throughout certain rooms and the kitchen had received a full renovation.
“Take a seat,” Pat invited as they entered the kitchen. “I’ll put the coffee on.”
Grace sat down while Cameron headed back outside to retrieve their luggage. She placed her handbag on the chair beside her. “Where’s Emily?” she asked.
“Putting the baby down for a nap,” Pat said and smiled. “I have to say how committed she’s become to her studies since you’ve been helping her. She really wants to finish high school, which isn’t an easy task for a young mother. She has had a hard time of it since Riley came along.” Pat raised her brows. “I thought of shifting her to a new school but she wanted to stay where she was.”
“She’s been bullied?”
“A little,” Pat replied. “Teenage girls can be cruel.”
Grace knew about that firsthand. Her first twelve months at boarding school had been fraught with teasing and isolation. “Are you looking forward to moving here permanently?” she asked, politely making conversation.
Pat turned around, swinging mugs in her hands. “Oh, yes. The kids will love being able to run around and Dylan becomes quite the man of the house when we’re here, fixing things and doing chores.” Her wrinkled face grew somber. “Maybe he’s too grown-up sometimes. We used to be really close. But with the little ones needing me I just don’t seem to have the time for him that I used to. I was so worried about Dylan at one stage—but then Cameron came along and he’s a changed boy since he’s had a man’s influence in his life.” Her pale blue eyes regarded Grace and she smiled. “Officer Jakowski was a godsend to us. You’re a lucky woman.”
Grace knew what she meant and quickly set her straight. “Oh, we’re not... It’s not like that. We’re just...”
“Just what?” Pat asked as she poured coffee.
Grace briefly explained how their mothers had been inseparable since they were in their teens, and that Noah was his closest friend. “We’ve know one another a long time.”
Pat nodded, like she suspected there was more to it than that. “It’s good of you to come and help us this weekend,” she said and brought the coffee to the table. “It’s been hard trying to sort through everything, and with the two little ones still missing their daddy I’ve had my hands full.”
Grace couldn’t imagine how difficult it had been for the other woman. She looked weary and not in the best of health. But she obviously loved her grandchildren.
“The kids are lucky to have you.”
Pat smiled warmly. “I’m the lucky one. When Lynnie...” She stopped for a moment and took a deep breath. “That’s my daughter. When she went off the rails this last time I knew I had to do something for the children’s sake. Dylan was at such an impressionable age and the younger children needed to be cared for. Their father was killed over a year ago.”
“Cameron told me.”
Pat tutted. “It was very sad. He’s wasn’t a bad sort of man. At one time I’d hoped he and Lynnie might have worked things out. But he wasn’t prepared to live with an addict. Can’t say I blame him.” Pat grabbed milk from the refrigerator and placed it on the table. She sat down heavily in a chair and stared at Grace. “You’re very beautiful. I can see why Cameron’s interested in you.”
Grace stopped herself from denying it and put a little sugar in her mug. “It’s complicated.”
“Life generally is,” Pat said agreeably. “I was married for thirty-five years to a good man. When he passed away three years ago I lost the love of my life.”
Grace felt a sudden stab of envy. She’d never experienced anything even remotely resembling that. And the look on Pat’s face was the same look she saw on Evie’s face, and Callie’s and her mother’s.
True love. When had she become so cynical about it? Her bland relationships with Dennis and Erik hadn’t left her brokenhearted. There had been a definite lack of intimacy, both sexual and emotional. She’d lost her virginity to Dennis when she was twenty-two, five months after they’d begun dating. There were no fireworks in the bedroom, though. And in hindsight, very little chemistry between them. Erik had been more sophisticated and more sexually demanding, but that had only created a greater wall between them. Her continued lack of response to him between the sheets had finally made him walk out the door. In some ways she’d been relieved when it had ended.
She remembered the conversation she’d had with Cameron about marriage. It was easy to hide behind the idea that a woman couldn’t have it all. And she had told herself she didn’t want that time and time again. She had her career and her driving ambition. She wore shoes that probably cost more than the woman sitting opposite her spent on clothes in a year and never let anyone get too close. And that, she realized, was why she’d never felt truly whole. The emptiness had grown bigger as she gotten older, and each year she filled that space with more work, more ambition. She had a half-lived life. But the thought of anything else, anything...more...rattled her to the very foundation of her soul.
“You know, it’s the little things that I miss most,” Pat said with a soft sigh. “Like how he used to always make that first cup of tea in the morning. Or how he’d mow the lawn and then come inside smelling like cut grass. And we’d play cards every Sunday night.” She looked across the table. “There’s a lot to be said for the love of a good man.”
Grace had no intention of responding to that. Fortunately Dylan and Cameron returned to the kitchen with their luggage and Pat suggested they settle into their rooms. She was surprised to find they weren’t going to be in the main house, but in a separate cozy cottage about fifty meters from the mudroom and behind what looked like an old vegetable garden.
Two small children, a boy about four and a girl a couple years older, both with grubby faces and bare feet, raced around to greet them and Pat quickly introduced her other grandchildren, Thomas and Isabel.
“You’ll be comfortable here,” Pat assured her as they walked across the yard. “This was renovated first, and when we came for weekends we lived here until the house was ready. It used to be a workers’ cottage many years ago, when the farm was a working cattle station and before the land was all subdivided.”
Grace smiled, walked through the front door and was pleasantly surprised. Although sparsely furnished, it had lovely polished wood floors and high ceilings. It was clean and tidy and inviting.
“You’ll have more privacy here than in the house with me and these adorable hellions,” she said and gestured to the children zooming up and down the hall making airplane sounds with their arms outstretched.
Pat rounded up the kids and they all left once Grace’s bags had been brought into the small hallway, and not before the older woman told them to come back to the main house for lunch in an hour. Once they were gone she turned to find Cameron standing behind her, one shoulder leaning casually against the doorjamb that led into the living room.
So much for chaperones!
“Okay?” he asked.
“It’s nice,” she replied as she peered into the bedroom off the hall. A large bed filled the room, covered in a crisp white overlay. There was a neat vanity and narrow armoire. She walked across the threshold and turned around. “I’m sure I’ll be quite comfortable.”
Cameron moved forward and grabbed her bag. “You might want to ditch the leather jacket and change,”
he suggested as he dropped the luggage into her room. “We’ll be painting a little later.”
She nodded and cleared her throat. “Um...where are you sleeping?”
He pointed down the hall. “Miles away—so don’t fret.”
Grace flushed hotly. “I’m hardly fretting.”
He smiled and her insides flipped over a little more than usual. He looked good when he smiled, even more handsome. And he had nice hair, she noticed, like the color of beechwood honey. She remembered how it had felt caught between her fingers and the memory made her hands tingle. The smallness of the room created a sudden intimacy and Grace sensed a shift in the mood between them. She stepped back and collided with the foot of the bed. “Well, I’ll just get changed.”
“Sure,” he said and headed for the door, but suddenly he stopped and turned. “What were you and Pat talking about in the kitchen?”
Love...
“The kids,” she replied, and placed her handbag on the vanity. “And the house.”
“Was she matchmaking?”
“I set her straight,” she replied with a shrug. “I told her exactly how we feel about each other.”
He looked at her oddly. “I doubt that,” he said and then grabbed his bag and headed off down the hallway.
* * *
Grace took about twenty minutes to unpack and change into a pair of gunmetal-gray cargo pants and a long-sleeved navy T-shirt and bright red sneakers. She left her hair pulled back in a low ponytail and took off her watch. The last thing she wanted was paint spattered on her Rolex.
When she was done, she took a tour of the small house. There was one bathroom, the kitchen and dining area and the living room. The furniture looked new and the country-cottage print on the sofa and curtains suited the place. There was also a small fireplace and a thick hearth rug in muted greens.
Emily arrived, books in hand, and announced she would be studying in the kitchen in the main house. They chatted for a couple of minutes before she left to start studying.