by Kate Hardy
“There should be stuff in the fridge,” the girl told her. “Dad’s really good at cooking.”
Interesting. Poppy had presumed he wouldn’t be a good cook, just because he was a guy. That would teach her not to be sexist.
She swung the door open and had to stop her chin from hitting the floor. Her jaw literally fell open when she saw how well stocked it was. There was a heap of vegetables, fruit, bottled things—everything she could think of and more.
“So was your dad just being polite, telling me the food I made was good the other night?” She felt like an idiot now for telling him how and what she’d been cooking when he clearly knew what he was doing in the kitchen. Unless, of course, he just made them eat boiled vegetables all the time? “What does he fix you for dinner most nights?”
Katie shrugged, reaching in for the orange juice. “He cooks, like, spicy stuff,” she said, standing on a little stool that was obviously there for the children, so she could get a clean glass from the cupboard. “He said that when he was at university his roommate was from Thailand, and he taught him how to cook, so he either does Thai food or something he’s made up.”
Poppy couldn’t help smiling. So Mr. Sexy and Single wasn’t just a single-dad rancher, he was also a gourmet cook. A gourmet Thai cook.
“So I guess boiled vegetables aren’t allowed?”
“Yuk.” Katie pulled a face before going back to drinking her juice. “Hey, do you want me to show you the veggie garden?”
Poppy raised her eyebrows. “Your dad has a vegetable garden?” When did he have time for all this?
Katie put her glass down and took Poppy by the hand, leading her across the room. “It’s actually my grandma’s. She comes here to look after it, and we help Dad water it, but we eat all the vegetables because she has one at her house, too.” Katie pointed out the window. “But Dad says the orchard is his because he planted all the trees.”
Poppy tried not to laugh but couldn’t help it. It was like someone was playing a practical joke on her.
“Hey, do you want to see my room?”
Poppy let Katie take her hand again and pull her along. The kids were coping fine, treating her like a new toy, and so long as she had fun with them she knew they’d be just fine while their dad was away.
“Do you have your own bedroom?”
“Yeah,” Katie said, running ahead of her. “And this is my dad’s room down here.”
Poppy had that uncomfortable feeling again, as if she was doing something she shouldn’t be, but she shrugged it away. “Honey, where’s the spare room?”
Katie spun around. “Oh, we don’t have one. Well, we kind of do, but it doesn’t have a bed in it, so you can sleep in Dad’s.”
Oh dear. Being in Harrison’s house was one thing, but in his bed?
She cleared her throat, her cheeks burning. “Or I could just sleep in your room?”
Katie laughed and disappeared through a doorway. Poppy followed, but her heart sank as soon as she walked into the room.
“I’m not allowed to sleep on the top bunk yet, but you can if you want to.”
Poppy sighed. So it was Harrison’s bachelor bed or a top bunk... “It’s okay, honey. Your dad’s bed will be just fine.”
Katie started talking again, showing her toys, dancing around the room as if she were her best friend visiting on a play date. But all Poppy could think about was being in Harrison’s room, sleeping between sheets that would smell like him, that he’d been lying in that morning.
She shook her head, trying to push him from her mind.
Did he sleep naked?
If Katie hadn’t been watching her she’d have been tempted to slap herself to try to snap out of it.
“I think we should get back to Alex,” Poppy suggested, needing to put as much distance between her and the bedrooms as possible. Not to mention she still had to rustle up something for dinner.
And stop thinking about the man whose house she was going to be living in for the next couple days.
“Did Dad tell you about the Aboriginal family living in our cottage?” Katie asked.
Poppy’s eyebrows pulled together. “He mentioned there was a family, but not that they were native Australians.” She’d never seen their culture firsthand, but was fascinated by their traditional beliefs and way of life.
“They’re really cool,” Katie told her. “You should come meet them maybe.”
“Are there any children?”
“Yeah, two boys. Same age as me. But they don’t go to school.”
Poppy definitely wanted to meet them. Just because the parents chose not to send the boys to school didn’t mean she wasn’t prepared to offer them assistance if or when they needed it.
Back in the living room now, she could see Alex hadn’t moved a muscle and was still parked in front of the television.
“How about you play with Alex for a while and I’ll sort dinner out, okay?” she asked Katie, needing a moment just to collect her thoughts.
Her new little friend ran into the living room, leaving Poppy standing alone. Talk about information overload. A few quiet minutes to process everything was exactly what she needed.
* * *
Poppy was starting to realize what hard work it was being a parent. She had both children in bed with her, snuggled tight, and she was so exhausted she just wanted to shut her eyes...only Alex was still hiccuping from the bucketload of tears he’d shed on her and her pillow.
So much for being worried about sleeping in Harrison’s bed. She’d hardly had time to savor the musky smell of him on the sheets before she was joined by Katie, whimpering and needing a cuddle. Then she’d heard Alex call out, as if he’d been having a nightmare, and she’d run to him as quickly as she could. The poor little boy was missing his dad like crazy and worried sick about his granddad.
“Will he die?” Alex whispered. “Will he disappear like my mom did and never come back?”
Poppy held him tighter, snuggling him so he knew how much she cared. Just because she was exhausted didn’t mean she wouldn’t sit up all night comforting him if he needed her to. But explaining death to him wasn’t something she was comfortable with, and neither was talking to him about his mom when she didn’t know the whole story.
“Honey, I don’t want you to think about anyone leaving you,” Poppy said in her most soothing voice. “Why don’t you tell me what you’d like to do with your granddad when he’s back here again instead?”
Alex whimpered and wrapped one arm around her neck, as if wanting to make sure there was no way she could leave him.
“I want to make something for him. Something cool.”
“Like a poster?” she asked, keeping her voice low to make sure they didn’t wake Katie.
“Yeah. Something cool to hang above the door, and a card, too.”
She could hear the change in Alex’s voice, knew that distracting him was probably the best thing she could do. But getting his hopes up about seeing his granddad again? Harrison had sounded positive on the phone when he’d called, but she knew how easy it was to get your hopes up and then have them come crashing down when something unexpected happened.
“Poppy?”
Hearing Alex say her first name made her smile. Earlier in the evening he’d still been calling her Ms. Carter. She gave him a tighter cuddle to let him know she’d heard him.
“You smell nice.”
She dropped a kiss into his hair. Talk about a sweetie.
“And Poppy?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re nice to snuggle. Just like what a mom would be like, I reckon.”
Now she was struggling not to cry. Talk about a tug on her heartstrings....
“I think we should try to go to sleep now,” she whispered, glancing at the clock. It w
as midnight already and she hadn’t slept a wink. “Why don’t we pull the covers up and close our eyes, okay?”
Alex nodded his head and tucked down, his little body warm against hers. With Katie tight on her other side, Poppy had never been so hot trying to go to sleep, but she’d never felt so loved, either. Felt as if she actually mattered. There was no pretending with kids, no ulterior motives. Katie and Alex had been comfortable enough to come into bed with her, had trusted that she cared for them and was going to help them.
And that was why she wanted to be a parent so badly. Why she still felt the pain of losing the baby she’d been so excited about carrying. When she’d reached the sixteen-week mark this time, she’d thought everything was okay, that nothing was going to go wrong again. She’d been so looking forward to finding out the gender, counting down the weeks until she’d know if she’d be buying pink clothes or blue, that losing her little baby hadn’t even seemed a possibility.
The doctor had said it was the stress of everything, her body telling her it couldn’t cope with nurturing a healthy baby and dealing with a divorce and losing all her money, too. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise, even if she couldn’t see it now, especially after everything that had happened.
Poppy shut her eyes tight and focused on the pudgy hand pressed to her cheek, on the warm breath against her neck. Just because she wasn’t going to be a mom anytime soon didn’t mean she wasn’t making a difference to the children in her life.
She blinked the tears away, refusing to get emotional.
But with these two in bed with her, she was starting to realize that it wasn’t about having her own biological child. She’d just as happily parent these two for the sole reason that she was capable of loving them and they her.
But they already had a dad, and she had no idea what the situation was with their mom. And she had no right to know. She was their teacher and a friend of their father’s. Thinking dangerous thoughts about how nice it would be to mean something more to them wasn’t going to do her any favors.
What she needed to do was sleep. And forget about any fantasies she might have about being a parent, at least for a while. Because she couldn’t be a mom without having a man in her life, and she wasn’t even close to ready for that. Right now, she was meant to be harboring a grudge against the entire male population. No matter how nice she might think a certain Harrison Black was.
Because she’d thought Chris was nice, too, a man she could trust with her heart. And look how well that decision had turned out.
“I’m healthy. I’m a teacher. I make a difference,” she whispered, forcing herself to practice her chant.
She shut her eyes and tried to focus on sleeping, counting every time she breathed in and exhaled.
If she wanted to stay in control, be in charge of her own destiny, then she just needed to take things one day at a time.
CHAPTER SEVEN
POPPY WAS EXHAUSTED. After hardly any sleep for two nights with the kids, then all day teaching, she was ready to drop. But she had two hungry children in the back of her car who were telling her all the things they wanted to show her when they got back to the ranch.
She crossed the almost-dry river, looking ahead to the house. It was beautiful—long and low, with a vine that grew across the front to soften the timber. A home. It looked like a home, not a house.
“It’s Dad!”
Poppy’s heart started to beat faster. Surely Harrison would have called if he was coming home early? “Where?”
“That’s his truck,” Katie told her, leaning forward. “Right there.”
She pointed and Poppy saw where she was looking. It was Harrison. Or at least it was his truck, which meant he’d have to be around somewhere.
Oh, my God. She’d left her makeup and clothes in his bedroom, which meant that if he’d... She gulped. There was no point in worrying; they were both adults. If he’d seen her underwear, it wasn’t the worst thing in the world. Even if it felt like it right now.
“Where do you think he’ll be?” she asked, trying to keep the alarm from her voice.
But the kids weren’t listening to her, more interested in pressing their noses to the glass and searching for him. As soon as she stopped the car they were out, running as fast as they could to the house and racing through the front door.
Poppy took a moment to calm herself, to take some big, slow breaths and prepare herself for heading in. Because after the nights she’d had with his kids, the way she was feeling about them right now, she could easily think things about their dad that were forbidden; things she couldn’t consider even if she wanted to.
He was sexy, he was single and he was...not on her radar. Or at least that’s what she was trying to pretend.
She got out of the car, reached in for the slow-cooked beef pie she’d picked up at the bakery and walked as bravely as she could to the front door. Poppy could hear voices before she even stepped inside—mainly Harrison’s deep, soothing tone.
It brought a smile to her face, because it sounded to her as if he was trying to explain that their granddad was okay and why he’d come home earlier than expected.
“Hi,” she called out as she came into the kitchen. She didn’t want to stand in the doorway listening without him knowing she was there. “I’m hoping you’re back early because it’s good news?”
Harrison gave her what looked like a relieved smile. “It turns out he didn’t even know he had dangerously high cholesterol, or if he did he certainly never told my mom, and he had a heart attack because of blocked arteries.”
“But he’s going to be okay?” she asked.
“He’s going to need a decent period of rest and recovery, but yeah, he’s going to be fine.” Harrison grinned at his kids. “He told me to get back to these rascals, so I decided to come home.”
They looked as relieved as he did, and she knew he’d been downplaying how distressed he’d been the other day for their sake. It was more than obvious that he loved his father, so the relief must have been enormous.
“Is he going to be kept in for long?”
“That’s what I was just about to tell the kids,” he said, looking from her to them. “I’m going to head back to the city, take them with me this time, then when he’s ready I’ll drive Dad home. Mom’s a bit nervous, and we need to check in with the local doctor in Parkes on our way, too.”
Poppy kept her smile plastered to her face, trying hard not to react. It was great that Harrison was taking his kids with him. She had no right to be sad about it.
“I’ve been trying to explain to them that Granddad had to have stents put in—”
“And it’s gross,” announced Katie, interrupting her dad and pulling a face.
“It might be gross but it saved your granddad’s life,” Harrison said, lifting her up to sit on the kitchen counter beside her brother.
“Did they put the stents through his arm?” Poppy asked.
Harrison nodded. “Yeah, they put dye through first because they were pretty blocked, then the stents. It was amazing.” He raised his eyebrows, as if he’d just realized that she knew way too much about heart complications. “How did you know about stents, anyway?”
She shrugged, taking the pie over to the counter and placing it there before filling the jug with water for something to do. After the long day she’d had, she was ready for a coffee. A good, strong, black coffee.
“My dad had a heart attack, but he didn’t make it. He had to have a triple bypass and there were complications.”
Harrison gave her a tight smile. “I’m sorry. I know how lucky we are that Dad pulled through.”
She shook her head. “Don’t feel bad for telling me your dad made it, Harrison.”
He planted his hands on the counter with a thump. The kids had gone quiet, listening to them talk, no doubt t
rying to understand what they were discussing. Poppy could tell he was trying to lift the mood, distract them.
“Coffee for everyone?” he asked.
“Dad! We don’t drink coffee!” Katie squealed as he grabbed her around the waist and set her on her feet.
He did the same to Alex, only kept hold of him a little longer, giving the little guy a big hug. “Okay, so coffee for me and Poppy, and tea for you two.”
Katie and Alex were both giggling now, jumping around like silly things.
“Fine, how about orange juice then?”
Poppy watched as he poured them each a glass before opening a container full of cookies and letting them take some.
“Why don’t you guys have your snack outside and then play? We’ll be out soon.”
Poppy stayed silent and watched the kids go. They were such happy children, busy and lovable. Looking after them might have been tiring, but it certainly hadn’t been hard.
“You do know what great children you have, right?”
He chuckled. “Yeah, I do. Although it’s easy to think all kids are like that and forget how good mine are.”
Now it was Poppy’s turn to laugh. “Are you kidding me? I don’t ever think all children are like that, and I’ve got a lot of experience in that department.”
Harrison was staring at her, his body language different than it had been before. Around his children he was open and relaxed, but now that they were gone something had changed.
“I don’t know how I’ll ever thank you for looking after them for me,” he said, pouring the coffee and sliding a mug across the counter toward her. “It meant a lot to me to get to the hospital when I did, and I’m glad they didn’t see their granddad looking like that, all hooked up to machines and ghostly when I first got there.”
Poppy knew exactly what he was talking about. “They were pretty upset the first night, worrying about him and wanting you, but we were fine. And they are great kids, I promise.”
He took a sip of his coffee, but he was still staring at her.
“It wasn’t until I started driving home today that I realized I’d never told you where anything was, or even which bed to sleep in,” he said.