Kenzie bit back a smile at the narrowed glare Sam gave her husband.
‘Is this anything like what you were used to when you used to work with your family?’ Kenzie asked Ewan as they finished eating, and her mother was once again bringing out the coffee and cake.
‘Not in the slightest,’ he said with a wan smile.
‘Really?’
‘Nope. My family are all pretty high-strung. Cattle are the only thing that really matter, or at least, they were back when I was growing up. My parents poured everything into building the property, so there was always a fair amount of pressure with just about every aspect of the cattle work. Getting the best prices, making sure the cattle were in the best condition, getting them to sale on time,’ he said, looking out over the yards where Jack’s mob were still being held, letting out the odd, irritated bellow at being unable to spread out and graze. ‘And if you think Jack gets a bit snippy working cattle, you’d be horrified at how off the handle my old man used to get.’
‘I guess we’ve got it pretty easy then,’ she said with a small grimace.
He glanced across at her before allowing his gaze to fall on her parents. ‘You’ve got it pretty good, I’d say. Your parents are great. I didn’t realise families could work together and almost enjoy it.’
‘There’s the occasional raised voice and the odd meltdown, but generally we all still talk to each other once it’s done.’ She grinned.Well, except for Brook.Kenzie was fairly sure she still hadn’t recovered from that one and only experience.
After lunch, the men went back to work and Kenzie helped her mother pack everything into the car.
‘What do you think of him?’ Kenzie asked her mother as they finished loading the last fold-up chair.
‘He isn’t what I was expecting,’ Sam said.
‘In a good or bad way?’
‘Good,’ she said, watching as Ewan headed over to open a gate. ‘From what you were saying, I expected more of a hard-nosed businessman, but he seems very down-to-earth. Poppy seems to like him.’
‘Poppy likes everyone,’ Kenzie said dryly.
‘The important question is, what doyouthink of him?’
Kenzie gave a small shrug and dragged her gaze away from the man in question to watch her daughter having a tea party on the grass with her new teddy bear. ‘I think he genuinely wants a relationship with his daughter,’ she said.
‘Isn’t that the best scenario to come from all this?’ her mother asked.
Kenzie gave a short sigh. ‘I don’t know … I guess?’ she reluctantly admitted. ‘I think part of me wanted him to say it was too much and he didn’t want anything to do with her, so we could just stay as Poppy and me.’
‘Change is scary,’ her mother said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and hugging her gently. ‘But this is all about doing what’s best for Poppy. Look, it’s still early days. I think you need to get to know him a lot better before you make any decisions. So far, I think he seems like a decent man.’ Sam dropped her arm from Kenzie’s shoulders. ‘Give it some more time and see how you feel.’
That was true. She barely knew Ewan Campbell. Maybe once they returned to the Gold Coast, things would be different. They could gradually go about easing him into Poppy’s life and this wouldn’t feel quite so scary.
Fourteen
Kenzie shook her head but couldn’t help the smile that lingered on her lips as she watched her mother and Jack ride across the paddock on the farm bike. ‘They’re like a pair of teenagers sometimes,’ she said, as her mother’s delighted laughter floated back to where they stood beside the work ute they’d be driving back.
‘I think it’s great. It’s not something you see a lot of.’
‘What isn’t?’ she asked.
‘Parents still in love.’
‘I think different people show affection in different ways.’
‘Yeah, I guess.’
Kenzie climbed into the driver’s seat after buckling Poppy in the middle seat and turned the key in the ignition as Ewan closed his door. ‘How long will it take you to drive to your parents’ place?’
She’d heard him talking to Jack about his plans to leave tomorrow morning, and wondered when he was going to bring it up with her.
‘I think it’s about nineteen hours, give or take, from here.’
