‘I know.’ His mother chuckled. ‘Come on,’ she said, waving them inside.
Kenzie lowered Poppy to the ground then held her hand and they climbed the five wide steps. The spacious entrance had gleaming timber floors and a huge antique chandelier hung from a high ceiling. A grand staircase with polished timber rails and tartan carpet in blue, red and purple flowed towards the second storey. Vera led the way through a doorway on the right and Kenzie took in the large, sunny room with its cluster of sofas and tall, picturesque windows.
‘You have a beautiful home,’ Kenzie said as they took a seat on a nearby sofa.
‘Thank you, we’re very proud of it. She’s been a labour of love.’
‘More labour than love,’ Callum put in gruffly as he took a single seat across from them.
‘Oh, hush. You love this place as much as the rest of us,’ Vera scoffed. ‘We have a number of buildings on the property that are heritage-listed, including the main residence,’ she told Kenzie.
‘When was it built?’ she asked, curious.
‘It was built in 1864,’ Callum put in, ‘by the original owners, the McDonald family. They had this property for five generations before we bought it.’
‘Wow, that’s a lot of history,’ Kenzie said.
A woman came into the room carrying a silver tray, then setting it down on the coffee table in front of them with a clunk.
‘Thank you, Peggy,’ Mrs Campbell said. ‘Peggy, this is Kenzie and Poppy. Peggy has been our housekeeper for the last fifteen years.’
Peggy was not how Kenzie had imagined a housekeeper—not that she’d had much to do with anyone who actuallyhada housekeeper before. She wore cargo shorts and a bright blue shirt with the property’s logo on the front. Her light brown hair was streaked liberally with grey, and she wore it pulled back in a ponytail.
‘Hello.’ Kenzie smiled.
‘G’day. Nice to meet you,’ she said with a wide smile, before shifting her gaze to Poppy. ‘I made a special cake for you,’ Peggy said. ‘I heard chocolate was your favourite, is that right?’
Poppy’s eyes lit up at the delicious-looking cake the woman had carried in on her tray. ‘It is,’ she gasped, drawing smiles from the gathered adults.
‘Oh, Kenzie,’ Vera said, leaning forward to place a hand on her arm, ‘she’s an utter delight.’
Kenzie smiled down at her daughter. Not to boast, but she kind of thought so too, most of the time. Grumpy, tired Poppy was sometimes a littlelessof a delight.
‘Is it all right for her to have some?’ Peggy asked, seemingly just remembering she should probably ask the mother for permission before loading the child up with sugar.
‘That’s fine, she’d love to have a piece. It looks amazing.’
‘Peggy bakes pretty much everything from scratch. She’s an amazing cook,’ Vera said, and the other woman gave a slightly embarrassed scoff.
‘And those must be all for me,’ Ewan said, reaching for the other plate of what Kenzie assumed must be the famous Empire biscuits. Upon closer inspection, they were actually two biscuits sandwiched together with jam in the middle, topped with white icing and a small cherry.
‘They’re notallfor you,’ Peggy said, slapping his hand away.
As Vera poured and served the tea and coffee, Peggy handed out cake. Kenzie listened to Ewan and his father exchange talk about the weather and rainfall, or lack of it. Kenzie hid a smile—it reminded her of Jack talking to his farming neighbours when they dropped by for a visit.
She studied the two men as they spoke. Ewan didn’t really look much like his father, with his dark hair and taller build, but there were similarities. The same jawline and nose, maybe, she thought, as she switched her gaze unobtrusively between them. The one thing that did stand out was their rather formalbehaviour towards each other. Even knowing parts of their history, it was far from the behaviour she’d expect from a father and son, especially after a long absence.
His mother, on the other hand, was anything but reserved. She’d hugged her son tightly and was clearly overjoyed that he’d come home. And if the way she was doting on Poppy was any indication, she was thrilled to discover she had a granddaughter, just as Ewan had said. At least that concern had been put to rest.
Callum was a different story. Kenzie couldn’t get a read on the rather gruffly spoken man, obviously not one to talk for the sake of talking. His answers were brief and to the point, but Kenzie also sensed he was a watcher and a listener. She was willing to bet he had a lot going on under the surface, and didn’t miss much. He was clearly a pretty savvy businessman, if the scale of the property was any indication.
Poppy seemed to have lost her earlier shyness. Chocolate cake would do that, Kenzie thought, watching her delighted daughter demolish a slice, leaving half of the icing on her face. Her eyes flitted between her child’s messy face and fingers and the very expensive furniture they sat on.
‘Uh, is there a bathroom I could go to with Poppy to clean her up?’ Kenzie asked Vera nervously.
‘She’s fine, dinna fash yersel,’ Vera said, her brogue becoming thicker as she soothed her guest. Kenzie noticed that, unlike her husband, Vera seemed to have lost her accent to a certain degree, not so much that she sounded Australian, but certainly diluted, unless she had some strong feeling. Much like her son’sspeech pattern. Over the last few days, Kenzie had become more aware of Ewan’s personality and little traits. His accent was really only noticeable with certain words, and when he spoke about anything emotional—like mentioning his brother or this property.
‘I can take her for a walk to clean her up, if you like?’ Vera offered, holding her hand out to Poppy in invitation.
