‘You’d better call her back,’ Kenzie said, pulling away, and he realised that whatever had been about to unfold moments before was no longer going to happen.
‘I don’t need to call her back. There’s nothing left to say. We were over the night I told her about Poppy.’
‘It might be something important. I was going to have a shower and freshen up anyway.’
Of all the crappiest possible times for Sasha to call, there couldn’t be one worse than that precise moment. Ewan allowed Kenzie to step away, watching as she unzipped her bag and began to pull out clothing.
He let out a long sigh. ‘Okay. I’ll see you downstairs for dinner,’ he said, and saw her nod stiffly before he left the room to return the call.
Twenty-one
Kenzie nervously ran her hands down the skirt of the sundress she’d changed into after her shower, then walked out onto a patio area, where drinks and some food had been set up outside. Poppy had skipped ahead of her, and she called for her to wait, but her daughter was already heading towards Vera and Ewan, sitting side by side and clearly in deep conversation.
The smell of a barbecue wafted on the breeze, meat sizzling on a hotplate off to one side, where Peggy manned the barbecue tongs.
Callum sat in a single timber lounge chair, beer glass in hand as he silently surveyed the paddocks beyond.
‘Come and take a seat,’ Vera beckoned, smiling.
Kenzie glanced at Ewan, feeling her cheeks heat as she recalled what they’d been doing not so long ago.Before his ex-fiancée called, she reminded herself, looking away quickly.
Talk about a dousing of cold water.
‘What can I get you to drink?’ Ewan asked, cutting into her humiliated thoughts.
‘Just a soft drink will do.’
‘There’s wine, or spirits if you’d prefer?’ he replied, heading towards the bar.
‘No, thanks. I’m happy with a soft drink.’
It was obvious she was going to need a clear head around this man, if she wanted to keep her distance … not to mention her dignity.
Later, as they sat down to eat, Vera said, ‘So, you’re an events organiser, Kenzie? I hear you’ve done very well with it.’
‘I am, and yes, I’ve been lucky enough to have a few big opportunities come my way early on, and it helped me establish a really solid client base.’
‘Kenzie’s being modest,’ Ewan put in. ‘Luck had nothing to do with it. You don’t becomein demandunless you’re consistently providing a top-level experience.’
‘So, weddings are where the money is, then?’ Callum asked.
Kenzie turned to look at him. ‘The weddings are the most intensive to do and obviously require a lot more time to plan, but our corporate work is quite lucrative. We tend to do a lot more of that kind of work day to day.’
‘I could certainly have used you here to help organise some of the events we’ve hosted. I tip my hat to you. I couldn’t imagine doing that day in and day out,’ Vera said. ‘I’m exhausted after all the worrying and stress.’
‘There’s always a bit of stress involved, but we’ve developed a routine with most of these things, so it usually flows pretty well. Although that’s not to say there’sneveran unexpected crisis now and again,’ Kenzie added with a smile.
‘You were the wedding planner for my son and his fiancée?’ Callum asked, carefully sawing through his steak without looking up.
Kenzie forced herself not to squirm in her seat. ‘Yes,’ she said, brightly. ‘Although I didn’t know it was Ewan at the time. I’d only dealt with Sasha and Mrs Delsanto.’
‘What were the chances you’d meet up again like that?’ Vera said with a small chuckle.
‘Yes … whatwerethe chances of that happening?’ Callum echoed, looking up from the dissection of his meal with a raised eyebrow.
Kenzie felt her appetite disappear, but she was used to dealing with much bigger fish than Callum bloody Campbell. She smiled her professional smile and chose to respond to the statement at face value, ignoring the man’s unsubtle implications. ‘It was a pretty big surprise, that’s for sure.’
‘We’re always looking for workers over at the feedlot, if you’re interested, son,’ Callum said, turning his interest from Kenzie to spear Ewan with a direct look. ‘Won’t pay as much as your big corporate job, though, and you’d have to get your hands dirty. They’re probably not used to that anymore, I’d imagine.’
