‘Actually, Ewan helped my stepdad with some cattle work just before we came down here,’ Kenzie said sweetly.
‘Like I said before, I haven’t decided what I’ll do yet,’ Ewan said, Kenzie’s comment going ignored between the two men. ‘I came back for a visit, not a job.’
‘A man of leisure,’ Callum said dryly. ‘How nice.’
‘Not everyone’s out to create a dynasty, Dad,’ Ewan said calmly.
‘That’s for bloody sure,’ the older man muttered.
‘I think it’s past bedtime for you, missy,’ Kenzie said, jumping up and using her yawning child as an opportunity to escape. ‘Thank you for dinner. Say goodnight to everyone,’ she said, holding her hand out to Poppy.
‘I’ll come up with you,’ Ewan said, standing and walking past before she could tell him not to bother. She followed him into the house, where he stood to one side and waited for her to fall into step beside him.
‘You didn’t have to leave,’ she said, mindful of Poppy’s presence but eager to not jump from one bad situation to another. ‘I’m sure you had lots to catch up on.’
‘I want Ewan to tuck me in,’ Poppy piped up.
‘Ewan probably has other things to do.’
‘No, he doesn’t,’ Ewan said pointedly, smiling down at Poppy.
‘It’s your first night home. It seems a bit rude that you’re not spending time with your family.’
‘In case you didn’t notice, conversation isn’t really something you have with my father,’ he said drolly. ‘And I want to talk to you about the phone call earlier. It wasn’t what you were probably thinking it was,’ he added as they climbed the staircase.
‘One, two, three,’ Poppy started counting aloud as her short legs took the steps.
‘It’s none of my business,’ she told him, hoping she sounded casual.
The look he gave her suggested she did not. ‘She was calling because she couldn’t find the spare key to her apartment. I told her where I left the envelope. End of story.’
‘Like I said, it’s none of my business.’
‘If it were me, I’d want to know.’
‘Lucky I’m not you,’ she said coolly. ‘I really don’t care.’
‘I think you do,’ he said, lowering his voice, also mindful of Poppy walking ahead. ‘Otherwise, you wouldn’t be angry at me.’
‘Why are you angry at Ewan, Mummy?’ Poppy asked as she continued to count.
‘I’m not angry at Ewan,’ she said in a tight voice.
‘Thatishow she sounds when she’s angry,’ Poppy told him, looking back over her little shoulder.
Christ, how many more bloody steps are there?Kenzie took a deep breath in and forced a patient expression onto her face.
‘Okay. Well, I just wanted to let you know what the call was about, in case you were wondering.’
‘I wasn’t.’
Finally, they reached the top of the stairs, and Kenzie hustled her daughter to get into her pyjamas. While Poppy went through the motions of getting ready for bed, she asked Ewan a million questions about when he was a little kid, and—even though she’d deny it if anyone asked—Kenzie was kind of interested too.
‘Was this your bedroom when you were a little kid?’ she asked.
‘No,’ Ewan said shaking his head, ‘but there was a family who lived here a long time before I did who had little kids who lived in this room.’
‘Where was your bedroom when you lived here?’
