‘I don’t think it’s any harder than kids in a family with both parents working full-time.’
‘I’m not criticising,’ he said quickly. ‘I was just thinking, maybe down the track, I could help out. Like the bike-riding thing …’
‘There’s a bit more to parenting than taking trips to the park,’ she said archly. ‘I mean, that’s the fun bit.’ Poppy’s innocent comment earlier had managed to hit a sore spot, particularly the whole ‘You’re always too tired’ thing. Shewastired a lot of the time—physically as well as mentally drained after a long day at work—but even then, she often pushed through and dragged herself to the park because ‘passing her kid around’, as Ewan had put it, was not an ideal situation, and she genuinelywantedto spend quality time with her child.
‘I get that. I wasn’t trying to be a dick,’ he said, his serious gaze locked onto her. ‘I’m just saying, I could be helpful.’
Maybe she was being a little over-sensitive. What he was suggesting was a logical step in the progression of becoming part of Poppy’s life—trips to the park, maybe the odd movie, special little outings as they got used to each other.
But honestly, did she reallywanthim to be part of the deeper parenting process? That involved far more dedication. Dropping off and picking up from kindy. Making meals and knowing when to use blackmail for said meals to be eaten. Dealing with the overtired tantrums and the constant getting up through the night when she was sick, not to mention catching whatever daycare-originating bug she brought home and then having to take care of them both. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean it to sound so snappy. It’s still a lot to get used to.’
‘I agree. But that was part of bringing you both out here, so we could all get used to it—to each other. I don’t want to be the enemy here, Kenzie. I don’t want you to feel like I’m trying to steal her away from you. I understand you two have a bond that I’ll never have with her, no matter what I do, because you’re her mum and you’ve been there from the start. I just want to work out some kind of happy medium, where I get to be part of her life and, in the process, make it easier on you.’
Kenzie’s heart tugged at his words.
‘I can’t make up for the first four years of her life, or change any of the ruined plans you had, and no matter how many times I say it, sorry just doesn’t reallydoanything. Iwantto make it up to you both. Iwantto be part of her life.’
Kenzie’s eyelids stung and she swallowed hard. He’d been nothing but honest and straightforward since the day she’d told him about Poppy, and she believed him when he told her he wanted to be in Poppy’s life.
She opened her mouth to speak but Poppy picked that exact moment to find something under a rock, and her excited, ‘I found a baby snake!’ ended further conversation.
Ewan was sprinting to Poppy’s side before Kenzie could even scramble to her feet, but his obvious relief as he bowed his head and braced his hands on his thighs alleviated her concern slightly.
‘It’s okay,’ he said, straightening and waving an arm. ‘It’s a worm.’
‘Poppy!’ Kenzie said, sheer terror turning to relief, and then anger.
‘In her defence,’ Ewan said, turning to face her as she stormed over, ‘it’s a prettybigworm.’
She looked down at the ground and her eyes widened slightly.Woah.That was anenormousbloody worm.
‘It’s asnake,’ Poppy argued, looking at both adults crossly.
‘Let’s take a photo of it and we can google it,’ Ewan said, crouching down beside her as he took out his phone from his pocket.
‘Let’s catch it and take it home,’ Poppy countered.
‘Yeah, no. It’s not good to take things from where they live,’ Kenzie cut in quickly. The thing was huge, and there was no way she was going to have it in the car.
After much convincing, Poppy finally accepted the worm theory and reluctantly left it under the rock.
They continued to explore the creek’s bank, spotting a few fish and searching for crayfish and tadpoles. She smiled as Poppy squatted down beside Ewan in perfect imitation, waiting patiently together for something to come out from under the rocks. It seemed almost surreal, being a family.
But you’re not a family.You barely know him.
That thought sobered her, ruining the idyllic moment.
Twenty-four
Kenzie was feeling a little nervous as the crunch of tyres on gravel announced the arrival of Ewan’s sister and her children later the next afternoon. She’d seen photos of Floss earlier when she’d been left to her own devices after lunch.
After making a few work calls, she’d wandered into the other sitting room, one less formal than the one they’d sat in the day they’d arrived. The sofas were large and softer, almost like giant marshmallows. There were lots of photos on the side tables, up on the walls and on the mantelpiece of the marble fireplace. Kenzie could picture it at Christmas, filled with family and Christmas decorations—not the stylised ones that she imagined were in the more formal sitting room, but the kind that were a mixture of kids’ preschool ice-cream stick Christmas trees and handprint snowflakes and Santa Clauses.
She’d taken her time inspecting the family photos, smiling at the young, toothless ones of Ewan sitting with his siblings. There were more, at different ages, and more than one made her stare at the similarities between Ewan and Poppy.
The photos of Floss were of a blue-eyed, red-haired girl with a scattering of freckles across her nose. When she walked through the front door, the braided pigtails had been replaced by long, strawberry-blonde curly hair, but the freckles, although faded, were still there.
‘Kenzie, this is my sister, Floss,’ Ewan introduced them after hugging the woman tightly. His sister was tall, only shorter than Ewan by a few inches. She wore a long, stretchy black tube skirt with a drapey white blouse, long gold chain and sandals. There was a simple elegance to her that Kenzie admired, and could never pull off herself. Two young boys followed behind her.
