by Jennie Adams
‘Totally.’ Dan turned his head and his lips came close to brushing her cheek.
Dan’s eyes darkened and his gaze dropped to her lips before he quickly turned his attention to releasing the yabby so they could all watch it back itself into the water and disappear. He missed the furious look that Luke cast their way, but Jess didn’t, and she wished she could explain to Luke—
What? That there was nothing between her and Dan? When all Dan needed to do was come anywhere near her and she all but melted, and she couldn’t seem to do a thing about it no matter how hard she tried!
Jess moved away from Dan and she took care to keep her distance for the next hour that they stayed, catching and releasing yabbies. Rob wanted to keep them and cook some but Dan said no.
‘I’m not sure if they’d be safe to eat,’ he said, ‘and I don’t think I’d be all that keen to cook them anyway. But we’ll have a campfire tonight, Rob. I checked the weather report and we can do it in a safe spot in the backyard.’
Ella had fallen asleep in the stroller under the shade of a gumtree.
Jess helped gather everything up and they all made their way back to the house. Rob and Luke got in a bit of a spat with each other over something Jess didn’t hear, shoving and pushing. Dan broke them up and looked frustrated but seemed to push all his feelings inside. Where did the tension go when he did that?
Mary asked a question and Ella started to wake up in the stroller, and then they were back at the house and Jess didn’t get time to try to figure anything else out.
They cleaned up, and got ready for their outdoor supervised campfire in the backyard. Dan had asked Jess to help him, and it was her job to do whatever he needed whether there were tensions in the air, or not.
‘Grubs are fun.’ Rob twisted another piece of dough around his stick, closed it over the end and held it out to the fire’s flames. ‘I’m going to pour even more golden syrup into this one when it’s cooked.’
‘You’re already covered in the stuff.’ Luke made this observation while he prepared another grub stick for himself.
‘Why are they called grubs?’ Daisy wanted to know.
‘Because they look like witchetty grubs that can be eaten as bush tucker.’ Jess hadn’t needed to look on the Internet to know that one. The grubs had been her idea.
‘I never thought Dad would let us eat things cooked on sticks.’ Rob turned his stick over the flames again. ‘Even if it is just dough, it tastes really good.’
‘Yeah, well, he hasn’t got any scruples when it comes to some people and what they want to do.’ Luke muttered the words beneath his breath, but Jess heard them, and a glance at Dan’s face showed that he had, too.
‘Go to your room, Luke. That was completely uncalled for. You’re done here for the night.’ Dan spoke the words quietly.
Luke stared at his father for a moment before he threw his stick into the fire and stormed inside.
Rob threw a glance at his father. ‘I didn’t mean to get him in trouble.’
‘Leave it, Rob. It’s nothing to do with you.’
The family event went on, but all the pleasure had gone out of it for Jess. The campfire dwindled. One by one the children made their way inside to wash and get into bed and then it was just Jess and Dan as he dumped sand over the coals.
‘I’ll get my sleeping girl and head home, Dan.’ She tried to find something neutral to say. ‘It’s good that you were able to spare the time from your work for this afternoon and evening. You’ll have another busy day in your office or in Sydney tomorrow.’
Something in his face made Jess pause.
‘The audit is finished. I can spend the remainder of the school holidays at home and do what I can to get the kids in a good place about starting their classes.’
‘Well, that’s great.’ Dan had asked for a month more from Jess, but with the pressure removed things would be different for him. ‘You’ll be okay now, Dan. You’ll get on with things and the children will really settle in here.’
‘That sounded rather like a goodbye.’ His gaze searched her face.
‘You won’t need my help any more.’ That was the thing. ‘I can’t let you keep paying me to work here when that’s the case.’
‘I want to keep you working for me, Jess.’
‘I’ll be okay. The regular children will be back with me as of Saturday and I have new ones starting then as well.’
‘That’s good, Jess. But I do still want you here.’ Dan drew a breath. ‘Sometimes trying to balance everything is, well, it’s hard. The ongoing work I mentioned before, help with housekeeping and even watching Annapolly a couple of days once the others are back in school is something I think I’d really like.’
‘I’ll help you, Dan.’ If he still needed her. ‘Of course I will for as long as you want me.’
Jess couldn’t say otherwise anyway. She didn’t have the luxury of that choice.
Dan blew out a deep breath. ‘Good. That’s really good.’ He didn’t want to let Jess know just how relieved he felt. Dan wasn’t sure he wanted to think about the level of relief himself. For tonight all he was prepared to consider was that he still needed her help.
He was thinking of his children, making sure things were in a good place for them. Helping Jess in the process, and helping himself because what he’d admitted to her was true.
And Luke, Dan? Are you thinking of Luke when you make this decision?
Luke would just have to respect Dan’s choice. Dan hadn’t been in to see his son after sending him inside. He would check on him before he turned in, but if Luke was still awake he didn’t expect to make any progress trying to talk to him.
You’re avoiding even trying to do that because you don’t want to have to confront what Luke is feeling. He’s jealous that you want to express interest in someone other than his mother. He doesn’t want you replacing Rebecca with…Jess.
Dan didn’t want to pursue that path at all. That was what Luke didn’t seem to understand. Dan had fought his attraction to Jess and he was still fighting it.
‘Goodnight, Jess.’ He tried not to sound distant but simply professional. He wasn’t sure whether or not he succeeded.
‘Goodnight, Dan. I guess I’ll see you in the morning.’ She got to her feet and quickly left him.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
‘I’M SORRY.’ JESS drew a shaken breath. ‘I’m just really shocked. I can’t believe this.’
But the proof stood in front of her. A man and a woman in their mid-fifties who’d climbed from their car outside Jess’s cottage just as she waved off the last of her charges and started to turn to go back inside.
It was Saturday. Jess had Ella in her arms, and as the woman looked from Jess to her baby daughter moisture pooled in her eyes and a hopeful smile came over her face.
‘We’re sorry to spring ourselves on you this way.’ The man also seemed shaken, but he offered Jess a very sincere glance before he went on. ‘There’s a bit to talk about, if you’d be willing. Once we learned you were supposed to be here, we decided to drive out from Sydney. We weren’t even sure if we’d be able to find you or if it was all real.’
They’d introduced themselves as Dalia and George Rosche. They were Peter’s parents, if what they were saying was true, and they’d hired a private investigator to track him down. They hadn’t succeeded, but the investigator had found out about the cottage Peter purchased for Jess, and had learned that a young woman lived there with her baby daughter.
‘What made you think—?’ Jess hesitated, uncertain how to put it.
‘That we might find a grandchild here?’ Dalia blinked. ‘Peter got drunk at our house a year ago. He’d brought another man with him, some friend. We heard him tell the man that, well, that he was a father but he’d made sure he’d never have to be responsible for it. Ever since then we’ve been asking ourselves how we could find you.’
The words about her son had been harsh, but behind them Jess could sense shame, and…hope to know her grand
daughter?
Jess laid her hand on the older woman’s arm. ‘You’re not responsible for Peter’s actions, Mrs Rosche. I think perhaps we should go inside.’
She made tea for the couple. George Rosche looked a lot like Peter, but the similarities appeared to finish on the surface.
George started the conversation. ‘We realise you don’t owe us anything, Jessica. Is it okay to call you that?’
‘Of course.’ Jess set Ella down and let her crawl around the floor.
‘And you must call us Dalia and George,’ Peter’s father went on. ‘We’re hoping that, despite Peter’s behaviour towards you, you might allow us to play a part as grandparents in your daughter’s life.’
‘I—I don’t know what to say.’ Jess didn’t know how to deal with the knot of surprise and hope that had tightened into a fist in the middle of her chest. She drew a breath and whispered, ‘Do you really want to?’
They talked for three hours. It was an emotional three hours for Jess, for the grandparents, but not for Ella, who played happily about the cottage and didn’t realise she was the centre of some very focused and hopeful attention from this older couple.
Jess changed her daughter while George and Dalia took a moment to speak quietly in the kitchen. When she came back she drew another deep breath and handed Ella into Dalia’s arms. The older woman held the little girl while silent tears ran down her face.
George had his moment, too, his large hands holding Ella awkwardly before he noisily cleared his throat and handed her back to Jess.
‘I think you really mean what you’ve been saying.’ Jess sought Dalia’s eyes. ‘I hope you’ll forgive my doubts, but Peter—’
‘Was not at all kind to you.’ It was George who completed the sentence. ‘Our son bought this cottage for you, but he made an agreement about back rates on it with the local council.’
‘I signed an agreement to stay out of Peter’s life in return for him buying me this cottage.’ Jess could see no harm in admitting it.
‘And he double-crossed you by hiding those back rates.’ Dalia closed her eyes briefly before she turned to her husband. ‘We have to make this right, George. We can’t allow this young woman to be treated like that by our son.’
They offered to pay off the back rates debt.
‘I can’t let you do that. It’s not your responsibility.’
‘We can talk about that later.’ George cleared his throat. ‘We’ve probably taken up enough of your time for today but we appreciate meeting you and our granddaughter.’
‘It has been a bit of a surprise.’ But Jess didn’t want to lose these people. They were grandparents who wanted to know Ella. Jess had to give that a chance.
‘Are you staying overnight in the area?’ she ventured.
‘We have a room booked at the motel in the centre of town.’ Dalia got to her feet. ‘Come, George. We’ve worn the poor girl to a frazzle and our granddaughter is getting sleepy.’ She turned to Jess. ‘Would you allow us to come again tomorrow? You’ll need time to think about all of this but we truly would like to get to know you, and have a chance to contribute at least a little to our granddaughter’s life if you’ll let us.’
Jess agreed to a second visit and explained that it would have to be quite early, as she had to work elsewhere the next day. And she did need time to think as well. They exchanged mobile phone numbers, and the older couple went on their way. Jess tucked Ella into her cot, and, once her daughter was asleep, turned in herself.
She couldn’t let these people pay off her debt. That would just be wrong. But to have them as part of Ella’s life, loving grandparents who wanted to know their granddaughter? That would be so wonderful for Ella.
A little prickle of loneliness stabbed at Jess’s heart. Because this would be great for her daughter, but Jess wasn’t any relation to George and Dalia. And of course that didn’t matter. She had a chance to have something special for Ella. That was what counted.
So go to sleep, Jess Baker. Tomorrow you have grandparents visiting your daughter again.
‘It’s Aunt Adele and Uncle Clive!’ Rob shouted and a troop of Frazier children raced off the veranda to meet the car.
Jess was just arriving, too.
Dan hadn’t exactly been waiting on the veranda for Jess’s arrival. He’d been supervising the children, he told himself.
‘Hey, Dan. We thought we’d surprise you.’ Adele called the words as she climbed out of the car.
The children swarmed around her and Clive, all talking at once, even Luke.
‘I thought you were both still travelling.’ With one part of him, Dan watched Jess getting Ella out of the car as he smiled at the visitors. ‘It’s great to see you, though.’
Adele explained that they’d finished their trip a little early. Her hand covered her tummy for a moment before Clive took over the conversation.
‘We had the time so we decided to drive down, Dan.’ Clive’s glance shifted to Jess and her daughter.
‘Come meet my sister and brother-in-law, Jess.’ Dan walked to Jess’s side. ‘Adele, Clive, this is Jess Baker. Jess has been providing childcare and housekeeping for me while I handled a work crisis that blew up in Sydney.’
‘Oh.’ Adele took Jess’s hand and shook firmly while Clive nodded and smiled. Adele glanced back to Dan. ‘How did that happen? You were supposed to be able to take things easy while you got settled in.’
Dan explained and they all went inside. Adele had brought small treats for the children, and handed those out before she and her husband settled with Dan and Jess in the kitchen for cups of tea.
Jess made the drinks and would have left them to it. ‘I can watch the children while you all catch up.’
‘Stay.’ Adele smiled. ‘It would be nice to get to know you.’
At first Dan thought Jess might seem a bit overwhelmed because of the sudden arrival of his relatives, but there seemed to be something deeper disturbing her, as though she’d already had some kind of shock.
Well, she’s worried about losing her cottage. That’s enough to make anyone shocked.
Dan had been thinking about that. He wanted to help. There had to be some way that they could work something out.
Just what are you asking yourself, Dan?
‘Dan? I asked whether you’d allow it?’ Adele’s prompting made Dan replay the part of the conversation that hadn’t fully registered because he’d allowed his thoughts to wander.
‘You want to take the children overnight to Sydney?’ He blinked.
‘It would be nice to spoil them a little, and it would give you a break.’ Adele’s face softened as she half turned her head to glance behind her into the living room. ‘I don’t want to lose being part of their lives now that you’ve moved and don’t need my occasional help with childcare.’
She glanced again at Jess before she turned back to her brother. ‘And I’m glad you’ve finally got help with some of the care and housekeeping. It’s way too much for someone who’s working full time as well.’
‘Can we go, Dad? Please, please, please?’ Mary had heard the invitation and come into the kitchen. In moments, four other Fraziers had added their hopes to the mix.
Dan agreed. A flurry of packing followed and it seemed before he could blink Adele had piled them all into Dan’s van. She left her car behind to be collected when they brought the children back.
Dan and Jess stood on the veranda in a sudden silence broken only by the sound of Ella crawling to Jess and making a little bewildered sound as if to ask, ‘What was all that about?’
‘It’s all right, Ella. They’ve just gone for a visit with their aunt and uncle.’ Jess picked up the little girl and stroked her hand over Ella’s soft wispy hair. ‘You keep getting shocked by strange people turning up, don’t you?’
While Dan drew a breath to ask what she meant, Jess turned her head and spoke to him.
‘With your family gone for two days, did you still want me, Dan?’
More with eac
h passing day.
‘Yes.’ He cleared his throat and cast about for an excuse—for the things he’d been holding off doing because it was too hard with heaps of children. ‘Any chance you’d like to help me with some light yard work this morning? And maybe get ahead with some baking this afternoon while I flatten all the moving boxes and arrange to have them taken away for recycling? I hadn’t realised Adele might miss the children like that.’
Jess smiled and bounced Ella in her arms. ‘I liked her, Dan. She seemed a really good sort. Your brother-in-law, too.’
She rolled her sleeves up, then. Metaphorically at least. She slathered Ella in sun block, put a big hat on her and placed her in the playpen in the shade, and they set to work while the sun was still low in the sky.
CHAPTER TWELVE
‘ELLA’S DOWN FOR THE COUNT. She napped earlier, but apparently watching people carrying boxes is exhausting work for a one-year-old.’ Jess made the observation as she stepped into the living room. ‘I’ll try to get a bit more work done, Dan, before I go home—’
‘Leave it for tonight.’ Dan glanced up from where he’d been pressing buttons on the TV remote to change channels. ‘In fact, would you like to watch some television with me?’
Jess hesitated and then, when she glanced at the screen, said, ‘Is that show what I think it is?’
He’d found an old comedy show that Jess loved. Dan gestured to the seat beside him on the couch. ‘Come and watch it. We’ve worked hard enough today to earn it.’
They had, Jess justified, and plopped down beside him. She refused to think about the wisdom or otherwise of what she was doing.
One comedy show led to another, and then to a discussion about ones they liked best, and Dan dug through the family’s DVD collection. They selected two movies. For the second one, Jess brought cocoa and cookies and somehow they ended up sitting closer. She could feel Dan’s shoulder and arm against her side.
