by Helen Lacey
He shrugged. “It happens.”
“I guess. Doesn’t make it hurt less, though.”
Was he hurt? Wounded, maybe. And angry. And disappointed that he’d been so blind about Yvette. Wyatt was also man enough to take some responsibility for what had happened between them. He’d jumped into their relationship quickly, and he wasn’t about to make that mistake again. Wyatt liked Fiona. And desired her. But Yvette’s betrayal made him wary and suspicious. He barely knew Fiona and couldn’t be sure her attraction to him was genuine. It seemed real. It felt real when she’d kissed him. But his ex-fiancée had pretended to care for six months before he’d found her out. How could he be sure Fiona wasn’t using the attraction between them to get closer to Cecily? He couldn’t.
But still, she was smart and pretty and sexy. The whole package. Exactly the kind of woman Wyatt imagined he’d want. There was no outward pretense with Fiona Walsh. There was a deep earthiness in her manner, a kind of sweet honesty. Sometimes blunt, always sincere...just...lovely.
“I’m sure you will.”
She looked at him oddly. “You’re sure I will what?”
“Fall in love.”
She half smiled and the air between them crackled. “I’m not holding my breath. Although Cecily has already hit me up for a little brother or sister one day.”
“Really?” Wyatt wasn’t really surprised, though. He knew his niece didn’t relish being an only child. “Karen and Jim wanted to give her everything,” he explained as she began walking again. The rise to the beach was ahead, and when she trudged up the sandbank, Wyatt followed.
She moved back and grabbed his arm. “I wasn’t criticizing them.”
Wyatt placed his hand over hers and rubbed his thumb over her fingertips. “I know that. Cecily was the only child in the family for a long time so I guess we all indulged her.”
“Your sister and her husband didn’t try to adopt again?”
“No. They’d tried to have a baby for a long time before Cecily came into their lives. Jim had been working up north for several years when they started adoption proceedings. Actually, they were only three weeks away from returning to the Hunter Valley when Cecily became available.”
She stiffened and tried to pull her hand away. He held on. “That didn’t come out right.”
“It’s the truth,” she said on a heavy sigh. “I gave her up. I let her go. She was available. I didn’t get a say in which family she went to. My uncle and your sister insisted on a closed adoption, and I was so upset I agreed without really considering what it would mean—for me or my baby.”
Her pain struck him hard between the ribs. “Karen should have—”
“I don’t blame her,” Fiona said quickly. “In her shoes, I might have done the same thing. I was told what I needed to hear—that my baby had gone to the perfect couple.”
Perfect? Wyatt fought the urge to set her straight. Instead, he remained loyal to his sister. He owed Karen as much. “They loved Cecily dearly.”
“Then I guess I was right to let her go.”
“Fiona, I want—”
“Hey!” Cecily’s voice, loud and excited, crashed through the moment.
Wyatt dropped Fiona’s hand and watched his niece climb up the small sand hill. She had a towel wrapped around her waist and water dripped over her bare feet. “Enjoy your swim?”
“Yeah.” She laughed. “The water’s cold, and Lily and I dunked Trevor. So...” She raised her eyebrows and looked at them both, grinning broadly. “Wanna explain why you guys were holding hands just now?”
“We weren’t really—”
“No,” he replied the same time Fiona started to protest. Wyatt knew better than to give in to Cecily’s curiosity. The kid had all the tenacity of a terrier.
She laughed again. “Hah—you’re so busted.”
Fiona moved forward, clearly mortified. “Well, I’m going over to the surf club to check my roster. I volunteer for beach patrol,” she explained and looked quickly toward Cecily. “Have fun in the water—if it’s too cold, don’t stay in for too long. And swim between the flags.”
She walked down the sand and headed back onto the path and into a nearby building. Once she was out of earshot, Wyatt turned back to his niece. “Was that necessary?”
Cecily gave a cat-who-got-the-cream grin. “You’re the one caught making out, not me.”
He frowned. “We were not making out,” he said and got a powerful flashback of kissing Fiona in Evie’s kitchen. “I was helping her up the sand bank.”
They both knew it sounded like the lamest excuse they’d ever heard.
And Cecily had no compunction in telling him so. “You know, I’m not a little kid. I’m okay with it if you like her. I like her, too.”
“The reason we’re here is so you can get to know Fiona. That’s all.”
“I get that,” she replied and pulled her hair from its band. “All I’m saying is that if you want to take her out sometime, I wouldn’t mind.” Her eyes widened. “You could take her back to that restaurant we went to and get one of those tables in the corner where it’s quiet and I dunno...romantic.”
I am not standing here getting dating advice from a fourteen-year-old.
“And you can ditch whatever silly ideas you’ve got going on in your head and get back to your friends.”
Cecily rolled her eyes. “Chill out, Uncle Wyatt. You are old enough to date, you know.”
She skipped off back down the embankment, and Wyatt remained where he was until he saw her regroup with Trevor and Lily. Once assured she was safe, he stepped down the bank and headed for the building where he knew Fiona was hiding out.
* * *
“What’s this?” Fiona asked Cameron Jakowski as she looked over the beach-patrol duty roster. “No Saturday shifts for the next three weeks?”
Cameron, full-time local police officer and part-time lifeguard, smiled and shook his head. “That’s right.”
Fiona settled herself on the other side of the counter. The surf club had two levels, and she was on the bottom floor where the lifeguards hung out when they weren’t patrolling the beach. “Are you sure?”
“Positive. Enjoy the time with your daughter.”
Of course he knew about Cecily. Cameron was Noah Preston’s best friend, just as Callie was her best friend. Callie was married to Noah; it was natural Callie had told her husband about Cecily. And Fiona liked Cameron. They’d been friends since she’d first settled in Crystal Point. They’d even dated a few times. But there was no chemistry between them and their relationship was completely platonic.
“Thank you. You’re a gem.”
He grabbed her shoulders and squeezed. “I know. So, is Cecily going to Lily’s sleepover this Saturday?”
“Absolutely. Now that Cecily and Lily are firm friends, I haven’t a chance of keeping them apart.”
Cameron laughed and hugged her tighter. At precisely the same time Wyatt rounded the doorway. He stopped, stared and didn’t look happy about what he saw. Not one bit.
Chapter Six
There was suddenly enough raw testosterone in the room to make up a football team. Fiona extracted herself from Cameron’s brotherly hug and introduced the two men. They shook hands, although Wyatt looked as if he’d rather arm wrestle.
Is he jealous?
Jealously suggested he had deeper feelings. And although she figured he was attracted to her, to imagine it was anything more than that would be foolish.
Once Cameron left to start his rotation on the beach, Wyatt leaned against the counter and crossed his arms. “Old boyfriend?”
Fiona folded her roster into her pocket. “Old friend,” she said and offered to show Wyatt around. “The whole top floor is being refurbished after a fire a few months ago,” she explained as
she motioned for them to head from the office and into one of the three larger rooms out front. “The local residents’ committee worked hard to get the funding and the project will take about eight months to finish. The space upstairs is used for courses in self-defense and martial-arts classes. And downstairs for things like first-aid skills training.”
“Fiona?”
She walked toward the stairway. “Of course, it’s wonderful to have a newly refurbished building for people to come and—”
“Fiona, stop.”
She stilled as her foot hit the bottom stair.
“I want to talk to you about what Cecily said.”
Fiona didn’t feel like dealing with that particular issue. She’d talk with her daughter privately about how they were not holding hands. Without Wyatt around to distract her. “I’d rather not.”
He didn’t let up. “She’s just being Cecily.”
“She thought we were holding hands,” Fiona said as awkwardness crept along her skin.
“Actually, we were holding hands. But that’s not the point. You don’t have to worry. She’s fine with it.”
“I don’t want her to be fine with it,” she replied sharply. “Or her to think I’m...that I’m...”
“That you’re what?”
“Easy,” she breathed out.
Wyatt took a step toward her. “Easy?” he echoed. “Because I was holding your hand?”
Fiona dropped her shoulders. “Because I was... Because we were...” She stopped and filled her lungs with air. “Maybe it doesn’t make sense to you, but I don’t want her to think I would do anything to act on...” She waved a hand between them. “This. We kissed and that complicates things.”
“If we let it.”
“Sure, if we let it. Only, I’m not the kind of person who gets involved casually. I want Cecily to know I’m someone who makes good choices. Let’s face it, I’m at a disadvantage. I’ve got a lot of ground to make up.”
Fiona meant every word. It was important she behaved like a woman her daughter could respect. Lusting after Wyatt didn’t put her in that category.
“Cecily is a good judge of character,” he said and took a couple of steps upward. “She’ll make up her mind about you because of what she knows about you now and not because of something you did when you were fifteen years old. The only person who believes you are defined by that moment, Fiona, is you.” He kept walking and reached the landing.
“But the investigator’s report—”
“Was a stupid idea,” he said and cut her off. “And you were right—it was a piece of paper. It didn’t tell me who you were. It didn’t tell me that you were honest and kind and clearly a good person. I know you’ll do what’s right for Cecily.”
Fiona’s breath caught in her throat. “Thank you,” she said and knew she sounded wobbly. “That means a lot.”
He nodded. “So, let’s get on with this tour you promised me.”
She got her attention back on track and climbed the stairs. There was a class in progress on one side of room, which was sectioned off from the remaining space with trestles and painting gear left from the workers who’d been in the building the day before. A small group of elderly women were doing tai chi, and they watched the participants through the glass door.
“This will be a great facility when it’s complete. The funding was a lifeline for the building.”
“You’re frowning,” he observed.
“Am I?” She shrugged lightly. “I was thinking how I wished we could get the same windfall for the school where I work.”
“You want a place where the kids can practice tai chi?”
She smiled as his lame joke. “We need a new canteen.”
“Something wrong with the old one?” he asked and followed as she headed back down the stairs.
“Everything,” she replied. “We’ve applied for funding every year for the last...” She paused and did a mental calculation. “Well, the five years I’ve been teaching there and another two years before that.”
“I gather it’s not a high priority.”
“Not exactly,” she said unhappily. “It has a roof and four walls—apparently that’s all the kids need. Mostly it needs renovating—you know, new walls inside, some painting, that sort of thing.”
“Have you tried fundraising?”
“For sure,” she said as they walked through the front door and back onto the pathway, avoiding a pair of wobbly cyclists. “And we’ve had some success. But people’s purses only stretch so far, and in between saving the foreshore, the seabirds, the mangroves and the local turtle population, there’s not a lot left over for one tiny school and its need for a new canteen.”
“Kids should have a place to buy food, though.” He stopped walking. “Show me.”
“Show you? Why?”
“I’m curious. Can you access school grounds on the weekend?”
Fiona nodded. “Of course. It’s school break so it won’t make any difference. But I don’t understand why—”
“Like I said, I’m curious.”
She didn’t understand his motives but didn’t see the harm. “Okay. How about tomorrow? I’ll clear it with the principal to make sure. About nine o’clock.”
“It’s a date,” Wyatt said easily and headed for the sand hills and disappeared over the embankment.
* * *
Wyatt picked her up the following morning at three minutes to nine o’clock. Alone. Fiona hopped into his rental car and tried not the think about how her heart was doing a kind of silly fluttering thing as she gave quick directions to the school.
“Where’s Cecily?” she asked as she put on her seat belt.
Wyatt slanted her a sideways look. “With Trevor. I’m learning to trust. Impressed?”
“I don’t imagine it’s something you do easily.”
“Trust?” He steered the car around. “Probably not.”
She dropped her small tote at her feet. “I suppose it’s natural to be wary after you’ve been, you know...”
“Cheated on?”
Fiona nodded. “Did you suspect it? I mean, before—”
“Before I caught her in bed with someone else? No.”
She didn’t bother to hide her distaste. Perhaps it was a leftover hang-up from all the years she spent on the road with Shayne, watching her mother fall into the arms of one cowboy after another, many of them married men with families. It was a behavior she’d vowed to never emulate. And then Jamie Corbett came along and took what she wasn’t prepared to give.
“We’re not all like that,” she said and quickly realized how intimate it sounded.
“I know,” he replied lightly. “It takes two people to cheat.”
“Monogamy doesn’t seem like much of a price if you really love someone.”
He looked at her. “If you love someone? Exactly. I’ll probably thank Yvette one day.”
Yvette? It was a fancy-sounding name. Fiona would bet her frayed sneakers that his ex-fiancée was beautiful. She suddenly wished she’d done something stupidly female like slap on a little makeup that morning. Or at least deck herself out in new jeans instead of the old favorites that fit like a glove but were older than Methuselah.
“Do you still see her?”
Sheesh...isn’t that the dumbest, most painfully obvious question ever uttered?
Thankfully they pulled up in front of the school before Fiona had to decide if he was grinning. She opened the door as swiftly as she could and grabbed her bag.
“The gate is over—”
Wyatt looked at her over the top of the vehicle. “I don’t see Yvette,” he said. “I’m not seeing anyone. Just so you know.”
“I do know,” she said quickly and shut the door. “Cecily told me. I mean, I’m sur
e there are many women who would want to go out with you.” Fiona stopped and cringed as heat crept over her skin and up her neck. “I only meant that if you were seeing someone you wouldn’t have...you know...”
“Kissed you?” He was grinning.
She ignored his words and waved an arm toward the school. “We’re here.”
“Let’s take a look.”
Fifteen minutes later, Wyatt stepped back from the doorway leading into the canteen area and looked up toward the roof.
“Well, it needs rebuilding, that’s for sure.”
Fiona’s hopes sank. “Really? Which means thousands of dollars, right?”
“Tens of thousands.”
Her eyes popped wide. “But it looks almost structurally sound.”
“Termites,” he explained. “Which have compromised the building’s structural integrity. It needs to be pulled down. No decent builder would attempt renovation.”
Fiona sank onto one of the low lunch seats underneath a shelter. Designed for the first graders, the position forced her knees up almost to her chin. “Well, that’s that, then.”
Wyatt swiveled on his heels. “Not necessarily.”
She looked up. “Without funding, we couldn’t possibly afford to rebuild.”
He stepped back and shrugged in a way that made her stare at his shoulders and think how well he pulled off the whole jeans-and-white-T-shirt thing. “You could with some help.”
“Yeah, but as I said yesterday, there are so many different causes and our school—”
“I’ll help you,” he said, cutting her off.
Fiona jumped to her feet. “Why would you want to do that?”
He looked toward the building for a moment. “Because you... Because the school needs a new building. And because I’d like to.”
“Wyatt, I couldn’t possibly let you—”
“You talk with whoever you need to and I’ll get plans drawn up. Harper’s has a charity fund, and helping places like your school is exactly what the fund is for. My company will supply all the materials, and from this end you can work your magic and organize the contract labor.”
