The Guides started arriving and she gave them setting-up tasks, keeping them busy.
‘Hi, Kate, Mum’s sent some eggs from the farm.’ Phoebe Walton put a dozen eggs on the trestle table. ‘She says you have to take any leftover eggs home.’
‘Thanks, Phoebe. Can you head into the kitchen and help Hannah and Jessica in their quest for cooking utensils?’
‘Sure.’ Phoebe headed to the kitchen.
‘I remembered the lemons!’ Erin Baxter proudly held a bag of lemons aloft.
‘Sensational effort, Erin.’ Kate looked beyond her. ‘Where’s your friend?’
Erin dumped the lemons down hard, sending three rolling down the hall. ‘She’s coming but Mum couldn’t bring her because I had a dentist appointment.’ She grimaced.
‘I think the fluoro pink brackets look fabulous on your braces.’ Kate’s mobile phone vibrated in her pocket. ‘Excuse me.’ She pulled out the phone, immediately recognising the number on the display. ‘Hi, Sandra.’
‘Joel has just vomited everywhere for the second time and I really can’t leave him. Sorry, Kate. Perhaps one of the mothers can stay and help you out?’ Sandra’s hopeful voice sounded down the line.
Kate didn’t have the heart to tell her that the mothers who might have stayed and helped had departed, and by the time she was able to get one of them to come back they would have lost too much time for the session to take place. ‘I hope Joel feels better soon.’ She rang off.
Hilary Smithton walked in with her daughter, Lucy, her nose wrinkling as if the air of the Guide Hall was offensive. Hilary always arrived late, although Kate doubted it was from disorganisation. Hilary had grown up with Shane. Along with the Kennedy clan, she blamed Kate for his death.
Kate took in a deep breath. ‘Hello, Hilary. Hi, Lucy. Did you remember the sugar for the pancakes?’
Lucy cast a worried look at her mother and then stared at the floor.
Hilary put her palm against her chest in an exaggerated movement, her red nails vivid against the white designer T-shirt. ‘Oh, dear, were we supposed to bring sugar?’
Kate forced a polite smile. She’d bet her bottom dollar Lucy had asked for the sugar. ‘Not to worry, Lucy. I brought some in just in case.’
Relief flooded the girl’s face as she ran off to join her patrol.
Kate did a head count. She had more girls than she could legally have in her care alone. She didn’t want to have to disappoint them and cancel. Swallowing hard, she smiled at Hilary. ‘Sandra Dodson has a sick child and isn’t able to assist tonight. Are you able to stay and help out?’
Hilary’s gaze swept the hall, taking in the smiling, chattering girls all lined up in their patrols with the expectation of a fun time ahead shining on their faces.
Kate could almost hear Hilary’s brain ticking over, working out that without help Guides would have to be cancelled. She gave it one last shot, planning to appeal to Hilary’s maternal side. ‘Lucy’s been so looking forward to earning her cooking badge. Tonight’s the final task. It would be disappointing if it couldn’t happen.’
Hilary exhaled on a hiss, her eyes narrowing to glinting slits. ‘Disappointment is part of life. The sooner she learns that, the better. You might have been able to manipulate Shane but you can’t manipulate me.’
For a moment her attention seemed to slide away, as if she was looking over Kate’s shoulder. Then her gaze snapped back. ‘I refuse to help you, just like you refused to help Shane. And if you run the group tonight without another adult present, I’ll report you.’
Kate’s fingers curled into fists, her nails digging into her palms. She welcomed the pain as she forced herself to stay calm. She knew Hilary disliked her but she hadn’t believed she would jeopardise the Guides.
Anger and frustration welled up inside her. Her first attempt at resuming her life back in Warragurra and she’d failed. Hilary had her neatly over a barrel. How hard did it have to be to live in this town?
‘I can stay and help.’
The deep resonance of the words washed over her, causing her breath to catch in her throat. She’d recognise that voice anywhere. She spun around so quickly she swayed.
Baden stood in the hall with Sasha, his expression congenial but his eyes unusually dark, with swirling puzzlement in their depths.
Then he smiled. ‘Hello.’
Kate’s knees wobbled and she locked them for support. Her heart had already been hammering from the adrenaline surge Hilary’s words had evoked. Now his smile added a crazy jumping third beat. It left her dizzy and disorientated.
‘Hello, Baden.’ She focussed hard to sound cool and in control.
‘Erin Baxter invited Sasha to Guides.’ The informative statement filled in the gaps, as if he sensed her confusion at seeing him out of context. ‘She’s been talking about Guides for days so it would be a shame if pancake night couldn’t happen.’ He shot a wide smile at Hilary. ‘Besides, I’m a bit of a pancake expert.’
Hilary stiffened. ‘Well, I’ll leave you to it, then, Doctor. Although a man present at Guides is not exactly what the organisation had in mind.’ She gripped her shoulder-bag close to her side and strode out of the hall, her high heels clicking on the bare boards. The door slammed behind her.
Relief flooded through Kate, followed by a certain amount of smugness. Hilary had been outplayed and Guides would take place tonight. The situation had been rescued. She turned toward Baden, her thanks rising to her lips.
His clear blue gaze hooked hers. Suddenly she was acutely conscious of his height, his sharply appraising gaze and the unasked questions on his face. Questions that demanded answers.
Her stomach dropped to the floor. Her private life had just collided with her working life.
She’d wanted to keep the two completely separate. No way was she going to tell him about her battle with the town and relive the horror of the last year. But Warragurra’s size was conspiring to throw them together.
The exhilaration of the rescue faded fast, leaving dread in its wake.
Baden had supervised the beating of batter, tossed a hundred pancakes, wiped up more sugar than an army of ants could have consumed and had fought off sixteen girls attacking him with teatowel flicks.
But now peace reigned. Their parents had collected all the Guides and Sasha had gone with Erin for an ice-cream treat on the way home. Although why Erin’s mother thought they needed any more food after the feast they’d just had was beyond him. But apparently ice cream was a must with pancakes, even if the ice cream had to be consumed half an hour after the pancakes.
As he folded up the last trestle table he surreptitiously watched Kate, or Koala, as the Guides called her. She wore a vivid pink and blue apron over her casual uniform and flour stuck to her forehead.
Her silky smooth hair, which normally hung in a perfect curve around her face at work, had been pulled back
