compelled to apologise. ‘I’m sorry.’
And for some reason he couldn’t fathom that made her smile again, only it wasn’t the kind of smile that reached her eyes. She touched his map and shook her head. ‘No.’
He blinked. ‘No?’ But...
She laughed and he could see it was partly in frustration with him, but she didn’t do it in a mean way. She rested back on her hands again. ‘Aidan, you really need to learn to relax and chill out a bit.’
And just like that she reminded him of Daniel.
It should’ve hurt him.
But it didn’t.
* * *
‘I...’
He stared at her as if he’d never seen her before. Or as if no one had ever told him to slow down and smell the roses. He stared at her as if that very concept was totally alien.
She bit back a sigh. This trip—spending time with her boys and doing all she could to make this transition in their lives exciting and easy—was important to her. Taking pity on Aidan and inviting him to join them had thrown the dynamic off more than she’d anticipated. She’d promised the boys a holiday and she wasn’t going back on her word.
And eight hours a day driving wasn’t a holiday in anybody’s vocabulary.
‘We probably should’ve compared notes about the kind of travelling we were expecting to do before we left Perth.’ How could he know she meant to take it slow if she hadn’t explained it to him? He was obviously in a hurry, but... ‘It didn’t occur to me at the time.’ She moistened her lips. ‘But we’re obviously working on two different timetables here.’
Her stomach churned. He was probably used to everyone rushing around at a million miles an hour. That was what people from his world—her parents’ world—did.
Don’t hold that against him. It doesn’t make him like your parents.
‘I made enquiries in town to see if I could hire a car of my own.’
She swallowed. It’d be one solution to the problem. ‘And?’
‘No luck, I’m afraid.’
‘I see.’
‘You’re regretting taking me on as a passenger.’ He said it simply, without rancour, but there was such exhaustion stretching through his voice it was all she could do to not reach across and clasp his hand and to tell him he was mistaken. Only...
She glanced across at her boys, now happily playing with the newcomers to the playground. A fierce mixture of love and fear swirled through her. Pushing her shoulders back, she met his stare again. Pussyfooting around would only lead to more misunderstandings. ‘Aidan, you’ve been unfailingly polite, but you haven’t really been all that friendly.’
‘I beg your pardon?’
He gritted his teeth so hard his mouth turned white. She hated being the reason for that expression, but she soldiered on all the same, hoping she wasn’t punishing him for the reminders of the past that he’d unwittingly brought rushing back to her. ‘You didn’t join in on our singalong. You didn’t play I Spy or the number plate game.’
He stared at her. For someone groomed to project and maintain a certain image, he looked all at sea. ‘Please don’t tell me you want to part company here in this two-horse town.’
‘Of course not!’ How could he think she’d abandon him like that?
‘Once we reach Adelaide I’ll make other arrangements.’
‘Okay.’ She bit her thumbnail for a moment, unable to look at him. Adelaide was still six or possibly seven days away yet. If she could make him see how important this trip was...well, then, he might make more of an effort to fit in. Maybe.
She stretched her legs out in front of her. ‘You know what I think? I think we should break the ice a little. I think we should ask the questions that have been itching through us and get that all out of the way.’
He looked so utterly appalled she had to bite her lip to stop from laughing. This man took self-contained to a whole new level. ‘Or, better yet, why don’t we tell each other something we think the other wants to know?’
His expression didn’t change but she ignored it to clap her hands. ‘Yes, that’ll be much more fun. I’ll go first, shall I?’ she rushed on before he could object. She crossed her legs again. ‘I’m going to tell you why Robbie, Chase and I are on a road trip across the continent.’
He shifted, grew more alert. She could tell from the way his eyes focused on her and his shoulders straightened. Oh, he was appalled still, of course, but she hoped his curiosity would eventually conquer his resistance.
‘The olive farm is in the Hunter Valley wine district and it belongs to my aunt. She’s the black sheep of the family.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘And I happen to take after her.’
‘Your family consider you a black sheep?’
A question! She schooled her features to hide her triumph. ‘Actually, in all honesty, I’d be very surprised if my parents thought about me at all these days. They’re from Sydney. I became pregnant with Robbie when I was eighteen. They wanted me to go to university and carve out some mythically brilliant career. When I decided to have my baby instead, they cut me off.’
His jaw dropped. He mightn’t be ‘friendly’ in a traditional sense, but he didn’t strike her as the kind of man who’d walk away from his family when they needed him.
And you’re basing that on what—his pretty smiles and earnest eyes in his television interviews?
Hmm, good point.
‘Siblings?’
Another question! ‘None. So, after my parents handed me their ultimatum, I packed my bags and moved to Perth.’
‘Why Perth?’
‘Because it was about as far away from Sydney as I could get while still remaining in the country.’
He stared at her for a long moment. She held her breath and crossed her fingers that he’d ask a fourth question.
‘Did Robbie’s father go with you?’
She wanted to beam at him for asking. ‘Yes, he did.’ But she didn’t want to tell him that story. ‘When I had Robbie my Aunt Mara—’
‘Of black sheep fame?’
He was totally hooked, whether he knew it or not. ‘The very one. Well, she came across to Perth to help me out for a couple of weeks. I was barely nineteen with a new baby. I appreciated every bit of help, advice and support she gave me.’
He plucked a nearby dandelion. ‘That’s nice.’
‘She didn’t have to. We’d had very little to do with each other when I was growing up.’ Her parents had made sure of that. ‘But those two
