had said smog hadn’t caused Mary Kate’s condition.
“I didn’t,” Valerie said. “I was concerned because Cole had it as a child.”
“I’m over it now,” Mary Kate volunteered.
“Well, that’s a relief.” Valerie beamed at them. “I’ll get your drinks right away.” She glanced over Jane’s shoulder. “Excuse me, someone’s signaling me.”
“Don’t you like her?” Mary Kate asked when Valerie had hurried away. “You weren’t very friendly.”
“She’s a nice woman. She’s just so…” Jane trailed off, not wanting to taint her daughter’s relationship with her grandmother. But when Jane had turned out to be pregnant, Valerie had come to Esther, and the two women had had a long discussion over what to do with her. Jane had never known anything so humiliating. As if she’d want help from the Roberts family after Cole had rejected her. “You know small towns,” she finished vaguely.
Valerie came back in a few minutes with the latte and Mary Kate’s milk shake. Mercifully she was busy and couldn’t stop to talk.
“Mmm, this is good.” Mary Kate happily slurped her milk shake through a straw.
“The coffee’s not bad, either,” Jane had to admit. It was as good as any in Melbourne.
A clip-clop sounded on the pavement and half a block up the road a pair of horses ridden by young girls in riding boots and hard hats walked out of the bush, crossed the road and disappeared down another trail.
Mary Kate leaned out from the table to follow their progress. “Wow! Did you see that? If we stay in Red Hill, can I get a horse?”
“What happened to your separation anxiety from the mall?” Jane asked wryly.
“That was before I knew there were horses.”
“Your father has horses. You probably don’t remember sitting on one when you were five.” Jane added, “But we’re not staying. You know that.”
Valerie returned with their salad and focaccia and set the plates of food on the table. Apparently the same question was on her mind. “Will you be in Red Hill long?”
“Only as long as it takes to deal with Esther’s effects and sell the farm,” Jane replied.
“You’re selling Cockatoo Ridge?” Hope lifted Valerie’s voice. “Is Cole going to make an offer on it?”
“He’s said nothing to me about that,” Jane replied.
Silently, Valerie took cutlery rolled in napkins from her apron pocket and laid them beside the plates. When she spoke again she changed the subject. “I suppose you know Cole and Leslie are divorced. He has primary custody of Stephanie but he still pays Leslie a monthly sum for expenses. He helps me out occasionally and Joey’s always borrowing money.”
Jane spread her napkin on her lap, quietly fuming. Did Valerie think she intended to shake Cole down for child support in arrears? She’d raised Mary Kate for twelve years without asking for a cent and she had no intention of taking money from him now. Determined to put a halt to Valerie’s innuendos, she said to Mary Kate, “Go wash your hands before you eat.”
“But—” Mary Kate started to object.
“The washrooms are inside the café at the back,” Valerie told her. Mary Kate had no choice but to leave.
Jane put down her knife and fork and looked Valerie straight in the eye. “My dealings with Cole are strictly business. He’s selling the farm for me. Once that’s done, Mary Kate and I are leaving and not coming back. You don’t need to worry. He has no obligation to me and Mary Kate, financial or otherwise. I want nothing from him.”
“That’s not what I meant.” Valerie’s face fell in dismay. “I’m so sorry if you thought that.”
“Then what are you trying to say?” Jane asked.
“Only to assure you that Cole lives up to his responsibilities. That despite his other financial obligations, he’ll want Mary Kate to feel like a full-fledged part of his family.” Valerie worried at the tie on her black apron. “Of course I don’t mean she’s an obligation. He’s thrilled to have her back in his life. All of us—Cole, Stephanie, me, Joey, Crystal, welcome Mary Kate.”
“I see,” Jane said, relaxing. “That’s nice.”
“And you never know what will happen now that Cole and Leslie aren’t together,” Valerie went on, her smile returning. “You and he were fond of one another once.”
Jane laughed in sheer surprise. “I can guarantee nothing will happen in that direction.”
Mary Kate came back and clattered into her seat. “I’m starving.”
“We’ll see,” Valerie said knowingly to Jane. “At any rate, I’m thrilled my grandchild has come home.” She moved away, touching Mary Kate’s shoulder as she went. “I’ll see you very soon.”
Jane sighed and picked up her cutlery to eat. Feeling someone’s gaze on her, she glanced across the street. Cole stood in the doorway of Red Hill Real Estate, watching her.
CHAPTER THREE
WHAT THE HECK was his mother saying to Jane? Valerie meant well but she had a tendency to interfere. Cole could hardly fault her since her greatest joy was her family. He only hoped she wouldn’t come across too strongly and scare Jane out of town…taking his daughter with her.
Millie summoned him to take a phone call. When he got back to the doorway, Jane was nowhere in sight; she must have gone into the café to pay. Mary Kate was about to cross the street to where Jane’s Mazda was parked. She had a confident stride and seemed more grown-up than Stephanie, who was still a tomboy in many ways. It wouldn’t be long before both of them were young women.
The thought tugged at him, making him aware of how much he’d already missed. Jane clearly didn’t want him to have a place in Mary Kate’s life. But that was too bad. He’d spent his whole life accommodating other people. It was time to put his needs and desires first for a change. And Mary Kate was top of his priority list.
The downside was that getting to know Mary Kate would mean more contact with Jane. When she’d come into his office yesterday he’d felt the old attraction surge to the surface. It hadn’t taken long before annoyance and frustration kicked in. And there was no doubt how she felt about him. Yet somehow they had to work together for Mary Kate’s sake.
A car rounded the corner just as Mary Kate stepped off the curb, looking in the wrong direction for oncoming traffic.
Cole ran outside onto the footpath. “Mary Kate!”
She leaped out of the way and stumbled, falling to her knees on the pavement. The car swerved, narrowly missing her, and drove past, its horn blaring.
Cole ran across the road. He helped Mary Kate to her feet and checked her over. Her knees were grazed and she was wide-eyed with the sudden fright, but that seemed the extent of her injuries. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah,
