‘Erin, stop!’ Wendy was ready to throttle her. ‘I can hardly stay here,’ Wendy retorted. ‘There’s nowhere to rent-even if I could afford it.’
‘Yes, there is.’ Luke’s voice came out of nowhere-almost as if he hadn’t meant it to happen-and both women stared at him.
‘I beg your pardon?’ Wendy was so far out of her depth she didn’t know whether she was hearing right. Erin had just exposed far more than she’d wanted her to expose. Why? This man had nothing to do with her.
But apparently Luke had other ideas.
‘I have a place you can have rent-free,’ Luke told her. ‘You take care of my little sister, Wendy Maher, and I’ll give you a home in Bay Beach for however long you want it.’
You could have heard a pin drop. No one spoke at all.
Amazingly, even the bubbly Erin was silent. She was just plain stunned. She’d thrown the embryo of an idea into the air, and suddenly a miracle was happening.
Erin talked all the time but she knew when to shut up. She shut up now.
‘I…’ Wendy pushed a couple of errant curls from her eyes and tugged her hand away from Luke. Luke was still holding it, and he didn’t let her go now. ‘Please.’ She tugged again. ‘I have a train to catch.’
‘To a one-room apartment in Sydney when you want to stay here? And how are you going to make a living?’
‘I can get a job in child care while Gabbie’s at school.’
‘You know darn well those types of jobs are like hen’s teeth,’ Erin retorted-and then subsided at the look in her friend’s eyes. Oh dear-maybe she had gone too far.
‘I’ll pay you well,’ Luke told Wendy. This was a man accustomed to making fast decisions and he’d made one now. ‘Your friend’s right. I can afford to pay for a nanny. I’ll check out the going rate and pay you more. Plus living expenses. You can live at the farm.’
‘The farm?’
‘I have a farm.’ He smiled and took pity on the look of sheer bewilderment on her face. His hand holding hers pressed it gently, and then he released her fingers. She let her hand fall to her side, but she looked down at it, as if it still contained…
What? She didn’t know. Some trace of future trouble? Something she didn’t understand at all.
‘I told you my grandparents owned a farm outside Bay Beach,’ he told her. ‘Well, it’s just south of here and it’s gorgeous. There’s two hundred acres of prime grazing land, with beachfront and the river forming the northern boundary. When they died they left it to me-in trust so my father couldn’t get his hands on it. Because I loved it so much, I’ve never sold it. It’s been let for agistment-a local farmer runs his cattle on it-but the house is still there and it’s empty. If you want it, it’s yours.’
‘If I want it?’ Wendy stared at him as if he’d lost his mind. A farm. Here! If she wanted it…
‘Of course she wants it,’ Erin said briskly. ‘Just say yes, Wendy.’ She fixed her friend with a steely look. ‘Say yes, dope. Fast!’
‘No!’ Wendy shook her head. By her side, Gabbie was still watchful. Wary. Reminding her to be careful. The world had kicked this little one around too much for Wendy to take any more risks on her behalf. An inner voice was screaming at her to be careful.
‘Where did you say the farm was?’ she asked.
‘Two miles out of town.’ Luke let his eyes crease into his accustomed smile. Finally this mess looked like getting sorted.
‘What was your grandparents’ name?’
‘Brehaut.’
‘The Brehaut place!’ Wendy stared, and Erin let her breath out in a gasp of excitement.
‘Oh, it’s gorgeous. The Brehaut farm…’
‘That house hasn’t been lived in for twenty years,’ Wendy said, puzzled. ‘No one could ever figure out why.’
‘And now we know,’ Erin said exultantly. ‘Isn’t it the most exciting thing?’
‘Is it liveable?’
‘Yes, I think so.’ A trace of uncertainty entered Luke’s eyes. ‘I keep it maintained. The farmer who uses the land keeps it weatherproof.’
‘Weatherproof isn’t the same as liveable.’
‘Oh, for heaven’s sake, Wendy,’ Erin snapped. ‘You can fix the place.’
‘While I care for a baby and a five-year-old.’ Wendy shook her head. ‘Mr Grey-’
‘Luke.’
‘Luke, then.’ She met his look head on, steel meeting steel. On the surface this offer seemed too good to refuse, but Gabbie was by her side and Gabbie was why she’d thrown in a perfectly good career and was moving on.
‘It’d include Gabbie?’ she asked. ‘I’d have the run of the house and Gabbie could stay with me?’
‘The house has five bedrooms,’ he said, expanding on his theme, and worry fading by the minute. This was looking better and better. Over the years he’d fretted about the farm, knowing he should sell it, but always he’d held back. Sentiment, he guessed, though he told himself it was a reasonable investment. Now, if Wendy was to fix it up a bit… Make it a home…
‘You’d set it up legally?’ she asked.
‘Watertight,’ he told her. ‘I need to go to New York tonight, but I’ll send my lawyer down from Sydney. I’ll instruct him to do whatever necessary to have you stay.’
Wendy blinked. There had to be a catch. Somewhere.
She looked at the baby sleeping in Luke’s arms. Grace. Grace and Gabbie. She’d be caring for two little girls…
This could be perfect. This way, if-when-Gabbie’s mother demanded time with her daughter there wouldn’t be such a hole in her life. She’d remain busy doing what she loved best, and there’d still be a home waiting for Gabbie when she returned.
But the house hadn’t been lived in for how many years? And the unknown factor-this new little baby’s mother-could return at any minute, and reclaim her baby. She’d only dumped her this morning. There was all the reason in the world to suppose she’d change her mind, and where would that leave Wendy and Gabbie?
No! There were dangers everywhere she looked, and if she didn’t catch this train-when did it leave?-oh, good grief, in less than an hour!-she’d be too late to get the keys to her new apartment. She’d lose it and she’d be stuck with nowhere to live in Sydney.
On the other hand, if she agreed and took two small children out to a derelict farm, and Luke headed back to New York…
She’d be stuck, she thought wildly. She could be in the biggest mess, and it wasn’t just her. It would be Gabbie and Grace as well. She had no legal right to take on the responsibility for this baby. She wondered whether Luke did. Probably not. So it had to be said.
‘No,’ she said firmly, and bit her lip as she heard herself say it. It was such a glorious idea. To say no was dreadful-but she had to be sensible.
‘Wendy!’ Erin wailed.
‘May I ask why not?’ Luke was in businessman mode here-moving in organisational capacity. This was what he was good at. ‘It’s a very good offer.’
‘It may be an exceptional offer,’ she told him. ‘But if the farm’s a wreck then it’s not. Or if I’m accused of taking Grace when I have no legal right to care for her. I’ll bet you haven’t even thought of the legal ramifications of guardianship. Have you?’
His eyes went blank. Clearly he hadn’t. ‘No.’
‘Then, I thank you for your very kind offer,’ she said firmly. ‘But I can’t accept. Unless…’
‘Unless?’
‘Unless you postpone your trip to New York. Unless you spend enough time with us at the farm to ensure it’s liveable, and you don’t leave for New York until everything’s legally settled and I’m happy that the children have a secure and reasonable place to live.’
He didn’t like it.
For the next ten minutes Luke produced every argument he could think of to have her change her mind. At the end of the ten minutes she simply took Gabbie’s hand and led her from the room.