Читать книгу Second Chance With The Single Dad - Kandy Shepherd - Страница 11

SO MANY TIMES during the years of her friendship with Wil, Georgia had escaped the city with him to head for the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, to ride horses or bush walk. Only never with a rearward-facing baby car seat installed in the back seat of Wil’s car. Or four large packets of disposable nappies stacked next to it. ‘Just in case they’re all needed on the way home,’ Wil explained.

Georgia laughed. ‘Unless the baby has a particularly explosive digestive system, I very much doubt that.’

He scowled in a way she well remembered. ‘I told you, I know nothing about babies.’

She almost said, You’ve got a lot to learn. But Wil seemed only too aware of that. She almost asked if he was nervous about collecting the baby, but the tight set of his jaw and the way his hands gripped the wheel so his knuckles showed white gave her the answer.

‘You’ll learn quickly,’ she said instead, making it her mission to encourage and support him as she’d always done as his friend. And avoid jokes about dirty nappies. He was facing completely new territory without much of a map to guide him. She fought the urge to reach out and place her hand over his to reassure him, but that had never been the way with them. No touching.

‘I guess I’ll have to,’ he said.

Her friend had come back so unexpectedly into her life. She was churning with curiosity about what had happened in the two years since she had seen him. So many questions clamoured to be asked. But now wasn’t the time to ask them.

Wil was essentially a very private person. It took time for him to confide in his friends. Things must have ended badly for him to have been so estranged from Angie he hadn’t even known she was pregnant. Georgia admired the way he had stepped up to his duty as a father. Not every twenty-eight-year-old guy would react the same way to news of a secret baby. But then she’d always thought of Wil as one of the good guys.

She’d met him at orientation day on the first day of her first year at Sydney University. Thrilled by the newness of it all, she’d signed up for various interest clubs and had been searching for the equestrian club when she’d bumped into a tall, dark-haired guy doing the same thing. One glance had told her he was a country boy, his Western jeans, blue and white checked shirt and elastic-sided riding boots a dead giveaway. All that had been missing was an Akubra, the iconic Australian wide-brimmed hat.

‘They’ve closed the equestrian club for lack of interest,’ he’d said gloomily.

‘But I’m interested,’ she’d said.

‘So am I,’ he’d said.

‘That makes two of us.’

Then they’d looked at each other—really looked—and laughed. ‘Why don’t we start our own club?’ he’d said.

‘Let’s go grab a coffee and talk about how we’d do that,’ she’d said.

Excitement had hummed through her. He had been quite the hottest guy she’d seen on campus. But from the get-go it had been strictly a hands-off scenario. Wil had just started dating a girl and she’d still been seeing her high-school boyfriend. Despite that—perhaps because of that—she and Wil had fallen immediately into an easy friendship, talking non-stop for more than an hour. They’d done nothing about reviving the moribund university equestrian club. But the next weekend they’d driven up together to the Blue Mountains to horseback ride in the Megalong Valley.

This time, their hour-and-a-half journey to the mountains took them to a suburban area on the wrong side of Katoomba. Wil told her that his ex-wife had moved up there after their final split. The streets were steep and hilly, lined with small, free-standing houses, the bush never too far away. Georgia laughed when they had to sound the horn at a small flock of sheep grazing at the side of the road. No dimple from Wil. He was obviously too focused on what was to come to engage in her speculation about whether the sheep had escaped, or it was considered okay up here for sheep to wander all over a suburban street.

He pulled up in front of a shabby but tidy cottage, surrounded by a neat garden. ‘This is the sister’s place,’ he said. ‘She’s been looking after Nina since the accident.’ He made no move to get out of the car.

‘Nina is such a pretty name,’ she said.

‘Yeah. I like it,’ he said.

Georgia let him sit there, his gaze focused on the bright blue front door of the house, until the silence got uncomfortable. ‘So, operation baby pick up,’ she prompted. ‘What’s the next step?’

‘The social worker Maree meets us at the house to facilitate the handover. She’s in there now.’

‘And then you’re a daddy,’ she said. It scarcely seemed real to her. He would walk out of that house with a baby in his arms. A baby for keeps.

Wil turned to her, the colour drained from his face. ‘That’s what terrifies me. I want to do the right thing. But what do I know about being a dad? It’s not just the nappies or what to feed her. I’ll nail that. Suppose I haven’t got it in me to be a good parent?’

The anguish in his face told her there was something more going on here. She’d often had the feeling there was more to Wil than he’d ever let on to her. Something, perhaps, to do with his upbringing. She knew he’d been orphaned as a young child. But as a friend she’d never questioned his past. Right now he needed morale-boosting more than anything else.

‘The fact that you feel responsible for her is a very good start. That you’re actually here is a huge point in your favour.’

‘Guys usually have time to get used to the idea of being a father.’ He drummed his fingers on the edge of the steering wheel. ‘I’ve been thrown in the deep end.’

‘That’s true. You’ll have to learn on the spot. But you’re a clever guy. It seems to me that so far you’re doing great.’

‘She’s a baby now, but then she’ll be a little girl, then a teenager. I’ll be the father of a teenager, Georgie. How do I do that?’

‘It is a bit hard to imagine, isn’t it?’ she said. She and Wil had been teenagers when they’d met; it didn’t seem that long ago. ‘But you’ll grow with her and the next thing you know you’ll be giving her away at her wedding.’

‘Father of the bride? That’s a stretch too far,’ he said with a hint of that dimple finally appearing.

There was something about his slow smile, the way it lit his dark eyes, that had always made her believe she was special to Wil—as a friend. She could only imagine what it might be like to have that smile directed at her in the sensual, exciting way that had had women flocking to him. But she had never allowed herself to imagine it. Too scared that if she ever acted on it he might kindly reject her. She wasn’t about to start now.

‘Wil, what you’re doing will be life-changing. There’s no way around that. But take it baby step by baby step,’ she said, returning his smile.

‘You always know the right thing to say,’ he said.

‘Not always.’ I’m afraid my give-a-damn quota has expired. ‘But in this case, I say just go in and get your baby. I’ll show you how to change a nappy if the need arises. How about that for an act of friendship?’

He grimaced. ‘Changing nappies is one aspect of parenthood I’m not looking forward to. Prepared for it but dreading it.’

‘Hey, you muck out stables. You’ll get used to it.’ She certainly hadn’t, no matter how much she loved her little nieces and nephews. Maybe nappy-changing would be more bearable if the child was your own. Anyway, Wil could well afford to hire a nanny to help him with the practical aspects of parenting.

‘You’re right. I’m going in,’ he said. He unbuckled his seat belt with a resolute air, as if gearing himself up for action on a battlefield. Four days ago he had had no idea he was a father.

‘Do you want me to actually come inside with you?’ she asked, trying to sound as if she didn’t mind either way. She wasn’t sure if he’d just wanted her company on the drive. Of course she was dying of curiosity to see what the baby was like, but mainly she wanted to be there for him—someone on his side.

He turned to her. ‘Please. I don’t know that I can do this without your support.’

‘Of course you could.’ She undid her seat belt. ‘But there’s strength in numbers and I’m very happy to be your wing woman.’

A drier heat than humid Sydney, crisp with the sharp scent of eucalypts from the thousands of acres of national park that surrounded the mountain town. The sound of cicadas serenading summer was almost deafening. She stood with Wil at the top of the driveway to the sister’s house and smoothed down the skirt of her grape-coloured linen shift dress. Teamed with a low-heeled court shoe, it was a favourite schoolteacher outfit, smart yet respectable. Just the thing to help her friend claim his child.

‘I want to do this,’ he said fiercely. ‘I’ll fight to have this child with me. She’s mine.’

‘I’ve never seen anyone more fearless on horseback. You can do it. You really can, Wil.’

She didn’t want to admit she was nervous. This was so out of her experience, had happened so quickly. One minute she’d been packing boxes, just hours later she was in the mountains with Wil, whom she hadn’t seen for two years, to pick up his baby. The baby he hadn’t known existed. It seemed surreal to say the least.

He turned to look down into her face, dark eyes sincere and warm with gratitude. It was so good to be with him again. ‘Thank you,’ he said slowly. ‘I’ll owe you one after this.’

‘You don’t owe me a thing,’ she said. ‘I’m happy to help. No exchange of favours required.’

Who knew when she would actually see him again after this? He needed her today, what of tomorrow? Besides, New Wil could be very different from the Old Wil who’d been her friend. Now he was a single dad who’d gone through a nasty divorce and the death of the mother of his child. His life would now be focused totally on a seven-month-old baby. She doubted there would be a lot of time for going to see indie bands, or sharing a meal at a funky city café. There was a real likelihood it might be another two years until she saw him again.

She followed Wil down the pathway. Immediately the sister, Sharyn, opened the door. Georgia saw the resemblance to Angie. The older sister’s eyes were red-rimmed, her expression truculent as she glared first at Wil and then at her. The middle-aged social worker hovered nearby.

‘I’m so sorry for your loss,’ Georgia murmured to Sharyn. ‘I knew Angie.’ It wasn’t simply the polite thing to say, she meant every word. The shocking loss of a young woman, a mother, was genuine cause for sorrow and grief, no matter how she’d felt about her.

‘Another loss to come,’ Sharyn muttered, still glaring at Wil, who was scrupulously polite in the face of such obvious hostility.

The social worker, Maree, defused the situation and Georgia followed Wil into the house. Small shoes lined up in the entranceway, a stroller leaned against the wall, parked so they had to walk around it, tiny raincoats slung over a rack. A multi-child household. Georgia recognised the signs from her sisters’ houses.

The social worker ushered her and Wil into a family room, clean and tidy save for the toys scattered on the floor. A large playpen, of the old-fashioned wooden kind, was set up in the middle of the room.

‘Sharyn tells me little Nina just woke up from her nap, and is playing with her cousins,’ the social worker said, indicating the playpen.

Georgia’s gaze was drawn to the baby with a shock of dark hair and wearing a pink cotton romper suit. She sat on her bottom on a rug, opposite a little boy of about six who waved a fluffy toy rabbit in front of her. Another younger boy stood outside the playpen hanging on to the railing, calling encouragement. The baby laughed, an infectious gurgling kind of laugh that showed four tiny teeth, two top and two bottom. She waved her little arms around in delight as she made a lunge for the toy. Georgia smiled, a smile that came all the way from her heart.

Wil’s daughter. Angie’s child too. Little Nina had the best of both of them. Wil’s dark hair and eyes; Angie’s petite nose and heart-shaped face. Georgia’s heart spasmed. Poor little thing to have lost her mother. Poor Angie, to have lived long enough after the accident to know she wouldn’t survive to see her baby grow up. But Nina had a good man for a father. She’d won the genetic lottery there.

‘She’s adorable,’ Georgia murmured as she looked up to Wil, standing beside her.

At first, she didn’t know if he actually heard her. He was staring, transfixed, at his daughter. Emotions rippled across his face. Trepidation. Awe. A warmth that looked very much like pride. A Wil she’d never seen before.

‘Yes, she is,’ he said softly, his eyes not leaving the baby.

Sharyn approached the playpen, breaking the moment like a rock thrown violently into the gentle ripples of a pool. ‘Okay, Kieran, that’s enough playtime. Give Nina the bunny and take your brother outside to play.’

The boys obeyed without question. Georgia’s schoolteacher eye noted both little boys looked well cared for, in the way of children who were active and well nourished. They were tender and gentle with the baby. The older one gave his tiny cousin a kiss, hopped out of the playpen, took his little brother by the hand, and headed out of a sliding door to a grassed area outside.

Little Nina had turned at the sound of her aunt’s voice. Now she put up her arms to be picked up. Sharyn immediately swept her into her arms with a murmured endearment. She stood facing Wil. ‘You’re still determined to take her?’ she said. The baby rested comfortably on her hip.

‘She’s my daughter, Sharyn,’ he said. ‘We’ve gone through all this.’ Georgia could see a pulse throbbing at his temple that belied the calmness of his voice.

‘You didn’t even know you had a daughter,’ Sharyn said. ‘Angie hated you. Wanted to punish you by keeping Nina from you.’

Maree the social worker placed herself between Sharyn and Wil. ‘We’ve discussed this. Legal aspects aside, your sister’s dying wish was very clear. She wanted Nina to be in the custody of her father, Wil. I can understand your sadness at little Nina going but—’

‘Rightly or wrongly, all Angie would have been thinking of was Wil’s money and Nina having access to it,’ said Sharyn. ‘I told her that Nina should know her father but Angie wanted revenge on her ex for kicking her out. She wanted her secret kept until one day she could taunt him about Nina and blackmail him for more money in return for seeing his little girl.’

Georgia shuddered at the matter-of-fact tone of Sharyn’s voice as she discussed her sister’s warped motivation. Wil’s expression didn’t change but the words must have hurt. ‘That changes nothing,’ he said.

Sharyn hugged the baby closer to her. ‘Nina is happy here with us. I looked after her when her mother was at work. What makes you think you can look after a little girl?’ Georgia sensed the pain underneath the anger.

‘She’s my daughter and belongs with me,’ Wil repeated. ‘I can look after her very well.’

With Wil’s wealth he could give his daughter every advantage. So much more than the aunt could provide. Georgia appreciated that he didn’t rub in their difference in social status and income. Besides, she didn’t think that was what Wil meant—he meant the special love of a parent, the closest bond a child could have. Father trumped aunt. Wealthy father with doting grandparents, no doubt waiting in the wings, held all the cards.

‘You? A guy on your own? A guy who couldn’t stay married for even six months?’

Georgia cringed at Wil’s sharp intake of breath. ‘Yes,’ he said, obviously through gritted teeth.

‘It’s not right.’ Sharyn clutched the baby tighter, as if daring Wil to prise her out of her arms. ‘If you cared about her, you’d leave her with me. A little girl needs a mother...a woman in her life.’

‘She will have a woman in her life,’ said Wil. He moved closer to Georgia and put his arm around her. That was the first shock. Then came the second. ‘Georgia is my fiancée.’

What?

Georgia stiffened, went to protest. But Wil tightened his grip on her shoulder. She knew what he meant. Play along. Back in the day they’d sometimes pretended to be dating to deter an unwanted admirer at a party or out at a bar. Each other’s wing person. They’d have a good laugh about it afterwards.

Georgia didn’t feel like laughing now. ‘Uh, yes.’ She forced a smile. This wasn’t a game.

‘Congratulations on your engagement,’ said the social worker, looking very pleased.

‘Th-thank you,’ said Georgia, not able to meet her eye, furious with Wil for putting her on the spot.

‘She’s an elementary schoolteacher and knows all about little kids,’ Wil added. He squeezed Georgia’s shoulder again in an unmistakable prompt.

‘Uh...yes, I do,’ she said. ‘And babies. I have five nieces and nephews and have looked after them all. Ask me anything you want about babies.’

Sharyn looked her up and down as if she were something loathsome. ‘Angie told me all about Georgia. The best friend she thought her husband fancied. Looks like she was right not to trust you, if you’re now engaged.’

Georgia gasped at the accusation. Went to deny it. Bit her tongue. This wasn’t real. She was, in truth, just his friend. She had nothing to feel guilty about.

‘Not true, Sharyn,’ Wil said. ‘Georgia was indeed just a friend then.’

Irrationally—because that was all true—his dismissal of her as a woman his wife had had no cause to fear hurt. Georgia schooled herself not to betray just how much it hurt. She’d never tried to be more than just a friend, she reminded herself.

Georgia was aware of the woman’s narrowed glance at her empty ring finger and she fisted her left hand in response and put it behind her back. Of course people would expect an engagement ring. Guess Wil hadn’t thought of that with his spur-of-the-moment comment. Unless he’d planned to say she was his fiancée all along?

She put that thought aside to consider later. By not denying his from-out-of-nowhere claim—how could she have?—she had committed to playing along. Especially as Wil’s former sister-in-law seemed still determined to fight.

Wil pulled her closer. She tried to relax against him, difficult when she was so intensely aware of his strength and warmth, the utter masculinity of him. He still smelled the same. She’d always managed to deny how attractive she found him. Pretending to be his wife-to-be took her denial to a whole new level.

Sharyn continued. ‘But that doesn’t qualify you to be a mum. Especially to a little girl who has lost her own. She looks cheerful enough now but she knows her mummy is gone, that something is very wrong in her world.’ She choked up but scowled at Georgia’s look of sympathy.

Georgia glanced up at Wil, trying to seem like a concerned fiancée seeking reassurance, then back to Sharyn. ‘I’ll do my best. I should imagine Nina would be a very easy child to...to love. Just because Nina is going to live with her dad and...uh...me, doesn’t mean she has to say goodbye for ever to her aunty and cousins. I’m sure Wil will want you to be part of her life.’

Georgia sensed Wil still beside her. Had she overstepped the mark, gone where a pretend fiancée shouldn’t go?

‘Really?’ said Sharyn, relief softening her combative expression. ‘We’ll get to see her?’

Georgia was so disconcerted at the situation she found herself in, she struggled to sound normal. ‘Of course. Family is important.’ She looked back up at him. ‘Isn’t it, Wil?’

‘Yes, it is,’ he said with a vehemence that surprised her.

‘So I don’t have to tell the boys they’ll never see their baby cousin again?’ Sharyn said.

‘No. Uh...in fact they could be pageboys at our wedding.’ Georgia had to suppress a grin at the look on Wil’s face. Served him right for dropping her into this. ‘They’d make cute little ring-bearers, wouldn’t they, Wil?’ she said, perhaps a little too sweetly.

‘Uh, yes,’ he muttered.

Sharyn’s face lightened. ‘Pageboys? I’m not sure they’d stay still long enough for that,’ she said. ‘But you’re serious about keeping in touch?’

Georgia gritted her teeth. How could she possibly be expected to answer such a question? She pasted on a fake fiancée smile as she gave Wil a glance she hoped he would recognise as over to you.

‘I’ll make sure Nina keeps in touch with her cousins,’ he said.

His former sister-in-law nodded and reluctantly handed her little niece over to her father. ‘Make sure you do,’ she said.

Wil took Nina from her, a little awkwardly but with growing confidence. Georgia caught her breath as she watched him.

There was something about a tall, broad-shouldered, manly guy holding a little baby in strong, protective arms that was heart-stoppingly appealing. Even more appealing when the guy in question was her friend Wil, and the little daughter he had only just discovered. He so big and powerful; Nina so small and vulnerable. The way he held her, the intensity of his gaze were as if he was silently assuring Nina he would protect her from every possible bad arrow the world might have in wait for her. But the way the tiny girl looked back up at him with the same dark eyes made Georgia’s heart turn over. There was a connection there. Now she really believed it—Wil was a father.

A wave of yearning swept over her. Not for Wil—of course not for Wil. He was just a friend. Or for his daughter. Her days were filled with looking after other women’s children. She wanted her own baby one day. At twenty-seven going on twenty-eight, her biological clock had started to tick insistently. But as her track record with marriageable-type males was abysmal, that particular dream might not be coming true any time soon.

She’d knocked back three proposals, the first while she’d still been at uni. Commitment was what she’d craved but the guys just hadn’t been quite right. The most recent had been Toby. She’d let the relationship go on for too long, wasting her time and his. But she’d thought that pathway was expected of her—marriage to the steady kind of guy everyone had liked. Children to follow. Even to the fact that Toby had been a fellow schoolteacher—just think how convenient all those school holidays would have been when it came to vacation childcare. But that hadn’t been enough for her to want a ring on her finger. Even after Wil had married and dashed any deeply suppressed hope she’d had of their friendship developing into something deeper.

Wil turned to her and smiled. The dimple was in full force. ‘Do you want to hold her?’ he said, as if offering a gift of inestimable value.

Hold baby Nina? As a potential stepmother? Of course she wanted to hold the dear little thing. But she wasn’t sure what Wil expected of her. To gush that she couldn’t wait to be little Nina’s mummy? That would be going too far in this crazy charade he had thrust her into. She wouldn’t—couldn’t—lie. Instead, she would try to behave as she normally would when offered a cuddle of an adorable baby.

She held out her arms with a smile, was rewarded with the deliciousness of a soft, sweet-smelling baby in her arms. ‘Hello, Nina,’ she murmured. ‘I’m Georgia.’ The baby replied with her cute, four-toothed smile and a string of babble that just might have meant pleased to meet you. Nina was, without a doubt, enchanting.

But how dare Wil put her in a position when she had to pretend to be a doting mum-to-be? Engaged to be married to him? It stretched the boundaries of a newly ignited friendship a step too far. She didn’t want to fall back into the good old Georgia trap—always obliging, always helpful, making excuses for the inexcusable—not for her family, not for her friends and especially not for Wil, who had ignored her for two whole years.