work here any more,’ she said softly. ‘I’m sorry, Mr Grey, but Erin is Home mother here now. If you’ll excuse us, Gabbie and I have a train to catch.’
‘No!’ It was a sharp order from one accustomed to command, and Wendy raised her eyebrows in polite enquiry as Luke rose to his feet and snapped out the word. ‘No?’
‘Just what I said. No! What do you mean, you’re leaving?’ Luke reached forward, took her hand and held on. He was like a drowning man who’d been thrust a stick to pull him to shore, only to have someone try and snatch it away again. ‘You can’t. I want you to look after my sister.’
Wendy looked down at their linked hands, a tiny frown creasing between her eyes. It felt…odd. This was her job, she told herself. She’d had parents clutch her before.
It didn’t normally feel like this.
‘Mr Grey, Wendy has resigned,’ Erin said softly, her eyes darting back and forth. She knew what Wendy was going through—who better?—and she knew that Wendy needed to leave, but there was something about Luke Grey…
Apparently Wendy was nothing to do with this man—Erin’s first wild hope that a wealthy boyfriend had arrived out of the murky past had been unfounded—and it was against the rules to break confidentiality.
But then, Erin didn’t necessarily follow formal rules. Her sharp mind was working overtime. She’d been worrying about her friend for weeks, and suddenly there seemed a glimmer of an answer. If she could swing it…
‘Mr Grey, Wendy’s taking Gabbie on as a permanent foster child,’ she told him, ignoring Wendy’s sharp intake of breath. ‘Gabbie’s mum won’t have her adopted. She keeps taking her back—but often for only weeks at a time—and every time Gabbie returns she has to be placed wherever there’s room. Wendy’s decided she wants to be available full-time for Gabbie—so every time her birth mum abandons her she can always go back to Wendy.’
‘Oh, for heaven’s sake…’ Wendy managed. She gave Erin a stunned look. ‘Erin—’
‘And she’s burned out,’ Erin retorted, ignoring Wendy completely. She was focused solely on Luke, and she was fighting for her friend. ‘She’s had years of saying goodbye to kids and it’s got to her. Apart from what happened before she came here… Anyway, it’s taken its toll, so she’s opted out. Starting now. The only problem is, Wendy has little money. Because of high holiday rentals there’s nowhere in Bay Beach she can live cheaply and there’s no work here except what she’s doing now. She’s spent every spare cent she’s ever earned on her kids. So she’s taken a one-room apartment in Sydney, which’ll be the pits.’
‘Erin, this is none of Mr Grey’s business,’ Wendy ex-postulated. ‘I can’t—’
‘Isn’t it?’ Erin smiled suddenly, and there were machia-vellian lights twinkling in her eyes. Honestly—the woman was incorrigible. ‘Isn’t it just?’ She turned back to Luke and she beamed. ‘I’ve suddenly had the best solution! You’re saying you need someone to care for your baby, and you want that someone to be Wendy. Wendy needs a pay packet. Ideally she wants to stay here. At Bay Beach—’
‘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