a game of hopscotch.
Well, she’d take a leaf out of her children’s book, Kate thought. She’d get cracking on the garden. She had some daisies she wanted to thin out and replant and there was bound to be some weeding that needed doing.
Ignoring the thump, thump of Luke’s ball, Kate got to work with her trowel. The smell in the air was simply glorious, she mused as she hacked her way through the clumps of daisies. A sweet pungency drifted up from the earth and while Kate worked, two leaves of gold and brown fluttered down beside her. Finally, she was done, stripping off her gloves and flexing her fingers thankfully.
But there was still one more job she had to do. The lower hinge on the lattice gate of the little fern house was hanging by a thread.
Exhaling a small sigh of resignation, she inspected her meagre supply of tools, finally selecting a screwdriver that might do the job. Squatting beside the gate, she began to work on replacing the screw. ‘Oh, blast!’ she muttered as the recalcitrant bit of metal fell sideways onto the grass.
‘What are you trying to do?’
Kate felt a ripple along her spine, like a bird sensing a predator. She’d have known that voice anywhere. She didn’t look up. ‘What brings you by, Aiden?’
‘Just passing. Thought I’d call in.’
And if she believed that, she’d believe there was a practical use for chocolate teapots.
‘Here give it to me,’ he said, hunkering down beside her and holding out a long-fingered hand.
Kate gritted her teeth, slapping the screwdriver into his palm like a surgical instrument. She jerked upright, her eyes fixed on his broad shoulders under the black T-shirt as they flexed to give his arms more impetus, putting the final twist on the large metal screw.
‘General maintenance should be part of your lease,’ Aiden said, uncoiling upwards beside her. ‘Where’s your landlord?’
Kate huffed a derogatory laugh. ‘Out of the country mostly.’
‘Bummer.’
He chuckled softly and Kate felt as though she’d been dipped in a vat of warm, rich chocolate. Her heart did a few skips and she looked away hastily. ‘I thought you were going sky-diving’.
‘That was at five o’clock this morning,’ he dismissed. ‘I’ve been up for ages.’ A beat of silence. ‘Are you OK?’
She looked at him then, caught by the sincerity of his tone. ‘Why wouldn’t I be?’
His blue eyes hazed for a moment. ‘Yesterday … after the meeting. You were upset. My fault, I think. My remarks were thoughtless.’ He gave a self-deprecating half-smile. ‘Anyway … my sincere apologies.’
‘It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. You weren’t to know. Perhaps I overreacted anyway.’ Agitatedly, she lifted a hand and scooped a strand of hair away from her shirt collar.
‘I don’t want things to be awkward between us, Kate.’
‘They won’t be,’ she affirmed quickly.
Aiden felt a weird tightening in his chest. So far, so good but now there seemed nowhere for the conversation to go. That was until the children, curious about their mother’s visitor, nudged in beside her.
Kate gathered them in, her smiling mouth soft and pretty. ‘Aiden, these are my children, Luke and Mia. Kids, this is Dr O’Connor from the surgery.’
‘Luke. Mia.’ O’Connor greeted them almost formally. ‘I’m Aiden.’
‘Can you play soccer?’ Luke asked hopefully.
‘You bet I can. Can you?’
‘A bit. But there’s no room to practise here.’ Luke looked dolefully around the back garden.
‘Ah …’ Aiden rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He turned to Kate. ‘There’s a great park near the showgrounds. Have you not found it yet?’
‘There’s hardly been time. Perhaps we could go across later.’ She tried to placate Luke with the promise.
‘I could take him for a kick-about now,’ Aiden said before he knew he was going to say it.
‘Thanks, but I can’t let you do that,’ Kate protested quietly. She made a small face. Oh, lord, this was awkward.
‘Of course. I understand.’ Aiden spread his hands in mute acceptance. ‘You hardly know me after all.’
It wasn’t just that. Kate battled with conflicting emotions. Was it wise to allow Aiden to become involved in their lives so quickly? Or at all, for that matter? But on the other hand, it would be so good for Luke to have some male company. Her dad did his best but now in his late-sixties, understandably, his energy levels were flagging. And Aiden was young. More like a real dad.
Kate felt discomfort flood her. Too far. Too fast. She dithered a second too long.
‘Can I, Mum?’ Luke piped up, his tone wheedling, his big brown eyes pleading.
‘Why don’t we all go to the park?’ Aiden suggested, forcing himself not to reach out, not to touch Kate. He wanted to reassure her that he, Aiden O’Connor, was trustworthy. He wanted to see her relax, make her laugh.
Stop her acting so uptight around him. He wanted to get to know her a whole lot better. A whole lot. And away from from the constraints of the surgery.
‘All of us?’ Kate said, and frowned a bit.
‘Seems sensible.’
Kate’s heart twitched and kept on twitching while Aiden’s smile warmed, deepened, drawing her in. ‘OK, then.’ She flapped her hands in an airy motion of acceptance. ‘I’ll put together a few snacks and things. We may as well make a morning of it.’
Mia jigged in excitement. ‘Are there any swings?’ she asked Aiden.
‘And monkey bars.’
Kate felt her heart turn over, watching Aiden hunker down beside her daughter, diminishing the impact of his height. ‘And rope ladders,’ he told Mia seriously. ‘Even a flying fox.’
‘She’s too little for that,’ Luke chimed in importantly.
‘Am not.’ Mia’s fierce little look told him what she thought of that.
‘Perhaps if I hold onto Mia, she could manage the flying fox.’ Aiden pursed his lips as if considering the problem. ‘What do you think, Luke?’
‘Yeah, I s’pose.’ Luke gave grudging approval.
Good grief, he was a natural. Kate ran up the steps to the deck. Her heart felt as though it might burst. They looked so right together, Aiden O’Connor and her kids. She shouldn’t think it, but she did.
Kate couldn’t believe how fast the morning had flown. True to his promise, Aiden had put Luke through his paces. He’d been patient, encouraging and Luke had responded, his little face lit with happiness as Aiden showed him how to kick with the side of his boot and not the toe, as Luke had been doing. The results had been spectacular. Well, at least to his mother.
Kate thanked Aiden again as they took a breather. They were sitting on the wooden bench seat, their backs resting against the picnic table while the children played nearby. ‘This has been absolutely wonderful for Luke,’ Kate said. ‘I wouldn’t have had a clue about any of that technique stuff.’
‘Horses for courses, Kate.’ Aiden took a bite from the apple she’d tossed to him. ‘I coach for the local juniors. Would you consider allowing Luke to join one of our teams?’
Kate took her time answering. ‘I guess it would be good for him.’
‘I wouldn’t be coaching his age group,’ Aiden said casually. ‘I coach A level.’
‘Oh.’