flatly, “What, you didn’t know?”
She said nothing, just stared at him with those bright blue eyes full of recrimination.
“The way I see it, you don’t have a choice,” he said now. “I’ll give you until tomorrow to think it through, but we both know your answer.”
Ava was speechless, floored by the depth of his arrogance. “If you care so much, then why not just sue for custody?” she finally whispered. “Why marriage?”
“Because I do not ignore my responsibilities.” His voice tightened in the spacious kitchen. “Did you intend to tell me about this baby at all?”
She quickly drew a hand over her stomach as the blood rushed from her face. She couldn’t think, couldn’t even breathe with his ever-watchful eyes, the lingering scent of his warm skin, the aftermath of his luscious voice in the air all around her. “I…didn’t think you’d want to know. You’re Cal Prescott and—”
“You don’t know what I want.” Fury flickered, working his jaw. “You walked into my life, spent the night, then walked right out again.”
“So this is your way of getting back at me?”
“This is not about you. It’s about a child.” His eyes dropped to her belly, then up again, his expression unreadable. “My child.”
He effectively ended their conversation with a flick of his hand, a white business card between his two fingers. When she didn’t take it he slammed it down on the counter. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Almost as if he couldn’t stand to remain in her presence a second longer, he turned and stalked out the door.
Chapter Two
Ava was still standing in the kitchen, Cal’s card clutched in her cold fingers, when her Aunt Jillian walked in with a handful of grocery bags, a warm smile on her weathered face. “Ava, darling, I thought we could have chicken for—”
“Cal Prescott was just here.”
Jillian put the bags on the table. “The man you met in Sydney?”
“The same.”
Jillian opened the fridge and shoved a block of cheese inside. “Really? Is he interested in staying at Jindalee?”
Ava swallowed. Even though she’d given Jillian the sanitised version, her aunt was a perceptive woman. “Not exactly. Apparently he thinks I’m trying to blackmail him—and with this place teetering on the verge, I can’t say I blame him.”
Jillian whirled, her lined face a mask of shock. “Oh, my. That’s not good.”
Ava sank into a kitchen chair and put her face in her hands. “I don’t believe this. And now he…” She sighed. “Jillian, I have to tell you something. Sit down.”
Jillian kept right on putting away the groceries. “If it’s about you being pregnant, I already guessed.”
Lord, did the whole world know? Ava’s jaw sagged until she snapped it shut with a click. “How? When?”
“You can’t hide a sudden craving for cheese-and-pickle sandwiches. Plus,” she gently reached out and smoothed Ava’s hair, “your hair went curly. Your grandma and I were exactly the same. It’s a Reilly thing.” Jillian quickly enveloped her in a hug. “Darling, are you okay with this?”
“Yes.” With a relieved sigh, Ava let herself sink into the embrace even as her head spun with the last hour’s events. “You’re not upset I’m not married?”
“It’s not the Middle Ages, darling. And I’m not your father,” she added pointedly.
Ava just squeezed Jillian harder. “Cal thinks I did it on purpose,” she muffled against the woman’s soft shoulder. When Jillian pulled back, Ava avoided her aunt’s eyes, unable to face the questions there. “And now he’s demanding we get married.”
Jillian went back to unpacking. “That’s very chivalrous of him, especially in this day and age.”
“No, it’s not! I can’t even begin to list the things wrong with this—we’re complete strangers, we live separate lives, have careers, not to mention what the town would say—”
“Oh, my giddy aunt!” Jillian slammed a can of tomatoes down on the counter. “Your business is about to go under, you’re pregnant by a rich, attractive, single man—a man who wants to do the right thing and marry you—and you’re worried about what a bunch of old busybodies would say?”
Ava stared at her, stunned. Her Aunt Jillian was the most easygoing person she’d ever known. She’d never raised her voice in anger, never blown her top.
“You’re saying I should marry him?” Ava said slowly.
“I’m saying a child has a right to know his father. From what I’ve read, Cal Prescott never knew his.”
“His mother remarried. He has a father.”
“But his birth father ran out. ‘To know the man, at first know the child.’”
“What?”
“Cal Prescott is a man with obvious trust issues, dear, which can make people do extreme things,” Jillian explained as she started unpacking the apples. “I do wish you’d pay attention a bit better.” Her face suddenly softened. “Or are those hormones kicking in already?”
Ava sighed. “It is not hormones. And don’t change the subject.” She leaned back in her chair, her mind tossing and turning. “I just don’t know what to do.”
Jillian rolled her eyes. “You both have something each other wants. So you make a deal.”
“Have you not been listening about the whole blackmail thing? The only thing he wants is the baby.” She laid a protective hand over her belly. “And he’s not getting that.”
“Darling, do you think he’d actually try to take away your child?” Jillian asked with a shake of her head. “Sounds to me the man just wants to be a father. And he can save Jindalee into the bargain. Unless…” she hesitated. “You don’t want Jindalee.”
Ava flushed. Jillian knew her better than anyone, even her own parents. Jindalee land had been in her family for over a hundred years. The sheep station had been her father’s dream, a culmination of hard work and town status. Ava had known from a very early age she was a distant fourth in his affections, streets behind the land, her mother, then her younger sister, Grace. The uncompromising man had often accused her of being too wild, too selfish, too carefree. And she’d proved it in spades at twenty when she’d single-handedly destroyed everything.
Not selfish anymore. She closed her eyes, picturing his silvery head held proud, a dark frown set in a face lined with age and the elements. She’d put her own share of worry lines on that face.
Her eyes shot open when Jillian placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “You don’t have to prove anything anymore, Ava,” the older woman said softly. “He’s gone. He loved this land, but—”
“So do I.” It was the simple truth. She loved the gently sloping hills, the craggy gum trees that housed the native corellas and lorikeets. The kangaroos that grazed in the morning mist and the stunning sunsets that spread across the big navy sky. It made her heart expand with joy every day at the sheer beauty of the land. Her land.
“Ava,” Jillian said now, her eyes sympathetic. “It doesn’t have to be so hard. No one will think less of you if you sell.”
“But I would.” Ava stood, walked over to the counter and began washing the apples. She’d not sunk everything into this property just to see it fail. And if Cal was on the level, then she didn’t even have her neighbour’s buyout offer as backup.
Hope