Chapter 31

CHAPTER

31

‘So, what shall it be? Raspberry Smooch or Ballerina Blush?’

Rose started to giggle. She couldn’t help herself. Those words spoken in Mike’s deep, rough voice, as he stood there looking incredibly masculine and sexy in his jeans and T-shirt, were more than she could take.

‘What? Don’t you think I can handle pink?’ He grinned at her and winked, which only made her laugh louder.

‘I’m pretty sure you can handle anything you choose.’ She went over to where he stood holding a paint chart against the wall and kissed him briefly.

‘Well, now …’ He slid his arms around her and pulled her closer.

Rose gave herself up to the moment, then finally pushed him away. ‘Enough of that. We’ve got work to do.’

‘Is it safe to come in?’

A voice from the open doorway made them turn.

‘Hi, Jake,’ Rose said. ‘Come on in. We were talking about paint colours.’

‘Of course you were.’ Jake grinned. ‘That’s exactly what it looked like to me.’

Rose wasn’t too old to blush.

Jake and Mike shook hands and Jake looked around the interior of the shop.

‘It needs a bit of work.’

‘It needs a lot of work,’ Rose said. ‘We’re keen to get the shop up and running as soon as we can. And the cottage needs work too. When can you start?’

‘I’ve got a few days’ work booked over the next couple of weeks, then nothing much after that, so whenever the sale is finalised and you want me to start.’

‘That would be now.’ Rose noticed the surprise on both men’s faces. ‘Matt is very efficient. And when you’ve got as many lawyers in the family as I do, paperwork doesn’t take long.’

‘All right. So tell me exactly what you’re looking for.’ Jake pulled a small notebook out of the back pocket of his jeans.

‘Let’s start here in the shop. Bree and I have talked about this. We’re going to need shelving along that wall—box shelves for the yarn. And another counter there towards the back. I’m already looking for a big table to go in the centre for the knitting club. The bathroom and kitchen need work too. And everything needs painting. That’s why Mike and I were looking at colours.’

Jake blinked. ‘That’s a lot of work. The sooner I get started, the better.’

‘And once the store is up and running properly, the cottage behind needs a lot of work too before I can move out of Bree’s place.’

Rose could see Jake starting to calculate time and money.

‘I’ll give you the best price I can, Rose, but this much work is not going to be cheap.’

‘I do expect the best price. And the best work.’ Rose smiled to take any sting out of her words. ‘And I’m happy to pay for it.’

Jake nodded, but she could see his mind was already on the job as he began taking measurements and jotting down notes. She looked for Mike, who was leaning casually against the edge of the old shop counter. His brow was creased.

‘Mike? Is there something wrong?’

‘Not wrong. No. It’s just—’

‘Just what?’

‘Rose, are you rich?’

‘What?’ She had certainly not expected that.

‘Well, listening to you making all these plans. It’s going to take a fair bit of money. I couldn’t do it so casually like that and I’m not scraping the barrel when it comes to money.’

‘No. I …’ Her voice trailed off. She had never thought of herself as rich. When William was alive, their friends had been, like him, well-to-do members of the legal profession. She’d never really thought about money. And when he died …

‘My husband left me well provided for,’ she said. ‘In fact, I still get income from his firm. So, I guess, maybe not rich as such. At least, not very rich.’ Rose watched his face carefully. ‘Does that matter?’

Mike shook his head. ‘Not really. But I had kind of looked forward to—to looking after you, I suppose.’

Rose laughed loudly enough to disturb Jake. He glanced at her, shrugged and went back to his scribbling.

‘Oh, Mike.’ Rose darted closer to kiss him briefly. ‘You know, this is the twenty-first century. Even an old girl like me can look after herself.’

‘I know you can. But I’m an old-fashioned sort of a guy.’ He pulled her close and kissed her again. ‘You know, I used to joke with my brothers—I have two of them—about finding a rich wife. The family didn’t have much money when we were small and we used to say we’d find a wife to take us away from all this hard work. I’ve finally got a rich girlfriend and I don’t want her to take me away from the work because I really enjoy running a shearing gang.’

‘Yoo hoo! Are you there, Bree?’

‘She’s not here.’ Rose met Val as she came through the open door, her eyes taking in every detail of who was there and what they were doing.

‘Hello, Rose. How lovely that Bree has bought this place as part of her business. What a good place it will be for the knitting club to meet. And you know there’s a cottage at the back? With a bit of work, it would be quite lovely. And if you moved up, you would be closer to—’ the dratted woman gave Mike a long look before continuing, ‘—your granddaughter.’

Val had well and truly invited herself into the shop. ‘I thought I’d pop in to check everything was all right. There was a lot of tension with Kim’s mother the other day. I got the impression that Matt and Sally had fallen out. Is everything all right?’

Rose gritted her teeth. She didn’t like a busybody.

‘It seems such a shame,’ Val continued. ‘I was saying to Sally how happy little Vicki was. And how good it was that Matt wasn’t alone any more.’

‘And that’s the problem.’ The words were out before Rose could stop them. Then she threw caution to the wind. ‘I know you didn’t mean any harm, Val, but Sally is struggling with her grief. Now she thinks Matt is replacing her Kim with my granddaughter and she’s becoming a problem. Getting in the way, interfering and upsetting Vicki too.’

‘Oh.’ Val’s face fell. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t realise … You know I would never do anything to hurt Vicki or Matt. Or your granddaughter either.’

The look on Val’s face caused Rose to relent. The postmistress wasn’t a bad person, she just had trouble controlling her tongue. ‘I know, but gossip can be harmful. Especially when someone is struggling with their mental balance.’

For a moment, Rose thought Val was going to explode. Then the woman’s face and shoulders sagged. ‘Oh.’

Silence filled the room.

‘I know I can’t keep a secret,’ Val said eventually. ‘And sometimes, well, people avoid me. And I think the only way to get people to like me or even talk to me, is by telling them things they didn’t know.’

The woman’s words shocked Rose to her core. She took a step forward and laid her hand on Val’s shoulder. ‘Val, this is a small town. Everyone gossips. It’s just—sometimes you go a bit far and it comes across as nasty.’

‘I don’t mean any harm.’

‘I know you don’t.’ Rose was starting to feel awful. She had no right to attack Val; it wasn’t as if Val had ever done anything wrong by her. ‘I’m sorry. I worry about Vicki. She’s so very young to be caught up in something like this. And I know Matt worries because he can’t be with Vicki all the time. And I sometimes think he’s afraid of what Sally might do.’

‘That must be so stressful for him.’

‘I imagine it is.’

‘Well, I’ll make sure everyone knows there’s a problem there, and that people keep an eye on Vicki when Sally is about.’

‘Val, I—’

‘Don’t worry. I’ll be discreet. I’ll also make sure people know the knitting club is moving here soon. Everyone will be so pleased.’ And with that, Val swept out of the shop.

Rose sighed.

Mike stepped to her side. ‘That was—Actually, I’m not quite sure what that was.’

‘I guess I shouldn’t have been quite so tough on her. But her gossiping to Sally is only making things harder for Matt and Vicki and Bree. I want to protect that little girl.’

Mike laughed gently. ‘And I can see that you really don’t need anyone to look after you—money or not.’

‘Money doesn’t take care of a person, not in my mind. It’s love that does that. My money allows me to help Bree in this alpaca business. The sort of looking after people like Matt and Vicki need doesn’t come from money. It comes from here.’ She touched her fingers to the left side of her chest and Mike gently put his hand over hers. His dark eyes examined her face, looking at her in such a way it made her heart pound. Surely he must feel it?

Before Mike could say anything, she said, ‘Enough of that. Jake’s been out the back there for a long time. We’d better go and see what he’s up to, while I still have some of that money left.’