Page 49 of Where the Heart Is

‘Then come over for dinner. I’ll make my famous chicken curry.’

Sawyer would love nothing better than to have dinner with her again. But the memory of that kiss had kept him up all night and the thought of spending time alone with her again at Hills Homestead, the one place in this town he’d considered a sanctuary more than his own home, meant he could be headed for trouble.

When he took too long to answer, she said, ‘You don’t have to.’

She sounded hurt and he silently cursed.

‘I’d love to.’ But he had to be honest so they were under no illusions. ‘Though after that kiss yesterday, and despite our protestations it didn’t mean anything, aren’t you concerned we may not be able to keep our hands off each other?’

She winked. ‘I’m counting on it.’

He laughed, loving her sense of humour as much as her sass. ‘I’m serious.’

‘So am I.’ Her expression turned sombre. ‘I’m not usually impulsive. I can’t afford to be, living in this town. But we’re friends, Sawyer. And I’m closer to you than most. Then there’s the attraction between us, which, if that kiss is any indication, is pretty damn sensational, so how about we don’t second-guess anything and just go with the flow?’

He admired her honesty. Wish he could say the same about himself. Because whatever happened between them, she’d ultimately hate him for withholding the truth from her.

But he swallowed his reservations because this was Mila and he cared about her, more than was good for him.

‘Going with the flow sounds good to me,’ he said, and he saw relief in her eyes. ‘We’re really going to do this? Because you know there’s an unspoken rule about mates and their sisters.’

‘But Will’s a million miles away.’ She widened her eyes in faux innocence. ‘And what my overbearing, bossy brother doesn’t know won’t hurt him.’

They laughed in unison, but Sawyer knew he was toying with trouble, and Will finding out about them would be the least of his worries.

CHAPTER

28

Jack offered Adelaide a lift into town when he headed to the Men’s Shed, and she’d agreed. It would give her time to do what she’d aimed to do by sticking around for more than a few days.

See a lawyer.

As fate would have it, Samuel Nobil’s office was almost directly across the road from the Men’s Shed, held in an annexe adjacent to the Town Hall, and she hoped Jack wouldn’t see her entering. She wanted to be fully informed before she sprung the idea of a divorce on him, especially after how nice he was being.

She’d been amazed by his thoughtfulness this morning: patching her up after her tumble, serving her breakfast, their casual conversation. They’d been discussing fraught topics, like their dating life over the last fourteen years, and even though she’d sidestepped his probing question about whether she loved Raven or not, he’d still been civil after they’d finished eating and had offered to take her into town.

They’d made small talk in the car too. Was it a good year for crops? Who would win the most prizes for the biggest vegetables at this year’s fair? Did the bakery still make the best snot-blocks in western Victoria? He’d hated when she called vanilla slices by their slang name, so she’d bought him one whenever she went into town when they were married. It had been their in-joke.

Chatting with him in the car, hot on the heels of their breakfast, made her think. She’d never thought people were capable of change, but it looked like Jack wasn’t the man she married. When she’d left, he’d been taciturn and inflexible. Now, he seemed to be communicative and open-minded, and was treating her better than she deserved. So for a fleeting second, as she pushed open the door to Samuel Nobil’s office, she wondered if she was doing the right thing in divorcing Jack.

Not that she’d ever consider moving back to Ashe Ridge—she valued her artistic life by the ocean too much—but seeing the new improved Jack filled her with regret. The main one being that she hadn’t been around to see Jack change. She couldn’t help but wonder: if she’d stayed, would she have been happy when Jack became the man she thought he could be?

A young woman she didn’t know, thank goodness, sat behind the receptionist’s desk, and glanced up when Adelaide entered.

‘Can I help you?’

Adelaide nodded. ‘I’d like to make an appointment to see Mr Nobil, please.’ She glanced at the open door with his nameplate. ‘He wouldn’t happen to have any free time now?’

The sooner she got the ball rolling, the better, before she lost her nerve.

The receptionist glanced at a computer screen and shook her head. ‘I’m sorry. He’s all booked for the rest of the week and the earliest appointment I can offer you is next Friday at eleven. Does that suit?’

Not really. It meant she’d have to stick around for another ten days. But she’d come this far, and she had a comfortable, rent-free place to stay courtesy of Jack, so she’d have to do it. Besides, it would be foolish to leave before they got divorce proceedings underway. Doing everything in person would be much easier than organising the signing of paperwork remotely, even though she assumed it could be done digitally these days.

‘That’s fine. Adelaide Hayes,’ she said, entering the appointment into her phone and adding a reminder. Not that she’d forget something as important as instigating her freedom officially.

‘We’ll see you then,’ the receptionist said, with a cool smile, before returning to her computer screen.

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