More Than Just One Night (The Selwood Sisters Novellas) (9 page)

 “I know.” Fern chewed her bottom lip. “Talking
of age differences, what’s happening with what’s-his-name — your boyfriend?”

“Alex. You know that’s his name.”

“Whatevs.”

Cora winced at the expression, then hesitated
before saying, “Nothing’s happening.”

“What, have you broken up as well?”

“Not exactly. We haven’t made a decision to
break up, but I think it’s inevitable. I don’t see how it can work.”

“Oh. That’s a pity.”

Cora’s eyes widened. “Excuse me?”

“I said, that’s a pity. I know I told you I
didn’t like it, but I’ve been thinking, and I suppose you’re not all that old
at forty-two.”

“They do say that fifty is the new thirty.”

“Yeah, old people do. Anyway, you’re probably
lonely when I’m not here. I get that now.”

“I don’t mind being alone, but lonely is
something else. I didn’t realise I was lonely until I met Alex.”

“So, why can’t it work?”

Cora took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
“Because of complications.”

“Like, me?”

“Even more complicated than you,” she said
with a wry smile. “Alex has a daughter too.”

Fern sat up straighter. “I didn’t know that.
Why didn’t you tell me?”

“There was never really an opportunity. You
weren’t interested in hearing anything about Alex at all.”

“But I should have been told about a
potential sister. Are we about the same size? Will we be able to swap clothes?”

Cora shook her head. “For a start, talking
about sisters is getting way ahead of where things are, and besides, Sophie is
only four.”

Fern blinked, then she tilted her head.
“Actually, that could be even better. Having a little sister would be awesome.
I could babysit.”

“You? Babysit?”

“Don’t say it like that. I’m studying nursing,
you know. I’m not a moron.”

“Of course you’re not. I never thought you
were a moron.”

“In fact, I’m thinking of becoming a
midwife.”

“Really? That’s wonderful news. I’m so proud
of you, honey.”

“I’m not sure yet, though. I might prefer
paediatric nursing.”

Cora nodded. “Well, that’s a wonderful thing
to do too. You have plenty of time to make up your mind.”

“And looking after my new little sister will
help me do that.”

“Hmm. Well, anyway, there are other problems,
such as Alex living in Sydney and me living here.”

“You can work that out, can’t you? You should
be able to, you’ve been managing a business for years.” Fern checked her watch.
“I’d better go. I’m meeting some of the girls for dinner.”

“Have a good time.” Cora got up to give Fern
a hug. “I love you, and I’m pleased that we had this chat.”

“Me too.”

She waved as Fern drove away, grinning at a
mental picture of Russell in his yellow trousers.

Cora had spent Saturday going over some
project reports in her study when the doorbell rang. She wasn’t expecting
anyone, and rose from her desk reluctantly. She was still puzzling over an
issue with a client’s demands when she opened the front door.

“Alex!”

He gave her a smile that made her insides
turn to liquid. He did it to her every single time. “Hello, Cora.”

“I wasn’t expecting you.”

“No. My turn to do the surprise thing. We do
seem to be taking it in turns, don’t we?”

“Well, you’d better come in.” Once she’d
closed the door behind him, she led the way to the kitchen. “Tea? Coffee? Cold
drink?”

“No, thanks. I don’t want anything. I just
want to talk to you.”

She poured herself a glass of chilled water,
then turned to face him, gripping the glass in a hand that was visibly trembling.
“Do you want to sit down?”

He shook his head.

She leaned back against the kitchen bench.
“What did you want to say?”

“That you’ve had enough time to think. I’m
tired of waiting.”

“Impatient, aren’t you?”

He shrugged. “It’s been three weeks.”

As if she didn’t know that. “Still, three
weeks in the scheme of things—”

“Cora, I need to know. Was it Sophie? Because
things were going really well until she arrived.  I know she was quiet, but
she’s timid with strangers. It’s not that she didn’t like you, I swear. She’s a
good kid, and she opens up when she gets to know people.” He paused. “Don’t you
think you could grow to like her?”

“She’s a sweetheart, Alex. Of course, I could
like her. I
do
like her.”

He blew out a breath.

“I don’t know how you could think otherwise.”
She shook her head. “Anyway, that’s not the issue.”

“Well, that’s something. But clearly there’s
still an issue, and I need to know what it is.” He pulled out a chair from the
kitchen table. “I’ve changed my mind, I will sit down.”

She slipped into a seat across the table from
him. “Okay, I admit that Sophie is part of the problem, but it’s not because I
don’t like her. I can’t believe you even thought that.”

“Well, like I said, we were having a ball
till she arrived, then you upped and left.” He frowned. “So, she’s part of the
problem. What does that mean?”

“It means, you need to live near her so that
you can see her as often as possible, so you need to live in Sydney. There’s
your job too. I can’t ask you to leave any of that and come and live here. And
I wouldn’t.”

He looked surprised. “Right.”

She went on, “But I can’t move to Sydney. If
it was possible to sell Selwoods, then maybe I could, but it’s impossible—”

“Sell Selwoods? You mean, you’ve considered
it?”

“Yes. I spoke to my son, because I thought he
might want to take a different direction in life, and if so, there would have
been no need to keep it in the family, but it turns out that he does want to
take over one day, and so...” She shrugged. “What are you grinning at? I’m not
going to sell it. I can’t.”

“Good. I’m glad.”

“What?”

“The fact that you even considered it means a
lot, but I don’t want you to sell your family company. It clearly matters to
you, so why should you?”

“Because the way things are, we couldn’t make
a relationship work.”

“Of course we could. Granted, we couldn’t be
together full-time for a while, but there’s no need to rush things, is there?”

She frowned, waiting for him to continue.

“You might have been over-thinking our
situation.”

“Over-thinking it?” Mortified, she felt a
flash of heat in her cheeks. Was he saying that it
was
only short-term
for him? That she’d been wasting her time looking for solutions to the
obstacles keeping them apart.

But if that was the case, why was he here?
Why go to so much trouble to be with her. It didn’t make sense. “I’m sorry,”
she said, “I seem to have misunderstood.”

He shook his head. “I don’t think you have,
but you might be making it more complicated than it has to be. We have
something special here, do you agree?”

After a pause, she nodded. “Yes.”

“So, let’s take it slowly.”

“Slowly. Does that mean non-exclusive?”

“Hell, no.” He laughed. “I have no intention
of sharing you.”

“Does that go both ways? You won’t see anyone
else?”

“No, I won’t. I’m not going to do anything to
wreck this.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

“Slowly means spending time together when we
can, and not trying to live together full-time until it happens naturally.”

“You think it will happen naturally?”

“Well, you said your son wants to take over Selwoods
one day, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

“So, when that happens it might be a good
time for you to think about moving to Sydney. We do have the rest of our lives
after all. We don’t have to rush into making plans.” He reached for her hand
and squeezed it with his.

“You’re not looking for a stepmother to
Sophie?”

His eyes widened. “Is that what you thought? I
want you to like her, and heck, I hope you’ll grow to love her, but you don’t
have to be more involved with her upbringing than you want to be. I’m not
looking for someone to make my life easier, if that’s what you were worried
about.”

She released a long breath, tension leaving
her along with it. “Maybe I was. You’re right, I have been over-thinking. It’s
in my nature, I’m afraid. I’m a control freak, and I’ve been used to managing
by myself since Paul died.” She turned her hand over, gripping his. “My sisters
tell me I’m bossy. I’m not going to be the easiest woman to have a relationship
with. Do you think you’ll be able to put up with me?”

He smiled. “I have plenty of character flaws
of my own, you know.”

Flaws? Yeah, right. From where she sat, he
was perfect. His face, his body, everything about him. A surge of physical
memories took her breath away, and it was followed by a wave of unfamiliar emotions.

“I think your need to be in control of
everything including our relationship might have something to do with fear.
Since you lost your husband, it’s natural that you’d be afraid of losing anyone
you got close to. It’s easier to put up roadblocks to getting close in the
first place, isn’t it?”

“I thought you were a lawyer, not a
psychologist.”

He grimaced. “Sorry. You can tell I’ve been
giving this plenty of thought while we’ve been apart.”

“And you’ve had plenty of time to do so.”

“You said it.”

She sighed. “How long are you in town for?”

“I’ve booked a room at the Clarendon for
tonight. I’m flying back to Sydney tomorrow evening.”

“Cancel the room. Stay here.”

“What about your daughter?”

“She won’t be home tonight, but it wouldn’t
make any difference — we’ve come to an understanding.”

He nodded. “I’m very pleased to hear it, and I’d
love to stay here, but only if you agree that we’re in this for the long-haul,
and we’ll work out any logistical issues as they arise.”

She took a deep breath. “I agree. No matter
what happens from now on, we’ll work it out. Together.”

He broke into a broad smile. “Finally.”

“Yes.” She smiled back at him. “Finally.”

Claire Baxter writes contemporary romantic
fiction of all lengths. Her short stories have been published in commercial
women’s magazines around the world, while her novels have been translated into
20 languages, and have finalled in the Romance Writers of Australia's Romantic
Book of the Year Award, the Booksellers’ Best Awards, the
RT Book Reviews
Reviewers’ Choice Awards, and the Cataromance Reviewers’ Choice Awards.

Before following her passion to write
full-time, Claire was an award-winning corporate communications manager.
Earlier, she worked as a translator and a PA.

Claire grew up in Warwickshire, England, but
for more than 20 years has called Australia home. She considers herself lucky
to live near one of Adelaide’s beautiful metropolitan beaches where she loves
to walk and think up stories.

Website: www.clairebaxter.com / Email:
[email protected]