Page 40 of The Knitting Club at Wagtail Ridge

‘Matt.’ Bree reached for his hand, but stopped. ‘It’s fine. I don’t know why I did that. I’d had such a lovely evening with you and Vicki. But I understand.’

‘Thank you.’ Matt took a deep breath and squared his shoulders.

Bree could see some of the weight on them lifting, but so much still remained.

‘I’m still finding my way here in Wagtail Ridge,’ Bree said. ‘I could use a friend.’

Matt’s face was lit by a slow smile. ‘The Ridge. Locals call it the Ridge. And I’m telling you that, as a friend.’

When Vicki and Rose returned to the main room a few minutes later, the knitting bits were all back in boxes and ready to be loaded into Bree’s car. The tables and chairs had been returned to their storage places and the atmosphere was light and casual. Vicki was carrying a package roughly wrapped in white tissue paper, which had no doubt previously wrapped some of Bree’s precious alpaca wool.

‘Daddy. This is for you.’

Matt crouched to take the gift. Bree watched his face as he unwrapped it; his love for his daughter was written there as clear as his grief had been a few minutes earlier. Vicki was a lucky girl. And her mother had been, too. To have such love, even for a short period.

The scarf was far from perfect. Even at a distance, Bree could see where the little girl had tried so very hard but not quite got the pattern right. Not that it mattered.

‘Thank you, honey. This is marvellous.’ Matt drew Vicki to his chest in a tight hug. ‘I can’t believe you’ve finished it already. You are so clever.’

‘Put it on, Daddy.’

‘All right.’ Matt drew the length of raggedy brown knitting around his neck. ‘Wow. It’s great.’

‘You can wear it now, Daddy, so when we go outside you don’t get cold.’

‘I will. And I promise I’ll finish knitting yours soon, so we can wear them together. And thank you too, Bree.’ He stood up and smiled at her. ‘From both of us.’

‘You are very welcome. We’ll have to find a new project for you, Vicki. For next time.’

‘Yes, please.’

CHAPTER

16

Vicki’s yell from her perch next to the front window alerted Matt to the new arrivals. ‘They’re here!’ He hadn’t heard the silent silver hybrid pull into the driveway.

‘No yelling,’ he said automatically as Vicki ran for the front door. Not that it did any good. ‘Granny! Grandpa!’ Vicki’s voice got even louder as she opened the door.

‘Hello, my darling.’

Sally’s voice carried into the living room as Matt got to his feet. He wasn’t in the mood for these visitors. He really wanted a quiet day with his daughter, and maybe a chance to try to understand his feelings towards Bree, and that kiss that he couldn’t seem to forget, no matter how hard he tried. But this visit had been planned a couple of weeks ago, and it wouldn’t have been fair to cancel it. For all that Sally and Brian intruded too much into their lives, he would never want to stop Vicki from seeing them. He just wished Sally would understand the boundaries he was trying to set.

‘Come in. I hope you had a good drive up.’

‘Not too bad at all,’ Brian said as he offered his hand.

‘I brought this.’ Sally bent down to Vicki’s level and held out a cake tin. ‘It’s your favourite. Red velvet with lots and lots of icing.’ Vicki put the tin on the coffee table and lifted the lid. ‘Ooh. Can I have some?’

‘Of course you—’

‘Not right now,’ Matt firmly cut off Sally’s reply. ‘We’re going for lunch soon. You can have some after lunch.’

His mother-in-law was glaring at him, her feelings clear in every line of her face. But this time he was more annoyed than her.

‘It’s very kind of Granny to bring you cake,’ he said for his daughter’s benefit. ‘Say thank you.’

‘Thank you, Granny.’

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