Page 54 of The Knitting Club at Wagtail Ridge

‘But Daddy—’ tears began spilling from his daughter’s bright blue eyes, ‘—what did I do wrong? I was just talking to Granny.’

‘It’s all right.’ He had to force his voice to be calm, because everything was far from all right. ‘You haven’t done anything wrong. Now, you go to your room and read while I talk to Granny. I’ll be along in a second to explain.’

Her little face screwed up against her tears, Vicki left.

‘What was that?’ He lifted the tablet to glare at Sally. ‘What the hell were you doing?’

‘Now, Matt, don’t get angry. I was simply thinking it would be nice for Vicki to come and stay with us for a while. It’s hard having to drive all the way up there to see her.’

‘All the way up here is only a couple of hours, Sally. It’s not that far. And this is her home. She lives here. With me.’

‘But it would be good for her to live with us for a while too. Here in the city. There are so many things she’s missing out on up there in the bush.’

‘Sally, you are the one who is missing something here. I’m sorry, but you have to back off. Vicki is my daughter, not yours. She lives here with me and I’ll raise her as I see fit. As Kim and I planned.’

‘But she’s my granddaughter. You never even married Kim. Vicki’s as much my family as she is yours. Maybe even …’ Sally’s voice trailed off, as if those last few words were a step too far even for her.

As far as Matt was concerned that line had already been crossed. ‘Sally. I’m sorry, but I’m going to ask you not to call Vicki again.’

‘What. You can’t—’

‘As her father, I can. I don’t want to, but right now she is in her room crying her eyes out and it’s because of you. It’s her I’m concerned about. It seems to me that you are trying to take my daughter—mydaughter—away from me, and I will not allow that.’

‘You can’t keep her away from me. You just can’t. I have rights.’

‘You can still see her, but only when I am with her. And only when it has been prearranged. Do I make myself clear?’

‘You make yourself very clear.’ Sally spat the words and then she was gone.

Matt stared at the end-of-call message, wondering if he’d done more harm than good. Since Kim’s death, Sally had changed. Despite all the mother-in-law jokes, he and Sally had always had a friendly relationship. Sally hadn’t been pleased when Kim had moved to the Ridge to be with him, and so soon after their meeting. But their relationship had been cordial until Kim was diagnosed. After that, all any of them had cared about was Kim. And protecting Vicki. Grief took people in different ways, but he was genuinely and deeply concerned about Sally. It was as if she was losing touch with reality. As if she was trying to get Vicki to replace the daughter she had lost.

He laid the tablet down on the table and stared at his phone. He thought about calling Brian. They could still talk. Sally’s husband loved her, Matt knew that. Surely Brian could see what was happening? It was clear he couldn’t—or wouldn’t—control his wife’s behaviour. Maybe Matt should suggest again that he get Sally some help.

Another muffled sob from the bedroom dragged him away from those thoughts. Right now, Vicki needed him.

Kim, how am I going to explain what just happened?

She would have known exactly what to do. What to say. She always had. But she was gone and he was utterly lost without her. He had to find a way.

Love her, Matt. Love her with all your heart and you’ll both be fine without me.

Kim had said that to him on their last day together. She’d died a few hours later, taking all his hopes and plans for the future with her.

We’re not fine, Kim. But I’m trying.

Taking a deep breath, he walked down the hall and knocked on Vicki’s door.

CHAPTER

21

It wasn’t her imagination. The dress was definitely a little tighter than before. Not uncomfortably tight. Just … a firmer fit. Bree turned side on to the mirror. She didn’t look like she’d gained any weight, but her body shape had changed in the weeks of living and working at The Gums. In Sydney, exercising at the gym had been aimed at specific parts of her body; keeping her stomach flat and her arms trim. That sort of thing. But lugging bags of stock feed and bales of hay, walking miles each day with and without alpacas in hand, mending fences and hefting fleeces was a different form of exercise altogether. She was probably fitter now than she had ever been. And stronger. She wasn’t as thin as she had been, but she looked far healthier. And if this dress was a bit tighter than she liked, that was fine. She didn’t really like the dress anyway. Its designer label and studied sexiness were all part of the Bree she had left behind. So why on earth was she wearing it?

She unzipped the dress and stepped out of it. She wasn’t that person any more. And it was certainly not the person she wanted the town to see. Or Matt.

She began hunting through her wardrobe again. She’d hung up everything she owned when she first moved in, but had pretty much worn overalls or jeans ever since. She had worn her favourite flouncy multicoloured skirt to dinner with Matt. But this was a dance. And while she was pretty sure there’d be more jeans and riding boots than designer labels, she still wanted to look nice. After weeks of mending fences and mucking out and picking mud and weeds out of alpaca fleece, she simply wanted to feel like a woman. An attractive woman. Not for any particular reason, of course. Or for any particular person. Although, as Matt had invited her, it would be ungracious not to look like she’d made an effort to look nice. Not a date-level effort, because this wasn’t a date, but some effort.

She found what she wanted right at the back of the wardrobe. She pulled it out and nodded, smiling. She’d bought this dress for a law firm Christmas party, but at the last minute had bowed to pressure from her mother to look more ‘like management’. This dress was certainly not managerial. A symphony in floral chiffon, it featured a lace-up back, a bare midriff and exactly the right number of frills. After her mother had banned it, Bree had put it to the back of the closet and never worn it. The tag was still hanging from the neckline. It was, she knew, a lot more expensive than anything anyone else would be wearing, but the boho design didn’t make it seem too over the top. She suddenly wanted to wear it more than anything else. There was still a slight chill in the air in the evenings, but not too much for chiffon and open-toed sandals, and it would be warm in the hall. It wasn’t as if she would be sneaking outside to make out behind the hall with anyone. Not that she wanted to. She wasn’t a teenager any more. And she was certain Matt wasn’t planning on anything like that either.

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