Page 3 of The Beach Cottage
Bea stood and paced to the other side of the kitchen, then back again. “This is crazy. You have a teenaged daughter, and you knew nothing about her?”
“Nothing.” He raised his hands in mock surrender. “I swear. But honestly, I’m kind of excited. I know the timing isn’t great, but I thought I’d never have children. I’d come to terms with it. Heck, for a long time I even told myself it was for the best, that I could give my career my full attention. But I’ve always wanted a child.”
“She’s almost grown.”
“I know.” He shook his head. “I’m trying not to be angry at Kelly for keeping her from me. I missed out on so much.”
“I’m sorry,” Bea simply said. She reached out a hand to Aidan, and he took it, squeezed it.
“Thank you. I really want to spend some time getting to know her. I’ve missed her entire childhood. I can’t think about anything else right now.”
Bea nodded. “Of course. I understand.” She could see it in his eyes. He was breaking up with her before they’d even had a chance to try. But she couldn’t argue—she didn’t want to get in between him and his daughter.
“I knew you would. We can revisit things when I’ve had some time to process it all and get to know Grace a little better.”
“We’ll talk then.”
Bea swallowed around the lump in her throat as she watched Aidan walk away. He climbed into his truck and waved goodbye, then backed out of her driveway. She stood staring after him, her eyes full of tears.
Their reconciliation had been too good to be true. All this time, she’d wanted to take things slowly between them so she was ready and wouldn’t hurt him. But she hadn’t realised it would be him who’d hurt her, and so soon.
With a shake of her head, she walked back to her bedroom to take a shower. She had a busy day planned, and there was no point standing around moping. There was work to be done.
Two
The shovel seemed heavier in Penny St James’ hands with every passing moment. She pushed it as deep into the soft ground as she could manage, then jumped up and down on the edge of it until it was embedded in the squelching mud. She levered it back and forth, finding it was wedged a little too far into the mud now. It took all her weight and several minutes before she was able to budge the shovel, and finally it came flying out of the ground, sending her stumbling backwards.
She landed on her rear end in the mud with a thwack. The shovel fell at her feet. Mud oozed up through her pants. She grimaced and pushed her hands against the earth to gain her feet only to find that her hands were stuck in the mud entirely. So much for her manicure. She knew better than to get one since she ran a wildlife refuge, but her parents had given her a gift certificate for the spa at the new resort over in Blue Shoal for Christmas, and she’d put it to use the previous day with a facial, massage and manicure. It’d been heavenly. But now her blue glitter nail polish was buried wrist-deep in sucking black mud.
Nearby, a large grey kangaroo stood staring at her.
“Come on, Frank, give me a hand, will you? Or a paw?” She wrinkled her nose. It itched on the end, but she couldn’t reach to scratch it. Her hands were still stuck in the mud, and even if they weren’t, she’d end up with black muck across her face. Instead, she wriggled her nose back and forth, the itch quickly becoming unbearable.
A strand of honey-blonde hair fell across her face, covering one brown eye. She blew it, sending it back for a moment, but it fell into place again just as fast.
“Ugh. Now what?” she murmured to herself. Alison, her assistant, was inside, feeding the snakes. She wouldn’t hear if Penny called, and besides, there was one rule about snake feeding at the refuge — don’t let yourself be interrupted by anyone or anything. Penny had implemented the rule when one of the volunteers had stopped what they were doing to answer the gate and they’d lost a python in the break room for a full hour. It’d been a stressful day, and one Penny hoped never to repeat. Especially since the python had almost made it out to the kangaroo enclosure, where there were wallabies and other small creatures just waiting to be eaten.
She wriggled one hand free, then the other. She couldn’t help giggling. With the kangaroo watching her intently, she laughed heartily at herself. She was completely stuck. There was no way to get out of there without help unless she somehow made it onto her knees. Just as she was about to try, she heard the front gate click shut.
“Hello! Who’s there?”
“Penny?” A man’s voice sounded through the enclosure, one she didn’t immediately recognise. “Where are you?”
“This way,” she called.
A handsome face appeared, thick brown hair and large brown eyes above a stubbled chin. Rowan Clements, the man who’d humiliated her as a teenager and whose presence always invoked anger deep down in her gut. A smirk flickered across his handsome features. “What are you doing?”
“Taking a bath. What does it look like?”
Rowan stopped short, crossed his arms. “I can leave you here if you’re going to be like that.”
“No, please — I need help,” she admitted. There was no time for pleasantries or for the obvious question — what was he doing in her wildlife sanctuary? The front gate was locked, and only people with the code could gain entrance unless someone was manning the reception desk. Which no one was at that moment, since there were only two of them on-site — she was stuck in the mud, and Alison was ankle-deep in snakes.
He laughed quietly as he surveyed her. “Now, how did you manage that?”
She held out her hands. “I’ll tell you all about it just as soon as you get me out of here.”
He wore a pair of expensive blue jeans and a buttoned shirt. His hair was casually mussed and his physique was perfectly athletic and tanned. She’d seen him recently on television — intrepid reporter and high school nemesis. He was a man of many faces. And she itched to punch him in every single one of them.
