How To Trap a Parent

“I guess we’ll go home and sort through more of Aunt Esther’s stuff. We’ve already got about fifty boxes of junk to throw out.” Mary Kate made a face. “Not that there’s much I can do since Mom has to look at everything first.”

Cole stroked his jaw. “Do you like horseback riding?”

“Are you kidding?” Her eyes sparkled. “I love it. When we were eating lunch we saw some girls ride across the street and into the woods.”

“We have a couple of horses. You and Stephanie could go riding.” Cole gestured toward Jane who was just coming out of the café down the street. “Go ask.”

“Mom!” Mary Kate shouted, completely losing her preteen cool. “Can I go horseback riding?”

Cole waited on the corner, watching Mary Kate and Jane approach. Mary Kate was practically skipping in circles around Jane as she pleaded. Jane looked straight ahead, frowning and shaking her head.

“Please, can I go riding?” Mary Kate glanced toward Cole. “He said I could.”

“That’s right,” Cole confirmed as Jane came to a halt in front of him. “My horse doesn’t get enough exercise. Stephanie’s always looking for someone to ride with.”

“We have so much to do at the house,” Jane objected. “And Mary Kate doesn’t know how to ride.”

“I went riding at that dude ranch in Wyoming, remember?” Mary Kate said.

“Only twice,” Jane reminded her. “It’s dangerous.”

“We have hard hats,” Cole replied. “Stephanie can ride my horse and Mary Kate can take hers. Cherry is a ten-year-old mare. She’s got a smooth gait and she’s very gentle.” When Jane continued to hesitate, he added, “You’re not going to get the house cleared out in a single weekend.”

“She doesn’t have the proper clothes,” Jane said. “Or boots or anything.”

“All she needs is a pair of long pants and sturdy running shoes,” Cole countered. “We might even have a pair of Leslie’s old boots that would fit her.”

“Please, Mom?” Mary Kate begged.

Jane threw up her hands. “Oh, all right.”

Mary Kate let out a whoop. “Let’s go home right now so I can get changed.” This time she looked right, then left, then right again before crossing the road.

“Why are you doing this?” Jane demanded of Cole.

“Do you have to ask?” He faced her square on. “She’s my daughter. Stephanie’s dying to see her. Besides, Mary Kate’s bored silly at the farm. I want her to be happy.”

“She’s happy with the way things are,” Jane argued. “I don’t want to complicate her life.”

“There’s nothing complicated about me and Stephanie. Don’t you think she has a right to spend time with us?”

“She hasn’t expressed much interest so far.”

Cole’s molars ground together. Was she deliberately goading him? Well, he wasn’t going to take the bait. Taking out another business card, he scribbled his home address and phone number on the back. “Drop her off at the house. I’ll call Stephanie and let her know to expect her. You can come back for her around six.”

Jane slipped the card into her purse.

“Whatever my mother said to you, she means well,” Cole told Jane before she could move away.

“It wasn’t important.”

“If it was about Mary Kate then it is important.” Cole took a check from his breast pocket and tucked it into Jane’s purse. “I know you’ve refused help in the past, but this is to let you know that from now on I intend to be very much in the picture when it comes to Mary Kate.”

Jane pulled out the folded slip of paper, calmly ripped it in two and handed it back to him. “Do you think you can buy your way into her life? You made a choice thirteen years ago. You have to live with it. I didn’t come to hit you up for child support. I don’t want a cent from you.”

Choice? Did she really think he’d had a choice which girl he would marry? Once he’d asked Leslie he couldn’t very well have changed his mind when Jane had gotten pregnant. Especially with Leslie’s family pressuring them to tie the knot. He had to live with the consequences of his actions; he accepted that. One of those consequences was that Jane distrusted him. He couldn’t blame her, but…

“Does it not occur to you that it’s Mary Kate you’re hurting by refusing to accept money from me?” Cole said angrily. “If you think that means I don’t have rights, think again. She and I are connected by blood. Nothing can break that.”

Jane glared at him. “It doesn’t mean you can do whatever you like with her.”

Cole crumpled the torn pieces of paper in his fist. “For years I’ve been putting money into a trust account for her. When she’s old enough, she won’t need your permission to have it.”

“For now, she’s my responsibility and you go through me.” Jane walked stiffly back to her car, head high. She got in and roared off in a spurt of gravel.

Valerie bustled across the road, still in her black apron. “She’s very prickly. Are you being nice to her?”

“Yes, Mother,” Cole sighed. “As nice as I can be under the circumstances. As nice as she’ll allow me to be.”

“We don’t want to lose Mary Kate again. What are you doing about that?”

“I’m going to claim my rights to my child. Whether Jane likes it or not.” He had a fleeting pang, a wish that Jane would like it, would like him. Then his mouth turned down. Yeah, that was going to happen. When pigs flew.

“Well, I’ll leave that to you, but there’s more to this situation than the child. You know what I’m talking about.”

“Never mind that, Mother. The farmhouse is hers to do with as she pleases.”

“I’m going to talk to her,” Valerie said stubbornly. “If you won’t put your own interests forward, I will.” She set off across the street.

“Don’t interfere. Let me deal with this,” he called after her. But it was too late; Valerie was already halfway back to the café.

Cole dragged a finger around the inside of his collar. Bloody hell.

“MY HORSE KEEPS TRYING to run,” Mary Kate said nervously as Cherry, the bay mare, danced along the dirt trail through the bush. She hauled on the reins with both hands and the horse’s head jerked up until her neck almost touched Mary Kate’s nose.

Stephanie, dressed in a pale blue T-shirt and tan jodhpurs, twisted her slender frame in her saddle to study Mary Kate’s form. “Don’t squeeze with your legs so hard. Cherry thinks you want her to go faster.”

“But I have to hold on somehow,” Mary Kate complained. “The stirrups are a lot longer than I had in Wyoming.”

“Just relax,” Stephanie said. “Hold on to the saddle if you have to. If you sit more loosely you’ll kind of settle into the horse.”

Mary Kate checked out the way the other girl sat on her horse, holding the reins in one hand and letting her legs hang in the stirrups. Taking a slow breath, Mary Kate dropped her shoulders and forced herself to relax. To her surprise and delight, Cherry immediately calmed down and fell into line behind Cole’s horse, a dapple gray gelding. His name was Mr. Magoo but Stephanie said that was too long so they just called him Magoo.

They rode in silence for a while. Mary Kate snapped a sickle-shaped silver-green leaf off a branch in passing. “Pretty weird, huh, that your dad is my father, too.”

Stephanie twisted around in the saddle, planting a hand on Magoo’s broad silver rump. “It is kinda. I probably shouldn’t tell you this but…sometimes he and my mum used to fight about him going out with your mum so soon after they’d broken up. She wasn’t too happy about Dad having another daughter out there.”

“I guess it would have been awkward,” Mary Kate said uncomfortably.

“When it turned out that both our mothers were pregnant it was a huge mess at the time. Grammy Stanwyck tried to hush it up. She had fights with Nana Roberts, who wanted you to stay in Red Hill. Mum went along with whatever Grammy Stanwyck said. Dad was caught in the middle, just trying to do the right thing. Then your mum took off.”

“How do you know all this?” Mary Kate asked, feeling sick to her stomach.

“They used to talk about it sometimes, usually at Christmas when everyone would drink too much,” Stephanie said. “They didn’t think I was listening, but I was.”

Mary Kate fell silent, her cheeks burning with shame and rage. Everyone must hate her and her mom. Well, let them. She couldn’t wait to get out of here. No wonder Mom wanted to sell up fast.

“Hey.” Stephanie pulled on her horse’s reins and circled around to ride side by side with Mary Kate. “Don’t worry about what the grown-ups think,” she said earnestly. “None of it’s your fault. I think it’s so cool that I’ve got a sister.”

Mary Kate hesitated, mollified but still uncertain.

“No one mentions it nowadays, especially now that Mum and Dad are divorced,” Stephanie added.

“Was that because of my mom?” Mary Kate asked.

“How could it be? She wasn’t even around.” Stephanie bit her lip. “I shouldn’t have said anything. I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m really glad you’re here.”

Mary Kate laughed nervously. “I always wanted a sister, too,” she said, not quite able to control the tremor in her voice. “Heck, I would have been happy with a brother.”

Stephanie rolled her eyes. “That’s because you don’t know what they’re like. Little brothers are so annoying.” She watched Mary Kate ride for a moment then added approvingly, “You know, you have ridden before Wyoming. Here, when you were five.”

“That’s what Mom said,” Mary Kate replied. “But I don’t remember.”

“I have a photo Dad took of both of us on the horse he owned before Magoo. We’re just sitting up there bareback. I’m holding the mane, you’re holding on to me.”

“I’ve got a picture of you and me with ice cream cones,” Mary Kate said excitedly. “The stuff is dripping all down our fronts.”

“Dad has some school photos of you,” Stephanie added.

“My mom doesn’t have any of you,” Mary Kate replied. “I wonder why.”

Stephanie shrugged. “I’m not her daughter.”

“But you’re my sister.” Half sister. Mom had drilled that into her. Mary Kate liked to make-believe she and Stephanie were real sisters.

Mary Kate took another deep breath, which brought with it a whiff of eucalyptus. The trees were, like, massively tall, and reminded Mary Kate of California.

“Do you miss Los Angeles?” Stephanie asked. It was almost as though she’d picked up on Mary Kate’s thoughts.

“I miss my friends and going to the mall,” Mary Kate said. “But Mom says there are cool boutiques in Melbourne. And now I’ve got you. You’re lucky to have horses and be able to go riding wherever you want.”

“I think you’re lucky living in Hollywood. Did you meet heaps of celebrities?” Stephanie asked.

“We lived in Pasadena, not Hollywood. But once I went with Mom to a studio party and we saw Orlando Bloom. I got his autograph. He is so hot!”

“Wow,” Stephanie breathed, her reverential tone directed as much at Mary Kate as it was at the movie star. She glanced at Mary Kate enviously. “I love your top.”

“Thanks.” Mary Kate glanced down at the pink T-shirt with the latest fashion logo printed across the front. She was jealous of Stephanie’s cool black riding boots and tan jodhpurs.

“Wouldn’t it be neat if you stayed in Red Hill and we could go riding all the time?” Stephanie went on.

“I’d like that,” Mary Kate said, completely ignoring the fact that a few minutes ago she couldn’t wait to leave. “But Mom wants to buy an apartment in the city.”

“Maybe Dad can talk her into changing her mind,” Stephanie said. “He told me he wanted us to spend time with you.”

“Really? Cool. It’s so weird to see my father again. I mean, I’ve met him before but I don’t know what he’s like.”

Stephanie glanced over her shoulder. “Didn’t your mum tell you anything about him?”

“Not much,” Mary Kate admitted. “I tried to ask her a few times over the years but she got so upset—even though she pretended not to be—that I gave up.”

“Doesn’t she like him?”

“She acts like she doesn’t. But before we left L.A., when she was packing and everything was out in the open, I just happened to see in her underwear drawer…” Mary Kate hesitated to tell her mother’s secrets. Then again, Stephanie was her sister.

“Go on,” Stephanie prompted. “What did you see?”

“A photo of Cole on a horse. He was young. The light was coming through the trees and shining on his face. He looked really handsome.” Mary Kate paused thoughtfully. “I thought maybe she was keeping it to give to me someday, but when I tried to look at it, she pushed it out of sight and sent me off to finish packing my stuff.”

“Wow,” Stephanie said. “That’s so romantic.”

“It is kind of, isn’t it?” Mary Kate hadn’t thought of it that way before.

Stephanie glanced ahead as they emerged from bush into a meadow. “Want to race to the end of the field?”

A race? Mary Kate gulped. She didn’t want to tell Stephanie she’d only cantered once before. “Sure, why not?”

With a whoop, Stephanie dug her heels into Magoo’s belly. The dapple gray tore off at a gallop. Cherry leaped forward, almost jolting Mary Kate out of the saddle. She clung on, trying not to drop the reins. The wind whistled in her ears and the pounding hooves seemed to vibrate clear through to her chest. She leaned forward, low on Cherry’s neck, and forgot to breathe. Magoo’s gray rump was mere inches in front of Cherry’s outstretched nose.

The trees on the far side of the meadow rushed closer at an alarming rate. Mary Kate started to pull back on the reins but she needn’t have worried. As Stephanie slowed Magoo, Cherry automatically dropped to a canter then a trot. Mary Kate bounced lopsidedly in the saddle, then, grinning from ear to ear, she righted herself.

“Wow! That was better than the roller coaster at Six Flags,” she exclaimed.

Stephanie laughed. “Don’t tell Dad we galloped. I was supposed to take it easy with you the first time.”

“Can we do it again?” Mary Kate asked eagerly.

“No, we’d better walk the rest of the way,” Stephanie said. “It’s not far and the horses need to cool down.”

Mary Kate fell in behind Stephanie as they entered a thinly wooded section where grass grew between widely spaced trees. Beyond the trees was the paddock at the back of Stephanie’s house.

They came to the fence, and Stephanie leaned over and unlatched the gate, skillfully maneuvering her horse so that the gate swung open and Mary Kate could pass through on Cherry. Stephanie closed it again and they rode across the paddock to the stable. Cherry quickened her pace to a trot as she neared home. Mary Kate gripped with her thighs this time and tried to lift herself off the saddle with every step the way Stephanie did.

They came to a halt and Mary Kate flung her leg over the back of the saddle and dropped to the ground. Her legs felt all wobbly as she staggered around to the front of her horse.

“You’ll be sore tomorrow, but a few more rides and you’ll be fine.” Stephanie looped Magoo’s reins over the fence and showed Mary Kate how to remove the saddle.

They groomed the horses and put their halters back on. Mary Kate helped carry buckets of water to fill the old bathtub that served as a water trough. Then she and Stephanie put away the saddles and bridles.

The heavy hollow clump of hooves sounded on the wooden stable floor strewn with straw as Cherry and Magoo came into their stalls looking for food. Stephanie peeled off two flakes of hay from an open bale and handed one to Mary Kate to throw into the manger for Cherry. Cherry whickered softly and bobbed her head before getting down to serious munching.

“I wish I had a horse,” Mary Kate sighed, running her hand over Cherry’s glossy reddish-brown neck.

“You can ride with me anytime,” Stephanie offered. “Dad only rides on Sundays and even then he doesn’t have time every weekend.”

“Cool.” Mary Kate touched Stephanie’s arm as they turned to leave the stable. “Remember what I said about that photo Mom kept in her underwear drawer? Don’t say anything to your dad. Mom would have a fit if she knew I’d told you.”

CHAPTER FOUR

JANE TURNED into Cole’s driveway and motored slowly between rows of vines heavy with clusters of ripening grapes. Finally the house appeared; single-story cream-colored brick with a wraparound veranda and pale green roof.

She parked behind Cole’s car, the older-model convertible Porsche. Interesting, the solid family man had a rakish streak. She grabbed her tote and knocked on the front door. When there was no answer she walked through the carport to the back of the house. A stable stood off to the right and beyond it was a fenced paddock. In the other corner of the yard was a concrete shed shaded by a gum tree. The door to the shed stood open.

“Hello?” Jane called, shielding her eyes from the slanting afternoon sun. “Anyone home?”

Cole appeared in the doorway, his broad shoulders filling the space. He’d changed out of his suit into casual pants and a forest-green polo shirt that brought out the color of his eyes and showed a vee of tanned skin. “I see you found the place.”

Jane walked across the short dry grass. “Where’s Mary Kate? Is she ready to go?”

“They’re back from their ride. But I don’t know if she’s ready to leave.” He glanced over to the stable just as the door opened and a pair of giggling girls tumbled out. “They’re getting along like a house on fire.”

Mary Kate saw Jane and bounded over, beaming from ear to ear. “Mom, I had the best time. Riding is, like, brilliant! This is Stephanie.”

“Hi, Stephanie. We’ve met but it was a long time ago.”

Despite her misgivings Jane had to smile at Mary Kate’s enthusiasm. With her tangled hair and grubby jeans, she looked less like a would-be Paris Hilton and more like a happy, healthy young girl. Which was wonderful, as long as she didn’t get too attached to Red Hill.

“We’re going to listen to music on Mary Kate’s MP3 player,” Stephanie said. Before either Jane or Cole could object, the girls ran toward the house.

Jane turned to Cole, one eyebrow raised. “Brilliant? What have you, like, done to my daughter?”

“Hey, don’t blame me. I just live here.” He motioned inside the shed. “I was about to open a bottle of wine. Would you care to join me for a drink?”

“I just came to pick up Mary Kate but okay, thanks,” Jane said. “We do need to talk about the farm.”

“Among other things.” Cole led the way into the shed.

Once she was out of the sun, the temperature dropped about ten degrees. The pleasantly cool air was filled with the sweet musky scent of fermenting grapes. Shelves stacked with bottles of wine on their sides lined the back wall. A covered stainless-steel vat stood waist-high off to one side, and near it, an oval oak barrel rested on blocks. A heavy wood table held wine-making paraphernalia—beakers and thermometers and other items she didn’t know the names of. Another barrel, on which two wineglasses sat upside down on a tray, provided a makeshift tasting counter.

“This is quite the hobby you have here.”

“I like to experiment.” He turned over the glasses and went to the fridge for a bottle of white wine. “I’ve got a hectare of Chardonnay and Shiraz grapes. Two years ago I put in Pinot Grigio.”

There was a wistful note in his voice and he ran his hand lovingly over a row of wine-making books.

“You planned to study viticulture and own a commercial vineyard. What happened?”

Cole unscrewed the Stelvin closure and poured the wine. “I counted on taking over the farm someday. But then Dad had the car accident and died, leaving a lot of debts. My mother had no training and Joey was only a kid. When Dad’s partner offered me a job at the real estate agency, I considered myself lucky.”

“It’s too bad. If anyone should have gotten out of Red Hill and made something out of himself, it was you,” she said. “You had talent and ambition.”

“What makes you think I don’t still?” He handed Jane a glass. “What shall we drink to?”

“World peace?” she suggested.

He met her gaze with a wry smile. “I’d settle for détente in Red Hill.”

Jane touched glasses, her glance shifting. His eyes, his smile, still had the power to make her stomach take a tumble. She held her wine up to the light coming through the doorway. It was a clear straw-yellow.

“The color will deepen to gold with age.” Cole swirled the wine, put his nose inside the glass and breathed deeply.

Jane took a sip and rolled the perfumed liquid around on her tongue. “I love that buttery nutty flavor.”

“That’s the malolactic fermentation,” Cole said. “It’s out of fashion these days but I like it.”

“There’s fashion in wine?” Jane took another sip. “I don’t know much about it but this is seriously good.”

Cole tasted the wine, rolling it around in his mouth. “It’s getting there.”

“Don’t sell yourself short.” Jane picked up the wine bottle and studied the plain white sticker on which the year, the variety of grape and a catalog number was handwritten. “You could flog this at the Red Hill market. Day-tripping Melbournites would buy it by the caseload.”

“Who has time for that?” he asked, leaning against the table. “Real estate agents are on the job 24-7.”

“Maybe you’re in the wrong job.” Her cell phone rang. “Excuse me,” she said, unclipping it from the side pocket of her purse. “Jane Linden speaking. Rafe, hello! Thanks for returning my call.” She smiled with pleasure at hearing the gravelly two-packs-a-day voice of her old friend. “The movie premiere is in a few weeks,” she told him. “Red-carpet walk at the theater. After party at the Botanical Restaurant. You put in an appearance for a couple of hours and then you can disappear. Mia will be there. Oh, don’t be like that. In public you have to at least pretend to like her. Thank you, darling. Ciao!”

Jane folded her cell phone and tucked it into her bag. “It wouldn’t do to have our male lead not show up at the Australian premiere.”

“Rafe Baldwyn? Was that who you were talking to?” Cole said. “He’s one of the hottest actors in Australia. I just read somewhere that he’s going to be the next big thing in Hollywood.”

“He already is,” Jane said. “Swept Away was a smash hit in the U.S.”

“Is that what your job entails, chatting with the stars?”

“Mostly I deal with the media, putting out press releases. When I arrange interviews or appearances I usually speak with agents or personal assistants. But I met Rafe years ago when he was an acting student in Sydney. We’ve been friends ever since.”

Cole’s eyebrows rose at that. “Just friends?”

“Just friends,” Jane confirmed. “I was five months pregnant, for God’s sake. We met at an improv theater in Sydney. Esther’s friend, the woman I was staying with, knew him, and he and I hit it off. Later, when he headed to Hollywood, I tagged along to try my luck.”

“A couple of Aussies, far from home,” Cole commented sardonically.

“That’s right,” Jane said, refusing to rise to his jibe. “Rafe’s risen steadily from small parts to the top of the A-list.”

“Whatever happened to your acting career?” Cole demanded. “You wanted to be a star, as I recall.”

Jane twirled her glass by the stem, avoiding his gaze. “I got a couple of decent roles but in the end, nothing came of it.”

“I don’t understand,” Cole persisted. “You were very talented. The hit of the high school play.”

“I was a big fish in a small pond.”

“But you wanted it so badly.”

“What do you care? It’s ancient history.” Changing the subject, she asked, “Have you had a chance to put a value on the farm?”

“That depends.” Cole sipped his wine. “If you’re willing to hold out for what the land is worth, you could probably get a million for it. But if you’re after a quick sale I’d suggest asking eight hundred, maybe eight hundred and fifty thousand. If you fix the plumbing and wiring it might sell faster.”