How To Trap a Parent

“Fixing things takes time,” Jane objected. “I don’t want to wait for major repairs. List the property as is for one million.”

“Okay. You can always come down if it’s not selling.” Cole swirled the last of his wine and drained it. Then he set his glass on the barrel and straightened as if getting down to the real business at hand. “Now, about Mary Kate.”

Jane stiffened, her fingers curling tightly around the stem. “What about her?”

“I want a definite arrangement between us, something binding, about when I can see her.”

Jane felt herself go cold all over. “Are you talking about a legal arrangement?”

“Yes. Joint custody. How do I know you won’t up and disappear across the Pacific again?”

“I didn’t return to Australia because Esther died,” Jane said. “I was planning on coming home anyway. Mary Kate’s at a transitional age and I think Melbourne is a saner and safer environment than where we lived in L.A.”

Red Hill was even better in that respect than Melbourne, but she’d be crazy to put herself through the anguish of seeing Cole on a regular basis. Not that she cared, but he was a constant reminder of the unhappiness he’d caused her in the past. And though she hated to admit it, he still had something that attracted her.

“It’s going to be difficult—” Jane began.

“Even so, I want something binding,” Cole said, cutting her off. “The girls are fast friends already. If you discourage Mary Kate from seeing Stephanie it could set off consequences you may not like.”

“Consequences?” she repeated, alarm bells ringing. “Is that a threat?”

“Just a suggestion to consider everyone’s feelings,” he said with a grim smile. “I got the feeling you expected to blow into town and out again without causing a ripple in any of our lives.”

That was exactly what she’d hoped to do. Clearly it wasn’t going to work. Stalling, she said, “Why don’t we ad-lib while I’m in Red Hill? When I move back to the city we can hammer out something more concrete.”

“As long as you understand I’m not going away. I’ve had a chat with my lawyer about my custody rights.”

The phrase pushed Jane close to panic. She wasn’t a clinging mother, but Mary Kate was all she had. Already her daughter was growing up, growing away from her. Add a father, a new sister, horses—and a lawyer—how could she compete? “I suppose she could come out occasionally on weekends,” Jane said reluctantly. “But I’m not sure she would like being away from me.”

“I’ve got room here for guests,” Cole replied.

The thought of staying overnight in his house brought heat surging to her cheeks. “Oh, sure, like that would work,” she scoffed. “You and I under one roof?”

“I’m willing to do anything for my daughter.”

Was he suggesting she wouldn’t? “While I appreciate the offer, no thank you.” She set her empty glass on the wine barrel and started toward the door. “It’s getting close to dinnertime and I don’t want to hold you up. Mary Kate and I need to get going.”

Cole stopped her with a hand on her forearm. “You told your friend Rafe he had to pretend to like Mia. We need to at least pretend to like each other. For our daughter’s sake.”

Though his hand burned her skin, his words were like a wash of cold water. The old days truly were gone. She was nothing more to him than an annoying impediment to his relationship with his daughter.

“We have a daughter together,” Cole said, his voice softening fractionally. “I don’t want us to be enemies.”

How could they be friends when he was trying to take her baby away from her? “I’m sure we can work things out,” she said stiffly, adding, “Our relationship has to be strictly business.”

“Fine,” he said, his voice tight. “Business, it is.”

Even though she was pushing him away as hard as she could, deep inside, a tiny piece of Jane’s heart chipped. Funny, she hadn’t thought there was anything left to break. “Excellent. I’m glad we understand each other.”

SHOWING PROSPECTIVE customers around Cockatoo Ridge filled Cole with a peculiar mixture of pride, longing and bitterness. He knew exactly where the daffodils his grandmother had planted around the grassy lawn would peek through in early spring. He knew where the veranda deck had been repaired after he’d backed the utility truck into it while learning to drive. If he was very quiet he could almost hear the lambs bleating. Except that they’d been gone for fifteen years now.

The farm was in his bones and in his blood. As a ten-year-old he’d imagined he would always live here. Now, as a thirty-one-year-old, it was still where he wanted to put down roots. Gazing out over the valley he could picture grapevines growing in long neat rows, down to the creek, then up the other side of the hill. But he would plant around the massive old gum tree where the sulfur crested cockatoos that gave the farm its name nested in the hollow trunk.

“Cole, dear?” Audrey O’Keefe appeared at his elbow, resplendent in a fuchsia blouse worn over emerald pants. She and her husband, Bert, had followed him from the office in their car. “How many acres did you say were here?”

Cole emerged from his reverie to focus on the woman who captained his mother’s lawn-bowling team. Audrey wore chunky rings on every finger, and a pair of oversize sunglasses perched in a nest of bright orange hair. As if to compensate for her gaudiness, her husband, Bert, wore plain brown shorts and a beige shirt. His thinning hair was a nondescript shade somewhere between pale blond and gray.

“Five hectares or about ten acres in the old measure,” Cole said as he led the couple to the house. “The house was built by my grandfather in the 1800s. But you know that.”

The O’Keefes were the fifth couple he’d shown the house to that week. So far he hadn’t gotten even a nibble and he wasn’t expecting one today. Audrey and Bert were so different it was hard to please both.

“It’s gorgeous,” Audrey said as Cole rang the doorbell. “I’ve always loved the Victorian trim on the veranda.”

“Are the plumbing and wiring up to code?” Bert asked.

Jane opened the door. In a pale pink top over a white denim skirt she looked as cool and sweet as peppermint ice cream. His impulse as a man was to try to charm her. But that was not on. If she wanted a business relationship, that’s exactly what she was going to get.

He nodded to her formally then answered Bert’s question. “There was no code when this place was built, and the plumbing and wiring are original. They’ll need complete redoing before the place is livable.”