‘Hello, Aunty Jade,’ came the sweetest voice in the world. ‘Here’s breakfatht.’
Jade was so happy to see Amber’s smiling face but equally mortified to see Mitchell. She could only guess how dishevelled she looked. Quickly, her fingers ran through her hair to straighten the bed hair catastrophe.
‘Good morning, Jade,’ came the radio host voice. It wasn’t forced or put on. His velvet-smooth voice was God-given.
‘Good … good morning, you two. I must have slept in … What time is it?’ Horror still coloured her expression.
‘It’s barely ten,’ Mitchell said as his eyes involuntarily roamed her barely clothed body.
Pulling the bedclothes up to her chin, she sat up. She was wearing a strappy powder-blue camisole and she felt awkward and uncomfortable with Mitchell so close to her.
‘I really did sleep in,’ she conceded sheepishly. ‘Well, I’d better get up and shower and see what Grandpa and Grandma have in mind for us today.’
‘It’s a pancake. I helped make it.’ Her little voice was insistent.
On cue, Mitchell walked around the bed and carefully placed the tray on her lap. He paused for a moment as he looked at her, his eyes intense as they traced the curves of her body, and his mouth curved into a smile.
‘Pancakes, juice and a beautiful flower too,’ Jade said as she leant forward to smell the rosebud. ‘I am spoilt.’
‘Grandma thed that you need a retht.’
Jade smiled the most beautiful smile. That’s how Mitchell saw it. In the morning light with her bed hair and skimpy nightdress he thought she looked stunning. Not prim at all. She looked naturally sexy in a girl-next-door way. He had recoiled the moment he’d put the tray on her lap. He couldn’t take his eyes away from her but he didn’t want her to know just how appealing he found her. He didn’t want to admit it to himself either. The previous night he had taken the time to really look at Jade and try to find the woman underneath the layers of drab clothing. Now there was nothing to look past. She was in bed in something skimpy and revealing. The messy hair was so much better than the neat, slick bob. He imagined that it would be just as untidy if they had taken a motorcycle ride through the narrow, winding back roads leading through the foothills and he had slipped the passenger helmet slowly from her head before he kissed her …
He shook his head and swallowed. He had no idea what had possessed him to be thinking about the American governess like that.
‘Okay, I think I’ll leave you to it,’ he called as he crossed the room to the doorway, quickly pulling his thoughts in line. ‘I’m off to catch some waves. I intend to make the most of my last day off before I’m back at the hospital for a week straight.’
He needed to bring the unexpected images to an end. He disappeared from her sight, knowing he couldn’t afford to think that way. She was off limits. Clearly, she was not his type and he was not hers. She was a sensible woman looking for a reliable nine-to-five accountant type. Not the fun-loving, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants sort of girl he needed. But damn, she looked so sexy all messed up in the morning.
Jade watched him leave the room, not knowing what he was thinking. But she definitely had unwanted thoughts about the man who had brought her breakfast in bed.
She enjoyed the wonderful spread as she listened to Amber’s adventures in the kitchen, cooking pancakes. She felt a little guilty that Amber had never enjoyed time with her extended family before now. But she conceded that it hadn’t been possible before. Amber’s health had had to take precedence. Maureen and Arthur had never said the trip would be too difficult emotionally for them but their lack of travel to Los Angeles spelt it out to Jade and she understood. Burying their son was the only memory they had of the city. And Jade had been busy trying to pay the bills and monitoring Amber’s medical issues while working part time, so a trip Down Under hadn’t been a priority, but she decided, as she was listening to her niece’s tales from the morning, that this trip should not be the last.
When her plate and glass were empty, Jade slipped on her long cotton dressing gown and the two of them made their way downstairs so Jade could say good morning and thank Maureen for a delicious breakfast. After a chat over a cup of coffee, Maureen and Arthur offered to take Amber for a stroll along the jetty to see if they could spot any dolphins, have lunch and give Jade some much-needed time to herself. Amber was excited by the idea so Jade agreed. Amber had taken to her grandparents and Jade was very happy.
‘I thought we might have a little birthday party dinner for Amber tonight,’ Maureen said softly so that Amber couldn’t hear.
‘But her birthday isn’t for three days.’
‘I know, but Mitchell will be working all week and he always works late, and I thought it would be lovely for him to be a part of the celebrations.’
‘Whatever you would like to do.’
‘We can have a little luncheon party on the day at the zoo perhaps but this is a pre-birthday party, and it means Amber will get two cakes this year!’
Again Jade wasn’t about to say no. It was Maureen’s decision; it made her happy and it appeared to have been made already. Jade was aware that this week would be particularly hard on all of them. It was the third anniversary of the accident. It had been a day that had changed everyone’s lives for ever. Those who’d died, the one who had been born and the ones who’d been robbed of loved ones. So a double celebration of Amber’s birthday would be a distraction that would be beneficial for everyone.
‘There’s lots of salad things in the refrigerator and some lovely fresh bread on the bench,’ Maureen announced on the way out the door. ‘Please, help yourself for lunch, unless, of course, you want to join us. You’re most welcome—we don’t want you to think we’ve kidnapped Amber but we do feel that you’ve being doing it alone for so long that you should have a break.’
‘I think I will stay in, but thank you for the invitation. Salad sounds great.’
Alone in the house, Jade decided to enjoy a swim in the pool. The only ‘old Jade’ outfit she had packed was a nude-coloured string bikini. She never had time to go swimming back home between work and Amber so it was the one piece of clothing she hadn’t bothered to replace with something a little more sensible. A little more suitable for her role as Amber’s guardian. Knowing that the house was hers, she slipped on the tiny swimsuit and, feeling a little self-conscious, wrapped a towel around herself and made her way to the pool, where she planned on doing laps of the crystal water in solitude.
The solar heating had taken the chill off, rendering it refreshing but not cold. Jade swam the length of the pool on her back, looking at the clear blue sky with not a cloud in sight. The morning sun was warm and the breeze had dropped. It was a perfect day and she was enjoying the feeling of the water against her near-naked body.
The last time she had felt so uninhibited had been on a holiday in Cabo San Lucas almost four years before. It seemed a lifetime ago. Not that she would trade her life or anyone in it but she was relishing a few minutes to herself. She climbed out of the water and, still wet, lay down on the sun lounge. Her skin was a light golden colour courtesy of one of her nurse friends who had insisted on giving Jade a spray tan in her home before she’d left for Australia.
‘Don’t want the Aussies to tread on you ‘cos you match the white sand,’ her friend had said with a laugh as she’d refilled the airbrushing machine while Amber had sat giggling as she’d watched. They had covered the room with plastic bags to protect the white tiles from the brown stain. It had been a fun afternoon, and Amber thought they’d been quite silly and very messy.
Mitchell let himself into the house. With the car gone, he assumed his parents and the house guests had headed off