Jess cleared her throat. ‘I’m a local. Did you need directions, or information about services or anything?’ She might sound like an animated travel brochure now, but that was better than noticing the man as, well, as a man.
‘Uh, hello. Thanks…’ Deep hazel eyes fringed with thick black lashes searched her face, and then dropped to Ella where she sat in the stroller crowing in delight to see so many children playing near her.
He had beautiful eyes. Eyes that showed his age and maturity, and that made Jess’s breath catch.
Did his eyes hold a hint of consciousness within them, too? Jess was twenty-two, a lot younger. She’d never noticed a man this age quite so much. She didn’t really understand her reaction and…she wondered if she was correctly reading his.
He seemed to give himself a mental shake before he responded. ‘That’s kind of you. We just moved here so I don’t have a good grip on everything about Randurra yet.’ He extended his hand. ‘Dan Frazier.’
Well, that was all about business so maybe Jess had imagined the other.
‘Jess Baker. Jessica, really, but I prefer Jess. I moved here about fourteen months ago.’ Just in time to settle into the cottage before she made the short trip to the local hospital to give birth to Ella. ‘So I know pretty much everything there is to know about the town.’
She tried not to stutter over the words, because the touch of Dan’s fingers closing around hers gave her the strangest feeling of…comfort. And made her too aware of him. She took a deep breath and lifted her hand to check that the green band in her hair was straight, its enormous bow sitting firmly. Did Dan Frazier think she was an airhead because of that bow? Jess wasn’t. The clothing and accessories were part of keeping her head up, of showing her determination in her own way.
Life had thrown a major curve ball today, but she hadn’t let that stomp her. She’d put on her bright clothes and had marched to the town council building. She’d done her best to calmly and rationally discuss the situation with that nasty man who’d delivered the overdue notice, Lang Fielder. It had been to no avail today but she wouldn’t stop at one go!
And then she’d knocked on half the doors in Randurra, looking for work. Jess still had the other half to knock on. She wasn’t stomped yet.
‘Da-a-ad.’ A girlish voice came their way. ‘Rob and Luke are going to fall into the water.’
‘Are not.’ A voice halfway to his father’s deepness replied. ‘We’re just playing, Daisy.’
‘Well, stop it. Don’t you know there’ll be approximately fifty thousand different kinds of germs in that pond?’ The girl called Daisy pushed a pair of glasses up her nose in a knowing and disapproving way.
Jess stifled a smile.
‘Maybe you can point me in the direction of childcare facilities in Randurra, if anywhere exists here that caters for a family group with this age range.’ Dan’s hand reached down to touch the silky hair of the youngest child, who’d come running to wrap her arms around his legs.
He met Jess’s gaze again as he pushed his mobile phone into the breast pocket of his polo shirt. ‘I thought I’d have time to check out various childminding possibilities. I didn’t expect to need this kind of care more than rarely, anyway, but it appears the Frazier family’s two-days-old sea change just ran into a typhoon.’
Randurra wasn’t on the coast, of course. It was inland from Sydney. Apparently that phone call had produced a metaphoric typhoon that meant Dan Frazier needed urgent childcare for the whole family.
Could Jess be so lucky? ‘I may be able to help you. What exactly do you need?’
‘Oh, I don’t need much.’ He gave one short bark of laughter. ‘Just the equivalent of Mary Poppins to fly down with her umbrella and volunteer to mind all my children while I travel to and from Sydney for the next few weeks, and for me to know they’ll all be safe with her when she’s a total stranger and I don’t like leaving them with anyone.’
He frowned again. ‘My sister used to cover the times when I had to work away from home, but I weaned right off needing that, and she’s got her own life to focus on now.’
There was no mother in the picture? Was Dan a widower? Jess’s mind boggled at the thought of him raising five children by himself. Peter hadn’t even been prepared to be a part-time father to Ella from long distance.
Some other part of Jess that really should know better also insisted on pointing out Dan’s single status.
A single status and almost twice your age, Jess!
‘So you moved here, you didn’t need childminding, and now something’s exploded?’ Better to ask about that. ‘Is it to do with your work? Did it make a very big splat as it hit the wall?’
‘That’s a creative analogy.’ He didn’t smile, exactly, but the creases at the corners of his eyes did.
Dan went on. ‘One of my clients needs to go through a potential change of ownership audit, and the prospective buyers want it done fast. I’m the company’s accountant so I have to be on hand to help answer all the number-crunching questions, and supply the necessary information and explanations to go with it. This is a large key client for me, and they want this change of ownership. It’s going to benefit the company tremendously and I need to hold on to their business, so I can’t afford not to help.’
His gaze shifted over her hair and returned to her eyes. ‘I moved the children here to get us all out of Sydney, into a decent-sized home that we could own ourselves. I thought I’d have all of January without having to think about work at all.’
‘You can’t blame yourself for the unforeseen.’ She touched his arm briefly.
She only meant to express understanding and perhaps a little of the compassion that Mary Poppins might have extended when she finished folding her umbrella.
But it didn’t end up feeling like only a touch. Dan’s skin was warm and…manly. A tingle shot up Jess’s arm.
Beneath her fingers, Dan’s muscles locked as though he, too, had perhaps been startled by the contact. For a moment their gazes meshed and a consciousness passed between them.
Jess hadn’t expected to feel such a strong connection. They had only just met. He was heaps older. She wasn’t going there again with any man after the way Peter had hurt her. She withdrew her hand.
Over by the pond, one young Frazier after another fell still and silent.
Four sets of hazel eyes locked onto Jess, and baby Ella, and their father.
One whisper drifted to Jess on the summer breeze. ‘Daddy’s talking to a girl.’
Another. ‘They’re practically holding hands. He hasn’t been near a girl since Mummy died.’
‘Shut up, Rob. Shut up, Mary.’ This came from the eldest boy. ‘Whoever that is, Dad’s not interested like that!’ The boy sent a sharp stare Jess’s way before he turned away, shoulders tensed beneath his T-shirt.
Jess felt put in her place, a woman far younger than this man and, indeed, why would Dan be interested?
You don’t want him to be interested, Jess.
And perhaps the boy hadn’t meant to sound so aggressive? He was probably used to dealing with all his younger siblings and occasionally got frustrated with them…
Had Dan heard those whispers? How long ago had he lost his wife? Had Jess misread his reaction when she touched him?
Had he wished she hadn’t touched him? Or reacted…as Jess had reacted to him?
‘Sorry about them. They’re a little excitable thanks to the move.’ Dan’s neck had reddened