“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