The Rebel and Miss Jones by Annie Claydon

Author:Annie Claydon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2012-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

HE’D sprinkled stars, produced a whole truckload of chocolate coins, which had been eaten just as quickly as they had appeared, and made sure that he’d greeted and talked to every family who arrived in the tent. His hat now resided on the head of a three-year-old boy, who had fallen over and then forgotten his tears as Reece had picked him up and produced yet another coin from nowhere.

‘What do you think?’ For a moment he was free of the demands of the children and he gave that moment to Sara.

‘It’s great. Everyone seems to be having a good time.’ They were strolling together around the open space behind the marquee, which had been set aside for organised games for the children, in the hope that they would let off a little steam before the first-aid demonstrations.

He nodded. ‘Yeah. The practice manager organises this every year. We’re a part of a community here, and those ties are very important to the practice.’

‘Not to you, though?’ Reece had already talked about his plans for the future, and even though they seemed to change on an almost daily basis, the one consistent thread was that he would be moving on some time soon.

‘Yeah, they’re important to me.’ He shrugged. ‘Everywhere has its communities.’

She shouldn’t care about this. She would be leaving soon. She was the one who was moving on, not him. Somehow it would have made it easier to leave and wish him well if she had somewhere she could visualise him when she got back home.

‘Don’t you ever feel that you want to settle down, though? Be with people you’ve known all your life?’

‘I haven’t known anyone my whole life. Apart from Kath.’ He jogged a couple of steps to retrieve a ball that had whizzed in their direction and lobbed it back towards the boy who was chasing it.

He made friends easily, fitted in so seamlessly everywhere, that it seemed as if he’d been there for ever. But Reece’s real loyalty was reserved for a very select few. Kath. The brother he’d lost. Maybe Simon and a few others. Sara didn’t want to think about which category she fitted into. It didn’t matter, anyway.

‘Your father—where is he?’

‘Doing the rounds in Western Australia. Got married again last year.’ Reece shrugged. ‘His fourth wife.’

Sara didn’t quite know how to react to that. Her mother had scarcely even allowed a man into the house after her father had left, let alone approved of one, so she’d never had the opportunity to find out how she would feel about having a stepfather. ‘Did you go to the wedding?’

He grinned. ‘Of course. Kath and I flew up there for the week. It was a good time.’ He gave her a quizzical look. ‘My dad’s a law unto himself. He’s a nice guy and he was a great dad when he was around, but he’s never going to be the one who’s there for either Kath or me. We’ve both learned to accept that.

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