weekend?’ she asked.
He glanced up from checking his watch. Had mutiny tensed her mouth?
‘I hadn’t thought as far as the weekend, but yes, that sounds agreeable.’
She glanced toward his open office door. ‘I assume that you’ve made sure that your work is also on the same page?’
‘My work?’
‘Yes. I’m guessing you told them you’d only be off-grid for a fortnight. You might like to double that time-frame. Not to mention I’m fully booked for the three weeks after my stay here so won’t be able to continue Tilly’s therapy until at least next month. ‘
He swallowed. ‘Double the time away from the office?’
‘Definitely. I understood I’d come to Berrilea for
intensive
therapy. Now that it’s clear that I’m following an abridged version, then Tilly’s progress will not be as rapid.’
‘What are you saying?’
‘The more time I spend with Tilly, in all contexts, formal as well as informal, the quicker her therapy will be conducted and the quicker you can return to work. In business terms, it’s simple. Maximum input, maximum output. Minimum input…’
He held up a hand in a stop sign. ‘I get it.’
The panic roiling in his stomach told him he more than got it. His hand slowly lowered to his side. He had to agree to disorder to retain order.
He had to give Mia the green light to turn his safe and ordered world upside down.
Chapter Four
THE NEXT morning Mia sat with Tilly in the cool of the white summer-house. A pair of galahs called overhead, their pink and grey wings flashing in the wide band of blue sky. Mia smiled as they turned as one and landed on the spreading branch of a red river gum tree. From the air the park-like garden would appear an oasis in a sea of scorched brown. Berrilea hadn’t heeded the memo that this area of Australia was slipping into drought. The nearby river ensured that the historic homestead had a plentiful supply of water and the careful blending of water-wise plants with traditional favourites meant that not a drop would be wasted.
Her smile deepened as Tilly placed an orange sock puppet on her hand and opened and closed her fingers to make the mouth move. The tranquillity of the outback had healed Mia and it would help this delightful child too, if given the chance. Tilly needed to feel the sun on her face and to have the space and freedom to be a child. The last thing Mia would do was entomb Tilly in a sterile music room, no matter how insistent her stony-faced uncle.
Mia rummaged in the laden basket beside her. She’d dealt with aggravating and difficult parents before. Ones who didn’t believe their child had a speech problem. Others who thought it wasn’t their responsibility to work on their child’s home programme. So why then did she feel so on edge when Kade was around? Why did she have to work so hard when near him to remain composed? It had to be because she was simply out of her physical comfort zone. Never before had she lived with a client when conducting therapy. The close proximity was only magnifying her distaste for a man who embodied the unemotional world she’d left behind. She just needed a little time to adjust to her new surroundings and her disarray would soon settle.
Tilly licked her lips as Mia placed a cereal box on the table.
Mia laughed. ‘Your tummy can’t possibly be empty again. You had three pieces of Vegemite toast for breakfast!’
Tilly rubbed at her stomach. ‘Still hund–ry.’
Mia pulled her chair in a little closer to the table. ‘We’ll do some work and then we’ll eat, okay?’
‘That’s the best thing I’ve heard all day,’ a masculine voice commented from behind them.
Tilly shrieked and almost fell out of her seat as she twisted to grin at her uncle. Kade stepped into the summer-house. Dressed in navy suit trousers and blue pin-striped shirt the only thing missing from his formal city attire was a tie. His top-shelf aftershave eclipsed the sweet scent of a nearby lavender bed. She