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But there had to be a way they could get past this or, at the very least, talk about it.

They couldn’t keep avoiding each other for ever.

That would be ridiculous. She’d regret it if she didn’t tell him she loved him.

Her love for him was rare and infinitely precious and needed to be fought for.

She couldn’t treat it lightly or brush it away because it was inconvenient or scary.

She had to be brave and face it. She had to try and make the picture complete.

But she had a decent excuse not to talk to Jed today.

She was in charge of making sure the charity polo match was a success.

If she dropped the ball now, at the last moment, the pledges they’d been promised wouldn’t materialise and Hope Harbour would be in dire straits.

Strangely, she felt like she needed to get the charity on its financial feet so that she could move on too.

Her phone rang and Eden snatched it up, expecting to see a call from Henry or one of the committee members. The bread stuck in her throat when she saw Detective Gosling’s name. She answered and met Troyden’s eyes. He frowned, held up his hand, and the table fell silent.

‘I’m calling to inform you that we arrested Tara and Vincent Bancroft half an hour ago at their residence,’ Detective Gosling told her.

She nodded, realised he couldn’t see her and cleared her throat. ‘Are they… Are they okay?’ she asked, then shook her head. How okay could they be when the police arrived at their door holding an arrest warrant?

‘Being arrested is never fun. They’ll go before a judge and will probably be granted bail in a couple of days.’ He cleared his throat. ‘It was a quiet arrest, no drama.’

‘And the foundation?’ Eden asked.

‘All their bank accounts have been frozen, including the foundation’s.’

Eden grimaced. So many charities and people wouldn’t be getting the help they needed anytime soon.

‘We’ll be in touch, Ms Ennis.’

Eden thanked him, cut the call and looked down at her sandwich. There was no chance of her eating anymore. She bit her lip and closed her eyes, hearing nothing but the sound of the clock ticking behind her and the sizzle of bacon in the pan.

‘I’m sorry to tell you… but the Bancrofts are in custody,’ she stated quietly. ‘The foundation isn’t operational either.’

Alistair looked up from his tablet. ‘I expected that. It will take a while to untangle the funds, get the money distributed. And by a while, I mean it will take many months, possibly years.’

Eden bit down on her bottom lip, feeling a little sick. ‘So many charities will be scrambling now, desperately worried because the money they thought they could rely on isn’t forthcoming.’

Mick pushed her chair back and shot around the table, hugging her from behind, her cheek against hers. ‘It’s not your fault,’ she murmured. ‘I promise, it’s not.’

She squeezed Mick’s wrist and nodded. ‘I know, Mick,’ she softly said. And she did. It was their choice, their consequence, but the charities were suffering because of the Bancrofts’ greed. But she still felt awful for them. She patted Mick’s arm. ‘I’m okay, Mick. I promise.’

Troyden’s gaze held hers, steady and sure, his slight smile reassuring. It’s okay. I’ve got you.

Eden hauled in a deep breath, took a sip of her coffee, and tried to unjumble her conflicting emotions.

Concern for the people she’d once loved and relief that the sword had dropped juggled for dominance.

Did that mean she could move on? And what did moving on mean?

Was she able to hate what they did, but still retain affection for the people who’d nurtured and supported her?

Could she keep the good memories of working for the Bancrofts and discard the bad?

Could she hate what they’d done and still like them?

She didn’t know and couldn’t take the time to figure it out.

Right now, she could only do what she could do: making sure the polo event was a success to keep Hope House afloat.

One step, on one charity, at a time. Eden pushed her plate away and lifted her mug again, desperate for a caffeine rush.

Was there something more than coffee, but less than cocaine?

She stood, pushing back her chair. ‘I need to go,’ she said, bending to pick up her bulging tote bag.

Troyden lifted his cheek for a kiss. ‘Good luck, darling, we’ll find you later to see how you are doing.’

Eden squeezed his shoulder and smiled at Justin, who held up his hand for a high-five. Mick, because she was Mick, pulled her in for another hug. She rocked her from side to side, before pulling back to grin at her. ‘My best idea, ever, was to ask you to join the committee. I’m totes brilliant.’

‘Nobody says totes anymore, and you’re truly incredible at getting someone else to do the work, Michaela,’ Justin countered.

Mick, because she was a mature adult, lifted her middle finger.

Alistair looked up from his phone and sent Eden a sweet, rare smile. ‘I’ll send you the employment contract on Monday,’ he said, before returning his attention to his phone.

Uh… what employment contract?

‘Initial each page, get two witnesses. Got to make it official.’

Justin sighed and rolled his eyes. ‘Alistair, we agreed that we would talk to Eden after the polo day was over,’ he said.

‘She’s here. We’re here. We can talk,’ Alistair responded.

Talk about what? She had no idea what they were going on about, but she didn’t have time to play guessing games. She needed to get to Bythesea Hall and start running through her million and one checks.

‘Guys, I’ve got work to do,’ she warned. ‘If you have something to say, it’s got to be now.’

Mick and Justin both looked at Troyden. Mick hopped from foot to foot, the same way Liam did when he was excited. Or needed to pee. ‘I want you to run my foundation,’ Troyden calmly stated.

Eden narrowed her eyes. ‘You don’t have a foundation.’ She knew this because his donations were funnelled through the Bancrofts’ foundation. And that couldn’t happen anymore.

‘Alistair is setting one up,’ he replied. ‘But we need someone to run it and grow it. Someone we trust. You’ve done a marvellous job setting up today’s event, but that isn’t why you are getting the job.’

Confusion trickled through her. ‘It isn’t?’

Troyden’s phone beeped and he picked it up to read the text message, before typing a reply.

‘I’ll explain…’ Alistair leaned back and folded his huge arms, and Eden knew what it felt like to be a bug on a researcher’s slide.

‘I did some digging into you, and I discovered that the Bancroft Foundation really took off once you came on board. You brought order, stability and consistency to the foundation. You worked behind the scenes, but you made a massive impact.’

Eden blinked at him, trying to make sense of his words. He sounded impressed. Was she imagining it? ‘I’m seriously impressed with your work, Eden.’

Not imagining it then. Wow. Okay. Eden placed her bent fingers against her cheek, feeling the heat. To get a compliment like this from Alistair, so quiet, so broody, so difficult to impress, was… everything .

‘I want you to run the Castle Foundation,’ Alistair said.

‘I think that’s my line,’ Troyden said, smiling, putting his phone into the inside pocket of his jacket.

‘Say yes, say yes,’ Mick muttered, her hands in a prayer position, her fingers resting on her lips.

Oh, it was one hell of an offer, but she couldn’t accept it, not yet.

She couldn’t discuss working for Troyden’s foundation until she’d had a conversation with Jed.

While she wouldn’t stay or go on his say-so– this wasn’t the 1950s– she wanted to hear what he thought and where they stood before she made any decisions about her career.

There was more at stake than just her career.

Jed hadn’t been up to the big house for the past week, and she didn’t know how he felt about Troyden’s offer to run the foundation.

If he knew of their plan to offer her the job and objected, would her working with Troyden and Alistair cause a rift between Jed and his family?

His family was everything to him, and she didn’t want to be an obstacle between them.

He was just starting to reframe his relationship with them into something healthier, and she didn’t want that to be jeopardised because he was avoiding her.

All she wanted was for Jed to be happy. He only had one family.

It’s your family too…

Eden tensed, as the words rolled around her mind. Historically, everyone who was supposed to love her, including, sadly, Jed, had never put her first, and by putting Jed’s needs before hers, she was doing the same thing. To herself.

Jed’s needs weren’t more important than hers.

Even if Jed told her they were done, that didn’t mean she had to fade away.

It was Jed’s choice to love her or not, just like it was hers to accept or reject a job offer.

She didn’t have to sacrifice an opportunity, her family, because having her around would be uncomfortable for him.

She owed it to herself to do what made her happy, to put herself first.

Oh, a life spent with Jed would be more fun, but if that wasn’t what he wanted, they’d have to find a way to negotiate sharing the Castle clan. That was non-negotiable.

‘What do you think, Eden?’

Troyden’s question pulled her back to the kitchen, and she took in their expectant faces. ‘Can we talk about this later?’ she asked, biting the inside of her lip. As exciting as this offer was, she had work to do, people to check on, and a giant event to oversee.

‘Noooo!’ Mick wailed. ‘Just say yes, Eden, you know you want to. We can do more events like this?—’

We? Since handing over the files, Mick’s role had been bringing her tea and introducing her to the villagers, and millions of her horsey, country and school connections. Important, but not the beating heart of the event.