Читать книгу A Forever Family Collection - Коллектив авторов - Страница 45

TESS WANTED TO leap to her feet and dance. She wanted to hug Cam.

She suspected the dancing would prove the lesser of two evils.

A new calm had settled over him, certain shadows had retreated from his eyes—not all, but some—and his shoulders had lost their angry edge.

She surveyed them and bit her lip. In fact, they looked broad and scrumptious.

Cam cleared his throat and she realised with a start that she’d been staring at them for too long. She snapped her gaze away and lifted her beer to her lips. ‘If you want my two cents’ worth…’ she started before taking a sip.

‘Which you’ll give me, even if I don’t.’

The grin he shot her and the effortlessness with which he teased her filled her with such a fluttery nonsense of wings she was in danger of floating two feet above the ground. She clutched a handful of blanket and held tight.

‘What’s your two cents, Tess?’

She surveyed him over the rim of her beer. ‘I think you should pay your family a visit tomorrow afternoon.’

‘Why?’

‘The sooner the better, don’t you think?’

He stared at her for a long moment. ‘And?’

‘And I’ll be there,’ she finally ’fessed up. She wanted to be there when he faced his family too. She wanted to make sure Lorraine, Lance and Fiona didn’t take advantage of him. ‘Last weekend at your party it was as if it were you against them and the rest of the world. That’s not true. You have friends and I think both you and they should acknowledge that fact.’

Also, her being there would create a subtle confusion she was eager to encourage. Cameron might love Fiona to her dying day, but neither Lance nor Fiona had to know that. They had no right to crow in triumph. It wouldn’t hurt anyone to think Cameron had well and truly moved on.

It could hurt you.

She shrugged the thought off. She knew the truth—Cam was leaving. Forewarned was forearmed. She could protect her heart.

‘I’m dropping Ty and Krissie off at a birthday party and then popping by Lorraine’s to discuss the memorial service. Apparently Lance and Fiona plan to be there to offer their…’ She shrugged and rolled her eyes.

‘Moral support?’

She bared her teeth. ‘Something like that.’

He started to laugh. ‘So who exactly is helping who in this scenario?’

She couldn’t help but grin back at him. ‘Why don’t we call it a joint effort?’

His grin was slow and easy and it could make a woman’s heart kick straight into triple time without any warning at all. ‘What time are you supposed to be out there?’

‘One-thirty.’

‘I have a few things to do in the morning, but…I’ll be out there by two.’

‘Excellent.’

‘C’mon.’ He nodded towards the garden bed. ‘Time to get back to work.’ He helped her to her feet and she tried to ignore the strength of his hands, tried to ignore the heat he exuded, and the fresh smell of cut grass.

She averted her gaze from the strong, lean promise of his back and threw herself into attacking the ground with the assorted instruments of destruction currently within reach.

‘Well, Tess,’ Lorraine said, leaning back in the padded wicker sofa that graced her generous back patio, ‘that should all be remarkably easy to arrange.’

Tess had just outlined the simple service she and the children had agreed upon.

‘No Herculean feats to be performed,’ Lance said with a smile.

He almost looked disappointed, as if he sensed Tess’s reservations about his character and wanted to prove himself in her eyes. Who knew? Maybe he did. But if she needed any Herculean tasks performed she’d ask his brother, thank you very much.

Fiona leant forward to top up Tess’s teacup. ‘Do have a scone,’ she urged, as if unstinting hospitality might melt Tess’s reserve.

It’d take more than a scone and a cup of tea. What this pair had done to Cam—

It’s none of your business. She had no right holding a grudge against this pair. Especially when she’d been urging Cam not to and—

Her teacup wobbled. None of her business? Everything to do with Cam felt like her business.

Because he’s helped you so much, helped you, Ty and Krissie feel a part of Bellaroo Creek.

That was right. That was all it was.

Her heart started to thump. Why, then, when he smiled at her did her heart grow wings? Why when his eyes practically devoured her did she feel like the most desirable woman on earth? Why when she kissed him was it better than making music?

She’d told herself She’d wanted to be here today to support him, but it wasn’t the whole truth, was it? She set her tea down before she could spill it. She’d wanted to be here today to prevent Fiona from getting her perfect pretty little claws into him again. She’d wanted to stake her claim.

Because she’d fallen in love with him.

Her heart throbbed. Her temples pounded. Cam had made it clear to her that she had no claim to stake. Hadn’t she been listening?

Of course she’d been listening! She seized a pumpkin scone and bit into it viciously. But how could a woman not fall in love with a man like Cam? He had the biggest heart of any person she’d ever met. He did so much for others, and all of it without fanfare. He had the kind of grin that could melt a woman’s resolutions in a heartbeat and the kind of physique that could have her fantasising in Technicolor.

He was so…much. He was everything. And she loved him.

The acknowledgement calmed the dervishes careening through her blood. A hard black ache settled in her heart instead. She set her pumpkin scone back to her plate.

Cam rounded the corner of the veranda and found his family and Tess seated in front of him. In the warm sunshine and the filtered light from a wisteria vine, the tableau looked inviting and almost summery—even with the cool of autumn in the air.

Tess, though, looked pale and his heart lurched for her. Organising this memorial service must be hell. She glanced up and her face relaxed into a smile of pure pleasure. It immediately buoyed him up. He couldn’t remember any woman’s smile affecting him the way Tess’s did. Not even Fiona’s.

‘Hello, Cameron.’

‘Tess.’

His mother shot to her feet, delight lighting her face. ‘Cam!’

He moved down the length of the veranda and kissed her cheek. ‘Hello, Mum.’

Lance stood more slowly. He nodded to Cam and then turned to Lorraine. ‘There’s some work I should get done in the eastern paddock.’

Fiona jumped up too. ‘I’ll help.’

There was no denying that they were trying to make room for him, trying to make things less awkward. He appreciated the effort. Tess had been right. They deserved the benefit of the doubt. ‘I’d like the two of you to stay, if you don’t mind.’

A tremulous smile appeared on Fiona’s lips. It left him unmoved and he suddenly frowned. When precisely had he fallen out of love with her? His heart started to pound. Or had she been right? Had he been more in love with his dream of filling Kurrajong Station with laughter and with a family?

Lance sat when Fiona tugged him back down to the seat beside her. his blue eyes filled with a hope he desperately tried to hide, but Cam had always been able to read his little brother.

Until he’d turned his back on him.

He glanced at Tess and she held a hand out to him. He took it without thinking, squeezed it before releasing it to take the lone chair at right angles to her. The only other spare seat was beside his mother. It wasn’t that he wanted to shun her. He just wanted to face his family square on during this conversation—read their faces, gauge their reactions.

‘You wanted to speak to us about something, Cameron?’ his mother asked.

‘I’ve been thinking about your visit last weekend, and it has to be said that I was discourteous and churlish in response to your offer of an olive branch. If the offer still stands, I’d like to accept it.’

‘It still stands!’ Lance shot to his feet and thrust his hand towards Cam.

Cam rose and shook it. With a nod he took his seat again. He met Tess’s warm gaze, recognised her unspoken approbation. It made him push his shoulders back and lift his chin. Her innate generosity and the sacrifices she’d made had helped him see sense. More than that, though, she’d made him believe he was worth more than he’d ever credited before.

He turned back to Lance before he could become too preoccupied with the dusky fullness of Tess’s bottom lip. ‘This is just a start. It’s going to take me a while to trust you again.’

‘I know.’ Lance squared his shoulders. ‘But it’s a start, and I’m not going to screw up this time.’

Cam stretched a leg out. ‘Now to the financial situation of this station. I’m not just going to bail you guys out. I’m not a bank and I have my own place to consider. But—’ he glanced at his mother ‘—I am prepared to buy a fifty per cent share of the property and to invest in improving it.’

She bit her lip and nodded. It was an acknowledgement, not an acceptance. This was business. This wouldn’t be her ideal scenario, but interest-free loans and working for this station gratis were a thing of the past.

He glanced back at Lance. ‘Are you fair dinkum about giving farming a proper go?’

‘Yes.’

‘Then I’m prepared to pay you a wage to train under Fraser for the next two years. If Mum does decide to sell me half the property, and if you prove yourself, I will let you buy back my share of this station for whatever the current market value is.’

Lance swallowed and nodded. ‘I accept.’ Fiona nudged him and he broke into a grin. ‘In fact, I’m darn grateful, but…’

He had to stop his lips from twisting. Here it came. ‘But?’

‘Cam, I’d rather work under you than Fraser.’

The steel momentarily left his spine. It was the last thing he’d expected Lance to say. It brought home to him the depth of the younger man’s resolution. A breath eased out of him. ‘I’m afraid that won’t be possible.’

His mother leaned towards him. ‘Why not, darling?’

‘Because I won’t be here.’ His gut tightened and he couldn’t look at Tess. ‘I’ve accepted a field assignment to Africa with the Feed the World programme.’

‘For how long?’

‘Two years.’

To his right, he heard Tess’s quick intake of breath and his chest started to ache.

‘When do you leave?’ Lance burst out.

‘The end of next month.’

And then all hell broke loose as his mother, Lance and Fiona all broke out in loud voices, talking over each other as they remonstrated with him. Tess leaned across to touch his arm. ‘Will you stay at least until the memorial service?’

He didn’t know when the service was scheduled, but he knew she wouldn’t try to trick him into staying any longer. He trusted her. ‘Yes.’

‘Thank you. It’ll mean so much to Ty and Krissie.’

And her?

‘And me,’ she added as if she could read his mind.

Then she stood. ‘Honestly,’ she snapped to his family, ‘stop all this nonsense. All his life Cameron has looked after you lot. All his life he’s done things for other people. Stop being so selfish and think of him for once. He’s entitled to follow his dream and you as his family should be supporting him rather than bellyaching at him and making things difficult.’

She was fierce and fabulous and he suddenly wanted to laugh with sheer exhilaration. But when she turned to smile at him he wanted to close his eyes. He recognised what glowed in the gorgeous brown depths of her eyes. Love.

Love for him.

And he had absolutely no intention of accepting it, of returning it, and that knowledge was there in her eyes too.

Bile burned his throat. Why hadn’t he taken more care around her? She was the one person in Bellaroo Creek who wanted what was truly best for him—without agenda and without reference to her own needs or desires. He’d rather cut off his right arm than hurt her. A giant vise squeezed his heart. he hadn’t meant for it to happen, but a fat lot of good that would do her in the months to come.

He opened his mouth. He wanted to offer her some form of comfort. Only he knew that’d be useless. Worse than useless.

He dragged a hand back through his hair. She’d wanted to be here today to shield him in whatever way she could from Lance and Fiona’s betrayal. That all seemed so small and petty now. If only there’d been someone looking out for her!

‘Tess is right,’ his mother finally said, waving everyone back to their seats. ‘Again.’

‘Again?’ he found himself asking.

‘The day of the working bee at the cemetery I mentioned to Tess how nice it was to see you there.’ Lorraine bit her lip. ‘She said I might want to mention that to you, and it made me suddenly see how…unsupportive I must’ve seemed to you. Frankly, I was mortified.’

And because of Tess he now knew why his mother had stayed away from Kurrajong Station for all these years.

‘She gave me a right set down that day too,’ Lance said. ‘Demanded to know if I’d ever actually apologised for my appalling behaviour.’ He grimaced. ‘It was the kick in the pants I needed.’

Cam turned to stare at Tess. She screwed up her nose. ‘I tried really hard to mind my own business, but…’

He leaned across and covered her hand with his. ‘I’m glad you didn’t. I want you to know that all this—’ he gestured around the table ‘—is due to you. And I’m grateful.’

‘So am I.’ Lorraine rose and embraced Tess. ‘My darling girl, not only are you helping save my beloved town, you’ve helped save my family.’

With her arm about Tess’s waist, she turned to Cam. ‘Darling, of course you must do what your heart tells you. You’ve been involved with the Feed the World programme for so long, and I know you’ve made a real difference in the lives of those less fortunate than us. It’s selfish of us to want to keep you to ourselves, but you must never forget that you always have a home here with us.’

He leant across and kissed his mother’s cheek. ‘I won’t forget.’ But it was Tess’s fragrance he drew into his lungs as he moved away.

‘I think it’s beyond time I made a fresh pot of tea. Could you give me a hand, Fiona, dear?’

Cam turned to Tess. He wanted to say something—something that would tell her how much he appreciated all she had done, and how sorry he was for the rest of it.

Her smile and the tiny shake of her head forestalled him. ‘I think it’s all worked out exactly the way it should’ve, don’t you?’

No.

Oh, it had for him and his mother, and for Lance and Fiona, but not for her. Not in the way she deserved.

‘I’m mighty glad you came around today, Cam.’

Lance’s words reminded him that he and Tess weren’t alone. And he didn’t want to say or do anything that might embarrass her in front of Lance or cue anybody in on her pain. Tess was like him. She’d not want a broken heart on display for all and sundry to exclaim and pick over. He could at least do that much for her.

He turned to his brother. ‘So am I.’ And he meant it more than he’d thought he would.

‘Say.’ Lance pointed, leading him to the edge of the veranda. ‘See that colt in the home paddock? Do you think he’s ready for breaking?’

Cam watched the colt moving over the grass with an easy gait and his tail held high. ‘Your call, Lance, but I’d be inclined to give him another six months.’

When Cam turned back, Tess was gone. Every atom in his body shouted at him to go after her. He remained where he was. In his heart he knew there was nothing he could say that would make an atom of difference to either one of them. Letting her go was harder than going after her, but it was also kinder.

Where Tess was concerned he’d already done enough harm.