Barbara Hannay - Her Happy-Ever-After Family

‘There are just too many strikes against us, Cameron.’

‘Like?’

‘Like the fact I truly believe Ty and Krissie need stability for a while. I don’t think it’s fair to ask them to adjust to a new man in their lives just yet. Not after everything they’ve been through. I don’t think that’s unreasonable, even if you do. We’re just searching for…’

‘An even keel.’

She nodded. ‘I really don’t want to mess this up.’

‘Strike One,’ he murmured.

She glanced down at her hands and then back at him. ‘There are other issues too. You have a grudge in your heart that’s bigger than forty hectares of golden canola. Until you come to terms with that, there’ll never be room in your heart for another woman.’

He drew back. ‘I have good reason for that grudge.’

‘Yes, you do.’

‘But?’

Couldn’t he see how much his bitterness, how much holding on to his grudge was hurting him? ‘It’s just from where I’m standing—sitting—that’s Strike Two.’

He didn’t say anything.

She couldn’t let it go. ‘What Lance and Fiona did to you, Cameron, sucks. But…’ She gripped her hands together. ‘But has it never occurred to you that maybe they never meant for it to happen, that they never meant to hurt you? That maybe they just fell in love with each other? Maybe he’s just as appalled by what’s happened as you are.’

Cam dragged a hand back through his hair, making it stand on end. She ached to reach out and smooth it back down.

‘Look, Tess, all his life Lance has been jealous of me. Jealous that I had a father with a bigger station than his father’s. Jealous that I had two homes I divided my time between. Jealous that I did well at sport and at school. You name it—if it was mine, he wanted it.’

He scowled out at the yard. ‘If he spent half as much time working towards whatever it was he wanted instead of resenting me for having it, or stealing it from me, then he might have achieved something worthwhile. I thought he’d grow out of it. Hoped he would. For heaven’s sake, he’s twenty-six years old! I never thought he would go to such lengths, but…’

His hands clenched. ‘But it appears he still wants what I have, so, no, I haven’t considered the fact that he never meant to hurt me. I know that’s precisely what he was hoping to achieve.’

Bile burned the back of Tess’s throat at the expression in his eyes.

‘He stole all that I most cherished in this world, and he laughed while he did it. Forgiveness, even if he asked for it…’

He broke off, his face growing grimmer. ‘This time he went too far. He involved an innocent third party in his nasty little games.’

All that I most cherished . She swallowed, suddenly nauseous. ‘Fiona?’ The name croaked out of her.

He gave one hard nod.

She swallowed again. ‘Forgive me for saying this, but the fact she, um…canoodled with your brother while engaged to you doesn’t exactly cast her in the role of an innocent.’

Did he still love that tall, slim woman with the golden ponytail? The thought left a bad taste in her mouth. If her stomach hadn’t been churning so badly she’d have grabbed another piece of cake to override it.

‘Lance has always had more charm than was good for him. He knows how to woo a woman and make her believe he’s in love with her.’

She leant towards him, though she was careful not to touch him. ‘But maybe he really loves Fiona.’

He turned to her then and raised a dark eyebrow. ‘When he’s finished with her, he’ll dump her.’ His lips compressed into a hard, grim line. ‘He’ll break her heart. All just to get back at me.’

That didn’t ring true. Oh, she didn’t doubt for a moment that Cam believed it, but…‘They looked very together at the luncheon…as in a definite couple. Cameron, it’s been ten months. Your mother obviously thinks they mean to marry.’

He didn’t say anything for a long moment. ‘Even if what you say is true, does that excuse the fact that they betrayed me?’

‘Of course it doesn’t! But maybe it’d prove that they never meant to hurt you, and that has to count for something.’

‘If it were true, perhaps it would.’

She ached for him then, for the pain she sensed bubbling beneath the surface, his utter sense of betrayal. Forgiveness would bring him peace, if only he would consider it. Ten months. Surely that was long enough. But some wounds, she knew, never healed.

She smoothed her hair back, longing to make him smile. ‘Do you know you kiss like an angel, Cameron? And that by holding onto your grudge you’re depriving some woman out there of the most divine kisses, all because you won’t forgive Lance?’

He stared and then a laugh shot out of him. ‘I didn’t realise you could be quite so persistent.’

‘Dog with a bone,’ she agreed. Speaking of dogs…She glanced around and then blew out a breath when she found Barney and Fluffy sunning themselves only a few feet away. ‘My parents found it one of my less endearing traits.’ But it was the reason she’d become such a fine musician.

He leaned towards her, swamping her with his green-grass freshness and all that false promise. She gulped. He didn’t mean to kiss her again, did he?

He reached out and traced a finger down her cheek. Her pulse leapt to life beneath it. ‘Tess, regardless of what anyone says, you are divine.’

What if She channelled all the energy she’d put into her music into healing this man, into loving him and showing him there was a better way? Would she succeed? Would she—?

She drew back. She didn’t have the time or the luxury for those kinds of games. If she only had herself to consider…

But she didn’t.

Her skin pimpled with gooseflesh when she recalled the kind of family Sarah had dreamed of having—a wonderful, close-knit family who loved each other, supported each other and did things together. That had all been taken away from her. It had all gone so terribly wrong for her, and for Ty and Krissie too. Tess couldn’t let it go bad for them again. Her fingers shook and her throat tightened. She’d failed Sarah once, but she wouldn’t fail her again.

Ty and Krissie were the ones who deserved—who needed—all her energy. And she couldn’t risk their hearts to such an endeavour. She couldn’t let them become so dependent on Cam that they’d be crushed when he left.

When he left…

‘And Strike Three,’ she said, ‘you’re planning on leaving town. Unless you’ve changed your mind on that head.’ Her heart gave a traitorous jump.

‘I haven’t changed my mind.’ He stared down at his hands. ‘Strike Three,’ he agreed.

They sat in silence for a moment. ‘So lots of reasons not to kiss,’ he said, as if double-checking her resolve.

‘Yep.’ She couldn’t keep the glumness from her voice.

Cam rose. ‘I think it’s beyond time that I made tracks.’

A protest clamoured through her but she bit it back. He was right.

He set his dusty Akubra on top of his head and touched its brim in a kind of salute. ‘I’ll be seeing you, Tess.’

It had all the finality of an irrevocable goodbye.

‘Let’s go down this road,’ Ty said, pointing to the right.

Krissie nodded her agreement.

Ty held Barney on his lap, Krissie held Fluffy on her lap, and Tess had a picnic hamper on the passenger seat beside her. It was Saturday. The children had completed their first full week of school, and they’d agreed to spend the day exploring the surrounds of their new home.

Tess turned the car obediently in the direction Ty had indicated. All the roads around here seemed to be unsealed, and some of them weren’t in the best of repair. This one was no exception, but she didn’t mind driving slowly to avoid the worst of the potholes and corrugations. It gave her a chance to enjoy the scenery.