Obviously, his son was grounded, banned temporarily from his motorbike and permanently from his father’s ute, and the Xbox had been put away. The paddock basher was out for a month, too.

  Today, he did not want his son to decide to get off the bus at Kyle’s. Not that he thought he would, but the bus passed his brother’s farm before his. He might have to talk to the bus driver just in case Jayden decided on it sometime.

  This trip had nothing to do with getting his bung knee checked, as full feeling had returned after the ice, and the limp was a nuisance, not a complaint. And, of course, he needed milk. The reason he was here had everything to do with his son. Well, maybe a little to do with the nurse at the health centre. Just with the small thankyou gift he’d brought with him.

  As he pulled up at the school, he couldn’t help checking out the three-pod building across the road and considering how he could catch Maddy’s eye. He climbed out, and headed into the shop and bought milk, and then made it back to the car before the bell rang. He’d just sat back inside when a flash of dark movement to the left made him turn as Jayden shot out of the school like a rabbit on the run. The rest of the kids dawdled after him. He watched them for a minute, recognising most now.

  At the back of the small crocodile of children, a small, red-haired girl followed last, looking shell-shocked and forlorn. Connor recognised her from yesterday.

  ‘Huge sympathy, Bridget,’ he muttered. The first day at a new school was always a roller-coaster. One minute everyone wanted to know you and the next they ignored you. He climbed out awkwardly with his stiff knee and called out quietly to her as she approached with her head down.

  ‘Hello, Bridget.’

  She paused, her head still down, though she looked sideways. When she saw him her mouth tilted up shyly. ‘Hello, Mr Fairhall.’

  They smiled at each other and she glanced at his knee, her smile widening. ‘It’s getting better?’

  He opened his mouth to reply, when another movement caught his eye. ‘Jayden,’ he called to his son as the menace headed at a brisk trot for the small bus, as if he hadn’t seen his father parked conspicuously at the side of the road.

  Bridget’s head jerked up and she looked at him and then at Jayden, who had spun around and now was dragging his feet, as if called to execution, as he walked towards them.

  Bridget put her head down again, shuffled her feet, and gave a small wave, before walking quickly away until her mother appeared from nowhere.

  ‘Hey, Bee. Don’t walk past me.’ Maddy’s arms were open and Bridget looked up with relief and headed straight into the hug that wrapped around her.

  From where he stood, Connor saw the young girl’s shoulders sag into her mother and heard the heartfelt sigh of relief. That certainly wasn’t something Jayden would do today, and he shut down the stab of loss. His son used to be like that when he was younger.

  ‘Mum.’ The young girl’s whisper carried along with her sigh.

  It had been a long time since Jayden had used that I’m so glad to see you tone of voice on him. He met Maddy’s eyes over the top of Bridget’s head, his questioning and hers wary.

  ‘New girl,’ Jayden said to his father as he sauntered past and climbed into the passenger side of the car. ‘Ranga.’

  ‘What did you say?’ Connor felt his stomach drop at his son’s insult, but Maddy had stiffened and then turned her daughter and was walking away from them.

  ‘Get in the car and stay there.’ His voice came out low, hard, and even Jayden picked up the concept that it would be dangerous to disobey his father. For once, his son didn’t say anything, just sank down in his seat and pulled his baseball cap over his eyes.

  Connor reached into the car, grabbed the handles of a padded shopping bag and swung it out. ‘Maddy!’ Connor limped across the road, cursing his stiff leg. She didn’t slow down, but he was determined and eventually caught up. Not without some discomfort, but he’d worry about that later.

  She barely glanced at him. ‘I have to get back to work.’

  ‘I understand.’ His son had insulted her daughter. ‘But give me a minute. Please.’

  She stopped, turned and, still holding Bridget’s hand, waited with a neutral expression – no doubt her professional face, which unfortunately wasn’t an easy read.

  The sun shone over her shoulder, creating a red frame around her hair like a halo and Connor lost his train of thought for a moment. She seemed to glow. Although she was more of an avenging angel at the moment.

  He blinked, taking a second to collect his thoughts. Right, Jayden. ‘I’m sorry, again, for my son. He’s not normally rude.’ He looked at Bridget. ‘I hope he hasn’t been a pain towards you at school today?’

  Bridget shook her head, but she didn’t meet his eyes. He’d follow that up, too, when he got home. It was obvious that the young girl didn’t want to talk about it now.

  Right. He turned to her mother and said what he’d really come for. ‘Maddy. Sister Locke. I’ll only hold you up for a second. I wanted to say thank you for yesterday. For not driving off and leaving me. For trusting a stranger when I said it was safe to take me back to the house. And for almost carrying me into the house.’ Phew. He’d got it out. He was too old to be tongue-tied like a teenager. So he’d practised.

  ‘You’re welcome.’ Her voice stayed flat, though her face softened a little. ‘I did not carry you.’

  He wasn’t finished. ‘Also, for not complaining to the police about Jayden.’

  Now she looked at him, her eyes narrowing. ‘I can’t guarantee the last one if he tries to run me off the road again.’

  He inclined his head. ‘You’d be well within your rights.’

  She dipped her chin, focusing on his leg. ‘You’re walking. How’s the knee?’

  Better before I tried to run to catch up with you, he thought a little grimly. The thump, thump of the new ache spreading up his thigh made his teeth clench. ‘Fine. No problem.’

  She raised her brows. ‘I believe you.’

  No, she didn’t. He laughed. It came out of nowhere – probably mixed with relief that she was speaking to him after Jayden’s remark – but it was funny. He did enjoy her sense of humour. They both relaxed. ‘How was your first day?’

  She rolled her eyes comically. ‘Fine. No problem.’ He could see she really meant Got an hour? For her, he did. But if he said that, he’d bet she’d pull her head in like a turtle and not come out.

  Instead he said, ‘Big day, that first one in a new job.’ He then glanced at Bridget. ‘And new school.’ He waved the shopping bag at them both. ‘Which is why I brought this. I wanted to present you with gratitude flowers, but none of the shrubs are giving at the moment.’ The bauhinia just wouldn’t have worked.

  She lifted one hand in query. ‘The point?’

  ‘I thought you might appreciate not cooking tonight. I made a pie with the extra beef I had cooking. But you could freeze it if you don’t want it tonight.’

  ‘You made us a beef pie?’ Her eyes widened with disbelief. ‘That’s a thoughtful thing to do.’ She looked down at the bag in his hand and her mouth kinked into a shy smile, just like her daughter’s had when she’d seen him a few minutes ago. He felt his chest go tight.

  ‘Thank you.’ She glanced towards the car. He followed her glance. Jayden was making hurry-up motions with his hand. Connor closed his eyes. He’d kill him.

  When he opened them a crack to check Maddy, it appeared she was struggling to keep her face straight. He relaxed and held out the food. To his relief, she took it.

  ‘Gratitude gift accepted. I’ve got to get back to work.’

  ‘And I need to have a deep and meaningful conversation with my darling son,’ he said dryly, before winking at Bridget.

  Maddy laughed again. ‘Try Grandma’s Rules. Happy bonding.’ She waved and turned, and he watched while their figures drew away.

  Bonding. Yes. Or bawling out. But he knew from experience that wouldn’t work. He liked the idea of bargaining for good behaviour better. Like Grandma said. He’d read about it again last night but hadn’t got around to trying it. Something had to change and he was determined it was going to be his relationship with Jayden.

  Chapter Twelve

  Bridget

  ‘I like Mr Fairhall,’ Bridget said as she walked with her mother up the path to the health centre. ‘I don’t’—she paused to make a cutting motion with her hand—‘enjoy his son.’

  Her mother stopped. ‘Did Connor’s son tease you today?’

  ‘About a hundred times. Even when I asked Miss King about the Min Min light he made fun of me.’ Bridget sighed. ‘He’s tiring.’

  Her mother actually laughed. Bridget didn’t think it was funny.

  ‘Tiring is well put,’ her mum said, and hugged her against the side of her body. Bridget soaked in that feeling of warmth and love and familiarity after a day of strangeness and strangers, and forgave the laugh.

  ‘He’s new himself, so what does he know? I’m gonna find out all about it so he looks dumb.’

  ‘Not a good reason to learn. Don’t let boys change who you are.’ Her mum’s voice came out funny and cold now, and she turned to look at her. ‘Or hurt you.’ A strange expression showed on her face. ‘Ever!’ The final word came out loud and her mum shook her head and whispered, ‘Sorry. It’s just you’re strong and beautiful, and bullies are weak and ugly. Never forget that.’

  That didn’t make sense. Jayden wasn’t weak or ugly.

  ‘Although,’ her mum said slowly, ‘sometimes they’re hurting and that’s why they lash out.’

  ‘It’s okay, Mum. Granny told me about people who torment others and how to look through them. I just do that.’

  They’d made it to the front door of the health centre, and her mum gave her an extra cuddle.

  ‘Good. Thank you. Now I need to put my work face on.’ She straightened. ‘We’ll talk more about your day when we get home tonight. First, I’m going to introduce you to the two nurses, then I want you to do your homework in the tearoom. Is that okay?’

  Bridget nodded and they pushed open the door and the cool air rushed over them. Mum whispered, ‘You know I finish at five.’

  A spiky-haired lady sat at the computer and another white-haired one leaned over her shoulder to point out something.

  ‘Ladies. This is my daughter, Bridget. She’s going to do her homework in the tearoom until I finish. Say hello to Miss Pemberton and Miss Monroe.’

  ‘Hello, Miss Pemberton. Miss Monroe,’ Bridget repeated quietly, especially as the spiky one looked scary.

  ‘Aren’t you just like your mother!’ The white-haired one had a lovely smile. Like Granny. Miss Monroe, Bridget repeated to herself silently.

  ‘Hello, Bridget.’ Miss Pemberton glanced up and then back at the screen.

  Bridget saw her mother’s frown and ducked her head as she was ushered to a room at the back with chairs and a table. Her mum showed her the fridge where the milk was, handed her a muesli bar, and kissed the top of her head. Here we go again, she couldn’t help thinking. Mum off to work.

  ‘See you at five.’

  Bridget watched her mother go. It occurred to her that maybe her mum was having a stressful first day, too. Granny always said everyone had things going on when they acted strange. She said ignoring their behaviour made your life easier. Sometimes it was hard. Like with Jayden today. But he’d got sick of teasing her when she didn’t show she cared. Maybe he had stuff going on too?

  She exhaled a long breath. She’d thought being the new girl in town would suck and it had. She’d been right to be worried this morning. When she first got there, everyone had fussed so much that they all blurred and she couldn’t remember names. Then they’d left her alone to worry that they hadn’t liked her.

  Then she’d thought that the schoolwork was full of stuff she didn’t know and felt really dumb until she realised the teacher, Miss King, was explaining something she did know but in a different way. It got better after that. Miss King was nice and told her she was very clever in her work. Jayden had teased her about that, too.

  Then at lunchtime she’d got lost and almost gone into the boys’ toilets instead of the girls’ and she still shuddered at that thought. Thank goodness Jayden hadn’t seen that. One of the girls in her class, Chelsea, had noticed, and she’d pulled her arm shyly and smiled. She’d been friendly after that.

  Bridget sighed and pulled her homework book from her bag. Mum had said if all her homework was done while she was here they could play Monopoly when they got home. Maybe this time she’d get Mayfair.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Maddy

  The next two hours passed swiftly for Maddy. She spent most of the time in her office. She’d already liaised with the education unit at Mount Isa regarding the nurses’ IT skills. The tardy trainer would arrive next Monday, and between phone calls and appointments she wanted to read the patient files for the clients who had presented to the clinic in the last month. Later, she’d go back further when she had time to assess the needs of the patient load.

  ‘You right, Bridget?’ Maddy checked on Bridget every half an hour or so, and her daughter waved. Still doing her homework or her reading. Maddy really wanted to know how she’d gone at school today, but she’d just have to wait. Bridget was tough and independent. She would be fine.

  She went back through to the main reception area where the two nurses were chatting quietly. ‘Rita? I need that list of visiting health workers, please, so I know who’s coming to the clinic day this week.’

  Rita passed over a folder from the desk. ‘All the names are in here.’

  ‘Thank you.’ Maddy spun and headed back to the office.

  Between it all, she’d been introducing herself to the steady stream of patients with minor complaints or needing prescriptions renewed. Maddy thought most were here to check out the new nurse.

  None of them knew her from the past, or if they did, they didn’t mention it.

  The flying doctor would be in on the Wednesday and the appointment book was half empty, so she searched for patients who should present for a check-up. Maddy liked being busy and enjoyed searching for shortfalls or gaps in care for those who lived in and around Spinifex. Everything she learned was useful. Early checks of patients could prevent complications of their medical conditions from arising instead of waiting for a disaster to strike.

  A slow build of excitement had begun within her at the possibilities of drawing together services and health workers that nobody had had time to contemplate so far. She’d relish bringing the threads of the clinic into a knitted scarf of interwoven disciplines. Laying the groundwork for early intervention instead of always dealing with exacerbation or end-stage disease.

  As she scanned the case sheets and patient files, she didn’t recognise as many of the patients’ names as she’d thought she would. The people she knew must have either left town, been healthy or, in Connor’s mother’s case, died.

  One or two jumped out at her from the regulars she’d served in the pub in the old days, and she wondered what they’d think when they saw her. Like Mick today. Mick had been a regular – quiet and nice – and had liked a bet on the horses with Alma. He’d had the best voice for telling bush ballads he’d make up on the fly and she seemed to remember he’d been restoring an old car. She was glad Mick had come through so far.

  How odd to think most of the people she remembered were gone. Then again, there was that sign, coming into town, saying the population had been reduced. Probably while they were waiting for the pub to be rebuilt. There was also the fact that when Maddy had lived here, Bridget’s father hadn’t wanted her to mix with the townspeople, especially other women or families, so she hadn’t met many. She had either worked or stayed home doing what she was told. Now that she understood addictions better, she knew she should have tried to steer Jacob towards help before it had all plunged into the horror it had.

  She shook the negative thoughts away and stared at the patient follow-up list she’d made. Ten people to phone tomorrow. The names might not be familiar, but the diseases and complaints were universal and common to her work in Sydney. As expected, a percentage of their patients were people passing through, so she couldn’t follow them up, but the town held a few people like Mick with underlying diseases that needed acting on.

  Diabetes, hypertension, cardiac disease, chronic pulmonary disease. Cancer. Illnesses that hit in the city, too, but here in the outback access to fast pathology and diagnostics wasn’t an option and often the disease was allowed to progress to a far more serious degree than it would have in the city before someone took notice.

  She looked forward to talking to the Indigenous health worker when she came in on Wednesday. She hoped they might help her set up an informal chat with the local elders. Pave the way for Maddy to sit down and discuss where they saw the shortfalls and needs, taking into account their reluctance to leave country and family when deciding to seek help.

  She closed the files. She’d made a good start, and had not a bad first day. She’d just run through the lock-up procedure with the nurses before they left and then she and Bee could go eat some of Connor’s beef pie.

  Connor Fairhall’s kind thankyou gift made her picture him. Her belly warmed – and not at the thought of the food. A sudden image of big hands kneading pastry made her frown at herself.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Connor

  The sun was setting over Rangelands when Jayden’s mood swung into the negative again. Connor pressed his lips together and tapped his fingers on the kitchen table. He’d finished his own helping of beef pie and vegetables, and had just suggested something he’d thought quite reasonable.

  His son’s boyish chin jutted out. ‘You can’t make me do anything. Kyle doesn’t do anything he doesn’t want to.’ His son stood and his hands swept to his hips. Just like Jayden’s mother had. Daring Connor to anger. ‘I’m not changing my sheets.’

  Connor turned his head so the boy couldn’t see him close his eyes. He said deliberately and quietly, as if to himself, ‘I like clean sheets. They feel good.’ Then rubbed his fingers together as if in thought. ‘Clean sheets sort of crackle with freshness.’

 

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