Back to the Country, page 17
The bell on the food pass dinged and a different waitress hustled back to their table, three plates with mammoth burgers in her hands. ‘Here we are,’ she said, plonking them down. ‘Two with tomato sauce and one with barbecue.’
Linda took Melanie by the hand. ‘Come on, Mel, let’s leave these people have their lunch in peace, hey?’
‘Okey-dokey.’ Melanie gave Indigo a wave. ‘Bye-bye.’
Indigo smiled from her heart. ‘Bye, sweetheart.’
‘Did you know she—’ She didn’t even finish before Harley replied.
‘No, I didn’t.’ He cleared his throat and gave Indigo a look as if to say please don’t do this here. ‘Anyhoos, let’s tuck into this.’
Respecting his silent request – they could talk later, in private – and hankering to crunch down on one of the crispy chips, she grabbed one and bit into it, regretting it instantly. ‘Holy crap, that’s hot.’ She flapped a hand in front of her open mouth.
‘Tell me, Nashi Pear, what does waving a hand in front of your mouth really do?’ Jake regarded her like a scientist would eye a test subject.
‘Ha, you’re still a total smart-arse.’
‘Yes, I am.’ Jake flashed her a charming smile. ‘And you love it.’
Indigo gave him the forks. ‘It’s no wonder I never missed you, Jake Murphy.’
‘You have so missed me.’ Jake raised his eyebrows extremely suggestively. ‘Just like I’ve missed you.’
Harley threw her a cautioning sidelong glance. She got it. Jake was a flirt, but there was no harm in mucking about, was there? They were just having a bit of fun. Picking up her burger, she assessed how in the heck she was going to get her mouth around it, then went in for a bite. She groaned in foodie pleasure. This was so much better than the fast-food burgers she’d grown used to in the States – just another thing to add to her growing list of what she was going to miss.
Harley Knight was at the top of it.
CHAPTER
14
It was close to ten and Kuranda’s main strip was just beginning to stir with the first load of tourists for the day. Having skipped breakfast, Indigo’s mouth watered as she and Harley stepped into the little bakery. Inhaling the scent of rich buttery croissants, flaky meat pies and a delectable array of sweet treats, she struggled to make a choice on what she felt like.
‘Smells bloody good, huh?’ Harley said, his eyes wide.
She grinned, nodding. ‘Heck yeah, it does.’
‘It’s my shout.’ Harley tugged his wallet from his back pocket. ‘What are you going to have?’
Indigo’s mouth watered. ‘I don’t know. It all looks so yummy.’
‘Hi.’ The teenager behind the counter acknowledged them with a wide smile. ‘What can I get you?’
‘I’ll have the cheese, bacon and meat pie with tomato sauce please, and she’ll have …’ He turned to Indy.
‘I’ll have the curry pie topped with mushy peas and mashed potato please.’
Harley smirked. ‘Hungry much?’
‘I’m bloody starving.’
‘Good to hear.’ He passed a twenty over the counter and thanked the boy when he passed him two brown paper bags and two sachets of tomato sauce. ‘Do you want to eat these little beauties over in the park so I don’t have to try and drive while stuffing my face?’
‘Yeah, why not? I reckon that sounds nice.’
Heading out into the sunshine, they crossed the road, plonked themselves down and tucked in. Not much was said between bites, but once they were finished, after having thought about it every waking hour since running into Linda and Melanie yesterday, Indigo couldn’t keep her contemplations to herself any longer. She’d chosen to not speak with Amy about it because it was an extremely sensitive topic, which was inevitably Harley’s business. If it were to be Amy’s business, it was Harley’s place to tell his sister, not hers.
‘So, Harley. What are your thoughts on Linda having a little girl?’
Harley pulled an I-don’t-know face then shrugged. ‘I’m not sure what to think about it, if I’m being honest.’
‘Given the fact Melanie is almost ten.’ Indigo paused, cautioning herself to say the next sentence gently. ‘Do you reckon that might have had anything to do with why she took off from Kuranda so suddenly?’
With a deep breath, Harley rested back against the tree they were sitting beneath and clasped his hands behind his head. ‘Possibly.’
Indigo stifled a groan – he wasn’t giving her anything. And by god, she wanted to be here for him, as he’d been for her. Surely this was all weighing extremely heavily on his mind? She picked up a twig and started poking it into the ground near her folded legs. ‘Do you think she could be yours?’ There, she’d said it, but there was no way she was going to bring her gaze to Harley’s just yet.
Other than a heavy sigh, Harley remained silent.
Indigo couldn’t take it any longer. She dared a glance in his direction. ‘Harley. Talk to me.’
His jaw muscles clenched before he offered her a tight-lipped smile.
‘What?’
‘Your overactive brain is playing silly buggers.’
‘Oh, is it now?’ She narrowed her eyes, trying to read him. ‘Don’t tell me that the very same thought hasn’t crossed your mind, even just a little incy bit.’
He drew in a deep breath. ‘Yeah, righto, fleetingly, but then I told myself to stop being so bloody stupid. And you should do the same.’ He sat forwards, folding his arms. ‘Linda might be a pain in the arse at times, and sometimes on the selfish side, but I doubt she’d keep something like that from me. That would just be plain evil.’
Indigo found Harley’s inability to see Linda’s nasty side infuriating. ‘Yes, it most certainly would be. But as for her not doing something like that to you? I beg to differ.’
‘Of course you would.’ Harley threw his hands in the air. ‘You can’t stand the sight of her.’
‘Yeah, there is that, but there’s also the fact she would’ve been pregnant around the same time she skipped town without a word to you.’ She half shrugged. ‘So you can’t really blame me for wondering.’
‘Maybe she fell pregnant after she skipped town, Indy, there is a bit of a window.’
Indigo barely stopped herself from disagreeing. He did have a fair point. ‘Yeah.’ She nodded. ‘Possibly.’
‘Anyway, while we’re on the subject of exes, how about you and Jake?’ Harley’s inquisitive gaze pierced through hers. ‘You seemed pretty cosy at the café yesterday.’
‘Pfft, no we weren’t, Harley.’ She rolled her eyes skywards but when she brought them back to his, she met a look of complete disbelief. ‘What? I was just mucking around with him, that’s all. We’ve always bantered like that.’
‘Really?’
Indigo felt her defences rise. ‘Yes, really.’
Harley shot to his feet. ‘Come on, Miss Nash. Enough jibber-jabber about nonsense, let’s get this show on the road.’ He held out his hand and helped her to her feet. ‘And can you do me a favour?’
‘Yeah, of course I can, what is it?’ Indigo brushed the dirt from her knees before meeting his gaze.
‘Don’t say anything to Amy about Linda’s little girl. It’ll just add unnecessary worry to an already really stressful time.’ He placed both hands on Indigo’s shoulders, as if to hit his message home. ‘I honestly think it’s none of our business, who the father is. Melanie definitely isn’t mine, because I’d know about it already if she was.’
She wrinkled her nose up. ‘Okay. I’ll drop it.’ She huffed. ‘I promise I’ll keep my thoughts to myself from now on.’
‘Thank you.’ He wrapped a warm arm around her shoulder. ‘Now let’s go and finish the last of the renovations on our barn, shall we.’
Throwing an arm around him, she fell into step beside him.
The back of the LandCruiser loaded up with the last of what they needed, Harley looked to Indigo. ‘You have the keys.’
‘Oh, yeah, that’s right.’ She rummaged through a handbag big enough to fit a medium-sized dog. ‘Now, where in the hell are they?’ Harley chuckled from the other side of the LandCruiser.
She glanced up. ‘What are you laughing at?’
‘You, and that thing.’ He pointed to the bag. ‘I don’t know how you’re meant to find anything in that deep, dark cavern.’
A tampon flew out, followed by her lip-gloss. Dashing to her side, he quickly bent to pick both up. ‘See? Things are jumping to freedom because they don’t want to be crammed in there like canned sardines.’
‘Ha, oh my gosh, stop it, Knight.’ Feeling heat rise to her cheeks, she snatched the escapees from him. ‘I’ll have you know this here cavern contains some very important things.’
‘Yeah.’ He raised a brow, his lips itching into a smirk. ‘Like what?’
‘Important women’s stuff.’ The jingle of keys sounded. Plucking them from the bag as if she’d just won a prize, she passed them over to him. ‘But if I told you all the gritty details of said stuff, I’m afraid I’d have to kill you.’
‘Righto.’ Harley held up his hands, feigning surrender. ‘I don’t want to die, so keep the secrets to yourself.’
Piling into the LandCruiser, Harley cruised through town then turned towards home. They were still chuckling about the weird and wonderful ways of being a woman when they pulled up at Tumbleweed.
* * *
Standing back to assess his work after a day spent with a paint roller in hand, Harley was quietly pleased with his efforts. With Indy having focused on the feature wall inside, and he and Amy adding the last licks of paint to the outside, the barn was almost ready for the grand opening in a few days’ time. All it needed now was the signage done, which was happening tomorrow. Trying to divert his thoughts from the likelihood that Melanie could, in fact, be his daughter, he scrubbed a hand across his stubbly jaw then cracked his neck to try to ease out the chinks. He couldn’t think of much worse than a mother hiding a child from a father. He hoped to god Linda wouldn’t be so damn cruel – there was no way she would’ve kept something like that from him. He was ninety-nine percent positive of it. But he was torturing himself with the thought; that one percent that was driving him nuts. Indigo hadn’t helped by putting in her two bobs’ worth this morning.
There was only one way to find out, and that was to ask Linda directly, but then he’d feel like an idiot, insinuating such a thing. He needed to think long and hard, before saying anything.
Amy appeared from the side of the barn and blew a strand of hair from her face. ‘I reckon its beer-o-clock bro, don’t you?’ Blowing one of her massive gum bubbles, she plonked her paintbrush into the bucket of water. ‘I’m done with painting duties for today.’
‘Damn straight it’s time for a beer, sis.’ He bent forwards, touching his toes, to stretch his back out. ‘I feel like I’m about to snap in two.’
Indigo’s head shot up from where she was varnishing tables. ‘Count me in, you two. I’m as dry as a bloody desert.’
Downing tools, the three of them headed towards the cottage, where they plucked three icy beers from the drinks fridge on the verandah and kicked back in the cane settee to watch the sun and the stars change over shifts – twilight was the magical interval between the bowing out of blue skies and sunshine to give the stage to the moon and stars.
‘Ahh, this is living,’ Harley said, crossing his socked feet at the ankles as the sun began its descent behind the mountains, scattering a lavender hue across the dimming blue.
‘It sure is.’ Amy looked from him to Indigo then sighed. ‘It’s so lovely, having you both back here.’ Her wisp of a smile gave way to tear-glistened eyes and she blinked faster. ‘Sorry, I’m super tired, and that makes me super soppy.’ Sniffling, she wiped the first tears that fell. ‘Bloody hell.’ She tried to laugh it off but it sounded a little like a chicken being strangled.
‘Oh, sweetie, what is it?’ Sharing a concerned glance with Harley, Indigo wrapped an arm around her best friend and tugged her close.
Amy rested her head on Indigo’s shoulder. ‘I’m just sad you have to leave again, Indy,’ she sniffled. ‘I really miss you while you’re overseas. More than you know.’
Indigo pulled her into a hug. ‘Oh, Amy, I miss you too, so much.’
Watching the sisterly love between Amy and Indigo, Harley was doing everything he could not to shed a tear himself. A ball of emotion lodging in his throat, he coughed, trying to clear it, once, twice, three times, then managed to smile when both Indigo and Amy untangled to look at him.
‘What?’ he said to two sets of perceptive eyes. Then, shrugging, added, ‘Can’t a man clear his throat around here?’
‘Uh-huh,’ Amy said. ‘If that’s what you call it.’
‘Yeah, righto, Mister Tough Guy,’ Indigo added.
Amy reached out and wiped the corner of his right eye with her fingertip. ‘Oh my gosh, bro, you’re crying.’
‘Am not.’ He sniffed, hard, and sat up straighter. ‘I just got something in my eye.’ He wiped at it. ‘That’s all.’
Both women hmmed.
Harley echoed it.
Hints of pale pink, then orange, were soon replaced with purple and indigo as twilight wrapped peaceful arms around them. They all sat in a companionable silence, drinking in the magic of it all for a few more minutes.
His beer finished, Harley unfolded from the settee. ‘Right, I’m off for a run through the dip.’ He dumped his empty beer bottle in the recycling bin.
‘Okies.’ Amy looked up at him as he wandered back past. ‘What should we do for dinner?’
Keen for an early night, he was planning to shower, eat, and then tuck himself into bed. ‘We’ve got plenty of leftover stroganoff from last night, so how about we just heat that up?’
‘Oh, yeah, I forgot about that. Winning, no cooking tonight then.’ Amy turned to Indigo. ‘You happy with leftovers, babe?’
Indigo stretched her legs out and wiggled her toes. ‘Yup, sounds good to me.’
Wandering into his bedroom, Harley flicked the overhead light on and emptied his jean pockets onto the dresser. Catching his reflection, he looked a little closer at the lines beginning to etch deeper around his eyes and at the corners of his lips – time was passing him by, and way too quickly. He really needed to get serious about settling down and starting the family he longed to have. Marriage first, then two or three little whippersnappers for him to love to death. That was going to take some time. And he didn’t want to just settle for the sake of wanting to be in love, and to be loved. He wanted to live a long life with his one true love by his side. He wanted to share her hopes and dreams, and for her to share his. He knew without a doubt that that woman was Indigo, but after years of remaining hopeful she’d see him more as a lover than a brother, he was beginning to lose faith that she’d ever want to stop long enough to really see him for the man he was, and to set down roots, especially in Kuranda.
Slumping down on the end of his bed, he slipped off his socks and tossed them into the dirty clothes basket. The stark realisation that she might go back to the States and never return to him smacked him hard in the chest, adding more weight to his already heavy heart. He dropped his head into his hands and sighed. He was hoping for a life he’d never get the chance to live. He was setting himself up for heartbreak. Indigo Nash was way too wrapped up in her career to ever stop and smell the proverbial roses. Maybe, just maybe, he needed to stop focusing on one day making her his wife and the mother of his children. Maybe he needed to open his eyes wider, and see what, and who, was in his peripheral?
Maybe he didn’t want to think about all of this right now.
Wearily, he stood, the cowhide rug soft beneath his bare feet as he strode across it. Hopefully, a warm shower and some sleep would give him some reprieve from his incessant thoughts.
But, five hours later, he was still wide awake. He was almost ready to throw in the towel and go and sit on the verandah with a hot chocolate when a rap at his window had him almost hitting the roof he was staring at. Kicking the sheet off, he lunged towards the window before whoever it was woke Indigo and Amy up.
Tugging the curtains open, he was shocked to see who was staring back at him. ‘Linda, what in the hell are you doing?’ he said as he shoved the window open. ‘It’s almost midnight.’
Linda half smirked, half grimaced. ‘I’m knocking on your window.’
‘Yeah, I can see that.’ He couldn’t help but chuckle at her response or the sheepish look on her face. ‘I meant, what are you doing here in the middle of the night? And how in the heck did you get here, because I didn’t hear a car?’
‘I parked down the driveway because I didn’t want to have to explain myself to Amy or, god forbid, Indigo, if they saw me pull up.’ Linda leant on the windowsill. ‘And I’m here in the middle of the night because I really wanted to talk to you.’
Harley plucked a couple of leaves from her hair. ‘Have you ever heard of a phone?’
Linda flattened down what she could of her garden-matted mane. ‘Smart-arse, yes, I have, but this was something I needed to say in person.’
‘Right, well.’ Melanie’s cute little face came to his mind, and panic fuelled his pulse into a frenzied gallop. ‘It must be important then.’
‘It is.’ Linda’s nod was exaggerated.
Desperate to hear what she had to say, Harley thumbed over his shoulder. ‘I’ll meet you out on the verandah.’ He turned away from her before she had time to respond.
‘Okay.’ Her whisper followed him to his closed door.
Creeping down the hallway like a kid about to sneak out of the house, tiptoeing over the floorboards that creaked, Harley crossed the lounge room, carefully opened the front door and slipped outside.
Linda was near the top step. ‘Hey again.’ He closed the distance.
‘Hey.’ She batted long dark lashes as she looked up at him. ‘Sorry to drag you out of bed.’ She turned and leant on the railings.
