“But you came here instead?”
He nodded. “Instead of going to the pub, I found myself on your doorstep.”
She kissed his cheek. “Thank you for your honesty. I know what addiction is like. I’ve had lots of patients with lots of different addictions. I know how hard it is to live with. The battle you face every day. I’m sorry if I made it more difficult for you.”
He picked up her hand and tenderly kissed her fingertips, one at a time. “It’s because of you and Hannah that I will stay sober every day for the rest of my life. This I promise you.” He vowed. “You make me want to be a better man. And even though you deserve someone better, without all this baggage and these complications, I want to make myself worthy of you and Hannah. Because I love you, and I love the family we have together.” The words flowed from him. He was more vulnerable and unguarded than he had ever been before. But every word he spoke was honest and raw.
Abbie’s jaw trembled and her voice was husky. “I promise I will help you to fight those demons and I’ll remind you every day of all the good things you have in your life and how much you are cherished and loved. Because you are, Lachie. You really, really are.”
He pulled her close as relief rolled through him. He found her lips and with his kisses, he promised her his heart, body, and soul. He knew that there were never any guarantees in life. Sometimes you just had to take a risk.
He was willing to risk everything for his family, and judging by the way she kissed him back, so was Abbie.
Kookaburras sang their merry song from the tree outside Abbie’s bedroom, and the brilliant sunshine poured through the gap in her curtains like a golden river. She snuggled closer into Lachie’s warm embrace. He was still there. He hadn’t scurried off in the middle of the night like other men had. No, Lachie wasn’t here for a night of lust between the sheets. He had said he was here for the long term and she believe him.
She closed her eyes and tried to picture their future together. How many mornings would she wake up just like this, by his side, anticipating the day? On occasions Hannah might join them for early morning snuggles with both her parents, and they would chat about school and their new life together.
Perhaps, one day, Hannah might have a younger sibling to boss around.
Lachie moved and placed a warm kiss on her forehead. She moaned and lifted her face, seeking his mouth on her own. Wanting more of the pleasure he had so generously given her last night.
Breathing heavily, Lachie dragged his mouth from her lips, then cruised the line of her jaw and down her neck. Her breasts swelled, heavy and aching, desperate for his touch.
Sounds of Hannah moving around outside their door had them both pausing. A look at Lachie made them both smother giggles, like they were sneaky teenagers, about to be caught.
“Do you want me to leave?” Lachie asked.
Abbie kissed him gently before shaking her head. “No.”
He made to roll out of bed but she placed her hand on his arm. “Lachie, promise me something?”
“Anything.” He stroked her cheek.
“If things don’t work out between us, no matter what, we have to put Hannah’s needs and wellbeing first.”
His eyes were serious as he looked back at her. “Of course. I’ll never do anything to hurt her.”
She let out a breath before pulling him in for another kiss. “I know you wouldn’t.”
They climbed out of bed and dressed, Lachie in yesterday’s clothes and Abbie in her uniform. How she would get through today with Lachie on her mind, she didn’t know.
Abbie left the room first and busied herself in the kitchen, preparing breakfast and hot drinks.
“Good morning,” she said as she kissed the top of her daughters head when she entered.
“Morning,” her daughter replied sleepily before sitting at the table and digging in to her bowl of soggy Weet-Bix.
Then Lachie walked into the kitchen and it was as though it was the most natural thing in the world for him to be there with them.
Hannah looked up and rubbed her eyes. “Dad?”
He went to her and hugged her. “Morning squirt. How’d you sleep?”
She looked between her parents, her little brain no doubt trying to understand what had happened. “You slept over?”
“Is that okay?” Lachie asked as he grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl and munched into it.
A crease appeared between her eyes, identical to her father’s. “But yesterday you had a big argument.”
Abbie crouched in front of her daughter and put her hand on her arm. “Daddy came over last night and we talked it over. We both apologised for the mean things we said.”
Hannah looked to Lachie for affirmation.
He nodded. “It’s all forgiven now. Are we good?” He directed the question at Hannah, who grinned in reply.
Abbie hugged her daughter. “Daddy might stay over more often, if that’s okay with you.” She hoped her daughter agreed, because she didn’t want to miss out on nights like last night in the future.
Hannah bounced in her seat. “He could move in. I’d be fine with that.”
“Good to know.” Lachie winked at Abbie who grinned back.
Abbie rose to stand beside Lachie. He reached for her hand. They were in this together. A team. “For now, we’re just going to date and hang out together. We’ll see where it leads.”
Hannah smiled as though all her birthdays and Christmases had come at once. “Sounds like a great idea to me.”
Chapter 18
Lachie spent the day steadily working through his list of jobs. The sooner he was done, the sooner he could head back into town. Right now, he was tensioning a barbed wire fence in the paddock near the windmill, the sun warm on his shoulders.
He had awoken with a new outlook on life. This was his second chance and by God, he wasn’t going to waste a second of it. He had nearly lost Abbie and Hannah last night and he knew, without a doubt, that he needed them in his life. They were his life raft. His reason for everything.
He inhaled deeply, filling his lungs with the earthy smells of the bush: dust, eucalypt, cattle, and fresh country air. This was the life for him. A life of hard, physical, and yet rewarding labour. A life surrounded by his children and his family. A life where his roots were embedded in the history of Brigadier Station.
Eventually this drought would pass and he would bring back his cattle and continue his breeding program. He had learned from his past mistakes and was adamant not to repeat them again. The booze was behind him. He had also decided to schedule in regular appointments with the counsellor. He had to keep on top of his own health, both physical and mental, if he was going to be able to look after his family and their future.
Together they would work through the obstacle of distance and find time to be together. There was still so much he wanted to learn about Abbie and Hannah and he couldn’t wait to start discovering.
His phone buzzed in his pocket and he wiped his hands before fishing it out of his jeans and answering the call. “Brigadier Station.”
“Hi Lachie, it’s Maddie.”
His heart tightened as it always did when he spoke to his friend’s widow. Just hearing her voice reminded him of that day. The day he had tried to forget but which still woke him sometimes at night.
“Hi. How are you?”
She paused as though searching for words. How was she? How would she ever be okay after what had happened? “I just wanted to let you know that we’re moving back to Mt Isa. We’ll live with Mum while I find a job.”
Lachie had known it was coming. The station had been up for sale for a few weeks now. Maddie couldn’t look after the station plus the kids and on no income. Dylan had left her in a rotten situation. She had barely been able to pay for the funeral and other expenses.
“We’ll be sorry to lose you. How can I help?”
“Is there anything here you can use? Equipment or feed?” Her voice was desperate, and he knew she was desp
erate. “The bank will probably end up selling the place for half of what it’s worth, so you may as well take whatever you can.”
He agreed to come over and even though she didn’t want any payment, he would give her a fair price. When he was finished on the phone, he sat and watched the landscape around him. An emu emerged from some scrub and scampered on its long legs and wide-splayed toes across the brown dirt in front of him.
Life on the land was hard and not everyone was cut out for it. Abbie was a city girl. She managed just fine in town where she was surrounded by people, but how would she go out here? Did she have the resilience and patience to wait out a drought? When the floods came, would she be prepared to be isolated for weeks without power?
Being with Lachie meant being on the land and loving it for all it offered and all it took away. Was she really up for the challenge? Did she even understand the hardships?
As much as she’d promised him she’d be there for him, what if this life was too much? Too hard? What if it broke her, like it had broken Dylan?
Lachie loaded the last of the machinery parts onto the back of his ute. He had found lots of spare parts and bits and pieces of Dylan’s that may come in handy one day. He was just tying down the tarp as the sound of an engine approached.
He watched as Abbie climbed out of her car. The way her face lit up when she spotted him warmed him all the way to his soul. Hannah emerged from the back seat and reached her father first, hugging him hello. He squeezed her back, listening as she quickly told him all about her day, then asked if she could go and play with Emma and Jamie.
“Sure you can. They’re inside with Maddie.” He waved at his neighbour’s house. This would be the last time visiting them.
The shipping container stood next to the homestead, packed to the top with the family’s belongings and memories.
“It’s hard to believe that a lifetime can be packed up in just a few days,” Abbie said, her gaze following his to the container.
“Yep. Even at the worst of times, I never thought it would come to this. The money from the rodeo helped, but without any stock …” His voice trailed off. His father had always had back-up plans. He had shares in the stock market and other long-term investments. Drought-proofing had been taught to Lachie from a young age and as much as he despised his father, he was thankful for the keen business sense he’d been taught. But just because he was a little bit like his father didn’t mean he had to be exactly like him.
Abbie curled her arms around him. “I know it’s hard. I’m going to miss them too.”
He stroked her hair. “You see what Maddie’s going through? Lots of people are going through the same thing. Country life is hard. Long days which drain a man physically and emotionally.” He raised her chin so she was looking at him. “Are you cut out for this? Is it a life you want?”
She bit the corner of her mouth and loosened her arms. “I don’t know.” She stepped away and gestured to the landscape around her. “I wasn’t expecting to like it so much here, to be so accepted by the community.” She looked back at him. “And I definitely wasn’t expecting to fall in love.”
His heart skipped a beat at her declaration of love. “I don’t want you to be unhappy out here. That would be worse for me than not having you in my life.”
She raised her hand and lifted the tip of his Akubra up. “Some things are worth all the hard work. I believe you are one of those things, and I want to try to make a life with you out here.”
He raised her hand to his lips. “That’s the best we can hope for.”
They turned and walked to the tired old house. There was precious little left inside, and they chatted about Maddie’s plans over tea and biscuits brought over from Brigadier Station.
“The kids can go to school for a change. Emma’s been doing School of the Air her whole life so she’s a bit nervous.” Maddie looked at her teenage step-daughter. The poor girl had been abandoned by her birth mother as a baby, and now her father was gone too. She wouldn’t have an easy life going forward, even with her step-mother’s love.
Little Jamie was still a toddler, not even three yet. He wouldn’t even remember the place or his life out here.
Hannah walked Jamie over to the adults, holding his hand in hers. The little boy looked just like his father with his jet-black hair and dark brown eyes.
“Bickey?” Jamie asked.
Maddie handed her son one of Harriet’s famous Anzac biscuits, and they all watched as he bit into the crunchy treat.
“Babies always have a way of being the centre of attention, don’t they?” Lachie said as he watched the child. He wondered what Hannah had been like at that age.
“Mummy and Daddy are dating,” Hannah said to Maddie like it was news everyone ought to know. “I hope they have a baby one day. I’d like to be a big sister.”
Abbie clapped her hand over her mouth and Lachie chuckled. He would like nothing more than to fill Brigadier Station with their children, especially if they were as forward and charming as their firstborn.
Maddie smiled but it was as though she had forgotten how to. “You might get your wish one day. I hope you’ll be a good girl for your parents.”
“I will.” Hannah hugged Maddie and kissed her on the cheek. “Will you come back and visit us?”
Maddie forced a smile. “Maybe one day, but until then you can come and visit us in Mt Isa whenever you want.”
Hannah led Jamie back to the couch where a small pile of toys waited for them.
Lachie leaned forward on his knees and stared into his empty cup. “It won’t be the same without you.”
Maddie sighed. “I thought I’d be like Harriet and live out my days in this house. We’d watch our children have children and teach them about living in the bush.” Lachie watched as she wiped away a tear. “But I can’t do it without Dylan.”
Abbie moved to her friend’s side and hugged her.
Change was the only constant out here, and you had to be able to adapt. Over time, Maddie and the children would get used to their new life in town.
And, hopefully, Abbie would adapt to living in the outback with him. Only time would tell if they could last the distance or whether this life he loved so much was too much for the city girl he had fallen head over heels for.
Chapter 19
Abbie and Lachie slipped into an easy routine. He spent most nights at her house in town so as not to disrupt Hannah’s school routine. But, with holidays fast approaching, they were planning for some full-time station life with Abbie taking time off too.
Since their conversation at Maddie’s, Abbie had been seriously considering the obstacles and realities of remote country life. Long phone conversations with both Paige and Meghan had given her a dose of much-needed reality. Although still apprehensive, Abbie knew she had a better understanding of what a future with Lachie would entail. She would have to compromise on certain things she took for granted, but she also knew the payoff would be worth it.
Lachie came to sit with her on the couch after putting their daughter to bed. He stretched out and gathered her to him. “What have you got there?”
She presented him with the large book she had been holding, waiting to share with him. “I don’t know why I haven’t shown you this earlier.” She opened it to the first page: a photo of Abbie in a blue bikini, proudly showing off her pregnant belly.
Lachie straightened next to her and leaned in to better study the photograph. “You were huge.”
She laughed at his comment. “I went into labour the very next day.”
He looked at her. “Did you like being pregnant?”
“I loved it. She moved around all the time, reminding me I was never alone.”
His lips curled up, then he returned to the album and turned the page. Photos of the pink, wrinkly newborn and her mother covered the next few sheets, and Lachie took his time studying each one.
Abbie lay her head on Lachie’s shoulder. “What do you think?”
He loo
ked up and she was shocked to see his eyes glazed over. “I think we made the most beautiful baby in the world.”
She pressed her lips against his. “Me too.”
“Would you have more?”
“Babies?” She bit her lip as he nodded. “Yeah, I’d like another one or two.”
Relief relaxed his jaw.
They continued looking through the pictures and Abbie told him stories, sharing the most intimate details of her life so that he might understand her better and feel like even though he wasn’t there, he knew exactly what happened.
He turned to the last page and his breath caught as he saw the latest picture. It was their very first family photo, taken at the rodeo with Zoe Gilmore.
His finger traced around the edges. “Look at us.” He exhaled.
“That’s when we went from a family of two to a family of three.”
He turned to her. “Thank you for showing me these. I feel more a part of your lives now.”
“You’re welcome.” She tenderly stroked the soft hairs of his five o’clock shadow. She couldn’t wait to ditch every item of clothing. To run her hands over his hard muscles and gaze upon him naked. She deftly sneaked her hands under his shirt, loving the heat blasting from his skin. His desire for her was immediately clear as he pulled her onto his lap, and her hunger for him flared hot.
“Let’s take this to the bedroom.” The yearning in his voice kicked her pulse up higher. She climbed off him and led him down the hall. Inside her room, he grabbed her waist and spun her around so she slammed into his chest, winded. She looked up at him through her lashes before his mouth crashed onto hers. Abbie melted against him. A fire of need kindled hot inside her.
When Lachie reached between them to undo the buttons of her shirt, she found the hem of his and urged it up over his head. Soon both shirts were discarded on the floor. He ran a finger along the lace edge of her bra, and Abbie’s breath caught. When he reached around to unclasp it, she gladly let him take it off. It joined the growing pile of their clothes, and Abbie moaned as Lachie massaged her breasts. Her nipples were already hard, and each stroke of his hand over her sensitive skin brought another wave of desire through her. When he bent to take one nipple into his mouth, Abbie closed her eyes and arched her back. His touch sent waves of heat flooding through her system and she yearned for more, to have his hands everywhere on her body. He took his time exploring her. Teasing her nipples. Loving them with his tongue.
The Legacies of Brigadier Station Page 13
