A cheer went up around the room, while Max and John stood there waiting for Dani and Graham to appear. When neither of them emerged after a few seconds, both men began to look very uncomfortable. ‘Dani, where have you got to, sweetheart?’ Max called into the microphone.
Amelia looked around but couldn’t see either of them.
‘Goodness! I wonder where they are,’ Anne said with a sly look on her face.
Amelia gave her friend a surprised glance. ‘Anne! I never suspected you had such a dirty mind.’
‘Not at all—you’re the one who leapt to conclusions! Should have employed some security guards to keep them inside.’
‘Yeah, where are your boys when you need them?’ Amelia asked with a laugh.
‘Will’s the only one here. Other two got called in to be actual security guards over in Barker tonight. New little bar opening up that they’re busy at.’
The crowd began to get a little restless before starting to clap and call out, ‘Dani, Graham! Dani, Graham!’
A little flustered, Max bent down to talk to his wife, and John gave Natalie a confused glance, but then another cheer went up when Dani and Graham came through the open door, looking sheepish.
‘Gawd, can’t keep your hands off each other, even out in public?’ yelled a man’s voice.
Amelia looked around and realised it was Kev Hubble, whose face was even redder than Max’s. Bloody typical, she thought. Uncouth bugger, just as bad as Jim. She wasn’t even sure why he’d been invited—then she remembered that he was Dani’s great uncle. Well, that just went to prove you couldn’t choose your family.
There were wolf whistles. Will Andrews and a few of Graham’s mates started to stamp on the floor. ‘Good job, Benno!’ they yelled.
Benno? Amelia hadn’t heard Graham called that in years!
Paul bent down to whisper in her ear. ‘Surely they wouldn’t have?’
She gave him a look. ‘Of course not,’ she whispered back. ‘The opposite if you ask me—they’ve been arguing. Look, Graham’s scratching the back of his ear. He always does that when he’s pissed off.’
Paul stared at her. ‘How do you know that?’
Amelia shrugged. ‘He’s my brother. I’ve lived with him for years!’
Paul was giving her another strange look just as Graham took the microphone and started to speak. ‘Thanks for coming,’ he said, still scratching behind his ear. ‘Sorry to hold you up. We were just talking about some of the arrangements for the rest of the evening . . .’
The wolf whistles and stomping started up again.
‘. . . contrary to common belief!’ Graham held his hands up and smiled broadly until the noise died down. ‘Seriously, thanks all for coming.’ He reached over, took Dani’s hand and held it up to his heart. ‘My gorgeous fiancée and I are thrilled you could make it tonight. It’s a big thing when you ask the love of your life to marry you and she actually says yes.’ He paused and looked down at the woman beside him.
The chatter had become non-existent and Amelia noticed that even the clinks from glasses had stopped.
‘To be really honest, I never knew if Dani would say yes. I hoped she would, but I couldn’t be sure. After all, she’s much prettier, funnier, kinder and gentler than what I ever thought I deserved.’ He looked over at Dani as if trying to convey everything he felt for her through his eyes. Then his hand strayed back to scratch at the spot behind his ear, and he coughed. ‘Anyway, without getting too emotional, thanks again to everyone who’s come tonight—a few out-of-towners drove long distances to be here.’
He stopped and spoke with Dani briefly, and she took the microphone. ‘Thanks to our parents for your love and support,’ she said in a shaky voice. ‘To all of our family and friends who helped set up here tonight, you’ve done a great job. Haven’t they done a great job?’
The room erupted with clapping and calls of ‘Yeah!’
‘I really want to acknowledge Natalie and my mum for all the effort they’ve put in too. And finally, I want to say to Graham—thank you, honey, for asking me. There was no way in the world I wasn’t going to say yes!’ Dani leaned up and kissed him, and all the boys went wild again.
‘That’s almost sickening,’ Chelle said in Amelia’s ear.
‘You’re just jealous,’ she answered.
‘Maybe, but it’s still revolting.’
‘And—’ Dani waved with her hands to get everyone to quieten down ‘—we’d like to announce that our wedding is on the twelfth of February next year, so . . .’ She paused before shouting, ‘Save the date!’
Max took the microphone from his daughter and asked everyone to raise their glasses to Graham and Dani.
‘Where’s your drink, Chelle?’ Amelia wanted to know, as she raised her own glass with everyone else and repeated: ‘Graham and Dani.’
‘Got to drive home afterwards.’
They stood together, watching as the couple worked the room once again, shaking hands with some people and clapping others on the back. Graham took off his jacket and hung it over the back of a chair, before slipping his hand around Dani’s waist and dragging her to the dance floor.
Later in the evening, Amelia wandered outside again to cool her cheeks. The room had become stuffy, and smelt of beer and the body odour of dancers. Glancing up at the sky, she realised the rain had stopped. Clouds chased one another across the inky expanse, leaving glimpses of stars behind them.
Amelia wondered how much rain had fallen and hoped it was widespread. She leaned back against the wall, her hands behind her back, and shut her eyes, before sliding down and sitting on her bum. She had to give Dani her due, but she couldn’t have done it without help from loads of other people, her mum included. It had been a good night. The band was exceptional, the food lovely, and even though it seemed so over-the-top, the whole idea had worked really well. And she’d heard Dani’s mother say that it had all run on time, down to the last minute, even with Dani and Graham being late for their own speech. ‘I’m not asking why they were,’ she’d added hastily.
As Amelia had said to Paul, she was sure they’d been arguing. Graham’s tell-tale sign of anger had been a giveaway, and so had the tightness in Dani’s face. It was likely anyone who knew the couple well would have noticed the same thing. And the argument probably had something to do with the brawl.
A voice filtered over to Amelia from the barbecue shed and she opened her eyes. She peered through the slatted verandah rails and once again saw Graham talking intently on the phone. She frowned—this was definitely weird. Graham was never on the phone much; in fact, he didn’t like mobiles. Only carried one in case there was an emergency out on the farm and he couldn’t get to the ute to call on a two-way.
She watched him pace back and forth, gesturing angrily. Before she knew it, he was scratching behind his ear again. She wished she could hear what he was saying.
‘Milly?’ Paul came out on the verandah. ‘You okay?’
She held up her finger to silence him and scooted closer to the edge of the verandah. Still couldn’t make out the words, just her brother’s muffled voice.
‘What’s up?’
‘Graham’s out there on his phone for the second time. Just strange he isn’t inside with everyone. Dani must be wondering where he is.’ Amelia glanced around.
Paul looked down at her in exasperation. ‘Does it really matter, babe? Come on, let’s get another drink and have a dance.’
Amelia got up and, with one last look over her shoulder, followed him inside.
Around midnight everyone had left except for the closest friends and family, and only the young ones at that. There were serviettes and other bits of rubbish strewn around the room. Amelia and Paul went to say their goodbyes and found Graham patting down his coat and putting his hands in his pockets. ‘Where’s my phone?’
Amelia shrugged. ‘Don’t know.’
‘Put it in my pocket after I was on it last. It’s got to be here somewhere.’ Frantically he searched
again, but came up empty.
‘Darling, it’ll be here somewhere, dropped on the floor.’ A rather tipsy Dani got down on her hands and knees to have a look. ‘Nope, nothing here,’ she sang.
Amelia watched, worry tingling at the back of her mind, as Graham’s expression changed from frustration to fear. ‘Shit,’ he muttered. ‘Someone’s taken it.’
‘Oh, don’t be silly. No one would’ve done that. Not in our circle of friends!’ Dani backed out from under the table. ‘Come on, let’s go home. We’ll come back and look tomor—Whoops!’ She pitched forward and fell heavily against Graham. They both staggered until he somehow got them upright again.
‘You right?’ Amelia asked. ‘Want Paul and me to drive you home?’
‘We’re good,’ Graham answered, his eyes still searching the room for the missing phone.
‘We’ll get you another one, baby.’ Dani giggled. ‘Don’t sweat the small stuff. You tell me that all the time.’ She put her face up to his. ‘Kiss?’
‘Bloody hell.’ Amelia turned away and shook her head at Paul, thinking, Dani is a pitiful drunk!
She expected her brother to be amused, but Graham’s face was set like stone. ‘You’re right, Dani, we can look for it tomorrow. It’s fine.’ He put his arm around his fiancée in what seemed like a vice-like grip. ‘Right, well, I guess we’ll see you later,’ he said and started to half-carry, half-drag Dani towards the door.
‘Thanks for a lovely evening!’ Amelia called out after him.
‘Yeah.’ He didn’t look back. ‘No worries.’
Chapter 30
Amelia stumbled out into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water. The heavy clouds made the morning darker than it should have been at this hour. She’d woken at 6 a.m. with the dry horrors.
‘Ugh,’ she mumbled, as she pushed her tangled hair back off her face. ‘I swear I didn’t have that much to drink, but I’m as dry as a . . .’
‘Talking to yourself?’
Amelia jumped and let out a little squeak before she turned around to see Graham sitting at the kitchen table, sipping a cup of coffee. He looked like he hadn’t slept at all, and his stubble made his chin black to match his eye.
‘Shit, you scared me.’ Amelia put her hand on her chest as her heart tried to punch its way out. ‘And I thought you were at Dani’s.’
‘Oh,’ Graham said, guilt flickering over his face. ‘Sorry, I didn’t think.’
‘S’okay.’ She poured herself another glass of water and sat down opposite him, putting her hands on the glass and twisting it around. Not saying anything, she gazed out the window at the looming clouds. She shot a quick glance at her brother and saw he was staring at the table. ‘Did you find your phone?’ she asked, finally, when it became clear he wasn’t going to speak.
‘Nah.’ He shook his head to emphasise the word. ‘Shits me. Lost all my contacts, everything.’
‘That’s a bugger.’ She took another sip of water. Surely he’d want to talk about the engagement party more than his phone. But you asked the question, she reminded herself. And he looks like he isn’t thinking clearly. ‘It was a lovely night,’ she ventured. ‘And with the rain on top of it, you should be really happy.’ She was prying now. The way he looked, there was no way he was happy.
Graham smiled briefly. ‘It was a good night. Dani did a great job to put it all together.’ He took another sip from his cup and the silence stretched out in front of them. ‘Did Paul enjoy—’
‘What are your—’
They both gestured for the other one to speak, and Amelia shook her head. ‘It’s okay. Mine wasn’t important. What were you going to say?’
‘I was just going to ask if Paul enjoyed himself. But tell me what your plans for the day are.’
‘I think Paul had a great time,’ Amelia answered before pressing the heel of her hand to her forehead.
‘First, I think I might go back to bed. I can’t believe the way I feel, considering I didn’t drink very much at all. And then, well . . . maybe I’ll go to Paul’s, or just hang here and finally catch up on some work. Not sure yet. What about you?’
‘I’m going to get the steers in and weigh them.’
‘You really need to do that today? Why don’t you go and open all of your presents with Dani?’
Shaking his head, Graham said, ‘She can manage that without me. Anyway, we opened some last night.’ He stood up and stretched, before putting his coffee cup in the sink.
‘I wouldn’t have thought she was in any fit state to open anything,’ Amelia said without thinking, then clapped her hand over her mouth. ‘Sorry, Graham. Shouldn’t have said that. Foot in mouth disease!’ She watched for any sign he was angry—he’d certainly never liked anyone casting aspersions on Dani’s character.
Instead he shrugged. ‘Yeah, she had a good time. That’s allowed!’
‘Totally. And I’m not one to talk today!’ Amelia opened the fridge door and grabbed the orange juice, before pouring herself a glass. ‘Well, I think I’m heading back to bed.’ She turned to go, desperate to say something about how much he’d been on the phone the night before. ‘Hey, Graham?’
‘Hmm?’
She hesitated for a moment, not wanting to upset the fragile truce they seemed to have arrived at since she’d been hurt. Then she said, ‘Don’t you need Dad to help you get the steers in? They’re in a pretty big mob.’
Graham backed his ute out of the shed and automatically patted his shirt pocket to make sure he had his phone. Feeling nothing, he cursed again. It hadn’t been lost, of that he was certain. It had been taken. Angrily he hit the steering wheel and took his foot off the clutch a little too quickly, causing the tyres to spin.
The ute splashed through a puddle and brought his thoughts back to the job at hand. Twenty-four millimetres overnight was a godsend. The feed would be a bit short for the first couple of weeks, until it grew long enough and had enough oomph in it to feed the stock, but if they had another rain in a week or two, they’d be able to stop hand-feeding. That would free up a lot of time and give him the opportunity to start thinking about spraying to put the crop in.
The chemicals were in the shed and now that he’d shorn his own ewes and sent his wool away to be sold, he was sure the cash he needed would be available. Sometimes he got so furious with Amelia and her high and mighty ways when it came to money. Didn’t she see that so many of his mates didn’t have to answer to their family—to their father or sister? And they didn’t have their mother walling them in. They were free to farm their land as they pleased. That was one of the reasons he was so keen to have Dani involved. If she took over the books, he’d have a bit more of a free hand. But no, that wouldn’t be happening, no matter how hard he or Natalie pushed. John was too set in his ways and too one-eyed when it came to Amelia.
Graham’s eyes narrowed and he let out a growl. Then he took a few deep breaths to calm down before reminding himself that John didn’t actually favour Amelia. Deep down Graham knew that, but he had to blame someone for the fix he was in, and Amelia was an easy target.
Nothing was supposed to turn out the way that it had. Harmless fun and the chance to make some extra cash—pay off his loan—had turned into something far darker. The taser had changed everything, as had the violence. Graham had to make things right after what had happened to Amelia, but he still needed money. Blackmail had seemed the only way to handle things.
He drove past the gateway into Emerald Springs and startled a flock of galahs who’d been bathing in the puddles the rain had left behind. As he glanced in the mirror back at the entrance, a feeling of foreboding came over him. He slowed the ute, turned around and drove back. Standing in front of the gateway, he could tell that Amelia had been in here a few times, because the path was a little more obvious.
On foot now, Graham pushed his way up the path, ignoring the drips from the trees that seeped through his shirt and the mud that was building up on his boots. Within half an hour he was standing in front of
Emerald Springs. Overtaken with childhood memories, he lingered there for a moment, allowing himself to recall the shouts of joy and sounds of splashing. The smell of the barbecue sizzling and the sun on his skin. In a time when things were a lot less complicated.
Emerald Springs had always been Amelia’s special spot, but what no one knew was that it had also been his secret hiding spot. He’d used it in high school when he’d had to keep his stack of Penthouse magazines and the exam he’d stolen from his maths teacher’s desk away from his mother. That was the trouble with having a parent who insisted on cleaning his room and making his bed every day. His own bedroom had never been a sanctuary, so he’d had to find his own.
Being a cool, cloudy Sunday, it was the perfect time for Graham to check that what he’d hidden was still in place. For his own peace of mind. Plus, he’d have a better idea of where to hide things in the future, just in case.
The steers thundered across the paddock and Graham sped out to the wing to turn them towards the gate. With the ground wet, the sound of their hooves reminded him of The Man from Snowy River movie, his favourite, and the way the brumbies had thundered across the mountain country.
He wished he was on a horse or a motorbike. Even with four-wheel-drive engaged, the bloody wheels still couldn’t find traction and kept spinning in some spots. And these steers were feral! Not having been handled very much and feeling energetic because of the cooler weather, they were giving him the run-around. Graham swore at himself for not thinking to bring one of the work dogs. But they were his father’s and he rarely used them, unless he was working sheep—they didn’t work so well on cattle.
After much to-ing and fro-ing, swearing and cursing, he managed to get the lead steers through the gate and the rest followed. The difficulty of the job did nothing to help his temper.
Emerald Springs Page 23
