by Ros Baxter
Martha sniffed the air. ‘Smells different in here,’ she said, smiling gently at Lou. ‘Something been going down while I’ve been on my rounds?’
Lou smiled back at her. ‘Just family stuff,’ she said.
‘Excellent,’ the doctor said, busying herself with charts and tubes. ‘The best kind.’
Lou picked up her bag to get going. She needed to check on Piper. But Bo found her just as she was saying goodbye to the doctor.
And the look on his face froze Lou halfway to the door. ‘Piper?’ she almost squeaked. ‘What’s happened? Is she okay?’
‘It’s not Piper honey,’ Bo said, his beautiful voice breaking a little. ‘It’s Gage.’
Lou stared in through the glass door. Gage was unconscious and he had a big bloody bandage on his head. The bandage covered half of his face, so she couldn’t see much of it, but what she could see was bruised and bloody. He had really banged himself up.
‘This damn hospital,’ she whispered, not daring to look at Bo. ‘I hate this fucking place.’
Bo nodded, and Lou knew that he knew she had more reason to than most.
‘Tell me what happened.’
Bo took a breath. ‘I went to find him,’ he started, running his hands through his grey hair in that gesture so like Gage that Lou almost lost her shit on the spot. ‘To tell him about Pip, to get him and bring him back here. Like I told you, he’d gone off in a rage after the meeting. I thought maybe he’d just gone home to cool off, but when I got there …’
Lou wanted him to cut to the chase. ‘You said it was a horse riding accident?’
‘He always rides when shit’s on top of him,’ Bo confirmed. ‘Has since he was a kid. It was pretty light tonight, with the full moon, but I guess he was worked up, didn’t have his head on.’ Bo made a frustrated noise in the back of his throat. ‘But still, he shouldn’t have had a fall; he knows the place like the back of his hand. For God’s sake, Lou, we’ve lived there longer than anyone.’ He smiled wryly. ‘Except the local Kooris, of course.’
Lou’s stomach clenched. She knew why he would have gone riding. He would have wanted to see Sunset Downs, feel close to it after the meeting. He felt it was being taken from him. It was, in a way. And it was her fault. She had told him – she had really believed – that it would all be fine with Clean Gas. But she should have known it wasn’t true. She damn well knew it now. They had shown their stripes. That predator had sabotaged Sunset Downs and given Lou a concussion. He’d threatened Bo and he’d hurt Piper. Lou was under no illusions that Jack was a rogue agent – Clean Gas’ use of Matt Finlay told her that. Lou knew how he operated. She’d chosen to ignore it because she had thought they could work together to solve the problems of the town and her father.
But when you lay down with the devil …
‘What are they saying?’
‘He’ll be okay,’ Bo said, reaching across to take Lou’s hand and squeeze it. She got the sense he was looking for comfort as much as giving it. Lou felt so sorry for him. She had no doubt he loved Skye, and he sure as hell loved Gage. What a fine pair they made. ‘They’d be transferring him if he was critical.’ He sighed. ‘But damn, he was lucky. So close. He had a mother of a fall.’
Critical. The word was spiky and cruel in Lou’s brain. The thought that Gage could have been hurt – far worse, could have died – sent Lou’s pulse into orbit as her brain tried to imagine a world without him. For the last twenty years, Lou had thought about Gage. She had thought about the physical fact of him: his eyes, his skin, his body. She had thought about how perfectly in tune they were when she was with him, or even when she was simply in the same room. It was as though her biochemistry hummed at a different rhythm when he was close. And she had thought, time and time again, about how it felt to make love to him. That single, perfect moment had defined everything since. A moment she had been sure she could never have again. But here she was. Back in Stone Mountain.
She had stayed not just a night, but longer. Almost two weeks.
She had faced down her demons, talked to her mother about that night.
And she was whole – she had survived. More than that, she wasn’t ready to go; she knew that now. She wanted to stay, to see this thing with her mother through to the end.
And so, all the reasons she had ever had for believing she couldn’t have Gage suddenly seemed flimsy. Except that now she had created another reason: she had betrayed him, betrayed his home and his family. And looking at him now, lying broken and bloody on that bed, she couldn’t bear the idea that something might have happened to him, that he might have died because of her, and what her stupid plan had done to him. Because now it seemed not just possible that she could be with him, but necessary.
She tried to imagine how it had gone down. She could see Gage, needing to release all the fury and distress inside him, racing off for Sunset Downs, heading to the stables. She saw him saddling up, pushing higher and harder. But it was almost impossible to imagine him falling. Everything he did, he did so well. Any physical act seemed to come so naturally, and horse-riding even more so. He’d practically been delivered in the saddle. How distressed he must have been for this to happen. How distracted.
Lou had done that. She had put that sadness and anger into him by making this deal. She had mooched into town, thinking she knew better, thinking she could and should solve everything. And instead, she had made things worse. So much worse.
Now Gage was lying hurt in hospital and she couldn’t tell him she was sorry because there was no way she could go in there and see him after the look he had given her at the meeting. She couldn’t do anything.
She loved him, had always loved him. She loved him with all the things that made her who she was, and all the things she had learned she might become, over the last week here in Stone Mountain.
She loved him, and she needed to tell him.
Another thought occurred to her. She remembered her boss in the city telling her there’s always a way. ‘Look for the loophole,’ he had cautioned her. ‘You’ll always find one if you look hard enough. Otherwise you might need to make one.’ She closed her eyes and concentrated. What could undo this deal? What could she dream up that might unpick the mess she had made?
She was interrupted in her contemplation by Bo. ‘Do you want to go and see him?’
She did, she wanted to see him, touch him, smell him, more than anything. But she had no right to. Not until she had repaired things. She needed to fix this, so that she could tell Gage when he woke up that it was all okay, that his home was safe, that his family was safe.
‘No, Bo,’ she said, dropping his hand. ‘I want to, but it wouldn’t feel right. Not now. I’ve got some things I need to do. But …’ She met his eyes and in them she saw so much understanding she wondered what she had done to deserve it. Surely he should be angry with her? Maybe there was something about what he had been through, the dark times he had known, that gave him a little grace with others who screwed up. ‘Could you call me, and let me know how he’s going?’
Bo nodded. ‘Of course.’
Lou made to leave, the thought of being away from the hospital turning her stomach to water. A stray thought kept picking at her brain. Something Bo had said before, about how long his family had lived on the mountain. The thought kept skittering away, just as she tried to grab hold of it.
It was only when she hit the street that it settled properly in her brain.
Longer than anyone. Except the local Kooris, of course.
Chapter
17
Right here, right now
Four days later, and almost everything was in place. It was going to end badly, but perhaps that was as it should be.
Lou turned in a small circle, shielding her eyes to look at the Maria Downs parcel of land the company wanted to buy from the council so badly. For its gas. Such a shame; this land was beautiful. The gentle foothills at the base of the mountain were covered with summer grasses and wildflowers. Small shaded v
alleys gave way to more dramatic rock escarpments, and a sparkly stream meandered through the centre of it all. It felt peaceful, like a place that should revive you, not break your heart. Lou thought how much Sharni would love to paint this scene.
Over the last four days, Lou had worked hard to try to find another buyer for the land, someone who might see its potential. But the drought had made the going hard, and the timeline she was working to made doing a deal even harder. If she had longer, she felt sure she could rope something together, find a buyer and save her father. She had swallowed her pride and called every investor she knew who was remotely interested in property development or agriculture. But even the deal-making diva herself couldn’t pull this one off, not in time. So, faced with failure, she had come out here to remind herself why she was doing what she was doing. She had talked it over with her father, and he agreed.
It was time to face the music.
Her phone pinged in her pocket and she wanted to ignore it, just drink in this scene a little longer. But it might be her father, or the gas company. She couldn’t afford a cock-up at this stage.
‘Samuels,’ she snapped into the phone, quickly registering the blocked number.
‘Well hello sweetness,’ a smooth Texan voice countered.
Lou groaned internally. Oh no, not now. She really couldn’t deal with Roy Macrossin, as much as she liked him. Not right now. Her patience for predatory miners was pretty slim. ‘Hey,’ she responded. ‘Er, listen Mac, I’ve got a thing today. Could I call you –’
He cut across her. ‘Sorry, honey, no. I need you. Now.’
‘Now? I can’t, I’m still in the Wild West.’
‘Excellent,’ he boomed, and she could almost see that shark’s smile on his big handsome face. ‘I’ll fly out there to see you this afternoon.’
‘What? No, Mac, you see, I’ve got this –’
‘I know,’ he said, laughing, interrupting her again. She nearly lost it. He was usually more charming and less bossy than this. ‘And I’m disappointed I’m the only one you haven’t called. Word gets around, y’know.’
‘Jesus, Mac, if you know, you’ll know the last thing I need is another damn miner on my –’
‘I have a problem, Samuels,’ the Texan growled. ‘And from what I hear, so do you. I think we might be able to help each other out.’
Lou paused, not daring to let a tiny sliver of hope peek into her heart. ‘I’m listening.’
Lou strode across the road towards the council chambers, trying to avert her eyes from the big yellow TRAITOR graffitied across the front of the building. She steeled herself. If all went well, the town might yet forgive her father.
When she hit the mayor’s office, they were already assembled. Tom Byford was sitting cross armed and tight lipped in a chair by the window. Matt was pacing the room. And her father was sitting behind the desk with a slight grin playing around his mouth.
As soon as Lou entered, Matt turned on her. ‘What the fuck is this shit? A fucking injunction, Lou? You think you can undo this fucking deal?’
Lou slowly took a seat close to her father’s desk, dropped her bag by her feet and pulled out a notebook and pen. ‘Don’t worry, Matt, the injunction’s only temporary.’
‘Thank God for that,’ Tom grunted, all the clean-cut bonhomie of the night at the pub gone. ‘We’re losing valuable days in the establishment phase. Head office aren’t happy.’
Lou looked at her watch. ‘In about a week, the order will be permanent.’
Matt advanced on her, tension packed into every hard line of his body. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Sit down, Matt,’ Gary said, and there was a note of quiet authority in his voice, a warning.
Matt glanced at Tom Byford, and took a seat.
‘I think you’d better explain it all, honey,’ her father said.
‘Of course,’ Lou said, smiling sweetly. She lifted a piece of paper from a folder in her bag. ‘You see, guys, it’s like this. My father, and the council, have had a change of heart.’
‘Too late, sweetheart,’ Matt barked, a bullish smile on his face. ‘The deal’s done. They invoked the power, and we did the deal. The contract for the land is made expressly on the condition that council grants Clean Gas passage and exploration rights over the properties in question. It backs down, we back out.’
‘We’re comfortable with that,’ her father said, his face grim but determined.
‘As I understand it,’ Tom said, standing and crossing his arms, ‘you can’t back down. Once the power is granted, it’s irrevocable.’
‘Not quite,’ Lou said, flicking the piece of paper imperiously. ‘There is one thing that trumps council’s decision.’ She enjoyed milking the pregnant pause. ‘Native title. If the traditional owners object, at any time within a three-month window, the council has to revisit its decision.’ She aimed a special grin at Matt. ‘And while it’s been revisiting, we got this injunction.’ She flapped it in Matt’s face. ‘But we won’t need it for long. Council’s decided. In light of native title objections, and the recent information that has come to light about certain …’ she paused, revelling in the men’s discomfort, ‘… untoward practices on the part of the company, the council decided to withdraw its grant of rights to Clean Gas.’
Matt stood as well, his face turning a purplish red. ‘You think we haven’t covered native title?’ He grinned in a way that carried no mirth. ‘We’re not amateurs, Samuels. We’ve had the traditional owners signed up for months.’
It was Lou’s turn to grin humourlessly. ‘Exceptional circumstances is assessed separately from the mining licences.’
Matt grinned again, this time a little less fulsomely. ‘So we’ll go back, make the deals again.’
‘Too late, Matt.’ Lou shrugged, feigning disappointment. ‘The TOs have spoken. Turns out they don’t like the cut of your jib.’
‘The what? What the fuck?’ Matt smacked a fist into an open palm. ‘We’ll see about that, Samuels,’ he hissed, working hard to stare her down. ‘We’ll get the best lawyers in Sydney onto this.’
‘You’re looking at one of them,’ Lou assured him, returning the paper to her folder. ‘And I feel very confident.’
Her father clapped his hands together and popped his glasses on to look at the two men, who were staring at Lou with open-mouthed fury.
‘Now, any questions before we finish up?’
Once they were gone, her father dropped the jovial act he had assumed for the meeting. He stood and loped over to Lou. ‘It was the right thing,’ he said, ruffling her hair. ‘And you know what? I feel better for it. I know without the deal the town’s screwed, and so am I, but somehow it all just sits better in my gut.’ He narrowed his eyes as he looked at her. ‘I’m just so sorry I put you through all of this.’
But Lou felt only relief and exhilaration. ‘Don’t dig your grave yet, Dad, I’ve got some more news.’
‘Shoot,’ he said, moving back to the big chair behind his desk.
‘I’ve got a buyer for the land. Someone who doesn’t need mining access and exploration rights to want to snap it up.’ Lou smiled, thinking about the look on Mac’s face when he’d seen the land the day before.
Gary’s face lit up in a similar way. ‘Really? But how? So quickly?’
‘Really.’ She laughed, enjoying the absolute pleasure on her father’s face. ‘Divine providence, I guess. I’d been rattling the can, but I never expected the offer to come from him. He’s a miner.’
Her father’s face fell. ‘Er, honey, don’t you think “out of the frying pan …” ’
She held up a hand. ‘It’s okay, Dad, he’s apparently reformed. Had a big consortium together on an eco-tourism deal up north and the land package fell through. Our spot’s perfect and because the capital’s already raised, it’s a no-brainer.’ She smiled, thinking about Mac’s excitement when he had realised his bacon was safe. ‘I think it’s what you call a win-win. His arse would have been toast if the deal had fallen over.
He had some very unhappy Japanese investors.’
Gary bolted out of his chair once more and dashed over, picking her up and swinging her around. ‘Woooeee,’ he squealed. ‘But what are they going to use it for?’
‘Eco-tourism,’ Lou said again, grinning madly back at him. ‘The possibilities are endless. And he’s a good guy – someone I know from the city.’ Lou’s brain clicked into gear, thinking about what it could mean for the town, for employment, for tourism, for people like Franklin and his family and for the dreams Piper had.
‘Louise Samuels,’ Gary said, placing a finger under her chin and lifting her face to look at him. ‘Have I ever told you that you are completely brilliant?’
‘Not lately.’
He studied her carefully, his finger still under her chin. ‘You seem different,’ he said, turning her face from side to side teasingly. ‘What is it? That young man? I heard he’s out.’
‘I heard that too,’ Lou said. ‘Amazing recovery; constitution like an ox apparently.’
‘But you haven’t seen him?’
‘No,’ Lou said, thinking about how soon she could find Gage to tell him the news.
‘So it’s not that then,’ her father said, chewing a fingernail as he kept studying her. ‘But it’s definitely something. I haven’t seen you this happy for …’ He paused. ‘Over twenty years, I guess. What is it?’
Lou smiled, suddenly shy. ‘I’ve been spending some time with Skye, in the hospital,’ she said, flapping a hand as though it wasn’t that big a deal.
Her father raised an eyebrow.
‘It’s nice,’ she conceded. Gary looked like he needed to make some profound pronouncement, so she interrupted his opportunity. ‘Nothing big,’ she said, knowing they would probably go that far. ‘Just nice, that’s all. I’m okay about it.’
‘Good,’ her father said, taking her hand. ‘That’s real good, Lou Lou. Now, how about we slip across the road for a celebratory drink?’
