She nodded. "I was waiting for your call and got hers instead. I was so frightened." She glanced around the corridor. "This place reminds me of when Mum died."
He pulled her into his arms and they clung together, her head cradled against his chest. "I’m sorry. This is all my fault. I should’ve told him sooner."
"This was about us?"
Darcy pulled back and looked into her face. "He got my phone. He saw the messages and our photos. He got angry and we had an argument."
"It’s okay. It’ll work out. Somehow." She clung to him.
"I should have known this would happen." He stiffened as he realised he couldn’t have it all; he had to choose between his family and Meghan. Everything had been leading to this one decision. Guilt sliced through him like a dirty axe. He never should have gone to Meghan. He never should have betrayed his brother. This was his punishment. To be loved for a wonderful but brief time and then have to give it up.
"This is my fault. He might die and it will be because of me. Because I wanted you." His voice came out louder than he expected and she flinched. She wasn’t expecting this. He was going to hurt her and it was the last thing he wanted to do.
Damn it. Did he have to hurt everyone he loved? First Lachie, now Meghan.
Emotion ached in his throat. "We can’t be together anymore. I have to focus on Lachie now."
She stood still and stared at him for a long moment, her bottom lip trembling. His fingers ached to touch her. But he knew if he did, he would never be able to let her go.
Covering her face with her hands, she sobbed. She was falling apart in front of him. He had promised to protect her. But it turned out he was the one she needed to be protected from.
Her sobbing slowed and she finally looked up at him. Her eyes puffy and red. "No one can break my heart like you can."
"I’m sorry," he whispered.
Her shoulders slumped and her jaw clenched. She opened her mouth to say something but, nothing came out. Instead she turned and fled.
His chest ached and his vision blurred. Meghan was gone. Feeling as though his last breath had been pulled from his lungs, he finally lost control of his emotions and dropped to his knees as soul-deep sobs escaped him. He let the feelings swirl and envelop him for a few minutes. He deserved to feel the full extent of his suffering.
The house was suffocating hot when Meghan pushed open the door. Her cheeks were still damp and her nose still running. Her lungs throbbed from all the sobbing.
She walked directly to her room and threw herself on the bed.
The bed she had shared with Darcy.
Sensing her need for comfort, Banjo jumped up on the bed next to her and she curled around him, clinging to him fiercely.
This was all her fault. The McGuire family must be cursing the day she entered their lives. Lachie was on death’s door and Darcy couldn’t even look at her.
The familiar stirrings of despair rose up from the dark recesses of her mind. No one loved her. No one wanted her. No one cared for her. She could have had a family, a home. But she had thrown it away. Now she would be alone forever.
She clutched the pillow against her face and sobbed for hours. She mourned the loss of the love she had with Darcy. For the relationship she had enjoyed with Harriet. She cried for Lachie, who lay helpless in that cold hospital. She cried for her parents who were the only people who had ever truly loved her, and finally, Meghan cried for herself.
Chapter 19
It was an anxious wait for Harriet and Darcy, but finally, two days later, Lachlan McGuire woke up from his coma. The relief Darcy felt at his brother’s recovery was dampened only by the ache he still felt for Meghan.
Although dreadfully tired and sore, Lachie’s test results were positive and there would be no long-term damage to his brain or spine. In time and with substantial rehabilitation he would be able to resume his normal active life.
"He’s okay. He’s really okay." Harriet exclaimed to Darcy in the cafeteria over lunch.
"He’ll think he’s invincible now. Like Superman or something." Darcy let out a shaky laugh. His hands trembled slightly. The knowledge was still sinking in. He had almost given up hope after the first day, but his brother had surprised everyone and made it through.
"You should call Meghan. She’ll want to know."
He squirmed uncomfortably in his seat.
"Darcy. What have you done?" She placed her hands on her son’s and waited for him to look at her.
"Meghan and I…" He bit his lips, struggling to find the right words. He wondered if she had suspected their affair. She had never asked, even when he had come back alone, swollen-eyed after speaking to Meghan that day in the hospital.
"Did you break up with her?" Harriet’s question was slow and careful.
Darcy's cheeks burned. His mother tilted her head slightly and gave him a small smile which said of-course-I-knew.
"I’ve betrayed him. And you." Darcy rubbed his head which had started throbbing. "I had to end it."
She rubbed his back. "You certainly didn’t meet under the best circumstances. But even I could see that you had a connection far stronger than she had with Lachie. I was proud of her when she left him. That took strength."
Darcy frowned at his mother. "She hurt him. I hurt him."
"Lachie usually gets what he wants. He hasn’t had to struggle like you and Noah, especially where your father was concerned. He’s spoilt. I take the blame for it. But he also needs to grow up and learn how to forgive."
"He won’t forgive me. He told me to leave the station."
"That was before the accident. He almost died. He might think differently now," Harriet said.
"Will you talk to him? He listens to you."
Harriet nodded in reply. "Give it some time. Time always helps."
"Thanks, Mum." He smiled back at her, admiration and respect filling his heart for the woman he proudly called his mother. She didn’t hate him. She believed Lachie would forgive him. Perhaps there was hope that they could all go back to Brigadier Station and life could resume the way it had before Meghan had ever set foot on their dusty patch of earth. They could be a family again. He could have his brother back. That would be enough.
Darcy thought about Meghan and his heart ached. He could never have her again. That was asking for too much. He would be happy to go back to his quiet life as long as he had his family.
Darcy needed to get back to the station. Work needed to be done there and he was of little use at the hospital. But first he needed to see his brother alone.
Lachie was laying on his back, his bed propped up slightly. A bright white bandage wrapped firmly around his chest, another on his arm. His face was black and blue with bruises and cuts. The sheet covered his legs but Darcy imagined they were just as bruised.
Lachie looked over warily as he approached.
"Hi. How are you?" Darcy stood at the foot of the bed taking in the sight of this battered man.
"Nine lives you know. Like a cat." Lachie laughed but winced in pain. Darcy sat next to him in a tattered chair and studied the machines monitoring him. Lachie had always seemed invincible, full of life. It was a shock to see him in this state. But better like this than in a coffin.
"I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt you. This is all my fault." He blurted the words out, needing to get the apology off his chest whether it was accepted or not.
"This is my fault." Lachie waved at himself. "I can be stupid when I drink and this is where it got me." He took a deep breath. "I shouldn’t have driven the quad. I’m damn lucky it didn’t kill me."
"You are lucky. But I betrayed you. You’re my brother. I never set out to love her, though. I tried not to." His voice hitched as he spoke.
"Being in here really makes you think about things. I thought a lot about Meghan." Lachie’s mouth was tense. "I was so angry when she left. I never dreamed she would leave me."
"She didn’t want to hurt you. She just couldn’t do it." It was hard speaking
about her. Thinking about her.
"We weren’t suited; I can see that now." Lachie caught his brother's eye. "You and her make more sense in a way I’ll never understand."
Flickers of hope started in Darcy’s chest, but he didn’t dare say a word.
Lachie turned his face away. "I still have to get used to the idea. But I don’t want to be the reason you aren’t together."
Darcy let out a breath he hadn’t realised he was holding. "Thanks, that means a lot. But I broke up with Meghan and I really don’t think she would ever take me back."
Lachie shrugged. "I’m not going to give you advice on women. Obviously, I don’t know enough about them."
Darcy patted his brother’s arm gently. "Thanks Lachie. You're a good guy."
Lachie squirmed. "Be a bit weird if she becomes my sister-in-law."
His eyes wide, his mind buzzing with possibilities, Darcy turned to gaze out the window. The sun was shining, the day was suddenly filled with possibility. Maybe it wasn’t too late to win Meghan back. If Lachie could forgive him for this huge betrayal, maybe Meghan could forgive him for breaking her heart. It was worth a try. He loved her more than anything else. His heart ached for her. Maybe she would turn him down but he had to try. He had never had anything worth fighting for before. But their love was worth fighting for now.
Chapter 20
“I’ll meet you at the airport at seven then?" Meghan asked into her mobile as she threw clothes haphazardly into a cardboard packing box.
She was surrounded by packing boxes and bubble wrap. The removalists were busy loading her furniture into the truck.
In the early hours of that horrible night, she had decided it was time to take charge of her life. She had let others dictate where she lived and what she did for too long. She had to take charge of her own life. While her mother had been alive she had stayed close, but there was nothing holding her to Townsville anymore. A simple online check had shown a need for vet nurses in Rockhampton working at a large animal clinic. Perfect. She had been offered the job after a ten-minute phone conversation. Within the week her life had changed. The truck would leave her house by 6 p.m. and she was due on a flight at 7.30 p.m.
"Are you really sure about this?" Jodie’s voice came from the speaker on her phone. Her friend would drive her to the airport. They would say their goodbyes there.
"I need to make my own life." Meghan’s voice was quietly confident. "The job sounds great. Lots of horse work."
"Okay." Jodie sighed. Meghan was not going to be talked out of it. Rockhampton wasn’t that far. No farther than Julia Creek, only you went south down the coast instead of the outback road.
"I gotta go. These boxes aren’t going to pack themselves. I’ll see you tonight." She clicked off the call and reached for the tape. Every closed box was like another plank boarding up her past. This would be a fresh start. She would be more confident and outgoing. Make some new friends and see more of the country. Go see some more campdrafts.
She shook her head. Don’t go there.
Meghan shunned thoughts of Darcy every time they threatened to surface. He was a part of her past now. He had made his choice and would not change his mind.
She wondered if Lachie had woken up yet. If he had died she expected it would have made the news. It wouldn’t make any difference to her life though. That door was firmly closed now.
She gazed over at the bookcase. Only one framed photo was left. The cherished picture of she and her mother had been taken just weeks before the accident that had claimed her mother’s life. She stared at her mother’s happy smile and waited for the usual clenching feeling in her heart to come as it always did when thinking of her mother. But it didn’t come.
She touched the picture. "I love you, Mum."
Her mother, so like her daughter in looks and personality, gazed back from the frame. "Was this what you wanted for me? To take charge of my life?"
As if in answer there was a knock on the door. Banjo looked up from his curled position on the cool tiled floor and gave an inquisitive bark.
Expecting it to be a removalist with a question about what was going she just sang out, "In here."
"Meghan." His voice rooted her to the spot.
When she finally spoke, her voice was as small and tight as though she had forgotten to keep breathing. "Darcy."
She turned her gaze to him and studied him as though he were a ghost who might suddenly disappear. He was wringing his hands together.
"What’s with the truck?" His eyes never left her face.
"I’m moving." Long seconds passed as the tension between them grew. When he didn’t answer she picked up a box and idly moved it to the table.
"Lachie woke up," He finally said. "He’s going to be okay."
Her legs sagged as relief flooded through her. "Thank God."
Darcy took a step toward her but she threw up a hand stopping him. "You’ve told me now. You should go."
"That’s not the reason I came. Not the only reason anyway." He ran a hand through his hair. "I love you, Meghan. I want you back."
"What!" She stuttered the words, sure she was imagining this.
"I’m sorry I hurt you. Lachie’s alright with us being together. Or he said he will be. We can be together." The quiet pleading in his voice was her undoing.
She clutched at her throat.
Darcy stepped toward her and held out his hand.
She studied his calloused palm and her fingers itched to touch him. She gazed back at his face. His eyes pleaded with her.
Banjo brushed past her legs and plonked down on her feet. Meghan looked down at the dog who studied her for a moment before turning his head to Darcy.
"Come back with me." His voice was soft and mellow. "We belong together."
The truth of his words caressed her and all doubt disappeared from her thoughts.
They belonged together.
They were stronger together.
Banjo jumped aside as Meghan closed the distance between herself and Darcy. She placed her hand in his.
She caught a glimpse of his elated smile before his lips took hers. Hungry and all consuming. He used his mouth to tell her all she needed to know. He would love her forever. He would never hurt her again.
They could overcome anything. As long as they were together.
Chapter 21
Meghan scanned the landscape, finding little but dirt, bleached grass and stubborn trees. Although it was two hours since they had left Brigadier Station, the drought ravaged countryside still looked the same. This was the Australian outback she had fallen in love with. The smells, heat and colours were all things she knew she couldn't live without. City people didn't know what they were missing.
Darcy finally turned the ute off the sealed road and entered under a finely carved iron arch with the words "Arabella Plains" carved into it.
"What a pretty name." Meghan smiled, carefree and happy.
Now that their relationship was out in the open Meghan was looking forward to taking the next step with Darcy and putting the past behind them. His relationship with his brother was still strained so he kept his distance, staying in the ringers’ quarters with Meghan, while Lachie recuperated in the house under Harriet’s watchful eye.
Meghan spent all of her time with Darcy, working the station. She was particularly excited about today’s adventure which included looking at some horses for sale.
The ute clattered over a cattle grid towards a sprawling complex of buildings, ringed by a deep gully of thick eucalypt trees.
Pulling up in an empty shed, she climbed down from the ute and looked around. The afternoon sun was painting the rugged trees, blond grass and rusty dirt with colour. It was beautiful and so spacious it seemed to stretch to eternity.
"Are they expecting us? I can't see anyone." It was eerily quiet for a working station.
"They are expecting us but no one is meeting us here." He grinned mischievously and took her hand in his. They walked a short dista
nce near the building and were greeted by the most magnificent tropical garden she had ever seen. Palm, cycads and colourful bougainvillea abounded in a chaotic sort of beauty. Instead of dry, dusty earth, lush green grass carpeted the garden.
Meghan bent and touched its softness.
"It’s an oasis. It’s absolutely stunning." She gazed appreciatively taking it all in. The centrepiece were proud rosebushes standing tall and full. Their multitude of white, pink and red blossoms shinning in the sunlight.
As she approached their perfume assaulted her senses. She stood still and closed her eyes, letting the aroma cleanse her soul.
Darcy’s warm arms surrounded her, and she leant into his solid embrace.
"The owners have already moved." He whispered, his tantalizing breath near her ear. "This station is for sale and it’s within our budget."
"Seriously?" She turned in his arms and saw the hopeful look in his eyes.
"I thought it would make a good stud farm. We could run some cattle and sheep too, but we could focus on the horses."
She turned to the buildings which were all in need of a paint job and some minor repairs from what she could see. "Have you looked inside? Do you know how much work there is to do?" Although she already knew the answer. Darcy was nothing if not thorough.
He took her hands in his and kissed both palms. "The house needs a bit of renovation and a woman’s touch. The main bedroom has an en-suite and there are three rooms for the kids."
"Kids?" She giggled.
"I'd like to have some kids running around." He smiled back.
She bit her lower lip. "Me too."
"There’s also a room with a view to this garden. It would make a good art studio."
"Really?" Excitement thrummed through her at the thought of being able to paint with this garden as inspiration. "I love it and I love you."
"I love you, Meghan. I promise to protect you and give you the best life I possibly can." He kissed her gently before reaching into his back pocket. To her surprise and delight, he presented her a small fabric case.
The Brothers of Brigadier Station Page 14
