Her Outback Surprise

by Annie Seaton

  “I was in town this afternoon and ran into Jim Ison. He said you were going to help with the alliance.” Garth put his empty beer bottle on the floor. “I’ve signed up, too. Having you on board will be awesome.”

  “You really think I can help much? I don’t know a lot about the water table out here. Just what we learned at school.”

  “You don’t need to, mate. There are enough of us out here who can talk about the dangers to the water supply if this coal seam gas mining goes ahead. With your newspaper connections, Jim reckons we’ll be able to get some inside info on the company that’s behind it. That will get us on the front foot.”

  “I’ll give Jim a call tonight when I get home. It would probably help if I had some data to bring along to the meeting.” Liam’s journalistic nose began to itch. It would be great to get his head around something apart from cattle weights, drenches, and puppies.

  And Angie. He pushed that thought away.

  “Busy few weeks coming up. The alliance campaign, the show, and the christening in the New Year. And Lucy’s organising a huge Christmas do because everyone will be home.” Garth leaned forward. “Got a big favour to ask you, mate.”

  “What’s that?”

  “How would you feel about being James’s godfather?”

  “Shit, Garth, for real? I’d be stoked.”

  “I don’t have any brothers and you’re as close to Lucy as a brother. The way you two blue with each other, you might as well be.” Garth held out his hand and as Liam shook it, he called out to Lucy. “We have a godfather, sweetheart.”

  Liam stood and picked up the two empty beer bottles as Lucy stepped onto the veranda.

  “That’s great news. Jemmy already said yes to being James’s godmother.” She stood on her toes and kissed Liam’s cheek. “Thank you.”

  “What about Seb?” Liam asked.

  “We’ll let him know he’ll be godfather of the next one.” Lucy sat in the chair that Liam had vacated.

  “So is this cake ready to go?” he asked. “Where do I have to take it?”

  “I rang Sally Ison. She and the rest of the committee are meeting at the showground tomorrow to start the judging, so she said if you get into town after ten, you can take it straight to the pavilion where the baked goods will be on display.”

  “And that’s the last time I’m going to town for a week.”

  Garth grinned at him. “No it’s not. You’ve got the alliance meeting on Monday.”

  “Jeez, I am getting to know that road very well.” Liam groaned and headed for the kitchen. “I hope you’ve packed this cake securely.”

  “It’s in Gran’s Tupperware cake holder, and it won’t slide. But still, drive carefully. You take care of it, and make sure you get it in tomorrow afternoon. Gran’s record is depending on you.”

  He saluted her and she shook her head as he walked to the gate carrying the cake container.

  “And don’t forget about it and leave it in the car,” Lucy called after him.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Liam drove home through the back gate very sedately, the iced chocolate cake perched in pride of place in the middle of the back seat.

  …

  Angie’s week improved after the weekend. Cissy was back on deck, all of the sick dogs had recovered and gone back to their owners, and with the preparation for the Spring Downs Agricultural Show well underway, business was quiet. They got all of the new signs up and as she stood back and looked at the sign that displayed Dr. Angie Edmonds, Veterinary Surgeon in large black letters, a surge of pride flooded through her. Mum would have been so proud. She had sacrificed so much so that Angie could go to university in Melbourne, but she had died the year before Angie had graduated. That was one of the reasons she had gone to England on the veterinary exchange. Mum’s death had left such a hole in her life she’d thought a change of scene would help her get over the grief.

  It had helped a little bit, and then she’d met Liam not long after she had arrived. It hadn’t taken long for them to discover they had the loss of their mothers in common. He’d asked her out for dinner the next night, and they’d been a couple almost from then on.

  When she’d come back to Australia, Angie had carried a different sort of loss. Sadness for a lost relationship, and knowing that Liam had cared more about his job than whatever it was they’d had together. It had sucked, but that’s the way it was. The only thing she was thankful for was that she had never said those three little words to him. Although, God knows, many times she’d been so close to saying “I love you.” The weekend he had taken her to Paris, the Sunday he had come off the cricket field after hitting the winning run, and that night they’d had a candlelight dinner by the Thames. Each time her heart had been filled with love for him, and she’d almost said it. They’d had such wonderful times together. She closed her eyes and was transported back to Paris. Liam had stood behind her on the river boat as they’d taken a trip down the Seine. She could still feel his arms around her waist as she’d leaned back against his firm chest and the whisper of his breath as he had murmured sweet nothings in her ear. He had been so romantic. When had it all stopped?

  Had he lost interest in her as time had passed? Had it happened before she’d come home to their flat that night and announced she had to go home before the winter came? She’d given it no thought; she’d been so sure that he would come home with her.

  The wind was icy as she made her way up the street, the first night when one knew the northern hemisphere winter was on the way. The sky was heavy, the wind gusting, as she picked up dinner at the local curry house around the corner from their third floor flat.

  “I’m home,” she called as she pushed the door open, balancing the curry in one hand and her keys in the other.

  “I’m in the study,” he called out. Angie remembered smiling. What Liam called his study was a small space at the end of their wardrobe, before you climbed up the one step to the postage stamp–sized bathroom.

  “You’re late,” he said as she dropped a kiss on his cheek and then pulled off her boots.

  “The first train was full. I had to wait for the late one.” Angie yawned. “God, I had such a busy day.”

  “Mm.” Liam’s attention was on the computer screen in front of him. “Dinner smells good.”

  “Come and wash up. I need to talk to you. I got a letter today.”

  Ten minutes later, they sat side by side at the small table squeezed into the kitchen.

  “What letter?” he asked as he scraped his plate clean.

  Angie picked at her dinner, her appetite gone. As Liam ate, she began to worry. What if he decided to stay when she left? Her work visa was about to expire. He had managed to renew his, but she was on a work exchange program, with no option to renew. She’d tried her best for an extension, but today’s letter had advised that her visa was definitely not eligible for renewal.

  “I have to go home before the end of May. There’s no way out.”

  As soon as she saw his closed expression, Angie knew. He was going to stay. She wasn’t important enough in his life for him to come back to Australia with her.

  She would be going home alone. Their romantic interlude—the situation she had foolishly kidded herself would turn into something permanent—was over.

  As she scrubbed out the sinks in the surgery, Liam and those romantic days wouldn’t stay out of her mind. She was kidding herself if she thought there was any future in the attention he was paying her now. It was just because she was here…and convenient. He hadn’t searched her out when he’d come back. He had her email address and her phone number. Although to be fair to him—if she had to be—Liam was keeping his distance now—most of the time—because he thought she had a new man in her life. She really needed to sort that out, but there never seemed to be a good time, and the longer she left it, the more it looked like she’d set up a deliberate lie. It had started as a simple misunderstanding that had gotten out of hand. And if she told him now, he’d
think that maybe she was hoping they could take up where they’d left off in London. And that wasn’t going to happen.

  I’m not going to have my heart broken a second time.

  She’d loved Liam. Maybe he had cared about her in his own way but he’d loved his job more. The good times they’d had together in London had been fun, but in the end he’d made his choice. And she’d come back home and gotten on with her life.

  It was nothing like when her dad had left her and Mum. Tears pricked at Angie’s eyes as she remembered how devastated Mum had been the night he’d walked out. Her mum had never shared with her why he did, or what the problem was, so of course Angie had blamed herself. Even though she had been a young child, she’d been old enough to understand the emotion that had died in their family. Dad had stopped teasing her, and taking her to Saturday softball. She’d heard the arguments, and she’d blamed herself for a long while. But as she’d grown up, she realised that she had just been collateral damage in an adult relationship.

  Her resolve hardened as she scrubbed the sink so vigorously the stainless steel pad went flying across the tiles.

  “No more,” she muttered as she picked up the pad and resumed scrubbing. No matter how much Liam tried to sweet-talk her, she would keep her heart whole this time.

  Dr. Angie Edmonds was an independent and confident woman. That would be her new mantra. She’d do a poster and put the affirmation on her fridge and recite it every morning. She wasn’t going to be available for Liam to fill his time with until he went off to the city to take up his career again.

  No way.

  Scrub, scrub, scrub.

  At this rate, her fingertips would be scoured away even with rubber gloves on. The pad went flying again as Cissy walked in, her arms laden with a delivery that had just arrived. “Wow, I’ve never seen those sinks so shiny,” she exclaimed. “They look brand new.”

  Angie smiled. “They do, don’t they?”

  “While I think of it, Sally Ison rang before. She asked if you could call her back.”

  “No appointments called in?” Angie pulled off the rubber gloves.

  “No, we have a clear afternoon.”

  “Great. I’ll call Sally now.” She walked back into the reception area as a white Nissan ute cruised slowly down the road. Her heart notched up a few beats and she strolled casually over to the window next to the pet food shelf. She bent down and peered through it.

  It wasn’t Liam’s ute. Feeling cross with herself, she went back to the counter and picked up the phone. The sooner she got that affirmation up on her fridge, the better.

  “Independence and confidence,” she muttered beneath her breath as she dialed the number.

  “Hi, Sally, it’s Angie Edmonds here. You wanted to talk to me?”

  Five minutes later, not only was she on the bakery judging for the show, but was looking after the farmyard nursery. She hung up the phone thoughtfully. Between the show and work, and a trip to Melbourne, she should manage to keep out of Liam’s way until he left. It was only four weeks till Christmas and he’d said he was going before then. Maybe she could get through this with her heart intact. She picked up a pen and wrote independence and confidence on a piece of paper next to the phone. She tore it off, folded it in half, and placed it in her pocket. All she had to do now was get her head to convince her heart to follow suit.

  Chapter Eleven

  “The spiel that the company is giving out to the media is a smokescreen.” Liam stood at the front of the auditorium in Spring Downs RSL Club and pointed to the PowerPoint that he had put together over the weekend. He’d talked to Jim Ison, and made some calls to his journalist mates on the newspapers in Sydney. “Even the figures they quote from the other mines can be proven incorrect by just looking at the production figures at the other sites.”

  The crowd murmured and Jim Ison stood up. “They’ve underestimated this community. They’ve dismissed us as a bunch of uninformed cowboys and I vote that we put up a decent fight. Other communities have taken them on and won. We can do it here. What do you all think?”

  Heads nodded around the almost full room and Liam looked to the back of the auditorium as an unfamiliar man stood to speak.

  “For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Clive Barker. My farm is at the northern point of the Western Way. Last week, I had a couple of blokes come knocking on my back door to tell me they would be laying a pipe right through my property. I told them to bugger off.”

  There was a movement at the door and Liam glanced across. Angie was standing at the back of the room near the main entrance. Clive’s voice faded into the background and for a moment Liam lost focus. He cleared his throat as he looked away. He hadn’t seen her for a few days, but she had been constantly in his thoughts. No matter what he was doing, she kept popping into his mind.

  “So I suggest you all padlock your front gates.” Clive folded his arms and leaned against the door as the crowd murmured in assent. Liam lifted his head as Jim took the microphone again.

  “I’d like to nominate Liam Smythe to be the official spokesperson for the Spring Downs Alliance. Who’s with me?” Jim Ison looked at the assembled group. “Is there anyone else who would like to nominate themselves or someone else?” No one put forward another nomination, and Jim turned to Liam. “Do you accept the nomination?”

  Liam stared at the back of the room where Angie was still leaning against the wall. If he accepted this role, it would mean he would have to stay in town for the rest of the year at least, and maybe a couple of months into next year. He thought quickly; the network job in Sydney was being interviewed soon. If he was successful—and the word was the job was his—the interview was just a formality, the starting date would still be negotiable. One thing he’d learned over the past few weeks was that the farm was too big for one person to manage easily. If he stayed through Christmas, he could help Sebastian when he arrived to take over. No one knew how long Gran and Pop were going to be away. Liam had a feeling that the grandparents were testing them out. To see if any of them fell in love with the place and wanted to take it over on a permanent basis. Thoughts flew through his mind and he processed the pluses and minuses of staying for a few weeks longer. He could afford to stay until just after the New Year and then head to the city, if he got the ABC job; if not, he’d have to look further afield. And being involved in a topical project like this wouldn’t hurt his job prospects either.

  Liam turned to Jim and held out his hand. “I’d be honoured to accept the position, Jim.”

  He’d think about what that meant to his career path later. The applause was heartening and filled him with confidence. He looked to the back of the auditorium but Angie had gone.

  …

  So how am I supposed to deal with this turn of events? Angie bit her lip as she walked from the RSL club towards the milk bar. Her whole strategy of coping with Liam being here had been dependent on him only being around for a few more weeks, like he’d said. If he took on the role for the alliance committee—and he had—he was probably going to be around for a while longer.

  Angie was due to meet Lucy at the milk bar for coffee to discuss the upcoming agricultural show and she tried to push aside her anxiety. She had to get on with her life and make a place for herself in this town. Helping out at the show, and the ball, would give her the opportunity to meet some other locals she hadn’t met through her vet practice. She quickly processed a new plan. If there was one thing she had in bucketloads, it was resilience. She’d quickly learned to cope with what life threw at her when her father had left and her mother had died. The next few months would pass quickly. She would keep herself busy at work, keep a low profile in town—as much as she could with all these committees and shows and balls—and avoid seeing Liam.

  She pulled out a chair at one of the small wooden tables outside the milk bar and waited for Lucy. It wasn’t long before a dust-covered ute pulled up and Lucy bounced out of the driver’s door. She hurried around to the other side and lif
ted out a pram, and a minute or two later, she had James safely ensconced in the pram and was pushing it across to Angie.

  Angie smothered a smile. In her work clothes, she felt colourless next to Lucy. Jeans and a plain T-shirt were sensible dress beneath her lab coat when she was dealing with animals all day. Lucy was wearing a pair of bright yellow tights with black spots and a matching yellow T-shirt.

  She had never met anyone with the energy and enthusiasm that Lucy had. She seemed to throw herself into everything she did at full speed. Angie had been surprised to hear from Cissy that Lucy had only recently moved back to the Pilliga Scrub from the city. She’d thought Lucy was a long-term local.

  “Hi, Angie.” Her voice was as bright as her clothes and Angie made the effort to sit up straight and look happier.

  “Hi, Lucy, how’s young James?” She peered into the pram. The cute baby boy was sound asleep, his little lips pursed in a bow. “Oh look, he’s grown already.”

  “He has.” Lucy pulled out the other chair and sat back with a sigh. “It’s so good to be out and about. Garth and Liam have been treating me like an invalid. Honestly, they’ve been driving me crazy. Overprotective.” She looked at Angie and a frown crossed her brow. “I hope this isn’t rude to say but you look really tired. Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine.” Angie summoned a smile. “Just extra busy at work.”

  Lucy leaned over and touched Angie’s hand. “Well, don’t you overdo it. We need you to be bright and fresh for the show. I was so pleased to hear from Sally that you’re on board. They need some young ideas for the next show. And now they’ve got the two of us.” Her smile was wide. “It’s so good to have you in town. I’ll introduce you to some of the girls I went to school with. I’ve been re-establishing friendships since I moved back. Spring Downs is a great place to live.” Lucy laughed and shook her head. “I never thought I’d say that. I thought I was a city girl.”

  “What changed your mind?” Angie tipped her head to the side.