Outback Ghost

by Rachael Johns

  Frustrated by his feelings, Adam gripped the steering wheel and cursed under his breath. Maybe he was simply desperate for human interaction. He’d been used to having his dad and his mate Monty working alongside him in previous years. The new Irish backpackers he had working harvest with him were brothers and kind of kept to themselves. And due to the extra workload, he hadn’t visited his mum these past few days either.

  Guilt slammed him at that thought and he decided he’d kill two birds with one stone by checking in on her and getting his dose of conversation. The topic would likely revolve around what was happening in the lives of the characters on the daytime soaps his mum watched but that had to be healthier than his current state of mind. He radioed the Irish blokes and told them he was stopping for a lunch break, parked the header ready to start up again in an hour and then drove to the homestead.

  Simone’s old beaten-up Pajero was parked out front. No doubt knowing he’d be tied up with the harvest, she’d decided to pay a visit to his mum. He grinned at the thought because she’d likely brought food from Frankie’s café and if there was enough to go round, it would be far more satisfying than anything he or his mum might throw together.

  As he opened the door of the ute, Mutton – who’d been going stir-crazy in the header this morning but who didn’t like to be left home alone – leapt past him and bounded through the garden towards poor Goldie resting, as usual, on the veranda. Goldie barked her irritation and Adam expected his mum and Simone to come out to see what the fuss was about but they didn’t. He climbed up the steps, discarded his boots next to the tattered welcome mat and let himself inside. They weren’t in the living room or the kitchen but he heard a strange noise coming from out the back.

  He stilled a moment and it took him a few seconds to recognise the sound. Laughter. When was the last time he’d heard that in this house? Intrigued, he grabbed a cold can of Coke from the fridge and followed the sound. He stepped out onto the back veranda and halted, both pleased and surprised at what he saw.

  Four women – his mum, Simone, Frankie and Stella – sat back in deck chairs under the big willow tree that took pride of place in the backyard. They were smiling and laughing and sharing cups of tea while Heidi wandered around the garden picking his mum’s bright summer flowers. None of them appeared to have a care in the world. If he were a stranger come upon this scene he’d be unaware of the sadness that had simmered in this house for far too long.

  If his sister hadn’t vanished all those years ago, would this kind of afternoon be normal here? If he really stretched his memory, he remembered his mum used to be the kind of woman who entertained on a fairly regular basis and his sister had been such a happy-go-lucky child that he imagined she’d have turned out much the same. He tried to stifle the pang in his heart that came with that thought. While he never wanted to forget her, thinking about the life she could have lived hurt unlike anything he’d ever experienced. He should have been looking out for her. If anything bad had to happen to either of them, why couldn’t it have been him?

  That thought sucked all the energy from him. Hesitant about seeing Stella so soon after the breast incident, he decided to make a quiet retreat but Mutton tore around the veranda from the front and all but flew down the back steps to Heidi before he had the chance.

  The women turned at Heidi’s excited squeals and Adam lifted a hand to wave as he descended the steps. Heat rushed to his cheeks as he made eye contact with Stella. In the simplest outfit of cut-off denim shorts and a pale blue tank T-shirt that accentuated her curves, she looked hotter than ever and he couldn’t help but stare.

  ‘Mr Adam!’ Heidi launched herself at him, wrapping her chubby little arms around his legs and giving him reason to look away from the women.

  ‘Hey there,’ he said, stooping down to lift her up. Only when he had her in his arms did he realise how natural the action had been. Their time together in the header had been surprisingly easy and he found himself happy to see her again. He positioned her on his hip and then carried her over to the women. He couldn’t very well apologise to Stella for the other morning in front of his mum and cousins so he’d just act like the awkwardness between them didn’t exist. Hopefully she’d take his lead.

  While Heidi cuddled him as if she were trying to squeeze the life out of him, he greeted the women. ‘Hi Mum, Stella,’ he nodded and then looked to his cousins, ‘you two skiving off work or something?’

  Simone shot him a look that could kill. ‘Or something. What’s your excuse? Shouldn’t you be chained to your tractor? Or something.’

  He grinned as he lowered Heidi back to the ground where Mutton waited. The women laughed again as the puppy tugged at Heidi’s T-shirt with his teeth, urging her to come play.

  ‘Hey, stop that,’ Adam ordered, nudging Mutton with his boot.

  ‘It’s fine, she loves it,’ Stella said, meeting his gaze again. She smiled and heat flooded his body as he forced his eyes not to drop to her chest. The last thing he wanted was to enhance any ideas she might already have about him being a creep. ‘With any luck they’ll wear each other out and we’ll both get some reprieve this afternoon.’

  ‘We can only hope,’ he replied, leaning against Frankie’s chair.

  ‘Adam,’ his mum said looking up at him, ‘you’ve arrived at just the right time. Would you be a sweetie and get the barbecue going for me?’

  ‘I suppose you’d like me to cook the meat as well?’ He chuckled.

  ‘Well, since you mentioned it…’ Frankie said and everybody laughed.

  Adam trekked to the barbecue, which sat on one end of the long veranda. It hadn’t been used in a while, so he gave it a quick wash down, turned it on and then went inside to get the meat. It wasn’t long until the women gathered around him. They asked about harvest and he told them it was going smoothly but that he likely had a couple more weeks to go, then they lost all interest in farm talk.

  ‘Stella’s been telling us about a book she’s written,’ Frankie announced, her voice full of admiration.

  ‘Really? You’re an author?’ Adam absentmindedly turned the sausages, wondering what other surprises she might offer.

  Stella bit her lip and shrugged one shoulder. ‘A very new one.’

  ‘Don’t be modest.’ Simone tsked. ‘A US publisher has just bought her first book, it’s coming out next year and she’s doing edits while she’s here.’

  ‘Wow, that’s awesome. What’s it about?’

  He saw her suck in a deep breath before she answered. ‘My experience with Down Syndrome.’

  Frankie leaned back against the veranda railing. ‘How old were you when you had Heidi?’

  Stella flushed as if uncomfortable being the centre of conversation. Or was she only uncomfortable with him knowing about these things? ‘Um… just nineteen,’ she said eventually.

  ‘Geez.’ Frankie sighed. ‘I wouldn’t have known the first thing about raising a child at that age, did you get much help from your parents?’

  Stella shook her head. ‘No, none at all.’

  Frankie opened her mouth again and Adam could tell she hadn’t sensed any of Stella’s reticence and would continue bombarding their guest with twenty personal questions if someone didn’t stop her.

  He was about to ask something lame like how many sausages everyone would eat when Simone jumped in before Frankie could ask anything else. ‘I’ll definitely buy your book,’ she said. ‘I’m a single mum and I know how tough it can be but to be so young, with no support… well, I think you’ve done an amazing job.’

  Adam let out a breath of relief and resisted the urge to hug Simone, who appeared to have inherited the tact gene that her sister had missed.

  ‘Thanks.’ Stella smiled proudly as the women turned to look at Heidi. She and Mutton had stopped zooming around like crazy and now lay together under the shade of the willow tree, Heidi using Mutton as a pillow. ‘How old are your girls, Simone?’ Stella asked, obviously redirecting the conversation.

&nbs
p; ‘I’ve got Harriet who’s…’

  Adam zoned out, continuing to turn the sausages while Simone waxed lyrical about her teenage girls. Although the older one had recently found boys and, as Simone joked, was intent on turning her mother’s hair grey, they were the centre of her world. They were living reminders of the husband she’d loved fiercely but lost when her daughters were only young.

  ‘If you ever need a babysitter while you’re here, my girls would be more than happy to oblige,’ Simone offered. ‘They’re good with little kids and they’d fall in love with Heidi.’

  ‘Thanks, but I can’t imagine I’ll have any need. I don’t exactly have much of a social life.’

  Frankie laughed. ‘Join the club, but there’s always the pub on a Friday night. It can be fun. We should have dinner there one night.’

  ‘The meat’s done,’ Adam announced, sensing Stella’s awkwardness. He didn’t know if it was because she didn’t like the idea of leaving Heidi with anyone or because she no longer knew how to have fun on her own.

  ‘Great. I’m starving.’ Stella patted her stomach.

  ‘I’ll go get the salads,’ Esther said, already turning to head inside.

  ‘I’ll help you.’

  Stella followed his mum and Adam took the opportunity to grill his cousins. ‘What’s going on here?’ he asked as he transferred the sausages from the grill to a plate.

  Frankie and Simone shrugged, but their eyes twinkled with excitement.

  ‘Did you guys arrange this?’ He didn’t need to explain what ‘this’ meant.

  ‘No.’ Simone shook her head. ‘Aunty Esther called me yesterday and asked me to pick up some items in town for her and then she asked if Frankie and I would like to come and have lunch with the people staying at the cottage.’

  ‘When Simone told me, I moved mountains so I could get away from the café. I know how big this is.’

  ‘And neither of you thought to tell me?’ he asked.

  ‘I thought you’d know,’ Simone replied, ‘but it’s great, isn’t it?’

  ‘I haven’t seen Aunty Esther this happy in…’ Frankie paused to think, then said, ‘ever.’ She was only twenty-five and too young to remember her cousin or the dramas that had occurred when she’d gone missing. She knew the story and the mystery that remained unsolved but she didn’t remember what Esther had been like before the bottom dropped out of her world.

  ‘Me neither.’ Was it Stella or Heidi that had instigated this change? He suspected the latter. The little girl was the same age as his sister had been and he guessed she reminded his mum of the child she’d lost. All these years he’d been looking for something to light a spark in her heart but he’d never thought of getting her to spend time with another little girl. Could it really be as simple as that?

  Chapter Seven

  Stella stabbed her fork into a piece of carrot and popped it into her mouth, glancing surreptitiously at Adam while he sat chatting to Heidi about her love of animals.

  When she’d accepted Esther’s invitation to lunch it had been because Heidi would never have forgiven her if she’d said no and also because she’d been pretty certain Adam would be too busy harvesting to attend. Although she had Joanna and a few other friends in Perth, she normally didn’t have time – what with work and Heidi’s needs – for socialising, so today felt like a huge treat. Until he’d turned up, she’d been enjoying herself immensely.

  Now all she could think about was the fact he’d seen her breast. Had he thought about that morning as much as she had? She swallowed the moisture that rushed to her mouth at the thought of Adam and her breast. It was only a bit of bare flesh but the fact that he’d seen it meant she found it almost impossible to look him in the eye whenever he spoke to her. What must he make of that? He’d probably seen more than his fair share of breasts in his time and hadn’t paid hers a moment’s thought since the other day but she could barely think about anything else.

  If she wanted to survive her time of living on his farm, which would undoubtedly involve chance meetings like this one, she had to say something. She had to clear the air.

  When they’d all finished eating, Simone and Frankie offered to clear up and Heidi sweet-talked Esther into taking her into the pool area where Whiskers lay sunning herself on a lounger. That left Stella and Adam sitting alone around the wooden table on the veranda. She took a long gulp of water, placed the glass back on the table and then cleared her throat.

  ‘Adam,’ she began, ‘I’ve been meaning to apologise for the other morning.’

  His cheeks flushed red, which told her he knew exactly what part she referred too. ‘There’s really no need. Heidi was fine and I enjoyed showing her the harvester.’

  He’d made it clear she didn’t have to talk about the other thing but something inside her wanted to. What if he thought she’d known about flashing her breast? Worse, what if he thought it was intentional? He knew she’d gotten into a scrape at nineteen and found herself pregnant, maybe he thought that was just the type of person she was.

  ‘I was referring to,’ she swallowed as she felt her cheeks turn the same colour as his, ‘the way my towel slipped and I showed you my…’

  When she couldn’t say the word, he assisted. ‘Breast?’ he asked, a teasing twinkle in his eye.

  As his lips curved at the edges, the tension in her body dissolved.

  ‘I could be a gentleman and pretend I didn’t notice,’ he said, ‘but it was a very nice breast and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy the experience.’

  She couldn’t help but laugh. ‘Well, in that case I’m glad I could oblige.’

  He nodded, feigning seriousness. ‘Yes, it was very kind of you. Especially since it’s been a long time since I’ve seen such a lovely specimen.’ His gaze drifted to her chest and he winked. ‘If you feel the need to expose yourself again, I could probably handle it. Just.’

  Heat flared within her at the thought of voluntarily revealing her breasts to him. Her nipples tightened and something low in her belly quivered. Was he flirting with her? It’d been so long since she’d partaken in such a simple pleasure that she didn’t know how to react. She didn’t want to give him the wrong idea but it felt so good to be bantering with a good looking man in this way.

  ‘Typical male.’ She rolled her eyes but before he could reply, a shriek and a loud splash sounded down by the pool.

  Stella’s heart twisted as she snapped her head to look. ‘Heidi!’ she screamed as she saw her little girl’s head bob up above the water. She could swim adequately but it was still a shock to see her in the pool, fully clothed, and the pregnant stray cat paddling like a dog in a furious attempt to escape the water. She must have fallen in while holding Whiskers. Stella leapt off her chair, her legs two steps ahead of her brain as she ran towards the fenced off pool but Adam got there first.

  ‘She can swim,’ Stella called, but it was too late. Adam – jeans, T-shirt, boots and all – had already launched himself into the water. She watched as he landed alongside Heidi and scooped her up into his arms.

  ‘You okay?’ she heard him ask.

  ‘We’re swimming,’ Heidi replied with a giggle.

  A deep sigh and Adam laughed. ‘If you wanted to go swimming, you only had to ask.’

  He waded through the water to the shallow end and popped Heidi up onto the edge of the pool. The cat, who’d already scrambled up the steps, slunk off through the gaps in the pool fence to lick itself dry in the sun. Uncaring that it would make her wet, Stella pulled Heidi into her arms and looked to Adam as he too hauled himself out of the water. He stood there, his hair, his T-shirt, his jeans all dripping. She had no doubt if he walked, they’d hear his boots squelch. Thank God it was warm.

  ‘You’re making a habit of rescuing my daughter,’ she said, glancing up at him. ‘Thank you. Again.’

  He ran a hand through his wet hair. ‘Feel free to repay me the same way as last time.’

  His words might have sounded innocuous but the chemis
try that arced between them felt anything but.

  ‘How about we bake you some cookies, instead?’ she promised with a smile. Before he could reply, Esther came running from the pool shed with a couple of towels. She threw one at Adam and then crouched down next to Stella and Heidi and wrapped a massive, shell-print one around the little girl.

  ‘I’m so sorry,’ Esther gushed, looking to Stella. ‘We were chatting about the cat and I didn’t realise how close they’d gotten to the edge. Thank God she’s okay.’

  Heidi was fine and Stella wanted to comfort the other woman but her gaze had locked on Adam only a few steps away and her ability to string words into a sentence had vanished at the sight.

  Having tugged off his boots, socks and T-shirt Adam now stood in nothing but his jeans, which hung revealingly low due to the excess water they carried. He rubbed the towel vigorously over his head in an aim to dry his hair. Still kneeling next to Heidi, Stella found her eyes were at the perfect height to admire the bulge in his… Oh shit! She couldn’t believe she was openly gaping at the poor guy’s groin. Her heart was still shaking in her chest only now she wasn’t sure if it was due to the shock or the way a nearly naked Adam affected her.

  She forced her eyes upwards, planning to bypass his impressive upper body but her gaze snagged on the tattoo on his chest. In the spot directly above his heart sat the sweetest lily. She thought a flower an odd choice for a man so clearly masculine as Adam, yet it was the colour – blue – that caused the tiny hairs on her skin to stand on end. A blue lily. Lily-Blue. The name of Heidi’s new imaginary friend wasn’t common but surely this had to be a coincidence?

  ‘Hmm hmm.’ Adam cleared his throat and Stella snapped her head upwards to look at him. The smile on his face said he’d noticed her appreciation and didn’t mind one bit. She bit down on the instinct to explain herself.

  ‘If you ladies are all okay,’ he said, looking to Stella and then at his mum and cousins who’d arrived while she’d been inappropriately perving, ‘I’d better get back to work.’