Sienna had left the rest for Eve to sort. But Eve needed to sort herself first. Blanche wanted to come in but she could wait another few hours. This morning Eve just wanted to drive. Get lost. Be left alone so she could get it straight in her head if Brisbane was where she was supposed to be. Or whether she should she stay here and fight for the very slim chance she could edge under the outback reserve of Lex McKay and convince him to give a city girl like her a shot.
An image of that red sandhill drifted into her mind – all that serenity of sand, the peace of the sunrise from there. She could have faith in a decision she made out there.
So she drove, uncaring of the darkness of pre-dawn and the coolness of the air, avoiding the grazing wildlife as she soaked in the solitude and the open road. Finally she drove up the track and around the fence line, then parked under the spotted gum that she and Lex had eaten their lunch beneath so long ago.
Eve needed to think about Lex because he, like Douglas, was a guy who lived in the wrong part of the world, and she really didn’t know if she had a chance. Or was it that he lived in the right place and she didn’t?
When she turned off the engine there was just the sound of the occasional galah screeching for his mate and the lowing of a rangy white Brahman calf that was silhouetted against the hill line.
The dawn broke as she opened her door. Like a promise of resolution. A red sand sunrise greeted her as she walked up the sandhill with the day’s first warmth on her face, red crystals flicking into the air behind her with each footfall. Those tiny trails marked in the sand made by bird claws, snakes and dancing crickets patterned the flawless canvas like a child’s scrawl and reminded her again of the day with Lex. Everything reminded her of Lex.
Enough with the reminding.
Her breath puffed out as she tramped up the slope, footprints breaking the purity in the middle of the slope, while the edges that fell away to the paddock below rippled from the wind in beautifully spaced precision.
There was something about the harmony with nature when she stood up here that made her feel as if she were joined to it all. Just one more grain of sand in a world of sandy particles.
The sleeping giant of the glittering ochre hill embraced her as the new sun warmed the chill off the air. The breeze cooled the shaded side of her body and even the two temperatures seemed right. She sank to sit with her knees drawn up and lowered her chin as she shut her eyes. Breathed deeply and felt the tension ease. Breathed again and felt her teeth unclench. Had she been that stressed?
She let the questions all disappear into the air around her and was at peace.
An hour later the sound of the helicopter rotors vaguely penetrated her fog but it wasn’t until she heard the swish of someone approaching up the sandhill that she realised Lex had found her.
A long, akubra-topped shadow stopped next to her. ‘I saw your car as I flew over. Was looking for it. But you look very settled up here all by yourself.’
‘Surprisingly I am.’
‘You look beautiful.’
She blinked. ‘Really? I thought I looked like a budgerigar.’
‘It’s funny.’ He crouched down beside her and smiled, staring slap-bang into her eyes. ‘I had no idea that budgerigars were my favourite bird.’
He looked so good. ‘I don’t know what to do, Lex.’
He sat down next to her and handed her a spare hat. Then he rested his elbows on his knees. ‘What about?’
‘Leaving.’
That snapped his head up. ‘When?’
‘Two weeks. Two new midwives have offered to relieve me. They’re good. I know them and Callie doesn’t need me now.’
He lifted his hat and ran his hands through his hair. Put the hat back on as if happy now he’d ordered his thoughts. ‘We’d miss you. It’s nearly Christmas. I thought you’d rather spend it with Callie?’
‘Bennet wants to take her and Adam and the baby to see his mum. I might fly down to Melbourne to see Sienna or she might come to Brisbane. We seem to have found a sisterly love we were missing out on before.’
Her throat was getting tight. ‘It seems the magic of Red Sand has touched us too.’ She finally met his eyes. Those black brows of his were drawn together. ‘You look shocked?’
‘Well, we have a big breakfast on the station for all the hands. Always have had. Then the family has Christmas lunch. Blanche and I, and Lily and Henry, we’d love to have you join us.’
‘I’m not part of your family, Lex. And I’m not part of Bennet’s family.’
He put his finger under her chin and raised her face so she couldn’t hide. ‘Eve Wilson. You are a part of every family for a thousand kilometres. And you always will be. Most definitely you are a part of our family.’
She tried to look away to the distant hills but he wouldn’t let her. That’s right, she thought, just for Christmas lunch. Nope. Too painful.
‘Eve.’ He lifted her chin higher so that she was facing him. ‘Look at me.’
She looked. How could a man with such strong features be this beautiful? His powerful jaw was set, as if determined to have his way, yet a pulse beat under the dark regrowth he’d missed in this morning’s shave, and undermined the certainty in his voice.
Was Lex uncertain?
Was he unsure of her response? Lex – who was sure of everything! A man undaunted by drought and flood, weathered by the wild distances he’d ridden and flown, happy to take on a Brahman steer or a hospital supervisor, and now he couldn’t complete a sentence.
‘I’m not very good at this. I mean, don’t go at all. Stay. As my wife.’ The last three words were barely audible.
She spluttered in her own shock. ‘Wow, you really, really aren’t very good at this.’ Eve realised she’d said that out loud. Maybe she wasn’t very good at it either. But there was a great big bubble of happiness that wanted to explode out of her.
‘Sorry? Wife? You’re asking me to be your wife? So I won’t miss Christmas dinner?’
He took her fingers in his big hand. Shook his head in amusement.
‘Not for Christmas dinner.’ Now the words were stronger, feeding on the emotion he’d finally let loose. ‘Marry me. Stay here. With me.’ He bent his head as he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her palm. ‘Be my wife. My life. My love.’
‘You can’t love me.’
‘How could I not?’ He rolled his eyes. Squeezed her fingers. Shook them a little. ‘For Pete’s sake, woman. Look at you. You amaze me. Inspire me. You make me feel ten feet tall.’ He stroked her fingers in his. ‘You’re so wise, and silly, and surprising. I want you by my side when I wake. I need to know you’re safe in my bed when I’m out at camp during muster. I need you with me forever.’
His drew her fingers down with his until both their hands lay over her belly. Stroked it. ‘I want to see you holding our child. Our children. Marry me. Can you do that, Eve? Can you stay with me until we’re old and we’ve handed on all our cattle to the next generation?’ He smiled gently as he reminded her of their last conversation here in this spot.
She had to believe him. Lex didn’t lie. ‘It’s sudden, Lex.’
‘No. You’ve been blind. I’ve loved you since the day we flew to Charleville. But I admit I fought it for a long time.’
‘You wouldn’t even look at me.’
‘I looked at you all right.’ His searing look at her right then said he liked what he saw very much, and she could feel the warmth of it in her belly and on her skin. ‘And I wouldn’t let Henry take you on your first flight.’
‘You arranged that?’ He nodded. ‘Did Blanche make the picnic basket?’
He shrugged. ‘I asked her to. And she knew why.’ He picked up her hand. ‘So will you?’
‘Will I what?’ She was feeling very breathless here.
‘Live through droughts and floods and impassable roads and good seasons and bad. Until we are so old, all we can do is sit on the verandah and rock and watch the sun set over Diamond Lake. It’s a lot to ask, bu
t can you love me back, Eve?’
Eve blinked and the red particles of sand she’d dug her other hand into fell in a shower as she lifted it to touch his face, to make sure this was real and she wasn’t just in her bed dreaming, soon to be woken by the cockatoos.
A flock of iridescent green budgerigars took off from the spotted gum below the sandhills and she could feel her own emotions take flight, like that first time he’d kissed her. A huge whoosh of feelings.
‘Um. Yes. Please. To all of it.’ She could barely speak. ‘Lex, give a girl some warning if you’re going to take her breath away.’
He smiled down at her. ‘Warning. I’m going to kiss you and I hope like hell I take your breath away.’
THIRTY-FIVE
Sienna flew back to Red Sand for Australia Day. She had to because her sister was getting married, though Sienna didn’t know what the rush was.
The flight wasn’t too bad. Douglas met her in Longreach, and people glanced at her as she walked across the tarmac. Police escort. It was hot – typical – but then again, so was the man meeting her. H.O.T.
‘Never thought I’d be back here.’
‘You look good.’
She raised her brows. ‘You look good yourself.’
He took her overnight bag from her, changed hands, and then took her fingers in his. Very firmly. ‘Come with me, madam. I have some questions.’
They didn’t leave Longreach until well after lunch.
At Diamond Lake Station Blanche was ecstatic with her new daughter-in-law to be, and bestowed a promise that while she wasn’t moving out of the homestead, she would travel at least six months of the year and leave the young ones in peace.
Lily was also very pleased with her father’s choice, and Eve had told her not to even think about calling her step-mother ‘Mum’.
Henry was happy because Eve had talked to Lex about the racing stables and they were all flying to Brisbane after the honeymoon to scope out the options.
But the happiest person there was Lex. His usually grave features were carved into a permanent, if subtle, smile. Especially when his eyes rested on his Eve.
Eve, who had managed to slide into the hearts of everyone on the station in just two weeks. Who had already mastered the basics of riding the quiet mare he’d picked out for her. There was talk of her first helicopter pilot’s lesson – which Blanche disagreed with, but she was learning not to disagree quite so much.
For the wedding the only thing Eve had insisted on was that it be held beside the lake, so when Blanche wanted to fly in a hairstylist, a beautician, Eve’s dress and trousseau, flowers and the men’s suits, Eve really didn’t care. She just wanted Lex.
On the night before the wedding Lex was banished to Bennet’s farm, where the men were being looked after by Bennet’s sister.
Callie, still looking fragile but luminously happy, arrived the afternoon before the wedding, not long after Sienna. Lily fell instantly in love with Amari and carried her everywhere, desperate to be babysitter.
To avoid the military campaign Blanche was running in the house, the three sisters escaped to the small rustic pavilion beside the lake after Amari had gone to sleep with her solicitous new cousin in attendance.
A sunset over Diamond Lake with a bottle of very expensive Champagne from Sienna was too good an opportunity to miss. As they clinked their glasses, Blanche called to a stockman in the distance and her voice drifted across the paddock.
Callie glanced over her shoulder. ‘I’m sorry, Eve, but I’d pass out if she was my mother-in-law.’
Eve grinned. ‘Blanche is a classic. I love her.’
‘Good that someone does,’ Sienna added in a droll aside. She glanced around. ‘So this is the Diamond Lake it’s all named after?’ She didn’t look impressed. ‘Does it have emus?’
‘Hordes of them,’ Eve assured her and she caught Callie’s smile.
‘By the way,’ Callie said, changing the subject, ‘congratulations on your appointment, Sienna. Australia’s youngest director of obstetrics.’
Sienna shrugged. ‘Apparently there’s a bloke down in South Australia who’s younger. But thanks.’
Eve rolled her eyes. ‘Sergeant McCabe looked pretty pleased with himself when he drove off.’
Sienna wasn’t going there. ‘Aren’t all men pleased with themselves?’
Eve looked at her, her sister, the sometimes bitingly brilliant woman she so admired. Then she turned to Callie, gorgeous and steel-cored beneath that gentle exterior. And she knew she was so lucky to have these two incredible women in her life.
‘Well, the men in our lives have good taste.’ She raised her glass. ‘And so have we. To Red Sand. To Diamond Lake. And to family.’
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
With sincere thanks to the people who helped make this happen with their incredible support.
To my husband, always my hero, who suffers when I’m on deadline, and just like the song, is the ‘wind beneath my wings’. To my five sons, who have the world before them and can make me laugh just like their father does. To my mum, Catherine, who had her own heroic breast cancer journey and a beautiful smile just like Sylvia. To my dad, Ted, my first hero, who would have loved to read this book. And to all the medical men and women who do an incredible job caring for Australia’s unsung heroes of the outback.
To my writing friends, especially Anne Gracie, Barbara Hannay, Kelly Hunter, Marion Lennox, Carol Marinelli, Trish Morey, Alison Roberts, Meredith Webber, Lillian Darcy and my mate Bronwyn Jameson, who have been such a part of my writing journey. My agent, Clare Forster from Curtis Brown, who quietly creates magic. My Penguin angels, Belinda Byrne, Sarah Fairhall and Jo Rosenberg.
To the local writers, Annie Seaton, Karly Lane, Elle Finlay, Jenn McCloud, Suzanne Brandon, Dianne Curran, and to Romance Writers Of Australia conferences – the go-to place if you want to write anything.
To the birthing women, young, older and mothers earth, and their families, who always inspire me with their strength and joy. My fellow midwives and doctors at my small country hospital, with special mention to Dr David Lunnay, my ALSO colleagues, and those flying doctors and flight nurses I cornered who, with such patience, answered my hypothetical questions.
And to all the amazing people we spoke to on our research trips, like Monique Johnson at the Cosmos Centre in Charleville, the publicans, and the people who live and love the land.
Thank you all.
MICHAEL JOSEPH
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Group (Australia)
707 Collins Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3008, Australia
(a division of Penguin Australia Pty Ltd)
Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA
Penguin Group (Canada)
90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Canada ON M4P 2Y3
(a division of Penguin Canada Books Inc.)
Penguin Books Ltd
80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
Penguin Ireland
25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland
(a division of Penguin Books Ltd)
Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd
11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi 110 017, India
Penguin Group (NZ)
67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New Zealand
(a division of Penguin New Zealand Pty Ltd)
Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd
Rosebank Office Park, Block D, 181 Jan Smuts Avenue, Parktown North, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa
Penguin (Beijing) Ltd
7F, Tower B, Jiaming Center, 27 East Third Ring Road North, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100020, China
Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
First published by Penguin Group (Australia), 2014
Text copyright © Fiona McArthur 2014
The moral right of the author has been asserted
All rights
reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
Cover design by Alex Ross © Penguin Group (Australia)
Text design by Samantha Jayaweera © Penguin Group (Australia)
Cover photograph: Background - Peter Walton Photography/Getty Images;
Woman Rubberball | Getty Images
penguin.com.au
ISBN: 978-1-74348-277-3
THE BEGINNING
Let the conversation begin...
Follow the Penguin Twitter
Keep up-to-date with all our stories YouTube
Pin ‘Penguin Books’ to your Pinterest
Like ‘Penguin Books’ on Facebook
Find out more about the author and
discover more stories like this at penguin.com.au
Red Sand Sunrise Page 25
