by TJ Hamilton
‘Those palms of Mum’s have gone crazy. I didn’t think you could grow plants like that out in the bush,’ Hayden said.
‘Well actually, your mum told me that these bird-of-paradise palms would spread like a bushfire out here. We have the perfect conditions for this species apparently. They’re from Africa. Same environment as Echo Springs.’
He couldn’t bring himself to tell her everything, to ever tell her about going directly to the bikies’ club house in the city to warn them that Echo Springs was his patch now. When they’d laughed and pointed guns at him, he told them to sort it out with Jayden if they had a problem or come and find him themselves if they weren’t satisfied with the answer. Hayden hoped his brother would pay heed to his warning. Hayden was not only tougher than his father, and Jayden had witnessed it first-hand, but Hayden was smarter and Jayden knew it too. Hayden’s priority was to protect the town from his brother, and he would stop at nothing to keep it safe.
Leila looked across the stretch of green paradise. It was nice to finally have good things that were cared for by one of their parents.
‘Did you see my how good my dad has been looking since the funeral? I even saw him at the supermarket the other day. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him in a supermarket my whole life.’
Hayden nodded. ‘He’s been going to AA meetings at the church once a week for almost a month now. He didn’t want you to know until he reached his ninety days. Apparently that’s a big deal or something. But ever since he fell over that night and smashed your platter across the room, he wanted to cut the drink and do the right thing by his only kid.’
Leila choked on her laugh. ‘I was such an asshole then. I’m sorry. If anything, Dad knocked me down a peg or two, and it did me some good.’
Hayden laughed while he stretched his arm around Leila, resting it behind her head on the cushions. She folded into him. They fit perfectly together.
‘You were always going to come out a good person, Leila. No matter what the world threw at you, you were always going to take it on and win. So it’s understandable if someone like you ends up an asshole for a while. I knew you would come good eventually.’
‘Huh,’ she smiled. ‘You did not think that. I distinctly remember you telling me a month ago that you never thought you’d see me again.’
He chuckled and gripped onto her. ‘I think I had to tell myself that for a while. It made me feel better.’
She sat up and looked at him. ‘See, I was an asshole. I will never freak out and take off on you again. I promise. No matter how hard it gets.’
He stopped laughing and glanced at her. ‘There is something I haven’t told you.’
Would they ever stop keeping secrets from each other?
‘I bought Town Hall.’
‘What?’ Her eyes were the size of saucers.
‘Town Hall has been up for sale for a while so I made an offer and the Mayor and I came to an agreement.’
Leila stared at him, ‘Okay,’ she gulped. ‘And what are you going to do with this?’
‘Well, this is where I think you’ll get cranky.’
She frowned with anticipation.
‘I’ve been working with your boss and the juvenile committee, and I pitched a program that could work with the centre I’m building at the Hall. With their support and funding, I’ll be able to offer courses that help to get kids into apprentice jobs.’
Leila looked like a deer in the headlights.
‘Mum helped me buy the Hall. It was Dad’s money, but after everything that happened with Brayden, it just felt like the right thing to use it for. Mum finally had a spark in her eye. Even your mum and dad want to come on the books to work as the hall’s cleaner and maintenance manager. Mum said she can run gardening classes, and I’ll teach them about cooking. Your boss said you can run programs there for the kids and stay in the police for as long as you like. There’s never been anyone like you in this town.’
He knew she didn’t see herself as special, but everyone else did. ‘Kath Stuart sees what a difference you make to the kids. To have them see someone who’s grown up from their side of life and still make something good of themselves, is important. Your boss really believes in your work and the positive difference it’s making to the community.’
A pained look crossed her face.
‘So what did you want to talk about?’ Hayden asked hesitantly.
‘I’m pregnant,’ she blurted.
He sat up straight.
‘What?’ His mind raced wildly, desperate to hold onto one emotion long enough to register it. ‘But … we … what?’
Leila held his face between her palms.
‘I’ve felt sick for about a week, but with everything we’ve been through in the past couple of weeks, I thought it was stress. I’m only just four weeks pregnant. It’s really early so I think we need to just be careful and not get our hopes up too much just yet. I don’t have the best track record of keeping pregnancies.’
‘Leila, you never have to go through anything alone ever again. I will never let you. This is the greatest news. You’re allowed to be happy, you know.’
Hayden instinctively put his hand out to touch the magic growing inside his beautiful girlfriend’s belly. He jumped to his feet, pulling Leila with him. Then, while holding her hand, he crouched in front of her on one knee.
‘I never want to spend another day without you not knowing how much I love you, and how much you give me the air inside my lungs. Leila, will you let me be your husband?’
She grinned, a tear escaped from the bottom of her eyelid.
‘I just told you not to get excited just yet. What if—’
‘Sssh, Leila. We are going to be a family again, and we’re doing it right this time. I never want to live my life without you in it. I don’t have a ring, but we both know I wouldn’t get it right anyway … so what do you say? Let’s make this official and commit to forever.’
She hesitated, and Hayden was suddenly beset with doubt. Could he have misread everything he thought he knew about her?
‘I want nothing less than forever with you. Of course I will marry you,’ she replied and he leaned up to her for a kiss. Leila leaned down to him, then stopped. Hayden watched her for a moment, equally stunned by her beauty, but frozen with fear of something being wrong. ‘What’s wrong?’ he asked.
‘I don’t know. It’s all too much. The pregnancy, marriage, Town Hall being yours.’
‘Ours,’ he affirmed.
She smiled. ‘Let’s just try this again tomorrow.’
‘Leila, I never want to wait another day without knowing you’re mine forever. This day, and every day, we are doing it together.’
She smiled, but the tears slipped down her cheeks. He stood and wrapped his arms so tightly it would be physically impossible to let her go.
‘Let’s crack open this amazing hamper and see what Sue has done for us. We should go and see the Hall later, you can tell me all about what you’ve got in store,’ Leila said while rummaging through the wicker basket.
‘It’s Brayden’s Place by the way.’
‘Pardon?’ she replied.
‘It’s what the centre will be called. His friends always called this house Brayden’s Place. It was a safe haven for a lot of kids when we were growing up. So I thought it would help kids feel comfortable. I want kids to see what they’re capable of and what happened to him can happen to them too.’
‘It’s perfect,’ Leila said and folded back into Hayden.
They were two halves of each other, their love crucial not only to their lives, but to the town they each vowed to save.
Three months later
Hayden guided his blindfolded mum down the stairs of the back deck and out onto the grassed yard. Cath and Ned Maine stood, still slightly awkward in their newfound sobriety, but endearingly happy to be living in the moment.
Leila stood next to her parents, her hand gripped tight with excitement around her mother’s. She purposely wor
e looser tops lately because she didn’t want to share their expectant news until they were confident. Both she and Hayden were still erring on the side of caution with allowing themselves this happiness.
With his hands on his mum’s shoulders, Hayden assisted her over to the garden bench.
‘What on earth are you kids up to?’
Hayden untied his mum’s blindfold, saying, ‘Okay on the count of three, I’ll drop the blindfold and you can see.’
‘Alright, alright. Hurry up, the suspense is killing me. You’re going to give me a heart attack,’ Sue demanded.
Leila and her parents tried not to giggle and make noise.
‘One, two, three.’ Hayden lowered the blindfold.
Hayden had added a new large rock formation behind the bench. It rose up alongside the rocks where Mick’s eagle sat with honour. Sitting proudly atop was a statue of a lion, its mane flowing, but its face was tilted slightly, almost playful. It looked lovingly across Sue’s much-loved garden.
‘Oh. It’s beautiful, Hayden. It’s just like him.’ She turned to kiss Hayden and noticed Cath, Ned and Leila standing behind her.
‘Surprise!’ Ned laughed.
‘There is just one more surprise, mum,’ Hayden said as he guided her over to the bench. ‘But you might want to sit for this one.’
Both Cath and Sue screamed at the top of their lungs, which set off a flurry of dogs barking in the distance. The commotion triggered a flock of sparrows to fly into the air in a rolling formation and Leila looked up at the beautiful sight.
She closed her eyes and took in the memory as she heard her dad’s laughter bellow into an echo across town.
‘You bloody beauty!’ he roared.
Thank you for reading Echoes of the Past. I hope you enjoyed it.
If you’d like to know more about me, my books, or to connect with me online, you can visit my webpage; follow me on twitter; or like my Facebook page.
www.tj-hamilton.com
twitter.com/T_J_Hamilton
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You can also follow me through my publisher’s page here: www.harpercollins.com.au
Reviews can help readers find books, and I am grateful for all honest reviews. Thank you for taking the time to let others know what you’ve read, and what you thought.
You’ve just read a book in the Echo Springs series. The books in this series are:
Dangerous Echoes — Leisl Leighton
Embers and Echoes — Daniel de Lorne
Echoes of the Past — TJ Hamilton
Hope Echoes —Shannon Curtis
If you liked Echoes of the Past, here are my other books:
Buying Thyme
Finding Thyme
This book was published by Escape publishing. If you’d like to sample some more great books from my fellow Escape authors, please turn the page.
Bestselling Titles by Escape Publishing...
Dangerous Echoes
Leisl Leighton
Blue lights in the red dust...
Echo Springs on the edge of the outback – a town where everyone knows your name, and your business. But the wholesome country living and welcoming community aren’t what they used to be. Echo Springs has a dark underbelly, and it is seeping ever outward.
Brilliant forensic pathologist, Erika Hanson, fled from Echo Springs as a teenager, leaving behind a past of tragedy and pain. But when local police announce they’ve found her beloved brother’s body in a meth lab explosion, she knows she must return to clear Peter’s name and find out what really happened. Because Peter would never get involved with the drug tag sweeping across the small town of Australia and destroying lives.
Hartley Cooper has a past with Erika Hanson, but that’s not going to keep him from doing his job. He’s seen what grief can do, and denial is only the first step. But Erika is convinced that Peter can’t be involved, and her meticulous, professional skills start to convince Hartley as well. When Erika’s digging and questions get too personal, the town turns against them, Hartley knows Erika might run again. But this time he’s ready. And he’s not going to let her go.
Echo Springs, book 1
Embers and Echoes
Daniel de Lorne
Blue lights in the red dust...
Echo Springs on the edge of the outback – a town where everyone knows your name, and your business. But the wholesome country living and welcoming community aren’t what they used to be. Echo Springs has a dark underbelly, and it is seeping ever outward.
A suspicious fire on the edge of town sets Constable Ben Fields on a collision course with firefighter and one–time friend Toby Grimshaw. When the investigation takes a troubling turn that calls the two professionals’ integrity into question, the heat gets turned up on Ben and Toby’s unresolved history. Ben’s got something to prove, but his love for Toby could cost him – and Echo Springs – everything. Meanwhile, will Toby overcome the horrors of his past and find a new future with Ben – or will it all go up in flames?
Echo Springs, book 2
Hope Echoes
Shannon Curtis
Blue lights in the red dust...
Echo Springs on the edge of the outback – a town where everyone knows your name, and your business. But the wholesome country living and welcoming community aren’t what they used to be. Echo Springs has a dark underbelly, and it is seeping ever outward.
Jacinta Buchanan understands stress. Between trying to keep the family farm going and convince her father that she’s the best (and only) option to take over permanently, she has a lot on her plate. So when one of the old mines on the property blows up, killing a local teenager, she can barely hold it together. But finding out that she’s a suspect and the cop sent to investigate her is her brother’s best friend is the absolute last straw.
Country cop Mac Hudson is used to disappointment. He’s watched friends, classmates, townspeople he likes and respects cross the line time and time again, and it’s his job to dole out the consequences. But discovering that Jac Buchanan has a meth lab on her property is an unexpected blow, so when she hatches a plan to prove her innocence and draw out the real culprits, he agrees to go along. But there’s a darkness on Bull’s Run that runs deeper than they expect and a darkness in Echo Springs that stretches further than they can imagine. In their quest for the truth, Jacinta and Mac will have to risk the town they both love and the future they’re only beginning to imagine.
Echo Springs, book 4
The Echo Springs anthology is available in print September 2019.
Echo Springs
Leisl Leighton, Daniel DeLorne,
TJ Hamilton and Shannon Curtis
Wholesome country living isn’t what it used to be… This town has a dark side, but what will these cops sacrifice to save it? A compelling suspense, set in the outback.
Blue lights in the red dust...
Echo Springs on the edge of the outback – a town where everyone knows your name, and your business. But the wholesome country living and welcoming community aren’t what they used to be. Echo Springs has a dark underbelly, and it is seeping ever outward.
Four cops...
The small police station is overrun, and officers are working overtime to stem the tide of illegal activity from graffiti through to murder. From prickly Leila to heartsore Ben, Cooper with something to prove to Mac who’s driven to succeed, the Echo Springs force is determined to keep the town safe.
Putting everything at risk...
But the stakes are higher than they’ve ever been, and it’s not just the town these officers have to keep safe. It’s their hearts as well. With bullets flying and bodies piling up, they will have to decide how much they’re willing to risk and what they’re willing to lose.
Look out for the Mindalby Outback Romance series, available now from Escape Publishing!
Cotton Field Dreams
SE Gilchrist
Mindalby, a small town, a community, a home. But when the mill that supports t
he local cotton farmers and employs many of the town’s residents closes unexpectedly, old tensions are exposed and new rifts develop. Everyone is affected and some react better than others, but one thing is certain: living on the edge of the outback means they have to survive together, or let their town die.
Sasha comes to Mindalby to recover from a traumatic event, plan her next move, and seek out information to avenge her beloved uncle — the last thing she wants is a relationship. But when she meets local single dad, Cole, she can’t help but be drawn to his warmth and his humour, and his two engaging children. Cole says and does all the right things, and Sasha finds herself falling, but will all of her secrets destroy the relationship before it has a chance to begin?
Starting Over
Susanne Bellamy
Mindalby, a small town, a community, a home. But when the mill that supports the local cotton farmers and employs many of the town’s residents closes unexpectedly, old tensions are exposed and new rifts develop. Everyone is affected and some react better than others, but one thing is certain: living on the edge of the outback means they have to survive together, or let their town die.
When fashion designer Serena Quinlan arrives in Mindalby for the annual cotton festival, she is hoping to do two things: meet local leather worker Paul Carey and check out all the 50-year-old men to see if they might be her father. She doesn’t expect the explosive attraction she feels towards Paul, nor the untimely and unwanted arrival of her ex-fiance. When her search for her father leads to unexpected results, Serena will be torn between the past she came searching for and the possibility of a future she never expected.
