Fliss nodded but didn’t look away. ‘Hewitt … talk to me.’
‘You’ve enough to deal with today.’
She rubbed her temple. ‘Trust me. There’s never been a better time. I need something else to think about.’
‘If it’ll help, it’s my turn to listen.’
‘It would but I need to see Cressy first.’ She twisted in her seat to look at him. ‘Is why you don’t ride another of life’s hits?’
He briefly met her gaze.
She answered his unspoken question. ‘You’re a pickup rider, horses are a huge part of your life, and yet you brought a quad bike to ride around Cressy’s cattle on.’
He passed a hand around the back of his neck. Fliss’s stare was fixed and intense. He’d talk, but he’d make sure this conversation was all about distracting her and not him baring his soul.
‘I haven’t ridden in a year. It wasn’t only Brody the bull went after. When I was on the ground with him, he gored Garnet. I almost lost her. All she’d been doing was protecting me.’
‘You’re not to blame, remember?’
‘Actually, I am.’ He worked hard to keep his voice casual. ‘The reality is not only didn’t I get to Brody in time, I was the reason he was on the bull. When Lizzie and Quinn were born, he gave up competing. He was only riding because he needed money to buy out my share of the family farm.’
He ground his teeth as the hold on his emotions weakened. Fliss’s hand curled around his arm. She stayed silent.
‘Not only did I put Brody on the bull, I was the reason why Seth rode with a new and inexperienced partner.’ Despite his best intentions, bitterness rasped in his words. ‘Even with two farms, supporting three families was going to be a stretch, so I was leaving to do my own thing.’
‘It’s not a crime to want to make your own way.’
‘No, but putting your needs before others isn’t exactly admirable. The truth was the main reason I was leaving was because I was lonely. If I stayed I’d have ended up like our neighbours on the eastern side. You’d never meet more hardworking or humble men but they’ve never married. The farm is their life.’
‘I’ve seen the same thing happen. I know wonderful women where medicine has become their whole world and they’ve never partnered or had children. You wanting to leave is a completely normal and unselfish thing to do.’
‘But my selfishness had consequences. What happened to Brody is my fault, on so many levels.’
‘No, it’s not. People move away all the time, for a variety of reasons. Look at me, I wanted things that couldn’t be found here.’ She lifted her hand from his arm. ‘I’ve always been … different to Cressy.’
It was just a raw note, a vulnerable quiver that had him give in to the urge to comfort her. He reached for her hand. Her fingers linked with his before she sighed and shifted in her seat to look through the windscreen. Silence filled the cabin as the tops of Glenmore’s chimneys appeared through the trees.
Fliss’s fingers stayed entwined with his until he pulled up outside the front garden gate. Then she slipped her hand free, unclipped her seatbelt and leaned in close to brush her soft lips across his cheek. ‘Thank you.’
Then she was gone, leaving behind a faint floral scent and an emptiness within him. He stayed in his seat, giving her the space to find her sister alone. Cressy appeared from around the side of the wide veranda. Dressed in jeans, a green work shirt and boots, she met Fliss across the lawn. Hewitt saw the exact moment Cressy realised this wasn’t a social call. Her expression sobered and she looped her arm through Fliss’s before they climbed the front veranda steps and disappeared into the homestead.
Kevin squawked and swooped down from a gum tree to perch on the bull bar. Hewitt left the ute and the cockatoo flew onto his uninjured shoulder.
Hewitt ruffled his yellow crest. ‘Looks like it’s just you and me, buddy.’
‘Get a six-pack of beer,’ the cockatoo said.
‘I think you might be right.’
Gravel crunched beneath hard boot soles as Denham walked over from the cluster of sheds to Hewitt’s right. Tippy and Juno ran by Denham’s side before bolting over to sniff the mud-covered tyres on Hewitt’s ute.
‘I thought it was you. The trouble with all this rain is there’s no dust to confirm which direction anyone comes from. Fliss with you?’
‘She is. Kevin here said we need a six-pack of beer but, just a heads-up, I think it’s the girls who’ll need a drink. Fliss was desperate to see Cressy.’
Concern sobered Denham’s blue eyes. ‘Fliss is always so self-reliant it takes something major for her to even admit there’s a problem.’
Hewitt stood still as Denham started towards the house. He didn’t want to intrude upon whatever the sisters needed to discuss. Denham looked back and stopped.
‘It’s okay. Cressy won’t mind you coming inside and neither will Fliss. Besides, I might need backup.’
They fell into step beside each other as they headed into the house. Denham pushed open the kitchen door and they walked into the large and homely room. Over by the bench Fliss draped tea bags into two mugs while Cressy collected milk from the fridge. Fliss’s preoccupied expression revealed that whatever she’d come to see Cressy about was still on the agenda.
She glanced across at him. ‘Coffee? Tea?’
‘I’m good, thanks.’
‘I’m good too,’ Denham said as he walked over to where Cressy now sat at the kitchen table. He seated himself beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. The tight press of Fliss’s lips eased. She’d waited to talk to Cressy until Denham had arrived. She took a seat opposite her sister.
Hewitt sat to the right of Denham, careful to avoid his gaze. The need to comfort Fliss and make sure she was okay hadn’t diminished now they’d arrived. Denham wouldn’t miss his deep concern.
For a moment Fliss didn’t speak, just stared into her tea. Then she cleared her throat. ‘Cressy … you know how our DNA results are back? Well … the results have revealed something … unexpected.’
‘You’re related to Edna Galloway?’
Denham’s dry remark brought a brief smile to Cressy’s face but Fliss’s mouth didn’t curve.
‘Not quite.’ Fliss swallowed. ‘Cressy … I’m so sorry to have to tell you this but … you and I are only half-sisters.’
Cressy remained intensely still. The only movement in the room was Denham’s arm tightening around her shoulders.
Hewitt exchanged a look with Denham. The shock on Denham’s face would be reflected on his own. He glanced at the silver-framed photographs on the wooden hutch. When he’d helped Fliss wash up the night of the barbeque, he’d snuck a look at the snapshots that had captured a young Fliss’s life. He remembered thinking how much Fliss and Cressy, with their high cheekbones, hazel eyes and dark hair, resembled each other.
Fliss spoke again, her hands clasped tightly together on the table. ‘Even though Dad’s name’s on both of our birth certificates, our DNA results say we don’t share the same father.’
Cressy blinked then reached across the table to take hold of her sister’s hands. ‘This changes nothing. You are my sister.’
Fliss nodded, her eyes overbright. ‘I feel the same way.’
Hewitt looked away, throat raw. The unconditional love between Fliss and Cressy underlined how empty his life was with his twin gone.
‘Do we know … why or how?’
The only other time he’d heard Cressy’s tone so subdued was when she’d called to say Denham had left for America.
Fliss’s sigh sounded like it came from a place deep inside her. ‘No. I spoke to Meredith before coming to tell you. She has no idea. I know Mum and Dad’s marriage wasn’t easy but there was no one else in Mum’s life but … Dad.’
Cressy released Fliss’s hands and dragged her fingers through her loose hair. ‘I don’t know about anyone else but I need to go for a ride.’
Denham pushed back his chair. ‘I’ll come with y
ou.’
Cressy stood and slipped her hand into Denham’s. She studied Fliss’s face. ‘We have no idea which one of us isn’t Dad’s daughter, do we?’
‘No.’ Fliss came to her feet and walked around the table to Cressy. ‘We don’t.’
The sisters exchanged a long and tight embrace. But as Fliss stepped away, the bleak darkness of her eyes suggested she already knew which one of them wasn’t their father’s biological child.
CHAPTER
7
Everything she’d believed about herself was a lie.
Fliss stared out over the garden beds beyond the veranda that rippled with purple and white colour. A cup of tea sat to her right, the steam curling into the air. It had become her breakfast ritual to sit on the veranda steps. She stroked the ears of the border collie resting her head on her lap. The six puppies hadn’t opened their eyes but the new mum now left them for short periods of time.
‘You know we’re just the same, you and I. We still don’t know your name and the truth is I don’t know my real name either.’
Ella had searched the national database but hadn’t found a match with the border collie’s microchip number. She was now hoping the owners had registered their dog’s number on a smaller database, but it was taking time working through them state by state. The vet had also notified the pound to pass on the dog’s details in case anyone contacted them. As Ella was involved within the legal timeframe for lost dogs to be taken to a vet or council animal shelter, the dog and her newborn pups were right to stay with Fliss for a fortnight. The owners had until then to claim them.
From over in the paddocks a cow mooed and a calf answered. In the past few days there’d been five new babies. Not that she’d seen them. She hadn’t checked the cattle again with Hewitt. She’d been obsessed with her DNA matches and looking for clusters of similar names or DNA segments. Lewis would be the best person to ask about what she could do next to evaluate her results. But with Jean still in hospital, now wasn’t the time to pick his sharp, analytical brain.
She picked up her tea and wrapped her hands around the warmth of the mug. The aftershocks of only being Cressy’s half-sister continued to rip through her. She now questioned every truth she’d ever known. No wonder she’d never shared Cressy’s passion for Glenmore. No wonder she was taller and her skin wasn’t so fair. No wonder she couldn’t wait to head to the neon lights of the city.
Filled with uncertainty and loss, she’d harnessed her pain in a quest to find answers. It had taken two days and many family trees, but she’d found the evidence to confirm she wasn’t a direct descendant of the Knight ancestors who’d carved out a life in the Bell River valley. She bit the inside of her cheek. She wasn’t even a blood relative of her beloved grandmother. But she didn’t care, she was still her grandmother and she was the reason behind her decision to study medicine. Complications after a routine hip surgery robbed them all too soon of the generous and kind woman they’d all loved.
As for her father, she wasn’t sure if he’d known she wasn’t his daughter. He’d never treated her and Cressy any differently. But he’d always been in the background of their lives. After being an only child, and almost dying from pneumonia as a toddler, she could understand why he’d been overindulged and not always held accountable for his actions. It had been her mother who’d sat by their grandfather’s hospital bed when he’d fallen from the grain silo. And it had been her mother who’d held Cressy and Fliss close when she told them he wasn’t coming home.
She took a sip of tea to ease the ache in her throat and concentrated on absorbing the peace around her. Wings whooshed overhead as a group of cockatoos landed in the old cedar tree. The last couple of days had brought nothing but sunshine and today the sky was a pure blue. One cockatoo settled on the roof of the stables, its feet clicking as it walked over the tin.
The stables door opened and Hewitt emerged. His easy, loose strides belied his understated power. Only a fool would underestimate him. Even with a broken shoulder, he’d be the last man standing. No wonder Edna was impressed. The border collie raced over to him and the gentleness of his smile triggered a flurry in Fliss’s stomach. But it was what lay within Hewitt that impressed Fliss the most.
When he’d driven her to see Cressy she’d fully understood the depths of his empathy as well as his inner strength. She knew he’d spoken about the additional layers of his guilt not to help himself gain closure, but to distract her. He’d put her needs first. In the days afterwards he’d brought her dinner when she’d been too distracted by DNA to cook and said he was there if she needed to talk. He’d called himself selfish for wanting to leave the family farm. She’d never met a more unselfish or honourable man.
She came to her feet and resisted the urge to dust off the seat of her jeans. But while she finally might have found someone who interested her, the timing couldn’t be worse. For both of them. The intensity of their almost-kiss in the stables warned her the sparks she felt weren’t only on her side. As inevitable as summer leaching the colour from the hills, Hewitt would return to the family who needed him. She had enough to deal with without missing him when life resumed its solitary pace. And he had enough to deal with as well. They couldn’t let the chemistry simmering between them blind them to reality again.
‘Morning,’ she said, when he stopped in front of her.
‘Morning.’
Today he wore a royal blue shirt that made his eyes appear a blue-grey. His dark hair was tousled and stubble shadowed his jaw. She firmed her hold on her mug to stop her fingers from feeling the rough scrape of his whiskers.
‘How’s Lizzie and Quinn?’
‘Good. I just spoke to them. They were making chocolate-chip cookies. Going by Quinn’s wombat-sized cheeks and Lizzie’s stormy face there wasn’t much mixture left.’
‘I know exactly how Lizzie feels. Cressy was always eating the cookie dough and I was always rousing.’
Hewitt’s expression turned serious. ‘Any DNA news?’
Fliss sighed. ‘No, nothing new. It will take time to work out which matches could be from my father’s family tree.’
‘How does cannelloni for dinner sound?’
‘You know you don’t have to cook for me …’ She smiled. ‘But it does sound wonderful.’
Hewitt’s focus only dipped to her mouth for a second but it was enough for her breath to catch. Her hormones hadn’t heeded the message he was off limits.
He slid his hands into his jeans pockets and took a step away to study the front of the run-down homestead.
‘So …’ He cleared his throat. ‘The cattle troughs are clean, I’ve straightened the clothes line after the branch fell on it and the fences have been re-strained, which just leaves the jobs on the house to get done.’
Fliss examined the faint hollows below his cheekbones. The first day Hewitt had worked in the garden, she’d made it clear he was at Bundara to rest and recover. Now was her chance to repeat the message. But a low growl from the border collie beside her held her quiet.
Hewitt swung around to look at the drive into Bundara before lowering his hand to touch the dog’s head to reassure her.
‘Are you expecting anyone?’ His too-quiet voice reminded her of the NO TRESPASSING signs and padlocks he’d attached to her boundary gates.
She squinted into the bright morning light as a familiar vehicle appeared on the red dirt road. ‘No, but I should have known we’d have a visit from a certain prominent Woodlea local sometime.’
‘Really?’
Fliss couldn’t hide her smile as she walked down the veranda steps. ‘Yes, really. I’m not the only one who makes house calls. Edna does too. She’s apparently found out you’re single.’
Hewitt groaned.
The border collie headed to her puppies while Fliss and Hewitt walked along the garden path. Edna pulled up in front of the small wrought-iron gate. Mud streaked her white four-wheel drive.
Fliss held the gate open for their visitor. ‘You’re ou
t and about early.’
Edna enveloped her in a hug that had Fliss holding her breath to avoid inhaling her strong perfume.
‘It’s never too early to come and see you, Felicity.’
From the corner of her eye, Fliss caught Hewitt’s wry grin.
Edna took a step back and gave Fliss the once-over. ‘I must say you’re looking …’
‘Rural,’ Fliss filled in sweetly before Edna could label her casual farm clothes and windblown hair as something far less complimentary.
‘Ah … yes … rural.’
Edna swung around. ‘Well hello, Hewitt.’ She closed the distance between them. ‘Can I give you a hug? My husband Noel says I’ve always been a hugger.’
Edna enveloped Hewitt in a swift embrace. Fliss stifled a flinch. She only hoped Hewitt’s shoulder survived Edna’s exuberance.
Fliss spoke as Edna’s hug passed the socially acceptable three seconds. ‘Would you like a cuppa, Edna? The kettle’s just boiled.’
Edna released Hewitt and barely glanced at Fliss. ‘That would be lovely. Hewitt and I didn’t have much of a chance to chat when we met in town.’
To Hewitt’s credit his expression remained neutral while Edna accompanied him to the house. But after he’d opened the door and let Edna walk through, he flicked Fliss a ‘shoot me now’ look.
Once Hewitt had his coffee and she’d sat the teapot in its crocheted tea-cosy on the table, she took the seat closest to Hewitt. For some reason it was important she let him know he had her support.
From across the table, Edna’s gaze sharpened. ‘Felicity, do you have anything sweet? You know how my blood sugar dips this time of morning.’
Fliss poured tea into two floral mugs. ‘I thought you said you were watching what you ate?’
‘I am.’ Edna smiled her best smile at Hewitt. ‘My sister has high cholesterol and so nice Dr Sam’s concerned about me. But as I told Fliss and Dr Sam, I have big bones and am simply not meant to be reed thin.’
The Red Dirt Road Page 9
