An Opportunity Seized (16 page)

How did she guess what I was thinking?
“You stay here for as long as you want. That is something I can help you with. I don’t want to embarrass you and talk financial matters but if you ever need anything—I mean it, Bea, anything at all—you call me.”

“That’s very thoughtful of you, dear. I think all those matters are being taken care of and Harry did think ahead. He was like that. Looking out for me, making sure I would be okay…”

Toni’s tears flowed even harder. “I don’t know how you can be so strong, so forgiving. I don’t know how I would cope if I lost someone I loved. How can you bear it?” This really wasn’t what Toni had planned when she’d come up with her idea to visit the widows. She’d wanted to help them and here she was bawling her eyes out and asking for answers to the questions she should be finding the solutions for.

“You have to. What other choice is there? Harry wouldn’t want me to just give up. He loved life and would expect me to go on. He loved his job. I don’t know what it was about those tunnels but Harry lived for it. It seems almost appropriate…” Bea paused. She focused on something outside the window.

Toni tried to see what had captured Bea’s attention.

“I will always love Harry and think of him as I do the everyday things. Maybe he will enjoy watching me, from where he is now. You need to live your life without regret, Toni. Enjoy it. Embrace the good times and the bad times. Go make some memories with your man. My life is so much the better for having my Harry. I’ve been lucky. I have friends here—some that have suffered a loss as well. They will help me get through the lonely times. We have our quilting group and our reading group. I can bake.” Bea handed Toni a napkin. “Dry your tears. Don’t fret over me. But I thank you for coming and visiting. It was very thoughtful of you. I do appreciate it and I’m sure Harry does too. He always said that Grimaldi was a great company to work for. See? You proved him right again, dear.”

Toni didn’t want to leave but she had been with Bea for over an hour. She was surprised Jason hadn’t already come barging in. He’d been trying so very hard to control his concerns for her safety, to not let her see the worry he was still feeling. Toni didn’t want to push her luck or give Jason more reason to be concerned. It was time to go. “Bea, the pleasure has been all mine. You are amazing and I will never forget our visit. Please promise me you will call if I can help in any way—you or your friends.”

“I will, dear.”

Toni rose from the chair. Hugged Bea. “Good. Don’t forget.”

Walking away was hard and as Toni heard the front door of Bea’s house close behind her, a fresh batch of tears welled. She made her way toward the car. Jason was standing leaning up against it, making her even more upset. They had only known each other for such a short time, their love so new when compared to the woman she’d just left who had been married for more years than Toni had been alive. Toni could not imagine how broken she would be if Jason was not a part of her life.

“Oh, luv, stop crying. I’m here. Come on. Let me hold you.” Jason helped her into the car. Cradling her in his arms, he whispered sweet nothings in her ear until she cried herself to sleep. She woke briefly as Jason carried her in his arms from the car.

“Thank you, Jason. I’m sorry I’m so emotional but that woman was just so…”

“Shh, luv. I think you need to get some rest. We can talk about it all when you wake up. I’m going to tuck you into bed for a few hours. No arguments, okay?”

“Just don’t leave me.”

“Never, luv. Never.”

* * * *

Toni lay snuggled up against Jason’s side as the sun peeked through the curtains heralding a new day. Jason had placed his arm over her body at some stage during the night and Toni was grateful for the connection.

She’d learnt so much over the last few days. Tom had taken her on a tour of the whole site, explained all aspects of mining the best he could in the short time he had. Toni had listened intently as he’d explained the differences between open-cut mining and subsurface mining—the ever present dangers involved even with all the safety guidelines put into action and adhered to. He’d showed her all the reports about the cave-in. The thorough investigation had concluded that a small underground earthquake a few weeks before the accident, which had hardly registered on the Richter scale was the most likely cause. That the earth shifting around the beams and poles, which had been erected to shore up the working areas as per safety standards, had become compromised by the quake, causing the rockfall.

“Morning, luv,” Jason said, his voice gravelly from sleep and so sexy it made Toni’s heart flutter. “What time is your first visit?”

“I’ve got one at ten and then another at two. I’m not sure what I can say to these women. We haven’t found their husbands yet. I just hate that with all our money we can’t do this for them, give them a chance to bury their loved ones properly.”

Jason pulled himself up to a sitting position, his chest bare as he propped himself up against the headboard. Even the sight of Jason shirtless couldn’t shake Toni from her gloom.

“I know it’s hard, luv, but the truth is…mining’s a dangerous business. Like being in the Army, you know the risks but you still do it anyway.”

What Jason was saying was true. Exactly what Bea Carlton had said, Toni knew that, but it didn’t make it any easier for her to accept. She was truly grateful she hadn’t met Jason while he’d still been serving—she didn’t think she could have coped with the constant fear that he might get hurt.

“Why don’t we go and get some breakfast,” Toni suggested, trying to distract herself from her maudlin thoughts.

“That is an option but the dining room isn’t open for a while yet and I have another idea.”

“And what would that be?” Toni asked, knowing full well what Jason had in mind as he started nipping at her shoulder. “Are you hungry for something else?”

“I’m always hungry for you,” he growled in reply.

Sighing at his touch, Toni forgot about everything. Jason licked up the curve of her neck. He was being so gentle with her, nibbling at her lips until she opened to him. The kiss started off soft and sweet but Toni wanted more. She plunged her tongue into his mouth, desperate to show Jason just how much she needed him. Their kiss grew harder and deeper as their desire for each other grew.

Jason broke from the kiss first. Covering her breasts with his hand he teased her nipple until it puckered into a hard bud. “Feels so good, luv, your breast in my hand, your nipple hard, responding to my touch.”

Toni moaned in agreement. She stroked his back as Jason drew her nipple into his mouth and sucked gently on it, before moving to her other breast and repeating the tantalizing action.

“Mmm. You, Toni, taste better than any breakfast could.”

Chapter Sixteen

At ten o’clock, Chris pulled the car up in front of a small weatherboard house. Toni immediately noticed the overgrown lawns and drawn blinds on the modest dwelling. Heather Cain was the name of the woman Toni was about to meet. Tom had given her a brief outline of Heather’s situation. Her husband was one of the men they had not been able to locate. Joshua Cain had only been new to the mining business, he and Heather having moved here from the city to try to get some money behind them for their young family. Joshua, a sparky by trade, had only been down the mineshaft laying cable for lighting. Something so innocent, just installing light for the miners, and yet enough to put him in the line of danger. It was heartbreaking.

“Do you want me to come with you this time, luv? Give you some moral support?” Jason asked her as she stepped from the car.

“No, I’m okay. I can do this. I want to do this,” Toni replied, as she closed the door on her smiling lover and turned toward the house. Her heart was heavy, though, as she knocked on the door and waited for Mrs. Cain to open it.

As the door swung wide Toni couldn’t hide her shock at the state of the woman standing a few feet away in the shadows of the dimly lit entry. Heather Cain was very pregnant but she didn’t look well. Her hair, limp and unbrushed, fell to her shoulders, her dress crumpled and stained, stretched over her swollen belly. Her eyes were dull, lifeless. This woman was struggling. Toni made a mental note to speak to Tom about it as soon as her visit was over.

“Heather Cain, I’m Toni Grimaldi. I was wondering if I could come in and have a chat with you. I thought Tom Church had organized this time with you, but if you’re not up to it at the moment, I’d be happy to come back—at your convenience, of course.”

Heather’s hand shot out and grabbed her on the arm, her grip on Toni painfully tight. The woman moved so fast it took Toni by surprise “No, I’ve been expecting you, Miss Grimaldi—looking forward to it, in fact. Finally, getting my hands on the people responsible for keeping my Josh from coming home.”

Heather was strong, despite her fragile appearance, and she pushed Toni farther into the house. As Toni’s eyes adjusted to the dimly lit room, she could see that the area was very tidy despite Heather’s own appearance, and that a single chair, one normally found at a dining table, was smack bang in the middle of the room. “You sit right there and don’t move while I get Tom Church on the phone. He keeps telling me they are doing their best to find Josh, but I want you to order him to send my husband home right now.” The already high-pitched sound of Heather’s voice becoming even more shrill made the hairs on Toni’s arms stand up. “I want my Josh to come back. He’s been away for weeks and the baby is due soon. I don’t want him to miss her birth.”

This is not good. Just do what she says, try to keep her calm… She’s bloody hysterical already. How can I calm her down?
Thoughts were ricocheting through Toni’s head as she tried to make sense of what was going on. Heather was obviously emotionally unstable and the fact that she now held a gun in her hands and was waving it about did not help the situation at all. Toni was in real danger. The whole situation had developed so quickly, so unexpectedly, that she hadn’t even had time to let fear set in until now. Seeing the gun made it very real.
What should I say? How can I help her?

Toni looked on helplessly as Heather dialed her phone with one hand, pointing the gun at Toni with the other. The line must have connected to someone, judging by the look on Heather’s face but Toni had seen Tom’s schedule for the day—he was in a meeting with the head of the rescue squad at eleven, so she knew it couldn’t be him.

Heather started to speak into the phone, “I need to speak to Tom Church right now,” she said.

Then there was a pause.

“Well, you tell him to ring Heather Cain as soon as he gets back. There is someone here that needs to speak to him, urgently,” Heather shouted into the phone before slamming the handset back into its cradle. The noise was so loud it made Toni jump.

Heather’s eyes clearly showed that the woman had passed the point of rational thinking. Now distraught to the point of madness and out of her mind with grief, she had not accepted the reality that her husband was dead. Toni didn’t know what to do.
Do I tell her that her husband is not coming home, that he is dead, buried under a ton of rock? That Tom is busy meeting with the people trying to retrieve her husband’s body right now? Probably not going to work in my favor. Maybe I can try to get her to think about something else?

Toni thought anything was worth a try.
If I can just keep her calm until Tom rings back and then I can try to say something to alert him to the situation.

“Your baby is a girl?”

Heather remained silent, but Toni noticed Heather’s grip on the gun change—she moved the barrel of the rifle so it rested against her baby bump, and what was more of a relief. Heather’s finger was now away from the trigger.

“Do you have any names picked out yet? Is this your first child?” Toni already knew the answer to her second question—she remembered reading that the couple had a little boy aged two. Toni hadn’t spotted him yet, wondered where he could be. A niggling, worrisome thought entered her head.
Is the boy okay?
Has Heather harmed him in her distressed state
?

After a few tense and silent moments, Heather finally opened her mouth to speak. Toni managed to breathe again.

“Sally, after my mother, that’s what we were thinking.”

Toni tensed at Heather’s ‘we’, hoping it didn’t bring Joshua back into the equation and was relieved when she kept talking. “Dylan is named after Joshua’s dad. He’s in his room sleeping. I put him down for his nap before you got here. I didn’t want any distractions. When will you let Josh come home?”

Shit, back there again. I need to keep the conversation away
from Joshua.
She racked her brain for some other way to connect with the woman. “I don’t think it is good for the baby to get yourself worked up like this, Heather. You should be resting. Why don’t you sit down too?”

“I am tired and my back aches all the time now…” Heather replied. The woman glanced toward the couch and back to her.

It’s working.

“I promise I won’t move from this chair, but I’m worried about you, Heather, please sit down,” Toni said trying to keep her tone soothing even though she was terrified of what Heather might be capable of. She’d also finally managed to get her thoughts under control and had remembered that Jason was sitting in the car, waiting for her to return.

If Toni didn’t get out of the house soon, somehow, there was a real possibility of Jason storming in and taking matters into his own hands. Toni didn’t want to see Heather get hurt, didn’t want to put Jason in the position of hurting the pregnant woman because of her. It was such a mess but Toni was determined to talk Heather down. So she kept up a string of idle chat with topics that she hoped would not provoke her captor.

The longer Toni engaged Heather in conversation, the clearer it became that Heather really didn’t want to harm her. The distressed, pregnant young woman was just overwhelmed, had convinced herself that Joshua was being kept at work and not allowed to come home for some reason. Heather had obviously had a mental breakdown of some sort, and who could blame her? Toni couldn’t.