Outback Ghost (19 page)

‘Yeah, I may have misled you on that one. Sorry.'

‘Hey, don't apologise.' She stopped suddenly and bit her lip. ‘If you want to keep celebrating, um… I could…' Her words faded.

He quirked one eyebrow. ‘What? Get a taxi? Out here?'

She laughed. ‘Okay, fair enough. But you've just finished harvest. Don't you usually have a big night or something to celebrate?'

‘Used to. When Faith and Monty were still around but a few quiet beers in front of the TV will do fine.'

‘No, it won't.' She lifted her chin and grinned. ‘I'm your co-worker and I say we need to celebrate. Why don't you come over and have dinner with Heidi and me?'

‘Dinner?'

‘Between friends,' she confirmed.

He only hesitated a moment. ‘That sounds good.'

As soon as Heidi went to bed he'd leave, so there'd be no chance of a repeat of that other night. No chance.

As Adam drove them back to Annadale, Stella multitasked – while keeping up her half of the conversation, she also made a mental list of what she'd need for tonight's dinner. She decided on a simple chicken and pumpkin pasta because she already had the ingredients and also it wouldn't take long to make. She could have chosen something else and asked Adam to pop into the supermarket on their way home to collect anything she needed. He'd have happily shopped with her but she guessed he'd also have insisted on paying for the dinner supplies and she wanted to do something for him.

It wasn't that she was imagining this dinner to be more than it was, but just because they were only friends didn't mean she couldn't make a bit of an effort. Thanks to Heidi's fussiness, her repertoire lately mostly consisted of spag bol, sausages and mashed potato or beans on toast. It would be nice to have someone to cook for who might actually appreciate her efforts. She must have drifted off into her thoughts, for at the sound of Adam laughing, she looked up to see they'd arrived.

Out the front of the homestead, Heidi was spinning round wildly with the hose on full spray and poor Esther was drenched.

‘Oh shit.' Stella rushed to unclip her seatbelt and had her hand on the door when Adam stopped her.

‘Relax,' he said, bringing his hand down gently on her arm. Her skin buzzed at his touch and tingles spread like wildfire along her skin.

‘I can't let her just soak your mum,' she managed to say.

‘Mum's loving it.' He sounded as if there were tears beneath his words. ‘I can barely believe she's the same person she was a few weeks ago. Although you're not going to be driving the truck anymore, please still let Heidi visit her.'

‘Of course.' Stella's heart quivered at the need in his voice.

‘Thank you.' With that, he took his hand off her arm and she tried not to mourn the loss of his warm touch. She was jolted out of her thoughts at the sound of his door slamming, then hurried to follow.

‘Oh no, I think we've been caught, Miss Heidi.' Esther's sing-songy words drifted down the path to Stella and she couldn't help but smile.

Then, before she realised what was happening Heidi had turned the hose on Adam and her as they approached. Stella squealed as cold water rained down on top of them. She looked to Adam who smiled broadly and didn't look the slightest bit annoyed.

‘That's it, missy.' Stella broke into a run. ‘Help me, Adam.' Together they made a big show of chasing Heidi and wrenching the hose from her – Mutton grabbed it and dragged it off, water spurting in every direction. Still laughing, Esther hurried to shut off the water as Stella's arms closed around her little girl. She scooped her up and looked to Adam. ‘What should we do with her?'

Adam rubbed the side of his jaw as if in deep contemplation. ‘Tickles seem reasonable punishment to me.'

‘Perfect.' She lowered Heidi to the ground and she and Adam tickled her until they were all laughing so hard they rolled back on the ground together. Dirt and leaves clung to their wet clothes but at the look of glee on Heidi's face, Stella's heart felt set to burst. She couldn't recall the last time she and Heidi had had this much fun with other people.

They were only just regaining control of their breathing when Esther arrived armed with towels. ‘Here you go,' she said, holding them out.

Adam stood, took one, handed it to Stella and then wrapped another one around Heidi, before taking care of himself. Stella should have been working to get the soggy leaves out of her hair, she
should
have been seeing to Heidi, but she'd been rendered incapable of doing anything except ogle Adam as he rubbed the towel over his clothes and then shook the water from his hair. Her mouth dropped open as she looked her fill – his wet T-shirt clung to his seriously impressive biceps, his masculinity making her feel more female than she could ever recall. Was there anything not perfect about him? He was hotter than melted chocolate, sweet, funny, so good with Heidi and… And he didn't want children.

She needed to remember that whenever she started getting all hot under the collar.

Taking a breath, she cleared her throat. ‘We should be going.' Yes, she had a meal to cook. For her
friend
. ‘Thanks for looking after Heidi, Esther.'

‘You're very welcome. And I'm so sorry she's wet again. We were watering my plants and we got carried away but we've had such a lovely day.'

‘We decorated tree, Mummy,' Heidi said, shaking off the towel. ‘For Christmas. Come see.'

‘I will, honey, but not today. We're all wet and I want to go home and get us changed.'

Stella waved goodbye to the others, then scooped Heidi up and hurried down the garden path, resisting the urge to turn and steal one last glance at Adam. Hopefully inviting him for dinner wasn't the stupidest thing she'd ever done.

Adam kicked his boots off on the porch, ordered Mutton to stay and behave and then followed his mum into the house, trying not to think about how see-through Stella's T-shirt had become after the water fight.

‘I'll just get changed,' Esther called over her shoulder as she headed down the corridor towards the master bedroom. ‘I can't wait to hear all about harvest.'

He shook his head at the chirpiness in her voice and ripped off his shirt, which clung to his wet skin. He dumped his clothes in the laundry and then retrieved the spares he'd never bothered to remove from his old bedroom. On his way to the kitchen, he almost pulled a neck muscle as he doubled back to peer into the lounge room.

‘Holy shit.' So his eyes hadn't been deceiving him, he thought as he stepped into the room and stared at the Christmas tree. Haphazardly decorated to a height that Heidi could reach, he only just recognised it as the tree they'd had for goodness knows how long. Despite mourning his sister for twenty years, Christmas had continued like clockwork in this house – there'd always been a tree with presents (it's amazing what you could get in a catalogue) beneath it for Lily-Blue just in case she came back in time to open them. But like the half-cocked celebration that had always ensued, the tree had been decorated in habit rather than love. There'd always been an even scattering of cutesy decorations, just the right amount of tinsel and a string of coloured fairy lights that his mum checked rigorously to ensure they all worked.

It had always looked perfect – an ideal façade for the pain and heartache that came with yet another Christmas without his sister. But this tree was different.

A lone tear escaped and trickled down his cheek. He swiped it back, swallowing a flood of emotion. Should he be freaked out or joyful about his mother's seemingly quite normal behaviour? Lost in thought, he didn't hear her enter the room until she spoke.

‘What can I get you to drink?'

Frowning – refreshments the last thing on his mind, but seemingly always on hers – he turned around to look at her. ‘The tree looks good. Did you make the paper chain with Heidi?' He didn't mean it but his tone came out bitter. He couldn't recall his mother bringing him into any of her Christmas preparations in the last twenty years.

She nodded and then took a step towards him, squeezing her lips together as if she too were trying to contain certain emotions. ‘I'm so sorry, darling.'

‘What for?'

‘For never doing all these things with you.' She gestured to the tree. He blinked, wondering if he'd voiced his thoughts aloud. ‘For not being a proper mum because I was so consumed with my own grief.' She sniffed and her eyes glistened with unshed tears.

Adam didn't know what to say.

‘I want to try to get help again,' she said eventually. ‘I want to stop being poison to me but also to you and your dad. I know I haven't been fair, I know…'

What she knew got lost in the whoosh as he rushed forward to wrap his arms around her. They clung tightly to each other, both of them losing the battle not to cry. Although Adam now towered over his mum, he felt like a little boy who'd finally got the response he'd been craving for years. All this time he'd been willing to do anything to help her but she'd never until today acknowledged that she needed it.

After a long while, when their tears eased, Esther pulled back slightly. ‘I know I can't make up for not being here for you all these years, but I do mean it about getting help. The doctor said there's something called Skype therapy now where I can chat to a counsellor in Perth and I'm going to try it.'

‘I'm so glad to hear that, Mum. I just want you to be happy.'

‘Thank you, darling.' She reached up and cupped his cheek in her palm. ‘It's amazing you turned out so well. I'm so proud of you.'

He swallowed. Emotion was one thing but he'd never been great at accepting compliments. ‘Whatever it takes, Mum,' he said, deflecting her focus off him. ‘If you need help setting up the Skype or whatever, I'm here. And I'm proud of you for taking this step.'

She beamed. ‘I think this calls for a celebratory dinner, don't you? Why don't you go home, have a shower, get changed and come back in a couple of hours. We'll toast the end of harvest and my decision to stop being a fruit loop.'

‘You're not a fruit loop, Mum.'

‘That's nice of you to say. So, what do you say? Dinner?'

Even if he didn't have plans with Stella, the idea of dining on his mum's celebratory cooking didn't appeal, but he didn't want to hurt her feelings. ‘I say that sounds good, but Stella already invited me over to celebrate the end of harvest so why—'

‘Oh.
Did she
?' Esther interrupted, her smile betraying her excitement.

‘It's not like that. We're just friends. You should come along. Heidi will be there too, remember.'

‘I could babysit for you,' she said, her tone hopeful.

‘No, Mum. It's not like that.' At least it shouldn't be, which was why he needed Heidi as chaperone. ‘Seriously, you should come. I'm sure Stella would have asked you herself to say thanks for the babysitting if she hadn't been distracted by the hose.'

‘Actually.' She offered him a clearly fake yawn. ‘I'm very tired. I love looking after Heidi but it's exhausting.' To add to her theatrics, she flopped down onto the couch. ‘But you have a good night.'

Stifling a smile and knowing there was no point arguing, Adam bent to kiss his mum on the cheek. ‘I will. And you get some rest, okay. We'll chat tomorrow.'

He turned and was almost out the house when she rushed to catch up. ‘Are you taking something with you tonight?'

Leaning against the door jamb, he nodded. ‘I've got a couple of beers and a nice bottle of wine.'

‘No.' She scowled. ‘You should pick some flowers from the garden and how about I make a chocolate pudding for you to take along. I haven't made one for ages.'

That's because your chocolate puddings are shite
, Adam thought, not voicing his thoughts for obvious reasons. ‘I thought you were tired,' he said instead.

‘This won't take long. Stop by on your way over to the cottage. You can collect the flowers then too.'

What was the point in arguing? He decided no matter what he said, she'd see what she wanted to see, and the truth was he couldn't be disappointed by her new attitude. Even if she did seek help, he knew the journey ahead would be long and tough. He wouldn't let himself get too hopeful, but neither did he want to do anything to put a dampener on her newfound positivity.

‘Okay, I'll see you in a couple of hours.' Smiling, he pushed open the door and was immediately greeted by a hyperactive and wet Mutton. He screwed up his nose as he looked down on the woeful looking dog. ‘Have you been rolling in the wet dirt?'

In response, Mutton raised a paw to Adam's legs and wagged his tail vigorously. Adam chuckled. ‘Looks like we both need a good bath before tonight.'

With one ear listening out for Heidi who was playing in the bath, Stella ran into her bedroom and threw open the wardrobe. Knowing they'd be staying for two months and not wanting that living-out-of-a-suitcase feeling, she'd unpacked all their clothes on arrival but as she scanned through the hangers nothing jumped out at her.
Dammit
. Why hadn't she packed something a little more special? Her holiday outfits consisted mostly of shorts, T-shirts and bathers – perfectly fine for days hanging out with Heidi but not what she wanted to wear to have dinner with a man.

Her heart jolted at the thought, but she quickly reined it in. She might be having dinner with a man but it was not a date. It was simply two friends sharing a meal, celebrating the end of a job well done. And Heidi would be there. That pretty much ruled out any chances of hanky-panky and that was a good thing. Her silly hormones needed to take a chill pill. Even if she had the right clothes, matching underwear, all the things a woman needed to seduce a man, she wouldn't know what the hell to do once she had him naked.