Outback Ghost (33 page)

He shivered at the recollection. Those times had been damn freaky and it'd been all he could do to stop himself grilling her some more. Not that he got the chance. Whenever he went near Heidi, Stella circled like a shark ready to attack. A number of times she'd caught him staring out the window at the jacaranda tree. Pretty much all he could think about right now was grabbing a shovel and thrusting it into the dirt beneath the tree. In Heidi's presence they'd been careful not to mention Lily-Blue or the whole digging under the jacaranda thing. But by the time she'd fallen asleep, those daytime thoughts of digging up the past were set aside as more pleasurable thoughts surfaced. The sexual tension that simmered between them hit boiling point and no matter what else was going on inside their heads, their bodies were only concerned with the present and making the most of every moment together.

There'd been little time for deep and meaningful discussions while they were tearing at each other's clothes, desperate to be skin-on-skin again. And afterwards she'd fallen asleep in his arms. He'd wanted to stay there all night. Holding her and listening to her soft but steady breathing. No sound had ever been quite so beautiful and the thought of being there when she woke up, to give her a very adult Christmas gift, had been almost impossible to fight. But, knowing she'd be upset if Heidi found them together, he'd summoned every ounce of willpower in his body and gone home.

He moaned at the memory of their shenanigans – it seemed there were only two things he could think of right now. Digging and fucking. How he'd get through Christmas Day at his mum's without being able to do either of these things he had no idea.

Stella woke to the sun blazing in through her bedroom window and Heidi standing at the end of her bed. Her heart shot into her throat and she almost broke her neck turning to look at the spot beside her in bed.

Thank the Lord.

The last memory she had from the previous night was a very hot one, starring her and Adam, both of them naked and energetic. She hadn't known her body had the flexibility to do some of the things they'd gotten up to but she didn't want Heidi to know anything about that. When had Adam left? She couldn't recall watching him go or getting up to say goodbye and she was still naked.

‘Happy Christmas, Mummy.' Heidi climbed into bed beside Stella but she didn't look or sound happy.

Stella pulled her into a hug. ‘Yes, Happy Christmas, darling. Are you ready for your presents?'

Heidi nodded glumly.

‘What's the matter?' Stella asked, hating the absence of Heidi's wide smile.

Heidi sighed a sigh that sounded way too wrought for someone so young. ‘Lily-Blue alone for Christmas.'

‘Oh.' Stella hugged Heidi tighter. She didn't know what to say. She couldn't very well suggest Heidi bring Lily-Blue with them to Esther's house.
Did ghosts travel that far anyway?
Not that it mattered. Either way Adam had been clear he didn't want Esther to know about the ghost thing. And fair enough; Stella understood his reasons but Heidi was her priority and she hated the way her permanently cheerful little girl now swung between happiness and near on depression. It couldn't be healthy the way she'd taken on Lily-Blue's plight and Stella hated not knowing how to fix it.

The image of a shovel came into her head again. She pushed it away.

‘What about we leave out a special lunch for Lily-Blue and maybe she can play with your new toys while we visit Esther.' It sounded ridiculous, like leaving out milk and cookies for Santa, but it was all she could come up with.

‘What new toys?'

‘The ones Santa brought you of course.'

A slow smile crept across Heidi's face. ‘Good idea.'

Stella let out the breath she'd been holding, happy she'd found a solution to their problem, if only a temporary one.

‘Why you naked?' Heidi asked, her change of topic startling Stella.

She felt her cheeks heating up. Why hadn't Adam woken her when he'd left so she could put on her pyjamas? ‘I was hot,' she answered, thinking quickly. ‘Very hot. But I'll get dressed now so we can go open presents.'

Thankfully Heidi bought the hot explanation and Stella dressed in shorts and a T-shirt. She'd have a shower and put on a dress before they went out to lunch but right now she couldn't wait to see the expression on Heidi's face when she opened her gifts. They went into the lounge room and Stella put some Christmas carols on her iPod, which blared from the docking station as she handed Heidi the first present. With intent concentration, her lower lip and tongue thrust out, Heidi began to unwrap. Stella snapped photos at the delightful expressions on her daughter's face as she opened a Sylvanian Families dolls house and three different sets of animal families to go with it – some beagle dogs, monkeys and, Stella's favourite, a guinea pig tribe.

‘Thank you, Mummy.' The toys scattered around her, Heidi leapt up and launched herself onto Stella's lap. Stella clung to her daughter, desperately hoping the toys would distract her from her worries.

While Heidi began to play, Stella went into the kitchen and set about making them breakfast. While she was growing up, croissants had always been a Christmas morning tradition, and although she hadn't been at home in over seven years, this was something she'd taken with her. Now at Christmas-time Stella usually had to work in the restaurant but she'd always been home for breakfast and endeavoured to make that part of the day as special as she could. Sharing Heidi's joy in opening presents helped Stella to not dwell too much on her own sadness about being away from her family and eased the pain of then having to leave Heidi with friends while she went and worked penalty hours serving Christmas lunch to other people. Today, at least she didn't have to rush off anywhere without Heidi.

They happily munched on warm croissants slathered with butter and jam and drank freshly squeezed orange juice while playing with the new toys. Before Stella knew it, it was midday and almost time to go over to the homestead.

She had mixed feelings about the afternoon ahead. Part of her couldn't wait to see Adam but it also felt a little bit weird to be spending such an important day as Christmas with him and Esther. Then there was the whole jacaranda thing. She'd have to have been blind not to have seen him looking at it every five seconds when he was with them yesterday and she wanted to ask him if he'd been having second thoughts about his decision not to dig. But was Christmas Day in his mother's house really the right time to bring that up?

Argh
. Why did life have to get so complicated? All she'd ever wanted was a nice summer away with her daughter, yet somehow she'd gotten herself involved in ghosts and sex and someone else's family Christmas. Granted, it was delicious sex and supposed to be complication-free but the more time she spent with Adam, the more times they had sex, the less it felt like a straightforward no-strings-attached fling. And she wasn't sure spending such an important day as this with him was such a good idea. Still, it was too late to back out now. Esther would be gutted.

‘I'm just going to have a shower,' she told Heidi, pushing herself off the floor to stand. ‘Stay here. Promise?'

Heidi nodded. After the incident when she'd wandered off while Stella was in the shower they'd had serious words about always telling each other where they were going.

Under the hot and relaxing shards of water, Stella decided that the only way to get through the rest of the day was to pretend she was an actress in a movie and that none of the emotions she felt were real.

‘Welcome, come in.' Esther met Stella and Heidi at her front door and bustled them inside out of the heat and away from the flies before hugging them both. ‘I'm so glad you came. Adam's in the kitchen checking the bird. We'll eat soon but come into the lounge room first. I can't wait to give you your presents.'

‘Oh, you didn't have to get us anything,' Stella found herself rattling off the obligatory line while peering down the hallway trying to get a glimpse into the kitchen. Then, she glanced down at the two wrapped boxes in her arms and realised how ridiculous she sounded. ‘But thank you,' she added quickly.

Esther gave her an odd smile and then took hold of Heidi's hand and led her into the lounge room. Stella fought the urge to go and see Adam, following their host and her daughter instead.

‘Wow. This is beautiful,' she admired as she stepped into the room and took in their surroundings. She'd meant to come and look at the Christmas tree Heidi had helped decorate but somehow hadn't gotten around to it yet. The place was decorated like the festive department at the big Myer in the city. The grand tree stood in one corner, presents spilling out from beneath its plastic trunk, its branches drooping from the weight of hundreds of decorations. Different coloured strands of tinsel were strung across the ceiling and a wooden nativity sat on one of the coffee tables.

‘Thanks. I couldn't have done it without Heidi.' Esther beamed at the little girl and Heidi attempted a smile but Stella could tell that it wasn't as fully fledged as her smiles usually were. Her heart ached with the knowledge. This room should be a fantasy for her daughter, yet the anxiety she was carrying around inside her little head meant she couldn't completely enjoy it.

‘Hello ladies.'

The sound of Adam coming into the room behind them distracted Stella. As she turned her head, her stomach clenched and her breath caught in her throat at the sight of him. He looked edible whatever he wore but she'd mostly seen him in work clothes or nothing at all. Today, he'd scrubbed up and wore navy trousers, black shoes instead of boots and an icy-blue shirt, rolled up at the sleeves. A few dark chest hairs peeped out where he hadn't done up the top couple of buttons.

‘Adam.' Heidi ran into his arms and as he lifted her, Stella took a moment to collect her hormones from the puddle they'd formed on the floor.

‘Hello,' she said, smiling at him.

He smiled back over the top of Heidi's head. ‘Merry Christmas, Stella.'

‘Yes. And a Merry Christmas to you too.'

When Esther cleared her throat, Stella realised they'd maintained each other's gaze a little bit to long. She didn't want Esther getting any ideas about Adam and her becoming an item.

‘Come, sit,' Esther said, pointing to the two matching brown leather sofas. ‘Adam, do you want to play Santa?'

‘Sure.' He put Heidi down on one of the couches and then walked over to the Christmas tree. Stella sat beside her daughter, putting the presents they'd bought for Adam and Esther between them. Esther sat on the other sofa, smiling in anticipation.

‘I think this one must be for you, Heidi.' Adam lifted a large box with pink and purple Christmas wrapping and shook it slightly against his ear before placing it on her lap.

Heidi looked to Stella.

‘Go ahead, open it,' she encouraged.

Beneath the paper Heidi found the most beautiful bone china tea set that looked far too delicate for her sometimes clumsy hands. Still, the look on her face said she wasn't thinking of such practicalities as she was too busy falling in love with it. She had a plastic tea set that Stella had bought for ten dollars from Kmart but it wasn't in the same league as this one, which looked as if it was a family heirloom, passed down from generations.

‘I once knew a little girl about your age,' Esther said, with a nostalgic smile. ‘She mostly liked boy's toys but she loved to play tea parties. I hope you like it.'

‘Love it.' Heidi passed the box to her mum and rushed to give Esther one of her massive hugs.

‘Maybe we can play after lunch,' Esther suggested.

‘Deal.' Heidi thrust out her little hand to seal it and everybody laughed.

Stella found herself relaxing as they unwrapped the rest of the presents. She gave Esther a gardening book and Adam a leather wallet and, in turn, received a shawl that smelt a little musty from Esther and a voucher for a boutique in Geraldton from Adam. But when they were finished, there was still quite a pile of presents beneath the tree. Just as she was about to ask whom they were for, Adam met her gaze and shook his head.

As promised, not long after the gifts were all unwrapped, Esther ushered them into the dining room. The table was big enough to seat at least ten but thankfully Esther had arranged the place settings so they were all sitting at one end.

‘Can I help with anything?' Stella asked.

‘No, you two sit down.' Esther pulled back a chair for Heidi. ‘Adam and I have everything under control.'

Adam winked at her as he followed his mum out of the room. Stella, her body heating from the effect of that tiny gesture, sat beside Heidi and squeezed her hand. ‘This is fun, isn't it?'

Heidi nodded, but despite the excitement of the tea set the light had left her eyes yet again. Stella sighed and glanced at her watch. So much for the special Christmas she'd wanted to give her daughter.

Adam came back into the room carrying a silver platter with what looked like a burnt shoe on top. Stella peered at it, screwing up her nose without thinking. He chuckled as he laid whatever it was on the table, then leaned towards her and whispered, ‘Unfortunately I didn't manage to save it. The veggies might just be edible, although the carrots are somewhat waterlogged.'

Stella tried to hold back a giggle as Esther arrived, a baking dish in each hand. ‘I hope you're hungry.'

Adam raised an eyebrow and then gestured towards the kitchen. ‘I'll go get the gravy.' As he disappeared, Stella swore she heard a burst of laughter and had to bite down on one of her own.

‘This looks delicious,' she lied as Esther laid two dishes down on the table. One vaguely resembled the roast potatoes they used to serve on school camp and the other… Well, she guessed they were the carrots Adam referred to.

‘Thank you.' Esther sat down. ‘We'll let Adam carve the beast.'