Outback Ghost (6 page)

She shrugged. ‘I am how I am and I wish I could be different but I can't. Doesn't mean I want to stop my loved ones living the best life they can. I've been dragging your father down for too long. He's a good man and he deserves more than I can give him. You do too, sweetheart. Don't let me stop you finding love and happiness.'

His mother's words threatened to split his heart in two. She talked like she was a lost cause when he didn't want to believe that was the case. Everything he'd done for as long as he could remember – renovating the cottage, staying on the farm when his mates had been overseas travelling, building a house close by – were all because he wanted to help her get better. To help the fun mum he had vague childhood recollections of return.

But once again, words failed him. If he told her he wanted the same for her, for her to move on and live again, she'd only get angry like she had on so many occasions before. He felt unbelievably helpless. Defeated.

‘You should offer to show that lovely Stella and her daughter around town, take them on a picnic to the beach or something,' she continued, once again steering the conversation away from his dad.

Although Esther was a broken woman in many ways, she was still as stubborn as they came and if she didn't want to talk about the demise of her thirty-odd year relationship, there wasn't much point pressing the issue. He didn't have the mental energy anyway, but neither did he want to talk about Stella or the fact he had invited her to spend time with him and she'd shut him down.

‘Mum, I've got harvest to focus on.' He poured himself a glass of water from the jug on the table and took a sip. Then, ‘I get the impression Stella and Heidi are pretty happy to explore on their own, but you could always offer.'

Esther, whom he guessed had some form of grief-induced agoraphobia, went quiet for a moment and Adam almost apologised for the ridiculous suggestion. She'd pretty much stayed within a couple of hundred metres of the homestead for as long as he could remember. She'd spent short stints at the cottage in the few months she'd been helping him and Ruby decorate but the night he'd managed to get her there for the completion celebrations had been a shambles. The stress of having to socialise with so many people had been too much and she'd barely stayed long enough to eat her barbecued steak.

People, or rather extended family, occasionally visited her and that was the extent of her social life

‘You know, maybe I will,' she said eventually.

He almost choked on his second gulp of water. It had been his hope when transforming the cottage into farmstay accommodation that Mum would interact with the guests, but he'd all but given up that dream.

She smiled smugly at him and he felt the pain in his head intensify.

‘Well,' she said, pushing back her chair, laying the album back on the table and standing. ‘Can I get you some supper before you head home?'

Like hell, Adam thought. She seemed more together than him after the events of the day and no way he wanted to suffer through another one of his mother's meals if he didn't absolutely have to. He could still taste the bacon she'd annihilated that morning. ‘No, thanks.'

‘You look exhausted. Don't tell me you're heading back out to the paddocks tonight?'

‘Nah.' He shook his head, downed the rest of the water and then stood. He should be getting back to it – many farmers worked all night long this time of year – but he couldn't summon the mental or physical energy necessary. Not tonight. ‘If you're sure you're going to be all right, I'll give food a miss. But you know, if you change your mind, if you don't want to be alone tonight, you only have to call me.'

However much she irritated and frustrated him, she was still his mother and he was all she had. He could never give up on her.

‘I know.' Esther's eyes misted over and she surprised Adam by reaching out and drawing him against her. The last time she'd really hugged him, he had fitted into her arms, now it was the other way around. It felt weird, but also good. ‘Thank you, you're a good boy.'

Her surprising and unusual show of emotion had his tear ducts twitching. Thankfully, she retreated and he managed to pull himself together. ‘Right, I'll see you tomorrow, Mum. I've got to head into town to get a couple of parts, so let me know if you need anything.'

‘Will do. Goodnight.'

With a deep breath, Adam turned and headed down the hallway. Mutton, bored with Goldie's lack of enthusiasm for play, was upon him the moment he stepped outside.

‘Easy fella,' he said, ruffling the pup's ears as he tried to wrangle his feet into his boots without being knocked over. If only life was as simple as it was for his dog. He worked and played hard, ate and slept and didn't have a care in the world. Whereas tonight, Adam felt like the weight of the world was pushing down on his shoulders.

After a quick dinner of microwave pie and those much-needed painkillers, he showered and then collapsed into bed, eager for this day to be over. But although mentally and physically fatigued, sleep didn't come easy. His mind kept drifting to Stella and Heidi not too far away at the cottage. Were they settling in okay or were the strange noises that had already scared away a number of guests disturbing them too? Dammit, maybe he should have mentioned something. Then again Stella said she'd come from a farming background so she should be used to noises that go bump in the night.

Stop
, he told himself, shoving his pillow over his head in an attempt to get some peace.
They are no concern of yours.

He wanted to sleep, craved the oblivion it would bring, but his mind refused to shut off. Maybe because it was a Friday night and any normal single guy his age would be out having fun. The Palace in town would be cranking as usual but he had no desire to go there on his own and it seemed all his friends had recently hooked up. He was happy for them – for Faith and Monty, Ruby and Drew – but the older he got, the more friends he saw married off, the harder it got not to want that too.

*

Despite the fact it had taken her a long while to get to sleep in her strange, new surroundings, Stella woke early with the break of dawn sneaking in through the crack in the curtains.

The night had been a little eerie. She'd not lived in the country in a long time, and in the city the sounds of traffic overrode the sounds of the night. She'd told herself not to be silly – that everything would have a logical explanation. The door she'd heard shutting was probably due to a draft that had come in through an old, not properly sealed window and the noises that sounded like they were coming from the roof were almost definitely down to possums.

But it was a lot easier to be logical about such sounds in the light of a beautiful day.

The luxurious queen bed with its lush, newish sheets was really too big and she'd spent hours wondering if Heidi would climb in like she sometimes did at home during the night. But, exhausted from the day's excitement, Heidi had fallen into a deep slumber the moment her head hit the pillow in the room next door to Stella's and, if the silent house was anything to go by, she was still sleeping.

Stella rolled over, torn between making the most of a rare chance to lie in bed or getting up and enjoying her morning muesli in peace. As much as she adored Heidi, the moment she woke, silence would be off the agenda until bedtime. That thought had her leaping out the bed, slipping on her Crocs and heading into the kitchen. She opened curtains as she went, smiling at the perfect summer morning launching itself over the horizon. The endless paddocks of wheat and canola were a pleasant change from the boring houses she faced day in day out in the boxy Perth suburb she lived in.

Shaking cereal out of the box and into a bowl, she cocked her head, listening for any noises coming from Heidi's bedroom. Secure in the knowledge she was still asleep, Stella took her breakfast out onto the veranda and sat down in the love seat, swinging her feet absentmindedly. About halfway through her muesli, something swished against her leg and she almost leapt off the seat in terror. Somehow she managed not to spill anything and her heart returned to normal functioning when she looked down to find the cat from yesterday winding its ample body around her legs.

‘Hey there,' she said, reaching out to stroke the wretched looking thing. ‘Oh hello.' Her hand paused against the bulging stomach of the cat. If she wasn't mistaken, this feline was with kittens. Her motherly instincts kicked in.

Placing her bowl on the seat beside her, she said, ‘You wait right there and I'll get you some breakfast.'

While she dashed around the kitchen, opening a can of tuna and pouring a saucer of milk, she imagined Heidi's face when she told her there might be kittens on the horizon. Growing up on a dairy farm just outside of Albany Stella had experienced the birth of cats, dogs, ducks, chickens and calves and she'd loved every minute of it. She'd always assumed the farm would be part of her life – as far as she knew her family still lived there – and she'd missed it terribly living in the city. She only hoped she could woo the cat enough that she might have the kittens close to the house and let them be a part of it.

As this cat was wild, it was probably an impossible dream, but one she was willing to give her best shot. Still smiling, she took the dishes back out to the veranda and groaned when she found the cat on the love seat, its head in her breakfast.

‘Oh well.' Sighing, she put the tuna and milk down on the decking and leaned against the railing. ‘I guess you need it more than me, girl.'

The cat finished Stella's breakfast, leapt down and was halfway through the tuna when a ute sounded in the distance. Stella's stomach tumble-turned, the rest of her body stilling at the thought it might be Adam. She had no idea if Esther had a husband but there'd been no sign nor talk of one yesterday. The sound grew closer. Was he coming to the cottage? To see her?

Her hand rushed to her unbrushed hair and once again she cursed her attire. She didn't bother with pyjamas as such but her old T-shirt and sweat-shorts would be more embarrassing than if he caught her in saucy negligee. And her bright orange Crocs? Well, they were comfy but hardly fashionable.

Eek
. Why did she care what Adam thought? Why should she think he would even notice?

With that sobering thought, she turned slowly, preparing herself for the ambush of his gorgeousness against her inexperienced hormones, but such worries were unfounded. Although he slowed the ute slightly as he passed the cottage, beeped the horn and waved his hand through the open window, he didn't stop. She couldn't help but feel a wee bit disappointed. Had she been too quick to turn down his offer to show them around yesterday? Her body's way-out reaction to him had scared her, but this morning the idea of another adult to talk to, someone to show them the hot spots of Bunyip Bay, appealed.

‘Mummy.'

She turned at the sound of Heidi's sleep-soaked voice to find her daughter in the open doorway, her blonde hair standing at all angles and her eyes encrusted with sleep.

‘Good morning, sweet stuff.' Stella stepped forward for a hug, but Heidi looked past her, her eyes lighting up at the sight of the cat now lapping up the last of the milk.

‘Whiskers!'

Stella had all but forgotten the name Heidi and Esther had come up with yesterday.

Whiskers looked up, and for a moment Stella thought she looked set to make a run for it, but when Heidi bent down she let her cuddle her.

‘Careful,' Stella said, ‘I think Whiskers has babies in her tummy.'

‘Really?' Excited astonishment spread across Heidi's face. ‘Wow.'

Stella went to sit back in the love seat but Heidi shrieked just before her bottom hit. Whiskers sprang free and dashed off into the yard at the noise.

‘What is it, Heidi?' Stella stood bolt upright again, her heart slamming into her ribs.

‘You sat on Lily-Blue,' Heidi said, as if the reason for her yell was obvious.

Slowly Stella turned to look back at the empty love seat. ‘Lily-
Who
?'

Heidi was keen to explore the farm but Stella didn't think her body could handle another run-in with Adam just yet, so she lured her daughter into town with promises of a proper play at the park and a walk along the beach to collect shells.

‘Is Blue-Lily coming into town with us?' she asked as they headed for the car.

Heidi, who'd insisted on wearing her swimming costume and nothing more, made a frustrated click of her tongue. ‘
Lily-Blue
, Mummy.'

‘Sorry, sweetheart. I forgot.' Apparently
Lily-Blue
was Heidi's new imaginary friend. Heidi hadn't said much about her except that she was very pretty, the same age as she was and her favourite place to sit was the love seat out on the veranda. Just Stella's luck her new fave spot was also the fave of somebody she couldn't see. She guessed, as with every other imaginary friend her daughter had had, that she'd learn more about her as the weeks went on. Probably, just as she felt she knew the ‘person', they would disappear.

‘Nope.' Heidi shook her head. ‘Lily-Blue doesn't leave farm.'

‘Oh, okay then.' She smiled to herself – this would make things heaps easier. It was simple to pander to Heidi's friends when they were in private but strangers sometimes got funny about such things. Once in a café Heidi had got very upset when someone had wanted the chair her imaginary friend was supposedly sitting on. Stella cringed at the memory – in the end, they'd had to leave the café before someone had thrown them out.

She put on a Sunny Cowgirls CD as they drove into town and Heidi bopped along happily in her booster seat. Adam's farm was only a ten-minute drive from the centre of Bunyip Bay and an easy, calming drive at that. Stella counted a grand total of two other cars before she slowed into the main street.