Red Dust Dreaming (7 page)

“Not at all,” Elizabeth smiled quickly as she mentally adjusted her attitude down a few gears. “I was just getting ready to go to bed.”

“Good,” said Thelma brushing past Elizabeth on the way through the door. “I thought you might like to take a look at these.” She dumped the books on the end of the bed in an untidy pile.

“What are they?” Curiosity got the better of Elizabeth. She closed the door and came closer.

“Photo albums. Mrs. Carlyle liked to record the goings-on around here. These particular ones are filled with photos of your sister and nephew. Thought they might help fill in some gaps as Angela isn't here to do that herself.” Thelma regarded Elizabeth with her head cocked to one side, her eyes bright like a magpie's.

“I don't know what to say.” Elizabeth cautiously touched the cover of one of the albums, pulling her hand back as if scorched. What would she find inside? She wasn't sure she was ready to see pictures of Angela happy in a life with Luke… and Caden.

“Thank you is enough for now,” said Thelma. “If you've got any questions you can ask me tomorrow. I'm for bed; dead on me feet.” And with that utterance Thelma trundled to the door, flung it open and departed.

Elizabeth roused herself from her second big shock of the night and closed the door again. This time she drew the old fashioned bolt across. Not that she expected any more visitors more from a desire to feel safe from any other onslaughts on her emotions.

The albums sat on the end of the bed singing their siren song: open us, come see what lies within. She really didn't want to. It was too late to start a journey down memory lane especially when she wasn't sure what she'd find or more importantly, how she'd react to it. She picked them up to move them then stopped. Just a small peek wouldn't hurt. If she started with an early one where Angela was pregnant… just a page or two that's all…

Caden couldn't focus on work. Last night's fight — and kiss — had kept him up most of the night. He'd castigated and congratulated himself by turns. The whole situation was a mess. If Elizabeth wasn't intent on taking Luke with her he'd have insisted she leave immediately. He took a sip of steaming coffee and put the mug down a little too hard on the table.

Thelma shot him a look as she buttered another piece of toast for Luke who sat munching away, oblivious to the tension in the room. “You got a problem Caden?”

“Where is Aunty Elizabeth?” Luke asked.

“Don't talk with your mouth full,” Caden said automatically. “I have no idea where Aunty Elizabeth is. Maybe New Yorkers like to sleep the day away.”

“Hey!” Thelma flicked him with the tea towel she perpetually carried over one shoulder. “Enough of that. Mind your tone around the boy.”

“Sorry,” muttered Caden rebelliously. He buried himself in his coffee, resigned to seething in silence.

“She's just got a little jet lag is all, honey,” Thelma addressed Luke.

“What's jet lag?” Vegemite smeared Luke's face.

“Good question,” said Thelma. “Caden here fancies himself pretty smart. Why don't you ask him?”

Caden swallowed the barb with the last mouthful of his coffee. Thelma wasn't giving him quarter this morning. No doubt she'd heard the argument and had her opinion. Clearly it didn't favour him. “You know how when its day time here in Australia it can be night time on the other side of the world?” Luke nodded. “Well, when you come from the other side of the world you're not used to being awake at this time. You've got to adjust. You get tired and sleepy. Eliz… Aunty Elizabeth is catching up.”

“It's because of time zones, isn't it?” Luke asked as he began devouring his second round of toast.

“Yes it is.” Caden couldn't hide his surprise. When did Luke learn about time zones and from who?

Luke nodded sagely. “Mrs. Pearce explained them to us when she went on holiday to China,” he said as if he'd read Caden's mind.

“Ah! Mrs. Pearce.” Caden nodded as if he understood everything.

“Teacher.” Thelma provided as she took his empty cup from the table and put it in the sink.

“I know,” Caden said trying to keep the defensive note out of his voice.

“Really?” Thelma checked the clock hanging on the wall. “If you're not planning to do any useful work today maybe you can spend some time with Luke and Mrs. Pearce.” She didn't wait for a reply. “Luke, go wash your face and brush your teeth. School will start shortly and Caden is going to help you today. Aren't you, Caden?”

“Woohoo!” Luke discarded his crust and jumped down from the table. “You never get to do School of the Air with me,” he said. “I am so happy.” He took off out of the kitchen at breakneck speed.

“I guess I'm on school duty then.”

“Won't hurt you,” said Thelma as she filled the sink with hot water and detergent. “And while we're on the subject of hurt how about you go easy on Miss Elizabeth?”

Caden coloured slightly. “Don't know what you mean.”

“Sure you do. I heard the two of you at it last night like a couple of stray cats scrappin'. Hell, all of Alice Springs could've heard you two!” Thelma slid the breakfast dishes into the hot water ready to wash.

“Not my proudest moment.” Where Thelma was concerned things always went better if a person owned their mistakes and petty crimes. He'd learned that as a boy.

“Glad to hear you know it,” she grunted as she began to wash the dishes. “Now get over hear and help dry. You've got time.”

Caden did as he was told. The last thing he needed was a cranky Thelma. He had enough on his plate.

For a while the hot sudsy water swishing over the plates was the only sound in the kitchen. Caden let each dish drain for a moment before carefully drying it with Thelma's tea towel.

After a while Thelma spoke again. “You're thinking about this situation all wrong. You need to be showing Elizabeth how good a job you've done raising the boy. Show her Luke's best qualities. Show her what Kirrkalan has to offer.” She stopped washing the dishes and turned to face him, her hands still in the soapy water. “You want to stand a chance of keeping the boy you got to go about this a different way.”

Caden snorted derisively. “Keep the boy? As if that is ever going to happen. There is no will Thelma. Angela hasn't appointed a legal guardian for her son and you know the courts will rule in favour of blood in the end. They always do.” He stacked the still warm plates ready to go in the cupboard.

Thelma shrugged and returned to her work. “You don't know that for sure. The thing isn't settled yet and anything can happen. Just don't go making an enemy out of Miss Elizabeth or you'll stand no chance at all.”

Caden sighed. Maybe Thelma was right although it pained him to say it out aloud. What was he supposed to say to Elizabeth after last night's little debacle? Sorry? Not on the agenda. He'd stand by every word he said. Angela hated her childhood and loathed her parents. Elizabeth had given in, conformed, had taken the easy way out. That was her choice. To hear Angela tell it her sister had struck out on her own before her parents had blackmailed her back into the fold. He didn't want people like that with their hands on Luke. What would they make of him? He finished drying the dishes and tossed the damp tea towel on the bench.

“Go and help Luke with his schooling,” said Thelma as she began wiping down the bench. “I'll make you all a picnic so when you're done and Miss Elizabeth is up you can take her out for a ride. She'd like that and so would Luke.”

“But…” Caden tried to find an excuse and floundered.

Thelma stopped what she was doing and simply raised her eyebrows at him. It was enough and he left the kitchen with his tail between his legs.

***

Elizabeth woke with a start, her heart pounding. She stared uncomprehendingly at the unfamiliar room for a moment before remembering where she was: Kirrkalan. The Outback, whatever that was. She sighed and rolled over. The photo albums sat on the floor, stacked in a careful pile. She'd gone through each and every one of them last night, unable to put them down once she'd started. Images danced across her mind. Angela swollen with child, laughing at whoever was behind the camera. Luke, so tiny, cradled in her arms. A gentle looking woman Elizabeth took to be Mrs Carlyle with her arm about Angela's shoulder looking as proud as a mother could be.

She turned away and studied the light filtering in around the edge of the blind. How could her own mother stand to miss such an important event? Had her innate snobbery really kept her from the birth of her only grandchild? Elizabeth screwed up her eyes until colours danced behind the lids. Angela looked happy in the photos, truly happy, in a way Elizabeth couldn't remember. Dancing joy, spontaneous laughter, glowing pride — these were things never captured by a Langtree camera. No, Langtree photographs were carefully staged events of moments of glory. Graduations, awards, fund raising events for one of her mother's many charity interests.

Sighing, she pushed herself to a sitting position and ran a hand through her unruly hair. Other images bothered her too. The ones of Caden — Caden and Angela to be specific. The photo she both loved and hated in equal measure showed Caden with her sister slung over one shoulder and toddler Luke clinging to his leg. Everyone is laughing. Everyone belongs together in a way she'd never belonged to anything or anyone. Melancholy settled on her chest like an incoming fog. The images in the albums had shown her a family, maybe not of blood but a real family all the same. The Langtrees, with their frosty formality, could never offer Luke that but wasn't his place with his relatives, not here in the middle of the desert now his mother was dead?

Elizabeth slid out of bed and checked her watch. She gasped when she saw the time. It was nearly ten o'clock! The day was half over. At least Caden would be out doing whatever it was he did. She wouldn't have to face him until dinner. If she were careful she could keep Thelma or Luke as a buffer between them. The trick would be not to find herself alone with him. They'd just fight again or worse! She shuddered as she remembered the kiss. Despite her best intentions she found Caden unbelievably attractive. Just thinking about him caused the heat between her thighs to increase tenfold. She jumped up and down trying to shake him off, embarrassed, aroused and terrified he'd somehow know how she felt just by looking at her. Remembering the line from South Pacific she headed to the shower. That's what she'd do, she'd wash that man right out of her hair!

Half an hour later she sat at the kitchen table cradling a mug of hot coffee, her hair still damp. No point in blow drying it. She didn't want Caden to think she was a making an effort on his behalf. Thelma poured a cup of coffee and joined her at the table.

“Oh, my poor old bones,” she said as she lowered herself into a chair. Elizabeth thought she'd never seen anyone more robust in her life. “I ought to be retired you know. The sooner Caden finds a new housekeeper the better.”

“You're going to miss Luke, aren't you?” Elizabeth leaned forward, elbows on the table, keen to find out more about the stories behind the photos she'd seen last night.

Thelma's eyes misted over. “Yeah, I will miss the little bugger. I was here the day he was born. What a to-do that was! Had to fly the midwife in. No time to get to the hospital. Boy decided to come early. Luckily Mrs. Carlyle and I had been through a few births ourselves. We got Angela started.” Thelma paused to drink her coffee. “She was a good girl, your sister.”

Elizabeth nodded and dropped her eyes, giving the older woman a moment to compose herself. “Thank you for giving me those photos to look at. They… helped.”

“It's a hard place you're in, my girl, no doubt about it. But you seem like the sensible sort, you'll find your way.”

“I wish I was so certain. If only Angela has left some indication of her wishes, something that could stand up in court. I know how much our childhood scarred her, how much she craved affection and approval she never got. I know she'd want better for Luke. I just wish she'd been clear about it.” Elizabeth slumped in her chair with the weight of the problem. As if she had a choice in the matter! Her father and mother wouldn't stop until they had possession of Luke. They saw it as their God given right. They couldn't control Angela so they would control her son.

“Luke is lucky to have you.” Thelma reached across the table and covered Elizabeth's hand with hers. “You'll find a way to do what's best for the boy. You'll know what to do when the time comes.”

Elizabeth looked at the old woman, tears blurring her vision. “But how Thelma? How do I know?

“Know what?” Caden's voice shattered the moment. Thelma removed her hand and put it under the table as if she'd been caught stealing lollies from a jar.

“Nothing!” The blush travelled up Elizabeth's throat and raced towards her brow in a hot rush.

“Really?” Caden's tone told her he didn't believe her. He stood, filling the doorway, blocking the only exit making her nervous.

He let a long moment pass, one in which he did nothing but stare at her as if he'd not seen her before. She squirmed slightly in her seat, trying to sit still while longing to run as far away as her legs would carry her.

“So are you ready?” he finally asked.

“Ready? For what?” She looked from Caden to Thelma, confused.

“You haven't told her?” Caden shifted his attention to Thelma for which Elizabeth was grateful.

“Not my place,” said Thelma as she rose from the table and made herself busy elsewhere in the kitchen.

“What is going on?” Elizabeth's mounting frustration trampled her embarrassment.

“You might want to go and get changed,” was all he said.

“You are the most infuriating man I have ever met. Just tell me what's going on!” She pushed away from the table and stood up. He'd been in the room less than five minutes and already he'd made her mad.