Her Happy-Ever-After Family: The Cattleman's Ready-Made Family / Miracle in Bellaroo Creek / Patchwork Family in the Outback

He grinned then—a true-blue, solid-gold grin that hooked up his mouth and made his eyes dance. For a moment all Tess could make out was the brightness of the sun, the sound of the breeze playing through the leaves of the lemon tree and the force of that smile. She blinked and the rest of the world slowly surged back into focus.

‘From where I’m standing, Tess, my suspicion was more like wishful thinking and it wasn’t the least bit nasty. In fact, it was pretty darn tempting.’

Heat crept along her veins. She bit her bottom lip in an effort to counter its heavy throbbing. There was nothing she could do about her breasts, though, except to keep her arms tightly folded across them and hope their eager swelling didn’t show.

‘But I’m severing ties with Bellaroo Creek while you’re in the process of establishing them. And while I wouldn’t be averse to a purely physical arrangement…’

She shook her head.

‘That’s what I figured.’

She pulled a breath of fresh country air into her lungs to try to cool her body’s unaccountable response to the man opposite; to give herself the space she needed to remember the promises she’d made to herself. ‘Romance in any shape or form isn’t figuring on my horizon for the next year or two.’

He stared at her, frowned. ‘Why not?’

She glanced at Krissie still dozing beneath the lemon tree, and at Ty and Barney wrestling gently in the long grass down by the back fence. ‘Because at the moment the children need stability in their lives. Bringing a new man into the mix would freak them out, threaten them.’ For the next year or two she meant to focus all her energies on them and what they needed.

For pity’s sake! It couldn’t be that hard. She’d spent the last twenty-six years focussing on nothing but herself and her music. It wouldn’t kill her to put others’ needs before her own for a while. In fact, she had a feeling it was mandatory. Anyway, what did she know about romantic relationships? She’d had flirtations, but nothing serious or long-term. She didn’t know enough about them to risk Ty’s and Krissie’s well-being, that was for sure.

‘Tess, you’re young and beautiful. You’re entitled to a life of your own.’

She stared at him. Did he really think she was beautiful?

She started and shook her stupid vanity aside. ‘Well, then, hopefully another two years won’t make much difference to either of those things.’

‘I think you’re making a mistake.’

‘Ten months,’ she shot back. ‘I think you’re the one making a mistake.’

They glared at each other. ‘Speaking of nosy questions…’ his glare deepened ‘…I have one of my own.’

She moistened dry lips. ‘Oh?’

He hitched his head in the direction of the children. ‘Who hurt them?’

The strength drained from her legs. She reached out but the chicken coop wasn’t stable enough to take her weight. She backed up and plonked down on a load of timber Cam had placed to one side, a chasm opening up in her chest. She wanted nothing more than to drop her face to her hands, but if either child glanced her way it would frighten them, worry them, and calming their anxieties was her numberone concern.

Cam swore. She glanced up. With the sun behind her, she could see his face clearly and the range of expressions that filtered across it—concern, protectiveness…anger.

Who hurt them? Her chest cramped. She’d hoped…‘Is it that obvious?’ she whispered.

He eased himself down beside her. ‘Not at first.’

She had a feeling he was trying to humour her, to offer her some comfort, but there was no comfort to be had. Not for her.

‘Tess?’

She chafed her arms as a chill settled over her, although the sun and the air remained warm. ‘Their father,’ she finally said. ‘It was their father.’

From the corner of her eyes she saw one of his hands clench. She sensed that every muscle in his body had tensed. ‘He hit them?’

She nodded.

‘And he hit their mother?’

She nodded again.

‘The bastard!’

She had to swallow a lump at the pointlessness of it all. ‘Oh, Cameron, it’s so much sadder than that.’ Heartbreakingly sad.

‘Did he kill their mother and then commit suicide?’

Her head came up at that. ‘No!’ The police had been certain. ‘It was a car accident.’ She swallowed. ‘They hit a tree. The police who arrived first on the scene found an injured kangaroo on the road.’

‘They swerved to avoid it?’

‘I expect so.’

He reached out to clasp one of the hands she had clenched in her lap. ‘Tell me the sad story, Tess.’

Why did he want to know? And then she thought about Lorraine, and Lance and Fiona. Maybe something in Sarah and Bruce’s story would touch a chord with him. Maybe it would help heal the anger and pain inside him. Maybe it would help him find a way to forgive. Lance might not deserve that forgiveness, but she had a growing certainty that Cam needed to find it inside himself all the same.

His grip tightened and finally she met his gaze. She turned her hand over and without any hesitation at all he entwined his fingers with hers, giving her the silent strength and support she needed.

‘As far as I can tell,’ she finally started, ‘Sarah and Bruce were happy for most of their marriage.’ Though God knew she wasn’t an expert. ‘But two and a half years ago Bruce was involved in an accident at his work where he suffered a brain injury.’

‘Where did he work?’

‘In an open cut mine in the Upper Hunter Valley. An explosion went off when it shouldn’t have. It was all touch and go for a while. He spent four months in hospital and then had months and months of rehabilitation.’

‘What happened?’ he prompted when she stopped.

She clung to his hand. Unconsciously she leaned one bare arm against his until she remembered that there were still warm good things in the world. ‘His personality changed. This previously calm, family-oriented man suddenly had a temper he couldn’t control. It would apparently flare up at the smallest provocation.’ And then Bruce would lash out with his fists. ‘He looked the same, he sounded the same, but he was a totally different man from the one my sister had married.’

‘She should’ve removed the children from that situation immediately.’

Tess stilled. Very gently she removed her hand from his, and went back to chafing her arms. ‘We’re so quick to judge, aren’t we? But how sacred do you hold wedding vows, Cameron? Because my sister took them very seriously. For better for worse; in sickness and in health. The accident wasn’t Bruce’s fault. He didn’t go looking for it. He’d simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time. How do you abandon someone who’s been through that?’ She peered up at him. ‘I don’t think you’d abandon a woman who’d been through something like that.’

He stared at her and then dragged a hand down his face. ‘Did you know about the violence?’

Bitterness filled her mouth and she shook her head. ‘I was hardly ever in the country. I was too busy with my career and gallivanting around Europe and making a name for myself to notice anything.’

She’d been off having the time of her life while her sister had been living a nightmare. Sarah had always been so staunchly independent but that was no excuse. Deep down she’d known something had been troubling her sister, only Sarah would deny it whenever Tess had pressed her. Oh, yes, there had been signs. Signs she hadn’t picked up on.

Her vision blurred. Sarah had been so proud of Tess’s successes, but they were nothing—surface glitter with no substance. Like Tess herself.

‘Tess?’