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

‘Cam.’ The correction came out husky. The only person to call him Cameron was his mother. ‘But you’re right.’ He nodded towards the fields. ‘It’s beautiful.’

And by rights it should be his. He spun to her. ‘There’s something—’

‘I want to apologise for being late.’

He blinked at her interruption. ‘No problem.’

‘We had one threat of car sickness.’

He grimaced.

‘And I took a wrong turn when we left Parkes. I started heading towards Trundle instead of Bellaroo Creek.’

‘That’s in completely the opposite direction.’

‘That’s what a man on a tractor told us.’

He shifted his weight, opened his mouth.

She pointed back behind her with an infectious grin. ‘Do you know somebody left us a cake?’

He found one side of his mouth hitching up at her delight. ‘That’d be my mother. I’d know her sultana cake anywhere. It’s her speciality.’

‘Then you must stay for a slice.’

He adjusted his stance. ‘Look, there’s something I need to talk to you about.’

Her gaze had dropped to take an inventory of his shoulders and he could feel himself tensing up again, but at his words her eyes lifted. She sipped her coffee. ‘Yes?’

‘It’s about that land out there.’ He gestured out in front of them.

‘Wow! Look how big the yard is!’

With whoops, Ty and Krissie swooped down the back steps and into the yard. Cam winced at how overgrown it all was.

‘What kind of tree is that, Auntie Tess?’

She shaded her eyes and peered to where Krissie pointed. ‘Tell me?’ she shot out of the corner of her mouth and it made him want to laugh. ‘Please?’

‘Lemon tree,’ he answered in an undertone.

She turned and beamed at him. It cracked open something wide inside him—something that made him hot and cold at the same time. Before he could react in any way whatsoever, she set her coffee to the ground, danced down to the lemon tree and the children with her arms outstretched as if to embrace them all. But he could’ve sworn she’d whispered, ‘Smile,’ at him before she’d danced away.

‘It’s a lemon tree!’

The children cheered. They all started rattling off the things they’d make with the lemons—lemonade, lemon butter, lemon-meringue pie, lemon chicken, lemon tea—as if it were a litany they’d learned off by heart. As if it were a list that made the world a better place.

And as he watched them Cam thought that maybe it did.

‘Where do you live, um…Mr…?’

He gazed down at Krissie with her blonde curls, and her big brown eyes identical to Tess’s, and recalled the way she’d jumped when he’d first spoken. Smile. ‘You can call me Cam,’ he said, making his voice gentle. ‘If that’s okay with your auntie Tess.’

Tess nodded her assent, but he was aware that she watched him like a hawk—or a mother bear hell-bent on protecting her cubs.

‘You can see my house from here.’ He led them towards the line of Kurrajong trees at the side fence and gestured across the acre field to his home beyond.

‘Wow,’ Ty breathed. ‘It’s big.’

It was, and the sandstone homestead was a point of local pride. ‘My great-great-great-grandfather was one of the first settlers in the area. His son built that house.’

‘Is it a farm?’

‘It is. It’s called Kurrajong Station because of all the Kurrajong trees. It’s large for these parts at six thousand hectares.’ It wasn’t a boast, just pure fact.

‘What do you farm?’

That was Tess. He eyed her for a moment. He sure as hell hoped she didn’t have any interests in that direction. ‘Cattle, sheep and wheat mostly.’ And just as soon as he had his forty hectares back he’d be branching out into canola. Diversification would ensure Kurrajong’s future. And once that was all in place, he could leave.

For good.

‘Are we allowed to play in that field?’

Ty glanced up at him hopefully. Cam bit back a sigh. He didn’t have anything against the Save-Our-Town scheme in principle. He mightn’t want to live in Bellaroo Creek any longer, but his station’s prosperity did, to some extent, hinge on the town’s ongoing existence. It was just that in practical terms…

So much for his jealously guarded privacy.

Still, they were just kids. They wouldn’t disturb his peace too much. And kids would be kids—they’d want to explore, kick balls, run. Besides, he sensed that these kids needed more kindness than most. Rather than declare the paddock out of bounds, he found himself saying, ‘You’d better wait till you’ve made friends with my dog first.’

Ty’s face lit up. ‘You have a dog? When can we meet him?’

Cam shoved his hands in his pockets and glanced at Tess. ‘Tomorrow?’

She nodded. ‘Excellent.’

Her cap of dark hair glowed in the sun and her eyes were bigger than they had any right to be. He gave himself a mental kick and turned back to the kids. ‘I want you both to promise me something. If you see a paddock with either cows or big machinery in it, promise you won’t go into it. It could be dangerous.’

They gazed up at him with eyes too solemn for their age and nodded.

Lord, he didn’t mean to frighten them. Smile! ‘We just want to make sure you stay safe, okay?’

They nodded again.

‘And you shouldn’t go outside your own yard or this paddock without letting your auntie Tess know first.’

Tess watched Cam as he talked with the children. His initial gruffness apparently hid a natural gentleness for all those smaller than him. Not that there’d be too many who’d be larger! The longer she watched, the more aware she became of the warmth stealing over her.

She shook it off. She wanted this move to be perfect. She wanted to believe that everyone in Bellaroo Creek would have Ty and Krissie’s best interests at heart. She wasn’t going to let that hope lead her astray, though. Too much depended on her making the right decisions. She swallowed, her heart still burning at the children’s reactions when Cam had startled them—their instinctive fear and suspicion.