Fugitive Bride

Leah wondered if the unattached woman standing alone on that beach might be in Alan’s required age bracket. It was a distinct possibility, and she watched him angle the boat further in than usual.

The wide flat tides around Cable Beach made it impossible to use a regular dinghy to pick up their clients. Most times, Alan still couldn’t get the Zodiac right in, and the people had to wade out a bit into the water. He only made this kind of extra effort when a lady he fancied was concerned.

Leah shook her head. Some men were devils when it came to women and sex, she decided. She wanted nothing more to do with that type. Not ever!

Alan turned the Zodiac—now lined with people—and headed back towards the lugger, going as fast as ever. Show-off, Leah thought wryly as she moved to stand at the side railing, ready to help everyone aboard. Twenty seconds later, the small craft was close enough for her to make out the various eager and expectant faces.

When her gaze moved to the man sitting alone at the back her eyes flung wide, her heart missing more than a beat.

‘Oh, no,’ she groaned. ‘No, it can’t be.’

But there was no mistaking that handsome face. Or those penetrating eyes.

Her husband had found her.

There was no escape this time, not unless she flung herself into the depths of the Indian Ocean.

CHAPTER TWO

HER heart started thudding. Blood began roaring through her head. As did a whole host of furious thoughts.

How dared he pursue her like this?

Six months had gone by. Six long, miserable months. She’d just begun to feel safe. Just begun to feel as if she might survive without him. And what does he do? Turns up like a bad penny!

What in God’s name did she have to do to make good her escape? She’d fled the damned country, hadn’t she? Lived on the high seas. Worked menial jobs in far-flung harbours around the world for months before daring to return to Australia. Even then, she’d only stayed because this job had been in such a remote corner of the country. Gerard had always said he had no interest in any other state except Queensland.

How had he found her? Had some wretched tourist from Brisbane recognised her and reported back to him?

No, she decided. That wouldn’t have been likely. People from Brisbane rarely holidayed in Broome.

He’d found her the way men like him always found people. He’d hired some professional to hunt her down, to track her like some wretched criminal on the run. And now that she’d been found, he’d come himself to hound her into going back to him.

Well, she wouldn’t! Never! Ever! He would have to hog-tie her and drag her back to Brisbane. She would never voluntarily go back.

Leah had thought she’d be afraid if and when Gerard caught up with her, thought she’d be terrified of the wicked power he had over her. She wasn’t. She was simply livid!

Her eyes glared daggers at him as the Zodiac pulled alongside. She didn’t notice Alan glaring at her when she failed to take the rope and secure the boat to the lugger. All she saw was Gerard, staring back at her with a blank expression, as though he had no idea why she was scowling at him with such ill-concealed fury.

His lack of sensitivity only infuriated her further.

Alan finally communicated his own frustration with Leah by throwing the rope into her hands.

Reluctantly, she turned her attention to the job at hand, securing the boat to the side of the lugger. Her smile was stiff as she introduced herself, then proceeded to help the party aboard, finding out in the process that the first couple were called David and Dawn, and the second Geoff and Peggy. All four were around sixty and obviously good friends, confiding in Leah within seconds that they’d all retired recently and had been travelling around Australia together for several weeks.

The single woman’s name was Sandra. She was fortyish, as Leah had guessed. Quite attractive too, she supposed, if you liked plump blondes who wore too much make-up and gushed over everything. The avid glances Alan was giving Sandra’s womanly derriere as she stepped onto the deck seemed to indicate he did.

‘This is just too too exciting!’ Sandra enthused, one hand fluttering up to her throat as she gazed around with seemingly enthralled eyes.

‘Watch your step,’ Leah warned on sighting her high-heeled sandals. ‘The deck is smooth and can be slippery.’

‘Don’t you worry, sweetie,’ she said smugly. ‘I won’t fall. These shoes and I have gone to the top of Ayer’s Rock together. They’re like part of me.’

Leah could believe it. She’d met other women like Sandra on her travels. They looked all fluff on the surface, but underneath were tough as an old boot. They were survivors, the Sandras of this world. Not like the Leahs, the silly, soft, sentimental Leahs…

Leah gathered all her newly found courage and turned to face Gerard. He rose from where he’d remained sitting at the back of the small craft, his face now the picture of puzzlement.

Did he think he was fooling her with that stupid expression? She knew why he’d come. To get her back! The almighty Gerard Woodward could not be allowed to be seen to be a failure. His marriage could not possibly end in desertion, or, even worse… divorce!

Her temper rose another notch, so much so that when Gerard took a step towards the front of the Zodiac she was ripe and ready for him.

‘Not you,’ she spat at him, jabbing her right index finger towards his chest. ‘You can just stay right there and let Alan take you back to the beach!’

He blinked while Alan simply gaped. Leah was aware of Sandra gasping behind her.

‘Good God, Leah,’ her boss spluttered. ‘What’s got into you?’

‘I’ll tell you what’s got into me. That person there,’ she ground out, pointing straight at Gerard’s cold-blooded heart, ‘isn’t the innocent tourist he’s pretending to be. He happens to be my ex-husband. He isn’t here for a simple cruise. He’s here to make trouble. Believe me when I tell you he’s a sneaky, conniving conman and you can’t believe a word he says!’

Alan gave the sneaky, conniving conman a darkly suspicious glance. ‘Is that true? Are you Leah’s ex-husband?’

‘No,’ came the cool reply.

Leah laughed. ‘Okay, so you want to be literal! Legally, you are still my husband, I guess. But I walked out on our ghastly marriage six months ago, Alan, and haven’t seen this mockery of a husband since that day. In my book, that makes him about as ex as you can get.’

‘I’m not her husband, either,’ the mockery said.

Now it was Leah’s turn to gape.

‘Not my husband!’ she finally snapped. ‘What kind of game are you playing, Gerard? You can’t get a divorce in this country under twelve months, no matter how much money and connections you’ve got. I know. I asked.’

‘I’m not your husband because I’m not Gerard. But I can understand your mistake. I’m Gerard’s twin brother… Gareth.’

Leah was speechless. But not for long.

‘Gerard doesn’t have a twin brother,’ she argued. ‘He doesn’t have a brother at all. Period! He’s an only child.’

‘Is that what he told you?’ came the calm query.

‘Yes!’

‘What else?’

‘What do you mean, what else?’

‘I mean… regarding his family.’

‘He doesn’t have any family. His mother and father died some years back.’