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‘Ha, what loot?’ He looked to the bunch of envelopes clutched in her hands. ‘Thanks for grabbing the mail while you were in town.’
‘Not a problem.’ Walking straight over to his desk, she placed one in particular beside his empty coffee cup. ‘This one’s for you.’
He picked it up and looked at it. The front of the envelope was blank, as was the back. ‘What is it?’
‘Open it, and you’ll find out.’
He noted the seal was opened. ‘I see you’ve already read whatever it is.’ He looked to her. ‘Should I be worried?’
‘Yes, and no, no and yes.’
‘Bloody hell, Mum, now I am worried.’
She sunk to the arm of the single-seater couch, her strained expression a picture of concern. ‘I should have told you about this before now, but I was afraid you’d be terribly angry with me, and I wanted to give you time to heal after your operation, you know, to get back on your feet and back to normal.’
‘Okay.’ Now he was positively terrified. ‘Are you sick?’
‘No, nothing like that, it’s more to do with what happened between you and Sammie yesterday, which I appreciate you coming to me with, so you didn’t have to deal with it all on your own.’ She blinked quicker, folded her hands together and then took a slow, deep breath. ‘You know how we filled the paperwork out before your operation?’
He shook his head. ‘What paperwork?’
‘The forms that were to arrange the termination of your sperm bank.’
‘Yes.’ He stopped breathing, hoping, praying, she was about to tell him what he wanted to hear. ‘What did you do, Mum?’
She grimaced. ‘I never posted it.’
‘You what?’ There was a god, and he’d answered his prayers.
‘I’m so sorry, Connor, but I felt you were making a massive mistake, and I only did what I felt best at the time.’ She took a breath and went to continue.
‘You don’t need to explain, Mum.’ He leapt from the chair and dragged her into his arms. ‘Thank you, for not listening to me.’
‘Oh, son, I’m so happy you’re not mad with me.’ Crying with relief, she cupped his cheeks. ‘Now, you go and beg that amazing woman for her understanding about the night of her parents’ terrible accident, because she loves you, very much.’
Connor’s buoyed heart sank. ‘I’m not sure she’s ever going to forgive me for keeping it from her, Mum.’
‘Sammie’s got a good heart, so I know she will, Connor. Just don’t give up on her, and your relationship, too easily, okay.’ She smiled though her tears. ‘Sometimes you have to fight for what you want in this life, because the things that are worth the fight usually work out in the end.’
‘You really think she and I can work through all of this?’
‘I most certainly do, but if I’m wrong, and you can’t work through this, you’ll never work at marriage, because it’s a tough gig and only the strong survive it. So even though this is an almighty challenge, it’s a good sign of what’s to come.’
‘You always give great advice, Mum.’ Buoyed by his mother’s firm belief, he folded the forms and tucked them into his shirt pocket, then grabbed his hat from the chair and tugged it on. ‘I’m going to head over to Shea and Jack’s, so wish me luck.’
‘You don’t need it.’ She waved him off. ‘Now go, time’s wasting.’
After driving like a bat out of hell and skidding to a stop at the front of the homestead, Connor was dismayed when his knocks on the front door weren’t answered by Sammie. Grabbing his mobile, he tried calling her, five times, but every ring went unanswered. He could feel the paperwork in his top pocket, burning a hole right through his shirt, and his heart. He realised he should have called her straight away, but with his emotions running riot, he’d just wanted to get to her and speak to her face to face, heart to heart. Wandering around to the back of the house, he let himself in the back door.
‘Sammie, are you here?’
Silence was his only response.
‘Sammie!’
Nothing.
His stomach somersaulted – something wasn’t right.
