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‘Well, you should be thinking about it.’ She sighed impatiently. ‘Because I’d love it to be you being the one getting married sooner rather than later.’
‘Mum … ’ he said with caution. ‘You do fully understand what the doctor told us, don’t you?’
‘Yes, of course I do, I’m not senile yet.’ She sighed again, but this time it was done in a loving way. ‘I know in my heart of hearts that you’re going to live a long, happy life, Connor.’ She tapped his arm. ‘You’re not going anywhere.’
‘Yeah, well, if me getting married is meant to happen one day, it will, and if it’s not, then, it won’t.’ He half shrugged, trying his best to play it all down. ‘I’m not too concerned either way because if you look at the divorce rates, marriage is quite often a bad decision.’
‘Stop it, Connor.’ She gave him a little shove. ‘I’ll have you know that marrying and being married to your father was the best part of my life, and I want that kind of love, and life, for you, too.’
He feigned shock-horror. ‘I thought having me was the best part of your life.’
‘Nuh-uh.’ She waggled a finger at him, just like she had whenever she’d scolded him as a young boy. ‘Don’t try and weave your way out of this conversation with humour, Connor Gunn.’
‘Righto, then, spoilsport, I’ll try and be serious, for a minute or so.’ He huffed playfully. ‘Yours and dad’s marriage was one in a million, Mum.’
‘And you could have that too, Connor.’
‘Maybe, maybe not.’
‘Definitely.’ She wrapped an arm around him and gave him a squeeze. ‘You’re too much of a catch to be living the single life. There’s your special someone out there somewhere, looking for you, I just know it.’
‘I’ll take your word for it.’
‘You do that.’ She grinned and nodded. ‘I’ll be proving myself right, you’ll see.’
‘Thanks for loving me like you do.’ He didn’t know what he’d done in his past life to deserve a mother as good as his, and he thanked his lucky stars every day.
‘You’re an easy one to love, my boy.’
Before they got too deep and meaningful – they’d done enough of that in the hospital – he grabbed his now empty plate, stood and offered dessert. ‘Would you like cream, or ice-cream, or both?’
She rubbed her hands together. ‘Oooh, I think I’ll be naughty and have both.’
‘Ha, yeah, me too.’
The next hour floated along in an easy manner, and then, once the dishes were cleaned up and they’d chatted over a cup of tea, Connor waved goodnight to his mum as she hopped into her four-wheel drive and drove back towards the homestead. After flicking off the kitchen lights, he headed down the hall, cleaned his teeth, then climbed into bed. The last thing he thought of, as his eyes drifted closed and he met with sleep, was the frecklefaced girl of his long-ago past, her fiery red hair wild and free like flames, and her laughter sweetly addictive as they galloped across the paddocks of Gunn Station.
CHAPTER
4
Huffing and then cursing an entire sentence beneath her breath, Samantha applied the brakes, and backed off the accelerator until she was a couple of car lengths back. ‘Just bloody great.’
Sitting up the back end of the beat-up four-wheel drive that had rudely pulled out in front of her in a cloud of gravel and dust wasn’t making whoever was behind the wheel go any faster. If anything, they’d infuriatingly slowed down even more, as if to teach her a lesson in country road rules. The bigger the vehicle, the more right of way they had. That was usually how it went. Time very clearly hadn’t changed a thing. Where were the police when needed? The driver was doing thirty kilometres under the hundred k an hour speed limit and had been for the last couple of kilometres. She could already imagine an old farmer with nowhere pressing to be, just cruising from one moment to the next, with total disregard for people who had things to do, places to be, people to see.
On the verge of overtaking him, she decided not to. Why rush towards her ghosts? They weren’t going anywhere. With nothing to do but get lost in her thoughts, she pondered how choices were a funny thing. Making one could catapult a person from one life into another, backwards, forwards, around and around. From one side of the world to the other. The velocity of it made her head spin.
An indicator flicked to life.
‘Hurrah.’ She cheered loudly while fist pumping the air.
A glimpse of the driver in his side mirror as he turned off the highway confirmed her imaginings – he was as silver as a fox, with skin the texture of a prune after many, many years beneath the scorching Aussie sunshine. The English didn’t get leathery skin like this; there wasn’t enough sunshine to go around, let alone burn you to a crisp. Whereas here, under the tropical north Queensland scorching sunshine, it was a whole other story.
A story she’d been forcibly reminded of this morning.
Having taken advantage of her late check-out, she’d gone for a mid-morning jog along the timber boardwalk of the picturesque Cairns Esplanade in a bid to try and shake off her jetlag and pent-up nerves. Arriving in Gum Tree Gully wound tighter than a three-bob watch was going to do her no favours. She wanted to start the visit off on the right foot. Beginning her five-kilometre run at the skate park right beside the popular Muddies playground, she’d admired the sparkling trinity inlet and surrounding lush green mountains while passing meandering tourists and enthusiastic runners, people walking their dogs and riding their pushbikes, or lazing beneath the many banyan trees. As time had ticked by, and her runners had swallowed up the distance, she’d found herself lost in the entrancing beauty of it all until she’d met with the lagoon filled with swimmers cooling off and the odd backpacker having their morning rinse-off. As she came to a halt, the stillness of the air made her feel as though she’d just stepped into an oven. Swept up in the Far North Queensland splendour, she’d all but forgotten just how scorching even a spring day could be. She’d almost jumped into the sparkling coolness of the swimming lagoon out of sheer desperation, but the thought of retracing her steps in wet activewear stopped her, as did the contemplation of how many kids, and adults for that matter, that had opted to pee in the pool rather than make the lengthy trek to the public toilets. While she took her much-needed breather, the familiar smell of Aussie snags and onion sizzling on one of the public barbecues had made her stomach growl.
The entire way back to her swanky hotel the warmth of the pathway had felt as if it were seeping into her runners as the bright orb of the sun glistened in a sky so blue it was iridescent. Returning to her room for a cooling shower, she’d enjoyed a room-service brunch of eggs Benedict and the outlook from her ocean-view room for as long as possible before checking out and jumping behind the wheel of her hire car. It had taken her quite a few deep breaths before she’d centred herself and then turned towards the direction of Gum Tree Gully. Mile after mile, the further she’d gotten from the coast, and the deeper into the charred countryside, the lonelier the road had become, leaving her with nothing but her idle thoughts. Not the best thing. But she’d tried her best to focus on the journey, and not the destination, pleased that she hadn’t needed a map – she still knew the way like the back of her hand.
