Simon’s views on the development project would necessarily influence Antonia and his views were sure to be in line with Aidan, presumably Georgia and definitely Lauren and Rufus.
He really shouldn’t be taking Antonia out. The thought crossed his mind yesterday to phone and cry off. But he didn’t. And he didn’t pick up the phone this morning either, which proved his long-held belief that a person can justify anything to themselves if they tried.
He pulled into the driveway. The twins were on the verandah and as soon as they spotted him, raced indoors with a crash of the screen door. Was that a good sign or a bad? They were either excited and waiting for him or didn’t want to go and rushed to tell their mother the enemy was nigh.
The fluttering turned to drunken elephants rampaging through his middle. He got out of the car and approached the house. Voices came from inside and the thud of feet on the bare floors. He knocked on the screen door.
‘Hello, anybody home?’
‘Come in.’ Antonia’s voice floated down the hallway. ‘We’re nearly ready.’
Flynn stepped inside and let the door close on his sigh of relief.
‘Where’s your hat, Jacob? Have you been to the toilet?’
More thudding feet and a small body shot into view and out again just as quickly at the far end of the hallway.
‘Do you need a hand?’ Flynn asked in the general direction of the rear of the house.
Antonia came out of the kitchen carrying a large basket, a blanket and a plastic carry bag. Flynn hurried to take the basket and blanket and received a heart-stopping smile.
‘Thanks,’ she said. ‘Sorry. Hello.’
‘Good morning.’ He desperately needed to kiss that smiling mouth but Sarah was right behind her mother, dressed in pink shorts and top and holding a pink backpack.
‘Hello, Sarah,’ he said.
‘Hello.’ Not so shy now. School must have helped with that. ‘Mummy has yummy food but she won’t say what it is.’
‘That sounds very interesting.’ He caught Antonia’s eye but she looked away quickly. She wore her short denim skirt and a green blouse that emphasised her dark hair and eyes. So beautiful his breath caught.
‘Where’s Jacob? Come on,’ she called.
‘There’s no rush,’ Flynn said. ‘The waterfall’s not going anywhere.’
‘Yes it is,’ said Sarah. ‘It’s going over the cliff.’
Flynn laughed. ‘Clever girl. You’re absolutely right. It is.’
She giggled.
‘And you know what else is going somewhere?’ he asked.
She shook her head, dark brown curls bouncing around the sweet smooth-skinned face.
‘The path that goes to the waterfall,’ said Antonia.
‘And us. We’re going to them both,’ said Sarah.
Jacob came out of the bathroom.
‘Let’s go,’ said Flynn.
Antonia locked the front door and herded the children to the car. Flynn stowed the picnic gear in the boot, along with the esky he’d brought for the drinks and the waterproof ground cover to sit on.
‘Can I put these in your esky, please?’ Antonia took two plastic containers from the basket.
‘I brought water, juice and soft drink,’ he said as he packed in her items. ‘No alcohol. Is that all right?’
Antonia laughed. ‘What do you think I am? Of course it is. I brought a thermos of coffee too.’
He opened her door then hurried round to the driver’s side.
‘Seatbelts on?’
‘Yes.’
‘We’re all set.’
‘Let’s go, Joe,’ called Jacob.
‘Who’s Joe?’ said Flynn with a surprised laugh.
‘Let’s go, Flo.’ Antonia looked over to the back seat, smiling.
‘Let’s go, jumbo,’ said Flynn. Word games, he could play.
‘Let’s go, flamingo,’ said Antonia.
‘Let’s go, bingo,’ said Flynn.
‘Let’s go, tomato,’ said Jacob.
‘Let’s go, mango,’ said Sarah and both twins collapsed in giggles.
Smiling, Flynn said, ‘Smart.’
Antonia nodded. ‘They both are. They’re excited, they love picnics.’
Driving with the children in the back seat and Antonia by his side, Flynn’s nerves gradually settled to a hum of anticipation for the day ahead. His greatest fear had been allayed by the obvious excitement of the twins, the silly wordplay and Antonia’s reassurance.
‘I saw the waterfall walk in a brochure at the motel when I first arrived,’ she said after a few minutes. ‘I thought it might suit them.’
‘It will. There’s another one that’s longer and goes up and down a bit but they’d probably manage. We could go another day. If you like.’ He threw her a sideways glance but she was looking out her window.
‘That sounds nice. I haven’t explored the area much yet. I’ve never been on this road.’
‘It comes out past the cooperative. You can take the road to Simon’s but this is a better surface until we turn off into the National Park.’
‘How did that meeting go?’ she asked suddenly. ‘With the developer?’
‘What did you hear?’ Working in the cafe would give her the gossip firsthand.
‘Not a lot. I don’t think the councillors had much to report to the grapevine. As far as I can tell, nothing’s been decided.’
‘That’s right.’ Everyone had liked Baldessin and given him a fair hearing, which was all he’d wanted and expected at his stage. ‘We’re having a council meeting about it on Tuesday.’
‘Did he seem interested? The millionaire? I don’t know his name.’
‘Sean Baldessin. Yes, but it’s a matter of finding the right site. Flynn’s Crossing isn’t the only place he can set up his development.’
‘I don’t know much about that sort of thing.’
‘What do you mean?’
The way she said it made him look across at her curiously. She was an intelligent, aware woman yet she spoke as though she wasn’t clever enough to understand. She was.
‘Business,’ she said. ‘Finance. Investment. That sort of thing.’
‘Don’t know or aren’t interested? They’re different things.’
‘I don’t know about any of it. I don’t know about anything much.’
‘But you’re a very intelligent woman. What did you do when you left school?’ As soon as he’d said it he knew it was a stupid question. She’d been a pregnant teen, what could she do?
‘I … raised my children,’ she said.
‘By yourself?’ One question too far. Her face had closed into that blankness he’d seen before. Shutting him out.
Where was that abusive husband? When had her father stepped in to put an end to her torment? Connor wasn’t the type of man to stand by and allow his daughter and her children to suffer. All indications were it had been a fairly recent intervention. What the hell had happened to her? Where had she been living?
With the two in the back seat, this wasn’t the time to press for answers.
‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘Not my business.’
‘I’m sorry,’ she murmured, just loud enough for him to hear.
He forced a smile. ‘We’re even. Again,’ he said, hoping she’d remember the reference to her last apology. When he’d stolen a kiss.
The pink flush that glowed on her cheek proved she did. Could she be more beautiful, more attractive, more lovable? Not likely.
They drove in silence until he turned off the road onto the rougher dirt track that led to the parking area for the falls walk.
‘Mummy, there are lots of trees,’ said Jacob. Flynn looked at Antonia, frowning. The boy sounded frightened.
‘It’s okay, Jakey. This is where we’re going for our picnic.’
‘Is the waterfall in the big trees?’ asked Sarah. Timid all of a sudden. Where were those giggling, excited, little kids?
‘Yes, it is. We have to walk on the path betwee
n them for about ten minutes.’
Flynn parked in the clearing and opened his door.
‘Everybody out,’ he said.
Jacob and Sarah didn’t move. Antonia got out and leaned into the back, talking to them in a low voice. What was wrong?
He walked around to her side. ‘Everything okay?’
She straightened and moved away from the car. ‘They’re a bit frightened of walking in the bush. They—we—had a bad experience last year.’
‘You should have told me. Were they lost?’
She hesitated. ‘Sort of. It was very frightening for them. I’m sorry. It never entered my head they might not want to … I’m so stupid. I should have thought … I should have known it would worry them.’
‘Does it worry you?’ he asked gently.
She looked around at the trees, drew in a deep breath of warm air, heavy with the aroma of flowers and moist earth and vegetation. She shook her head. ‘No, it’s different up here. It’s beautiful.’
‘Maybe they’ll see that too.’
‘Maybe.’
‘We can have our picnic here in the clearing. There’s a table over there by the stream just down that slope.’ He pointed. ‘Will that be all right?’
‘I think so. Thanks for understanding, Flynn.’
‘I don’t really but I’m hoping you’ll tell me one day.’
He walked to the car. ‘Hey Jake, do you know how to skim stones?’
‘No.’ Interest sparked in the brown eyes.
‘Come and I’ll show you. We’ll have a go down at the creek.’
‘Where’s the creek?’
‘Just down there past the picnic table.’
‘I’m pretty good at skimming stones,’ said Antonia. ‘Come on. We can do that then have our picnic here in the clearing.’
Both children scrambled out of the car and stood staring around at the towering green giants. Flynn took his camera out of the boot and snapped off a few quick shots of the family. Both little faces were incredibly photogenic and had strong elements of their mother, but Jacob in particular had something of Simon in his mouth and eyes.
Flynn lowered the camera and led the way to the grassy area where the single old wooden table provided the picnic facility. The ground sloped gently down to the banks of the creek, which widened into a shallow pool before continuing on to join the river a few miles downstream. A fading sign pointed to the right, indicating the track to the waterfall.
‘Listen.’ Flynn put his finger to his lips. ‘What can you hear?’
‘The wind,’ said Sarah after a moment.
‘Birds,’ said Antonia.
‘Insects.’ Sarah again.
‘Splashy water,’ said Jacob.
‘That’s the waterfall,’ said Flynn. He walked down to the sandy creek bank and began looking for suitable stones. He selected a few and showed them to Jacob and Sarah. ‘We need flat ones like these.’
The twins scurried about, searching.
‘Watch this,’ said Antonia. ‘I’m the champion.’
She bent down and sent her stone skipping and bouncing across the water.
‘Four skips,’ said Flynn. ‘Pretty good.’
‘Told you. And I haven’t done this for years.’ She grinned. ‘What can you do?’
Flynn hefted a stone and made a show of preparing. His stone did six bounces and crashed into the far bank.
Sarah and Jacob clapped.
‘Show me,’ said Jacob. Antonia gave him a demonstration and he managed one hop before the stone sank. Sarah’s stone went straight under but they both took to it with a passion that surprised Flynn.
‘I didn’t think it would be that popular,’ he said to Antonia as they stood watching and encouraging the skimmers. He took more shots as they played, capturing their laughter, their intent faces and their enthusiasm.
‘There’s a lot that’s new to them,’ she said with a touch of sadness in her voice. ‘They didn’t have much opportunity to play before.’
He didn’t dare ask why.
‘Can they paddle here? Is it very deep?’ she asked.
‘In the middle it’d be up to their chests, but if they stay fairly close to the bank it’ll only be knee-high on them.’
Antonia was already kicking off her sandals. She waded into the creek and splashed about. ‘Ooh, this is so lovely and cool.’
‘Can we come in too?’
Flynn sat on the bank and took photos as the trio paddled about, skimming stones and exploring the creek bed. Who would have thought a picnic with two five-year-olds would be so much fun? Luckily, during his experience with the children doing photography at the primary school, he’d discovered that basically kids loved to learn and the more hands-on the better. His own life would have been quite different if someone had ignited a passion for learning in him at that age. But it was what it was and the best he could do was try to make amends in his own private way, in spite of having paid the legal penalty for his actions. The guardians of society might count his debt as paid but he doubted he ever would.
Eventually they straggled back and sat with him on the grass to let their feet dry.
‘Shall we eat first or go to the waterfall?’ asked Antonia.
Sarah and Jacob looked at each other. ‘We’re hungry,’ Jacob said.
Lunch was a casual, noisy affair and one of the most enjoyable meals Flynn had eaten in years. Antonia and the children were relaxed and happy, laughing over how much chocolate cake was a reasonable amount to consume in one sitting, arguing with Flynn over who got the last piece of cold grilled chicken and exclaiming in delight when he produced a tub of ice-cream from the esky.
Antonia poured coffee from the thermos for Flynn and herself while the twins scoffed ice-cream and mango slices.
‘Great meal,’ he said. ‘Thank you.’
‘It was your great idea and you brought the best bit in their eyes. Ice-cream.’
He raised his mug to her. She smiled across the table, her eyes linking with his, shutting down his brain, stifling his breathing. His pulse thudded in his ears, he couldn’t move. She had him pinned to the rough wooden bench, coffee mug raised, eyes locked on hers, pulling him in, devouring him whole. She was speaking but he couldn’t understand what she said.
‘Sorry, what did you say?’
‘I hope the coffee is all right.’
He took a quick mouthful and swallowed. ‘Fine.’
‘Good. I know you like espresso but this is from a plunger pot.’ Still so worried about doing something wrong or arousing his displeasure.
‘I’m not fussy. As long as it’s drinkable.’
Antonia began packing the dirty plates and bowls back into the basket and putting lids on the containers.
‘Do you two want to walk to the waterfall?’ she asked.
Another silent communication. ‘No,’ said Jacob.
‘We don’t like the big trees,’ said Sarah. ‘But we like the picnic.’
‘And the creek,’ added Jacob.
‘We can come another day when you feel like walking,’ said Flynn.
‘We want to skim more stones now,’ said Jacob.
‘Okay, we’ll watch from here. Don’t go in the water,’ said Antonia.
‘We won’t.’
Both children rushed down to the creek and began searching for flat stones.
‘It’s only early, what would you like to do now? We could go somewhere else.’ Flynn poured himself more coffee and topped up Antonia’s mug.
‘Do you have the time?’ she asked.
‘Of course I do, it’s Sunday. What about the markets in Kurrajong? Didn’t you say you wanted to go there?’
‘I do. Simon suggested it.’
‘Were you supposed to go today with Simon?’ Great. This outing was already causing a problem. How did Simon feel about being ditched?
‘Not really. I’d forgotten which Sunday it was so when he phoned I told him we couldn’t go. I was going to call him but he rang first.’
‘But we could have changed our picnic day.’
‘I’d already told you we’d come and they were really looking forward to it.’
Flynn shook his head gently, mouth tight. ‘Antonia, you can easily alter plans if you want to. I’d understand. Was Simon upset?’
‘Not upset … disappointed maybe.’
‘So we’d better not go to the markets today, had we?’
‘Probably not.’
Flynn sighed. ‘I think this should be our last outing.’
‘Why?’
‘I don’t want to cause trouble between you and Simon.’
‘Why would you be causing trouble?’
She sounded so genuinely bewildered Flynn had to smile. She had absolutely no idea how he felt about her and no idea how Simon did either.
‘He might be jealous.’
‘Jealous? Simon? Of what?’
‘Another man taking his family out,’ he said lightly, keeping the smile in place.
‘But that’s …’ She looked around as though trying to gain inspiration from the clearing and the parked car, the towering trees, the creek. ‘That’s archaic. The twins are his but I’m not.’ Her expression hardened. ‘I don’t belong to anyone and I’ll never belong to a man. Never.’ Her eyes turned flinty when she held his gaze. ‘This is my life and I make my own decisions about who I talk to or spend time with.’
‘Okay,’ he said carefully. Somehow he’d tapped into a deep well of resentment against, presumably, the man who had abused her, and the effects of which had tainted her view of all men.
‘But that doesn’t mean I want to deliberately hurt Simon’s feelings.’ The rage had subsided as quickly as it had arisen.
‘I understand that.’
‘Or anyone else’s.’ He took that to mean his own feelings, which at the moment were staggering under the realisation that Antonia was not only uninterested in him but she also wasn’t remotely interested in a relationship at all, with anyone. The question was could he turn that around? Should he try? And was Simon aware of the depth of her antipathy? He was in for a rude awakening if he wasn’t.
The House At Flynn's Crossing Page 13