by Diana Fraser
He didn’t see her at first. Just heard Dallas and James yelling to each other as they connected up the hose and pointed it at the fire. Smoke billowed out of the house but the fire continued to burn. The hose wasn’t powerful enough so the two men focused on soaking the area around the house to stop the spread of fire, getting it under control just as the sound of the fire siren sounded in the distance.
Callum groped forward through the smoke and suddenly heard her cough as she moved away from the heat of the flames and thick smoke that filled the air.
He strode over to her. “You okay?”
“I think so.” She was looking down at the stranger who still lay, semi-conscious on the ground. “We’re safe now, aren’t we?” She looked up with scared and trusting eyes.
“Yes. He’s not going anywhere in a hurry.”
“And the fire?”
“Under control.” He gestured to his brothers. “They know what to do. We grew up out here, remember.” He held her face gently in his hands and brushed the streaky soot from her cheeks. “You sure you’re okay?”
She nodded. “He didn’t hurt me.” She tilted her head to one side as she held his gaze and slid her hand around his cheek. “I’m okay. Really. He just scared the living daylights out of me.” She tried to smile, tried to reassure but it would take more than a watery smile to banish the memory imprinted on Callum’s mind, of Gemma, trapped by the arms of this stranger.
“What was he after? Money? Why the hell would he want to hurt you, someone he didn’t know?”
A pained look came over Gemma’s face, but before she could answer, a shout from Dallas roused them both.
“Get in the car,” Callum insisted. “Lock it and stay there. I’m going to help Dallas and James.”
He waited only to make sure Gemma had done as he wanted before he joined his brothers, while still keeping an eye on the prostrate figure. It was too late to save the house but they managed to contain the fire, and the surrounding trees and grass escaped the inferno. It was only minutes before the fire truck arrived and took over.
The three men, blackened, exhausted and coughing moved back to the stranger who was now standing, shaking his head and swaying. Gemma joined them.
He focused unsteadily on her and tried to walk towards her but James grabbed the man’s arms and drew them up his back. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“Who the hell are you?” Callum asked, walking up to the stranger until they were practically nose to nose.
The man hadn’t shifted his gaze from Gemma. “Are you going to tell them, Princess?”
Callum turned slowly to Gemma, a sickening chill sinking into his gut. “Gemma?” he gasped. No one would have heard above the noise of the fire truck and the men who still worked on soaking the dying embers of the house.
“No answer, Gemma?” The man asked. “Perhaps I should tell them.” He spat blood onto the blackened ground and then looked at Callum with cold, murderous eyes. “She’s my lover, my partner, my girlfriend. Whatever else you want to call her.”
Callum flexed his fist ready to launch it once more into the man’s face when he felt a gentle touch on his arm. “No don’t, Callum. Let me explain.”
Callum couldn’t bring himself to look at Gemma. He kept his eyes on the man. “Go on. I’m listening.”
“This is Paul. My ex. From London.”
Callum closed his eyes briefly as jealousy slammed into him with a force he felt physically. “Ex. So not ‘lover.’”
“No. Not.”
Callum watched as Paul’s eyes focused, not angrily, but puzzled, on Gemma. He shook his head. “Why deny it, Princess? You’ve made a mistake and now you’re coming home, with me.”
Gemma face was white with shock. She shook her head. But Callum hadn’t a clue whether the gesture was meant for him or for the stranger.
“Just tell me, Gemma, what the hell’s going on?”
“Paul won’t be alone, Callum. He’ll have arranged for his men to arrive soon.”
“If he had other people in New Zealand, they’d be here, now, with him. Wouldn’t they?” He turned to Paul.
Paul nodded slowly. “I decided to come alone to get Gemma back. My mistake.”
“The police are on their way.” Dallas pocketed his cell phone.
“Gemma! For God’s sake what are you playing at? It’s time to go home. With me.”
“Can’t you see, Paul? It’s over. I’m pregnant, married to Callum. My future’s here.”
Paul shook his head, disbelieving. “It’s not over. You’re wrong.”
James yanked Paul away from Callum while Dallas stepped between them.
“Callum, why don’t you take Gemma home and James and I will look after our visitor.” Callum knew what Dallas was doing. Dallas was afraid Callum would hit Paul and keep on hitting him. That he wouldn’t be able to stop. And he was right. Callum nodded to Dallas and put his arm around Gemma and walked towards the car without a further word.
But Gemma turned back to James. “Where are you taking him?” Gemma’s soft voice cut through the thick smoky atmosphere.
“To let the cops deal with him.”
“It’s not over, Gemma,” Paul whispered.
Callum pulled Gemma away.
“She’ll leave you,” Paul called to Callum’s back as he and Gemma walked away. “Don’t think she won’t. She came from nowhere. She’ll disappear there again. You can’t trust her.”
Dallas was called over by the fire crew and Paul took the opportunity to suddenly swing an accurate, sharp punch at James’s face, taking him by surprise, followed by a swift kick to his groin. James doubled over, releasing Paul from his grip and, before Dallas or Callum could reach Paul, he’d jumped into his car and roared off, onto the road, towards town. Dallas jumped into his car and roared off close behind.
James pulled out his cell phone. “I’ll have people waiting for him in Tekapo. He won’t get far.”
The three of them watched the smoldering mess that was all that was left of Blackrock homestead.
“Nothing left,” Callum murmured.
“And you know what that means,” James added. “The caveat’s gone and the land can be sold.”
Callum shook his head. He couldn’t even think about that now. He was hurting in every fiber of his body. Not because of the smoke inhalation, not because of the minor burns on his hands, but because Gemma hadn’t trusted him with the truth and he’d not been there to protect her. Yet again, he’d failed to protect the woman he loved.
He closed his eyes as the last thought jumped, fully formed, into his head. He loved. Of course he loved her but he’d been too damned scared to admit it. “Come on, I’ll take you home.”
“Home?” She shook her head. “My home’s gone.”
“Glencoe, I mean.”
They exchanged silent looks as she climbed into the car and slumped back against the seat, exhausted. There were so many things to say. But they could wait. He had to get her home and safe first.
A dull red glow still lingered in the sky behind them as they drove back to Glencoe.
“So… as James said, now there’s no house, there’s no caveat. You can buy the land from Sarah. You’ll get the land because of me, just not quite how you expected to. If this had happened yesterday, you wouldn’t have married me.”
“I would still have married you.”
Her brows knitted together in angry confusion. “Why the hell would you want to do that? You can have access to your child without marriage, you can get the land you so wanted. What else would marriage give you?”
He glanced at her. “You.”
She turned away abruptly. “Me.” There was a long pause. “That’s right. That way you have control. Just like…”
Before Callum could respond, his phone rang.
“It’s me,” Dallas’s voice came over the speaker. “Is this on speaker?”
“Yep,” Callum replied.
“Then take it off.”
&nb
sp; Callum frowned and brought the phone to his ear. He listened to Dallas’s brief words and clicked off the phone.
“What was that about?”
Callum hesitated. “It’s Paul.”
“What about him?” Callum hated the concern in her voice.
“Dallas found a car in the river—Paul’s car. It failed to take the horseshoe bend. The police are there now and they can’t find any trace of him.”
Gemma groaned and pulled her hands up around her face and curled into the seat, away from him.
Gemma felt numb as she stepped out of the car in front of Glencoe, now deserted of visitors. She followed Callum into the library and sat down gratefully. Soot streaked his face, his eyes were red from smoke and his mouth was grim.
“Why didn’t you tell me about him?”
“I couldn’t. He was my past, a past I was running from and was terrified would catch up with me.” She shook her head. “I couldn’t tell anyone.”
“You didn’t trust me.”
“I was scared. I didn’t trust anyone to know about him. I’d tried to leave him before but my plans had always been blown by so-called friends. I couldn’t trust anyone.”
“You could have trusted me.”
“I didn’t know that to start with and by the time I realized I could, it seemed too late to tell you. I rationalized it by saying that it wasn’t your business, it was mine. I was wrong.”
“Tell me now.”
“He wasn’t an easy man to leave. He loved me in his own way. I had to leave everything behind and tell no one where I was going. He wouldn’t let me go anywhere without his knowing, he didn’t want me to wear anything other than what he chose, I couldn’t talk to anyone he didn’t approve of. And God forbid if someone chatted me up. I’d never see them again. And then I started to hear how he made his money. I began to see where his tight-knit group of friends and relatives fitted into the scene. People came to them with grievances and they fixed them. I suddenly discovered I was locked into a strait jacket in the center of an organized crime gang.”
“And so you found yourself staring at a map in the middle of New Zealand one day.”
She nodded. They sat in silence as Maria walked in with a tray of hot drinks and food. Maria began to speak but Callum silenced her with a look. The door clicked shut after Maria left.
“It’s over now, Gemma.” He couldn’t read the expression in her eyes.
“Yes, it is.”
“You and Paul, it’s over. Finished.”
“No, Callum. It’s you and I who have no future.”
“What?”
She saw the shock in his eyes. He didn’t understand her at all.
“I’m sorry. I’m grateful for what you did with Paul, back there, I really am. But don’t you see? What you and your brothers did was exactly like Paul and his gang would have done. Bowled on in, thrown a few punches and sorted things out and then carried off the woman.” She stood up wearily. Her legs felt like lead, her heart felt even heavier. “I can’t deal with that. I can’t live my life like that. It’s not me. I don’t want it. You’re all so controlling and I don’t want to be controlled. Why can’t you understand that?”
“Controlling? It’s just…” He shrugged. She could see that he found it difficult to understand what she was saying because how he’d behaved was second nature to him. “Just sorting out a situation. What did you want me to do? Say, ‘Hi Paul, how’s it going? Want to manhandle my wife, that’s fine, go ahead.’”
“No of course not.” She shook her head in confusion. “No. I’m grateful. Really. You got me out of a bad situation. But I can’t stand being pushed and pulled about like some kind of helpless pawn. I need space to be myself.”
He just shook his head. “I don’t understand.”
“No. I know you don’t. And until you can understand, we have no future.” She walked over to the door.
“Where are you going?”
“Into Tekapo. I’ll go to Rebecca’s. She’ll put me up.”
“Stay. At least tonight. Stay here, in your room. We can talk.”
“And go round and round? No, I’ve got to move on, Callum.”
“Not with my child.”
“Well,” she smiled sadly. “I can’t very well leave him behind, can I?”
“Stay.”
She shook her head.
“I’ll drive you there.”
“I’ve asked Morgan.”
Callum stepped back. “You’ve got it all worked out.”
“No, the only thing I’ve worked out is what I don’t want.” She walked away, her heart breaking with every step but it would be more than her heart she’d be breaking if she stayed, it would be her spirit. “I’ll be in touch.”
“Gemma. Come back to me. Soon. I’ll be waiting.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Autumn had arrived early and the leaves of the cherry trees that lined the lakefront road had turned russet but still clung to the branches. Callum had let weeks pass by while he waited for Gemma to heal and to understand. But the waiting hadn’t worked and she still hadn’t returned to Glencoe.
He lifted the collar of his coat to keep out the chill wind that blew down from the mountains and stippled the surface of the glacial green lake. He patted his jacket, searching for the outline of the sheaf of papers tucked in his inside pocket. Satisfied, he looked across at The Lake House Café. The afternoon light was waning and electric light spilled out into the gloom from its tall windows. Laughter and music wafted across to him on the chill breeze. The passenger door clunked shut and James walked round to join him and together they walked across the car-lined street.
James raised his eyebrows. “Ready to face your wife?”
“I’ve been ready for a while.”
“Then you should have made a move before now. Have you spoken to her at all?”
“A little. We talked about her friend, Sarah, who’s okay. But mainly about McCarthy—her ex.”
James nodded grimly. “Sounds like he’s gone to ground in the UK.”
“He’ll never be allowed back into New Zealand. He’d be arrested at the border if he tried.”
“Must have been some comfort to Gemma.”
“Must have been. Don’t know. We didn’t talk much.”
“I can’t see there’s much to say. I can’t understand why you didn’t do your usual macho display, go round there and carry her off.”
They walked up the steps to the café. “Yeah, right. That would have frightened her off for sure. No, I’ve been waiting for her to make the first move. It’s up to her.”
James opened the door. “Good luck. If you need any tips, just ask.”
Callum ignored James’s wide grin and didn’t bother to reply. He grabbed a drink from a passing waiter and made his way through the crowds, looking for Gemma. Suddenly a group of people moved out of the way and Gemma came into view. She was resting on a stool, talking animatedly to a group of people who were studying one of her many paintings on display around the café.
James came and stood beside him as Rebecca, Gemma’s friend, passed by. Callum greeted her and James twisted round, following Rebecca with his eyes as she walked away.
James whistled under his breath, turned back to Callum and grinned.
“Don’t go there, James, not unless you want Morgan on your back.”
“Why?” James leaned back against a wall and sipped his red wine. “Are they an item?”
“Not yet, but not through want of trying on Morgan’s part. The lovely Rebecca has her mind on the stars.”
“She works at the observatory, you said?”
“She’s an astronomer doing research on something that fries my brain just thinking about it.”
“That’s because you’re a practical man, whereas I, dear brother, understand all about women with stars in their eyes. In fact, I like to put them there in the first place. The lovely Rebecca’s probably just waiting for me to make my move.”
Callum shoo
k his head. Anyone who didn’t know James’s legendary love life might have thought him to be conceited. He probably was, but not without reason. “So are you going to ask Rebecca out?”
James smiled. “What a quaint, old-fashioned idea. So typical of you, Callum. But, no. No time to do her justice. I’ve got business in Napa Valley and then back to Waiheke Island for a meeting about that vineyard I’ve had my eye on.” He looked around at Gemma’s paintings. “She’s a good artist.”
“She’s a great artist.” Callum corrected, his eyes not shifting from Gemma.
“Looks like her separation from you sparked her creativity.”
Irritated, Callum swigged back his beer. “She painted most of them before our wedding. It was Liz, the café manager who persuaded her she should put on an exhibition.”
“Gemma looks pretty happy.” It was exactly what Callum was thinking. It was exactly what Callum had been afraid of. “Any chance of you two getting back together?”
“There’s always a chance.”
“So, tell me again why you haven’t seen her before now,” James continued. He obviously wasn’t going to let it go.
“I reckon she needed some time to get her head around everything that happened.”
“But she invited you here today for her exhibition.” James sipped his wine. “That’s a good sign.”
Callum shrugged. He had no idea what kind of sign it was. He just knew it was an opportunity to give her the papers.
He continued to watch Gemma, her hair twisted up and caught in an elegant knot, her loose dress flowing around her rounded body. He started to say something to James but discovered his younger brother flirting with the waitress. Then Gemma turned, her polite smile relaxing into a warm smile of welcome as it rested on Callum. She raised her eyebrows in invitation. It was all Callum needed. He placed his drink on the table and walked over to her.
She stretched out her hand and squeezed his. He bent down and kissed her on the cheek. “You look wonderful, Gemma.”