‘Yeah, there is.’
‘Want to tell me what’s up?’ He pulled her back into his arms. His hand smoothed over the long pink scar on her thigh where the bullet had grazed her and she shivered from both the over-sensitive, newly healed wound and the memory of how she’d gotten it.
Jo averted her gaze, mind whirring, feeling trapped. She couldn’t tell him the truth in case he did something stupid like get his dad or brother to fire Ken. On the other hand, she didn’t want him fretting either and she’d have to be blind not to see how wound up he’d been since she’d returned. ‘It’s nothing, Stephen. Really nothing that you need to worry about.’
‘You know you can trust me, right?’ His arms tightened around her.
‘Stephen, don’t stress. There is seriously nothing you need to worry about. I trust you with my life.’ She finally met his gaze and gave him a small, gentle smile. It was the truth. She just didn’t trust him with her mother’s.
He held her gaze for a few long seconds as Boomba circled them, making chirruping noises to remind them that he wasn’t to be forgotten. ‘Thanks,’ Stephen said finally, his relief clear. ‘How do you feel about me taking you out tonight?’
Jo laughed, glad to have the tension broken. ‘Where?’
He pursed his lips thoughtfully. ‘How about somewhere stupidly expensive and pretentious?’
‘Do I get to laugh and point at people if they seem too full of themselves?’
‘Ye-e-e-a-ah.’ He smiled with her. ‘But not if they’re me.’
‘Oh, I’d never laugh at you. Well, not much,’ Jo amended, belying her words with a husky chuckle.
‘You’re an idiot for lying to Stephen, you know,’ Scott spoke while facing his massive widescreen computer monitor, scanning through photographs he’d taken during his recent assignment in the Middle East. He’d flown in that afternoon, and Amy and Jo had picked him up from the airport. Amy, as usual, came prepared with the lunch he’d missed, bringing a sinfully rich chocolate cake along for the ride.
It was now late afternoon, and Jo had finished filling the two of them in on what’d happened over the past few months.
‘Gee, thanks, Scott. You’re encouraging as always,’ Jo replied from where she was sprawled on her back on the ancient and very beautiful Persian rug covering the floorboards in Scott’s study. In contrast to her sister’s immaculate black-and-white polka-dot dress and French stockings, she was wearing some ancient, soft black jeans and a faded blue T-shirt. Her white gym socks had holes in them.
‘You don’t need encouragement. You need a kick in the pants,’ Scott muttered as he kept scanning through a series of photos showing an attractive black-haired woman of indeterminate race, dressed severely in a business suit.
‘She looks tough,’ Amy said, looking over his shoulder, attempting to change the topic.
‘She pretends to be. Like someone else I know,’ Scott’s tone of voice caused both Jo and Amy to raise an eyebrow at each other. ‘But right now we’re not talking about me. We’re talking about your dad trying to kill you. Which the both of you are downplaying like it’s all just a walk in the fucking park,’ he snapped, spinning around in his leather office chair to face them, jaw tense, flared nostrils looking as if he was about to start breathing fire.
‘Hey!’ Amy yelped. ‘Where did that come from? I’m on your side here.’
Scott ignored her, glaring at Jo.
Jo held back a whistle. Scott’s normally soft brown eyes were narrowed to furious slits, and his tawny cheeks were flushed with anger. He was pissed off. Really pissed off. A rare occurrence but invariably memorable.
Always the peacemaker, Amy tried to diffuse the tension. She reached over and put a hand on Scott’s shoulder. ‘Calm down. We’ve talked about this before, m’love.’
‘Talked about what?’ Jo demanded.
‘You.’ Scott shrugged off Amy’s hand. ‘And how you’re not telling Stephen anything. It’s going to backfire on you, both of you. What if Rachael works out that the screaming psycho on the phone was your dad? What happens if Stephen figures things out all by himself? You’ll still be up shit creek, and you’—he pointed at Amy—’will be stuck in the middle dealing with it all, because Jo’ll be out of touch somewhere in the middle of nowhere.’ His voice rose with every word, so by the end of it he was yelling.
Both Amy and Jo stared in stunned silence.
‘Whoa.’ Jo blinked. ‘Bit worked up there?’
‘Fuck yes. And I’ve had two months to get to this level of being purely pissed off. No. Fuck that. I’ve had almost twenty years. Your dad’s a psycho. Your mum’s never going to leave him, despite what you both might think. I was fine with all that when the two of you were out of it and safe here in Perth. I was a stupid kid years ago and let you talk me out of showing the cops those photos I took after he pummelled the shit out of you.’ He took a deep breath and gestured to Jo’s leg. ‘But this is different. He could have killed you, Jo. Can’t you two get that through your thick heads?’ He looked from Jo to Amy and then to Jo again, chest heaving and face gaunt with anger and frustration.
Seeing Amy’s eyes tear up, Jo knew it was up to her to defuse the explosive man in the room. Amy had never been good at handling angry men, even if it was Scott and he was angry because he was worried about her.
Bracing herself for an argument, fighting the sense of futility that always came with talking about her parents, Jo straightened her spine and looked Scott straight in the eye. ‘I know you’re upset, but give me a break, all right? It’s so new with Stephen; we’ve only really been together a few weeks. I’m still feeling my way here, and I don’t want to screw it up. What’s he going to think if I start talking to him about the mess our family is in? How do you think he’s going to feel? I can’t cope with it. Amy can’t cope with it. You sure as hell aren’t coping with it, and as you say, you’ve had twenty years to get used to the whole screwed-up situation. If you can’t cope, how’s he going to? Tell me that.’
‘He’ll cope better if he hears it from you instead of finding out the hard way.’ Scott made a loud, infuriated sound and sliced his hand through the air. ‘It hasn’t been weeks, you idiot. You’ve been together now a few months. Long enough.’
‘I was out of contact for two of those, so they don’t count. So it’s only been about three weeks. Not nearly enough to be bringing up this mess. Anyway, you know full well he’ll probably want to try to fix things, like you want to. Won’t he?’
‘Well, someone has to do something.’ Scott’s voice rose to a near-roar. ‘This has gone on too long.’
Jo’s voice rose to match his. ‘And what if the old man loses it and does something stupid? How do you think he’ll react if he finds out Stephen’s the reason he’s gotten fired, or the reason the cops have turned up? He could try to kill him. That’s after he’s done Mum in first. You know that’s what he threatened last time.’
‘Bullshit! If you take the photos down to the cops in George Creek and tell them you know it was him behind the shooting, they can have him in custody in no time. For the illegal gun, for a start. I’ll go down there with you. We’ll make it work, Jo. Can’t you see this is a ridiculous situation that’s just getting worse? The both of you are letting him literally get away with attempted murder.’
‘He wasn’t really trying to kill Jo,’ Amy interjected, her voice breaking. ‘He wouldn’t do something like that. He’s all about appearances, Scott. We’ve explained this to you. You saw it yourself that day we left home. He only got violent because he thought he’d lost face in front of the Hardys. He thought they knew he was too drunk to bring us that night. If we hadn’t gone to the party with you i-it probably wouldn’t have happened like it did.’
The implication that Scott had triggered everything by asking them to go to the party with him hung in the air, and Jo wished like hell she could vaporise it, knowing Amy hadn’t meant things to come out that way.
‘Don’t you put that on me, Amy.’ Sco
tt looked even more furious if possible, launching himself out of his chair and looming over Amy. ‘Don’t you dare put that on me. If it wasn’t for me, the both of you’d be dead now, and you know it. He was a ticking bomb waiting to go off at any minute and had been for years. He would have goddamn killed you if I hadn’t followed you home that night. I’ve got the fucking evidence to prove what he did to you, and I’m not sitting by and watching this shit any more.’ He twisted away and stalked across the room.
Amy started crying in earnest, causing her black mascara to begin trickling down her face, made all the worse because her tears were silent. Scott didn’t notice. He was too busy pacing.
Watching two people she loved so much so upset, Jo made a decision. She felt a gut-level dread as she began talking but knew it was the right thing to say.
‘Scott. I’ll do you a deal,’ she said softly, hoping to distract him while Amy fumbled with a tissue.
‘What?’
‘You’re right. This can’t go on. Give us another two months to try to get Mum out of the house, then whether she is or not, I’ll go down to George Creek with you and we’ll go and talk to the police about the shooting. That way I’ll have done my final shift at work and I’ll be home for good to help Amy with Mum.’
Scott stopped his pacing abruptly in front of her, his expression distrustful. ‘Serious?’
‘Serious.’
‘You’ll tell Stephen what’s going on too?’ he asked warily. ‘I can’t deal with all these fucking secrets. It’s messing with my head and I know it’s screwing with his. It’s unfair and you have no idea how messed up he’s going to be if he finds out you’ve been lying to him.’
Jo drew a shuddering breath. ‘No more secrets. Just give me a few more stress-free weeks together with him, and I’ll tell him before we take care of the old man in two months’ time.’
Scott stood rigidly in front of her with his jaw ticking, muscles tense, hands bunched into fists at his sides. ‘I can’t take this if you’re lying, Jo,’ he said, his voice cracking slightly. ‘I love you both. This shit keeps me up at night worrying. You’re family to me. Don’t you mess me around on this.’
Feeling her own eyes tearing up at the catch in his voice, Jo stood up and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a fierce hug. ‘I love you too. I can’t thank you enough for being there for us, Scott. You’re the annoying brother I never got to have.’
When he crushed her against him, her eyes began leaking in earnest. Then Amy let out a watery sob, and he abruptly released Jo and spun around to her sister.
‘God, Ames. Oh Jesus. Don’t cry,’ he pleaded, pulling Amy into a gentle hug.
‘I’m not crying,’ Amy blubbered.
‘Sure? Because if you’re not, your make-up’s defective.’ Scott leaned back and wiped his thumbs under her eyes. ‘I’m sorry, squirt. Didn’t mean to get angry at you. I was just worried, okay?’
Amy drew in a shuddering breath and nodded. ‘Okay.’
‘You all right with the deal Jo and I just made?’ Scott asked softly. ‘It’ll be for the best. I know how much you worry about your mum getting hurt.’
‘Yeah. I know it’s the right thing.’ Amy looked past Scott to Jo.
‘It is,’ Jo agreed, giving her own eyes a brisk wipe with the back of her hands. ‘I know how hard this is for you, Ames.’
Amy’s eyes began to water up again, and Scott gave Jo a do-something expression.
‘We’ll work out a way to get Mum out of there,’ Jo said, trying to inject a bit of certainty she didn’t feel into her voice.
‘I’ll get her away.’ Amy stuck out her chin determinedly. ‘She’ll leave him.’
‘Only if she wants to, Ames,’ Scott corrected.
Seeing Amy’s face crumple up in distress, he pulled her towards him for another hug. ‘In the meantime, do you want to hear about my trip to Bahrain and the iron lady in the photos?’ That was enough to capture the attention of both of them.
‘You actually want to tell us about someone you’re involved with?’ Amy asked, visibly relieved now that they’d stopped talking about their parents. She pushed Scott away enough to inspect his expression. Her own was doubtful.
‘Maybe. If it’ll make you smile.’
Amy’s lips curved up at the corners. ‘It might but only if you give us all the details.’
Scott’s expression relaxed. He looked at Jo over Amy’s head and faked a shiver. ‘I’m scared now.’
‘You should be. Come on, we’ll ply you with cake and make you talk.’ Amy took Scott’s hand then grabbed Jo’s. ‘To the kitchen!’ she commanded dictatorially, dragging them behind her like a tiny tugboat between two large tankers, all three laughing with relief that their friendship was strong enough to weather any storm.
Chapter 14
‘So tell me, what do you actually do out there every day? I know we’ve talked about the guys you work with and the stupid stuff they do, but you never really say much about the small stuff. You know, the everyday stuff like getting to and from work. What it’s like to fly in and out of Mauritania . . . the safety stuff you’d have to do. You always change the subject every time I bring it up and it’s about time you coughed up the details,’ Stephen said, taking a sip of a brilliant, crisp sauvignon blanc and leaning back in his chair.
Jo screwed up her face in thought as she pretended to mishear him. ‘Pardon? What was that? Who do I do? You, last I checked.’
Stephen smiled widely for a minute, eyes running up and down the emerald-green silk shirt she was wearing on their date. It complimented her newly coloured flaming red hair and matched her smoky green eye shadow that brought out her eyes, which were the colour of caramel in the candlelight.
‘Yeah, you do me pretty well.’ He waggled his brows. ‘But seriously, I want to know more about you. I know you’ve told me bits and pieces, but I want the big picture.’
‘The big picture? What do you mean?’ Jo’s brow furrowed.
‘I want to know all the stuff you don’t tell me about your job, about you, everything.’
Jo’s expression flickered for a moment before she pulled a cheeky smile. ‘Why?’
‘Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because I’m going out with you and want to make sure you’re not hiding bodies under the bed. Why do you think?’ He widened his eyes in feigned exasperation.
Jo regarded him with obvious surprise and something else. Wariness? He couldn’t be sure. ‘Oh? Well. What exactly do you want to know?’
He shrugged. ‘Start with the basics. Like I said, I want the small stuff. How do you get out to the rig you work on? Where do you sleep? What do you eat out there? What do you talk about? That kind of thing.’
‘It’s pretty boring.’
‘No, it’s not. I listened when you told me about your work the other times, didn’t I?’ He reached across the table and stroked the back of her hand with his finger. ‘Come on. Start talking.’
‘Okay. Well, you asked for it.’ Jo turned her palm upwards and clasped his hand in hers. Her fingers were cold. ‘Where to start? You know, I’m at a bit of a loss.’
‘Hmm. How about we go really broad and then narrow down if you don’t want to get into the nuts and bolts straight away? Why did you decide to be an engineer?’ Stephen prompted and was rewarded with a wide smile.
‘That’s easy. During my last year of high school—after Amy and I moved up to Perth to stay with my aunt—I met this guy who’d gotten a job as a roughneck on the rigs up north. It was really good money, fly in fly out, two weeks on the job, two weeks home. So I applied and got a job.’
‘As a roughneck?’ Stephen asked, incredulous.
Jo waved her spare hand dismissively. ‘Yeah. It’s not like I wasn’t used to hard work, and I’m not exactly fragile.’ She looked down at herself with a wry smile.
‘Weren’t they hard on you, since you were probably one of the only women out there?’
‘Yeah. But it isn’t like I wasn’t used to being bu
llied, either,’ Jo replied airily.
Stephen winced at that but kept quiet, not wanting to interrupt. This was the first time Jo had ever referred to their past history in George Creek, and he didn’t want to ruin it.
Luckily she continued. ‘It didn’t take long to earn a bit of respect as long as I worked hard. But the only problem was that it got boring. I knew I wanted to go to university but didn’t know what to do until I talked to an engineer. I decided his job sounded pretty good and paid really well, so the rest is history. I was really lucky. My lecturers let me do half my course work by correspondence because I was already working in the industry.’ She paused to take a sip of her wine, watching Stephen for his reaction.
He regarded her with amazement. ‘And your parents were fine with this? I mean you were what? Eighteen and working offshore. Surely Ken would have had something to say about that.’ Ken Blaine was a pretty traditional bloke when it came to women working.
Jo’s warm expression evaporated. ‘Yeah. Let’s just say it wasn’t an issue. Anyway. The rest is pretty boring. I finished my degree. Got a job as a mud engineer here in Australia and Asia, then accepted a job in Mauritania when I was twenty-six. So there you have it.’
‘I don’t think so.’ Stephen regretted how his thoughtless words had cooled her mood and gently squeezed the hand he still held before letting it go as their entrees arrived.
‘So?’ he prompted after they’d both duly appreciated the ornate presentation of the tuna sashimi sitting in front of them.
Jo scowled, picking up her chopsticks. ‘Change the topic. I don’t want to talk about work any more. And I know that’s not what you want to hear but it’s putting me off my food. Anyway, I just quit, so it’s not my job any more.’
Stephen felt a jolt go down his spine. He didn’t want to admit it was happiness. It wasn’t quite. More anticipation. The only cloud in the picture was that she hadn’t said anything until now. ‘You quit? When?’
‘Today, actually.’ Jo grimaced. ‘I’m not looking forward to my last shift. My boss is a bastard.’
Unforgettable You: Destiny Romance Page 20