Bilgarra Springs

by Rotondo, Louise

  ‘It used to be right there. It was beautiful. I don’t know why, but it bloomed out of season that year. They generally bloom in late October, early November, but it was still laden in January. Isabella used to put one of the flowers behind her ear. She loved them. We had a storm late in the afternoon of the day following her departure. Lightning struck the tree and split it in half. Will was like a man possessed the next day. He took the axe to the tree and didn’t stop until there was nothing left but a carpet of purple on the ground.’

  Fiona was silent again, lost in her memories. Aurora’s voice brought her back to the present.

  ‘There’s one in the front yard of Gran’s house. It’s been there forever.’

  At that moment, Kate and Harriet came barrelling through the front door, their voices full of excitement, launching themselves at their grandmother. Rough and Tumble had heard the noise and were running as fast as their little legs could carry them to be part of the action. The moment was broken and Aurora gently squeezed Fiona’s hand that was sitting on the railing before making her way through the house to the kitchen. She wasn’t sure whether she felt better or worse but she was grateful to Fiona. As she knew herself, sometimes the living still had to deal with the ghosts of the past.

  sixteen

  Back against the Wall

  Bilgarra Springs was a hive of activity on the Friday. Everybody was madly trying to get everything done so that they could leave for Townsville early Saturday morning. Since their chat, the easiness had returned to the relationship between Fiona and Aurora. The same couldn’t be said about things between Aurora and Callan. He hadn’t spoken to her at all since her explosion on Wednesday. Aurora supposed that she couldn’t blame him, she did have an awful lot of baggage which was probably very off-putting, and she had punched him after all.

  She had been incredibly surprised mid-morning when he had asked her to come out to the front dams with him incredibly surprised and awfully uncomfortable when she was alone in the cab of the Cruiser with him. She needn’t have worried because he took the initiative very quickly.

  ‘I’ve been thinking about what you told me on Wednesday.’

  Aurora was looking down at her hands. Lack of acknowledgement from her didn’t deter him. In fact he was looking out the windscreen anyway.

  ‘You had no control over what happened to you and I played no part in it. But we do have control over how we deal with it. I don’t think any less of you for it. In fact quite the opposite, I think that you are incredibly strong...courageous even. I’m sorry that it happened to you and I want you to know that not all men are like that. I would never hit a woman, no matter the provocation. I need you to understand that.’

  At this point he did look towards her and she briefly met his eyes, giving nothing away, before she turned to look out the window.

  ‘Look, I don’t play with people’s feelings and I fully intend to pursue what we started last weekend. I wouldn’t have kissed you if I hadn’t had feelings for you and they haven’t changed. I’ve struggled to find time alone to be with you without making us the subject of discussion with the others. I would imagine at the moment that they are having a field day with the fact that we have headed out together. I don’t care. This is too important to be bothered with what they think.’

  Finally, Aurora turned her to look at him, her eyes following his profile. She found him an attractive man. His strong features suited his take charge personality. Cal sensed her looking at him and met her eyes very briefly before stopping the car in the middle of nowhere. He slid sideways and took her face in his hands and kissed her, slowly at first, but ended fiercely, taking her breath away. When he pulled back she was feeling more than a little dazed. She had never been kissed like that. Gran’s words from the journal and her experience with Will flashed through Aurora’s mind. Callan had definitely claimed her and branded her soul in the process.

  Cal was feeling a little stunned himself. He had meant to be gentle with her; instead he had kissed her with an intensity that had shocked him. He looked her squarely in the eye.

  ‘Look Ro, I’m sorry I didn’t mean for that to get out of hand.’

  In frustration he dragged his hands through his hair, grabbing one of hers when he finished. His shortening of her name had caught Aurora’s attention. She had never had anyone shorten it. Ordinarily she would have protested, but she couldn’t help liking the gravelly way that he had said it. After a brief hesitation Cal continued.

  ‘Let’s just take this one step at a time. That is if you want to. So far I’ve done all the talking and I haven’t stopped to listen to what you have to say.’

  He took a second to study her face, then squeezed her hand as he spoke.

  ‘If it’s not what you want, well, I will understand. I am so far removed from what you are used to...’

  Cal let his words peter out and shrugged, before quietly adding a bit more.

  ‘Or if it is simply that you don’t want to see where it goes well that’s okay too...’

  His words fell into the silence. Aurora squeezed his hand back.

  ‘One day at a time Cal. Let’s see how we go.’

  Her smile at the end was all the encouragement that he needed. He leant in and kissed her again, gently this time, but very thoroughly. Just for good measure, she kissed him back.

  They had certainly returned later in the day to a lot of good natured ribbing. Fortunately for them, the crew were much too excited about the upcoming football game to give them too hard a time. The evening had passed quickly with all deciding to retire early.

  An early rise and all were in the cars heading to Townsville. Aurora wasn’t driving this time, so she had a better chance to look around. It was no less beautiful than what she had remembered. She was still struck by the countryside. Sydney’s Harbour was certainly stunning but this was at the very least its equal. They had arrived in Townsville, checked into their motel rooms and headed down to one of the bars on the strand that overlooked the ocean.

  As usual, the group enjoyed themselves. They seemed to be a portable party of sorts. Aurora had been very conscious of Keith this time, but he had stayed well away from her, taking his sport with the young girls that were hanging around. Cal had remained at her side, but there had been no chance for any time alone and she guessed that neither of them were ready yet for public displays of affection.

  The football had been a match to remember, not so much for the match itself, but for the atmosphere that had filled Dairy Farmer’s Stadium. The locals had been vocal in the extreme and in the face of the team’s lack of form, their support hadn’t wavered. Despite living in Sydney, the supposed home of rugby league, Aurora had never attended a match. Peter had followed Rugby Union, more to be one of the boys than out of genuine passion for the game.

  She had loved being a part of the atmosphere and relished the experience of enjoying the game with the group from Bilgarra Springs. They were starting to become friends and she was sure that when the month was over, in just under two weeks time, she would miss them terribly. Living and working day in and day out with the same group of people forced a genuine bond. Being very much a loner by nature, a situation which was pushed to extreme limits by her violent ex-husband, she didn’t have many close friends. Aurora’s professional life was full of acquaintances and she hadn’t noticed until now the lack of closeness. Funny how things worked out.

  The slowing of the taxi minibus as it pulled over at the hotel jolted Aurora out of her reverie. Music was pumping out of the beer garden and people had spilled out of its confines and were milling about everywhere. As she emerged from the taxi she was struck by the good vibe that seemed to be buzzing in the air. Peter would have positively died before he went to a beer garden. He had only liked to frequent upper class establishments. Having met him so young had robbed her of the chance to hang out with other young people in places such as this, at the time in her life when she would have enjoyed it the most. Her eyes were darting everywhere, che
cking everything out, especially some of the clothes that the younger crowd were wearing. She hoped that some of the girls hadn’t paid too much for their outfits as there wasn’t a whole stack of material involved in them. She inwardly groaned. She was starting to think old. Still, she wouldn’t be caught dead in some of those outfits herself.

  Matt started cutting a path through the throng of people and as the minibus pulled away from the kerb and the others were swallowed up into the crowd, Cal reached forward for Aurora’s hand, tugging her to a standstill. She shot him a brief look of surprise over her shoulder.

  He drew her gently away from the others, whom she had been blindly following, and stepped around the far side of the tree, out of general view, draping his arms around her. Aurora laced her arms around his neck, standing on tiptoe in anticipation of what she thought was coming. Cal, however, just stood there for what felt like an eternity, looking at her, studying her face. He took a small step closer, gently pulled her to him, and claimed her mouth with a sweetness and gentleness so at odds with the passion that she knew he was capable of unleashing. This time his kiss was an outpouring of affection.

  He released her mouth and took a small step back. She opened her eyes to see him smiling at her with a look of adoration. Her heart turned over and she smiled back. This man really was an enigma to her, but she liked him really liked him in a way that was completely new. He moved closer and dropped the briefest of kisses against her mouth.

  ‘I have wanted to do that all day. Let’s go join the others before we’re missed.’

  She had no chance to reply before he tugged her hand, quickly pulling her against him and placing one last quick kiss on her lips before making his way with her in tow back through the crowd. To Aurora’s befuddled brain, the people seemed to have swelled in number, the music grown louder and the vibe increased. She was struggling to properly take in her surroundings. Her brain was positively fizzing.

  They’d reached the others, who were standing around a tall table, before her mind had fully grasped hold of the turn of events. Callan had kept hold of her hand even after they’d reached the others. He now stood at her left shoulder, their arms not quite touching but their fingers linked. She was incredibly self-conscious. Whether the others had noticed the growing attraction between her and Cal was anybody’s guess. She figured that they must have and she dropped her eyes. She was so conscious of him holding her hand that it seemed to her that they had a neon sign above their heads announcing it to the world. Aurora decided it would be best to pretend that it was the most natural thing in the world and threw a smile at Heather and Con who were standing on other side of the table, deciding to go with the flow.

  Before she knew it Mike returned from the bar and placed a drink in her hand. Keith was to Aurora’s right, not too close to her though. Out of the corner of her eye she glimpsed Cal sneak a look over her shoulder. Next thing she knew he had dropped her hand and snaked an arm around her shoulders, putting it beyond doubt where Keith, as well as every other male, stood.

  Aurora dropped her eyes again. Crap. It wasn’t that she didn’t like this new possessive, affectionate side of Callan, it was simply that it was still so new and now it was on show to everybody else. Oh well, in for a penny in for a pound as her grandmother used to say. Keith flicked his eyes from the arm to Cal and finally to Aurora. Aurora noticed that a look of anger mingled with cynicism flashed across his features, but he must have decided not to antagonise Cal and remained silent, turning his attention to the table of girls standing behind them. Aurora thought that a good move on his part and briefly wondered how thick the guy must be if he didn’t get the message when Cal had punched him at the wedding. She had to admit that she loved the feel of his arm around her. She wasn’t generally much of a touchy feely type, but this she was enjoying. He even kissed her on the top of the head before going to the bar for another round of drinks.

  As much as she was having a great time, Aurora was missing Theresa’s company and hoped she was enjoying herself. Theresa had been very vocal about what they could do with their football match and stated in very clear terms that she fully intended to spend the whole time alone with Brett. She had jokingly added that she saw them every day and she had no intention of missing out on some alone time for her and Brett. Aurora appreciated the sentiment; she would kill for a weekend alone with Cal herself and as much as she had enjoyed the football, if it came to a choice there would be no competition, Cal would win hands down.

  There was a makeshift dance floor and with a quick word to Con, Cal had dragged Aurora off to dance. At the end of the song he had grabbed her by the hand and led her off in the opposite direction, straight out of the beer garden and hailed a taxi. Before she had time to blink, he was helping her in before climbing in beside her, closing the door and giving the driver the address of their motel. Aurora spun around to face him.

  ‘Cal, we can’t just up and leave. The others will be worried about us and wondering what the hell happened.’

  Cal’s face was full of mischief.

  ‘No they won’t. I told Con before we left that I was kidnapping you and taking off. He made a lewd comment that I won’t repeat, but he won’t be worried.’

  ‘Oh,’ was the best reply that Aurora could do. Before she knew it they were at the motel and Cal was paying the driver. She had a brief flutter of nerves and self-consciousness at where this was possibly going to go. She didn’t regard herself as overweight, but being seen naked was a whole different kettle of fish, and naked was where she assumed this was going. If she were being completely honest, that was where she hoped this was going to go. When Cal finished with the driver, he took her room key from her and opened the door.

  The minute the door closed, Cal roughly drew Aurora against him and his mouth descended on hers, hungry and searching. This was not the gentle kiss of a first time lover. His mouth greedily devoured hers, pent up yearning finally finding an outlet. No shrinking violet, Aurora snaked her arms around his neck, melded her body to his and met him with equal fervour. She had spent that last week imagining what this would be like. Now the chance to find out had presented itself she wasn’t going to let her own insecurities get in the way. As far as she was concerned, it was now or never.

  Her enthusiastic response spurred him on and he tightened his arms around her back, trying to pull her even closer to him. The lengths of their bodies were already aligned, and he could feel the press of her breasts into his chest. Kissing her simply wasn’t enough; he wanted more, so much more. Instinct taking over, he gently spun them around and took a step towards the wall. The movement increased the intensity of her mouth against his and he flicked his tongue against hers, revelling in the sweetness of her mouth. Her kiss was driving him mad. He hadn’t touched her yet but he was incredibly wired.

  The intensity of their kiss increased. One further small step forward and his hands at her back connected with the wall. He moved them to her hips and pushed her back just that little bit. When her back hit the wall he leaned into her just a little more, revelling in the feel of his erection against the soft swell of her abdomen. Her hands were in his hair, as their mouths furiously gave way to the sexual tension that had been simmering since her arrival two weeks before.

  Her hands moved around, cupping the sides of his face, before dropping onto his shoulders. He couldn’t control himself any longer and tugged at her shirt, releasing it from her jeans. He tucked his hands under her shirt, the first touch of her skin making him catch his breath. Aurora stilled. For that first amazing second it felt she had been hit by a branding iron. She felt him suck in his breath. She needed his hands higher, needed to feel his roughened palms against her breasts.

  She lifted one leg around his backside and pulled, anchoring him against her pelvis. It was all the encouragement he needed. He slowly inched his palms up until his fingertips connected with the bottom of her bra. He stopped the movement there. Aurora groaned against his mouth. Her hands moved to his sides and ripped
his shirt up. She ran open palms across his abdomen and up, enjoying the sensation of muscle playing under her touch. She appreciated the tough strength of his body. He had earned it with hard work.

  When her fingertips found his nipples and circled them, any thoughts of restraint that he may have had fled. His hands cupped her through the lace of her bra. He could feel her nipples pebbled and straining against his palm. He slowly moved his palms in tiny circles. The friction of the lace against her sensitised nipples was almost too much for Aurora to bear. The circling stopped and he gently pinched them between his thumb and forefinger.

  Aurora sucked in her breath. The sensations flooding her were completely unknown, but powerful nonetheless. She had never felt this heady rush of sensation when she had made love with her husband. This need to feel his skin against hers and to have him sheath himself inside her was completely overpowering. Rather than be overwhelmed by the new sensations assaulting her, they urged her on.

  Cal was amazed at the intensity that she was producing in him. He was no innocent virgin, but he’d never experienced such an incredible desire to thrust inside and claim a woman. There was absolutely no doubt in his mind that he wanted her to be his woman, in all of the old-fashioned sense of the word. His hands dove under the bra, the calluses on them providing a delicious friction. Her intake of breath was audible. Aurora’s hands left his chest and started undoing his belt.

  She had it undone and ripped out before Cal could offer any assistance. The button on his jeans followed, then the zip. She briefly paused. To Cal that one second felt like an hour. He tilted his pelvis to try and make contact. That small movement urged Aurora on and she tentatively reached out her fingertips, gently grazing the end of his erection through the final barrier of thin material.