by Juanita Kees
‘I can walk just fine.’
Panic squeezed his heart a little tighter. Surely she wasn’t freezing him out already? He pulled off his helmet and dragged a hand through his hair. ‘Okay.’
She raised a hand to touch his face, her fingers icy cold. ‘I have something I need to do. Alone.’
‘You don’t have to be alone, Tikki.’ He caught that beautiful, sad, chocolate gaze.
‘I know.
‘As long as you do.’ He stared at her a moment longer, studying the determined set of her chin and firmly clamped lips. He’d coax them open later. ‘What are you going to do?’
She fiddled with the strap of the helmet. ‘Report my father missing.’
His stomach sank. That opened a whole new crate of yabbies. Not that he wished old man Chalmers ill, but it had been damn peaceful around the place without him. And if he did come back to Golden Acres, Harley would likely lose Tameka again.
‘Right.’ He wanted to be there for her for that too, but the set of her shoulders and the ramrod stiffness in her spine said it all. Tameka would deal with it and he’d be there to catch her when she fell to pieces later. ‘I’ll wait for you at the community meeting.’
‘Perfect. I’d like to pop into the library too while we’re here. Will there be enough time for that?’
‘Take as much time as you need. As long as we’re home in time to give Loki his dinner.’ Harley climbed off the bike. ‘He’ll never forgive us if we’re late.’
‘Not when he takes his dish washing duties so seriously, no.’
He’d like to kiss her, but the hospital car park wasn’t the best place for it with half the town milling about, already giving them suspicious looks. No doubt they were expecting him to be as angry with her as they were with her father. It would take a while to convince the people of Wongan Creek that they could work together to overcome the crisis instead of working against each other.
He wasn’t about to draw any more attention to her than she already had focused on herself. He settled for a quick, friendly pat on her shoulder and promised himself he’d steal that kiss later. ‘Exactly.’
Tameka handed him her helmet. ‘See you later then.’
‘I’ll be waiting.’ And no doubt checking his watch every five minutes until she showed up and shared the results of her check-up and the fallout from the missing persons’ report.
***
Tameka slipped into the police station with the good news that her burns were healing well, her pain meds dosage had been reduced, and the doctor was happy.
The library had proved a dead end in the search for answers to her flashback about Ryan. The old newspaper articles had told her nothing more than she already knew. Dad had locked the shed not knowing anyone was inside.
Maybe she had it wrong. Maybe Dad hadn’t kicked her on his way out of the burning kitchen. Maybe in his haste to go for help, he’d tripped over her. But he hadn’t gone for help. He’d disappeared. And she was making excuses for his behaviour again.
She ditched her plan to ask the sergeant about the shed fire in case she raised any unnecessary suspicions in the wake of her father’s disappearance and the fallout from the spray drift.
‘Good morning, sergeant.’
‘Ah, Tameka. How are you? Recovering well, I hope?’
‘Yes, thank you.’
‘Great. How can I help you today then? I’m about fifteen minutes away from doing an induction with my new recruit, so I’ll have to hurry you along, I’m afraid.’
Doubt edged its way into her mind. Was reporting her father missing really necessary? What if he came back tonight or tomorrow or next week? He’d be furious with her for making a scene over nothing. Yet reporting it might give her a little protection from his anger.
‘It’s my father. I haven’t seen him since the night of the fire.’
Riggs frowned. ‘Yes, I wondered about that, but since there’ve been no reports about him going missing, I thought maybe he’d just gone away somewhere to avoid the fallout over this nonsense with the spray drift. Into the city or something. I’ve had my hands full around here with the unrest up at the mine site and Harry’s sheep going missing. Odd. So he left … when exactly?’
Tameka shivered. What was the penalty for lying to a police officer? ‘While I was preparing dinner.’
The sergeant pulled a form from the stack of trays on the counter. ‘What state was he in? Had he been drinking? Did you argue? Was he angry when he left?’
When wasn’t he angry? ‘Same as always. He might have had a drink or two.’ Or ten.
‘Do you think he’s in any danger?’
‘I don’t know. He took the ute and hasn’t come back.’
‘Has he disappeared like this before?’
Tameka shook her head. ‘Not for this long at a time.’
Riggs looked her in the eye and she struggled not to look away. ‘Right, well I can put out an alert to be on the lookout for his ute. For now, we can list him as whereabouts unknown and start searching all the usual places like hospitals and shelters. Does he have a mobile phone?’
‘Yes, but he doesn’t use it often.’ By now though, Dad could be anywhere. Halfway across the Nullarbor if the ute would get him that far, out of mobile range deep in the bush somewhere.
‘We might be able to pick up a signal from it linked to the closest satellite. We’ll do everything we can to find him, love.’
He pushed the paperwork forward and as she signed her name, she swayed between hoping they did and wishing they wouldn’t. ‘Thank you.’
The door of the station opened and a pretty young policewoman stepped inside with a nervous smile. Riggs put the report in a file and stepped around the counter.
‘My victim has arrived. I’ll have to leave you now, Tameka, but I’ll get our new recruit here onto it right after induction.’
‘Thank you, Sergeant Riggs.’ She smiled at the young policewoman. ‘Good luck and welcome to Wongan Creek.’
‘Thanks.’ She held out her hand. ‘Constable Merryn Haines.’
Tameka’s hand was squeezed in a tight grip. ‘Tameka Chalmers.’
‘Your first case, Haines. Missing person. A real one. Normally it’s Harry Murchison’s sheep we’re looking for. A bit different out here from the city.’
‘A lot quieter, I’m sure, sarge.’
Riggs grinned. ‘Don’t bank on it.’ He opened the door for Tameka and waved her through. ‘I’ll be in touch as soon as we have any news for you. You be careful if you’re going to that meeting at the Town Hall. The boys are restless and they might start an argument with you in the absence of your father. If anyone gives you any trouble you come to me, okay?’
‘I’ll be fine.’
Tameka stepped out into the sunshine and made her way down to the Town Hall to the meeting. She searched the crowded room for Harley and found him in the fourth row from the front.
Quietly she slipped into the seat he’d saved for her as Tom Baker stepped up to the microphone and tried to still the rumblings and shouts.
Tameka’s heart wedged in her throat as eyes shifted in her direction. They had every reason to be angry and Riggs was right. With her father nowhere to be seen, they’d hold her accountable. If what she thought had happened to Ryan was true, this hall full of people could turn into a lynch mob in an instant. The resentment already simmered. Her dad hadn’t exactly made a good name for himself by being less than friendly.
Harley bent his head to hers and whispered, ‘How did it go?’
She turned her gaze from the crowd to Harley, those blue eyes seeing right into her soul. ‘All good. Doc’s happy. Riggs reported Dad as whereabouts unknown but at no immediate risk of danger. He promised to let the other stations in the district know so they could keep an eye out for the ute.’
He took her hand and squeezed it tight. ‘It’s a start, Tikki.’
Yes, but the start of what? Another chapter of the nightmare that dogged her life? All the cash was missing
from the safe, the bank account was all but empty, and her secret stash of silver coins wouldn’t get her very far. She couldn’t even afford to run away.
She looked back at the stage as Tom began to talk despite the heckles from the crowd. Her heart warmed to him a little more as he steered the subject away from the blame game, clearly in her corner—something else she would be thankful for if she had to leave town. At least she’d had someone on her side.
Was this how they’d treat her and her father if the truth came out about how Ryan died? With anger and disrespect, ready to lay the blame with a whole family rather than at the feet of the person who’d committed the crime. No, it would be a lot worse because if what she’d seen was true, her father’s crime would weigh much more heavily than hectares of damaged, useless crop. And even her allies would become enemies.
‘I understand you’re angry,’ Tom said, holding up his hand for silence. ‘But let’s focus on how we can salvage what we have left.’
‘There’s nothing left to salvage,’ Mal shouted from the front row. ‘Where the hell is Chalmers? Did you invite him to this circus?’
‘He’s not here but his farm manager is,’ someone else said. The sneer in the man’s words gripped Tameka’s stomach in its fist. ‘Maybe his daughter should be made accountable. How many more years do we have to put up with this shit?’
Calls of agreement echoed through the hall.
Behind her, Harry stood. ‘Oi! Cut it out, you mongrels. Mal, didn’t I tell you to get your head out your arse? And you, Terry. You should know better. How long did it take you to stop using those same damn herbicides on your wheat?’
‘That’s not the point. The point is Louis Chalmers is still using them when everyone else has stopped. He needs to pay.’ Terry clambered out into the aisle and made his way up to the fourth row. ‘She needs to pay.’
Harry pushed him back with his cane. ‘Pull your head in, man. Do you think the girl would have shown her face here today if she didn’t care? She’s lost her home, fresh out of hospital with burns to deal with. This is no bloody picnic for her either.’
Tameka wanted to curl up against Harley and pretend none of this was happening. She wanted to run from the hall and keep running as all eyes centred on her.
Harley stood. ‘Please, Terry, sit down. Let’s deal with this fairly and in an orderly way. The National Farmers Federation is here to help us sort something out. Let’s not make this personal.’
Anger, red and ugly, leeched into the man’s face, the thick chords in his neck standing out as he shouted, ‘How can it not be fucking personal? I’ve lost an entire crop of greens. How the fuck am I supposed to feed my family when the bank is ready to seize my machinery because I can’t pay for it anymore?’ He pointed a finger at Tameka. ‘And you … you just sit there like a pampered princess and say nothing. Just like your father who is too much of a coward to come in here and sort his shit out.’
‘Sit down!’ Harley stepped out of the row and towered over Terry.
Tameka’s stomach churned. Pampered princess. If only they knew the truth, but there’d been enough violence, enough hurt, enough blame thrown around. She uncurled out of her seat and stood, dwarfed by the anger in the crowd, her heart aching for their loss, for her own and for the fact that no matter what she said, she was powerless to change a thing. She stepped in front of Terry and accepted the arm Harley placed around her shoulders.
‘I’m sorry for your loss, Terry. I’m sorry everyone has suffered so badly this season. I can’t promise miracles or change what’s been done. All I can do is talk to him when he gets back. I have nothing to give in terms of compensation. I have nothing left and my father is missing.’
‘The mongrel’s done a runner?’ Harry leant forward.
‘No. He’s just … gone … away.’
The shouts died and the whispers dissipated. Harsh words clung to the lips of the crowd but didn’t fall. Tameka swallowed the pain that clung to her throat, pushed her way between Harry and Terry and walked out, her mind barely registering Harley as he followed her.
People stepped aside to allow her to pass. She kept her head down and prayed the tears that stung her eyes wouldn’t fall, that she wouldn’t break apart in front of them and spill the truth about the horrors she’d lived with every day. And when she reached the steps, she took a deep breath, lifted her face to the wintery sun and bit down on the scream that blocked her throat.
Harley’s arms slipped around her and drew her head under his chin, his hand cupping her head against his heart. She listened to the soothing beat until the tears slipped away and the numb emptiness inside her returned.
Chapter 18
Sunday dawned bright and sunny, but a little chilly. Tameka snuggled into Harley’s side and toed Loki from his spot on her feet. Leaving would be even harder after sharing Harley’s bed, but she’d enjoy this false sense of security for as long as she could.
He stirred beside her, running a hand over his face to chase away sleep. ‘How’s your back feeling? Are we still going to the picnic today?’
Tameka stretched against him. ‘When the town is ready to hang me in my father’s absence? Do you think it’s a good idea?’
A day out in the sunshine that didn’t involve toiling the soil and worrying about how she’d ever get out of this hole sounded like good medicine, but there was no healing out there for her. She’d survived three trips into town and still there was no forgiveness for the Chalmers. Their existence had destroyed too many dreams. And damn it, she knew the effects of that too well.
Now the town knew she’d reported Dad missing too. He’d left just like Mum had. What kind of speculation would that churn up? Nothing she had an answer to, but she did have Harley.
‘We don’t have to if you don’t want to.’ Harley turned on his side to face her, pressing a kiss to her lips. ‘I can find other ways to entertain you.’
And oh boy, could he. She smiled, her heart doing a little dance even though this Utopia would be short-lived. Especially with their future so uncertain. If things were different she’d marry Harley and live happily ever after, but that only happened in fairy tales.
‘Tempting. It would be so easy to hide.’
‘And let them win? You’re stronger than that, Tikki.’
‘Am I? What would the point of going be?’ She tucked a hand under her cheek and held his gaze.
‘You’ll be proving you’re the better person. Coming out in support of the community instead of staying hidden under a blanket. Not that I have a problem with you staying exactly where you are.’ He grinned and let his hand explore freely under the covers.
‘I guess you’re right. This is something I can do for the community that I couldn’t do if Dad was here. The Chalmers have done nothing to help the people of Wongan Creek. It’s time I changed that.’ Even if it was only once. The CWA had helped her while she was in hospital, no questions asked and nothing wanted in return. Heather had come forward and they’d formed a tentative friendship. Mr and Mrs Baker were clearly on her side. She could do this. ‘And you’ll be there to protect me. You and Harry.’
‘That’s my girl.’ Harley kissed her long and well until her toes curled against his legs in satisfaction.
‘Keep that up, Baker, and we won’t be going anywhere.’
His deep, sexy, throaty chuckle against her ear almost had her melting into the mattress. ‘Promises, promises.’ His hand made contact with her backside in a light tap. ‘Let’s do this. We can spend the day in bed tomorrow.’ He threw back the covers. ‘Up, Your Laziness. I need to deal with that onesie.’
‘Like you could spend the day in bed anyway,’ she scoffed.
Somewhere in the middle of the night he’d been up and working in his study, his head likely full of ideas since the National Farmers Federation had proposed a rescue package that included various grants. He’d talked about it all through dinner, plotted out a section of land he could use for research and alternative, organic methods
of weed control. His excitement was catching, and Tameka found herself wishing she could stay and help make his dreams come true.
The only dream for her had been the one about Ryan that had woken her at three in the morning with her heart pounding and a cold sweat trickling down her spine. The burning shed, her father padlocking the door and screams ringing in her head. Always the same memory, never differing from one dream to the next, but a timely reminder that her heart couldn’t belong to Harley. Ever.
Should she tell him? If she did it would open old wounds on the anniversary of Ryan’s death. If it was a skewed memory of what she’d seen that day, it would only cause him unnecessary heartache. And telling him would raise questions about how she came to remember details so long after the event.
Harley hovered over her, leaning on his elbow for support. ‘Are you going to lie there and daydream all day?’ He touched her forehead gently. ‘What’s put that frown on your face, Tikki?’
‘Can we visit Ryan today?’ She’d take flowers again like they used to. When as kids they used to sit at the edge of Ryan’s grave and tell him all about their adventures. How they missed him being part of their lives. Back when life was all about discovery and less about being responsible grown-ups.
‘I think he’d like that.’
‘I do too.’
‘We’ll go there first and then on to the picnic, okay?’
Tameka smiled and tried to push away the sadness. ‘Okay, but you need to move so I can get up.’
He leant closer. ‘One more kiss for the road.’
No point arguing when their kisses carried a time limit.
Liv Waterman’s vineyard was teeming with people by the time Harley pulled into a parking spot. Music streamed out from the cellar door, and kids played happily on the colourful playground equipment while their parents tasted wine and liqueurs or drank coffee. Laughter pealed out across the lawns and gardens, a welcome change from the tense mood that had gripped the town since harvest.
Tameka got out of the ute with a blanket under her arm and waited for Harley to lift the picnic basket out of the back. She waved to Shirley who returned her greeting enthusiastically and came over.