Tree Change

by Cooper, Tea

  “Go on.” Her voice was barely a whisper.

  “Lyle brought Maddy to the Shack after the police asked for his help. They couldn’t guarantee Maddy’s protection, and he refused to help them unless she was safe. Apparently, a guy had turned up at the farm asking for work. Lyle agreed since he often employed itinerant workers, and he told him he could camp on the property. He had been there for a week when the police arrived. It turned out the guy was part of a gang importing cocaine into Sydney from Mexico via the States. The New South Wales Crimes Commission and police were working together, and they knew he was delivering the shipment for a freight forwarding company.”

  Cassia hardly recognized the expression on Jake’s face. His eyes were flat and cold. She couldn’t imagine what it must have been like; she would have been terrified. He paused and leaned closer to her as if trying to convince her of his sincerity.

  “And?” she encouraged, not wanting to stop him, wanting to know everything.

  “There had been some sort of a timing hitch, and the guy Lyle had employed had actually stored a stack of the stuff in Lyle’s barn. The police set up surveillance cameras. It worked. Someone came and picked up the stash and took off. Needless to say, the police were tracking them. They finally caught up with them and in an amazing piece of luck actually managed to nab Mr. Big when the shipment reached Perth. Eight members of the syndicate were caught and convicted, and finally the trail led to him.”

  This wasn’t a game; this was serious business—terrifying. Jake’s face looked pale beneath his tan, his jaw clenched, the strain of the last months showing in every line on his face.

  “The bust was totally successful, but as you can imagine, there were a lot of people facing big sentences. The police were concerned they might try silence Lyle by threatening him or people close to him.”

  “Madeleine,” Cassia interrupted.

  “Yes. And then when she became pregnant, she potentially became even more of a target.”

  “They must have been terrified. Lyle must have been… Oh God! I thought…it never occurred to me…”

  “Why would it?” Jake reached back across the table; she took his hand, wanting to be able to absorb some of the pain, willing it to flow from him to her.

  “But if you’d known me at all, you would have known you could trust me. Trust me to keep quiet about Madeleine. I was working in Sydney. I wasn’t at the Shack.”

  “Yes, I could have defied the barrister, gone against the police’s recommendations, and possibly endangered Maddy and Lyle’s lives, as well as yours. Instead I tried to do what I thought was the best for everyone, including you. I let you believe Maddy and I were together. With you in Sydney out of the picture, safe, the whole charade was more convincing. You heard what the creep said to you when he attacked you. You had been hanging around with ‘Madeleine’s boyfriend.’ The ruse worked, Cass. It kept you safe, well, for most of the time, and I knew our separation wasn’t going to last forever.”

  She moved her hand to the spot on her cheekbone where she had been hit; the skin was still slightly rougher than the rest of her complexion. She traced it slowly with her fingertips. “But I didn’t give you away. I said I hadn’t seen Madeleine for two years.”

  His face lit with his special smile, and sent tingles running from the top of her head to her toes. “And the creep gave up and went away, and you were safe because you couldn’t give him any information.”

  She reached for Jake’s hand again, lacing her fingers with his as he continued. “Then came the waiting time; it was perhaps the worst. Maddy was with me, and you were in Sydney. I couldn’t tell you. The police and the barrister insisted it was safer for everyone concerned. I couldn’t do anything other than ask you to trust me.”

  “And I didn’t.” Large tears filled her eyes. She ignored one rolling unchecked down her cheek.

  “It was difficult enough trying to keep Maddy and Jade safe and keep a low profile. I was pleased you were in Sydney, living your own life. The less connection we had, the less likely you would be implicated if anything went wrong. Jade was born twelve months ago at the Shack. A local midwife delivered her. Lyle wasn’t there. It was amazing. The most incredible thing I have ever witnessed, but all along I just wanted it to be you, darling. I wanted it to be our baby I cradled in my arms.”

  “And I,” whispered Cassia quietly with bone-deep certainty. Regardless of what happened after today, there would never be anyone else she would love as much as she loved Jake.

  “I’ve learned a lot, Cass. It has changed me. I know what I want now, and I hope you want the same thing. We can make it happen, but as I said, you have to trust me.” He hesitated a second before leaning closer to her and planting a featherlight kiss on the tip of her nose as the waiter brought their meals.

  Cassia picked up the tiger prawn by the tail and placed it between her lips. Pleased with Jake’s reaction, she pushed back her chair and looked directly at him. Then she bent deliberately forward and scrutinized him carefully until she could feel his discomfort.

  “Has Lyle got green eyes?”

  “Yes, why?”

  “Oh, nothing.” She fluttered her eyelashes, pleased with the reaction her flirting was producing. “Just something I have been wondering for a while.”

  The prawns were delicious, and so was he. She wondered how it was she had managed to forget. “Why have you waited so long to tell me? I could have kept quiet. Didn’t you trust me?”

  “Oh, Cass, stop it!” He grinned at her and sat up straighter. “I took Lyle, Maddy, and Jade to the airport this morning, and no, I am not going to tell you where they went. They will be starting afresh. I had to rebuild the Shack to raise the money to buy the farm. You know how long it has been in our family. Lyle and Maddy needed the cash, and I couldn’t let the old place go. So I had to redevelop the Shack.”

  Cassia’s appetite disappeared, and she pushed away her plate of prawns.

  “But what about the bush? What about ‘the rape of the countryside by developers and investors’?” She wanted to know; she wanted to know it all. It was something he had believed in implicitly. It was one of the many things she admired about him.

  “It’s where I think I got the better of them.”

  She could hear the smugness in his voice and was glad she’d asked the question.

  “Sure, I had to sacrifice the Shack and all our memories, but I don’t want memories, Cass, I want reality, a reality with you.”

  She stared into his face, searching for something to guarantee what he was saying. But she knew now he couldn’t guarantee it. No one could. She was going to have to trust to fate and hope Lady Fortune treated her more kindly than she had in the past. She dragged her mind back to what he was saying.

  “I subdivided the land. The new house sits on five acres, and the other ninety-five I have handed over to National Parks and Wildlife in perpetuity. No one can ever build on the cliff top. No developments can alter it. My pocket of cliff top becomes part of the timeless land.”

  Cassia grinned. Jake hadn’t sold himself out; he had stayed true to his beliefs. She should have trusted his integrity in the same way she should have trusted his motives. She knew now she had made some serious mistakes about this man.

  “Jake, I am so sorry. I feel about this big.” She separated her thumb and forefinger by a hair’s breadth. “I shouldn’t have doubted you.”

  “Oh, there’s one more thing.” His tone was light. “I need you to trust me.” He emphasized his words by pointing the tail of a prawn directly at her.

  “Jake!”

  “Can you? Again?”

  “Is this some kind of test?”

  “Yes and no. I want you to come away with me for the weekend. I want us to spend some time together, just you and me, and there is something I want to show you and something I want to ask you.”

  Her parody of a suggestive leer made him laugh aloud.

  He looked at her thoughtfully. “Actually, that wasn’t
what I had in mind specifically. But now you mention it, it isn’t such a bad idea. No matter how much time we’ve spent apart, that side of our relationship seems to have weathered the storm quite successfully.” He paused and leaned across the table and gave her a lingering, intimate kiss.

  The touch of his mouth was a sensual reminder of all they had shared in the past and a promise that left her head spinning and her mind vaguely pondering the wisdom of a move to Melbourne or anywhere else beyond his reach. There was no doubt it would have been far easier if the sexual attraction between them weren’t so potent.

  “I can’t think straight when you kiss me,” she muttered as he pulled away from her.

  “Good. A little less thinking and a bit more action would do both of us a power of good.” His gaze left her face and travelled slowly down her body. All she could think of was the feel of his hands on her skin, the feel of his skin against hers. And she could tell from the intense look in his amazing eyes he was thinking exactly the same.

  He stared directly at her, and she opened her eyes wide before very slowly and deliberately closing them, feeling her eyelashes graze her cheek. His hand came down over hers as it rested on the table, and his fingers pressed firmly on her skin, his thumb caressing her hand in small, slow circles.

  “Have you any idea what you are doing to me, Cass?”

  Her smile was one of pure pleasure. She knew exactly what she was doing, and she was thrilled she still had the power to attract him. “I think we should leave. Now.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  Cassia and Jake lay naked on her bed, their limbs entangled as they watched the mantle of twilight settle over the skyline. “Sydney is such a beautiful city.” Not like Melbourne. Whatever had possessed her to talk to Alan of moving?

  Jake rolled her onto her back. “Not as beautiful as you.” He lowered his head and trailed tiny butterfly kisses down her body. The thrill she felt at his touch rippled through her as he slid his hand down her thigh in a protective caress. Every nerve in her body sparked at his embrace.

  “Did you really not have an affair with Madeleine?” She hated herself for asking; she knew she sounded weak, possessive, and jealous. Not the person she wanted to be, but she couldn’t help herself.

  Jake propped himself up on his elbow and drew small circles around her belly button with his index finger.

  “Have you any idea what my life was like after you moved to Sydney?” He dropped a gentle kiss on her stomach, and she groaned with pleasure. “I lived for the days I drove down to see you, for the days you had time for me. I was lonely, and I was bored, and I missed you. It was almost a relief when Lyle turned up on the doorstep. I was pleased he had come to search me out, bury the hatchet, and I was pleased I could finally do something to help him.”

  “I expect he said you were well shot of me, and I was selfish and only interested in my work.” He lowered his gaze, which told her how close she had come to the mark.

  “I wasn’t interested in his opinion about you. I make my own decisions about what is important to me, and there were few things we’d seen eye-to-eye about since I left home.”

  “But you must have agreed with him about giving evidence in court and about looking after Madeleine.”

  “I couldn’t refuse Lyle. I owed him. Owed him big time and I never believed it would jeopardize our relationship. I thought we were strong enough to withstand it.” He slid his hand under her back and drew her into his embrace.

  “Are we strong enough?” she asked.

  He answered her question with his hands and his mouth, driving her wild until their bodies meshed, and she forgot everything except the magic they made together.

  ***

  Cassia ran through the door to the car. That was more like it. More like the girl he remembered. She threw her leather rucksack onto the backseat and climbed into his four-wheel-drive vehicle. He leaned over and kissed her, brushing his fingers over the scar on her cheek.

  “All ready?” Her scent filled the car, making the hairs on his arms prickle. The possibility of simply staying at her studio for the weekend crossed his mind.

  “Yes, absolutely,” she said, dragging him back to the present. “Where are we going?”

  “I’m not going to tell you.” He laughed. The pink tip of her tongue danced across her moist lips, tantalizing him.

  “I know where we are going. We’re going to the farm, aren’t we?” She adjusted the seat of the car, tucking her long legs up beneath her.

  “Just wait and see.” Jake groaned as he pulled out into the morning traffic. He hated it. Sydney was such a beautiful city with its magnificent harbor, but still millions of people chose to spend their time in office blocks and shopping malls, never seeing the sky or the ocean.

  “We’ve got a long drive,” he said, turning his attention back to the car.

  “Then we’ve got a long time to catch up. I’ve been thinking about what you said about Lyle and Maddy, and I have hundreds of questions.”

  Her words made his heart sink, but it was probably for the best. Perhaps by the time they got to the North Coast, she might be more ready to accept his plan.

  “Okay.” Cass rubbed her hands together in glee. “Question number one: Why did you agree to help Lyle? I thought you and he didn’t get on. You never spoke to him or saw him when we were together at the Shack.”

  Jake drummed his fingers against the steering wheel as he waited for the lights to change. “Water under the bridge, Cass. We are both older and more tolerant of each other’s beliefs. I wanted Lyle to run the farm organically. He wanted to make money out of it. He had to. Primary production is an expensive business. You need big money behind you if you are going to make a profit, and with Dad in the nursing home, there was little money to spare.”

  “Okay, then. I guess it makes sense. I know you are in favor of organic farming.”

  Jake swore under his breath as he pulled around a truck taking up more than its fair share of the middle lane. Cassia seemed oblivious to the clogged traffic. She swiveled around from side to side, taking everything in like a kid at the Royal Easter Show.

  “So why didn’t the police or the barristers or someone organize a safe house, a witness protection program, or something?”

  Jake kept his attention on the road, concentrating, resisting the urge to indulge in the simple pleasure of watching her. “Going into protection isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Too many people know. Word gets around.”

  “People? What people?” Jake could hear Cassia’s mind whirling as the cogs fell into place. She was still staring out the passenger window when she spoke. “You mean the police, don’t you? Too many police would know where they were?”

  The overwhelming desire to protect her surged through him again. He didn’t want her involved, didn’t want her world spoiled by ugly truths, but Jake knew he had to answer her questions. They’d gone past the point where half answers would do. “Yeah. Well, unfortunately it only takes one word to get out in the wrong place, and the information gets leaked, and police protection isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.”

  She was silent again, absorbing his statement. Her next question surprised him.

  “But what about Lyle? It left him wide open.”

  “Lyle knew if he was around and in the open, he’d be the one they would target. They’d hardly be likely to go for his ex-girlfriend if she’d left him for his brother.”

  “It must have been really scary, intimidating, knowing someone could be watching you, waiting to catch you out.”

  “It was the best way to keep Maddy safe, and me,” he added as an afterthought. His big brother looking out for him. “But there was always the chance it wouldn’t work, and that’s why I wanted you out of the picture too.”

  They’d left the inner city now and were heading through the more affluent suburbs of the north shore, the traffic thinned, and there were more trees. Jake stretched his arms against the steering wheel as some of the tension left his bo
dy.

  “People sometimes spend months in safe houses, months without any contact with family and friends. At least Maddy had me, and I was there when Jade was born. It was better than nothing. Better than being in some impersonal city hospital with no friends and no support,” he said after a few moments of silence.

  “I would have understood, Jake. Maybe I could have helped.”

  “I’m sure you would have understood, and I’m sure you could have helped, but I truly believed the less you knew, the safer you would be. I didn’t want you involved, and it was only supposed to be for a month or two.”

  “But it wasn’t a month or two; it was almost two years.”

  “It was never going to be that long, and when I did try and contact you, it was you who refused to answer my calls or my e-mails.”

  “You could have come to see me. Rang me up and said meet me at Dancing Dolphin for lunch tomorrow at one. I would have come.” Her laugh filled the car, easing away the last of his apprehension. The odds were beginning to improve. Maybe he did have a chance.

  “And announced to the world in general and specifically the people we were trying to fool you were still part of my life. I don’t think so.”

  “You answered my call when I rang you.”

  “I did. I couldn’t resist it. I was worried about you. I wanted to see you, and by then the police had almost tied up all the loose ends.”

  They pulled onto the freeway, and Jake accelerated into the outside lane. There wasn’t a lot of traffic going north at this time of day, mostly trucks and semi-trailers. It would be easy driving from here on.

  “When did Maddy find out she was pregnant?” Cassia’s question made him shake his head. She’d never been much of a talker, but she certainly seemed to be making up for lost time today.

  “Almost as soon as she moved into the Shack. I think she had an inkling before, but she didn’t say anything for a couple of months. I reckon because she didn’t want to give Lyle anything else to worry about. Then everyone”—he shot a look across the car at her face, and she was waiting for him, grinning—”presumed the child was mine. After Jade was born, she was seen as proof of our relationship. It worked like a charm.”