Runaway Bride

by Barbara Hannay

  ‘We have plenty of time.’

  ‘Yes.’ She drew a deep, steadying breath. ‘Well … it started when my father got really sick.’

  ‘You’ve had a rough trot, Bella.’

  She nodded. ‘After Mum died, we were all rather lost … Dad, Paddy and I. But your grandmother was wonderful for Paddy. She went out of her way to cheer him up.’

  Damon smiled. ‘She has a talent for cheering people up. I’m glad she was able to help. She mentioned that your father was very low.’

  ‘He was. He started drinking too much. Drowning his sorrows. It was really awful, actually.’

  ‘You were away, working in Brisbane, weren’t you?’

  ‘Yes, and I didn’t realise how quickly Dad was going downhill. He was neglecting the farm. He wasn’t paying bills. When I realised how bad things were, I started coming home on weekends, and Kent helped out on the farm. Mending fences. Ploughing. Kent was fabulous, actually.’

  Damon slanted her a piercing glance. ‘Is that when the two of you became close?’

  ‘Yes.’ She looked away, then said carefully, ‘I’m not sure if you ever knew, but Kent’s always looked up to my father. You probably heard that Dad saved Kent from drowning when he was a kid?’ Damon nodded.

  ‘Kent felt that he owed him a huge debt. He became very worried when Dad started the heavy drinking. Then Dad developed heart failure. He’d been literally drinking himself to death.’

  ‘And Kent wanted to help.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘By marrying you?’

  The fierce intensity in Damon’s voice made her shiver. ‘More or less.’ She rubbed at her arms. ‘Kent suggested we should get engaged, and suddenly it seemed to be the answer to all my problems. He and I would be living next door to Dad. We could keep an eye on him, get him to AA meetings and help him to run the farm.’

  ‘And there’d be grandchildren for your father to dote on. A reason for him to go on living.’

  Bella drew a sharp breath. ‘That was what we hoped.’

  After a beat, Damon said, smoothly, ‘It sounds like a great plan. Dare I ask what went wrong?’

  Oh, help. This was the hard part.

  There was no way she could explain to this man who set her heart spinning at fifty paces about their lack of chemistry. ‘We—ah—realised that gratitude isn’t a good basis for a happy marriage,’ she said quietly.

  Damon’s clever grey eyes narrowed. ‘And it was an amicable decision?’

  ‘Of course.’

  But suddenly she’d had enough. She’d told Damon far more than she’d intended and she didn’t want this clever reporter probing too deeply. ‘This isn’t an interview, Damon. If you don’t mind, I’m done with answering questions.’

  With that, she yawned dramatically and closed her eyes.

  Damon drove on, and it wasn’t too long before Bella’s head slipped sideways. Her cap fell off revealing the soft, pale gleam of her hair. A strand escaped and fluttered gently like a golden streamer. As her head tipped farther he caught sight of the thick fringe of her eyelashes behind her sunglasses. Yes, she was definitely asleep, and he was flooded by a surge of protectiveness.

  He thought about the story she’d just told him. There’d been no sign of self-pity in her voice, but he’d found her tale incredibly sad. Bella, the fun-loving, sexy and adventurous girl he’d known, had been loaded with too many responsibilities and worries.

  Reading between the lines … these worries were the reason she’d been prepared to sacrifice herself in a passionless marriage. The thought of Bella trapped by duty enraged him.

  But … damn it. This was so not the way he wanted to feel. An emotional reconnection with Bella Shaw was definitely not part of his plan.

  He forced his focus to the blue bitumen road stretching ahead, and to the wider, lighter blue of the sky arching above. Purposefully, he inhaled the scents of dry earth and the eucalyptus wafting in on the fresh, clean air.

  For him, the allure of an open road had always been strong, and if he weren’t so concerned now about Violet and Paddy he would have absolutely loved this journey. Each bend in the road was a new possibility, a chance for adventure. He was always at his happiest when he was travelling with no clear destination.

  At heart, he’d never changed. He was a gypsy, a nomad.

  And he was quite sure that, for a nomad like him, it had been a mistake to come home.

  CHAPTER THREE

  WHEN Bella woke she was aware of a strange blue-grey light outside. She saw stands of tall pine trees flashing past. And she saw the back of Damon’s dark head.

  The back of his head? That didn’t seem right. She blinked and tried to sit up, but she was held down by her seat belt. Her neck was stiff and she realised that her seat had been lowered into the reclining position. And the car had a roof.

  When had that happened? She couldn’t remember.

  Beneath her cheek, there was something soft and pillowy—a man’s sweater with a faint hint of Damon’s exotic cologne had been rolled up to cushion her head.

  She yanked on the lever that raised her seat. ‘What time is it?’

  Damon smiled. ‘Hey, there.’

  Yawning, she reached for her water bottle and took a few sips. That was better. ‘What’s the time?’ she asked again. ‘Have I been asleep long?’

  ‘It’s almost five.’ He pointed to the clock on the dashboard.

  ‘Wow. I’ve been asleep for a couple of hours, then.’

  ‘More than a couple.’

  Sleepily, Bella took another look at their surroundings. There was something about the light that didn’t seem right for five o’clock in the afternoon. It should have been all golden and coppery and sloping in low from the west. She shivered and frowned as a terrible thought struck. ‘Damon, it’s not five o’clock in the morning, is it?’

  ‘It certainly is.’

  ‘No! It can’t be.’ Shocked, she sat up straighter, and pulled her jacket more closely around her. Wait a minute. Where had her jacket come from? She turned to Damon. ‘Did you get this jacket out of my bag?’

  ‘You were getting goose bumps on your arms.’

  She rubbed at the stiff spot on her neck. ‘But I can’t have been asleep all night.’

  ‘You were exhausted, Bella, and you needed to sleep. You’ve had a huge twenty-four hours.’

  ‘I know. But don’t tell me you’ve been driving all night?’ ‘I felt fine.’

  ‘Damon, you shouldn’t have. You should have stopped.’

  She was beginning to feel quite angry. Guilty, too. They were supposed to share the driving. ‘Why didn’t you tell me you weren’t planning to stop?’

  ‘It wasn’t planned. It just seemed like a good idea to let you sleep and push on.’

  ‘But we could have stayed in a motel.’

  He cocked a questioning eyebrow. ‘Were you anxious to spend the night in a motel?’

  ‘In separate rooms, of course.’

  ‘Of course.’ Faint amusement shimmered in his eyes.

  Bella could feel her anger rising to the boil. ‘Anyone with any sense knows you have to have adequate rest on a long road trip.’ She should have guessed something like this might happen. Damon Cavello had always been a risk taker.

  They rounded a curve and she shot an angry glance at the view of vast plains stretching ahead, soft in the morning light, and dotted with grazing cattle. ‘So, where are we?’

  ‘Just south of Rockhampton.’

  ‘Rockhampton? That’s ridiculous, Damon. What’s the point of haring up the highway when we don’t know for sure where Violet and Paddy are? We could have passed them in the night back in Gympie, or Hervey Bay.’

  ‘I take it you’re not a morning person,’ he said smoothly.

  She narrowed her eyes at him. Okay, she was being snappy, but she was justified. Damon might think he was bullet proof, but they were supposed to be a team and he should have at least consulted her before deciding to drive all night.
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  ‘I’m fine once I’ve had coffee.’

  ‘There should be a coffee shop coming up very soon.’

  ‘I still think I was making a valid point. Let me remind you, you’re not still in a war zone, Mr Cavello.’

  ‘I had noticed.’

  ‘That means we don’t need to take the risks you’re so fond of. I don’t fancy finding myself wrapped around a gum tree because you chose to drive all night.’

  ‘I was fine, Bella.’

  ‘That’s not the point. From now on, we make joint decisions. If we need to drive all night, I’ll be part of the decision making. I’m not just here for the ride, you know. I’ll do my share of the driving.’ ‘I hear you.’

  Annoyed by his quiet, smug responses, Bella threw in her trump card. ‘And. As I said, it’s crazy to race pell-mell up the highway when we don’t know where our grandparents are. We’re supposed to be stopping along the way and making enquiries.’

  ‘The circumstances have changed.’

  Gobsmacked, she stared at him. ‘How?’

  ‘Brenda Holmes rang from Greenacres. They’ve found a note from Violet.’

  Bella’s jaw sagged. ‘You mean I slept through a phone call?’

  ‘Snored your head off.’

  If he weren’t driving she would have hit him. ‘When were you going to tell me?’

  ‘When I could get a word in edgeways.’

  The nerve of him to treat her like a sleeping child and then throw joking insults. Bella was sorely tempted to continue her lecture. But she supposed it would be water off a duck’s back. The man was a law unto himself. Already, she was beginning to regret her rash impulse to join him on this wild chase.

  ‘So where was this note?’ she asked primly. ‘And why did Brenda Holmes take so long to find it?’

  ‘It was stuck, or caught, under Violet’s neighbour’s doormat. Violet must have slipped it under the door in the middle of the night. She was probably fumbling around in the dark, and it went under the mat, as well. At any rate no one saw it till last night.’

  ‘And what did it say?’

  ‘Not as much as we might have hoped. But it seems there’s been some kind of emergency in Port Douglas, and Paddy was determined that he had to be there straight away. Violet lent him her car and apparently decided she couldn’t let him travel all that way on his own.’

  Bella blinked as she assimilated this news. ‘But they might have driven to Brisbane and caught a plane.’

  ‘I doubt it. The driver at the servo was certain they were definitely heading north.’

  ‘That’s true, and I’ve just remembered that Paddy’s not supposed to fly. It’s something to do with his heart.’

  She let out her breath with a whoosh. She hadn’t dreamed their grandparents were on some kind of mercy dash. It was such a long way for an elderly couple to drive. ‘Port Douglas is even farther north than Cairns.’

  ‘Exactly. That’s why I decided to keep going.’

  ‘I wonder what the emergency is.’ She was thinking aloud now, trying to remember if Paddy had talked about Port Douglas. She had a vague feeling he had mentioned it.

  ‘I think one of Paddy’s mates lives in Port Douglas. I remember Paddy talking about a fellow veteran from the Korean War.’

  ‘Can you remember his name?’

  ‘No.’ She sighed. ‘It might come to me, but I’m drawing blanks at the moment. Dad might know. I’ll call him later.’

  At least she was feeling wide awake now. ‘You should let me drive, Damon. You must be worn out.’

  ‘We’ll have breakfast in Rockhampton and then you can take over.’ He shot her a wink. ‘Once you’ve had your coffee.’

  At the thought of coffee and food her stomach growled. She’d barely touched her lunch yesterday and she hadn’t eaten dinner. ‘I’m starving.’

  ‘That’s a good sign.’

  His smile was a glimpse of the old Damon. It was the smile she’d fallen in love with.

  There weren’t too many eating places open at such an early hour, but they found a roadside café, popular with truckies, where a heavenly smell of coffee greeted them as soon as they pushed open the heavy glass door.

  Once they’d placed their orders, Bella went to the bathroom and washed her face, freed her hair from its ponytail and gave it a good brushing. Foolishly, she wished she could leave it down. She felt more attractive and feminine with her hair bouncing about her shoulders.

  You’re a flirtation-free zone.

  She thought about the way Damon had smiled at her a few minutes ago. There’d been a silver spark of emotion in his grey eyes. And a warmth that had sent tiny thrills rippling all the way from her head to her toes. Once again, she’d found herself thinking about their past, remembering their kisses and the exact feel of his lips touching hers and the way she used to melt.

  Stop it.

  Hastily, she pulled her hair back beneath the tight elastic band and jammed on her cap. She should be remembering that Damon was trouble. Back in high school, her parents had forbidden her to see him again, and they’d been wise. Soon after, he’d left town and broken her heart.

  That was what she should be remembering. She was glad she had that sorted before she returned to their table.

  Coffee arrived, hot and delicious, and soon after that a massive plate of bacon and scrambled eggs with slices of hot buttered toast. Normally, Bella would be daunted by such a huge meal. This morning she was ravenous and tucked in hungrily.

  So did Damon. In fact they were both so hungry, they barely talked.

  But with food inside her, Bella felt more relaxed. As she buttered a second slice of toast she said, ‘I guess you’ve eaten a lot of interesting breakfasts in different parts of the world.’

  ‘Yeah.’ He smiled. ‘Like rancid meat and yak’s milk in Mongolia.’

  ‘Eeeeuuuwwww. I’m afraid I’d have to stay with less adventurous food like fried rice or crêpes.’

  ‘There’ve been plenty of those.’ Damon set down his coffee cup. ‘You’d probably love churros and hot chocolate.’

  ‘That does sound yummy. Where can you eat it for breakfast?’

  ‘In Spain.’

  Bella pictured Damon in Spain, walking down an old cobbled street where pretty señoritas flashed their dark eyes at him. ‘Do you miss Aussie food?’ she asked quickly.

  He laughed and shook his head. ‘Violet sends me food packages all the time.’

  ‘Good old Violet. I’m so relieved we know where they’re heading now, and we don’t have to stop and search along the way.’

  ‘It’s a relief to know they haven’t gone crazy,’ Damon said quietly.

  ‘Were you worried about that, too?’

  ‘I was when I first heard that Vi was missing. It crossed my mind that this might have been the beginnings of dementia.’

  ‘But Paddy and Violet wouldn’t both get it at the same time.’

  ‘No, and Violet’s mind’s still razor sharp. She’s managed to keep in regular contact with me even though I’m always on the move. And the other day, she hammered me at a complicated word game.’

  This time when Damon smiled, Bella had to look away. They still had a long drive ahead, up the Queensland coast, and she’d be a mess if she kept reacting to him like this.

  At least she was confident now that they’d find their grandparents, and everything would be resolved in another day or two.

  Then, Damon could look after Violet, and with a little luck Bella would coax Paddy into taking a train trip from Cairns to Brisbane and she’d have him safely back in Willara in no time. Then she’d be free.

  Free of marriage plans, free of old boyfriends and hopefully free of family worries. She could work out, then, what she wanted to do with the rest of her life.

  She wished she felt happier about that. If only she felt free, rather than completely blank, like a deleted page on a computer screen.

  Right now, she felt more lost than free.

  But heavens …
she couldn’t start worrying about her future just yet. For now, she had to try to relax.

  As they left the café, Bella was surprised by how much better she felt. She’d had a good night’s sleep, her stomach was full and caffeine was pumping through her veins. She wasn’t even daunted by the sight of their red sports car looking ridiculously small and low as it hunkered between the massive haulage trains in the parking lot.

  ‘Let’s have the top down this morning,’ she said in a burst of enthusiasm. ‘Or would you like to leave it up while you sleep?’

  ‘Down’s fine.’ Damon was already pushing the appropriate lever.

  Bella settled herself behind the wheel, adjusting the seat and the rear-vision mirror. She turned the ignition and the engine purred with the low throaty growl of a jungle cat.

  Cool. Excitement pinged. For the first time in ages, she was looking forward to this adventure.

  As they left Rockhampton behind them and headed north along the highway, the morning air was fresh and the sun not yet hot. This was cattle country, smooth and flat, with straight roads and few trees and plenty of visibility. The sky was clear and pale and endless, and a flock of galahs fluttered overhead, their rosy pink breasts a bright contrast to the soft pale grey of their wings.

  Bella felt her spirits lift even higher. She put her foot down and the little car leapt in response. This was fun.

  ‘You should try to catch some sleep,’ she told Damon, but to her annoyance his eyes remained stubbornly open. Didn’t he trust her driving? She pressed the accelerator a little harder, but reluctantly had to ease back when the car shot over the speed limit.

  Out of the corner of her eye she caught Damon’s smile. No doubt he was amused and she wished he would go to sleep.

  In a bid to ignore him, she let her thoughts turn to Kent. She’d fallen asleep last night without ringing to see how he was faring with the aftermath of their break up and it had been too early to ring this morning.

  She hoped Kent was okay. At least she knew he wasn’t nursing a broken heart. She felt a bit guilty that she’d escaped the unpleasant job of ringing the wedding guests and the caterers, but he’d insisted that she leave him with the task.

  This morning, she was truly relieved that they’d come to their senses in time. In fact, she could now look on her close brush with a serious, life-changing mistake as a useful warning. She would think very carefully before she leapt into any new relationship. She was certainly mega cautious about the man currently sitting beside her.