by Jennie Adams
Annapolly was indeed keen. In the end all three girls lined up for the ride with their father. Jess smiled at the picture of Dan’s strong imposing back as he waited for the ride with his three daughters.
‘Let’s watch Luke and Rob have their fun while we wait, Ella.’ Jess pushed the stroller to a vantage point and watched Luke and Rob get into one of the cross-barred seats. Moments later the ride had begun and they were climbing high into the sky as the speed of the ride picked up.
Two rotations later there was a sickening, grinding sound. The ride operator shouted, and the ride came to a jarring stop with occupants of a lot of the cages shrieking in shock.
‘Oh my God.’ Luke and Rob were stuck right at the top of the ride. Dan’s boys were not safe up there. They weren’t in a full locking cage. There was nothing but a cross bar keeping them secure while they dangled there.
Ella had fallen asleep in the stroller. Dan was stuck on the other ride with his daughters.
Jess caught the eye of a local woman nearby. ‘Mrs O’Donnell, would you please watch my daughter? My charges are stuck up there.’
The kindly middle-aged woman took charge of Ella’s stroller, and Jess rushed to the base of the ride. She yelled up: ‘I’m here, Luke and Rob. Don’t move!’
‘I don’t like this, Jess.’ Rob’s voice quavered. ‘It’s all shaking.’
Jess didn’t like it either, and she caught sight of the ride manager who seemed to be doing nothing but wringing his hands while another man ineffectively prodded at the gear mechanism of the ride. Jess searched both boys’ faces before she yelled out again.
‘Luke’s there with you, Rob. He’s not going to let anything happen to either of you, are you, Luke?’
She held her breath as she waited for Luke’s answer, and her heart softened with gratitude as he told his brother fiercely that he’d hold on to him all day up there if need be.
‘We’re not going to fall, Rob. All we have to do is be sensible, and hang on tight if things start banging about again.’
Luke’s words were stern. In that moment Jess saw more of Dan in the boy than she ever had. And she saw what he was holding back, too, holding back his own concerns, and the knowledge that despite his assurances to Rob they weren’t safe.
Jess strode to the ride manager. ‘What’s happened here? Those are my charges at the top of the ride.’
‘It’s nothing. Please step aside.’ The manager cast a trapped look her way. ‘We’ll have this fixed in a moment.’
The other man shook his head. ‘I really think we need to call in a crane to get them all off the ride. I don’t like how this break looks here.’ He pointed to what Jess had already seen, a sheared-off piece of metal, a bunch of cogs out of alignment.
A potential serious accident waiting to happen?
‘Call for a crane, now.’ Jess’s words were harsh, low.
There were other people beginning to gather around as they realised the ride wasn’t merely temporarily paused for some reason.
The manager glared at Jess before the other man said in a low tone, ‘It’ll be bad if any of them panic or try to climb down, Jack. Call for the crane.’
Jess stood close by until she’d heard the call go through. Once it had she spoke to Luke and Rob again, told them their dad would be here very soon. Dan’s ride had been stopped as well and he was coming over. ‘A crane’s on the way to get you all down.’
Once she’d told the boys this, Jess pulled out her own mobile phone and called the police. She briefly explained what had happened and asked them to attend.
Things moved quickly after that. The crane and the police arrived. Dan and the girls joined Jess, and she quickly explained the situation and took charge of the girls while Dan called out to his sons. Jess retrieved her sleeping daughter from Mrs O’Donnell, thanked her, and rejoined Dan.
‘Oh, I don’t want to watch this.’ But Jess did watch, and prayed and held on to Dan’s arm until Rob and Luke were safely transferred from the top of the ride to the crane, and from there to ground level.
‘You’re all right?’ Dan pulled them both aside and listened as Rob spilled out how scary it had been.
‘Luke was great with him, Dan.’ Jess spoke quietly. ‘He kept Rob calm, reassured him up there until you could get here from the other ride.’
‘Thanks, Luke.’ Dan hugged both sons before he released them. ‘I need to speak with the ride manager, and then the police. This shouldn’t have happened and I want to know why it did.’
It was Luke who held on to his father’s arm. ‘Dad— Jess was the one who made them get a crane in, and called the police on them.’
‘Thanks.’ Dan met Jess’s gaze briefly before he strode to where the police were questioning the ride manager and his assistant.
‘Dad’s gonna kick heads.’ Rob said it with a hint of ghoulish glee.
‘I’m so relieved you’re all right, Rob.’ Jess spoke from the depths of her heart, but she also caught Luke’s gaze and smiled before she could stop herself, and Luke…almost smiled before he looked away.
Dan did what he had to do and then came back to join them. ‘I’ve had quite enough of this place. The police have my number. Let’s go home.’
CHAPTER NINE
‘DAD’S REALLY STRESSED about what happened with that ride.’ Daisy made this observation to Jess later. ‘He’s been on the phone in his den with the police and stuff like that half the afternoon. If he’s not taking phone calls, he’s checking on Luke and Rob. They’re all right though, aren’t they, Jess?’
‘Yes, Daisy. They’re okay.’ Jess thought in truth that the boys were probably more resilient about the whole thing than the adults had been. They’d had a fright. In the end nothing terrible had come of it and they’d got over it. Rob had already been on the phone bragging to the new friends he and Luke had met at the fair about the excitement of being stuck up there.
But Dan had to deal with getting to the bottom of what had gone wrong, and why, and work with the police and others to ensure responsibility was taken for the incident, and that there wouldn’t be a repeat. Meanwhile, Jess needed to feed everyone and get the children into bed, at least the younger ones, because that was her job. ‘I must put something on for dinner. I confess I’ve been a bit distracted, too. It was a little frightening while they were stuck up there.’
‘You should give us all pizza.’ Daisy glanced outside to where Luke and Rob were sitting on the veranda.
The boys were talking, rather than riding their bikes. Maybe they’d had enough excitement for one day, too.
Daisy went on. ‘Dad usually treats everyone if we’ve had a rough day. He won’t want to eat until later, though.’ She added with calm unconcern for exposing her father’s finer feelings, ‘His guts get in a total knot over stuff like this.’
They did end up treating the children with pizza. Jess said she might ‘like to eat a bit later if that would suit Dan’ and he readily agreed and disappeared back into his den to try to catch up on his Sydney-related workload while Jess got everyone sorted for bed.
Luke, for once, left his door open while Jess took care of the smaller children. When they were all in their rooms, she hesitated for a moment and then briefly poked her head in. ‘You’re all right, Luke? No after effects from that drama earlier today?’
‘Yeah, I’m okay.’ He seemed a bit at a loss.
A sound came through the baby monitor in Jess’s pocket. ‘I’d better go check on that. I guess Ella’s going to take more than one tucking in tonight to get her to sleep.’
Jess checked on her daughter, settled her and then took care of some laundry and cleared up the bathrooms and kitchen before she finally went in search of Dan. She met him as he was returning from checking on the children.
‘They’re all asleep.’ He shoved a hand through his hair.
It was already ruffled from, Jess assumed, several such treatments. She tried not to think about being the one to do the ruffling. ‘You look fed up,
and justifiably so. What have the police had to say about the problem with the ride?’
‘There will definitely be a hefty fine for the owners and a probable suspension of licence. The problem appears to have resulted from negligence rather than any tolerable wear and tear or other issues.’
‘Then I hope they receive the harshest fine and punishment possible.’ Jess drew a breath. ‘Shall I order us some pizza now, Dan?’
‘Actually I got on the phone before I checked on the kids. It should be here soon. Can we eat it on a desert island where there’s nothing at all to bug us or cause concern? You know, I really could do with just a couple of hours where I could totally relax.’ As the words left his mouth, Dan frowned. ‘And so could you. I’m sorry. With what happened to Luke and Rob on that ride I forgot you were waiting on a call from my solicitor today.’
‘It’s okay.’ That news hadn’t come, and it could wait another day. ‘I think we’ve had enough to contend with for today.’
Jess was trying so hard, but she was still aware of Dan as a man. Remembrance of the kiss they’d shared hovered constantly on the edge of her thoughts, lifting that awareness to a higher level, making her long for more even though she knew how foolish it was to do that.
Why had she let Dan kiss her when she knew it could only end in hurt for her because he didn’t have anything in his heart?
‘I don’t know of any nearby desert islands.’ Jess tried for a light smile. ‘When Daisy wants to escape she goes into the tree house.’
Just as the doorbell rang Dan gave Jess a considering look.
He strode to the door and opened up, and came back a moment later with the pizza. ‘Why not? There’s a bottle of sparkling grape juice in the fridge. We’ll eat pizza and drink that and get away from the day for a bit.’
When Jess simply looked at him, he added, ‘You have the baby monitor, and you know once my lot fall asleep nothing short of a fire-alarm situation would wake them so we won’t be worrying about them.’
And it would get them both out of the house, and potentially give Dan’s ‘guts’ a chance to settle down. ‘I’ve never eaten a meal in a tree house.’
When they climbed up there, Jess drew a breath. ‘Here we are, then.’
‘Yes. Looks like Daisy’s had a tea party or something up here.’ Dan’s glance roved the room and he fell silent.
Jess’s gaze followed Dan’s to a picnic blanket spread across the floor. Scatter cushions to lean on. Flowers from the garden picked with girlish hands and stuffed into a plastic tumbler. They were already wilted.
‘How—’ She couldn’t very well say romantic though that was the word that sprang to mind. ‘How lovely the view is through the cut-away window. You can see heaps of stars.’
Jess pretended an extreme rate of interest in those stars while Dan set down the boxes of pizza in complete silence. After a moment she heard the fizz as he opened the bottle of sparkling grape juice and the sound as he poured it into the plastic tumblers they’d brought out and she knew she had to turn around.
Dan’s ears were red again. And Jess felt as though she were on a date, which was quite ridiculous. Yet they were here, secluded, nothing but each other’s company and a house full of children not at all far away, but they might as well have been miles away.
‘We don’t have to do this, Dan—’
‘At least it’s quiet out here—’ He broke off and handed her one of the cups.
It wasn’t real wine, but all Jess could think about was being kissed anyway.
Reclining back on those scatter cushions and being kissed by Dan. ‘It’s—it’s good that it’s quiet. For the peace of it, I mean.’ That was what she should mean.
She took the sparkling juice and sat, and she would just have to stop thinking about this being a romantic setting. It was a children’s tree cubby house. How could that even be romantic?
Jess reached for the first pizza box. ‘Well, I’m certainly hungry. How about you?’
‘It does smell good.’ Dan reached for a slice of pizza.
Their hands brushed.
Not a big deal, Jess.
They ate in silence for a minute or two.
‘How are things progressing with your Sydney client?’ Jess hadn’t asked for a few days, but prior to the fiasco at the fair today Dan had been working from home more.
In the back of her mind where all the tensions and concerns about the future lurked, a part of Jess hadn’t wanted to ask in case Dan had almost resolved things and wouldn’t need her for much longer. She wasn’t ready to face yet another worry over finances. She wasn’t ready to leave…Dan.
Dan finished his slice of pizza and selected another before offering the box to her. ‘I think my clients are close to being fully assessed now. A purchase offer shouldn’t be too far away.’
‘You won’t need my help for much longer, then.’ Jess forced herself to smile. She would be fine. She and Ella had made it this far and they would go on making it whether Jess lost this work, whether she also lost their cottage or not. Of course they would be fine.
‘For at least another month, Jess, if you can do it.’ Dan drew a breath. ‘I’ll cope without you if you can’t commit for that long. I don’t want to get in the way of other plans you might need to make, but if you can stick at it for another month it’ll give me time to wrap up this problem, get the kids started at school, and hopefully for things to start to settle down. I’ve really appreciated all your help, including the things you’ve done in terms of housekeeping.’
‘I hope I can find enough work in Randurra to stay here, Dan. That’s what I’ll be aiming for. Actually I’d like to ask for half of tomorrow off to do some more door knocking if that’s all right?’
He agreed straight away, and Jess went on.
‘I’ll stay on with you another month if at all possible.’ It was Jess’s turn to draw a breath before she went on. ‘I don’t feel comfortable asking you for help finding out my rights regarding the cottage.’
‘You’re independent. I understand that.’ His glance drifted over the chunky wooden necklace that matched the bangles on her arm, and down to the cleft between her breasts before he looked away. ‘But it was easy for me to get that help for you, and I wanted to.’
‘Thank you, Dan. I do appreciate it.’ Jess’s skin warmed as though Dan had touched her, and she became aware very suddenly that the only sounds around them were of night insects and the occasional hoot of an owl somewhere in the distance. They were very alone out here, whether there were children sleeping in the house or not. They were alone and Jess didn’t think she was the only one aware of it…
‘That was a nice break.’ Jess gathered the used plates together and piled them on top of the pizza boxes and hoped she didn’t sound as desperate to escape her thoughts as she was. ‘I’ll take these in and get Ella and head home.’
‘Leave it.’ Dan stilled her movements by the simple expedient of laying his hand over hers. ‘It can stay here until morning but you’re right. It’s time to go in.’
They couldn’t stay out here and drift as they had done. If they did, the drifting would end in kisses. The truth of that was in Dan’s eyes, and she didn’t want him to reject her twice.
So they went inside and Jess got Ella and put her in the car, drove home and sent Dan a text message that they’d arrived safe and sound. She put Ella to bed and climbed into her own bed and while she waited for sleep to come she did what she could to toughen her resolve.
She had let herself care too much about Dan, and she’d pushed back her concerns about losing her home and tried not to think about them because she didn’t want to face the choices she might have to make to survive. Moving out of Randurra. Getting work outside the childcare industry that would separate her from Ella.
Jess had to knock on more doors, and see what work she could find. She had to get ready for whatever Dan’s solicitor might tell her, have her plans already in train to deal with whatever life threw down.
And she had to push aside any feelings she might think she had towards Dan that were not about work.
Jess could do it all alone. She had been standing alone. And she would go on standing alone. For herself, and for Ella. That was all. Her determination had nothing to do with pushing people away to keep herself safe.
Jess was the one who’d been pushed away by Peter Rosche, and in the end Dan was doing that to her, too. He wanted her as a daycare mum, but he did not want her for herself.
Well, Jess did not need him in that way.
She didn’t!
CHAPTER TEN
THE NEXT DAY DAWNED clear and sunny with a gentle breeze taking the edge off the heat. In the afternoon Dan suggested a walk to the dam on the property to try to catch yabbies for a bit of fun.
‘Daddy, Daddy, I’ve got one. What do I do?’ Mary yelled the words as her line of string went tight in the muddy water.
The children were spread out around one side of the dam with bits of sausage tied to pieces of string, and the string tied to sticks planted in the mud at the edge of the water. Rob and Luke had managed to resist throwing dried mud clods into the water. They’d thrown them up the bank instead.
As mini excursions went, Jess thought this one was rather inventive, and Dan had seemed happy to forfeit the time in his office to spend it with the children, instead.
Dan went to Mary’s side and put his hand over hers. He had an old plastic colander from the kitchen to use as a net. ‘We just pull the string in gently like this until we can see the yabby in the shallow water. He’s a lot like a crab except long and thinner. He’ll hold on to the meat with his pincers. Once we have him close, we’ll scoop him up.’
They pulled. They saw the yabby. They scooped and all had a good look at him.
‘Sausage works pretty well to catch them with, Dad.’ Daisy sounded surprised. ‘But you said that smelly older meat would work even better?’
‘Yes. I’m fairly sure.’
Jess leaned close to Dan’s ear to whisper, ‘You’re an expert now that you’ve been on the Internet to find out all about it.’