The Wildwood Sisters

by Mandy Magro

  Easing herself down awkwardly, Bossy lay on the ground, both of her paws resting on Dylan’s boots, as she appeared to sulk. He had to stifle a chuckle. She was a clever dog and knew she’d done wrong. She’d got into trouble countless times for chasing the chickens and ducks, so clearly the fun was well worth the stern talking to.

  Claire rolled her eyes at Dylan, her frown disappearing as she giggled. She gave him a quick peck on his cheek. ‘It’s great to hear you joking about again, son. I think the psychologist is helping you a lot.’

  Dylan smiled as he observed Annie and Rascal. ‘Yup, she sure is. It’s like magic. Even after two visits I’m already feeling a heck of a lot better than a few weeks ago—and I haven’t had one nightmare since I spoke to her. I’ve got another appointment at the end of this week.’ He turned to his mum. ‘Thanks for keeping on my case about going to her, Mum. I reckon I’m actually ready to put Shelley’s things away—’ he touched his wedding ring tenderly, ‘—and maybe even take this off… Maybe.’

  Claire reached out and squeezed Dylan’s arm, her eyes full of compassion as she blinked quickly. ‘That’s so very wonderful to hear. I know it’s going to be hard for you, but it really is time you let go, so you can move forward. I can help you pack up her things if you like.’

  ‘No, I need to do it on my own, but thanks for the offer.’

  ‘Okay then.’ Claire smiled lovingly. ‘I’m proud of you, Dylan, getting help like you have. It’s a big step.’

  ‘Thanks, Mum.’

  Claire waved to Annie, who’d finished brushing Rascal and was now standing with her arms wrapped around the horse’s neck in a loving embrace. ‘Morning sweetheart.’

  Annie waved, smiling her even more toothless grin after losing another baby tooth yesterday. ‘Morning Grammy. I’m going to ride Rascal soon.’

  ‘I know, how exciting. You be careful though, won’t you.’

  Annie rolled her eyes. ‘Oh Grammy, I will be.’

  ‘She’ll be right, Mum,’ Dylan piped in.

  ‘I know, I know. I just worry, that’s all.’

  Dylan chuckled. ‘I know you do, you’re a professional worry wart.’

  ‘Now now, you cheeky bugger,’ Claire said, smiling. ‘I’d love to stay and watch but you know I get too nervous watching Annie on a horse, and then I’ll make her nervous. I’d better get back home anyway and get ready—it’s bingo day at the community hall and I’ve offered to help with morning tea. What are you up to for the day, seeing you don’t have to go over to Stanley’s?’

  ‘Ralph’s coming over today to make a start on the dam.’ Dylan paused, wondering whether to tell his mum Renee was coming over, or not. He didn’t want to make a big deal of it, but in fact it was a big deal when he really thought about it. And as if his mum wasn’t going to come over and say g’day when she spotted a woman wandering around the place with him—she wouldn’t be able to help herself. ‘Oh, and I’ve invited Stanley’s granddaughter, Renee, over for a swim and an early dinner this arvo.’

  Claire’s eyebrows shot up. ‘Renee Wildwood is back in town? Oh how wonderful.’ She dropped her voice so Annie couldn’t hear. ‘I’m guessing that might be why you’ve got a bit of a spring in your step—you two used to date, didn’t you?’

  Dylan groaned silently. So much for playing it cool. Claire Anderson never missed a beat. He seriously believed she had eyes in the back of her head. ‘Oh, yeah, we dated on and off before she left town. It was nothing too serious.’ A white lie never hurt anyone.

  Claire tutted. ‘I wasn’t born yesterday, Dylan Anderson. I remember how distraught you were when she left town so suddenly. But you were at that sensitive age where a boy didn’t want his prying mother getting involved in affairs of the heart, and you were already going through so much with your father doing what he did to me and taking off the way he did, so I stayed out of it. You moped around for ages after she’d gone.’

  A red-faced Dylan shook his head in amazement. She was as sharp as a tack. ‘I can’t hide anything from you, can I Mum? Yes, okay, I liked her a lot. But things have changed. She and I are adults now, with responsibilities, and we’re just friends.’

  Who am I trying to kid, Mum or myself?

  Claire smirked cheekily, a glimmer in her eyes giving away her thought process. ‘Just friends, hey? Well it’s good you have a new friend. Am I allowed to meet her this afternoon?’

  ‘Yes, Mum, you’re more than welcome to meet her. It’s not like I have any reason to hide her away from you, or anyone else for that matter. You can even join us for some grub tonight if you want.’

  ‘Ooh, I’d love that. Are you sure that’s okay? I won’t be intruding?’

  Dylan smirked. ‘No, you won’t be intruding. The more the merrier.’

  ‘Great, I’ll make a potato salad and some coleslaw. You just take care of the meat, and your friend.’ Claire emphasised the last word once again.

  ‘Haven’t you got somewhere you need to be?’ Dylan said lightheartedly.

  ‘Okay, okay, I’m off,’ Claire said, laughing. ‘Bye Annie. See you this afternoon darling. Have a good day at school, won’t you.’

  ‘I will. Bye Grammy,’ Annie called back, waving enthusiastically.

  Spinning on her heels, Claire headed back towards her granny flat. ‘See you tonight, Dylan. Looking forward to it,’ she called over her shoulder as she waltzed away, stopping momentarily to do a very discreet, but still noticeable, happy jig.

  Dylan found her enthusiasm for Renee endearing, and encouraging. It made him feel a hell of a lot better that his own mother thought it was okay for him to have a lady friend over. Claire had been very close to Shelley, and it gave him that little bit more of a shove to step forward into his future, rather than living in the shadows of his past. First things first, though, he wanted Annie to meet Renee, and see how they were around each other, before things went any further. Because as much as he’d love to just follow his heart and see where it led, Annie came first, no matter what. Then, they had the massive hurdle of the long-distance to deal with. It was a well-known fact that most long-distance relationships never lasted.

  But one thing at a time. He hadn’t told Annie about Renee yet—he would after she’d ridden Rascal. He was nervous about how she would react to having a woman as a guest in the house and he didn’t want to risk upsetting her before her very first ride on Rascal.

  By seven o’clock, the already intense sunshine was gradually creeping its way across the dusty ground of the round yard, its golden warmth gratifying. With Rascal now saddled up and lunged, Dylan motioned for Annie to join him. Jumping up from where she was cuddled into a sleeping Bossy, she raced towards him, only slowing down to enter the round yard so as to not scare Rascal. Pulling on her riding helmet, she buckled it up, her legs jiggling with excitement.

  His little darling had been up well before dawn, racing to his bedside with her teddy in her arms as she’d begged him to wake up, gracing him with her broad gappy smile as soon as he’d opened his eyes. It felt damn good to know he could bring happiness to her life after all she’d been through. And it was also spirit-lifting to see today was going to be a famously beautiful Far North Queensland winter’s day, especially after the rain yesterday. It meant that he, Annie and Renee would be able to enjoy a swim in the pool before cooking up a storm on the barbecue tonight. His belly backflipped with the thought of her visiting—in a very good way.

  Dylan grinned as he adoringly cupped Annie’s cheeks. ‘Righto, sweetie, this is it. You’re finally going to ride Rascal. How are you feeling?’

  ‘Oh my goodness, Daddy. I’m so excited I could almost pee my pants!’

  ‘Far out, Annie, the way you explain things sometimes is just priceless.’ Dylan chuckled as he leant over and clasped his hands together, giving his little girl a leg up and onto the calmly waiting horse.

  Getting comfortable in the saddle, Annie beamed like it was Christmas. ‘I can’t believe I have my very own horse now. All the girls
at pony club are going to be so excited when I tell them.’

  Dylan took hold of the lead rope. ‘Yep, no more having to use Turbo. But remember that a lot of responsibility comes with owning a horse too. It’s not just all fun and games.’

  Annie huffed, but the smile never left her lips. ‘I know, Dad. You’ve told me that a hundred billion trillion bazillion times already.’

  ‘Just checking you remembered,’ Dylan said, stifling a smirk as he enticed Rascal to follow him around the yard. ‘I’ll lead you around a couple of times, and then you can take control of the reins, okay?’ Annie was a very confident rider thanks to almost three years at pony club, and the hundreds of hours he and Shelley had spent with her in the saddle at home. He just wanted to get Rascal used to having her on his back first.

  ‘Okey-dokey,’ Annie replied as she sat proudly.

  After five steady laps, during which Rascal seemed to have no problem with her whatsoever, Dylan let Annie ride by herself. Standing in the centre of the round yard with his arms folded, he watched her do her thing, her horseriding abilities something he was extremely proud of. A few times he nearly went to give her advice, but bit his tongue, understanding that she needed to find her own style and rhythm.

  And Rascal listened to everything she asked him to do with her subtle cues and calm commands. Horseriding was definitely something Annie had in the blood, not just skills learnt from being taught. She was a natural at it, just like he was. It made him wonder if she would work with horses when she grew up. Looking at his watch, he noticed that half an hour had slipped by like it was merely five minutes. Dylan quickly motioned for Annie to stop. ‘Time to get ready for school now, sweetie, otherwise you’re going to miss your bus. You can have another ride this afternoon, as soon as you get home.’

  ‘Okay Daddy,’ Annie said, still beaming just as much as she’d been when she’d first got on Rascal.

  Helping Annie down, Dylan then gave the horse a rub on the neck. ‘Good boy. Thanks for taking care of her—I knew you had it in you.’

  Rascal gave him a loving nudge with his muzzle before Dylan led him over into the shade of the stables. ‘I’ll be back to unsaddle you soon, buddy, and give you a bit of a bath. And I’ll even bring you an apple to munch on for being such a champ.’

  Annie stood in front of Rascal and he dropped his head. She giggled and gave him a kiss on the cheek. ‘I love you, Rascal. You’re my bestest friend ever.’

  ‘I reckon you’re Rascal’s bestest friend ever, too, sweetheart,’ Dylan said, smiling.

  Annie grinned back at him, her eyes sparkling with happiness.

  ‘Come on then, we better get a move on.’ Dylan took her hand and led her out of the stables towards the homestead. No more procrastinating, it was time to tell her about Renee. His stomach did a cartwheel. ‘I have a friend coming over to have dinner with us tonight.’

  Annie looked up at him, her eyes widening. ‘Yay! I hope it’s Uncle Ralph. I haven’t seen him for ages!’

  Annie had always called Ralph her uncle, because even though they weren’t tied by blood, Ralph was like a brother to Dylan.

  ‘Um, no, it’s not Uncle Ralph. It’s actually someone you haven’t met before. Her name is Renee. I used to be friends with her years ago, before she moved to the city. She’s back in town for a little while so I thought it’d be nice for her to come over so you can meet her.’

  Annie sat down on the verandah as she struggled to get her boots off, contemplation creasing her pretty little face. ‘Oh, it’s a girl. Will I like her?’

  Dylan knelt down to help her. ‘I reckon you will. She’s very nice.’

  Annie frowned for a second as she thought about that, and then smiled. ‘Well that’s good, because I wouldn’t like her if she wasn’t nice, and I hope she likes horses too, because I only really like people who like horses.’ And with that she jumped up and skipped into the house without a care in the world.

  Hands on hips, Dylan blew out the breath he’d been holding. He’d been so bloody nervous about telling Annie he’d given himself a stomach-ache. Now he wondered why he’d even concerned himself in the first place. Annie was clearly unperturbed by Renee having dinner with them—bless her beautiful little heart. He rolled his eyes at himself—as usual, he was clearly overthinking things. He just needed to take a deep breath, and relax, and also remind himself he wasn’t doing anything wrong, by Annie or Shelley.

  After removing his boots, he wandered into the house and towards the kitchen, hankering for his morning cuppa. Flicking on the jug, Annie’s singing floating out from her bedroom made him break into humming himself. Life was looking up, and maybe the miracle he’d been begging for had arrived, in the form of Renee Wildwood. A bubble of anticipation filled his belly as he spooned a heaped teaspoon of Nescafé into his cup, followed by two heaped teaspoons of sugar. Looking down at his wedding ring, he felt a surge of emotions. It was time.

  ‘I’m sorry, Shell,’ he whispered. Carefully placing his fingers around the gold band, he slowly eased it over his knuckle and down the tip of his finger, the white mark left in its place proof of the fact he hadn’t taken it off since the day Shelley had put it on him. He waited for a flood of guilt to pound his heart, but much to his surprise, it didn’t. There was sadness, and a sense of loss, but no guilt. Holding the ring up, he kissed it—grateful he’d got to share a beautiful piece of Shelley’s life. Then, clasping it in his hand, he carried his coffee into his bedroom and placed the ring back in its original box in his bedside drawer. He would give it to Annie one day—maybe for her twenty-first.

  Tears threatened to fall, but he blinked them away, confident he was doing the right thing. After Annie had headed off to school he was going to pack up Shelley’s things from the dresser. As Theresa Wise had said in their last session, he didn’t need material things to remember Shelley, because her memory would forever live in his heart.

  ***

  Stretching her arms high in the air, Renee sprung up on her tippy-toes and beamed at the awakening world outside the kitchen window. She’d had a brilliant sleep and was raring to go for the day. The glorious morning sunlight was beginning to creep its way beneath the back door, the handmade glass sun-catcher at the bay window propelling a spectrum of colours across the centre island bench and onto the walls. Perched up on the lower round yard rail, Rocket the rooster was making his presence known, his cock-a-doodle-doos boisterous and very macho indeed. In the horse paddock, Jackson was doing his morning ritual of prancing around the fence line as he tried to impress the mares in the paddock next to his. Renee smiled at her horsey mate—he was a character unto his own. She couldn’t wait to get outside.

  Giving her bright-looking nan a quick peck on the cheek, she excused herself from the kitchen. Pearl graced her with a smile before turning her attention back to the newspaper spread out in front of her on the dining table, her glasses perched so far down the end of her nose that Renee was very surprised they were staying put and not falling into her bowl of Weetbix. Stanley had just left for the day with his thermos and packed lunch, and with a firm promise he would be back by mid-afternoon. She’d told them both as soon as seeing them this morning that she was heading over to Dylan’s for a swim and dinner, and she’d been met with wispy smiles and raised eyebrows, before both her nan and pa had said, ‘That’s wonderful, love,’ at the exact same time.

  Talk about being in tune with one another. It had shocked her a bit, as they’d never supported her when it had come to having close male friends before—but then a lot could change in nine years, especially considering she was a grown woman now and at an age where she should be getting married and having kids of her own.

  Balancing her trusty MacBook Air in one hand and a steaming cup of coffee in the other, while also holding a piece of thickly smothered guava jelly toast between her teeth, Renee used her bare foot to push open the back screen door. It took a certain kind of pizzazz to get through the door before it closed again, with coffee un-spilt, co
mputer still in hand and toast still between teeth, and making it through unscathed, Renee grinned at her dexterity. Although now her knickers had crept up her butt and she didn’t have a hand free to fix the problem. She wriggled carefully on the spot, but it didn’t help a bit.

  Placing her coffee on the nearby side table, she readjusted her knickers and denim shorts before easing herself into the suspended swing chair. She crossed her legs and placed the computer in her lap, making herself comfortable, and then looked out over the sweeping countryside. Her eyes took a few moments to adjust to the brightness, and once they did, she let out a contented sigh. Wildwood Acres was such a breathtaking place—she felt blessed to have been waking up to it the last few weeks.

  If only she didn’t have her job to go back to in the city. She’d give almost anything to be waking up to this beautiful countryside for a while longer, especially now Dylan was back in her life. Talk about life throwing her a curve ball. She’d come home expecting it to be a challenge to be back here, but it was turning out to be quite the opposite. She was now finding it more of a challenge to think about going back to Melbourne—her heart aching more and more each time she thought about it. If only she could just go back and grab Kat, put her apartment on the market, entice Tia into moving to Opals Ridge too, and then return to live out the rest of her days happily ever after with Dylan. After discovering who Scarlet’s abductor was first, of course—because until she did that, there would never ever truly be a happily ever after. Ah, dreams.

  ‘Where are you, Scarlet?’ she whispered as she blinked back tears. God, how she missed her. If Scarlet were here, she definitely knew what she’d have to say about her dilemma—her sister was forever telling her to believe in the power of fate.

  Don’t be such a stick in the mud, sis. Life is meant to be lived—not planned down to the very last second. Take a chance, jump off the cliff…

  But if I don’t plan anything, Scarlet, how am I ever going to get anywhere? You can’t leave everything to chance and expect to get what you want.