She had checked out his left hand ring finger. He wore no wedding band, but most carpenters found it far too dangerous to wear jewellery. She huffed into the air. Even if he wasn't married, she wasn't going there.
After leaving the cafe she passed by a restaurant and the local pharmacy. Farther up on the corner sat the local pub, with two storeys and wide, intricate verandas. It adorned the small town, almost as a monument, appearing as though it had stood for years. She continued up the street, smiling at a few passers-by and noticed three utes parked in the street.
Zoe glanced at the note in her hand. Sergeant McPherson was the town's police officer as well as the solicitor. She'd looked up the names of solicitors before leaving her aunt's property near Tamworth. Mr McPherson was the only solicitor listed. After giving him a ring, her suspicions were confirmed. He held the deeds to her parents’ property. He wanted to ask her questions, but she didn't have time to chat, not wanting her aunt to catch her on the phone. Zoe promised Mr McPherson she'd have that chat when she arrived.
After arriving at the address scrawled on the top of the note, she stepped up three rough concrete steps into a small office with a reception desk directly ahead. As she approached the desk, a young woman glanced up.
'May I help you?'
'My name is Zoe Montgomery,' she said, coming to a stop in front of the desk. 'I have an appointment to see Mr McPherson.'
'Oh. I'm sorry. He's still away and won't be back for at least a few more weeks. He said to apologise and give you...' She searched around in front of her and held up a large envelope. 'This. I don't know what's in it, but he said it's what you'd be coming in for.'
The girl passed the envelope over the reception desk toward Zoe. 'There you go. Um...I guess it's you.' She smiled. 'Who else would walk in and ask for an envelope in your name?'
Zoe's lips thinned and her heartbeat raced.
'Thank you.'
'If you'd like to see Mr McPherson, I can organise an appointment for when he returns.'
'I think everything I need for the time being will be in here. If not, I'll give you a call. Thank you.'
Zoe left the office as disappointment rode over her heart. She’d hoped to speak to someone about her parents and about that night but gathered there would be many people in Munna who could fill her in on the missing slots in her mind. She stepped out onto the footpath and stared at the envelope in her hand. It contained the deeds to a place where she once lived, a place in another lifetime.
The rumble of a vehicle caught her attention. She turned slowly as a police vehicle pulled into the kerb beside her. Fear shot through her, and her heartbeat knocked out an alarming thud against her chest. Had her aunt found her and sent the police looking for her? Impossible. Her stomach plummeted, and she looked round before refocussing on the police vehicle.
Her aunt didn't have any idea where she'd headed and she didn't have any hold over her, not anymore. She hadn't for years. So what was troubling her? She took a nervous swallow, and adjusted her balance when a tall thin man about thirty stepped from the vehicle and walked around the front end of the car. He took off his hat, revealing sandy coloured hair.
'Miss Montgomery, Zoe Montgomery?'
'Yes, that's me.'
'I'm Constable Matthew Berry. Most people call me Matt. I'd like you to come with me to the station if you don't mind?'
Her stomach dipped. 'Why?'
He squinted, looked closer. 'Some of the townsfolk have reported that you've returned.'
'Meaning?'
He seemed agitated, but that didn't mean she was going to go with the man.
'I need a good reason to go with you.'
'I need a statement.'
Zoe's eyes widened and she shook her head. 'Regarding what?' Something was gouging a damn big hole in her stomach.
'I wasn't in town the night of the fire so I don't know much about that night. Don't you know you've been listed as missing for fifteen years?'
A sinking feeling drip-fed into her legs. Her lips parted with disbelief.
'Are you all right?' Her reached out, grabbed her elbow, helping to steady her balance.
'Missing?' How could she be missing? Her forehead creased with concern. How could she have been missing when her aunt raised her? And no one came looking for her that's for sure. Her aunt had said she was her only living relative, and that meant sole carer. What had she been up to?
Surely the Pattersons next door to her aunt’s would have known if she was doing something illegal? After all, they knew her aunt well. A cool shiver ran up Zoe's spine and the future she hoped for had dampened.
'I don't understand.' She shuffled about, her lashes blinking repeatedly.
'You are Miss Zoe Montgomery, aren't you?'
'Yes, that's correct. I didn't realise...I.'
'Come on. I'll make you a coffee at the station and you can fill me in on the last fifteen years.'
Automatically, Zoe followed the officer to the passenger door of his vehicle. Fill him in on the last fifteen years. He had to be kidding. Perhaps he had it all wrong.
A few pedestrians lingered close by, assessing the commotion. Zoe flicked her gaze away, knowing she'd be the talk of the town and chins would be wagging. After all, Munna had a population of around one thousand people, and half of them lived out of town on properties.
'Come on, up you go. Get you away from all this.'
Zoe looked up, spotted more pedestrians gathering on the footpath.
The station was within walking distance but Zoe thought it kind of the officer to whisk her away from the crowd of six or more people.
They pulled up in front of a cream weatherboard building with the sign 'Police Station' written in blue secured to the exterior wall.
'The sergeant is away at present.'
'I know. I picked up the deeds to my parents’ property. So the sergeant has two offices?'
'Yeah. He did work out of the police station, but didn't think it right. He said he'd like to keep police matters and his personal clients separate. Which is a good idea, don't you think?'
Zoe nodded, and he turned off the ignition. She opened the passenger door and stepped from the vehicle, meeting the officer on the footpath. They headed indoors. It was an older style building with high ceilings. Cream flaky paint covered the walls, which were in need of repair.
'Have a seat.' He shot her an inquisitive look, and turned toward a coffee machine in the corner of the large room. 'How do you have it?'
'White with one sugar, thank you.'
The officer placed the coffees on the desk before slipping onto a seat opposite her.
'So you weren't aware that you were listed as missing, or that the entire town had been looking for you the night you disappeared.'
Warm fluid snaked through her body. 'I had no idea. It's come as a shock. I haven't any memory of that night or any time before.' Zoe held her breath. She wasn't about to tell him that she stayed with her aunt and uncle. That she was virtually held prisoner for fifteen years. She couldn't risk them interfering with the life she'd dreamed of for so long. No, she wasn't about to chance that. It'd destroy everything she'd worked so hard for.
'Where have you been for fifteen years?'
She tilted her head and looked at him. 'I prefer not to say at this stage.'
'You mean you do know but won't tell us.'
God, she was going to get herself into a mess if she wasn't careful. 'I haven't got my memory back.'
Puzzlement creased his facial features. 'Do you mean to say you don't know where you were for fifteen years?'
'That's c...correct.' Zoe swallowed a bundle of nerves and it hit her stomach with cold unease. She didn't normally tell lies, and her stomach soured. But what could she do? She wasn't about to step back in time...no she was much stronger now. She'd planned this stage of her life for years, and she couldn't back out now.
'You're not much help. The sergeant may ask you to come in when he returns. He'll probably want you to m
ake out a full statement. With luck by then you might have something to tell us.'
'Thank you Constable. I have to go. I'm meeting someone out at Montagreen.'
He nodded.
Zoe stood.
'A lot of terrible things happened that night. I'm sorry for your loss.'
'Thank you.'
Zoe couldn't wait to leave, and when she stepped outside she sucked back a desperate breath. Yes, terrible things. Her parents were burnt to death in that fire. Her eyes filled with tears, and she blinked them away as she headed toward her car.
She scrambled into her ute and crawled from town, heading toward Montagreen. Would Montagreen have dams full of water and tanks to get her by? Would she find anything left of a life her parent's had once built for her? Zoe shook her head, and tried to concentrate on the scenery.
The ochre land, dotted with various species of saltbush, ran on forever and in the distance, gum trees sparsely covered the hills and distant mountains. Dry heat peeled through the open window. She couldn't recall such obnoxious heat. She may have worked outdoors for years, but nothing compared to what she experienced at present, especially when she spotted a mirage billowing up from the bitumen toward the cloudless sky in front of her.
She sighed, and glanced about at the drought-stricken land. A few rundown sheds moved into view, and a rusty tractor stood in the middle of a dry paddock, appearing as though it'd been abandoned for years.
A large sign ahead caught her attention. She slowed her ute as she passed the bold, black lettering burnt into timber, reading 'Townsend'. She peered about, half expecting to spot someone, recalling Jordan said his parents lived south of Montagreen.
Half an hour later, she reached the turnoff and left the main road. She slowed her ute as she passed over a cattle grid with a sturdy timber fence on either side. As she crawled up the hill, gum trees lined either side of the road, giving brief respite from the intense heat.
She continued at snail’s pace, trying to pierce the stubborn barricade of her mind. Foreign. Everything was all foreign. Nothing appeared familiar and a thread of uncertainty wound through her. What if she never remembered? What if everything she was about to face remained forgotten? She cringed at the prospect.
A timber structure filtered into view between the trees. Keeping her speed slow, she craned her neck forward until a sudden gasp left her throat and her foot hit the brake hard, slamming her to a stop.
Disbelief shattered her senses as her gaze rested over a white two-storey timber home. Overgrown gardens ambled out of control over the fence, and vines sought support as they clung to the veranda railing. Even the front gate had fallen from its hinges. The grass, thirty centimetres or more high, concealed what she suspected was once a footpath leading toward the house.
A sudden frost chilled her bones.
Chapter Three
Zoe stretched forward, peered at something that should have been a memory. There were no warped bits of timber, no blackened remains announcing a story gone wrong. Instead, dark blue plastic concealed one end of the home.
In a state of incredulity, she reached for the door handle of her ute, keeping her eyes on the house, and opened the door, easing out onto the dry soil. Her body trembled and she grabbed the edge of the door for support. Allowing her mind to absorb the scene before her, she eased out a deep breath.
After a quick glance behind, she made her way toward the gate to pick up the rusty black frame. She propped it against the dilapidated fence, then headed toward the thick blue plastic. A gap to one side revealed new timber, nailed in rough fashion over the damage. A chill skittered over her.
'My parents’ house. Impossible.' Her eyes welled with tears, dropping to her cheeks. She glanced about. Her aunt had told her the entire house had burnt down, that there was nothing left. Why had she lied?
She walked toward the front door, reached out and gave the doorknob a turn. It was locked. She stepped back and peeked through a window but it was impossible to see through the opaque milky white that had built up over the years.
Taking tentative steps, she headed to one side of the veranda, noticing some of the floorboards needed replacing. As she drew to a stop, she scanned the area. The life she'd left behind was all here, a childhood she was so desperate to remember, with parents she'd never see again. It was all here, had been for fifteen years. She grabbed the railing for support, and glared into the abandoned gardens.
Montagreen had been forgotten, left to wilt into the earth. A shudder tripped through her body. Restoring it to its former glory would give her the satisfaction she craved.
Zoe lifted her head when she heard a vehicle rumbling toward the house. A black four-wheel drive pulled up on the other side of the gate. Jordan jumped out and jammed a dark Akubra over his jet-black hair before he sauntered toward her.
She made her way to the steps, and eased down on the bottom one, eyeing him carefully. Jade had said he was a carpenter and a jackaroo. It was an interesting combination, especially for a sexy hunk of masculinity that had no right looking the way he did. His jeans stretched over the solid muscles in his legs and his saunter was lazy as though he didn't have a care in the world. He stopped before her.
She pushed upwards to stand, refreshed by the brief rest.
'Zoe.'
'It's good to see you could make it.' She crossed her arms against her chest. A flutter stirred deep in her belly.
'Are you all right? You look mighty pale.'
'Um, yes. I've just had a bit of a shock, that's all.'
'I'm truly sorry to hear about your memory loss.'
'It's frustrating at times, but I have a feeling it will return one day. I hope sooner rather than later. Something here will surely jolt my silly brain, although finding the house hasn't burnt down has come as a complete surprise.'
'Surprise?'
'I didn't realise only a part was damaged. I was told the entire home burned to the ground.' She flicked a quick look at the damaged end. 'Do you think any of it's worth saving? I mean, will you be able to know by looking at it?'
'I knocked a few pieces of timber together to make sure the rain wouldn't blow in. The plastic is extra insurance.' He glanced up at the sky. 'It held up when it rained a few months back.'
'What on earth did you do that for?'
'It was Mum and Dad's idea. They asked me to keep an eye on the place. They knew your parents well and said it was a shame to let a house like this deteriorate.'
Warmth flushed over her skin. Jade had said Montagreen bordered her parents’ property. It would have only been natural that they would have spoken from time to time.
'The place was a bit tidier months back.' He dug his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. 'Thanks to Mum and Dad. Mum came over a few times to help out. It's a bit of a mess now. If I had known you were returning I'd have cleaned it up a bit better. Mum would have insisted.'
'Your mother did that?'
'She was pretty upset for a while after that night, especially when no one could find you.'
'Oh. Thank you.' So his parents knew her mother and father, and well, by the sounds of things.
'You can thank my parents when you meet them. Most of the house is intact, but a lot of the timber will have to be replaced on the far end, and the last two rooms rebuilt. The hallway on the top level, right to the room on the other end, is charred. Some of the timber on the veranda needs replacing as well. General maintenance, and with a good clean up, it should be like new.' He stepped forward. 'Do you want to take a look? We can't go in too far, but it'll give you a bit of an idea.'
'Is it locked?'
He dug around in his pocket. 'I've got the keys. The sergeant in town gave them to me when he found out I was keeping an eye on the place. They've been in my glove box for...anyhow, let's go.'
Zoe watched him step over the tape. He turned. 'Are you coming?'
She hadn't prepared herself to step back into the past so soon. Who was she kidding? Fifteen years was ample time to
be prepared for anything that came her way concerning her parents and her past. She stepped over the tape and walked up to Jordan, who stood by the front door.
'The timber's okay here.'
Zoe continued to inspect the building. She crossed her arms.
Jordan looked back. 'Are you sure you're okay?'
She shot him a glassy gaze. 'Yes thanks. Could you open the door please?'
The sound of the key slipping into the lock forced air into her lungs and that one breath stayed there until Jordan called out to her for a second time. She braced herself as she stepped through the doorway.
Musty air hit her nostrils, and cobwebs draped from the staircase to the walls. A mouse ran out in front of her but she didn't jump. Instead she watched it closely, until it disappeared from sight. 'You mean to say no one has been here at all. No one...not even...not even to remove the furniture?'
'There wasn't anyone around that had the right. If I had known you were returning I would have cleaned it up a bit, and as I said, tidied up the yard.'
'There was no need...you didn't know.' Her gaze wandered through to the lounge room to her left, and she realised the hard work ahead. A centimetre of dust or more coated a rat-chewed lounge, and she wondered what other surprises the house had in store.
Zoe raised her eyebrows as she inspected the tiled foyer. Years of dust and grime concealed the original colour. She lifted her gaze. 'Are the stairs okay to use?'
He sauntered over toward them. 'Half way up there's two broken steps, and the balustrade is unstable.'
She took a step and a flash sparked through her mind. She reached up, rubbed her temple with her fingertips.
'Headache?'
'No. It's come as a total shock. Everything has. I might go outside and get some fresh air.' One would think time took care of most things, but now, even without remembering her heartache was as strong as ever, as though it happened yesterday.
Zoe headed outdoors, inhaling the fresh air as she tried to steady the sudden bombardment to her senses. If she had known the house remained standing, she would have left her aunt a lot sooner. She had waited until she'd saved enough deposit so the bank would give her a loan to start from scratch and rebuild Montagreen. To think she'd put up with her aunt for so long when it hadn't been necessary sickened her. So much time had been wasted. She rested an open palm over her stomach, unable to come to terms with such deceit.
Outback Flames: Australian Rural Romantic Suspense Page 2