‘I haven’t met this Daniel Renton, have I?’ asked Fern.
‘No. I—I met him while I was out west. In the Gidgee Springs district.’
Lily set the kettle on the stove, and took a deep breath. What was the matter with her? She was so jittery she could hardly manage to light the gas.
Fern’s eyes were thoughtful and alert as she watched her daughter. ‘I think Mr Renton said something about a person called Jess,’ she said.
‘Jess? Really?’ In the process of reaching into an overhead cupboard for mugs, Lily froze. ‘That—that’s his daughter. Did he say whether she’s at home with him?’
‘I’m not sure, darling.’ Fern’s mouth curled in a wry smile. ‘But I think you should forget about making this cup of tea and get straight on the phone to him. I presume you have his number?’
‘Yes.’
Fern’s eyes glowed. ‘Off you go, then.’
‘OK.’
Lily went through to the sitting room and perched on the edge of Fern’s ancient couch, which was draped with vibrant Indian saris and scattered with gaudy cushions. Fern’s phone was the old-fashioned kind—black and square—and it involved dialling the numbers rather than pressing buttons.
‘Hello, Ironbark Station.’
It was a girl’s voice, bubbling with lively and youthful enthusiasm. It had to be Jess.
Lily pressed a hand against a sudden beating in her chest. She’d been so sure Daniel would answer. But how silly to be nervous of his young daughter.
‘Is that Jess?’
‘Yes. Who’s speaking, please?’
‘This is Lily, a friend of Daniel’s,’ she said. ‘Could I speak to him?’
‘Hang on. I’ll just get him.’
Thirty seconds later, Jess was back. ‘Dad’s taking the call in his study.’
She said this, Lily noted, with a marked loss of enthusiasm.
Daniel was on the line almost immediately. ‘Hello, Lily?’
And then there was a click as Jess hung up.
‘Hello, stranger.’
‘Hey, there.’
With just those two words she could tell that he was happy, and she felt her face stretch into a broad grin.
‘It’s so good to hear your voice,’ he said. ‘How are you?’
‘I’m fine, Daniel, and I’m so pleased Jess is home with you. Did that go well?’
‘Amazingly well. I’ve got so much to tell you.’
‘I’m sure you must have. I’m all ears. Fire away.’
Settling back into the soft, deep cushions on the couch, she listened to Daniel’s low voice with its lazy Outback drawl as he told her about his trip to Sydney and his return home with Jess.
‘She’s so happy here,’ he said. ‘She and Smiley have really hit it off. It’s a match made in heaven.’
‘That’s a bonus.’
‘You wouldn’t believe the change in that dog.’
‘So she’s no longer anxious and cowed like a pitiful refugee?’
‘Not at all. She’s mischievous and cheeky. Practically a puppy again. The change in such a short time is bordering on miraculous.’
‘And Jess is really happy, too?’
‘So far, so good. I got her pony back, and she’s taken him through his paces, and that went well. She goes back to school here on Monday. That might be a bit of a hurdle.’
‘Have you had a chance to talk to the teacher?’
‘I’ve got an appointment before school, Monday morning.’
‘You’re going to have your hands full now, trying to run the property and manage being a father, too.’
‘Yeah.’ He let out a sound that was half-laugh, half-sigh. ‘I had this fabulous housekeeper, but she’s taken off and left me in the lurch.’
‘Silly woman,’ Lily said, trying hard now to keep her voice light. ‘Do you think you’ll try to get another housekeeper?’
‘I reckon I’ll keep the position vacant for a bit,’ Daniel drawled. ‘The old one had a lot of potential, so I’m hoping to entice her back here.’
Smiling into the phone, she hugged a cushion to her chest. ‘She’ll probably come if you offer a good incentive.’
‘Hmm,’ he murmured sexily. ‘That’s food for thought.’
They both chuckled, and Lily could feel their mutual desire like a live thing, pulsing down the phone line.
And then Daniel said, more soberly, ‘Just before I left for Sydney, I went out to the Briggs place.’
‘Really?’ She gripped the phone tighter. ‘How did it go? I bet he was shocked to see you.’
‘He certainly was. When I first got there, he wasn’t going to let me in the house. He started yelling abuse, brandishing a rifle, and threatening to run me off the place.’
‘Daniel! For God’s sake! What did you do?’
‘Stood my ground. Eventually the message sank in that I wasn’t leaving until I’d said what I’d come to say.’
‘And it worked? He listened?’
‘Yeah.’ He paused. ‘I knew he’d be taken aback and embarrassed when I started talking about apologies and forgiveness.’
There was a stretch of silence, and Lily sensed that Daniel was having a battle with his emotions as he tried to recount what had happened.
He cleared his throat. ‘Mick broke down,’ he said. ‘He’d been carrying a lot of guilt, I guess, and—and in the end he actually apologised to me.’
‘Oh, Daniel.’
Thinking about it, Lily felt her own emotions tip out of balance. She pressed a hand to her mouth to hold back a sob.
‘That—that’s wonderful,’ she said at last. ‘It’s what you needed to hear. I’m so pleased. I wish I could give you a hug.’
‘You and me both, Lily.’
They talked more of the nonsense that only lovers shared, and then they talked about Lily’s plans for the trip to the Brisbane hospital next week with Fern. Eventually they hung up, with fervent promises to keep in regular touch.
As Lily set the phone down and got to her feet, she noticed a mug of tea on the coffee table. Fern must have hobbled into the sitting room and left it there, and Lily hadn’t even noticed.
She picked the mug up and discovered with surprise that the tea was stone-cold.
Jess didn’t look up when Daniel came into the kitchen. She was sitting at the table with a plate of tomato sandwiches that she’d already begun to eat. Another plate, piled high, was set in Daniel’s place and covered with a clean tea-towel.
‘I was starving,’ Jess said. ‘I couldn’t wait for you.’
‘That’s fine. I’m glad you didn’t wait.’ Daniel was smiling as he lifted the green-striped teatowel. Everything was wonderful. He’d been talking to Lily. Life was good. ‘Thanks for making all these sandwiches for me.’
‘They’re probably dried out and stale.’ Jess eyed him sulkily. ‘You were on the phone for hours.’
‘Hardly hours, chicken.’
She jerked a thumb at the clock on the wall. ‘Look at the time.’
‘Well, Lily and I had a lot of news to catch up on.’
He bit into his first sandwich, hoping to avoid more questions.
Jess eyed him solemnly over a glass of milk. ‘Is she the same Lily who left those stone people here?’
‘Yes, that’s right. She left them here for you.’
With a dramatic lift of one eyebrow, his sweet daughter made it patently clear that she wasn’t particularly impressed by Lily’s generosity.
Daniel set down his sandwich. ‘Lily’s also the friend who cleaned the house for me.’ Surely Jess couldn’t have found fault with that?
‘And was she the person who threw the photo of Mummy and you in the rubbish bin?’
Shocked, Daniel stared at her, almost too stunned for words. How on earth had she found that photo?
‘That’s not Lily’s fault. It was damaged beyond repair,’ he said.
‘No, it wasn’t. Only the glass was broken.’
‘Are—are you s
ure?’
‘Yes.’ Watching him, Jess tilted her chin defiantly. ‘I took the picture out of the frame so I could keep it.’
‘That was dangerous.’ Daniel found it difficult to keep his voice calm. ‘You could have cut yourself.’
‘But I didn’t.’ She sent him a look of pure triumph.
Rather out of his depth, Daniel stared at his sandwich, then opened it and added a sprinkling of pepper.
‘I’m sorry,’ said Jess, suddenly contrite.
‘Yes, well, I’m sure you’ll be more careful next—’
‘Not about the photo. I mean I’m sorry I forgot to put pepper on your tomatoes.’
It took a moment for him to take this in. ‘No problem,’ he said finally. ‘I’m quite happy to pepper my own food.’
And then, hoping to restore the peace, he reached over and covered her hand with his. ‘Actually, darling, I don’t expect you to make my lunch. You’ve got better things to do on a Saturday.’
‘But I want to do it.’ There was an unmistakable urgency in the way she said this.
‘You’re certainly very good at making sandwiches. You’re so grown-up now.’
She looked pleased. She smiled and sat tall, watching him as he bit into his bread and tomatoes, but scant minutes later she was solemn again. ‘Did Lily make your sandwiches when she was here?’
Daniel swallowed. ‘Yes. Sometimes.’
He remembered the curried-egg sandwiches they’d eaten on the riverbank after they’d made love, and his mouth twitched. He almost grinned.
‘What’s so funny?’
‘I was just thinking of—of something.’
‘Her.’
‘Lily has a name, Jess. It’s polite to use it.’
‘You really like her, don’t you?’
This was a direct challenge.
‘Yes, I like Lily.’
‘Really like her?’
‘OK. Yes, I really like her.’
‘Is she going to come here to live?’
Holy mackerel. He wasn’t ready for this kind of interrogation. Not from Jess. Not from anyone.
‘I’m not sure. Lily can’t go anywhere at the moment. Her mother has to go into hospital, and she’s going to be busy taking care of her.’
‘She should stay with her mother,’ the child said emphatically. ‘We don’t need her. I can look after you, Daddy. I can make sandwiches and cups of tea, and I can learn to cook dinners and—and clean things.’
She looked suddenly very vulnerable and very young. And frightened. Her eyes were huge, and her chin trembled.
One look at that quivering little mouth, and Daniel understood.
An instant later he was crouching at her side. ‘Come here, baby.’
With a snuffling cry, Jess tumbled into his arms and buried her head into the curve of his chest. He cradled her close, and she was all long thin arms and long thin legs.
How quickly the years had flown. It seemed no time at all since she’d been a chubby ball of a baby, and then a laughing toddler, a cute-as-pie little girl in pigtails. Now she’d reached the awkward in-between age—on the very brink of growing up, but still so very young.
‘Don’t worry, duck,’ he murmured, tucking her head beneath his chin. ‘I know you’ve had a rough time, and I promise you nothing’s going to change around here in a hurry.’
‘I’ve only just got you back,’ she whimpered.
‘Yes, sweetheart. I know. I know. And I only just got you.’
‘It’s nice, just the two of us.’
‘It is. It’s wonderful, Jess.’
‘It’s only been us since I was four years old. I want it always to be the two of us,’ she said. ‘Just us and Smiley.’
CHAPTER NINE
‘IT’S HER,’ Jess said, when the phone rang at breakfast about a week later. ‘Lily.’
Daniel tried to keep his expression composed and neutral as he took the receiver. He and Lily had decided to make their phone calls late in the evening, after Jess was in bed, so he was surprised that she was ringing so early.
‘I’m sorry, Daniel, I had to ring you,’ Lily said. ‘I’m so scared. Fern’s just gone in. To the theatre.’
‘So, they’re operating now?’
‘Yes.’
‘She’s going to be fine, Lily. She’s in expert hands.’
‘I know. But sometimes—I mean, in every operation there’s always a chance, isn’t there, that something might go wrong?’
It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her that this was a straightforward hip replacement, not open heart surgery, but he stopped himself just in time. After all, the fear in Lily’s voice was genuine. ‘Hey, this isn’t like you. You’re the girl who always looks on the bright side.’
‘Am I?’
‘Always.’ Lily was steady and generous, sensuous and loving…
She let out a deep sigh. ‘It’s just that I bullied Fern into this. I chased the money and I lined up the doctor. It’s a bad habit of mine—making people do what I think is best for them.’
‘From what you’ve told me, I’m sure you’re right about this.’
‘If Fern had her way, she’d stay clear of hospitals.’
‘But she’s crippled and in pain, isn’t she?’
‘Yes,’ Lily agreed. ‘But, left to her own devices, if the pain got too much, she would be just as likely to have a party on the beach with lots of wine and then do the hippie thing.’
‘What’s that? Drifting out to sea on a raft of rose petals?’
‘Something like that.’
‘Lily, your mother will shower you with her gratitude when this is over, when she’s fit and well again.’
‘Oh, I hope so.’
Daniel leaned a casual shoulder against the wall and smiled. ‘Take it from someone who has been bullied mercilessly by you—’ He stopped in mid-sentence.
Through the kitchen window, he could see Jess and Smiley outside. Jess was directly in his line of sight, standing at the fence, and hurling something out across an empty paddock. At first he thought she was throwing something for Smiley to fetch, but then he realised it was a small stone.
‘I bullied you into collecting Jess from Sydney,’ Lily was saying. ‘But that’s worked out well, hasn’t it?’
‘Absolutely.’
Frowning, Daniel watched through the window as Jess hurled another stone, before turning back to look his way. Through the window, across the back yard, his daughter’s eyes challenged him. Her jaw set stubbornly as, still watching him, she reached into the pocket of her school uniform and drew out another stone.
She was throwing away Lily’s stone people. Daniel was sure of it.
The little minx. She was doing this to punish him. To punish Lily. Horrified, he watched as Jess drew her arm back, ready to throw the last stone.
‘Stop it, Jess!’ he cried through the open window, but he was too late. The third stone was already winging its way to the far end of the paddock.
‘What’s the matter?’ asked Lily, on the other end of the line.
‘Sorry. I was distracted for a moment.’
‘I know I’ve called at a bad time. You’ve got to get Jess off to school.’
‘Actually, yes,’ he said, watching Jess and Smiley coming back together across the yard to the house. ‘Can we speak later? I really hope everything goes well for your mother. I’ll be thinking of you, Lily.’
‘Thanks. I miss you so much, Daniel.’
Jess came into the kitchen.
‘And I miss you, too,’ he said, with deliberate tenderness.
Jess didn’t look at him. She picked up the plates and cutlery they’d used for breakfast and carried them to the sink, suddenly a perfect and dutiful daughter, planning to do the washing up.
Behind her, Daniel hung up the phone. ‘I can’t believe you did that,’ he said.
Jess turned with an expression of wide-eyed innocence. ‘Are you talking to me?’
‘You know I am.’ He made no atte
mpt to hide his anger. ‘And you know what I’m talking about. Those were Lily’s stone people you were hurling out there, weren’t they?’
She looked only a little guilty.
‘Why did you do it, Jess?’
She shrugged. ‘I don’t like them.’
‘You don’t like the stones? Or you don’t like it when I talk to Lily?’
Jess refused to answer.
‘Have you any idea how much those stones are worth?’
‘No,’ she said, looking puzzled.
‘The man who painted them, Lily’s father, was a very famous artist. Anything he painted—even those little stones—are worth a great deal of money.’
‘I didn’t know,’ she said unhappily. ‘You should have told me.’
Daniel could hardly admit that the monetary value of the stones had never been particularly important to him or Lily. He’d only mentioned it now because he was damn sure Jess wouldn’t care about their sentimental value.
‘I’m telling you now,’ he said. ‘And I’m telling you something else. You’ll be spending your afternoons, after school, hunting in that paddock until you find those stones. All three of them.’
As Jess turned back to the washing up, Daniel had a sinking feeling that his life was veering off-track again. And just when everything had been going so well.
Jess had settled into school after only a few minor road-bumps. Her two best friends, Jane and Susie, were coming for a sleepover next weekend. He’d been particularly pleased that the girls’ parents had agreed to it without any apparent qualms.
He’d begun to realise that his fears about people in the district had been unfounded. He had plenty of support. People were pleased to see him back. Life was returning to normal.
Now Jess had to spoil it all by taking a dislike to Lily. To the idea of Lily. And he found himself wondering if it was too much to ask to have both Jess and Lily in his life.
‘We’re home!’ Lily almost shouted down the phone when she rang ten days later. ‘Fern’s delirious with joy to be out of hospital and back under her own roof.’
‘That’s great news. And how are you feeling?’
‘So happy I almost hugged the doctor when we said our goodbyes.’
She heard Daniel’s deep, sexy chuckle.
‘The poor man doesn’t know what he missed,’ he said.
‘Oh, Daniel, you’re the man I really need to hug. I wish I could see you. Telephones are wonderful inventions, but they have their limitations.’
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