The Wrong Callahan

by Karly Lane

  Griff gave a short grunt, before easing his large frame down into the chair across from Lincoln and stretching out his long legs with a weary sigh. Linc had always been taller than his little brother, until Griff had hit high school. There was something fundamentally wrong about your kid brother being taller than you. Griff took after their mother’s side of the family in height and appearance—he’d inherited the Thorncroft good looks, with his chiselled jawline and aristocratic features, as well as the thick eyelashes his sisters had always hated him for. Lincoln still liked to rub that in whenever the opportunity came up, although he secretly envied his brother’s well-shaped nose—his own had taken a few hits over the years. What it lacked in prettiness, it made up for in character—at least that’s what he told himself.

  Lincoln was more like his father’s family. The Callahans were darker haired, with a stockier build—the streetfighter to the Thorncrofts’ more gentlemanly refinement. A throwback to their Irish descendants.

  ‘How you been?’ he asked, handing across a second beer he’d brought out with him a few moments before.

  ‘Same old, same old,’ Griff said as he reached out to take the beer. ‘Same shit, different day. Someone has to do it.’

  ‘It must be torture, sitting in that airconditioned cabin all day, drivin’ backwards and forwards,’ Linc grinned.

  ‘Not my fault you choose to go runnin’ around in jungles and all the arse-end places of the world.’

  ‘Yeah, well, I spend more time in the frequent flyers’ lounge than in the jungle nowadays.’

  ‘So how’s that going, being a big-shot businessman?’ he asked, downing most of his can in a long swallow as he waited for Linc to answer.

  While a large percentage of his daily life involved an office or airport, it was a small company, which meant they were all still boots-on-ground for some of the time. His thoughts automatically went to his last assignment and the near disaster there, but he quickly shifted his focus back to the conversation at hand. ‘It was a bit shaky there for a while, but it’s starting to pick up now. You looking for a job?’

  ‘Not much call for drivin’ tractors in the jungle, I wouldn’t think.’

  ‘You never know,’ Linc said, taking a sip of his own beer. ‘You’ve got skills that could transfer into a lot of fields.’

  ‘Yeah, right,’ he scoffed. ‘And leave Dad here unsupervised?’ They shared a grin. ‘Nah, I only just managed to get him to stop watchin’ over my damn shoulder every minute of the day. I think I’m good right where I am, thanks.’

  ‘I reckon there might be another reason why you wouldn’t want to move in a hurry.’ Linc’s grin widened as he saw his brother’s eyes narrow suspiciously. ‘I heard you’ve been very neighbourly to a certain newcomer in town. Anything going on there I should know about?’

  ‘Nothin’ that’s any of your business,’ he said calmly, but Linc had more experience than most reading people, and he knew he’d hit a nerve. If it was anyone other than his baby brother, he’d probably back off.

  ‘So the rumours are true then,’ he said thoughtfully.

  ‘If by rumours you mean what Mum’s been saying, then you should know by now she’s clutchin’ at straws. Ever since high school she’s had me married off to anyone I’ve happened to look at twice.’

  ‘Yeah, but you’re not getting any younger, Griff,’ Linc said, rubbing his chin with mock concern.

  ‘You can talk. You’re closer to a midlife crisis than I am.’

  ‘Midlife crisis,’ Linc scoffed, throwing his brother an irritated glare. Bloody young upstart, he thought indignantly, then almost groaned when he realised he sounded exactly like their father. Shit. Maybe he was getting old. ‘Shut up,’ he told Griff, who gave a chuckle.

  ‘Ah, brotherly love.’

  Lincoln glanced up as his elder sister, Harmony, walked towards them. Tall and slender, she was another sibling who’d inherited the Thorncroft genes. Actually, the reason he’d got so little was probably because Harmony had taken most of them before he was born. Her hair was a much lighter shade than both the boys’—it was a honey brown, but with lighter blonde highlights which he noticed now, surprised, were actually grey. When had that happened?

  ‘Hey, Mon.’ He stood up and greeted her, noticing how fragile she seemed in his embrace. She pulled away quickly and gestured to the two teenagers standing behind her. ‘Payton. Holder. Say hello to Uncle Lincoln.’

  The two sullen-looking youngsters shuffled forward reluctantly. ‘Hey, kids. Wow, you’ve both shot up since I last saw you.’ Actually, it shocked him how much they’d changed. The last time he’d been home they’d still been little kids. Now they were … he quickly did the sums in his head and realised they’d be fourteen and twelve. How did they change so much in such a short space of time?

  Payton rolled her eyes before mumbling a bored, ‘Hi,’ and Linc felt his eyebrow rise in response. What was with the attitude? He took in the T-shirt that left her midriff bare and the skimpy denim shorts and wondered what the hell was wrong with his sister. Why would she let her daughter leave the house half-dressed? Inside his head, his younger, cooler self asked if he’d like a walking frame, and he swore silently. He was not getting old, damn it!

  ‘So do you, like, still kill people and stuff?’ The comment snapped his attention onto the boy. Holder had his mother’s lighter hair and hazel eyes and, while he didn’t have the same bored expression as his sister, there was still something about the kid that rubbed Linc the wrong way.

  ‘Only when they annoy me,’ he said and heard Harmony give an exasperated sigh.

  ‘Don’t tell him that. No, your uncle does not kill people.’

  Beside him, Griff nodded at their nephew before giving a grimace and making a slicing action across his neck with a finger.

  ‘Griff! Stop that,’ Harmony snapped, turning her son away. ‘Go inside and see if Nan needs any help. You too, Payton, and stop rolling your eyes!’ she called as her daughter turned and walked away.

  ‘Wow, Mon. They’ve sure grown up. When did that happen?’ Linc said in the quiet that followed the kids’ departure.

  ‘While you’ve been away,’ his sister said, and he didn’t miss the slight edge to her tone. He knew over the years he’d disappointed his family more times than he could count by not being able to make it home for the usual celebrations. More than once he’d been left feeling like crap after making the phone call home to break the news that he wouldn’t be there after all. His mother’s understanding voice on the other end of the line always hit him harder than if she’d broken down and cried. The fact she would never allow him to hear her disappointment only made it worse. He loved his family, felt a fierce protectiveness towards them, but he’d let them down because serving his country had always had to come first.

  That, in part, had been the driving force behind starting his own business. He’d realised how much he’d missed. He was basically a stranger in his own family.

  ‘Well, I’m home for a while this time.’

  ‘How long?’ Mon asked.

  ‘Four weeks or so,’ he shrugged.

  ‘Just in time for harvest,’ Griff said, eyeing him thoughtfully.

  ‘I figure it’s about time I pulled my weight around here. I’m sure you’ll find me something to do.’

  ‘You remember how to drive a chaser bin?’ Griff drawled.

  ‘It hasn’t been that long,’ he protested, although, truthfully, it had been a while since he’d been home during the crazy season. It was always a race against the clock or the weather. Anything that could go wrong usually did, and inevitably there was a machinery breakdown or several, no matter how much preparation you put into maintenance beforehand.

  ‘What about your business? Surely you can’t take off that much time?’ Harmony asked, her frown almost identical to the one Griff was wearing.

  Her tone instantly set him off. ‘Jesus, Mon. What are you, the freaking CIA?’ The instant he snapped at her, he regretted it and
made an effort to soften his tone. ‘That’s why I have partners. Besides, they have the current jobs under control and I can still run stuff from this end. Technology, people,’ he said, forcing a grin. ‘You pretty much control everything with a mobile phone and laptop nowadays.’

  Harmony still didn’t look convinced, but Griff didn’t seem overly perturbed.

  ‘Do Mum and Dad know?’ Griff asked just as the screen door opened and their parents came out.

  ‘Do Mum and Dad know what?’ Bob Callahan asked, carrying a platter of food for his wife.

  ‘How long Dumble Dork here’s staying,’ Griffin said, sending a swift nod at his older brother.

  ‘Isn’t it wonderful?’ Lavinia beamed at her children. ‘And as soon as Hadley gets here I’ll have all my babies home. The first time in … I don’t know how long.’

  ‘You’ll be beggin’ to go home in a week,’ Griffin predicted, sending his brother a doubtful look.

  ‘You’re just scared I’m gonna show you up,’ Linc shot back.

  ‘Yeah, right,’ his brother scoffed, folding his arms across his chest.

  ‘That’s enough, you two. Here, eat something,’ Lavinia said, thrusting a plate of tiny quiches between the men.

  ‘So where’s Don?’ Linc asked, looking up at his sister as she took a seat beside their father.

  ‘He’ll be here a bit later.’

  ‘Still at work?’ Griff asked, and Lincoln wondered at the undercurrent he was detecting between his siblings.

  ‘I would assume so,’ Harmony replied, but her smile seemed brittle and Linc made a note to ask his brother about it later. ‘How’s Cash today?’ she asked, reaching for her wineglass but not before she sent her younger brother a too-innocent look.

  Griff’s mouth hardened slightly but he gave an offhand shrug. ‘She’s all right.’

  ‘When am I going to meet her?’ Linc asked as he reached for another quiche.

  ‘Probably never. Griff still hasn’t asked her out yet,’ Harmony informed him.

  Normally Lincoln would have jumped all over that piece of news, paying out on his brother unmercifully, but Griff’s tight-lipped expression warned him that this was a sore point. He must be getting soft. Once upon a time he’d never have let a little thing like his brother’s feelings get in the way of making fun of him. It was what siblings did.

  ‘You’ll get to meet her tomorrow night,’ his mother piped up, causing Griff to almost give himself whiplash as he turned and stared at his mother.

  ‘What?’

  ‘I invited her this afternoon. I forgot to mention it to you to ask her, and when I called she said you’d just left.’

  ‘You did what?’ Griff stared at their mother in alarm.

  ‘She asked your girlfriend out on a date for you,’ Harmony explained without disguising her glee. Clearly these two had no qualms about walking on eggshells.

  ‘Harmony,’ Lavinia cautioned lightly. ‘I did nothing of the sort, darling,’ she said, soothing Griffin’s growing horror. ‘I simply invited her to dinner. She’s a neighbour and I thought it was the right thing to do. Besides,’ she added, ‘if you’re interested in someone, I think it would be nice if everyone got to know her a little bit better.’

  ‘Jesus, Mum!’

  ‘I don’t know what you’re getting all huffy about. I promised Savannah we’d take care of her. She must be lonely over there by herself.’

  ‘You should thank her, Griff. She did you a favour. It’s not like you were ever going to work up the nerve to ask her out.’

  ‘Shut up, Mon. It’s not like you’re an expert on relationships,’ Griff snarled and instantly an uncomfortable silence fell on the small group.

  ‘Considering everyone else seems to know her, it’ll be interesting to see what all the fuss is about,’ Linc said, before changing the topic. ‘How much rain you had lately, Dad?’

  From the corner of his eye he saw that Griff still sat stiffly, and Mon’s cool demeanour spoke volumes. Something was definitely going on there. If his parents were aware of the problem, they didn’t show it, other than a confused frown they’d swapped during the brief exchange. For now, the conversation stayed on safe topics, but whatever was going on between Griff and Mon needed sorting out before things got out of hand. This wasn’t what he’d been expecting. Becoming a negotiator between his siblings didn’t sound like the kind of R&R he’d been hoping for.

  Four

  Cash swore under her breath as she tossed yet another outfit onto the bed. This was ridiculous. ‘It’s just dinner with the neighbours, not an audience with the damn Queen,’ she muttered to herself, but somehow it was more than that.

  She liked Lavinia Callahan, but she’d been trying to play matchmaker with her son since the first day they’d met and, while things were moving along slowly with Griff, Cash wasn’t actually sure how she felt about tonight. What if the whole family tried to push them together? She could only imagine Griff’s reaction to that. He’d seemed oblivious to his mother’s blatant attempts to organise meetings between them by getting him to drop things over to her—his shyness surprised her. He was a good-looking guy, and in her experience attractive men were usually confident—if not overly confident a lot of the time. Not Griffin Callahan though. Not for the first time she wondered what his story was. There had to be one. And it wasn’t from lack of trying to get it out of him—he wasn’t much of a talker.

  A quick glance at her watch and she let out another frustrated groan. If she didn’t leave now, she’d be late. Cash snatched up the first top she tried on, a white lacy blouse with loose three-quarter sleeves, and grabbed the long floral skirt from its hanger. She slipped her feet into a pair of white sandals and headed out to the kitchen to grab her handbag and car keys.

  The Callahans might be her next-door neighbours, but the entrance to their property was six kilometres further up the road. Distances still astounded her out here, and this wasn’t even as remote as some of the towns further west. The gate to Stringybark Creek wasn’t elaborate—she’d seen a few on her drive out here that were grand stone structures or beautifully stained timber and curved brick walls with property names in gold-plated signs. Not Stringybark Creek. It surprised her. The Callahans were an old established family and their property one of the largest in the area, but there was nothing ostentatious about them or their place. As she drove up the long dirt driveway, she took in the bush that lined the narrow road and realised that once, a long time ago, this bush would have covered the entire region. It seemed almost impossible to imagine how difficult the job would have been for those first settlers, clearing so much of this land by hand in order to build their homes and graze their livestock.

  As she rounded a bend, the house came into view and Cash caught her breath at the sight. The sprawling home sat in a clearing surrounded by an oasis of green. Lush manicured lawn was bordered by brightly coloured gardens. The house itself was similar to an old Queenslander, but not as high. A sweeping double staircase led to a massive front door, and the tin roof drooped low to cover the timber verandahs in traditional bullnosed fashion. It was breathtaking.

  She parked the car beside two other vehicles and walked around to take out the cake she’d baked for dessert. As she closed the passenger side door, she heard footsteps on gravel and looked up to see Griff.

  She smiled at him. He really did have a nice face. ‘Here, let me carry that,’ he said, taking the plastic container from her.

  ‘Oh, thanks. I hope I’m not late.’

  ‘Nope, I only just got home myself.’

  ‘You’ve had a big day,’ she said, glancing at her watch. She knew he started at some ungodly hour of the morning—he’d told her so during one of their limited conversations.

  He gave a nonchalant shrug. ‘Had to get some stuff finished before it rains.’

  ‘It’s going to rain?’ Cash gave the sky a quick glance but it didn’t look particularly cloudy.

  ‘Supposed to, but I’ll believe it when I see it. C
ome on in. Mum’s been cooking up a storm all day.’

  She followed him along the path towards the five or so steps that led onto the verandah and then came face to face with a large number of Callahans seated on various outdoor chairs arranged around a massive rectangular table. Idly she wondered what the collective term for a group of Callahans would be—a gaggle? A mob?

  ‘Cash!’ Lavinia greeted her warmly, hugging her and then leading her over to meet the others. ‘Everyone, this is Cash. Cash,’ she said, turning her beaming smile upon her, ‘this is my daughter, Harmony, and her husband, Don. Their children, Payton and Holder. I’m not sure if you’ve met my husband Robert?’ She indicated the well-built man who stood up from his seat and came across to shake her hand.

  ‘No, I haven’t,’ Cash said, smiling. ‘Hello.’

  ‘G’day, love.’ Cash instantly liked the man. There was a gruff warmth to him.

  The screen door opened and Cash glanced up. She felt a sudden weird flutter in her chest. Blue-grey eyes met hers and Cash felt a prickling sensation of awareness glide over her body.

  ‘There you are, Linc. Cash’s here,’ Lavinia’s voice was the sensible splash of cold water she needed. ‘This is Griff’s brother, Lincoln. He surprised us by arriving yesterday.’

  Cash forced a smile to her lips, nodding a hello, unable to trust her voice. Linc seemed momentarily caught off guard too, but recovered quickly enough, his own smile crinkling the corners of his eyes attractively. Although in looks he was very different to his brother, more like his father, with a rounder shape to his face, she saw a resemblance in their chin and jawlines. His short shaven hair was darker than his brother’s, and the stubble on his lower face gave him an unyielding, dangerous appearance. A little light inside her head began to flash in alarm.

  ‘I’ve heard a lot about you, Cash. Nice to finally meet you,’ he said, holding out his hand. Cash hesitated only briefly before reaching out. His skin was hard, not callused like Griff’s, but toughened by the elements. They were not office hands.