His chest constricted and a tear escaped down his face.
Chapter 2
Amy Hammond’s head throbbed like she’d been on a twelve-hour bender the night before. Sunlight stabbed her and she groaned, dragging her sunglasses over her eyes, but they offered little relief. Her steps dragged across the red dirt heading for the farmhouse. If only it was an alcohol binge that had made her feel like this and not… she blinked back the tears and took a moment to breathe.
The ute was gone so Darcy was probably already taking care of the animals. Maggie, the joey Bill had saved after its mother had been hit by a car, lazed under the shade of the trees over by the sheds. Nearby a couple of the sheep Lara had named, and adopted, roamed freely. Darcy’s policy was they couldn’t send the sheep to slaughter after Lara had named them. Luckily Lara wasn’t aware of the policy, otherwise all the sheep in the flock would have names.
On waking, Amy had hoped yesterday would prove to be just a nightmare, but Georgie’s blue car still sat in front of the farmhouse bringing the truth with it. Beth and Bill were dead.
She squeezed her eyes closed, willing away the tears. A terrible, tragic car accident had taken Amy’s employers far too soon. She wiped her eyes and kept walking. Employers was such a blah word for what Beth and Bill had meant to her. They’d welcomed her into their home, had made her feel part of the family, the first real family she’d had since she’d left home at fifteen. She’d had only a few months with them before they were taken.
As she controlled her tears, she gazed around the yard for anything which might distract her. Someone walked around the side of the sheds and Amy braced herself, not really wanting to speak with anyone this morning. As the tall, lean man walked closer, a camera around his neck, she recognised him as one of their camp guests, Lee. He was up early. She lifted a hand in greeting and he shaded his eyes from the sun and then waved back and strode over.
Quickly she pressed the tears away.
“Got some amazing sunrise photos,” Lee said. His black hair was neatly parted down the side and his clothes were clean and tidy despite the fact he’d been camping for the past month with few luxuries.
“That’s great, Lee.” She forced a smile. The last thing she wanted was to be chatty, but that was her role. “What are you up to today?”
“I thought I’d drive to the national park. I’ve heard there are some great photo opportunities at Charles Knife Canyon, and I figured the family probably needed some space today.”
Her stomach clenched and she nodded. “Thank you,” she said. “You’ll enjoy the drive to the canyon. Make sure you take plenty of water though. It’s going to be hot.”
“Will do.” He headed for his tent and Amy continued to the farmhouse, her emotions firmly tucked away for the time being.
The first time she’d seen the house, she’d fallen in love. It sprawled in that way old houses did, the ones where rooms had been added haphazardly over the years, yet still had a wide verandah around two sides and a high corrugated tin roof. A small garden offered the only real lush greenery in kilometres, with a small patch of grass and a selection of tall trees. The red bottlebrush had almost finished blooming but was still a magnet to the white butterflies dancing around it, looking like snowflakes. The idea of snow in the outback made her smile.
Entering the house via the kitchen, she wasn’t surprised no one else was up. It had been a long, tiring day yesterday. Lara had been inconsolable, Darcy had lost all of his usual warmth, and then Georgie had arrived with their brother, Ed who had flown in from Perth as soon as he’d heard the news. By the time she’d gone to bed there’d been no word from the prodigal son, Brandon, a military man.
Amy shuddered. She almost hoped he was in some Middle Eastern hot spot and wouldn’t get word of his parents’ death until after the funerals, until after she’d left on her quest to find some other work. Military men were rigid and regimented. She would know. She was related to two.
She filled the filtered coffee machine and set it to heat. Normally they offered fresh coffee and cake to the half-dozen people who camped on a patch of ground near the main house, but she’d been around yesterday to tell them what had happened to Beth and Bill and some had decided to move on out of respect. Only two campers remained–those who’d been at the Ridge for over a month–and this morning she’d put a no vacancies sign out so they didn’t get anyone else calling in.
Would Darcy carry on with the campground experiment after the funerals? It had been his idea, but perhaps he wouldn’t want strangers on the station so soon after his parents’ death. And if he didn’t continue, she was out of a job.
Not that it mattered in the scheme of things. She always found something new, but Retribution Ridge was the first place which felt like home in the ten years she’d been travelling around Australia. She hadn’t even realised she’d been looking for home until she’d arrived here, and been so warmly welcomed, surrounded by a family who genuinely cared for one another. She’d started thinking about staying permanently, maybe buying a house in town.
Now that was all at risk.
She collected the empty mugs and a bowl of half-eaten chips from the table. Last night none of them had cared about cleaning up before they’d stumbled to bed in a daze. Today they would have a whole heap of people dropping in to give them condolences and she wanted to be prepared, take as much work away from the Stokes family as she could.
The fly screen door slammed and she jumped, whirling around. A tall, stocky man stood there, his dark hair buzz cut short, a deep frown on his face. His posture was military rigid and even after ten years, her immediate reaction was to straighten her spine and pull back her shoulders. Her skin tingled as her mind shouted danger. He wasn’t one of the campers she’d spoken to yesterday. She crossed over to put the table between her and the man. “I’m sorry, we’ve got no vacancies.”
He frowned. “Vacancies?”
“The campground has no vacancies,” she clarified.
The man glanced around as if not sure where he was.
Calm and friendly was the best way to deal with conflict. She’d learnt that very early after she’d left home. “Sir, you’ll need to leave. The family had a tragedy yesterday and we’ll be closed for the next couple of weeks.” She forced a smile.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
It was her turn to frown. She rubbed the sides of her eyes in the hope of clearing some of the ache from her head. “You’re not after a place to camp?”
“No.”
“Right. Then maybe you should tell me why you’re here.”
