She needed it too much.
Chapter 11
Brandon waited on the shearers’ quarters porch for Sam and Amy. Across at the house Lara came out carrying a beach bag which was about the size of her and probably full of beach towels. She slung it into the back of the ute and went back inside. She was a real trouper and he wanted to get to know her better. Wanted to be a proper uncle to her, someone she could turn to if she needed help, like she did with Ed and Georgie. Though Ed and Georgie had still been in high school when Lara was born so it made sense they were close.
Sam joined him on the porch and spoke in a low tone. “You work fast.”
Brandon frowned at him. “What?”
“You and Amy.”
Crap. He tapped his leg. “It’s nothing.”
His friend grinned. “Didn’t look like nothing to me during the ceremony.”
He said nothing. It wasn’t something he was willing to assess yet. All he knew was he was drawn to her. “I told you you should get out of the army. This is one reason.” He gestured to the yard and sheds. “And she’s another.”
Not if they couldn’t afford to keep her. He and Darcy had crunched numbers all day on Tuesday and they weren’t certain how they could continue paying her.
Matt walked out, grinned at them and then moved over to the house. Georgie carried a beach shelter out and he helped her lift it into the tray. With the four-wheel drive destroyed, the only way for them all to get to the beach was in Darcy’s dual cab ute.
“It’s a little more complicated.”
Sam grunted as if he disagreed. “Your family is nice.”
Brandon nodded and Amy came out of her room wearing a white tank top and little shorts which barely covered her butt, exposing her long, luscious legs which seemed to go for miles. He definitely hadn’t been paying enough attention to her. She tucked a loose hair behind her ear and slung her towel over her shoulder. “Are we ready to go?”
“Looks like,” Brandon said. Ed placed an esky in the ute’s tray which would be full of drinks and food.
It was decided that Matt, Ed and Amy would go with Darcy and Lara in the front, and the rest would ride in the tray. Bennet jumped in the back with them. It was a good half an hour’s drive across a bumpy track on the property to reach the ocean which bordered their land. As Darcy drove over the final low hill, Brandon inhaled sharply. The ocean sparkled, a crisp pale blue that was so clear and pure it almost hurt his eyes. The rich red dirt blended with the white sand and the contrast between the colours was magical. This was where he belonged.
The feeling was so deep, so primal, he placed a palm against his chest.
“Had you forgotten how spectacular it is?” Georgie grinned. Darcy pulled the ute to a stop and she jumped out with the bag of towels before Brandon answered and ran towards the ocean, Bennet right next to her.
Sam clapped him on the back. “You all right mate?”
Brandon nodded. “I’ll be there in a minute.”
Georgie had already dropped her towel and stripped down to her bathers, urging Lara and Amy to hurry. His brothers were a little slower, but not by much. Across the bay lay Retribution Island and surrounding it was a reef which was seen only at the lowest of tides. His eyes were drawn to the left of the beach where a monument stood marking the place where the survivors of the shipwreck arrived after the cyclone. Where his ancestors had landed and made this their home.
Georgie was right. He had forgotten how spectacular the bay was, how the land called to him. And if his father’s will was to be believed, this was all his now.
Not that he would take it from his siblings. This land was as much part of them as it was of him.
He wandered over to the plaque on which someone had engraved the names of those who had been on the ship, both those who died and those who survived. He traced his great, great, great grandfather Reginald Stokes’ name, written next to his wife Lilian. They had started this, this connection to the land.
He turned to face the ocean. The mangroves rose out of the water close by, their green leaves adding another colour to the landscape. He used to snorkel around there looking for fish when he’d been a kid. Offshore, the island caught his attention, with its green shrubbery. It looked so close from here, but Brandon knew from experience it wasn’t. Charlie once bet him he couldn’t swim out to it and since winning the bet meant Charlie would do all his chores for a month, Brandon had taken it. About halfway out he’d admitted to himself that this was a really stupid idea. But he figured if his ancestors had managed it, then he could too.
A couple of turtles had swum by him as if wondering what was this strange creature splashing through the water. He’d even seen a dugong in the clear water below him. Then he’d seen his first shark. It was only a reef shark, but it reminded him tiger sharks also roamed this water. By that stage he was closer to the island than the mainland so he pushed on.
When the coral appeared, he had almost cried in relief. And finally he could stand again and staggered onto the shore.
He smiled as he remembered how the exhilaration of winning the bet was replaced by the realisation he had to swim all the way back. Across the water he’d seen Charlie and Darcy ride away on their motorbikes and he’d cursed both his brothers’ names.
He’d sat down to get his breath back, waiting for someone to reappear but as the sun sank lower in the sky he’d worried. So, he explored the island, which took less than an hour, and found a couple of caves in the limestone to spend the night. He could be just like his ancestors, seeking protection from the elements. He’d gathered together some wood and tried to remember what he’d been taught about how to light a fire from scratch.
Just as he was reconciling himself to a lonely night on the deserted island, he’d heard a boat engine. He’d raced back to the shore to find his father and Charlie in the dinghy, coming for him. Elation swept away any concern and even his father’s berating hadn’t dampened his joy he was saved. His father had been there for him.
