“Yeah. I’m glad you offered to help, otherwise I’d be off in the ute somewhere.”
She chuckled. “Glad I could help.”
Her laugh entwined around his heart like a vine. If he wasn’t careful, he’d get used to having her around. But she hadn’t said whether she was staying. Too chicken to ask, he said instead, “It will take about twenty minutes to get to the top of the ridge. We might miss some of the sunrise.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m happy being out here with you.”
The vines gripped tighter. “Do you have plans for the weekend?”
“Adult riding classes today at four,” she said. “Most of my students have kids who have activities in the morning.”
“Is the pony club solely your responsibility?”
“I’m trying to put together an official committee, but some members have strong opinions about how things should be.”
“I can imagine.” He tried for casual as he asked, “Will you take any of the executive roles?”
“If no one else wants them. I’m conscious I’m an outsider so I don’t want to take over.”
“You’re the one who revived the club,” he commented.
“That wasn’t exactly my choice,” she said. “I wanted to agist my horse there, and the condition was that I try to encourage the town to use the area. One of the shire councillors said they’d been getting requests from property developers to buy the land and turn it into a housing estate.”
“Retribution Bay has plenty of housing.”
“Maybe it’s meant for the tourists. I figured it was a cheap deal for me, so I agreed.”
The trail sloped upwards and the sun’s rays peeking above the horizon behind them brightened the dark land to more of a grey. Another few minutes and colour would return.
“Lara seemed happy spending time with Sofia yesterday.” Faith’s voice was low as if she was afraid to disturb the peace surrounding them.
Darcy’s mood plummeted. “Yeah. She was so disappointed Sofia didn’t swim with her on Thursday, and then Sofia pulled her stupid stunt.” He glanced at Faith. “Lara sounded thrilled.”
“And how do you feel?”
The urge to say he was fine was on the tip of his tongue, but he stopped himself. “When Joan called to say Lara hadn’t come home with Mischa, I was terrified. And then to discover Sofia had picked her up when I’d told her Lara had plans…” Even now the thought brought with it a simmering anger. “I was furious. Not only did she suddenly appear and blindside me, but then she kidnapped our daughter. And I couldn’t do anything about it without upsetting my girl.”
“You are such a good father,” Faith said. “Lara’s lucky to have you.”
He smiled. “To think, for the first year after Sofia left, I kept thinking she’d be back, and I’d fantasise about us being one happy family again.” He shook his head. “Now, I’m so glad she didn’t.”
“Do you still love her?”
Had he ever? He remembered the teenaged infatuation with Sofia, of feeling so good about himself because he was with the hottest girl in their year. When she’d told him she was pregnant, he convinced himself he loved her, but she’d never given him the thrill one of Faith’s smiles gave him. They’d never spent time together in comfortable silence, and their love-making had been immature. “No.”
Around them, the land took shape. The bushes morphed from blobs to branches and the sand blushed with the first colour of the morning. He shifted to look behind them. The top curve of the sun was above the horizon. They wouldn’t make it to the top in time, but they were a fair way up its slope. “Let’s watch it from here.” He pulled Fezzik around so he faced east, and Faith did the same. He poured Faith a cup of coffee before he poured his own.
“The way the colours come to life is magnificent,” Faith said with a sigh.
It had been some time since he’d taken a moment to appreciate a sunrise. Most of the time it symbolised the start of the workday and a race to get the hardest work done before it became too hot. Fezzik snorted and flicked its tail, but otherwise the silence encompassed everything.
The sun crept above the horizon slowly but with determination. It was his turn to shine.
Soon the final curve breached the horizon.
Faith let out a breath as if she’d been holding it. “Glorious.”
Her appreciation mirrored his own. He took her now empty cup and returned it to his backpack. “The path is a little rough to the top.” He turned his horse back around and they climbed the rest of the way to the plateau. From here they saw the ocean and all over Stokes’ land. Lights were still on in the homestead and Brandon drove the ute south towards the animals. To the west of the ridge sat another rocky outcrop which helped form a valley at the bottom.
