“None. All we’re doing is decreasing our options.”
“I’d count that as progress. How’s Lara taking it?”
“You’d know if you’d visited in the past couple of weeks.” OK, so maybe he wasn’t quite as prepared to pretend things were normal. Eventually they’d have to address the humongous whale shark flipping about on the shore.
Her glare was laser sharp. “You know why I haven’t.”
“People have noticed. Amy’s been asking whether we’ve fought.”
“Amy should mind her own business.”
It was the first time he’d heard her say anything even slightly negative about her new sister-in-law. “She’s worried.”
Georgie hummed but said nothing further.
Frustration simmered in him. He wanted to discuss this, but he also wanted her to look at him so he could see her warm brown eyes and tell what she was really thinking. He’d wait until they stopped.
Georgie turned on the radio and music he recognised as her favourite playlist filled the cab. OK, so she didn’t want to talk, but at some stage today they would.
Yardie Creek was busy. Tourists gathered, waiting for their boat tour and while they waited, they read the signs about the area, giving Matt no chance to talk to Georgie privately. Georgie wasn’t the slightest bit perturbed. She greeted the tourists, answered questions about the area as if she’d been working in Parks and Wildlife all her life. Her knowledge was impressive. While she spoke, she took photos of the signs, and then when the boat tour called for boarding, she pulled out a notebook and added notes. “What do you think we can add to this?” She gestured to the sign.
Matt blinked. He’d been so busy watching Georgie, he’d forgotten his reason for being here. His mother wanted their culture to be shared.
Quickly he reviewed the details which spoke about the rock wallabies and bird life living in the area. “We could talk about the irukandji,” he said. “The jellyfish head for the creek in numbers whenever a cyclone is due. It’s one way of knowing to prepare for a storm.”
She wrote it down. “What about Bayungu names for animals? There’sbigurdafor kangaroo.”
“How do you know?”
She gave him an incredulous look. “I do listen,” she said. “You’ve been teaching my brothers the correct names for over a decade.”
And she’d remembered. He’d always felt a bit foolish when Charlie had asked him this kind of stuff. He’d never been able to tell whether it was because Charlie was genuinely interested or just testing Matt’s knowledge.
A warmth spread through Matt’s chest. “Thanks, Georgie. It means a lot.”
She smiled and moved to the next sign, but she murmured, “I know.”
The words hit him like a dumper, dragging him to the bottom of the ocean and holding him down. She meant what she said. She understood how much his heritage meant to him and therefore had paid attention all these years.
She really did love him.
His lungs constricted and he struggled to breathe, fighting to the surface so he could figure this all out.
Georgie was already at the next sign down by the creek. She glanced back. “Are you coming?” The defensive snark in her tone had him moving towards her without even thinking. He had to say something, had to make this right. He stopped next to her and she frowned, one finger curling around her hair. “What’s wrong?”
There it was again. She knew him, just like he knew she was nervous and upset with that one raised finger.
The truth hit him.
Why he’d been so jealous of Sam and Jerry.
Why he knew her every movement.
Why he’d missed her so much.
He loved her.
“Matt?” Concern crossed her face. “What’s going on?”
