It was understandable that the kids would be feeling confused. They’d had a revolving door of people taking them to school and bringing them home, coming and going. It was no wonder they weren’t sure what to expect. But she was here now, and determined to restore some kind of normality for them.
‘Aunty Bel!’ Lucy and Ivy came running through the door and jumped on her lap. Bel hugged them tightly.At least not everything’s changed around here.
‘When’s Mummy and Daddy coming home?’ Ben asked.
‘I’m not sure. It might be a little while yet.’
‘My daddy got taken away in an ambulance,’ Ivy said with wide eyes.
‘That must have been a bit scary,’ Bel said.
‘There was blood,’ Ayla said solemnly.
Bel wasn’t sure what the protocol for dealing with childhood trauma was—did you let them talk about it? Did you try and explain it or did you ignore it? She had no idea. ‘Daddy’s got a lot of doctors and nurses taking really good care of him. I know you miss him a lot and you’re probably really worried about him,’ she said gently. ‘But at the moment, he needs to be away in hospital so he can get better. Mummy needs to stay there with him for a little while too, until the doctors can give her some more news. But I’m here to take care of you guys until Mummy can come home. And I was thinking, maybe we can do something to surprise them when they come home?’
‘Like what?’ Ivy asked.
‘I don’t know. Can you guys think of anything?’
‘What about the chook pen?’ Ayla suggested. ‘Mummy’s always asking Daddy to fix it, but he never has time.’
‘That sounds like a good idea. What do you think, Ben?’ Bel asked.
‘Yeah,’ he said. He was still staring at the book, but Bel noticed he hadn’t turned a page in a while and suspected he was listening more closely than he appeared to be. ‘But you don’t know how to fix things.’
Okay, well, the kid has a point. She couldn’t be too offended though, at least he’d given her a glimpse of the ratbag she remembered.
‘ButIdo,’ Dean said from the doorway he was leaning against, having silently appeared God only knew how longago. Bel found herself slightly distracted by the way his folded arms pulled his T-shirt a little tighter across his chest. Her eyes lifted to his face and she quickly looked away when they met his.
Crap.Bel cleared her throat quickly. ‘There you go. Uncle Dean knows how to fix a chook pen. Yay, Uncle Dean,’ she added weakly, without looking at him.
‘How about we go out and take a look at what needs to be done? You wanna show me what you’re thinking?’ Dean asked Ben. Bel saw the young boy’s chest puff out a little.
‘Can we come too?’ Ivy and Lucy asked, bouncing on the bed.
‘Sure. Why don’t we all go out? Coming, Aunty Bel?’ Dean asked as the kids all flew past him and headed out the back door.
Bel gave him a quick smile. ‘Thanks for that.’
‘No worries. I think it’s a good idea, give them something to take their minds off stuff.’
‘Will you have time though? You’re in the middle of harvest.’
‘I’ll make time,’ he said simply as Bel drew level with him in the doorway. Was it her imagination or did his eyes suddenly get a whole lot more sultry? And why was she suddenly feeling like she’d just experienced a hot flush?
What is happening here?
‘Come onnnnnnn,’ Lucy bellowed from the back door.
‘The natives are getting restless,’ Dean murmured as Bel moved past him, almost brushing against his torso in the process.
Bel squashed down all the weird, wayward feelings that had suddenly sprung to life and hurried outside. Did you get jet lag from flying across the country? That had to be it. A hot shower and a good night’s sleep and everything would be back to normal—whatever the hell that was nowadays.
Later that evening, after Dean had left and Bel had gotten through the whole dinner and bath routine, she read down the list on the fridge. ‘Bedtime book,’ she said out loud. Now this was more like it. Finally, something she could handle. ‘What book are we reading?’ she asked.
‘I’ll get it!’ Ivy said, running down the hallway.
‘No! I will!’ Ben shouted after his twin.
‘Ben, let Ivy get the book,’ Bel started to call out, but already a fight had erupted in the enclosed verandah that was a playroom for the children. With a long-suffering sigh, Bel followed the yelling and took control of the book the siblings had been wrestling over. ‘Any more fighting and I’m not reading tonight. Now, let’s go out to the lounge room and find a place to sit.’
‘Mummy always reads us our bedtime stories in her bed,’ Ivy said, leading the way towards Emma and Craig’s bedroom. ‘So we all fit.’
‘Fine, but no more fighting,’ Bel warned in her best don’t-mess-with-me tone, although she was fairly sure none of the kids were feeling the least bit intimidated. They all settled onto the bed. Bel had to admit, this was a pretty lovely way to wind down at the end of a long day. With two little bodiescurled up on either side of her, Bel looked down at the book and a surge of childhood memories came flooding back. ‘The Magic Faraway Tree,’ she read. She’d been obsessed with this story and had read all the Enid Blyton classics when she was little. Which was most likely where her love of reading had come from.
She recalled her grandparents always teasing her that she was like a cat—they’d never know where she was until they called her for food. Then she’d uncurl herself from a sunny spot in the corner of the room or come in from where she’d been sitting under a tree in the back yard, reading. These stories of faraway lands and magical creatures had been her escape from grief and loneliness when she’d first moved to Wessex. Much like her later escape from everyday life with the Jax Lexington books.
‘Joe, Silky and Moon-Face were very pleased that Joe was the right way up again,’ Bel began reading, and soon she was as engrossed as the four children snuggled beside her, all of them lost in the magical world of make-believe.
