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A surge of anticipation filled her, and for the first time in a long time, the heavy nagging grief didn’t weigh her down.

When Cy came back with the Stanley knife, she was humming under her breath as she lifted the boxes onto the benchtop.

‘Have a good afternoon,’ he said as he put the knife beside the boxes.

‘You too,’ she replied, and the smile came naturally.

***

Cy put the fruit and veggies in the small area where he had his fridge and had set up the cooktop. He’d have to rearrange the camp fridge to get all of the meat in there. The fruit and veggies would have to stay out; it was cool enough in the shed for them to last for a while. He could cook up a feed tonight and put some containers into his camp fridge.

It had been very thoughtful of Tarni to divvy the food up, and equally thoughtful of Ellie to leave enough for both of them.

Tarni seemed prickly, and he’d picked up quickly she was a very private person. That suited him fine. She’d been spare with her words and shared nothing about herself apart from the fact that she was aware of security and that she wouldn’t bother him.

Well, he could do the same He reached in his pocket for his keys and headed towards the house, feeling as though he was intruding on her space. He shoved that thought away; it was Kane and Ellie’s place. There was no need to feel like that. Tarni Morgan was employed by the McLarens, the same as he was.

Pulling out the keys, Cy quickly unlocked the screen door and went to the kitchen. The card was where she’d said, and he picked it up.

Jerry White, it said above the mobile number, and he’d listed trench digging in his skill set.

Excellent.

He’d give him a call in the next day or so, once he’d finished measuring up. If he could get those trenches dug twice as quickly with an extra set of hands, he’d give Ryan a call and let him know that he was available for some cattle work one day a week, maybe even two.

As long as he kept the water up to the trees and kept the grass tidy and trimmed below them, he’d be able to give Ryan some days once the irrigation pipes were in.

It would also mean he would be well and truly out of Tarni Morgan’s way. Satisfaction filled Cy; he was happy he’d taken this job—independent work with no boss, no schedules to meet, and no blasted reports to fill in every day, as well as the prospect of being on horseback at Wilderness Station. His spirits lifted.

At the end of the week, he might even make the effort to go to Darwin and visit Joe.

Might.

Chapter 12

Darwin Harbourside Apartments - Monday noon

Dru

The ambulance and Emma arrived at the same time because when the lift opened, the paramedics stepped out, followed closely by Emma.

Her big sister hurried over and crouched beside Dru. ‘Oh sweetie, what’s happening?’

‘I ran too hard.’

‘Why were you running, Dru, is it?’ The paramedic crouched on her other side.

Dru nodded. ‘Yes. Dru Kirk. I was . . . just running.’

‘My name is Santo and he’s Brett. Let’s have a look at you.’

‘Do you think you’re in labour, Mrs Kirk? Dr Langford here thought you might have been.’

‘I don’t know. The pains have eased since I called my sister. I think my waters have broken,’ Dru had managed to have a quick look at her maternity slacks before the lift door opened, and she couldn’t see any blood and that had allayed some of her fears. She’d been worried that she was haemorrhaging, but it appeared it was her waters that had broken. She remembered that gushing whoosh from when Ruby had been born

The paramedics quickly took her observations and nodded. ‘BP is a little bit high, Dr Langford. We’ll get her to the hospital for some tests.’

‘I’ll stay here with my sister while you go down for the trolley,’ Emma said. They obviously knew her from the hospital.