Secrets At Wongan Creek Read online

  Heather leant forward, her hands resting on the edge of the bed. ‘Tameka, I’m not here in an official capacity only. Travis and Harley have been friends for a long time. I hope we can be too. It’s tough being the new girl in town and I’m still feeling my way around, making friends as I go. I won’t press you or ask questions you don’t want to answer, but I’d like you to know that you can trust me if you need to talk through what happened.’

  Tameka felt the prick of tears again. She hadn’t cried this much since Mum left. She had to get a handle on it because tears signified weakness and weak was something she couldn’t afford to be.

  ‘Thank you, I appreciate that.’

  ‘Good.’ Heather reached down into her handbag and pulled out a diary. ‘Let’s make that list, shall we? Oh, before I forget, Casey asked me to give you this.’ She unfolded a piece of A4 paper she’d pulled from between the pages. ‘She drew it for you.’

  ‘Casey? Travis’ niece?’ Tameka remembered the little girl, orphaned as a toddler when her mother drowned in the creek.

  She reached for the picture, wincing as the movement stretched her tender skin. On the page, a blue butterfly flew towards the sun over a green paddock dotted with woolly sheep. The words get well soon, formed with the shaky hand of a child learning to write, curved around the sun. In the bottom corner, Casey had signed her name and written the date. ‘That’s beautiful. Please tell her I said thank you.’

  ‘Would you like me to ask the nurse to put it up on the wall for you?’

  Alone in the ward, there were no cheerful bouquets and get well soon cards around for other patients to brighten up the otherwise clinical space. ‘That would be lovely, thank you.’

  Heather opened the diary to a blank page and placed her pen in the groove of the spine. ‘I’m surprised they didn’t send you to Perth for treatment.’

  Strangers, more questions and the frightening thought that those questions would lead to further investigations. As if she wasn’t afraid enough of what would happen when her father came back. If he came back. ‘I’m glad they didn’t. Luckily the emergency department here has been upgraded to handle burns cases. One of the advantages the gold mine has brought to the town.’

  ‘That and John’s guilty conscience that encouraged a healthy donation for the new equipment.’ Heather grinned. ‘It’s about time that man dug into those deep pockets of his instead of trying to make money out of the townsfolk by snapping up properties, either prospecting or subdividing them.’

  Tameka relaxed a little as the conversation moved from her situation to more general topics and eventually to the list of things she’d need to tide her over while she was in hospital. By the time Heather dropped her diary back into her bag and searched out her keys, Tameka felt she really had gained a new friend.

  But what value did that friendship have if, when her father returned, she’d have to withdraw again? Go back to being the person she had to be to protect the people she cared about from his wild mood swings and erratic behaviour. The way she hadn’t been able to protect her mother. The way she’d had to let go to protect Harley.

  Harley. Damn him for making her want things again she couldn’t afford to keep. Like peace, love and stability, and a safe place to be the person she wanted to be.

  Chapter 9

  The days had run on into each other leaving him exhausted—emotionally, physically and mentally. Harley’s dreams had turned to nightmares haunted by faces that alternated between Ryan’s and Tameka’s. The smell of smoke clung stubbornly to his skin despite scrubbing it away, like the guilt that clung to his heart and mind. If he’d done things differently, if he hadn’t screwed up, Ryan would be alive today to give him shit and Tameka wouldn’t be lying injured in a hospital bed.

  He’d worked from sparrow’s fart in the morning until long after the sun had set in the evening so he’d be too tired to dream while he worried about Tameka and what would happen next. Would she accept his offer or stubbornly proceed with her plan to rent a cabin at the caravan park?

  He’d spent five long days of alternating between his farm and Tikki’s, visiting the hospital every day, keeping an eye out for the return of her old man, praying Chalmers would stay away and Tameka would come home to Bakers Hill so he could make it up to her somehow.

  A taxi pulled into Harley’s driveway and Tameka got out. She still hadn’t agreed to stay with him, and he’d left her to make up her own mind.

  Harley put his empty plate down on the wooden slats of the verandah floor and let Loki lick it clean. He watched and listened to the minor argument as the driver refused to take payment for the ride, and smiled. The ride from town out to Bakers Hill would be worth at least a hundred bucks. Cash Jeremy Little couldn’t really afford to lose with five kids to feed and his wife pregnant with the sixth. He’d make sure Mum dropped off a food parcel at the Little house as thank you for the man’s kindness.

  Tameka waved Jeremy away and turned to walk up the steps, the overnight bag Harley had loaned her in her hands. She stopped on the top step and looked at Loki, her eyebrows raised, a sight for sore eyes in a flannel shirt too big for her and trackpants too loose with the waistband riding her hips.

  Harley ignored the stutter of his heart and shrugged. ‘What? I’m putting the dishes through the rinse cycle.’

  ‘With dog slobber?’ She put the bag down gingerly, a wince drawing her mouth tight.

  ‘Loki’s mouth is a hell of a lot cleaner than some people I know.’

  ‘No argument there.’

  ‘How’s the head?’

  ‘Better.’ She touched her fingers to the white medical tape covering the wound. ‘Throb’s gone.’

  ‘And your back?’ Harley picked up the plate Loki had licked clean. ‘See? Spotless. Don’t even need to wash it. I could put it right back in the cupboard and no-one would know the difference.’

  She grinned and his heart almost stopped beating altogether. ‘You’re an idiot. My back is okay. The skin is tight but the lesser burns have started to heal. The doctor says I need someone to apply ointment on them three times a day. Think you can handle that?’

  He could if his hands stopped shaking and his mind didn’t remember what her body felt like under his palms. ‘The caravan park residents couldn’t handle it, hey?’ he teased.

  Loki wandered over and lolled against her leg. Traitor. She leant down to scratch behind his ears. Harley snorted at the dumb look of satisfaction on his meant-to-be-ferocious watchdog’s face.

  ‘They’re all too busy planning the next leg of their road trip.’ She patted Loki’s head and the dog nudged at her hand for more.

  He never thought he’d be jealous of his dog. Harley stepped forward and picked up the overnight bag, trying to suppress the hope that flared in his heart. He couldn’t afford to read any more into this than it was—Tameka needing a place to stay. ‘Righto. Spare room’s made up, sheets are clean, and there are a couple of towels and some toiletries in the en suite. Let me know what else you need and I’ll get Mum to pick it up.’

  She transferred her hand from Loki’s head to Harley’s arm. ‘Thanks.’

  He lifted his free hand to touch her face. ‘You’re welcome.’ And because he wanted to kiss her and let her know how happy he was that she was alive, okay and right where he needed her to be, he let her go. ‘I’ll put this in your room and then we’ll take a walk over to your place. I’m sure you’ll want to see the damage. Captain Metcalfe has given clearance as safe to enter. We can go into the front rooms and bedrooms, but whatever’s left of the back of the house will need to be torn down so it’s off limits. They’ve stabilised it with steel props and scaffolding at the damaged end.’

  He didn’t add that the sight and smell of the burnt-out homestead had raised memories of Ryan, haunting him with recollections like the fishing rod his brother would never pick up again and the pain of watching his hero lowered into the ground in a wooden box that shouldn’t have been so damn small.

  ‘Yea
h, thanks. I’d like to see what I can salvage, especially clothing-wise. Heather and I made a list and the CWA ladies brought me some second-hand stuff. Loose is good right now.’ She tugged at the tail of the oversize shirt.

  ‘I might have to lend you a couple of mine then. I’m not sure we’ll get the smoke smell out of what’s left over there. Loki’s talents only run to cleaning dishes.’

  Tameka punched his arm. ‘You know all you need to do is pick up the phone and you’ll have half a dozen women out here with washing powder and fabric softener ready to do your laundry.’

  The only laundry he wanted doing was his and Tameka’s. Together. Forever. But it was too soon to hope that this was the first step towards renewing what they never should have lost.

  ‘I’m a twenty-first-century man. I can turn a knob on a washing machine.’ He could press buttons too, but she wasn’t ready for that yet.

  ‘Can you still make a cup of tea?’ She eyed him hopefully.

  ‘You bet. I’ve got some leftover barbecue chicken if you want a roll.’

  ‘Sounds like heaven. I swear they’re still using powdered eggs in the hospital kitchen. Crazy when we’ve got so many chooks running around the place.’

  He waved her ahead of him through the front door and watched her slow and painful progress down the hallway to the guest bedroom. ‘When do you need that ointment applied?’

  ‘While I’m waiting for my tea to cool down and my chicken roll to digest with my painkillers.’

  He wanted to stop her, turn her around and hold her close to make her pain go away. ‘Great. I’ll get right onto that, Princess Tameka.’

  ‘Good. And the dog stays with me.’

  ‘You’re kidnapping my dog?’

  ‘Just for a little while. I need a cuddle.’

  ‘Mine aren’t good enough?’

  She took the bag from his hand, stepped into the room with the dog and turned around to face him. ‘They’re too good and it’s been a long time since the last one. I’m not ready for them yet.’ The door closed gently in his face.

  Bloody woman. He held a hand over his heart to keep it in his chest, leant his forehead against the door and listened to the murmur of her voice as she spoke quietly to Loki. She’d be okay. She was okay. He turned away and walked to the kitchen to make her a sandwich and a cup of tea.

  He’d barely squeezed out the teabag and put the milk in her tea when Tameka walked into the kitchen. She eyed the chicken mayo roll as he placed the mug next to the plate.

  ‘Looks good. I could eat a horse.’

  He pretended not to see the redness around her eyes or the tear tracks on her cheeks when she dropped a tube of ointment and a packet of painkillers on the table. Only the dog knew for sure what those tears were about.

  ‘Maybe I’d better take Loki for a run while you eat then. In case you get any ideas.’

  ‘Funny. You always did think you were a comedian.’

  Harley walked around the table and pulled out the chair opposite her, slipping into it. He interlocked his fingers, let his hands rest on the table, watched her eat and said nothing.

  Tameka closed her eyes and chewed. ‘That’s damn good chicken. Did you make it?’

  ‘Annie Hamilton brought it over.’ His freezer was full of Wongan Creek bachelorette-made meals, right next to the ones his mother insisted he’d need if Tameka came to stay.

  ‘You should marry that girl.’

  ‘I’m more of a stir fry kinda guy.’

  Tameka stopped chewing and looked at him with those beautiful eyes shaped like a lazy cat’s, neither brown nor hazel but something in between, the angles of her features softened by the mix of Australian and Asian genes. ‘Then you need to change your diet.’

  ‘I tried.’

  ‘Try harder. Me staying here isn’t about us, Harley. I’m taking advantage of your hospitality because my field is over the fence and it makes sense to be closer to home to take care of my livelihood.’ She pushed her empty plate away. ‘And as much as I love your dog, he’s not licking the crumbs off my plate.’

  Harley tried hard not to smile and failed. Tikki always got on the defensive when she was in denial. It gave him hope because damn it, he’d never stopped loving her or wanting her back. ‘Whatever. Do you want me to put ointment on your back now?’

  ‘That would be great, thanks.’

  He stood, washed his hands at the sink and rubbed disinfectant gel over them just in case. She’d been through enough without having to suffer secondary infections that might see her heading to Perth for further treatment. He pulled the first aid kit down from the shelf in the pantry and carried it over to the table then filled a clean, not-washed-by-Loki cereal bowl with warm water.

  ‘Lift your shirt.’

  He sucked in his breath as he dampened the bandages with water before peeling them away. While the first-degree burns had started to heal over and the second-degree burns were still raw, pink and inflamed, it was the third-degree burns with their charred look that made his heart ache. She flinched as he applied ointment to the lesser burns higher up her back with a cotton swab.

  ‘Sorry.’

  ‘It’s okay. They’re just sensitive.’

  ‘Will they heal completely?’

  ‘In time if I take care of them properly and don’t get any infections, but the worst ones will leave puckered skin and nerve damage.’ She folded her arms on the table and rested her forehead on them. ‘I can’t feel those.’

  Harley felt the sigh shudder through her. ‘Will you need skin grafts?’

  ‘The doctor doesn’t think it will be necessary. I have to wear a pressure suit until they’ve healed. Taking that thing off and putting it back on again is a bitch.’

  That would explain some of the tears his dog would have witnessed earlier. No way in hell would she take anything off without feeling pain. And she’d had to take it off so he could apply the ointment.

  ‘You should have called me to help.’

  ‘I managed. I’ll need to apply tissue oil once the healing process is complete to repair the scarring. Mum used to use this stuff called silica that boosts collagen. That might help.’

  And damn it, he’d buy up the world’s supply of it for her if he could just convince the bank to extend his loan and grant him a grace period. ‘I’m sorry, baby.’

  He applied gauze and bandages to the wounds, pressed a kiss to her bare shoulder and tried not to think about Ryan who hadn’t been as lucky to escape a fire. He’d have given the world to see his mother tend his brother’s burns instead of having to attend his funeral. He’d give a lot more to have him here today, alive. That he’d almost lost Tikki the same way …

  He drew back and let his fingers travel across her cheek, her skin soft and damp with tears. His own eyes burned as a lump of sadness lodged in his throat.

  ‘Don’t.’ She lifted her head a little, looking over her shoulder at him. ‘Don’t feel sorry for me or for what happened to me, Harley. I can deal with this on my own. As I’ve dealt with everything else.’

  Everything else. What had she dealt with alone all the years, for God’s sake, besides running the farm? He’d watched her out there alone in the field, her father conspicuous by his absence. The only help she’d had was hired during harvest. Even that had been minimal, outsourced beyond the borders of Wongan Creek because no-one wanted to deal with an arsehole like Louis Chalmers any more than he wanted to deal with them.

  He held her gaze, dropped her shirt, turned her around chair and all, and knelt in front of her. He wished things could be different, that he hadn’t screwed up that day in the front seat of his ute and dropped her right in the shit with her dad. Hell, he’d dropped them both knee-deep in a pile of it.

  ‘Tikki, I can’t change what happened in the past, but I know I love you. I always have. Nothing will change that. No matter how much time and distance you put between us.’

  She looked at him in silence, her eyes searching his in a way that had his body sti
rring and his mind closing the bedroom door. And then they turned sad and his chest tightened.

  ‘I can never be that person for you, Harley. There is so much …’ She lifted a hand to his face and pressed her forehead to his. ‘So much.’

  ‘Tell me.’

  ‘I can’t. Not yet. Maybe never.’

  Loki pushed between them and knocked Harley back on his arse. ‘Jesus, Loki.’ He ruffled the dog’s ears. ‘Looks like I’m outnumbered.’

  Tameka stood slowly, carefully. ‘Your dog is smarter than you. We should go over to the homestead before it gets too dark.’

  Harley pushed himself up off the floor. ‘I guess so.’ He held out his hand and she slipped hers into it, a gesture of friendship rather than intimacy. ‘I’m a little concerned that your dad hasn’t come back yet. He’s been gone for over four days. Did you want me to file a missing person’s report?’

  Her fingers tightened around his. ‘No, he’ll come back when he’s ready.’

  ‘He’s not answering his phone.’

  She froze at Harley’s side. ‘You rang him?’

  ‘Well, I rang the number Dad had for him. It went straight to message bank.’

  ‘Harley!’

  ‘What? Jesus, Tameka, he needs to know his daughter almost died when his house burnt down.’

  Harley dragged a hand through his hair. Why the hell was she so angry with him for calling her dad? So the relationship wasn’t great, but he had a duty of care to fulfil.

  Her nostrils flared, her throat worked and her eyes took on a haunted look, and he realised she wasn’t angry … she was afraid.

  The bruise on her arm after the fire had been finger-shaped. Louis Chalmers was an aggressive bastard with a quick temper.

  ‘You don’t want your dad to be found, do you?’ And there he was, leaping to conclusions again. ‘You’d rather he stayed away.’

  ‘It’s not like that.’

  ‘The fire wasn’t an accident, was it? Where was he that night?’