Coming Home (10 page)

The delicate pale pink
blooms were perfect against the weathered boards used to section the chapel
from the stock. Soft green moss grew in the shaded crevices of wood, giving it
the aged look her mother liked for the gardens. She used to say it gave the
farm a more permanent feeling, as though it had been there forever.
I miss
you, Mum, so much it hurts me every day. I know you’d understand why I didn't
come and say goodbye before now, but that doesn't take the pain away. If I
hadn't been so worried about what would happen to me when I came face to face
with Dad, I would have come sooner. But the time never seemed right. There was
always too much to do, a sick toddler or work calling.

You would love Tamara,
Mum. She is so much like you. Feisty, full of life, and so much compassion it
breaks my heart. I hope I'm doing the right thing bringing her home. Russ and
Cade don't know about her yet. What they are going to say when I tell them?

I wish you were here,
Mother. I wish so many things but that…most of all.

A firm hand rested on
her shoulder and Russ dropped to the ground beside her, pulling her close in
his strong safe grasp. As Rooney leaned into him, she relaxed.

"I'm sorry I
wasn't here for you when she passed, Russ. I know how close you were to
her."

"I guess you had
your reasons, Rooney. I wish you could tell me what kept you away though."
She shivered at the thought that the time to avoid the subject had come.
Looks
like now will be the perfect time then.

"Well, I was going
to talk to you about that. It's not that I didn't want to come home, I
couldn't."

He held her far enough
away to look into her eyes. "Why not?"

She dipped her head and
sucked in a breath before meeting Russ’s puzzled gaze. "I was in
hospital." Rooney held up her hand when he tried to talk. "I was a
little too busy giving birth to my daughter to attend."

She watched the
emotions flash through his eyes and waited for the accusations to fly. There
were going to be some very ruffled feathers in the next few days.

"Why didn't you
tell me? I could have helped you Rooney. You know I would have." He
gripped her hand. "I'm disappointed you didn't trust me enough for that. I
thought you would have come to me for help."

"I didn't tell
Cade either, if that is what you’re wondering." She smiled and held his
hand. "Russ, you know you would’ve tried to convince me to come home and
tell Mother and Father. Not that I would have blamed you, I was only eighteen.
Cade would have laughed his head off for being so damned stupid and falling
pregnant."

"Does Stevie
know?"

"No."

"Are you going to
tell him?" A frown marred his face.

"Not if I don't
have to. I'm sure he’ll find out sooner or later." Rooney laughed
bitterly. "He is her father even if he is a spineless little prick. Do you
know what happened that night or just Dad’s version of it?"

"Why don't you
tell me your version? It's the only one that matters at the moment."

"Father caught us
naked in the barn. Instead of sticking up for me, Stevie ran. The bastard ran
out of the barn naked as a buck rabbit, pulling his pants on as he did. He left
me there to take a hiding and make excuses to Father. You should have seen the
welts on my arse when he sent me to bed. I couldn't sit down for a week."

"So you ran
away."

"Yeah, isn't that
what bad girls do? I ran away and didn't look back."

"Rooney, you were
never a bad girl. A little fiery maybe but not bad. I know you called in to see
Cade. Why didn't you stay with him?" Russ picked at a piece of grass,
rolling it between his fingers as he looked at her.

"His place was like
a damned whore's train station." She shivered at the memory.

"What did you do
for money? You should have come to me." Anger slipped into his voice.

Rooney had wanted him
to rescue her—like he always had—but she’d been too scared.

"I had money saved
up. I didn't have to live on the streets, if that's what you think. I ended up
in Brisbane, got a job waitressing and lived in a cheap boarding house. I
didn't even know I was pregnant to start with. Yeah I know, dumb hey?"
Rooney traced her fingertips over her mother's name. "Anyway, long story
short, I got jack of serving irate customers and had a job as a vet assistant
by the time I found out. Thing was, I had made up my mind I wanted to be a vet
and my boss wanted to help me. Pete and his wife are like family. They took me
in and made sure I was okay when I had Tam. Then they pushed me to study. It
was hard, really hard, with a small baby but I got through it." She
dropped his hand and stood up, brushing down the black pleated skirt she wore.
"I was saving my butt off to get a down payment on Pete's business so when
he retired I would have enough for the bank to see I was earnest and give me a
loan. Things didn't work out, and here I am."

Russ stood up and held
onto her shoulders. "What happened?"

"Pete's wife is
sick. He was offered good money for the business and he took it. He would have
been a fool not to. That left me at a loose end. Now we have to come
home."

"Interesting will,
isn't it? I never thought he would do this to us." He shrugged. "I
think it's a good idea, for me anyway, and I think for you too. I'd like to get
to know my niece. Where is she?"

"Staying with
Pete. I couldn't bring her home before I sorted things out. I fly back
tomorrow. We might drive back in the next week or so."

"You okay?"
Russ looked over at the gate at Tory watching them, then looked back at Rooney.

"Yes. Tory knows
everything. He’s my ‘go to’ person when I need to keep up with things."
She reached out a hand. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you but I thought it was for
the best."

Russ took her hand in
his, winding their fingers together as they had when they were children.
"I know you are, little one, but I have to admit to being a little bit sad
I've missed out on so much." He raised his other hand and lifted her chin
to look into her eyes. "Just don't leave me out of things again,
okay?"

Rooney gave him a
wobbly smile before answering. "I promise. We have a lot to talk about.
What we all want to do about moving here. I can't let the property go to anyone
else, Russ. I want to be responsible for keeping the folks’ legacy alive, even
if everything Father did wasn't my idea of how things should be. Mother worked
hard to keep this a family home. I want it to stay that way. At least for
now."

Russ kept hold of her
hand and walked with her over to the gate where Tory stood patiently, watching
the two of them like a hawk
.

Tory reached for her
and Rooney fell into his arms with a soft sigh. He ran his hand over her pale
blonde hair before kissing her cheek. "Okay now?"

"Yeah, I think so.
I needed to do that." She turned to Russ. "Thanks. You still have the
knack of rescuing me."

"Well, what can I
say? You've always brought out the maternal side in me. How about we go down to
the house and have a quiet drink, see how Cade is going?"

Rooney laughed and Russ
smiled. "Cade will be making love to his bottle of whiskey for the rest of
the night, I should think. But I need to speak to Essie anyway and see if she
needs some help with clearing up or dealing with all the food the neighbours
have so kindly brought over."

"When are you
going to tell her, Rooney?" They both knew the housekeeper would take the
news hard. She considered herself their second mother and would take it
personally that she wasn't told of the pregnancy.

"I guess now is as
good a time as any. May as well get it over and done with and tell everyone,
since I have to go back tomorrow anyway."

 They strolled
back to the house together.

Kate walked from her
cottage as they came through the gate. "Rooney, I've been dying to catch
up with you." She held her arms out and they hugged. "Sorry about
your father."

"Yeah,
thanks." Rooney let her gaze travel over her childhood friend. Kate had
grown into a beautiful young woman and she told her so, watching the blush race
over her freckle-dusted cheeks.

"I have some news
to share with the family. I think you should be in on this conversation too.
You and I were always so close." She sighed with relief when Kate nodded.

"Of course, if you
think I should be there, I will. Want me to get Cade for you?"
Did Kate
still have a case of hero worship for Cade? She had it pretty bad when we were
kids. I wonder if this is an excuse to go looking for him? No, Kate was only
being helpful. Surely, she'd outgrown the childhood crush?

"Thanks. If we
could all meet in the front room, I think that would be best." Tory laid
his hand on Rooney’s shoulder and smiled encouragingly at her. He knew how hard
this was for her, and she was grateful for his unconditional support.

They walked into the
kitchen together.

"Essie, can we
have you in the front room for a meeting please? I have some things I need to
say to the family, and that includes you," Rooney said.

The housekeeper looked
up with a worried look on her face. She wiped her hands on her apron and reached
back to undo the ties, letting it fall undone. Lifting it over her head, she
walked towards the hallway, the apron still clutched in her hands.

Tory, Rooney and Russ
followed her. Rooney could hear Cade's voice before they got to the front of
the house. "Come on Katie, don't be such a snob. Have a drink with me
later."

Kate walked from the
front veranda inside the house, meeting them in the hallway. She grinned,
giving Rooney a wink before she walked into the front room, her arm across
Essie's shoulders.

Cade tried to lift
himself from the low cane chair and struggled. The amount of alcohol he had
drunk to numb his brain was playing havoc on his legs. He laughed at himself
and counted under his breath before pushing himself up with his hands on the
arm of the chair. "Fucking yeah, I'm the man." He lumbered on heavy
feet to the front door and leaned on the frame to watch the procession into the
formal sitting room. He cursed, and with his bottle of whiskey in his hand, followed
them.

He stumbled over the
edge of the Persian carpet, laughing as he hobbled to the nearest chair without
his crutches.

"You shouldn't be
trying to walk like that," Russ hurried to grab his arm.

Cade brushed him away
and stood tall. "Leave me alone, Doctor. I know what I'm doing." He
grinned and turned around, before letting himself fall backwards into the large
comfy armchair. "See, I didn't spill a drop." He raised the bottle to
his lips and took a deep drink of the honey gold liquid, ignoring the looks he
got from his siblings.

Kate took a chair
opposite, her gaze blank as she watched him.
Man, she's hot and damned if I
won't have her in my bed before I go back to the city
.
She wants me, I
know it.
He figured by now she knew how to play the game. She'd make him
sweat first but she'd give in eventually and he couldn't wait to have her body
underneath him naked and panting.

Cade toasted her
silently, grinning when she turned away.

"I have something
to tell you all, actually a couple of things." Rooney stood in front of
the fire and twisted her hands. She glanced around them all before locking
gazes with Tory. He smiled and nodded his head.

Cade dipped his finger
in the glass, toying with the ice cubes until they tinkled noisily against the
fine crystal. "On with it, for goodness sake, Rooney."

"You all know why
I left home. What you don't know is what happened next." She licked her
lips and gave a wobbly smile. "I had no idea when I left here I was
pregnant." She held up her hand as Essie tried to stand up. "No,
please let me get this out." She wiped her hands down the sides of her
skirt before looking up again. "When Tory called to tell me Mum had died,
I was in hospital giving birth to my daughter. That’s why I never came back. I
couldn't. It's something I've wanted to do ever since but there has always been
something going on. I went to university and got my veterinary degree with a
toddler at my feet."

Cade watched how Tory
reached his hand out and clasped hers. "Anyway, I was going to buy the
business I’m working at but they sold unexpectedly and now all this has
happened. Earlier today I inspected the old practice on Putty Road and put in
an offer. It's a dump and needs a hell of a lot of work, but it's all I can
afford. If they accept my offer, my daughter and I will be home next
week."

"Well, well,
well." Cade sat forward in his chair, resting his whiskey bottle on his
good leg. "I knew something like this would happen. The way you and that
boy disappeared down to the barn all the time…our
sweet
little sister
wasn't so sweet at all."

"Get a grip, Cade.
Stop being such an arsehole," Kate spat at him. "Rooney, is there
anything I can do for you? You just have to ask." She stood up, walked
over to Rooney and wrapped her arms around her.