Coming Home (26 page)

Stevie held her arm as
she put her feet over the side of the bed. When she swayed, he put his arm
around her shoulders. "Sit for a bit, there's no hurry. I have to wait for
Dennis to bring my car over anyway."

"You can stay here
as long as you like." Russ gripped the end of the bed, watching his sister
struggle.

"No, it's okay. I
want to go outside. This place is making me feel closed in." She stood and
held onto the edge of the bed until she seemed stable. Then she walked over to
him, Stevie holding onto one arm to support her. "Thanks, Russ."
Rooney reached up and kissed him. "See you later tonight."

"Take care of
her."

"I've got it, stop
worrying." Stevie nodded and helped her out.

Russ looked at his
watch. Another couple of hours to go and he could go and deal with Paula.

***

"Darling, I was
beginning to think you were never coming. You were supposed to come over the
other night, remember?" Paula opened the door of the motel room and stood
aside to let him in.

Russ walked in, his
glance going around the room. Her clothing was strewn over the bed, makeup
covered the bathroom counter and a bottle of wine was opened on the small table
beside the television.

"Can I offer you a
drink before you join me for dinner?" She hovered close to him and he
resisted the urge to push her away.

"No, thank you. I
won't be staying. A word of advice, Paula. Alcohol isn't good for your
baby."

"Our baby, Russ.
It's ours." She simpered and tried to link her arm through his.

"It isn't mine and
I can prove it. You've been banging your office manager and we have photos, so
you can't deny it."

"You bastard, you
had me followed?" She gaped at him with shocked eyes and an open mouth.

He looked down at her
and wondered what he’d ever seen in her. "I gave you everything, Paula. We
had a good life, yet you felt the need to stray. Was I not good enough for
you?"

"Not by a long
shot. If you’d really cared about me, you wouldn't have left me alone for so
long. You have no idea how lonely I got, Russ. All those late nights you did at
the hospital, the weekends you were on call when it could have been someone
else. Is it any wonder I strayed and fell into the arms of another man?"
She pouted and batted her eyelashes at him.

"You’re the one
who married me knowing what I had to do to get my MD. We agreed I would do what
I had to, to get where I am today. If you couldn't handle the workload, you
should have said so a long time ago."

"I was waiting to
see if it got any better. You can't blame me."

"But I do. You
see, Paula, I've always been the soft guy, the one who lets everyone else walk
all over him just to keep the peace. I think you’ve cured me of that. From now
on, I will take what I want. And what I want now is for you to sign the divorce
papers or those photos will find themselves in the wrong hands,
understand?"

"You
bastard."

"I gave you everything
bar my car and my clothes. I think you've done very well out of the deal."

"But I wanted
more. I want to live in that big house with servants just as you did when you
were growing up. You can't take that away from me, I won't let you."

He laughed, a sound
that freed him from the tension this woman had caused him. "The funniest
thing about this? I don't own it. My father saw to it that it remains in a
family trust forever. None of us can sell it or give it away. So you lose out,
Paula. I suggest you take what you've already got and go. I want those papers
signed by tomorrow night or the photos go to interested parties. Your solicitor
has all the details of your infidelity too, just for your information."

He walked to the door
and left, slamming it behind him.
Photos, good move, Russ
. He had proof
she was playing around but nothing to back it up, not that she knew that.
Relieved beyond measure, he got in his car and headed home.

Cade stood outside with
Kate and watched Stevie drive around to the front of the house. He’d told Tam
the barest of details of how her mother had been hurt. She stood, holding onto
his hand as the car pulled up.

"Mummy." She
let go of his hand and raced over to the police car grabbing at the door
handle.

Rooney opened the door
and reached for her daughter. "Hey, Tam. I'm okay, don't worry."

"I know. Uncle
Cade told me Daddy saved you and Uncle Russ sewed you up all good as new."
She looked at the bandage covering the stitches on Rooney's throat. "Does
it hurt?"

"Not really. It's
a little bit numb still. Have you done your homework?"

Stevie came around and
helped her from the car and Cade marvelled at the connection they still had after
all the years apart and the pain from the secret they hadn’t shared. Tam
skipped ahead of them. "Yes, Uncle Cade made me read my books to
him."

"Thanks, I
appreciate it, brother." Rooney winced when she turned her head.

"Is there anything
I can do?" He followed them through the house and into the front room
where Stevie set her on a chair with her feet up before heading into the
kitchen to make her a cup of tea.

"Not now, thanks.
I need to rest up for a couple of days or Russ will have my hide." She tried
to smile and Cade saw the anguish behind her pale blue eyes. "I'll go and
help make you a drink. Stay here, Squirt and look after you mother."

He half-walked
half-hobbled, into the kitchen where Stevie was relaying the story to Essie.
She stood with her hand over her lips and tears running down her cheeks.

"Essie, come
here." Cade wrapped her in his arms and rocked her. "Tell me what
happened, Stevie, before Tam comes in looking for us."

Stevie retold the story
from the beginning. Cade was sure he left out plenty of details so he didn't
upset the housekeeper any more than necessary. "So what happens now
then?"

"An inquiry, I
guess. They always have one when there is a death with the police involved. I
don't have any reason to be worried though. He was going to kill her. There was
no other option. I had one chance and I took it."

"The guy was a
creep. Seriously, I don't think he was all there, if you know what I
mean."

"He did have some
issues. There is no doubt about it, but the main thing is, Rooney is safe. Now
she has to deal with what happened and she’ll need all of you to keep her
grounded and carry on."

"And you,
Stevie," Essie said as she wiped her tears. "That little girl needs
her father and Rooney might not know it, but she needs you too."

He smiled. "I have
no intention of letting her go again, Essie. She might take a bit of
convincing, but I'll get there in the long run." He looked over at the
kettle. "Do you mind if I take over and make her some tea? It seems to be
the tonic for all things apparently."

"No, you go back
to her. I'll do it." She pushed him toward the door and with a nod, he
returned to the lounge. "Oh that poor girl."

"Yeah, I don't
know how the hell she managed to stay calm throughout that. I reckon I would’ve
struggled if I had a knife held at my throat."

The door opened and
Kate came in, tears in her eyes.

"What is it?"
Cade walked over to her and put his hands on her shoulders, looking down into
her face and watched as she let the tears fall.

"It's nothing. I'm
being silly." She shrugged and tried to laugh. Cade itched to take her in
his arms and soothe her fears, but he didn't want to scare her off. "Life
can be gone in a puff and then it's too late. Poor Rooney, it must have been so
hard."

"She's okay now,
Kate. We need to be strong for her and she will get over it. The Williams genes
are pretty resilient you know." He ran his thumbs under her eyes and wiped
her tears away. "I think you could do with a cup of tea too."

She shook her head.
"I have too much to do."

"Let me help
you."

Kate smiled and shook
her head again. "No, you need to be with your sister. I'll be fine."
She broke away from him and ran out of the kitchen door.

Cade looked over at
Essie, wondering what he was missing.

"I think the poor
thing is probably remembering how she lost her parents. She had no one to hold
her together apart from your father and me."

"Shit." Cade
half ran and skipped out the back door to find her.

He looked toward the
barn and Kate's cottage. She was crouched on the ground with her arms wrapped
around herself.
You poor kid.
He hurried as fast as he could and dropped
down beside her, pulling her into his arms. The gut wrenching sobs increased
and she clung to him, her fists gripping the front of his shirt tightly as her
tears soaked the cotton through to his chest.

Cade sat on the grass
in the sunshine and let Kate sob away her grief. He couldn't imagine being
alone, losing two parents whom you loved at the same time. It made him realise how
closed off his life had been when he was playing football.

She sniffed and dug in
her pocket for a tissue. "Sorry about that. I don't know what came over
me."

"That's okay. What
are friends for?" Cade held her away from his chest and looked into her bright
green eyes. "Do you think you should take a bit of time to yourself? I
think you're pushing yourself too hard. I can help you tomorrow with whatever
is needed."

"Not really what I
get paid for, is it? Having a meltdown, I mean." She heaved a great sigh.

"I won't tell if
you don't. I seriously can't see Tory giving you a dressing down for taking
some personal time anyway." He wiped a stray tear from her cheek and
grabbed her hand. "How about the two of us play hooky together? We can
take the new bike for a ride over the farm and you can fill me in on what
you've been doing. I have a lot to catch up on."

"Why would you
want to do that with me?"

 Her breath was
warm on his face and Cade was tempted to taste her lips and devour sweet Kate
where they sat on the grass. Timing was going to be the key with her though. He
had to convince her he wasn't the Cade she thought he was. "Because I want
to see what's going on around here and I want to do it with you."

"Why? I'm not one
of your groupies, Cade." She looked down at her hands and pulled at a
stalk of grass at her feet.

"I know that and
I've already told you the media portrayed me differently to what I'm really
like. I want you to get to know the real me."

Kate lifted her head
and looked at him long and hard before he saw the spark in her eyes light up.
"Okay, but I drive the bike."

Cade laughed, the sound
breaking the tension in his chest. "Fine then. Help me up please."

Kate stood and gripped
his hand, pulling him up from the grass. He dusted himself down before taking
her hand. Together they walked toward the shed where he’d parked his ute.

"How about I get
this off from up here? You'll probably do more damage than good." Kate
dropped the tailgate of his ute and grabbed a couple of long planks, setting
them behind the tyres of the bike. When she had them lined up, she climbed up
and held her hand out for the keys.

Cade got them from
inside the ute, throwing them up to her. She caught them, grinned and straddled
the bike before starting it up. Careful to watch where she was going, she
reversed the bike down to the ground.

"Get on and hang
on." Her tear stained face lit up as she revved the throttle of the bike.

Cade climbed on the
back, swinging his sore leg over and getting it settled before wrapping his
arms around her stomach. "Go, boss."

Kate laughed as she
gunned the bike down past the barn toward the bottom paddocks where two farm
hands were repairing fences. She slowed down when they reached them.

"How's it
going?" She killed the engine and got off, leaving Cade sitting on the
bike. "You seem to be doing a good job here guys. Thought I'd bring the
new hand down to meet you and check out the rest of the farm." She turned
to Cade. "Cade, this is Jeff and Tiny. Tiny, Jeff meet Cade."

They exchanged small
talk for a few minutes before Kate climbed back on the bike. With a wave, they
took off again down the fence line. "The cattle in this paddock will be
ready for the sales in the next few months. I like to hold them closer to the
house so I can keep an eye on them. We should do well this year." She
slowed down when they got closer to the herd.

"You've done well,
they look great. Good condition, fat. You should do well with them."

"That's what I thought
too. Hang on, let's go see the mums and babies. Tell me what you think of
them." Kate took off again and drove for a good ten minutes before they
came to a gate.

Cade got off and
hobbled to open it, standing back when she drove through. He locked it behind
her and skipped over to climb back on the bike. Wrapping his arms around her,
Cade watched over her shoulder as she headed to a small group of cows and
calves.