Outback Ghost (37 page)

‘Sure.' She hung the tea towel she'd been holding over the oven railing and glanced at Heidi. ‘Will you be okay with Adam while I go and fetch some of our things? We're going to stay here at the big house tonight.'

Heidi grinned at Adam and nodded.

‘Well, kiddo, shall we wash the dishes?' he asked once Stella had gone. Hopefully by the time they'd scrubbed, dried and put everything away Stella would be back. Although he liked Heidi and had spent a lot of time with her and Stella together, the only time they'd been alone was in the header. And then she'd been so mesmerised by the large machinery that he hadn't needed to entertain her. But as he heard Stella's little hatchback drive off, anxiety flooded him at the thought of being alone with the child.

‘Yep.' Heidi climbed off the chair and carried her bowl to the sink. ‘Me wash.'

‘Whatever you say,' he said, trying to tell himself his fears about spending time with her were ridiculous. She was an awesome kid – so friendly and full of enthusiasm despite the setback life had thrown her way. And in the safety of the house, nothing could happen to her.

He filled the sink, careful to make sure the water wasn't too hot and let Heidi squeeze in the detergent. She giggled as the bubbles rapidly multiplied until there looked to be more suds than actual water. Then she began to clean the crockery with a serious expression on her face.

‘You're good at this.' He smiled as he took a bowl off her and patted it with the tea towel.

‘I know.' She beamed and continued working.

He wondered how much she knew about what had happened today. Had Stella told her what they'd found under the jacaranda tree? He hoped not, she was far too young and innocent to have to deal with something so gruesome, yet without her they might never have found Lily-Blue. However awful that discovery had been, he knew in the long run, she'd given his family a gift and his heart filled with emotion for her.

‘All done,' she said, when the floor and her clothes were drenched. ‘You read me new story?'

‘What story?'

‘Christmas one. Santa gave it.'

‘Oh.' He'd forgotten it was Christmas. He lifted her down off the chair he'd put against the sink so she could reach. ‘That might be at the cottage. I'll call your mum and get her to bring it.'

‘No, s'okay.' She shook her head and reached out to take his hand. ‘You can make one up.'

As she led him through to the lounge room, panic surged in his chest. He wasn't creative in the slightest but he didn't want to disappoint her. They settled on the couch – he sat awkwardly and Heidi lounged back, her legs resting on his knees.

‘Start,' she demanded with a grin.

He sighed. ‘Once upon a time there was a farmer…'

‘Like you,' she interrupted.

‘Yes. Only this farmer was old and very sick and couldn't even get out of bed to feed his dog, never mind harvest the crops. And he didn't have enough money to get a worker. Remember how I showed you the header and explained the cycle of the crops?'

She nodded solemnly.

‘If the farmer…'

She interrupted again. ‘What's his name?'

‘Um… Bob. That's a good farmer's name, right?' She giggled and he continued. ‘If Bob didn't get better all the crop would die and then he wouldn't get any money to feed his animals. Bob had a lot of animals,' he added, knowing how much Heidi adored them. ‘And it was the animals that saved him.'

‘How?'

‘Well…'

*

The homestead was quiet when Stella returned. She'd been gone longer than she'd hoped because she'd gotten into a quasi-­interview with Drew about her involvement in the Lily-Blue case. Everything that had happened still felt surreal and although she now adamantly believed that Heidi had communicated with a spirit, it still sounded odd when she heard herself speaking it aloud. She'd been more than happy when Drew had excused her and she'd driven so fast back, she'd almost run over Mutton as he bounded out to meet her.

Now, all she could hear was him whining at the door as she left him out on the veranda and entered the house. Walking towards the kitchen, she stopped as she passed the open door to the lounge room and Heidi's gentle laughter wafted towards her. She spotted the back of Adam's head over the top of the couch and saw her daughter's golden curls hanging over an armrest. They hadn't heard her come in and she paused a moment to eavesdrop.

‘So all the animals worked together to keep the farm going. The dog drove the header because he'd seen Bob do it on numerous occasions, the sheep organised the…'

Stella didn't hear what the sheep organised, she was too busy trying to control her emotions at the realisation Adam had made up a story for Heidi. She was hopeless at creating kids stories herself and had always relied on picture books from the library, but it wasn't the story so much that made her eyes water, it was simply the way Adam was with Heidi. She couldn't understand why he didn't want to have children because all the evidence she'd seen so far pointed to the fact he'd make the perfect father.

‘Stella.' His arm resting along the top of the couch, Adam turned his head to look at her. ‘When did you come in?'

‘Just now,' she managed, hoping he couldn't hear the crack in her voice.

He smiled down at Heidi, then stood up. ‘Do you need any help with your stuff?'

She shook her head. ‘I only got what we needed tonight. I figured I can collect the rest tomorrow.'

‘Sure. Well, I'll leave you to get Heidi settled and I'll just go over to my place for a shower and a change of clothes.'

Oh
. The thought of him in the shower made her dizzy. Heidi appeared to be equally as besotted with Adam for she grabbed his hand. ‘Want Adam to put me to bed.'

A look of unmistakable horror crossed his face.

‘Adam needs to go to his place, Heidi,' Stella said, using her firm voice. ‘Maybe another night.'

Heidi's eyebrows twitched and Stella guessed she was gearing up for one of her rare tantrums, but Adam spoke before it developed. ‘You know what? I'm a bloke and that means I'm pretty quick at showering. You be a good girl and go get ready with your mum and then I'll come in and say goodnight when I get back.'

‘Yay.' Heidi bounced off the couch and gave him a hug.

As he laughed, Stella mouthed a silent ‘thanks' over her daughter's head. She spent the next fifteen minutes bathing Heidi in the homestead's beautiful old claw tub, brushing her teeth and settling her in Adam's old bed. Thankfully it was a double and would accommodate her and Heidi easily. By the time she heard the front door open, Heidi's eyelids were drooping. She'd been determined to stay awake until Adam returned.

‘How are my two favourite ladies?' he asked as his head popped round the door. ‘All ready for bed?'

Heidi glowed at the compliment and Stella hoped her feelings about what he said weren't so obvious as her daughter's. They were only words – an act to bolster Heidi, which Stella appreciated but shouldn't get drawn in herself.

‘Night-night, Adam.' Heidi held her arms out wide, demanding a hug. He obliged but Stella had to shut her eyes tight as he did so. She didn't want to like what she saw.

She wasn't sure how long Heidi would take to settle in the strange bed, but she slept almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. Physically Stella felt like curling up beside her but she wanted to talk to Adam alone first. He'd slipped out after the goodnight hug, so, leaving Heidi's door open, Stella left the room to go in search of him. She found him stirring milk over a saucepan in the kitchen.

‘Want some hot chocolate?' he asked, glancing up and smiling at her.

‘I can't think of anything I'd like better right now.' She slumped into a kitchen chair.

‘Oh, I can,' he said, with a grin, ‘but I hardly think that is appropriate on my mum's couch.'

‘Adam!' A grin spread on her face at his wicked suggestion and warmth rushed through her body.

He didn't say another word but turned back to concentrate on the milk. A few minutes later he sat two steaming mugs down on the table and joined her sitting down. There seemed to be so much to say but she didn't know where to start. The silence that hung between them suggested he had the same problem. But it wasn't awkward silence. They sipped the warm chocolate, both relishing the reprieve after the emotional and physically exhausting day. Enjoying simply being together.

Finally, when she'd downed the dregs of her drink, she said, ‘Would you like to talk about today?'

He nodded. She'd meant how he
felt
about what had happened, but like a typical male, he launched straight into the stuff with the police.

‘The detectives from Geraldton will arrive tomorrow, along with a number of other police units. Drew and Mike secured the scene but neither them nor the detectives are allowed into it again until the Forensic Crime Scene unit have completed their examinations. That will take most of tomorrow apparently. In the meantime, the Geraldton detectives and Major Crime will work together interviewing everyone. Apparently they'll want to talk to you but also everyone who was interviewed way back when she first went missing.'

‘Drew asked me a few questions, but he said I should be prepared for a lot worse from the big guns.'

‘Do you know Drew was a big gun in the UK?' he asked.

‘Oh?'

‘Yeah, but that's a whole other story. Suffice to say, he's a good guy to have around.' He paused a moment, took a sip of his drink, which must now be cold and then continued, ‘Missing Persons will be involved of course. They'll be glad to close the case after all these years. And once all the units have done their bit, the remains will be taken from the scene to the State Mortuary where a pathologist will do further examination. It could take a while to get official confirmation that the body is hers but… it is.'

The slight crack in his voice as he said ‘it is' was the only indication Stella got that Adam was affected. She worried about how unattached he sounded. Could be he was still in shock or he was making a concerted effort to hold it together for his mum's sake but he'd found the decomposed body of his little sister this afternoon. That would mess anyone up.

‘And how's your mum?' she asked, guessing he'd more freely talk about
her
emotions.

He frowned. ‘She seems strangely okay. She wanted some time by herself but I think she's relieved. I know I feel as if a great weight has been lifted. It's not like I'm glad she's dead,' he rushed to assure her.

‘Of course not.'

‘But now we know the truth – well, a version of it – we can finally say a proper goodbye and grieve.'

A tear slipped down her cheek at his acknowledgment. Putting down his mug, he reached across and wiped it off.

‘I'm sorry you've been entangled in all this.'

She shook her head slightly, but found she couldn't speak. That one tear threatened to multiply into a whole damn waterfall.

‘You know, for so long, I've been asking myself over and over again in my head if I could have stopped this,' he admitted. ‘For years, I've wondered if only I'd paid more attention to Lily-Blue when we were playing, maybe she wouldn't have vanished. I was the big brother, it was my job to protect her.'

She wanted to tell him that was ridiculous but her tears were now coming so hard and fast they'd filled her throat and she couldn't speak.

He went on. ‘Now I'm trying to come to terms with the fact that maybe it would have happened no matter what I did. I still wish I could have kept her safe from him, but all my life I've blamed myself. It's why I didn't think I wanted children. It's not that I don't want a family, more that I was scared I might not be able to protect it either.'

Oh Adam
. In the absence of being able to say this out loud, she took his hand in hers. His skin was warm and calloused from hard manual labour but his touch gave her as much comfort as she wanted to give him. At his confession, hope lifted in Stella's heart but she stomped right over the top of it. Deciding he now wanted kids was one thing; someone else's special needs child was a totally different ball game.

Besides, they'd only known each other a few weeks. Could you fall in love in such a short time? Was that what she felt towards Adam or was their mind-blowing sex blurring her judgment? She couldn't discern whether it was her brain, her libido or her heart holding the controls right now, but feared it was the latter.

His hand squeezed gentle around hers. ‘I'm sorry for dumping all this on you. You're exhausted and so am I. We should both try to get some rest. Do you need towels or anything?'

She shook her head, somehow finding her voice. ‘No. I grabbed ours from the cottage.' She extricated her hand from his before she did anything insane like pull him against her and tell him she thought she might be falling in love and that she yearned to be a happy family with him.

‘Good,' he said and they stood in unison. ‘I'll see you in the morning. Sleep well.' But before he turned to go, he drew her against him and kissed her. Her skin tingled where it touched his and she guessed she'd need a cold shower before falling into bed.

Later, as she snuggled down under the covers, Stella drew Heidi's sleeping body against hers. The rhythmic sound of her breathing, her fresh smell and warmth comforted her but it was Adam's touch she craved.

The days leading up to New Year blended into each other. They were long and emotionally exhausting with the arrival of the various police units, Adam's dad and Aunty Ruth. Despite being newly separated, Dave had chosen to stay in the homestead with his wife, where Ruth was also staying to keep a close eye on her sister. Esther appeared to be coping well but everyone was on edge waiting for her to break down. This had relegated Heidi and Stella to Adam's comfortable home causing Stella's already questionable emotions to teeter on the edge. If she wasn't already, she was a few tiny steps away from falling in love with him.