Riding the Storm (16 page)

‘Your grandparents married late in life and, after Robert was born, Claire was told there would be no more children. Not wanting Robert to grow up alone, she persuaded her husband to let her adopt another baby boy when their son was just eighteen months old. She went away for a month or so before the adoption and when she returned, she let friends and relatives assume the child was her own. She visualized her boys growing up with a strong bond between them; two young men standing together against the world. But it didn’t turn out that way. Robert was jealous of the baby and loathed him almost at first sight. Claire kept hoping he’d get over it and the boys would be friends, but instead the situation went from bad to worse. Nor did it help that her husband loved Peter more than his natural son and didn’t trouble to hide his feelings. Robert reminded him too much of his own father, who had been a stern disciplinarian and believed in regular beatings to “form character” or so he said.

‘More comparisons were made as the boys grew older. Peter
was a natural horseman, in tune with his father’s lifestyle, while Robert was always too stiff and heavy to sit well on a horse. And in later life, when they were both adults, Robert had to watch Joanne reject him in favour of the younger brother he detested. Their father died unexpectedly, leaving the stables to both of them, but Robert wouldn’t rest until he had sole ownership, driving Peter away. Claire never found the courage to tell either of them the truth about Peter’s adoption and she died, leaving the burden of that knowledge with me. At the time, I thought the secret might as well stay buried with Claire. Since Peter and Joanne were building a new life together up north, I thought there was no need to tell as our paths would never cross. Until the cyclone came and turned the whole world upside down.’

‘Wait a moment, Mum,’ Chrissie said. ‘How can you be sure that this is really the truth? I remember Nan Lanigan and she was a strange old bird. How do you know she didn’t make it all up?’

‘Here comes the lawyer, wanting proof as usual.’ Val smiled. ‘Claire Lanigan had a secret compartment in her old Victorian desk and she showed it to me. That’s where she kept the adoption papers. She made me promise that if anything happened to her, I would go and clear her desk before Robert found them. He was hopping mad when he discovered the secret compartment with nothing inside it. He’d been so certain it would contain money or jewels.’

‘Can I see those papers, if you still have them?’ Ryan said softly. ‘I’d like to see the proof of who I really am.’

‘Of course,’ Val said. ‘They belong to you now that Peter’s gone.’

‘Oh, Mum,’ Chrissie said, clasping her mother’s hand. ‘Thank you so much for this news. You don’t know what this means to us.’

‘Well, I couldn’t let you go on agonizing, thinking you were doing something wrong.’ Val smiled. ‘It’s all right. In today’s world, relationships can be much more casual. So if this is no more than a little adventure – a one-night stand – no one will think any the worse of you for it.’

‘Make no mistake, Val,’ Ryan said. ‘This isn’t a trivial thing to me at all. I love Chrissie. Really, I do. But it’s still early days for us. And if she doesn’t want to marry, that’s OK with me, too.’

‘We’re not related,’ Chrissie hugged him. ‘I feel as if I’ve had the best Christmas and birthday present all rolled into one.’

A
S
T
OMMY WAS
having a rest in the paddock before getting down to the serious business of the Spring Carnival, Ryan took a short break to go back to Canesville for the first time since he left many months before. He didn’t want to put added pressure on Chrissie after all she’d been through nor did he want her to think he was too needy. If he was honest with himself, he was passionately in love and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. But somehow he knew that this was the time to give her some space.

Glen Harrison himself met him at the airport in Cairns and, as they drove north, Ryan could see that many changes had already been made. Wherever possible and there was money enough to spend, old or damaged buildings were being replaced by new ones and, as plants grow fast and healing happens quickly in the tropics, he could see that many farmers had optimistically planted their crops again and his old home town was well on the way to recovery.

As they turned down the narrow lane that led to his parents’ property, Ryan’s throat tightened and he felt close to tears as Glen chattered on of plans to remake and widen the road, unaware of his young companion’s emotional turmoil.
Back in these familiar surroundings, the events of the past came all too vividly to life. Ryan could almost hear his father’s voice in his head, grooming him to be his successor and helping him to understand the business of training horses. There was also the clean, fresh smell of a tropical sea that had been absent from his life for too long, reminding him of the joys of galloping along a beach. He could bear to think of it only now he knew his father’s death was no accident and hadn’t been caused by his beloved horse.

When they came to a full stop outside the ruins of his old home, Ryan had to fight for composure. The tree that had killed his mother was still lying where it had fallen; no one had troubled to move it or cut it up. The old homestead itself was water-damaged from the heavy rains that had followed the cyclone, but Ryan, seeing it now through a visitor’s eyes, thought it seemed a lot smaller and poorer than the home he remembered.

He cleared his throat when he was at last able to speak. ‘Mum was right,’ he said. ‘If the roof had been mended and strengthened, we might have got away with it and the house would still have been standing.’

‘I doubt it, Ryan. Like so many of these old weatherboard homes, it was old and coming to the end of its useful life. But your father was wise to add a new stable block – that will give a buyer something to think about. And when we’ve built something more solid to replace your old home and put in a swimming pool, along with some other amenities—’

‘I’m sorry, Glen,’ Ryan broke in, close to tears again. ‘I thought I could do this but I can’t. Coming here has brought back too many memories. I don’t want to go inside to see if
there’s anything left—’

‘There won’t be,’ Glen muttered. ‘Soon as the roads were open again, looters came in from everywhere; vultures picking over the ruins. They seemed to know when a place had been abandoned.’ He paused for a moment, giving the younger man time to take in what he had seen and collect his thoughts. ‘So what is your thinking now, Ryan? Are you willing to sell to me now? Or do you still need more time?’

‘There’s no point in further delay. I’ll never live here again,’ Ryan said, forgetting all about his boasts to Chrissie of driving a hard bargain. ‘Even visiting here has been a mistake.’ He looked at the stable block, thinking of Sprite, who would no longer whinny a greeting from the doorway of her stall. ‘I wish I’d never come.’

‘No.’ Glen wasn’t unsympathetic. ‘I think you needed to come back and see the old place as it is today. Only then can you move on.’

‘I’m sure you’re right.’ He lowered his head to hide the tears as he turned back towards Glen’s car. He had seen enough.

‘Come on, we’ll get over to my place and look at the paperwork. I don’t know if you drink, Ryan, but you look as if you could use one.’

Back at the Harrison home, Ryan started to feel better. Glen’s smooth-running, polished environment was just as he remembered and somehow comforting – especially without the abrasive presence of Fiona. As if reading his thoughts, Glen mentioned her.

‘I have to thank you, Ryan, for opening my eyes and helping me to get out of that woman’s clutches. Believe me when I say it’ll be a long time before I let another one get that
close. You can tell that to Mike when you see him; he never liked Fiona.’

Ryan flushed and looked away.

‘Oh no,’ Glen said. ‘What’s he done this time? You used to be the one friend he didn’t alienate.’

‘Honestly, it’s nothing.’

‘I think it is. Or you wouldn’t look so uncomfortable.’

‘All right. He tried to hit on my cousin and I didn’t like it because I—’

‘I get it. Mike was up to his old tricks, trying to muscle in on your girl?’

‘It didn’t matter before. Mike has always been better-looking than I am. I never used to care that he got all the girls.’

‘Until you found this one. I do hope he didn’t succeed?’

‘No.’ Ryan laughed shortly. ‘And that didn’t suit him, either.’

‘It’ll do Mike good to get one or two knock-backs. He doesn’t appreciate girls because he can get them so easily. My fault too, I suppose. Letting him run around in sports cars as soon as he could drive.’ Glen paused to take a gulp of whisky. Ryan had scarcely touched the one poured for him. ‘Make no mistake, I’m proud of my son, Ryan. Most people see just the playboy, but he’s working hard now he’s studying medicine. Doing well, too. Eventually, he’ll make a brilliant surgeon.’

‘Yes, I know.’

‘Make it up with him, if you can. I know how shallow and flippant he can be but you mean a lot to him, really. I wouldn’t like to see him lose you.’

Ryan nodded but he was making no promises.

‘And now let us get down to business.’ Glen clapped his
hands, shifting quickly from concerned father to super salesman. ‘I’ve done my researches and I know what your property’s worth.’

‘Good. Because I don’t. And I suppose you’ll think I’m stupid to be that honest.’

‘No. I respect you for it. And because you saved me a lot of money by opening my eyes to that parasite, Fiona, I’m prepared to pay well over the market price. My solicitors have drawn up the contracts and as there’s no mortgage or finance broker involved, we don’t have to wait.’ And he opened the briefcase by his chair and pushed the contracts over to Ryan. ‘I don’t expect you to sign today. Take them to your father’s solicitors and let them confirm what I say.’

Ryan’s eyes widened when he saw the amount. ‘It seems like a lot of money for our poor, broken house.’

‘I wouldn’t be offering it, if I didn’t think I could make more. I’m hoping to get planning permission for a luxury guest house. That’s why I want to widen the road and open the access. It’ll make all the difference.’

Ryan did drink the whisky now and it made him cough.

Later when he saw his father’s solicitors, they advised him to take the offer and sign immediately. Glen Harrison didn’t usually have the reputation of being so generous.

Ryan returned to Melbourne with more money in the bank than he had seen in the whole of his life. His mind was whirling with plans of what could be done with it and he couldn’t wait to discuss them with Chrissie. He knew he couldn’t be truly happy unless he could marry her but was that really what she wanted, too? When Val had discovered them in
bed together, there had been flippant talk of casual relationships and one-night stands so what did Chrissie really want? Would the spark of passion that had grown up between them die a natural death when it was no longer forbidden fruit? He couldn’t make any more plans for the future until he found out. They needed to sit down and have a serious talk.

As arranged before, Chrissie met him at Tullamarine Airport and he thought she looked tired and a little strained. She greeted him with a kiss that was warm as ever but behind it, he was sensing a new reserve. So what was the matter now?

‘I’m happy for you,’ she said when she heard how smoothly the sale had gone and the generous sum now sitting in his bank account. ‘You’ll have enough money to get your own place now. If that’s what you want.’

‘And is that what you want me to do?’ he asked. Unreasonably, he felt a frisson of anger towards her. Obviously, she couldn’t wait to push him away. ‘Chrissie, we can’t talk about serious stuff like this while you’re driving. We need to stop for a coffee and thrash this out.’

‘We’re always doing this, Ryan. Stopping in the middle of some journey.’

‘I don’t care. We need to have a serious talk and we can’t do that in a car – we’ll end up wrapping it around a tree.’

‘We’d be together for all time then, wouldn’t we?’ She considered the thought. ‘I wonder if there is an eternity?’

‘You’re in a strange mood today, Chrissie. Not like yourself at all. Why?’

She sighed. ‘You’re quite right. We do need to talk without Mum listening in. We should do it before we get home.’

His heart sank as he sensed an ominous meaning behind her words. She didn’t sound at all like a woman in love.

They found a roadside café and sat at the far end of it, which was deserted, so that other people wouldn’t hear what they had to say. Ryan wanted to shake the story out of her immediately but he waited until there was a mug of strong coffee in front of both of them. He leaned forward, trying to read the expression on her face, which was carefully blank and telling him nothing. She pulled a face at the coffee, not really wanting to drink it.

‘Right,’ he said. ‘Whatever’s the matter, give it to me straight. As I see it, we should be leaping for joy, throwing our caps in the air. We’re not even half related. I have more money than I’ve ever seen in my life and we’re in love. Don’t you like being happy? Because what can possibly be the matter now?’

She astonished him by bursting into tears. Not knowing what else to do, he went and gathered a pile of napkins from a dispenser, handed them to her silently and waited for her to get over this storm of weeping. One or two people glared at him, thinking he must have upset her.

‘Chrissie, what’s wrong?’ he said at last. ‘This isn’t like you at all. You’re usually so amazingly brave. Has something happened to your mother? Is she ill?’

The girl wept for a while longer, still unable to speak. Finally, she blew her nose noisily and took a deep breath. Then she looked up at him, trying to smile.

‘No. Mum’s fine. In fact she’s more than fine. There was a man – someone from England that she was in love with once. She thought he was married but he’s not. And he got in touch as soon as he heard my father was dead. He’s flying over to
see her – might even be on his way now.’

‘But that’s a good thing, isn’t it? Aren’t you happy for her?’

‘Oh, yes. I’m not crying about that. It’s me – I’ve been an emotional mess lately.’ Tears welled in her eyes once more, making him reach out to take her hands to steady her. ‘I’m so sorry, Ryan. I should have been more careful. But I’m pregnant.’

He stared at her for a moment, taking it in. This was the last thing he had expected.

She misinterpreted his astonished expression. ‘No. It’s all right, you don’t have to worry. I’m not expecting you to marry me or anything. You’re so young and you have your whole life ahead of you—’

‘You have to stop harping on about how young I am. Why on earth did you think I wouldn’t be pleased? Oh, Chrissie, this is wonderful news. A new life – a child of our own.’

‘But it’s too soon. You need to have fun – to—’

‘To do what? Go to discos and dance with vapid girls? I’ve done all that already with Mike and it wasn’t much fun, let me tell you.’ He paused, struck by a thought that made him uneasy. ‘You do want to keep the baby? You wouldn’t be thinking of – of—’

‘No way.’ She understood him immediately. ‘Oh Ryan, how could I have doubted you even for a moment?’

‘We’ll get married right away. There doesn’t have to be a fuss. Just a quiet civil ceremony.’

‘No one would expect anything else – not after what happened to Dad. Will Mike come and stand up as a witness for you?’

‘I can only ask. His father wants me to make it up with
him. But when I think how he left you alone in the street to be grabbed by those kidnappers—’

‘They would have found another way to get at me if he hadn’t. You can’t hold Mike responsible.’

Ryan shrugged.

‘Come on.’ She smiled, almost herself again. ‘Best friends aren’t that easy to come by. You can ask Mike and I’ll ask Michelle. Mum says she’s back from her trip overseas. She’s a little acid drop but I think you’ll like her. She never liked Tony.’

‘Oh, now I’m really worried. Supposing she doesn’t like me?’

But Michelle did like him when they all met at a popular café in town. She had changed her appearance since Chrissie last saw her. The long blonde hair had been cut short and turned into boyish tufts that stood out all over her head, making her look younger than ever, like a cheeky Peter Pan.

‘You lucky old thing,’ she said, nudging Chrissie as they watched Ryan leave them to fight for more drinks at the bar. ‘He’s just gorgeous.’

‘Oh, I don’t know that he’d like that description,’ Chrissie laughed.

‘Well, he is. Chunky and there’s just no other word for it – gorgeous. Don’t you know that sandy-haired men are all the rage now? Taken over from the tall, dark and handsome. They say it’s all because of Prince Harry. Your guy reminds me of Channing Tatum – did you see him in that film about male strippers?’ Michelle’s eyes sparkled. ‘Oh yeah.’

Chrissie giggled. ‘Michelle, that’s enough! You do talk a lot of rot. And hands off. I saw him first.’

‘Yeah, dammit,’ Michelle teased before becoming serious.
‘It’s obvious that he adores you, Chrissie, and that’s nice to see.’

‘Oh, Michelle, you don’t know how I’ve missed you. And you will come to our wedding, won’t you? It’s going to be very low-key.’

‘Yes. Long as Ryan turns up with a best friend for me.’

‘But his best friend is last year’s model. The tall, dark and handsome variety. Medical student.’