Chapter Nine

Olivia grimaced and hunkered down in the passenger seat of one of Wingarra’s Toyota Land Cruisers as Abi ordered their chauffer to take them to the Wishing Tree. Olivia had heard so many of the legends associated with the tree that a part of her, far bigger than she cared to admit, was dying for a closer look. She’d be damned before giving her sister the satisfaction of knowing that, though.

She cursed and folded her arms across her chest in a desperate attempt to stop her boobs from bouncing out of her bra as the truck—er, ute—bucked and lurched over the dirt road. “I don’t care how amazing that damned tree is. It’s not magical, and it sure as hell doesn’t grant wishes.”

Abi jabbed her with the rubber tip of her cane before tapping Jarrah on the shoulder like some medieval queen wielding a scepter. “Ignore the muggle, driver.”

“Yes’m, Miss Abi.” Jarrah chuckled as he downshifted and coaxed the ancient four-wheel drive over the same ridge Abi’s Camaro had nearly launched off the day before.

Olivia had been driving since she was old enough to see over a dash and more than capable of piloting the Land Cruiser despite the steering wheel being on the wrong side and the cranky stick shift. After a seven to two vote, the Williams’ girls had been severely outvoted and Jarrah had been volunteered as their designated driver for the day, since he was the least valuable Harper when it came to mustering. A fact he’d accepted far too easily for her liking.

The scrub that had appeared completely devoid of animals yesterday afternoon showed a spattering of life. Occasionally, a mob of kangaroos or a pair of emus would emerge from the rapidly disappearing shadows to check on the intruders interrupting their breakfast before scattering into the desert. The sun had barely broken the horizon, and the relatively cool dawn was already surrendering to the hints of another scorcher, as the locals liked to call a 115-degree day.

Her “g’day” still sucked, but at least she’d figured out what a “dead horse” and a “bogan” were. From context, she’d guessed a bogan was a Down Under redneck, yet she’d been lost when it came to a “dead horse.” It was only after Kira had pointed to the ketchup, or tomato sauce as the posh locals called it, that she’d comprehended the true extent of the literary sacrilege that was Aussie slang.

Thoughts of diggers, barbies, and eskies evaporated as the Wishing Tree emerged from the shadows. The explosion of life that had greeted her yesterday looked even more impressive illuminated by the morning sun. She’d had the benefit of a good night’s rest and she still couldn’t work out how it’d survived when nothing over three feet tall grew anywhere near it. The only possible explanation was that the tree’s roots had somehow burrowed deep enough through the rock to hit the ocean of freshwater beneath it.

“Got your offering ready?”

She answered Abi with a growl and continued staring straight ahead. The nervous tension she’d suppressed with spite squeezed her chest as the Wishing Tree grew to consume the view. She jabbed a finger toward the rocky outcrop protecting the tree’s roots and shuddered. “If you think you’re getting me to trudge through that creepy-crawly-infested desert to pray in front of a damn tree, you’re out of your mind.”

Abi chuckled and tapped her shoulder with the tip of her cane. “Don’t worry, I got you covered, little sis. Plus, the offering means more when it’s made by someone else.”

The sheer relish Abi took in ignoring her wasn’t lost on their driver. Jarrah offered her a solemn nod that almost fractured the stubbornness she hid behind. “It does, you know.”

She backhanded him. “You’re not helping.”

He flashed her a wicked grin that had her chest tightening for a whole different reason before pulling off the road and allowing the truck to rattle to a stop in the shade cast by the Wishing Tree’s canopy.

Jarrah yanked on the door handle and was half out of the cabin when Abi jabbed him with her cane. “Freeze, cowboy.”

Jarrah froze with half a butt cheek still poised on the driver’s seat.

Abi jabbed him again. “This is secret women’s business. And I can damn well get out of a ute by myself. Now, slide that fine ass of yours back inside and shut the door.”

Jarrah hesitated, only to receive another jab for his trouble.

“Don’t make me get physical, lawyer boy. Just because I let that brother of yours mollycoddle me doesn’t mean I have to put up with that shit from you.”

She almost felt sorry for Jarrah as he slid back into the driver’s seat and closed the door—almost.

He turned to her and hitched a thumb over his shoulder. “Tell me again why my brother loves her so much?”

This time she couldn’t resist returning his grin. “Her easygoing personality.”

Abi jabbed both of them in the ribs with her cane before unclipping her seat belt and cracking open her door. “Keep it up, smart-asses, and I’ll find a new maid of honor and best man.”

Olivia exchanged another conspiratorial grin with Jarrah as Abi clambered out of the ute and hobbled alongside her door. “C’mon, get your sweaty butt out here.”

Her sister wasn’t kidding. It was barely seven thirty, and the temperature already had to be pushing ninety. She ignored Abi’s glare and the persistent tapping of her sister’s cane on the passenger window and folded down the sun visor to check her reflection in the grimy mirror.

Jarrah rested his forearms on the steering wheel and pretended to take in the withered shrubs clinging to life among the rubble scattered around them. “You ever win one of these standoffs?”

She shook her head and tucked a strand of hair that had escaped her ponytail behind her ear. “It’s fun pissing her off, though.”

Jarrah chuckled. “It is, isn’t it?”

Abi tapped harder. “We’re not leaving until you get out here. It’s tradition.”

Jarrah sighed and picked at the cracked plastic on the faded dash. “At some point everyone comes here. Even the nonbelievers.”

“Has your wish come true yet?”

She clipped the sun visor back in place and turned to find him studying her. She lifted her chin when he didn’t answer, only to have him continue to gaze at her without saying a word.

Long seconds dragged by before he forced a grin and reared back a little too casually. “C’mon, I’ve got a Mercedes and an Aston Martin in the garage of my penthouse apartment and the money to do whatever I want with whomever I want to do it with. What more could a man wish for?”

He wasn’t lying, yet his smile was. Jarrah Harper had probably already ticked off GQ’s top-ten most-wanted list for the modern man. But something hid beneath his fake bravado that told her he still had at least one wish to fulfill.

Her curiosity screamed to be set free to poke around his seemingly perfect life, instead she let him off the hook. “Some peace and quiet perhaps.”

He looked past her to where Abi had pressed her nose to the glass while banging on the roof of the cabin with her cane and slowly nodded.

Olivia waited for one more muffled threat from her sister before yanking on the handle and shoving open the door. “C’mon, you evil harpy. Let’s get this over and done with before I melt or get bitten by something.”

Without giving her sister a chance to argue, she latched onto Abi’s arm and guided her through the maze of rock and tangled roots toward the Wishing Tree. With each step, the temperature dropped until the gentle breeze wafting over her skin almost felt cool.

She filled her lungs with the eucalypt-drenched air as the silence enveloped her and slowed her racing heart. With every breath, the serenity worked its way into her bloodstream until it flowed through her. She froze and turned to find her sister smiling back at her like the Cheshire Cat. Tightening her grip on Abi’s elbow, she focused on the glowing white trunk and pulled her sister forward. “It’s just the shade, that’s all.”

Abi chuckled and tugged her toward a ridge off to the left. “We need to make a pit stop.”

Her sister shuffled toward a cave that must have served as the dumping ground for the offerings from the poor gullible suckers who’d risked their lives trekking out here. From where she stood, the pile of offerings looked like any other mound of junk you’d find at a dodgy secondhand store, yet Abi stared at the collection of knickknacks as if it were the statue of David holding the Mona Lisa over his junk. Olivia eased in beside her for a closer look only to discover that tucked among the rusted tools, laceless boots, and broken toys were rolled-up wads of dog-eared cash, dusty jewelry and watches, and antique trinkets that definitely didn’t look like rubbish.

“Hold this.”

Olivia looked down to find Abi’s cane pressed to her stomach and her sister doing her damnedest to fall on her butt. She slapped away the cane and grabbed Abi. After a growling and wrestling match that was as uncoordinated as it was unnecessary, Olivia found herself on her knees beside her sister in front of the treasure heap.

Abi blew out a breath and muttered one final curse before reaching for a one-eyed teddy bear that had seen better days. Her sister’s fingers trembled as she delicately dusted the red sand that had settled on the bear’s fur. Abi had been more a Barbie and Cabbage Patch Kid kind of girl. And Olivia had never seen the bear when she’d gotten bored of her own toys and rummaged through Abi’s stash. Yet her sister caressed the bear’s matted fur like his tiny heart still beat. Sure, the poor little guy was cute in a bedraggled sort of way. However, that didn’t come close to explaining what the hell was going on with her eerily quiet sister.

Abi cleared her throat and patted the bear one last time before retrieving her smartphone from her pocket. “Long story.”

Long story, her ass. In between chemo treatments, when sleep had been almost as impossible for her sister as keeping anything down, they’d relived every minute detail of Abi’s fairy-tale adventure Down Under. There’d been no mention of one-eyed teddy bears.

Abi swiped her home screen and clicked on the emergency app she used to store all her medical history and vital health data.

“What the hell are you doing?”

Abi waved her away and fiddled with the app’s menu. “Hoping the Wishing Tree accepts virtual offerings.”

Before she could ask her sister what the hell was going on, Abi held up the phone and pointed to the emergency contact information. “For the last five years you’ve put your life on hold to care for me.”

Olivia shook her head and opened her mouth to tell her sister she hadn’t put a damn thing on hold when Abi jammed a hand over her mouth. “Shut up and let me get this out.”

Abi raised an eyebrow and pressed harder until Olivia mumbled a curse and nodded.

Her sister lowered her hand and composed herself as if about to deliver a eulogy. “Not only did you sacrifice your happiness for me, you also loved me enough to set me free to be with the man I love.”

Abi sniffed and deleted Olivia’s contact details before adding Ryder’s. “I love you more than you’ll ever know, Olivia Marie Williams. Now I’m setting you free so you can chase down your own happily ever after.”

Abi’s eyes shimmered as she drew in a ragged breath. “No more worrying about whether your big sister’s going to see another Christmas. No more babysitting me when you should be out having fun and meeting people.”

Olivia shook her head only to have Abi cup her cheeks and steady her. “And nothing holding you back from changing the world.”

Abi blinked back tears and cleared her throat. “I’ve seen enough doctors to know the good ones. You have a rare gift, Dr. Williams. You’re as compassionate and smart as you are determined. But your greatest superpower is you understand medicine’s not just about curing disease—it’s so much more.”

The older Olivia got, the more she realized how much Abi had shaped her life. She’d grown up wanting to be just as tough and caring as her big sister. And when cancer had tried stealing Abi away, she’d dreamed of finding better ways of fighting back. After years of endless study and work and months of applications, interviews, and evaluations she’d beaten hundreds of equally qualified doctors for the shot of a lifetime.

The team leader position within Cedars-Sinai’s Neurocritical Cancer Research Unit waiting for her back in L.A. didn’t just come with recognition, limitless possibilities, and a six-figure salary. It gave her a chance to fight the monster that almost killed the most important person in her life. And none of it would have been possible without the strength and insight she’d drawn from watching her sister in battle.

“I know why this position means so much to you. And I’m the proudest big sister in the world that you’re fighting that bitch for both of us.” Abi sniffed and tugged her down until their foreheads touched. “That’s why I’m setting you free.”

The months Olivia had lived alone had been nowhere near as liberating or exciting as she’d pretended they’d been. If it hadn’t been for the dozens of daily text messages or their weekly Skype calls she’d have had an aneurism worrying about her sister. There was no safer place for Abi than in Ryder’s arms, but Ryder wasn’t a doctor and despite all the arguments she’d had with herself, she’d never truly let her sister go.

Abi’s grip tightened and her quivering smile faded. “I’m watching you, Dr. Williams. There’s more to life than just a career. No matter how incredible that career’s going to be. I also want you to find someone you love enough to spend the rest of your life annoying.”

The only thing they’d known about love a year ago had been witnessing their parents’ love affair through children’s eyes. Now both of them knew just how life-altering finding that special someone could be. Olivia had plenty of time to worry about hunting down her very own knight in shining armor. Right now she had her sister, a crazy bunch of future in-laws, the Aussie Outback, and four weeks’ vacation to enjoy.

Olivia blinked back the tears blurring her vision and rolled her eyes before leaning away. “So that’s it? After everything we’ve been through, you’re dumping me?”

Abi nodded and reached for her cane. “Yup.”

Olivia pushed to her feet and dusted herself off while Abi struggled to brace the cane’s rubber foot in the soft sand. Olivia waited for her sister’s trademark scowl to replace her smug know-it-all smile before holding out her hand. “Just like that?”

“Yup.” Abi forced the answer through clenched teeth before cursing and grabbing hold.

“So I can finally stop carrying your worthless butt and get on with my life without you laying a guilt trip on me?”

Abi scrambled to her feet with slightly less growling than she’d gone down with. “Yup.”

Olivia glanced at the Wishing Tree towering above her and shrugged. “Well, holy shit, this thing might be magical after all, because it just made all my dreams come true.”

Without giving her sister a chance to set herself, Olivia grabbed Abi’s elbow and made for the ute. Only to have Abi’s cane snap out and almost cut her in half. “Where the hell do you think you’re going?”

Olivia moaned and waved a hand at the Wishing Tree. “C’mon, you can’t be serious. It’s just a huge freaking tree in the middle of nowhere.”

“Humor me.” Abi spun her around and shoved her toward the tree. “What have you got to lose?”

Her self-respect, for one. Olivia gazed up into the canopy and shook her head. She was a student of science and didn’t need witchcraft to know her future lay in the vanguard of brain cancer treatment on the front line of modern medicine. She also knew she wasn’t going anywhere without getting this freak show over with.

She ignored Abi’s smug grin and fixed her glare on the almost-glowing white bark encasing the trunk. Drawing from the deep well of stubbornness that had come with her Williams genes, she marched forward and stood before the Wishing Tree.

The tranquility she’d fought so hard to refute the closer she got to the tree slowly consumed her like a rising tide.

“Put your hands on the trunk, you freaking pain in the ass.”

Abi’s less than gentle encouragement only solidified her resolve as she pressed her hands to the smooth bark. “I better not see this on YouTube.”

“Shut up and give yourself over to the magic, you miserable cow.”

Olivia clenched her jaw and closed her eyelids. With each slow breath, the thud of her heart slowed and the air rushing through her gritted teeth faded into the silence. Her muscles relaxed, her bones liquefied, and her body grew lighter until she floated above the crimson sand, weightless, and completely at peace.

She snapped open her eyelids only to discover the Wishing Tree had vanished, along with Abi, and the ute, while she drifted across the desolate Outback toward a setting sun. The steady beat of her heart quickened as a tiny black spec emerged on the glowing horizon. Like a comet, the dot sped toward her, leaving a plume of crimson dust in its wake. She shielded her eyes against the blazing sunset as she floated toward the apparition.

While air gushed in and out of her lungs and her heart raced, the dark silhouette slowly morphed into a man on horseback. He stood in the stirrups with his hands clutching the reins and his body blending with the magnificent creature galloping beneath him. She squinted and leaned forward only to discover his face was hidden beneath a cowboy hat…an all-too-familiar tattered black Akubra. Just like the one she’d been wearing when she’d placed her hands on the damned Wishing Tree.

The peaceful ocean she drifted on froze as the rider raised his head and locked his ebony eyes on her before unleashing a smile. A cheeky, all-knowing, all-seeing smile that flowed through her like lava and set her ablaze.