“Why?” I ask nobody in particular, tears streaming down my face. “Why would anyone do this?”

Mum hugs me tighter and cries with me at my loss. Sarah appears at my side, looking like she just fell out of bed and ran here.

“Oh my fuck’n god” She says, as she looks at the charred remains. The shop next door was extensively damaged as well, so we can’t get close, but there’s nothing left. That we can see. “Oh my fuck’n god” She repeats, her face draining of all colour, tears falling onto her cheeks. A strong tanned arm snakes around her neck as Micah pulls her back towards him, shock registering on his face at the extent of the damage.

“I don’t understand. It’s a goddamn dress shop. Why would anyone burn down a dress shop?” I whisper, still looking at the smoking remains of our dream.

A Constable walks over to me, and with a quick smile says hello, and nods his greeting to Sarah, Micah and Mum. “I’m sorry Miss Montgomery, but I need to ask you a few questions, if that’s alright?”

Suddenly I’m faced with a t-shirt covered back blocking my view of the policeman. My mouth was open to reply but I shut it quickly as Dalton says, “Now’s not a good time. Give her an hour or so to get her head around it, then I’ll bring her down to the station and she can answer all your questions. You can see they’re both in a state of shock. Fuck, man...” I think this is the first time Mum’s ever heard Dalton swear, but to her credit, she doesn’t bat an eyelash.

I’m grateful for the intervention, as I’m sure I’m not in a fit state to talk to him yet. It’s hard to see something you’ve worked extremely hard for, reduced to smouldering ash. I have insurance, which I’m grateful for, but rebuilding will take time, and effort, and right now I’m wondering if it’s worth it.

An hour and two strong coffees later, we all arrive at the police station and wait to be interviewed. Sarah’s sitting with Micah’s arm tightly around her shoulders as she swipes at her teary eyes. Mum and Dad are sitting further down, just silently lending their support and Dalton’s beside me, holding my hand, squeezing it gently and running his thumb over the back of it absentmindedly.

“I don’t want to keep you too long, but as you know we suspect arson, so we have to do a full investigation.” Constable Manning says, as I sit in the bare room opposite him. “Can you tell me where you were last night?”

“I stayed out at the farm with Dalton. We didn’t leave till we got the call this morning. You can’t seriously think that I would do this to my own business?”

“Stranger things have happened.” He says, looking down to his notes. “Are you having any financial problems? Anyone who’s been lurking around? Anyone with a grudge against you?”

I think carefully before replying. “I’m stable financially. No problems there at all. Ummmm, but there is something that may be related to the fire, but I’m not sure if it’s relevant at all.” Taking a deep breath, I continue, “I’ve had this feeling that someone’s been watching me for a while now. I haven’t actually seen anyone, it’s just a feeling. Months ago I lost my boyfriend suddenly. His family didn’t take his death well and somehow blamed me. One night I opened the door to his brother who threatened me, but I thought it was just him venting. He told me that he’d make me pay for Ryan’s death somehow. I didn’t believe him, of course. I mean...who would? I thought he said his piece and went back to Melbourne and that was the end of it.”

“But....?”

“Now I wonder if he didn’t leave at all. I know you probably think I’m crazy but I wouldn’t put it past him to do something like this. He’s got a bad history. He’s involved with some unsavoury people and I know he’s been in goal for assault. I never took him seriously though.”

“So do you have a picture of this brother? Something we can use to identify him? Even if it wasn’t him, sounds like we need to have a chat anyway.”

Pulling out my wallet I show him a photo that I have of the three of us, allowing him to cut off the end where Ben sat alone, leaving me with a picture of Ryan and I.

“Well, we can check the CCTV footage from the building across the street and see if that shows us anything suspicious but until we find whoever did this, it’d be best if you be aware of who’s around you and report anything of suspicion immediately.” Picking up his notes he shuffles them and says, “We’ll find whoever did this, but you need to be safe in the meantime, so no walking alone at night, check your car before you get in it. You know the drill. Every woman does.”

I think about his words on the drive back to the farm. Every woman does know about safety but when was the last time I checked before I got in my car? I’ve become complacent since I’ve been back and that has to stop. He’s right. I need to be more careful. This may not have been Ben, and that means that it was someone else who set fire to my shop. Which means there could be a completely random person out there who’s targeting me for some unknown reason.

After dealing with the insurance company, I walk out to the back veranda and slump down into a large armchair.

“Get it all sorted?”

“Yeah I think so. This is a bit scary, ya know? Who the hell would have done this beside Ben? I can’t think of anyone who hates me so much they want to ruin me like this.” I say, my voice sounding defeated and tired. “And if it is Ben, then why now?”

“Maybe it isn’t him, but maybe he arranged it? You said he’s in with the Mob in Melbourne. He could easily have planned this and had someone come over to do it for him.” Dalton replies, reaching for my hand and squeezing it gently. “It’ll be fine Babe. You’ll see. They’ll get him. He’ll be put away for a long time and we can put this behind us and move on.”

Looking over to him, I lock eyes, searching for some comfort in his vivid blue ones. “Thank you Dalton. For today, for helping me, for bringing me back here. I really appreciate it.”

“I’m thinking you should stay. You belong here and you’re safe here too. Nobody knows where you are, and I know it’s a caveman thing, but I want you here with me so I can look after you.”

I laugh at him, and he joins in. “You Tarzan...me Jane.”

Getting out of his chair he pulls me up and slides his arm around my back. I lean into him, laying my head on his chest. “I’ll be Tarzan alright. I think I’d like that game. Can we try it tonight?” he asks with a laugh and I can’t help but join him. Imagining him in a loin cloth is stirring feelings in my body that I haven’t felt for a long time.

“Down boy. We’re taking this slow, remember?” I remind him.

“You know that we’re here alone. Milly’s not back till tomorrow afternoon. Mum and Dad would ring before bringing her home anyway. We have the house all to ourselves.” He says softly, leaning down to lay a soft kiss on my lips.

“Dalton” I say with a slight warning.

“Haven” He replies with a smirk.

“I...err...I’m not on any birth control. I stopped taking the Pill after Ryan died. Seemed pointless to continue with it.” I look away, slightly embarrassed.

“Doesn’t matter.” He says, lowering his head again for a kiss. This time he puts all his wanting and need into it as his lips smash on mine and grind hard. I instinctively open my mouth, allowing entrance for his tongue to slide over mine. His hand that was on my lower back drops to my butt and squeezes firmly. Oh god I love his hands on me. He’s not even touching flesh, just the denim of my shorts, but he may as well be.

I slide my arms around his neck not breaking the kiss as I lift my legs and wrap them around his waist. He grasps under my arse with one hand, holding me in place with the other. I don’t remember getting to the bedroom, but I’m slowly lowered on to the bed as he leans over me, taking his weight.

“Are you sure? What about your foot?” he asks gently.

“I can take off the boot, just not allowed to put any weight on the foot.”

He slowly unwraps it, putting the boot on the floor and tenderly massaging my foot before sliding his open hand slowly up my leg.

“Love how you look in these teeny shorts Babe, gotta say, but I think I’ll love how you look out of them more.” Laying kisses along my foot and scarred calf, he softly runs his tongue over every scar, every dip and lump in my calf, showing me that despite how it looks, he still wants me. I’m relieved because it isn’t pretty and I was worried about him seeing it.

Reaching up to unbutton my shorts, he drags them down my legs and throws them on the floor as he runs his eyes up over my tiny thong and small t-shirt. My breath is coming in shallow gasps as I lose myself in his eyes, the hunger shining through as I remember it from when we were younger.

“Oh god, you’re gorgeous.” He says hesitantly. “I mean, you always were, but now? Wow!”

“Dalton?”

“Mmmm?”

“Stop talking.”

“Okay” he says sliding his big body up over mine and kissing me deeply.

I wrap my arms around him, pulling him down slightly, small moans escaping as the kiss continues. He slides his tongue over mine and I meet his willingly.

One of his large hands slides under my t-shirt, finding that I’m braless. I gasp as his fingers pinch my erect nipple, gently rolling it between them. Tearing myself from his lips, I gasp, “Oh god, Dalton”, my head lifting back, exposing my neck to him. He uses his tongue to lick from my earlobe down to my shoulder, moving my shirt away as he does.

Sitting back on his haunches he removes my t-shirt, taking a long moment to slide his eyes over my body, lingering on my breasts for a long time, as he unconsciously licks his bottom lip.

From the longing screaming out of his body and eyes, I’m grateful that he’s taking his time with me, and not rushing it. I can feel that my thong is soaked with my arousal and he reaches up to gently pull it down my legs and throws it over his shoulder.

“This isn’t fair.” I breathe, the air coming out of my lungs in pants. I know that my face and chest are flushed with desire, and I battle to make a rational thought.

He lowers his lips to my nipple, sucking gently, before releasing it with a pop and looking up at me. “What isn’t?” he asks softly.

“I’m naked and you’re still fully dressed.” I point out.

Looking down at himself, he grins and grabs his t-shirt, ripping it up over his head. He gets up to his knees and pulls his jeans open, pushing them down to his knees before turning around and shaking them off.

“There...not dressed anymore.” He says as he raises himself back over me.

“Didn’t you forget something?” I ask, nodding at his tight navy boxers, barely hiding anything.

“Oh yeah” He says with a wide grin, reaching down to push them off his legs, exposing himself. “Now where were we?”

“I think I was about here...” I say, running my hands down his rigid abdomen, tracing every bump of his eight pack, before wrapping my hand around his large length.

“Oh yeah” He says with a smirk. “I think you were too.”

The rest of the night is spent by him showing me how much he missed me, over and over and over again, and then again in the morning before we get out of bed.

“Dalton?” I ask, looking around the empty kitchen and not finding him. “Dalton?” I call louder, beginning to get concerned with the lack of reply. “Where are you?”

I walk out on to the veranda, my eyes searching for him to no avail. I can’t see him anywhere.

Looking in the machinery shed, I find a couple of harvesters and tractors but still no Dalton.

I turn at a noise from the barn, wondering what made the sound. Maybe he’s in there, I silently tell myself, worry filling my footsteps. I know Dalton wouldn’t purposely leave me alone. If he had to go see to the stock, he would have woken me and let me know. He wouldn’t just disappear.

Just as I get to the barn door a loud explosion knocks me to the ground. The world disappears for a moment and it takes me a few seconds to comprehend what’s going on. My ears are ringing and I know I’m screaming Dalton’s name, but I can’t hear it. As I raise my head I see the wooden barn on fire, the heat from the flames scorching me where I lay. Shielding my eyes, I stand up, noticing a leg just inside the doorway that’s surrounded by flames. The leg belongs to my man and there’s no way I’m leaving him to die in there.

I take in a deep breath, pull Daltons t-shirt up over my nose and mouth and without thinking of the consequences, I run inside as fast as I can with my boot on. He’s sprawled out just inside the door, face down in the dirt. I don’t know if the explosion knocked him out or if it happened before but the flames are getting worse, licking at all of the walls, timbers falling in on to the burning feed and workbenches. I duck and weave as I reach him, trying to keep my eyes open in the stinging smoke. Tears are streaming down my cheeks, and I don’t know if it’s from the sight of Dalton unconscious on the floor or from the smoke.

I let go of the t-shirt to grab both his arms and attempt to drag him out to safety before the roof collapses on us. At first I can’t budge him at all, but as I dig in my legs firmly I feel him move slightly, so with every ounce of strength I can muster, I continue pulling him out of the flaming doorway and I don’t stop till we’re in the middle of the lawn, well away from the burning barn. I can hear small explosions from inside and I glance over to see the old roof timbers falling in before the walls do the same. I register the sound of a car tearing down the driveway, but I’m not sure if it’s someone coming to help or someone driving away.

“Dalton?” I yell at him, shaking his shoulder, trying to rouse him. I run my hand over his hair and it comes away bloody, so I check and find a large open wound on the back of his head. Not worrying about it just yet, I concentrate on trying to roll him to his side, to get him in the recovery position till I can get help. I can’t hear the car anymore and nobody has appeared so I presume it was someone leaving. Someone who knocked Dalton unconscious, set an explosion in the barn which aimed to kill him? Why would anyone want to hurt him?

Oh my god...because of me.

The thought registers as I make it to the phone and dial 000, quickly telling the person on the other end what happened. I run back out to kneel alongside him as I talk, panic evident in my voice. I continue calling his name long after I hang up, but he still doesn’t wake.

As the Ambulance roars into the open area behind the house with sirens screaming and lights blazing, I hear Dalton groan weakly. He manages to move one arm slightly and roll onto his back, coughing loudly.

I still have tears cascading down my face and making wet spots on his t-shirt as well as mine as they spill. My throat is raw and I can’t seem to drag in enough breath as my coughing fit continues.

The paramedics are with us in moments, as the fire truck rolls in behind them. We don’t have a full time fire service, they’re all volunteers and I’m grateful that they gave up their time to help. Though at this point there isn’t much left of the barn but burning and smouldering timbers. As they rush around flooding the barn with water, the paramedics assess Dalton, placing an oxygen mask over his face and cleaning his head wound quickly as well as checking his pupils.

Once they’re done with him, they try to get me use the oxygen but I push them away, telling them that I’m fine. I’m not burned, I only have smoke inhalation so I need them to concentrate on making sure Dalton’s okay.

He drags his eyes open and blearily looks around, taking in the scene. “What the hell happened?” he says, smoke making his voice raspy.

Relieved he’s alright, I lean in and run my hand over his dirt covered face. “There was a fire in the barn. Do you remember what happened? Did you fall and hurt yourself?”

“No. In the barn? There’s nothing to fall over in there. Goddamn... my head hurts.” He says, reaching around to gently touch the open wound as the paramedic quickly covers it with a bandage.

“Do you remember anything at all before you passed out?” I ask quickly.

“Passed out? I didn’t pass out. Someone knocked me unconscious with something heavy. I remember hearing a noise behind me as I was fixing the motor on the four wheeler and when I turned to see what it was...bang...on the back of the skull. Just as well I have a hard head eh??!” he jokes but lays back down and closes his eyes, pain showing on every line on his face and every strained movement.

I insist on going to the hospital with him, which suites the paramedics, as it means they can give me oxygen on the way in. I allow them to fuss so long as I can hold Dalton’s hand. He hasn’t said a word since we left the farm and if it wasn’t for the gentle squeezing of my hand, I’d be worried that he’s fallen unconscious again.

After a thorough check over with a clean bill of health, I go and check on the other patient.

I find him pale and still, his head bandaged neatly and the oxygen still on. Quietly making my way over to him, I sit in the chair beside the stretcher, reaching forward to link fingers with his. He slowly opens one eye and gives me a tired smile.

“You okay?” he asks roughly, his voice sounding like sandpaper.

I nod, blinking away tears. “I’m so sorry this happened Dalton. This is all my fault. I should never have come out there. I put you at risk and maybe Milly too. If anything ever happened to either of you, I’d never forgive myself.”

“Hold up.” He says, carefully raising his head while I slip a pillow behind it. “What do you mean this is all your fault? Did you pay someone to bang me on the head? Did you do it? ‘Cause if you did, I’m never gonna piss you off again, I can promise you that.”

“Stop it.” I tell him firmly. “We both know that whoever lit the fire in the shop did the same in the barn and if I hadn’t got you out in time, you would have died in there.”

Raising both eyebrows he says, “We both know that, do we? Here I was thinking that there must be a perfectly rational explanation for this. Arsonists don’t usually knock people out before setting fire to a building as far as I know. Maybe I did trip and hit my head. I don’t know.”

“Mr. Sullivan? Do you mind if we come in and ask you a few questions?” we hear from the doorway and I turn to see the same Constable from the other day.

“This is becoming a habit unfortunately. We need to stop meeting like this.” Dalton jokes as the man moves forward.

“If you aren’t up to it, I can come back later.” He says, taking in the bandage around his head.

“No I’m fine...I think. Not sure how much I can help you though.” He says, running a hand across his bandaged forehead.

“How about we start at the beginning? What time did you get to the barn?”

“It was about eight I think. I didn’t want to wake Haven so I thought I’d go make a start on repairing the engine. It hasn’t been right for a while now. Sorry.” He says, dragging in a deep breath and coughing a little. “Sorry...I’m pretty sure it was around eight, because I remember thinking to myself that I’d let her stay asleep till nine before I made breakfast. I was leaning over the quad bike when I heard a noise. I thought at first it was Haven, so I went to stand up and whammo. Lights out. Next thing I know Haven’s leaning over me crying and coughing and I could hear the burning and smell the smoke.”

“Did you get a look at whoever it was?” The cop asks, writing quickly in his notebook.

Dalton shakes his head slowly, wincing at the pain, his face screwing up for a moment. “No. Sorry. I just have a vague recollection of ...big...heavy. It was just a feeling I think, more than what I saw.”

“Miss Montgomery.” He says, turning my way. “Can you tell me what happened when you got up? What time was that, by the way?”

“I think it was about eight fifteen or maybe eight twenty. I couldn’t find him inside so I went out the back and called from the back porch but he didn’t answer. I went over to the Machinery shed, thinking he might be working in there but it was empty. Then I heard a noise in the barn, so I walked over to the doorway and there was a massive explosion which knocked me flat on my back. When I got up I saw Dalton sprawled out on the floor inside. I didn’t know if he was alive...or..orr...dead.” I hiccup a bit, fighting tears. “I ran inside screaming at him to get up but he didn’t, so I somehow dragged him out to the back lawn.”

“Wait...you dragged me out?? How??” Dalton asks incredulously, looking from me to the cop.

“I don’t know. Honestly, I don’t. I didn’t think it was gonna work at first. You wouldn’t budge, but then slowly you started to move, so I just kept going till you were safe. I didn’t have time to wonder how or why...I just knew that if I didn’t get you out, you’d die.”

“I am probably three times your weight...maybe more.” He says in amazement, shaking his head slightly. “I can’t believe you did that on your own. I thought that the firefighters must have got me out...”

“I remember a car.” I interject quickly. “It was loud, noisy like a V8. It took off screaming down the driveway. At first I wasn’t sure if it was someone from nearby who saw the barn on fire and came to check on it, but then I heard the sound fading as it left. That’s it. Sorry, that’s all I know.”