It was dark by the time Gabe got back to Redman Downs. The lights in Roy’s cottage were already out, so he went straight to the home-stead and let himself in.
The house was hot and musty from being shut up and he went around, opening windows and turning on lights. One good thing about the dry season – there were very few insects batting at the screens.
Despite the pleasures of life at the coast, it was good to be home, especially now when he had so many reasons to be happy and relieved, so many things to tell Bella.
At last.
And it would be too bad if she wasn’t ready or willing to hear what he had to say. Tonight, Gabe wouldn’t even let the French ski instructor boyfriend faze him. The tide had turned. His mind was made up and he had to phone Bella quickly.
He was feeling elated, totally confident and determined. He’d told Bella to get herself sorted, but it no longer mattered what decision she’d arrived at, he planned to make her his. Again.
Always.
If necessary he would fight for her, make up for lost time. The long months and years in which he’d been silenced and hamstrung were behind him. Now he would show Bella Fairburn – by seduction or logic or by any combination of the above – that she belonged here in North Queensland. With him.
Nothing was going to stand in Gabe’s way.
Just the same, as he lifted the receiver and dialled the Mullinjim number, he was as nervous as a man facing a firing squad.
The phone rang and rang and he felt his heart thud harder and heavier with each ring. He wondered if Bella’s aunt would answer or Peter or Virginia. He’d heard from Roy that they were home too.
He imagined asking one of them, ‘Can I speak to Bella?’ Imagined her coming, perhaps uncertainly, to the phone . . .
He heard Virginia’s voice.
‘Hello, you’ve reached the Fairburns at Mullinjim, but I’m afraid we can’t take your call right now. Please leave your number and a message and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.’
The diners were halfway through Zoe’s scrumptious trifle when Mac looked around with a huge smile. ‘Zoe and I have some very good news,’ he announced and that was all it took for the buzzing conversation to die.
Everyone around the table was instantly silent.
Bella, however, couldn’t contain herself. ‘You’re not?’
Zoe was grinning and blushing as her beaming husband slipped a proprietary arm around her shoulders.
She was. She was pregnant. Bella bit her lip to stop herself from yelling it out.
‘We’re pregnant!’ Zoe grinned broadly, and in the clamour that followed, Bella leapt from her seat.
‘I’m going to be an aunty. That’s just the most fabulous news!’ She hugged Zoe, thrilled that her guess had been right.
‘So when’s the baby due?’ asked Luke, who was also on his feet, pumping Mac’s hand and clinking his drink against his mate’s.
‘The beginning of June.’ Zoe rolled her eyes to the starry sky overhead. ‘Not great timing. Let’s hope Mac gets the mustering done first.’
‘Oh, don’t worry about that. We’ll help,’ Bella enthused. ‘We’ll work something out.’
Zoe’s eyes widened. ‘So you’ll still be here in June?’
Bella’s mouth hung open. How could she have made such a silly slip? In front of her entire family? ‘Maybe – although I – I’m not actually sure,’ she stammered uncomfortably. ‘I meant people around here will help in any way they can.’
‘Well, I couldn’t be happier.’ Her father’s deep voice boomed into the sudden, awkward silence. ‘I’m going to be a grandfather.’
He looked inordinately pleased and everyone around the table spontaneously cheered. Bella felt a surge of love for him. How wonderful it was for her dad to have Zoe and Mac living so close. For a heady moment Bella allowed herself a small fantasy, picturing a day in the future when she told him that she was pregnant too. She could even picture a poignant moment when she placed her firstborn in her dear old dad’s arms. Could any baby ever be blessed with a kinder, wiser, more loving grandfather?
His face was split by an enormous grin as he raised his glass of sparkling mineral water. ‘A new generation will be starting here, right next door to Mullinjim.’ His grey-green eyes were shining. ‘How lucky am I, coming home to news like that?’