Epilogue
MORGAN
THREE MONTHS LATER - CHRISTMAS
“ D o we tell him?” I ask Rhys.
I think we should, but he keeps saying no.
“Fuck no, and we’re not sure it’s her.”
I turn to face him. “Oh, Rhys please, it was her.”
“Do not tell him.”
I cross my arms over my chest and turn back to face the gate. “Fine.”
I watch as my brother exits the gate of the airport and walks towards us. Quickly, I relax my arms and plaster a genuine happy smile onto my face.
“God, I missed you.” He wraps me in his embrace, squeezing me.
“Shane.. Too tight.” I wheeze out, tapping his back and he lets me go.
When he sees Rhys, he deadpans. “Oh, and you’re here.”
“Jeez, nice to see you too mate.” Rhys turns away and walks towards the baggage claim .
“I am not doing this. You two need to kiss and make up already.”
They both ignore me and keep walking. Great.
When Rhys and I finally arrived in Ridgewood Downs, I didn’t think we were going to make it.
The ‘car that wasn’t going to break down’, broke down five times.
Five. Times. But we made it in the end. We went straight to the property; it’s huge and I love the house on it.
A federation home with a wraparound veranda, and two cottages on the property.
Rhys said he’ll turn one into farm hand quarters for when he’s ready to get some and the other we’ll do up for when we have guests.
Because we broke down so much the truck beat us here. They just unhitched the trailer allowing us to unpack it. I was surprised to see the table from Rhys’s house on the station sitting in the middle of the kitchen here.
“Those marks there, left by your nails, because of what I did to you, to your body, makes this very much my fucking table.” Is what I got told when I asked why.
But that’s not all that was waiting to surprise me. Rhys managed to get the poddy calf, Buttons, down. The way I squealed. I didn’t let him near me until he promised Buttons was a pet and not food. Didn’t take long to convince him.
Esky loves it here too. Getting to play during the day and cuddle up with us at the end. There’s a fireplace that I can’t wait to light in the winter, which is still a minimum four months away. Rhys said the summer’s last longer here.
“So, how is everything over on your side?” I awkwardly ask the painfully silent car.
“Same, same. Everything is kind of settling down. But a small town just means the drama is never ending. Mum said she misses you; Dad just downed his beer. You know how it goes.”
Yeah, I do. And what was I going to say to them? I didn’t tell them I was leaving. I barely heard from them when I was in Sydney and not one message or a call while I was up north. So, I didn’t think they cared all too much.
“Your sister—” Shane starts but Rhys cuts him off.
“Half-sister, and I don’t want to hear it.”
Rhys told me about the run in he had with Reid, his stepbrother, and he sounds like he’s more than ready to close that chapter forever.
Two long hours later, we’re finally approaching the property.
I waste no time showing Shane inside, where he is met with everyone.
“You remember Brent and Molly?” Shane nods and shakes Brent’s hand. “And this is Tia, Molly’s teacher and nanny.”
Shane greets Tia with a head nod and a quick hi. Brent watches him closely when he gets close to her, almost like he is ready to pounce if he were to simply touch her. The more I think about it, Brent has been watching Tia a lot. I might have to talk to Dani about that.
“And Beau and Davis.” Who are at opposite ends of the lounge room. They’re off again. Shane just raises a hand in a hello gesture.
“Dani and Miles, too.” Miles rests his hand protectively over Dani’s barely-there bump. I can’t believe she’s pregnant. They’re moving back to their hometown in South Australia, but have promised to keep in touch. Shane simply just nods, awkwardly smiles and says hi.
I did invite Paige and Sawyer over. But being the first Christmas after the murders, they wanted to stay home, to try to keep a sense of normality for the holiday season.
After the introductions, we all kind of go do our own thing, and I show Shane to his room. “Brent, Molly and Tia are staying in the guest house. You’re here, Beau is opposite you, and Davis is next to you. Rhys and I are just on the other side of the house.”
“Good. I don’t want to hear you two.”
“Oh my god, would you stop?!” I turn on my heels and leave. Grumpy pants.
I bump into Rhys on my way to the kitchen. “Hey you.” Putting a little sweetness into it.
“Morgan?” He raises an eyebrow in question.
I fist his shirt and drag him to me, claiming his lips with mine. He groans and I swallow the sound. We deepen the kiss, not coming up for air.
“Jesus.”
Right, guests. One of which is my brother.
“Sorry.” I turn and do my best to look apologetic.
Ignoring that, he goes into his question. “Can I borrow your car? I need a couple things from the shops.”
“Perfect, I actually need a couple things for lunch tomorrow.” I race into the kitchen and pull my list from the fridge. Walking back out I find Shane and Rhys whisper yelling. I walk in between them and thrust the list into Rhys’s chest. “Congratulations, you’re going with him.”
RHYS
As soon as we’re in the car, Shane starts on me. “You’re not marrying my sister.”
“I didn’t ask for your permission, I was just giving you the heads up.” I say as I start the car. “Plus, shouldn’t you be happy to see that I wasn’t just using her for sex? That I actually love her and that I want her with me? Always.”
“You’ve only been together for what four, five months?”
“What’s your point?” I pull out onto the main road headed into town.
“I… Ah… Fuck.”
Yeah, that’s what I thought.
The fifteen-minute drive into town is tense. But soon enough, we’re finally pulling up into the busy car park. When I find a parking spot, I get a call from Morgan. “Can you stop in at Jasmine’s and get a couple treats?”
“Is she or Delilah and the guys coming tomorrow?”
“No, Delilah is up in the city with her sister and her husband, and Jasmine is having Christmas with what sounds like half the town.” She lightly laughs at her own joke.
Delilah Sainsbury and Morgan became fast friends.
Morgan is the same age as her younger sister Ivy.
Jasmine was their first client for the business, and they took her in as one of them.
She’s the same age as my half-sister, and already has her own business, which is more than I can say for Penelope.
Morgan was worried she wouldn’t have anyone, but she’s finding her people.
“Okay I’ll be home soon, Love you.”
“Love you more.” And with that, she hangs up .
I pocket my phone, and we walk to the shops in silence. He seemed okay with Morgan and I when we left. Maybe that was all for show; for Morgan’s sake. We should probably tone down the PDA and affection while Shane is here. But I’m going ahead with my plan.
“You grab what you need, and I’ll start on Morgan’s shopping list.”
And in true Shane fashion, he grunts and walks off. This is getting old fast.
When I’m almost done, I find him in one of the aisles, “What are you d—” I go to ask him when I see what has stopped him in his tracks.
Fuck, it was her.
“Lottie?”
Charlotte fucking Reeves.
“Nope.” She turns and exits the aisle. Fast. Leaving her trolley behind.
He goes to follow her, but I put a hand on his shoulder stopping him. “Don’t.”
“Did you know?” He turns on me so fast.
I release his arm and rub the back of my neck. “Not exactly. We only saw her once, so we weren’t confident it was her.”
He drops what he had and storms out the shops. And because I’m not coming back, I go through the check out and even buy the shit he dropped. I don’t have time to stop and get Morgan the treats she wanted. She’ll just have to deal with the ones she burnt.
When I get to the car he is leaning against the passenger door. “She looked through me, but I know it’s her.”
“What are you going to do?”
With a sigh, he pushes up from the door. “Nothing. ”
When we get back to the house, Morgan is out the front on the porch swing with Molly and Esky. I don’t think the dingo got the memo that she is not a lap dog.
Morgan takes in Shane’s appearance and stands to meet him, but when she looks at me, I shake my head. So, she leaves him to storm past her and comes to help bring in the shopping.
“It was her.”
“Fuck.”
“Yep.”
Both of us follow Shane with our eyes.