Chapter 18
Chelsea woke to find the bed next to her empty and cold. She blinked to clear the fog from her eyes and brain and checked the time.
Seven o’clock.
Surprise made her sit up. She’d thought she would sleep a lot later.
So what had woken her?
Ethan must have left some time ago if the bed was cold, but she remembered him holding her as she cried.
Memories flooded back. Aunt Maggie’s death had been no accident.
The wave of sorrow and anger washed over her. How could someone be so callous and greedy?
Johann needed to be stopped. Would Josh have news by now?
She dressed and brushed her hair, tying it up in a quick bun before heading downstairs. Her kitchen was full of special ops men making bacon and eggs and, more importantly, coffee.
Her gaze met Ethan’s and his grin washed some of the fatigue and sorrow from her.
“Morning, honey.” He swept her into a hug and kissed her.
She clung to him, trying to get her brain to function at a reasonable pace. “You’re all up early.”
“It happens when you don’t go to sleep,” Noah mumbled. Dobby elbowed him and Chelsea’s eyes widened.
“You didn’t sleep?” She turned to Ethan. “You came to bed with me.”
He nodded a little sheepishly. “I got up after you went to sleep. We weren’t sure whether Darren might also appear.”
Hurt filled her. He’d been out there risking his life while she’d been safely tucked in bed. “You lied to me.”
Ethan pulled her into the laundry where they had more privacy.
“Technically I didn’t say I was going to sleep,” he said, and then immediately held up a hand to ward off her retort.
“But yes, I implied it. You needed to rest, and I didn’t want you to stay awake worrying about me when I was fairly sure we were being overly cautious. ”
She frowned, trying to process past the pain in her heart. In her tired state she wanted to cling to her hurt, but a tiny rational part of her brain told her to consider how much more exhausted she’d be if she hadn’t slept. And she had a whole day of work planned.
“You decided for me without giving me a choice.” She gave him a stern look. “Again.” Would this be what their relationship would be like? Ethan always thinking he knew what she needed and taking away her agency?
He winced. “You’re right. I didn’t think of it like that. I’m sorry.”
She sighed, and slumped against the cupboard. Was this a dealbreaker? Not today. She’d deal with it later when her brain could think more rationally. “Don’t do it again.” She squeezed his hand and then stepped past him into the kitchen. “Who’s in charge of coffee?”
Heath raised his hand. “One flat white coming right up.”
Chelsea smiled and sank into a chair. “Any news from Josh?”
“Not yet.” Ethan set the table around her.
Rhys was piling bacon onto a plate, and Noah had cooked enough scrambled eggs to feed an army. Dobby and Connor were nursing coffees at the table.
“Will you sleep after you’ve eaten?” Chelsea asked.
“We’ll sleep in shifts,” Dobby said as he dished up. “An hour or two at a time is all we need.”
“Are you expecting trouble?”
“Always,” Heath said. “It’s when you don’t expect it you get caught out.”
That made an odd kind of sense.
Dobby gulped down his food and got up. “I’ll be back in a couple of hours.”
“Make sure you get some actual sleep,” Rhys said with a wink.
Chelsea smiled as Dobby headed upstairs to where Mila was still sleeping.
After breakfast Heath shooed her out of the kitchen promising to clean up. Feeling more alert, she said, “I’m going to check the barn.”
Ethan stood. “I’ll join you.”
Chelsea waited until they were outside before she asked, “Are you coming with me because you believe there’s still danger?”
“My main reason is to spend time with you alone,” Ethan said. “And to apologise again for lying to you.” He held her hand as they walked. “And because I won’t feel comfortable about having you out of my sight until Johann is caught.”
“Do you think he’ll escalate?”
“If he’s desperate enough. We have Leyton on record accusing him of manslaughter.”
Which was enough to make anyone desperate. “Did you have any other problems last night?”
“Other than insects crawling all over me and a possum peeing nearby, no.”
Chelsea laughed, warmth filling her. Ethan and his friends had gone to so much trouble for her. “What about the others?”
“It was quiet.”
The strong stench of petrol wafted from the barn doors and she screwed up her nose, thankful they had locked the door. If Leyton had got inside, it might have been a different story.
“Do you know what neutralises the petrol?”
“Baking soda or lemon juice might help according to the internet.” Ethan grinned at her. “I searched this morning.”
Already a step ahead. She continued over to the cottages.
She would make sure everyone had linen, but she also wanted to estimate how many plants she needed to buy for the nearby garden beds.
“I need to test the sprinklers in this area before I head out.” No point planting things if they wouldn’t get watered.
And if she needed reticulation supplies, she could buy them at the same time.
“Already done,” Ethan said. “I fixed everything with supplies Aunt Maggie had.” He checked the time. “Josh should call us soon. We can confirm we can clean up and then turn the sprinklers on.”
Chelsea turned in a circle, taking in all the work still to be done. “Am I crazy?”
“No more than the average person.” He smiled. “You mean about the garden?”
She nodded. “Aunt Maggie struggled to keep up with it when it was in good condition. It’s going to take months of work to get it back to any semblance of what it was.” Was she truly up for the challenge?
“If it’s what you truly want to do, you’ll make it work, Chels. I guess you need to ask yourself, do you want to commit the time to it? Do you want to stay?”
The intensity in his gaze made her look away.
Those were the questions she had to answer, but there were some variables that needed to become static before she did.
And one of those was whether she and Ethan had a future together.
Honeybrook was too far from Perth to ask him to commute daily.
But did she want to go back to living in a city?
“In an ideal world, what do you want your future to be?” Ethan asked quietly.
She closed her eyes. Her fantasies had always revolved around Lilydale. Bringing her children here to visit Aunt Maggie and play in the gardens. Having a husband who adored her. Living nearby so she could help Aunt Maggie as she got older.
Those fantasies had been obliterated after Ethan had broken up with her and been replaced with having a job which earned enough so she never had to rely on any man.
Now she wasn’t ready to let those fantasies back in. “I don’t know.”
“Can I tell you my new fantasy for the future?” Ethan asked.
She nodded as she wandered over to the nearest garden bed to pull out a stray weed that had been missed.
“It’s being with you.”
She glanced at him, her heart jumping.
“In whatever form you want. I’ve spent too much of my life regretting leaving you, and I’m not spending the next decade doing the same.”
It was hard to breathe. He couldn’t mean it. “You’re based in the city. It’s too far to drive every day.”
He shrugged. “I mentioned Dobby is setting up a security firm. He’s put a bunch of plans into motion already, and he’ll give me a job.”
She frowned. “Where will you work?”
“I can base myself here. I won’t need to be in the city all the time and depending on the jobs we get, I might still travel.”
Chelsea exhaled. “I wouldn’t want you to give up your career for me.”
He stepped closer. “I won’t lie to you. The army saved me, gave me purpose and a sense of self-worth and the friends I have made…
” He gestured towards the house. “They’re my family.
” He took her hand. “But I don’t need the army any longer.
I’m financially secure, I can get my adrenaline fix working with Dobby, and my apartment wasn’t ever a home.
But seeing you again and being at Lilydale feels like being home. ”
The emotions in her chest were too big to put into words. The fear, the joy, the love. “I appreciate knowing that, Ethan.”
A flash of disappointment crossed his face, and she reached for him, not wanting him to get the wrong idea.
“It’s a big decision to make and knowing what you want…
that you want me… it makes a huge impact.
I just need time to consider things when I’m not overwhelmed by you and your friends, when I’m not being harassed by a property developer, and not overcome by grief going through Aunt Maggie’s things.
” Which was another thing she needed to finish.
She took a breath. “I want you, and I want Lilydale, but just because I want them, doesn’t mean I can make it work. I need to plan it out, think it through.”
He smiled, pulling her into his arms. “All right. I get that’s how your brain works. If you need help planning, or if you need me to take distractions away so you can think, you say the word.”
Was it any wonder she loved him?
While she had no doubt he would push if she prevaricated for too long, or if she was stuck in indecision, the fact he understood this was her way of processing things meant everything.
She brushed a kiss against his lips. “Thank you.”
Her phone rang and she put it on speaker when she saw Josh’s name. “Morning, Josh.”
“The good news is we’ve got enough from Leyton to arrest Johann for his part in what happened to Lilydale,” Josh said.
“And the bad news?” Ethan asked.
“Johann wasn’t at home when the Perth police went to arrest him. His wife said he left at six to go fishing with friends, but the friends he’s supposed to be with are at home. His wife can’t get hold of him and said he was anxious when he woke, saying something about missing a phone call.”