Forty-five
Asleep in a pair of boxers, Ash lay on his son’s spare bed, with little Mason curled up beside him, leaving his cot empty.
There was a tap on the door. It was Harper, holding out a cup of coffee. ‘Thought you might need this.’
‘Thanks. What’s the time?’ He patted his son’s soft hair. Ruby wagged her tail from her fluffy bed, with her bandage still on her leg, so he patted the unsung hero too.
‘Eight,’ replied Harper.
The last he remembered he’d only come in to check on the boy, take him to the toilet, then he was meant to go back to bed with Harper. ‘Have my brothers gone?’
She nodded.
‘Damn.’ He ran fingers through his hair. ‘I can’t seem to win.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I’ve been slack. Work. The boy. Everything …’ He sipped the coffee rich and black, and carefully left Mason sleeping. ‘Ryder’s offered to give me my money back to get out of the partnership.’
‘But you love mustering and this place.’
‘I’ve been slack.’
‘So change.’
‘Excuse me?’
‘If you want to change, change. Set an alarm, so you don’t sleep in. Go to bed earlier, stop playing games all night.’
Games. Ha. He’d played with her to the brink of exhaustion, and he would have kept going if he hadn’t volunteered to check on Mason. ‘Talk about a bit of tough love before breakfast, Harper.’
‘Don’t look at me for sympathy, when I’m not exactly playing my A-game, either.’ She walked out in a huff.
He followed her, swiping a pair of jeans and T-shirt from his room.
‘I’m not looking for sympathy,’ he said, sliding into his jeans in the large living room with the boxes pushed against the wall, it only held a few dog beds, a beanbag, and lots of toys. ‘And don’t ask me what I want, because everyone else has been asking the same thing.’ Did he do the wrong thing with Harper last night? Yet, it had felt so right. Where were his boots?
‘Don’t worry, I’ve been asking that same question about myself.’
‘What do you mean?’ He slid on his T-shirt and froze. Was she going to give him the sorry this won’t work out speech?
‘Sitting here, in this house, alone, trying to find something to do, when normally I never have time for myself, I really struggled.’
‘So, what did you do, besides rearrange the house and organise stuff?’
‘I tried to cook a meal. And that flopped. And—and …’ She screwed up her nose.
‘What? Spit it out.’ Please don’t dump me.
‘I read that letter from the government. The one you said you’d show me. It accidentally fell out of the pile of paperwork when I was clearing the table.’
‘How much coffee have you had?’ She was powering through her words. But he found some socks and his boots.
‘One. It’s cold.’
‘You’re the only person I know who drinks cold coffee.’ He sipped his coffee, which was nice and hot. Then slid on his socks and boots and stamped the soles against the floor like normal. ‘Suppose I’d better get out there. We’re fixing the drafting yards.’
‘So, you’re just going to pretend it’s all normal, then?’
‘Well, my brothers won’t kick me out, although Ryder wanted to fire me.’
‘I’m talking about us .’
‘Oh.’ That woke him up. ‘I want to take you out.’
‘Pardon?’
‘I’m not sure about the details yet, but I want this. You and me, I want us.’ Hell, yeah.
But Harper crossed her arms over her chest. ‘First, we need to talk. There are things we need to discuss.’ She seemed adamant about it.
‘Sure. Look, I’ve been planning with Bree to do something special for you—’
‘You have?’ She blinked, her brusque mood instantly vanishing.
‘Yeah, but Bree said I had to ask you first so she could start planning it. So tonight, you and me will go on a date, outback style? Yes?’
Her shy smile came with a really sweet nod. He tenderly stroked her hair and kissed her forehead.
‘Good. It’s a date. And then we can pick up where we left off last night as dessert.’ He dragged her close to his chest, snaking his arms around her. ‘Or we can go back to bed now and get a head start.’ His nose nuzzled her slender neck, her hair like silk against his cheek. ‘Hmm, you smell good.’
‘Daddy?’ Mason stumbled out of his room, rubbing his sleepy eyes.
‘G’day, little man.’ Ash crouched down, and the boy ran into his arms. It melted his heart, and the soft smile from Harper made it all worth it.
‘Here, Mason.’ Harper passed him his special kiddie’s cup.
‘I’ll go see Bree first, then I’ll make an appearance at the office.’ No doubt to cop a dressing down from Major Ryder.
Sarge barked. It was deep.
‘ Oi, it’s the Coppers!’ Dex’s whistle sliced through the air.
Ash, still carrying Mason on his chest, went to meet the police car pulling up near the house.
‘Nice of you to show up,’ grumbled Dex at the bottom of the front steps, as Cap and Ryder strode over from the sheds.
‘I was asleep with my son.’
‘Sure you weren’t busy with the nanny?’ Dex sneered at Harper standing by the door.
Ash glowered at Dex. ‘Back off, Dex. I was with Mason. He had a nightmare last night, probably about the snake, so I was with him. Besides, it’s none of your business who I decide to be with or not.’ He may have said it to Dex, but he made sure Cap and Ryder heard him, too.
Ash was a grown man. He didn’t need their permission for who he could and couldn’t be with. If he wanted to be with Harper, then he would be.
‘Fellas.’ Porter slid on his police cap as he climbed out of the paddy wagon.
‘What brings you here, Porter?’ Ryder asked.
‘Welfare check.’
‘Has it been twenty-eight days?’ Ash raked fingers through his hair, trying to remember his daily tally. ‘Wait, we still have ten more days.’
‘Counting much?’ Dex scowled at Ash.
‘Ash is right. But I’m here over an anonymous tip that the boy was in trouble. Something about a snake?’ Porter tilted his head and took a long, hard look at the boy Ash held against his chest.
‘Who from?’ Ash asked.
Porter shrugged. ‘I did say anonymous, right?’
‘The boy is fine,’ said Ryder in his brusque tone. ‘There was a snake at the back by the old washing machine. Cap’s nanny dog was bitten protecting the boy. And before you ask, I’ve ordered a new machine, including the materials to screen off the laundry area so it never happens again.’
‘And the nanny,’ Dex started, pointing at Harper hovering by the front steps.
‘Her name is Harper.’ Ash frowned at Dex.
‘The boy’s nanny ,’ said Dex with determination, ‘has got us kitted out with antivenene medicine not only for humans but also for the dogs. She’s also put child safety locks on the doors to childproof the house, and a fire blanket and all this other first-aid stuff.’
‘You’re welcome to check the house, Porter, to see for yourself,’ said Cap. ‘We can show you the nanny dog and her wound.’
‘Porter can see the boy is fine.’ Dex pointed at Ash holding Mason.
Porter kept scribbling in his notepad.
That’s when it hit Ash like a micky bull’s kick to the guts. ‘You can’t take him, Porter. Mason is my son! No one can take my boy from me.’ It was worse than any other fear, worse than any burden of responsibility. It was the worst fear—the fear of losing his son. ‘He’s my son. No one is taking my son.’
Ryder’s large hand landed heavily on Ash’s shoulder. ‘We won’t let them.’
‘All right, calm down, fellas.’ Porter held up his hand, speaking in a tone he might use to calm down a pack of wild dogs. ‘I’m just doing my job. I can see the boy is fine, and you’ve taken precautions—obviously whoever called this in didn’t know about the nanny.’
‘I reckon it’s that mine. That Leo,’ said Dex, wearing his signature scowl. ‘Didn’t Leo give Harper that letter at the front gate?’
Ash peered over his shoulder at Harper, who only shrugged at him. It was the first he’d heard about her being near the enemy.
Harper was right. They needed to talk.
‘Porter, what do you know about our neighbours from Blackwell Mining?’ Ryder asked.
‘Nothing.’ Porter shrugged, taking notes. ‘How long has the nanny been here?’
‘Harper started the day after Mason arrived.’ Ash remembered that first time spotting her on the deserted outback highway, in her business suit, running after her flat tyre. It was the same morning he’d met Mason.
Ash shifted Mason to his other side on his chest. ‘Porter, what do you know about Mason’s mother?’
‘Eh?’ All his brothers looked at him. Even Porter stopped taking notes.
‘I want to contact one of Mason’s mother’s relatives.’ Did he say that right?
‘Why? They’ll only interfere.’ Dex’s face twisted as if tasting something horrible.
‘Because I don’t remember Mason’s mother. I don’t even have a photo to jog my memory of who she was. My son will have questions about who his mother is as he grows up, and I’d like to give him something. Mason deserves that much.’
‘That’s fair.’ Ryder nodded, then looked at Porter. ‘You said Mason was here because of the mother’s will?’
‘That’s right. Hold on, I’ve got the file in the car.’ Porter rummaged around in the passenger seat and pulled out his laptop, flipping open the lid, he sat it on the police car’s bonnet.
‘We know Mason’s mother was called Gemma Fallon,’ said Ryder, who had a memory for details. ‘How did Mason get here? Family?’
‘Please don’t say some foster home?’ Ash hugged his son just that little bit tighter.
Porter read from his PC’s screen. ‘A family friend cared for Mason until they tracked Ash down, as per the request in Gemma’s will that Mason live with his father.’
‘Does Mason have any family out there?’ Ash was doing this for Mason.
‘Gemma’s mother died with her in the accident, alongside her husband. Whoa, he was a federal minister.’ Porter pointed to his screen. ‘It says here he was a prominent figure in international trade and development. And Gemma had a half-sister, working overseas—which would be Mason’s aunt. The notes show they were hoping Gemma’s half-sister would make it back in time, but they found you first. Did you know Mason arrived in a private jet? Should’ve seen Mickey at the local airport when this thing landed, a whole jet for one small boy holding the hand of an air hostess.’
‘Why? Because his grandfather was a federal minister?’ Dex asked Porter.
‘No. They’re not blood related. According to the file, Gemma’s mother, Vivian, had Gemma many years before she married the minister.’
‘Name. Give us a name,’ demanded Ryder. ‘Who was he?’
‘Richard Jamison was married to Vivian Langley. They had a daughter named Harper Jamison, who works for the Australian Ambassador in Belgium.’
Ash spun around to face Harper. ‘You! You’re Mason’s aunt ?’