Chapter 31
Troy
Standing there like a stunned mullet, I tried to process what I was hearing, but before I could reply, someone called my name.
That was the one thing I didn’t know I needed.
Spinning around, I caught the moment when Mackenzie’s eyes went wide, then she flung herself at me. All I could do was step forward to catch her. Wrapping her tight, I had her in my arms, and that meant I could take a full breath.
“Troy, what the hell are you doing here?” I pulled back, remembering what this dickhead, Alex, had said, but if Mackenzie was someone’s fiancé, she wouldn’t put both her hands on my cheeks, would she?
She definitely wouldn’t pull my head down into a kiss.
I took over seconds later, my mouth hungry for hers. Kissing her harder and harder, we were forced to pull apart just to breathe. The way she stared up at me had hope springing eternal.
“How…? When…?”
“A plane, obviously,” I said. “Charlie apparently filled out a US visa application the minute we got together and as soon as I found out you’d gone, I hopped on the next flight. Love…” I stroked her hair back, seeing how dark the skin under her eyes was. She was exhausted. “Is your mum OK?”
“No.” Her smile disappeared then and the pain in her eyes had me pulling her closer.
“She has to have surgery, and it’s going to be heinously expensive.
The finance lady said they’re probably going to have to put a lien on her home…
” My thumb brushed the skin at the top of her cheek, because her eyes started to fill with tears.
“But she needs the surgery or her heart might be damaged or she’ll have a heart attack. ”
“So what’s the hold up?” I looked around with a frown, seeing the nurses and doctors in a whole new light.
“Why haven’t they got your mum in surgery right now?
” I remembered the ridiculous wait times when my mother first got her cancer diagnosis.
“If there’s someone I need to see to put a rocket up their arse, just point me at ‘em.”
“Getting all grumpy for my mom?” She tried to smile, but it was a watery thing. “You don’t have to do that.” With a blink, she seemed to have some kind of realisation. “You didn’t have to fly all the way over here! The farm. The heat wave!”
“You did me a favour,” I said, turning her around so her back was against the wall and my arms were a wall around her. “Showing my family what Dad was doing. Made me see what was important.” I couldn’t help but lean closer. “Wherever you go, whatever you do, I’m there with you, love.”
I’m not sure what I expected from my grand declaration.
Not her face crumpling. Right when I thought I’d royally fucked up, she pressed her face into my chest and cried.
This, I could deal with. Charlie was the same when Mum was sick.
Didn’t need advice or soft words. Just comfort.
Rubbing small circles on her back, I let Mackenzie cry it all out until a wet circle formed on my shirt.
And it was 100% worth it.
The flight was arduous and not just because I was forced to fold my long legs into a tiny space and stay put for over twenty-four hours.
Mackenzie had more than one person with heart problems, because mine ached for her all the way over to the States.
This was a moment when that pain eased, replaced by something just as sharp, but twice as sweet.
I loved her.
Couldn’t say that right now, not when she was worrying about her mother, but I brushed a kiss across the top of Mackenzie’s head and waited her out.
That Alex prick, he saw some of this. Eyes burning, I was pretty sure he had a problem with me and it wasn’t just that I’d stolen his fiancé from him.
His jaw tightened and then he made a small sound of disgust before storming off without another word.
Good, I thought, watching him go, then looking down at my girl when she finally pulled away.
“God, I’m a mess,” she said, trying to wipe her face.
I retrieved a clean handkerchief and passed it over, and she took it with a smile.
“You’re not a mess.” With a shake of my head, I stared down at her. “I can say with all seriousness, you’ve never looked more beautiful.”
“Beautiful.” She waved her hands in front of her eyes. “I’d have to be all red and splotchy.”
“Red as rubies,” I said, daring a small smile. “Splotchy like our bull, Wally. That beast is worth a damn fortune…” The mention of money reminded me of what we needed to do, my mind unable to stop calculating what he was worth at the sale yard. “And we like him just fine.”
“You’re comparing me to a bull?” she squeaked. “Your compliments need work.”
“If you let me stick around,” I said, realising in my haste to get here I hadn’t bothered to ask Mackenzie if she’d be happy to put me up. “I promise to get some practise in.”
“Let you stick around…?” She shook her head, and I felt a tiny pang of fear for just a second. “No one’s ever flown halfway around the world for me. Um… let me see if Mom is up to meeting someone from Australia.”
Letting her out of my sight was a pain I felt as a wrench, but she looked back, right before walking into an adjoining room.
As I heard the muffled sounds of a conversation, an older woman came out.
She looked me up and down slowly, then walked past without introducing herself. Not Mackenzie’s mum then.
“Come in,” Mackenzie said when she emerged finally. “Mom’s pretty tired right now, but—”
“This is your hot Aussie farmer?” A woman with my girl’s eyes lifted her head slightly off the pillow and then smiled, a mirror image of her daughter’s. She turned to Mackenzie. “Oh, he is sexy. Better than a Hemsworth.”
“Mom—!”
“Ah, nice to meet you, Mrs. James.”
“Kimberly, please,” the woman said with a weak wave. “So you were the one who rescued my baby from a killer spider?”
That had me shifting uncomfortably as I sat down in a nearby chair.
“Bruce is no killer,” I replied. “Now if Wally the bull caught her on his horns—”
“A bull?” Her head whipped around as she stared at her daughter. “You didn’t say anything about a bull!”
“I didn’t want to worry you.”
Mackenzie shot me a dark look, but as Kimberley settled back, her daughter filled her in on the details. The way my girl told it, there was a lot more staring longingly into her eyes than I remembered, but the two women seemed suitably impressed by my ability to sweep Mackenzie off her feet.
“We kept Macca safe,” I assured Kimberley. “Sometimes that was a lot harder than you’d think possible.”
“Thank you,” my girl ground out.
“But you can be sure that I’ll do whatever it takes to keep Mackenzie from getting in trouble.”
“Well.” Kimberley seemed to melt into the bed, a smug smile on her face. “That is good to hear.” She turned to her daughter. “He looks big, strong.”
“Mom.”
“The sort who knows the right end of a shovel.”
“Mom…!”
I smiled, almost able to see the teenage version of Mackenzie in that moment, flush cheeked and embarrassed.
“You can’t blame me for wanting you looked after.” Kimberley’s eyes narrowed as she looked back at me. “So you’ve flown all this way. What’re your intentions with my daughter?”
“Mom!” Mackenzie’s look of panic was so damn cute. “Troy, you don’t—”
“Whatever the hell she wants,” I replied, unable to stop myself from grinning.
“I’ve got a six week holiday visa right now, but if she wants me to move to the States…
” The process was a whole lot harder than just being willing to become a US citizen, I was aware of that.
“Or to look at permanent residency in Australia. If she wants to backpack through Asia or Europe.” I nodded slowly. “Then I’ll be there by her side.”
My girl went to say something, trying to smooth the situation over, but then my words registered.
Staring at me, eyes shining, she studied me closely.
I just let her. When her mum was on the mend and feeling better, I’d talk it over with her, work out what she wanted and then…
I’d make it happen. Life had never been so simple, and I found I liked it.
“But let’s focus on getting you well, Kimberley,” I said. “Or is it ma’am? I gotta say, Australians are a pretty informal lot.”
“Maybe it will be Mom,” she said, smirking at her daughter.
My mother’s wedding ring was burning a hole in my pocket. Yeah, I’d like that, I thought. I’d like that a lot.