He smelled like cut grass, dirt and fresh air. It hit her that he smelled like Bellaroo Creek. When he went to Africa, he’d be taking a little bit of Bellaroo Creek with him. The thought should’ve made her smile.
‘I met Edna Fairfield.’
He leaned back. ‘Keeping Jack company?’
‘Uh-huh.’
She eyed him for a moment. He rolled his shoulders. ‘What?’
‘She has a very high opinion of you.’
‘I have a high opinion of her and Ted.’
‘They’ll miss you if you leave.’
‘When, Tess. When I leave.’
She shook herself. ‘That’s what I meant.’
He had exciting, not to mention important, work to look forward to in Africa. He had the promise of adventure before him, the once-in-a-lifetime experience of immersing himself in another culture and sharing his knowledge, and helping make the world a better place. She couldn’t begrudge him his dream, but…
She pulled in a breath. ‘I liked her a lot. I don’t know much about cattle, but…but could you teach me what to do so I can help them out?’
‘Nope.’
She gaped at him.
‘Lord, Tess, you think I’m just going to abandon them?’
‘Well, aren’t you?’ He was abandoning all of Bellaroo Creek, wasn’t he?
‘I’ve told Fraser to keep an eye on things out there, to help wherever needed.’
His station manager? ‘It won’t be the same, you know?’
‘That can’t be helped.’
She supposed he was right.
‘If you really want to help Edna out, you’ll drop out there when her fruit trees are full and pick the fruit for her…and ask her to teach you how to bottle it, and how to make jam. She’d love that.’
‘Excellent.’ She’d have to find out when the trees came into fruit. Oh, and she’d better find out what kind of fruit trees they were too.
‘Plum and mulberry. And you’ll be looking at about November.’
The man could read minds.
‘And I also think you should come to judo lessons.’
His sudden change of topic threw her like an unexpected rhythm or an atonal jazz riff. ‘You mean…participate? Be one of your students?’
‘What would it hurt to learn a few self-defence tactics?’
Nothing, she supposed, but she’d never precisely been the sporty type.
‘And you’re going to be there anyway, bringing Ty and Krissie to the class. So, why not?’
She saw it then, what it was he was trying to do. ‘You think Ty and Krissie will feel safer if I know how to defend myself.’ Her heart thumped and her hands clenched.
‘I think it’s a good idea for every woman to know how to defend herself.’
She chewed her bottom lip.
‘Come on, Tess, I’m not talking about grating carrots here.’
He was right. ‘It’s an excellent suggestion.’
‘Good.’
‘Now what can I do for you?’
He blinked. And for a moment she could’ve sworn the colour heightened on his cheekbones. Her heart leapt into her throat and it was all she could do not to cough and choke and make a fool of herself. ‘I mean,’ she rasped out, gazing everywhere except at him, ‘I expect there’s a reason you dropped by this afternoon, other than to bully me into taking your judo class?’
He leapt off the bench and strode several feet away. ‘I wanted to find out what you had in mind for a vegetable garden,’ he said, his back to her, and she knew he felt the same heat, the same urgency, that she did. ‘I am getting forty prime hectares practically scot-free, after all. I mean to keep my word, Tess. Chicken coop—tick. Puppy—tick. Vegetable garden—still pending.’
‘You didn’t just build a chicken coop. You built a chicken palace!’ As far as she was concerned, he’d well and truly paid off any debt he’d owed.
He turned and squinted into the sun. ‘Are you after a, um, vegetable patch on the same sort of scale?’
She laughed at the expression on his face, though she didn’t doubt for a moment that if she wanted it he’d do his best to make it a reality. ‘Truly, Cameron, I just want a home for all of these.’ She gestured to the ragged array of donated pots and planters. ‘And whatever else you think might be a good idea to plant.’
‘I was sorting through them when you pulled up. You’ve a nice variety there.’
‘The town’s generosity knows no bounds.’
‘They want you to stay.’
And she wanted to stay. She had to make this move work. She had to. Her smile faded when she recalled the expression on Edna’s face when she’d wondered aloud about who would tend Jack’s grave when she was gone. A shiver of unease threaded through her.
‘You’re not having second thoughts, are you?’ he rapped out.
‘No!’
‘But?’
She swallowed. ‘But it didn’t hit me until today how tenuous the town’s survival is. And I’ve thrown my lot—and Tyler and Krissie’s—in with the town’s.’ What if the school closed? What if the town did die a slow death? What would they do? It would mean more upheaval and that would be her fault.
‘Tess.’
She glanced up.
‘Nobody can foresee the future. All you can do is make the here and now meaningful.’
Right. She knew he was right.
‘And work with the Save-Our-Town committee to attract even more new blood to the area. Okay?’
She drew in a breath and nodded.
He smiled. ‘Now are you going to help me measure out this garden bed or what?’
‘Aye-aye, sir.’ She clicked her heels together. ‘Right after I ring your mother. Apparently she’s the one I should talk to about organising a plot at the cemetery.’
He dug his phone out of his pocket and tossed it to her. ‘She’s on speed dial.’ Pulling a tape measure from his hip pocket, he moved away to give her a measure of privacy.
She brought up his list of saved numbers. Lorraine’s number was the second on the list.
The first was Lance’s.
All you can do is make the here and now meaningful.
She stared at Cameron’s back as she placed her call.
LORRAINE ORGANISED A working bee at the cemetery with all the speed and efficiency of a conductor’s flourish. ‘We can’t hold a memorial service there with it looking the way it is! It’s beyond time we tidied it up.’
Which was why Tess and the kids found themselves getting ready to return to the cemetery the following