‘Who knows? But I couldn’t change anything so I decided to make it up to my mother and brother and lied about my age, got a false ID and got work in a warehouse. I told my mother that I hated school and got home schooling, which allowed me to work all day and study at night. David was only nine and couldn’t help. I just wanted him to stay on track and at school.’
Jade felt tears welling inside. Mitchell had made life choices at such a young age through misguided guilt and enormous reserves of compassion.
‘My mother found employment too, but with little or no workplace skills her money was not enough to keep a roof over our heads and pay off the credit-card debt my father had also run up. So we both kept working and I missed out on a huge part of my teenage years. My mother hated that I had to work and she told me she’d work longer hours so I could return to school but we both knew she couldn’t work any more hours. There weren’t enough in the day for either of us.’
‘Your father’s selfish behaviour cost you your youth. No wonder you’ve spent the last few years having fun.’
‘It was hardly the coal mines …’
‘To a teenage boy, missing out on everything normal and natural and silly in those precious years would be life-changing and devastating,’ Jade cut in, aware of her own carefree, rebellious youth.
‘Arthur came into my mother’s life when I was eighteen. He was a good man and I was very happy to see my mother happy, but I also was over it. I was over being responsible. I took off. It was as though I had handed my mother to Arthur and I was out of there.’
‘That’s being a little harsh on yourself. I’m sure Maureen was relieved that you no longer had to be the man of the house.’
‘I worry that I would have bolted anyway, even if Arthur hadn’t shown up. I was burnt out.’
Jade shook her head. ‘I’m sure you would have stayed. If you managed to hold it together for three long years, working and studying, you would have seen it through. I’m sure of it.’ Her hand reached up and brushed away a stray wattle flower that had landed on his shoulder.
‘Nice of you to think so, but I guess I share my father’s DNA. Maybe Arthur was a stroke of luck because I was done. That’s why I’ve avoided family. I don’t want to let anyone down. I felt trapped. Maybe that’s how my father felt when he left.’
‘Stop right there,’ Jade demanded of the man she had so quickly come to know. ‘You were fifteen when you took on the role your father abandoned, you held it down for three years and took care of your mother and brother, and finally, when you mother found love, you left to enjoy your life. How is that anything like a selfish middle-aged man gambling all the family’s money, leaving them in debt and shooting through with his mistress? They are poles apart. You showed maturity beyond your years, love and loyalty, while your father’s actions were despicable.’
‘Maybe that’s how you see it but I’m not that chivalrous. And I can’t change now,’ he admitted.
‘I disagree. I think you cut your hair and shaved your beard to meet your niece. You wanted her to like you and not be scared away by the wild bushman. You cared about how she felt. It might seem a little thing but add that to the way you melt around Amber, and it shows the man you are. You have a wonderful heart and you’re nothing like your father.’
Mitchell had told himself as he’d sat in the barber’s chair the day after he’d arrived in Adelaide that it would be cooler to have shorter hair in the summer, and perhaps this way he wouldn’t scare either Jade or Amber away. But he knew inside it was more than that. More than even Jade could see. A part of him wanted to be a little more like David. He wanted to be closer to the father Amber had lost, even if it was only for a few weeks.
But he doubted he could come close to being half the man his brother had been.
‘I like to have no roots, I don’t want to be in one place or responsible. I don’t think that I ever will …’
Jade saw Mitchell in a different light and she cut short his words with a kiss.
He had been running from guilt that he shouldn’t have been carrying and she felt her last walls of resistance fall with his honesty. She now needed to be honest with herself. She wanted Mitchell Forrester.
Looking at Jade, comfortable in her skimpy outfit, enjoying the Outback, Mitchell also saw a different side of her and he couldn’t hold back any longer either.
Their bodies only inches apart, her heart was pounding as she felt his breath on her cheek and smelt the scent of his woody cologne. Neither moved. Neither had the strength to walk away. The sincerity and warmth in his words drew her to him and she didn’t know what to think any more. She was about to give in to feelings she had never thought she would feel again. The desire that he was stirring she had thought was buried completely under a sea of duty and guilt. With little effort he was resurrecting a side she had thought was lost for ever.
His hands cupped her face before passion took over and there was urgency as his mouth closed on hers. With no need for words, he pulled her close to him and, forgetting their bush surroundings, his hands roamed the curves of her body. Willingly, she pressed her body against the hardness of his and a little groan of pleasure escaped from her lips. She could hardly breathe.
His mouth moved slowly down her neck, trailing kisses across her skin. Her back arched as he gently tilted her head to take his kisses lower.
‘Is there room in your tent for both of us?’ His voice was low and husky.
She nodded her reply as his tongue teased her skin and he led her by the hand into the darkness of the tent, where he slowly removed every piece of her clothing. And then his own before he was consumed by passion for the woman lying naked on the ground.
Jade woke in the morning to the sounds of the kookaburras in the treetops and some rustling in the leaves on the ground outside. She sat upright in surprise.
Then she felt a warm hand pull her back down to the softness of the thick sleeping bag for two.
‘It’s probably just a possum or koala. Lie back down with me and I’ll protect you from ferocious marsupials.’
Her lips formed a soft smile before Mitchell’s mouth claimed hers. His kiss held the same level of passion that they had enjoyed during the hours of lovemaking before they’d fallen asleep in each other’s arms. It was very clear to Jade that the morning was beginning in the same wonderful way the night had ended. There would be no argument from her.
‘Jade,’ he began, realising that for the first time in his life he wanted more than a one-night stand. He wanted Jade in his life for ever. ‘Last night was wonderful and I hope we can find a way to make this work …’
‘Let’s take it slow. I don’t want you to feel pressured. I wanted you and you wanted me. I am so happy here with you right now. Let’s see where this leads.’ It was the Jade of old speaking and she was happy to hear that voice from the past. As they lay in each other’s arms, they heard voices outside.
‘Do possums talk?’ she whispered with a smile in her voice.
He put his finger to her lips and softly said. ‘Let’s pretend we’re asleep and they’ll go away.’
The male voice drew closer. ‘I can’t hear you very well, the reception out here is terrible but I’ll see if he’s awake and get him to call you back.’
Jade drew the covers up as she heard the footsteps next to the zip door of the tent.
‘Is anyone awake?’ the man’s voice called. ‘It’s quite urgent. There’s a call from Adelaide.’
‘Just a minute.’ Mitchell struggled in a half-kneeling position to pull on his boxers and jeans before he bent down and tenderly kissed Jade again. ‘Hold that thought and don’t get dressed. I’ll