bastard!’
She had to swallow a lump at the pointlessness of it all. ‘Oh, Cameron, it’s so much sadder than that.’ Heartbreakingly sad.
‘Did he kill their mother and then commit suicide?’
Her head came up at that. ‘No!’ The police had been certain. ‘It was a car accident.’ She swallowed. ‘They hit a tree. The police who arrived first on the scene found an injured kangaroo on the road.’
‘They swerved to avoid it?’
‘I expect so.’
He reached out to clasp one of the hands she had clenched in her lap. ‘Tell me the sad story, Tess.’
Why did he want to know? And then she thought about Lorraine, and Lance and Fiona. Maybe something in Sarah and Bruce’s story would touch a chord with him. Maybe it would help heal the anger and pain inside him. Maybe it would help him find a way to forgive. Lance might not deserve that forgiveness, but she had a growing certainty that Cam needed to find it inside himself all the same.
His grip tightened and finally she met his gaze. She turned her hand over and without any hesitation at all he entwined his fingers with hers, giving her the silent strength and support she needed.
‘As far as I can tell,’ she finally started, ‘Sarah and Bruce were happy for most of their marriage.’ Though God knew she wasn’t an expert. ‘But two and a half years ago Bruce was involved in an accident at his work where he suffered a brain injury.’
‘Where did he work?’
‘In an open cut mine in the Upper Hunter Valley. An explosion went off when it shouldn’t have. It was all touch and go for a while. He spent four months in hospital and then had months and months of rehabilitation.’
‘What happened?’ he prompted when she stopped.
She clung to his hand. Unconsciously she leaned one bare arm against his until she remembered that there were still warm good things in the world. ‘His personality changed. This previously calm, family-oriented man suddenly had a temper he couldn’t control. It would apparently flare up at the smallest provocation.’ And then Bruce would lash out with his fists. ‘He looked the same, he sounded the same, but he was a totally different man from the one my sister had married.’
‘She should’ve removed the children from that situation immediately.’
Tess stilled. Very gently she removed her hand from his, and went back to chafing her arms. ‘We’re so quick to judge, aren’t we? But how sacred do you hold wedding vows, Cameron? Because my sister took them very seriously. For better for worse; in sickness and in health. The accident wasn’t Bruce’s fault. He didn’t go looking for it. He’d simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time. How do you abandon someone who’s been through that?’ She peered up at him. ‘I don’t think you’d abandon a woman who’d been through something like that.’
He stared at her and then dragged a hand down his face. ‘Did you know about the violence?’
Bitterness filled her mouth and she shook her head. ‘I was hardly ever in the country. I was too busy with my career and gallivanting around Europe and making a name for myself to notice anything.’
She’d been off having the time of her life while her sister had been living a nightmare. Sarah had always been so staunchly independent but that was no excuse. Deep down she’d known something had been troubling her sister, only Sarah would deny it whenever Tess had pressed her. Oh, yes, there had been signs. Signs she hadn’t picked up on.
Her vision blurred. Sarah had been so proud of Tess’s successes, but they were nothing—surface glitter with no substance. Like Tess herself.
‘Tess?’
She shook herself. ‘I found out about the violence after the car accident, from Sarah’s neighbours and Bruce’s doctors. From Ty and Krissie.’ And from the letter Sarah had left her, asking her to look after the children if anything should happen to her, and leaving her a ludicrously large life insurance policy, enabling her to do exactly that.
She lifted her chin. ‘All that matters now is making sure Ty and Krissie feel safe and building a good life for them here. I’ll do whatever that takes.’
‘Why?’
The single question chilled her. ‘Because I love them.’ That was the truth. Cam didn’t need to know any more than that. She wasn’t sure she could bear the disgust in his eyes if she told him the whole truth.
‘Miss Laing, there you are! We’ve been knocking on the front door, but you obviously didn’t hear us.’
Tess and Cam shot to their feet as three women came around the side of the house—Cam’s mum, Stacy Bennet and the unknown but well-dressed woman who’d addressed Tess.
Tess urged herself forward and forced what she hoped was a welcoming smile to her lips. ‘I’m terribly sorry!’
‘It’s no matter, dear,’ Lorraine said. ‘But I want to introduce you to Helen Milton. She’s the headmistress of Lachlan Downs Ladies College, which is a boarding school two hours south of here. She’s made the trip into Bellaroo Creek especially to meet you.’
Cam rolled his shoulders and remained where he was. Why on earth did Helen want to meet Tess?
‘I saw you play when I was in London the year before last. My dear, you have such a rare talent, but it wasn’t until I saw you play in Barcelona a few months later that I truly realised it.’
Tess’s spine, her shoulders, her whole bearing stiffened. He couldn’t see her face, but the fact she made no reply told its own story. He moved to stand beside her.
‘Hello, Cameron.’
He glanced down at his mother and his stomach clenched. ‘Mum.’
‘Oh, no, no, no,’ Helen continued, ‘you won’t be hiding your light under a bushel out here, Tess!’
Tess gripped her hands together, her knuckles turning white. ‘Oh, but—’
‘You don’t mind me calling you Tess, do you?’
‘Of course not. I—’
‘It’d be a crime for you to bury your talent and I won’t allow it.’
Lorraine smiled at him and behind the lines of strain that fanned out from her eyes he recognised genuine delight. ‘Tess is apparently not just a world-class pianist, but a classical guitarist of some note too.’
He stared at her. Not a dancer but a musician? It made perfect sense. It explained her innate grace and balance, and the way her whole being came alive when she sang.
She shrugged, colour flooding her cheeks as he continued to stare at her. He nudged her arm. ‘Tess, that’s really something.’
But she stared back at him with doe-in-the-headlight eyes and he didn’t understand, only knew something was terribly wrong. He straightened. ‘How about we go inside and I’ll put the kettle on?’ Tess needed something warm and sweet
