‘Oh, Tess, that sounds perfect!’ Stacy clasped her hands on her desk and beamed at them. ‘Can you start next week? We hold the classes at the community hall and there’ll always be a parent or four to help out. Would Tuesdays and Thursdays suit you?’
‘I’d love to be involved, and any day of the week is fine with me.’
Cam couldn’t tell if she truly meant it or not, but he sensed her sincere desire to fit in, to become fully involved in life at Bellaroo Creek. To give back. His stomach rolled. While he was intent on leaving.
‘I know you’re busy on Kurrajong, Cam, but I don’t suppose you’d take a class?’
He went to say, You can take that right, when Krissie’s crumpled face rose in his mind…along with the way Ty flinched whenever he was startled as if waiting for a blow to fall. ‘I’ll teach judo classes on a Wednesday if you think there’ll be any takers.’
Tess spun to him. He refused to look at her. He refused to consider too deeply what that meant for his plans. It’d only be a minor delay. It’d only mean hanging around in Bellaroo Creek for an extra month to six weeks. He did what he could to stop his lip from curling.
‘I forgot you had judo training. You received your training certificate before you went off to university, didn’t you?’
He nodded. Teaching judo had helped pay his way through university.
‘Excellent! That’ll be another winner. I can’t tell you both how much I appreciate it. I’ll be in touch to fine-tune the details,’ Stacy said. ‘Now, Cam, my lower field.’
‘We need to talk drainage and fund-raising.’
She sighed. ‘Just as I feared. We might have to leave that all for another day,’ she said, leading them to the door. ‘But many thanks for coming out here and taking a look. Take care, the both of you.’
Cam glanced at Tess as they set off for the front gate. Was she all right? Dealing with Krissie’s and Ty’s fears and insecurities had to be taking its toll. He didn’t doubt for a moment that she loved them, but…She’d essentially gone from fêted musician to a single mother of two needy children in the blink of an eye. It couldn’t be easy. Some days it must be bloody heartbreaking and exhausting. ‘Are you okay?’
One shoulder lifted, but lines of fatigue fanned out from her eyes. ‘Sure.’ When he didn’t say anything she glanced up, grimaced and shrugged again. ‘Some days it feels as if we take one step forward and three steps back.’
He couldn’t think of anything to say that didn’t sound like a platitude or the accepted wisdom she already knew.
‘I know it’ll get better with time.’
But how much time? And how ragged would she run herself in the meantime? He glanced at her again and bit back a curse.
‘You did that for Ty’s and Krissie’s sakes, didn’t you?’ she said, when they reached their cars. She blinked in the sunlight. ‘Offering to teach judo.’
He chose his words carefully. ‘I think if they feel they can defend themselves, they’ll become a little more…relaxed.’
‘I don’t doubt that for a single moment, but…’
But? He shifted. ‘I don’t teach fighting as a good or positive thing to do, Tess. Judo is about self-discipline and learning how to defend yourself.’
‘Oh, it’s not that!’ She actually looked shocked by the idea. ‘But…’ she glanced around as if afraid of being overheard ‘…I thought you were leaving town?’
He rolled his shoulders. ‘I am. That hasn’t changed.’ He wanted them very clear on that. ‘But there’s still a lot of work to sort out on Kurrajong. Hanging around until the end of the school term means I won’t be leaving it all for my station manager to sort out.’ He gritted his teeth. What was a month?
Besides, it had struck him afresh in Stacy’s office that while he was fighting not to turn into his father, that was exactly what he was in danger of becoming. Just like his father, he’d withdrawn from the community and thrown himself into work on the station. Leaving Bellaroo Creek and involving himself in a cause he was passionate about would ensure that history didn’t repeat, but in the meantime he had to fight that inward impulse as much as he could. Even if it meant coming face-to-face with Lance and Fiona some time in the near future.
What would that matter? In three months he’d be in Africa.
In the meantime, he would not bury himself on Kurrajong Station with all of his bitterness and shattered dreams. He thrust his shoulders back. He’d get the chance to explore new horizons, stretch his wings, and shake the dust of this godforsaken place from his boots soon enough.
‘You know, I’d kill for a piece of butter cake with orange icing right about now.’
He blinked himself back into the present. ‘Sorry, Tess, I’m afraid the town doesn’t stretch to a bakery.’ Though rumour had it that might change in the not too distant future with Milla Brady coming home. One could only hope.
‘It doesn’t mean I can’t make a cake of my own, though.’
True enough. He opened her car door for her. ‘You think it’ll cheer Krissie up?’
‘It may well do,’ she said with a shrug, but a cheeky grin peeped through. ‘Mostly I just want one because I’m famished!’
He laughed, noting the way her shoulders had started to loosen.
‘I don’t know what it is about the air out here, but my appetite suddenly seems to know no bounds.’
‘Will you have time for a lesson on the lawnmower this afternoon? It’s in perfect working order again and I thought I might bring it over.’ It occurred to him that it might be a good idea for Tess to have company this afternoon.
‘Oh, that’ll be perfect! I’ll feed you cake, and you can teach me the fine art of lawnmower riding.’
‘Deal.’
He tried to ignore the excitement that curled in his stomach as she drove away. He was teaching her how to use the ride-on, that was all. If he was lucky it might stop her from brooding. End of story.
Cam drove the mower into the backyard. From her position at the kitchen window Tess’s gaze zeroed in on those impressive shoulders and the strongly defined muscles of his upper arms, and her breath hitched.
She leaned closer to get a better look. She fanned her face. She jumped when the oven timer dinged.
She wrenched her gaze away. It had been an emotional morning. This was a carry-over reaction from that. She shied away from the ‘emotional’ part of that thought too. It made her insides start to wobble again, and she was getting tired of wobbling, of feeling the ground constantly shifting beneath her feet.
‘Come on through,’ she hollered before he could knock on the back door.
She pulled the cake from the oven and, although she sensed him standing behind her, she set the cake on the bench and just
