MORNING IT was raining harder than ever.
Out of habit, Ellie woke early and slipped out of bed, leaving Jacko curled asleep. She dressed quickly and went to the kitchen and, to her surprise Joe was already up, dressed and drinking a mug of tea.
He turned and greeted her with only the faintest trace of a smile. ‘Morning.’
‘Good morning.’ Ellie flicked the kettle to bring it back to the boil and looked out of the window at the wall of thick grey rain. ‘It’s been raining all night. You won’t want to waste time getting over the river.’
Joe nodded. ‘I’ll need to get going, but I’m worried about you and Jacko. You could be cut off.’
‘Yeah, well, that happens most wet seasons.’ She reached for a mug and a tea bag. ‘I’m used to it and we’re well stocked up.’
Joe was frowning, and Ellie wondered if frowning was his new default expression.
‘It’s hardly an ideal situation,’ he said. ‘A woman and a little child, isolated and alone out here. It’s crazy. What if Jacko gets sick or injured?’
‘Crikey, Joe. Since when has that worried you? We’ve been living here since he was born, you know.’
‘But you haven’t been cut off by flood waters.’
‘I have, actually.’
He glared at her, and an emotion halfway between anger and despair shimmered in his eyes.
Ellie tried for nonchalance as she poured boiling water into her mug.
Joe cleared his throat. ‘I think I should stay.’
Startled, Ellie almost scalded herself. ‘You mean stay here with us?’
‘Just till the river goes down again.’
‘Joe, we’re divorced.’
His blue eyes glittered. ‘I’m aware of that.’
‘And...and it’s almost Christmas.’ Last night they’d struggled through an unbearably strained meal together. They couldn’t possibly manage something as festive as Christmas.
Ellie was supposed to be spending Christmas Day with her neighbours and good friends, the Andersons, although, if the creek stayed high, as well as the river, that might not be an option.
Of course, her mother had originally wanted her to go home to New South Wales, but Ellie had declined on several grounds. Number one—she wasn’t comfortable around her stepfather, for reasons her mother had turned a deaf ear to. As well as that, up until yesterday, she’d been dealing, ironically, with drought. Her priority had been the state of her cattle—and then clearing things up with Joe.
The Joe factor was well and truly sorted, and sharing Christmas with him would be a disaster. Being divorced and forced to stay together would be a thousand times bigger strain than being married and apart.
‘There’s absolutely no need for you to stay, Joe. I really don’t think it’s a good idea.’
‘It was just a suggestion,’ he said tightly. ‘I was only thinking of your safety.’
‘Thanks. That’s thoughtful.’ Feeling awkward, Ellie fiddled with the handle of her tea mug. ‘You know drought and floods are part and parcel of living in this country.’
With a brief shrug, Joe drained his mug and placed it in the sink. ‘I should head off then, before the river gets any higher.’
‘But you haven’t had breakfast.’
‘As you pointed out, it wouldn’t be wise to wait. It’s been raining all night and the river’s rising every minute. I’ve packed the solicitor’s papers. I’ll drop them in at Bligh’s office.’
‘Right.’ Ellie set her tea mug aside, no longer able to drink it.
Joe’s duffel bag was already packed and zipped, and the swag he’d used for sleeping on the study floor was neatly rolled and strapped. Seemed the Army had turned him into a neat freak.
‘I’ve also fixed Jacko’s cot,’ he said.
‘You must have got up early.’
Without answering, he reached for his duffel bag and swung it over one shoulder. ‘I wasn’t sure where to put the Christmas presents, so I stowed them under the desk in the study. Hope that’s OK?’
‘That...that’s fine, thanks, Joe.’ Ellie wished she didn’t feel quite so downbeat. ‘I hope you haven’t spoiled Jacko with too many presents.’
She winced as she said this. She didn’t really mind how many presents Joe had bought. This was one of his few chances to play the role of a father. She’d been trying for a light-hearted comment and had totally missed the mark.
Now, Joe’s cold, hollow laugh chilled her to the bone.
His face seemed to be carved from stone as he turned to leave. ‘Well, all the best, Ellie.’
‘Hang on. I’ll wake Jacko so you can say goodbye to him, too.’
‘Don’t disturb him.’
‘You’ve got to say goodbye.’ Ellie was close to tears. ‘Actually, we’ll come out to the river crossing with you. We can follow you in the ute. Just in case there’s a problem.’
‘There won’t be a problem.’
To her dismay, her tears were threatening to fall. ‘Joe, humour me. I want to see you safely off this property.’
For the first time, a faint smile glimmered. ‘Of course you do.’
* * *
Ellie parked on a ridge above the concrete causeway that crossed the river and peered through the rain at the frothing, muddy flood rushing below.
She could see the bright blue of Joe’s hire car parked just above the waterline and his dark-coated figure standing on the bank, hands on hips as he studied the river.
‘I think it’s already too high,’ she said glumly to Jacko. The river level was much, much higher than she’d expected. Clearly, the waters from the north had already reached them overnight.
She felt a flurry of panic. Did this mean that Joe would have to stay with them for Christmas after all? How on earth would they cope with the strain?
Even as she wondered this, Joe took off his coat, tossed it back into his vehicle, then began to walk back to the swirling current.
He wasn’t going in there, surely?
‘Joe!’ Ellie yelled, leaping out of the ute. ‘Don’t be mad. You can’t go in there.’
He showed no sign that he’d heard her. No doubt he was as keen to leave her as she was to see him go, but marching into a racing torrent was madness.
Ellie
