in uniform, have you, you naughty thing?” Cassie Monroe—or Miss Monroe to the students—raised her eyebrows up and gave her lips a tell-me-more twist. Her friend and colleague didn’t do subtle.
“Hardly!” Liesel shot back at her colleague, a bit more spiritedly than she’d intended.
“Did you get his number?” Cassie continued, as if Liesel hadn’t said a thing.
Liesel sent her a meaningful glare. A glare that she hoped said, Stop talking right now!
“You’re going to see him again, right?”
Nope. Guess the glare hadn’t worked.
“I hardly think it’s appropriate—”
“Anything’s appropriate,” Cassie interrupted, “when you’re trying to get back on the horse again.”
“I’m not trying to get on anything—horsey or otherwise.” This conversation was definitely not going in the right direction.
“Liesel.” Cassie fixed her with a loving glare, hands planted on her shoulders. “It’s time to get back out there and you’re the only one who doesn’t know it.”
“Come along, children.” Liesel actively avoided responding. “Let’s start getting on the bus. Everyone sure they haven’t left anything behind? Rickie—have you got your backpack?”
She felt Cassie sidle up beside her and heard a whisper in her ear. “You’re not going to get away with the silent treatment this time, my dear.” She felt her arm receive a good solid pinch. “After school. Playground. I want details about the hot new fireman.”
Rubbing away the sting of Cassie’s pinch, Liesel couldn’t help but grin back at her friend. They had only known each other since the beginning of term, when Liesel had taken up her new contract. Cassie’s thirteen-year-old son appeared at the nurses’ station a bit too frequently—the only plus side being that the two women had become pretty well acquainted. A couple of girlie nights in, a few tips about where to shop, a detailed who’s who at the school and Cassie had already proved to be a great friend.
Liesel hadn’t known a soul out here in wine country and meeting a fellow single mum, even if Cassie’s son was much older than her own, had taken the edge off the anxiety she’d felt at making the decision to move away from her parents’ house in Adelaide.
In reality, there had been no other option. A disastrous fortnight at the city’s biggest A and E department had proved crisis management was no longer her forte. The other staff had known her situation and had hovered over her, making her feel more paranoid and edgy than confident and comfortable. The two-week tenure had culminated in a disastrous incident where she’d completely frozen over a patient with a gory chainsaw injury. Unacceptable. She’d fired herself before the bosses had had a chance to do it for her.
She’d made the move to Engleton and it just had to work. She didn’t have the energy, or the money, for more change. Small-town life and a job she could do without turning into a bundle of nerves were meant to put an end to chaos. To the memories. And maybe, just maybe, one day she and Liam would be more than a family of two.
In truth, she had been pleasantly surprised to discover her new posting as a school nurse was less calm and more “commotion” than she’d originally thought it might be. Mundane had been her goal but, as usual these days, she found she hadn’t quite made the right call. Apart from the requisite paperwork, it was great fun to spend time with the children, even if she interacted with most of them when they weren’t at their best.
She still had to force herself to take each case as it came, but the occasional heart-racer—a broken collarbone, a deep cut to the forehead, a pencil stabbed into an unsuspecting student’s arm—had all been little teasers reawakening the Liesel who’d spent over five years thriving off the high-stakes charge of saving lives. It was a life she thought she’d needed to lay to rest. But now she felt as though it was her personal mission to provide the children with a safe haven in the school. Everyone deserved that when they were in pain—to feel secure.
It was why she had moved back home after giving birth to Liam. Being on the mountain—the mountain that had taken Eric’s life—had been just too much. His parents had been amazing, more supportive than she could have ever imagined, and knowing Liam wouldn’t be able to see his paternal grandparents as often as they wished made the decision even harder. They did their best to make her feel a part of their own family, but when her own parents had flown over to see her and meet Liam she’d known in an instant where she belonged. Home. Australia. Where the hot sun and burnt landscape provided no memories of the snowcapped mountains where her heart had been ripped from her chest three short years ago.
Liesel skipped up the steps of the bus and grinned at the sight of the children jockeying for the “top spots.” Nothing had changed from when she was a kid. Front seats and backseats were still the most popular and now the mayhem of fifteen children organizing themselves in the middle rows played out in front of her.
The seven-year-olds had clearly had a wonderful time at the farm. Some carefully held eggs in Mr. Jones’s distinctive red cartons in their laps. A gaggle of children were plastering their faces to the windows to catch final glimpses of the sheep and cattle. Others were talking about helping feed the orphaned lambs, and it was just about impossible not to hear Devlin already bragging about how he’d helped the fireman pull apart the iron bars with his own hands to get free of the crush. A quick glimpse toward the barn and she could just see him swinging into the cab of his truck. Yum. Talk about eye candy!
Liesel felt Cassie sending her a knowing look as Jack’s name was bandied about by the children. She sent her friend a smirk and didn’t bother to hide her grin.
This was good. She didn’t feel she was just convincing herself now. It was good. Being around the children all day reminded her of life’s endless possibilities. A year ago she could only see dead ends. Now? Now she was ready to slowly start carving out a new life for herself and Liam.
The last thing in the world she wanted for her son was to have his life curtailed by her grief. It had taken every ounce of energy she’d possessed, but when her parents had offered her use of their holiday let—their “retirement fund”—for the first few months she spent out here in Engleton, she’d gratefully accepted. She’d have to move out when the summer holidays came, but that was a bridge to cross in a few months. It was as if fate had been giving her a gentle nudge. Go on, it had said, take a chance.
Liesel sank into a seat near the driver, a little sigh slipping through her lips. For her son, she would take chances.
This was Jack’s favorite stretch of road along the Murray Valley and he’d missed it. No doubt about it. Four years was a long time to stay away from home. There’d been phone calls, but a clean break had been called for and he had made it easy for everyone by packing a bag and leaving.
Intuitively, Jack guided the truck through the sloping hills that spilled into a wide river basin. The land was thick with spring vines unfurling new leaves and clutches of miniature grapes. Next year’s wine.
He glanced at the cloudless sky, knowing his background had built in a need to check the weather at regular intervals. His father had done it instinctively and now—well, the apple hadn’t fallen too far from the tree. Just a bit farther than usual.
As the moments ticked past he was surprised to see he’d managed to get to the end of the valley without even noticing. It didn’t take a brain surgeon
