Claiming His Family. Barbara Hannay

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      She leapt to her feet, needing to defend herself, to swipe that stony accusation from Luke’s eyes. But she was trapped by his ruthless gaze—like an escaping prisoner caught in a searchlight’s beam, her guilt exposed. ‘That’s unfair and you know it.’

      ‘It’s plain logic, Erin. You said Joey’s a smart kid. Smart kids worry. I’m just trying to see how the boy might view this.’

      ‘Okay, I’ll tell you how he views this. He loves me. I—I’ve been a good mom to him. I’ve been better than that. I’ve been great.’

      ‘I don’t think that’s in question.’

      ‘And he idolises you. I might be his mother, but you’re his hero, Luke. He’s got you on such a high pedestal you’ll need a parachute to get down.’

      Taken aback, Luke scratched the back of his neck. ‘How did that happen?’

      Erin shrugged. She was too tired and emotional to try to analyse the complexities of the absent father scenario now. ‘Look,’ she said. ‘I’ve never said a word against you to Joey, and I need you to promise that you won’t tell him things that will turn him against me.’

      ‘Of course. I promise you have my word on that.’

      She blinked hard as her eyes filled with sudden tears. ‘Joey knows he’ll be going back to New York with me at the end of this holiday.’

      Luke made no comment.

      ‘And—’ She gulped; her throat had constricted over a knot of pain. ‘I’ve made it very clear to him that there’s no chance of us becoming a family again.’

      ‘I see.’ Luke stood abruptly and looked down at her from his too impressive height.

      If only she’d put shoes on. Her bare feet were sinking into the deep pile of the carpet and, beside Luke, she felt too short. ‘There’s one last thing that’s very important,’ she said.

      The line of his mouth tightened. ‘What’s that?’

      ‘I want you to promise that you’ll take really good care of Joey.’

      Unexpected fury darkened his face. ‘Of course I’ll take bloody good care of him. How can you even ask that?’

      ‘Who’s going to look after Joey while you’re off mending fences or shifting cattle?’

      ‘I’ll be with him all the time.’

      ‘But—’

      ‘My cousin is managing Warrapinya these days.’

      ‘Really? I didn’t even know you had a cousin.’

      ‘Keith and his wife used to live on a station way out the back of Lake Nash, but these days Keith looks after the running of our place, so I’ll be free to spend time with Joey.’

      Erin stared at him, shocked. Luke’s prolonged absences while he attended to the thousand and one jobs needed to run Warrapinya had been a major cause of their break-up.

      When she’d lived on Warrapinya it hadn’t mattered how many employees Luke had—jackaroos, ringers or cooks—Luke had held himself responsible. He was the boss and the boss always went mustering, was always there for the tough work, the dirty work like fencing, dam building, branding, or breaking in horses. He’d maintained that he should take on the dangerous tasks rather than a worker.

      If there was a wild scrub bull to be caught, it was the boss who led the way. Once a windmill’s blades had gone berserk in a gale and the entire top threatened to tear off. Nails, the station handyman, had been going to climb up and disconnect the sails, but Luke had insisted on attending to it.

      He’d claimed that running Warrapinya was more than a hands-on job. It was a hearts-on job.

      Now it was beyond disconcerting to hear that in five short years Luke had delegated someone else to run Warrapinya for him. Joey would have his father’s undivided attention. She should have been pleased, but instead she was fighting anger and hurt. ‘I—I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to Joey,’ she said quickly.

      ‘What’s going to happen? What the hell are you talking about?’

      ‘The Outback’s so dangerous.’

      With a groan, Luke flung back his head and stared at the ceiling. When he looked at her again, his eyes were blistering. ‘You haven’t filled Joey’s head with that kind of bull, have you?’

      ‘No.’

      ‘I suppose you’ve told him that’s why you left—because you were terrified of the Outback?’

      ‘No!’

      Jaw jutting belligerently, he stared at the toe of his riding boot and then flicked his gaze back to her. ‘But that was it, wasn’t it, Erin? It wasn’t so much that we couldn’t live together as that you couldn’t live in the bush.’

      There was no point in having this conversation. It was ancient history; their divorce was a fait accompli.

      When Erin refused to answer, Luke took an intimidating step towards her.

      With her shoulders braced, she said, ‘You know it wasn’t just that.’

      ‘Okay…just to refresh my memory…what exactly was our problem?’

      ‘For heaven’s sake, it’s not worth dragging that up now.’

      ‘Come on, Erin, you can do better than that.’

      ‘How can you ask now? It’s too late.’ Through clenched teeth, she added, ‘It’s five years too late.’

      ‘I couldn’t ask you five years ago. You ran away.’

      ‘You didn’t try to contact me after I left, Luke. You could have asked questions then.’ Shaking with a deluge of anger and despair, she felt tears stand in her eyes. ‘When I left Warrapinya, you yelled after me to go to hell. ‘Good riddance’, you yelled. And then, you never once tried to telephone me. There wasn’t a word, Luke. You knew Joey was sick, but you never rang to find out how he was. Not once. You didn’t want to know.’

      Until she’d written to Luke to request a meeting with Joey he’d been silent. For five years he’d worn his stubborn pride like a badge of courage. The only contact had been via his lawyer and his accountant who supervised the regular deposits into her bank account for Joey’s maintenance.

      Now Luke stood facing her, his eyes bright with fury. A muscle clenched near his jaw line, but then he shook his head slowly. ‘You’re right,’ he said. ‘You’re tired and jet lagged and this is the wrong time to try to discuss this.’

      Without another word, he turned and strode quickly out of the room.

      The door closed behind him and an angry sob rose in Erin’s throat. She might have given way to tears, but there was a sound behind her and she turned to find Joey standing in the doorway of his bedroom, squinting into the light.

      ‘Oh, СКАЧАТЬ