New Arrivals: Surprise Baby for Him: The Cattleman's Adopted Family / The Soldier's Homecoming / Marriage for Baby. Melissa McClone

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       Chapter Two

      SETH wasn’t exaggerating his desire for a hasty departure.

      Fortunately, Bella didn’t kick up a fuss when she was suddenly strapped into a booster seat in the back of his dual-cabin ute. The little girl was mildly puzzled, but she’d lunched on Vegemite and cheese sandwiches, a banana and milk, so she obligingly fell asleep soon after they left Tamundra.

      Rain streamed down the windows, making the sky and the trees a grey blur. Amy could see nothing but a small view, cleared by the wipers, of the muddy red track in front of the vehicle.

      Apparently it would be dark by the time they got to Seth’s property, but despite the prospect of a long journey he didn’t seem inclined to talk. Whenever Amy stole a glance his way, he looked utterly relaxed and competent, his sun-browned hands resting lightly on the steering wheel as he skilfully negotiated the rough and slippery surface.

      Amy supposed he would look equally relaxed and competent on the back of a horse, or driving a tractor.

      She was surprised that she wasn’t more worried about heading into the wilderness with a man she hardly knew. Seth Reardon was different from almost any man she’d ever met, and she could totally understand how Rachel had been both attracted to him, and cautious about sharing her life with him.

      He was clearly at ease in his own skin, but he had the wary intelligence of a loner—the Outback equivalent of street smarts, she supposed. More than likely, he never allowed anyone to get too close, which meant it wasn’t going to be easy to find the right moment to tell him that Bella was his daughter.

      And yet, the weight of her secret loomed large. She would be relieved to finally get it off her chest.

      Needing to make conversation, she asked tentatively, ‘Have you lived here on Cape York all your life?’

      Seth shook his head. ‘I moved up here when I was twelve.’

      Amy waited for him to expand on this and when he didn’t, she dived in with more questions. It was ridiculous to waste this golden opportunity for a getting-to-know-you chat.

      ‘Where did you live before that?’

      ‘In Sydney.’

      ‘Really?’

      ‘Does that surprise you?’ he asked, sliding a quick glance her way.

      ‘I was expecting you to say that you moved here from another cattle property in Queensland.’ Bustling, metropolitan Sydney was as alien to this environment as her own home in Melbourne. ‘Coming here must have been a big change for you.’

      Seth nodded. ‘I came after my father died, to live with my uncle.’

      ‘So it was a very big change,’ Amy said quietly, and she was unexpectedly moved by the thought of him as a grieving, lonely boy, on the cusp of adolescence, leaving his friends in the city to live so far away.

      She wanted to ask him about his mother. Why hadn’t she been able to look after him when his father died? Why had he been moved into an uncle’s care?

      A glance at the set lines in Seth’s face, however, silenced further questions.

      The rain continued as they drove on.

      The relentless downpour and Seth’s rather grim silence were enough to make Amy feel sorry for herself. It wasn’t her habit to be self-pitying, but the weeks since Rachel’s accident had been rough and she wasn’t quite sure how she’d managed, actually.

      She’d made the decision to care for Bella swiftly. On the night of the accident she’d gone to Rachel’s house, numb with shock, and paid the sitter, then tiptoed into the little room where Bella lay innocently asleep.

      She’d looked down at the little girl’s soft, chubby-cheeked face, at her closed eyes and her soft, dark eyelashes and her heart had almost broken.

      There’d been no question. She had to devote herself to caring for Rachel’s daughter. A succession of babysitters could never provide the round-the-clock security and stability a two-year-old needed.

      But the transition from marketing to motherhood hadn’t been easy, especially when in the midst of it all, Amy’s boyfriend, Dominic, had suggested that they both needed time out…to give each other some space.

      Amy had known it was the thin edge of the wedge that would crack their relationship irreparably apart. Dominic was jealous of the closeness she’d СКАЧАТЬ