Outback Secrets by Rachael Johns

Chapter Fifteen

When Henri walked into The Palace on Sunday night, her belly wobbled as if she’d just stepped off the Gravitron ride at the Perth Royal Show. The thoughts inside her head were so loud she barely registered the sounds of Radiohead blasting from the stereo, or who else was around. She hadn’t seen Liam since 3 am that morning when he’d escaped to have a shower and she’d fallen asleep on the couch.

Exactly six hours later she’d woken to an empty apartment—no sign of him, no sign of Sheila, only the faintest hint of aftershave still lingering in the bathroom. She’d dressed quickly and gone downstairs, thinking she’d find him in the office, the storeroom or out in the workshop, but she couldn’t find him anywhere.

It was then that she first wondered if he’d disappeared on purpose. Had she pushed him too far asking probing questions about his family?

She’d gone home, hoping to find something outside to distract her but had been roped into helping her mum, nieces and nephews make gingerbread houses instead. Not exactly the manual labour she’d felt she needed and, although she’d been busy and distracted by the kids, she hadn’t been distracted enough not to have plenty of time to stress about Liam.

All day she’d been trying to convince herself she was worrying about nothing. Perhaps he’d simply had somewhere else to be that morning and hadn’t wanted to wake her to say goodbye?

Whatever the case, she’d dithered about coming in tonight, eating popcorn and watching Elf on TV with her mum and Macy, who was sleeping over again because Tilley and James had a Christmas function on in Geraldton. When the movie finally ended, her mother had wanted to know whether Henri was heading into town tonight, and she’d been tempted to say no and stay home, but decided it was best to face Liam and see where they stood. To apologise if she’d overstepped the mark last night.

If he wanted to end their charade, she’d understand. It had been a ridiculous idea and a lot to ask of a near stranger anyway, but the thought of not having an excuse to spend time with him anymore left her numb. Maybe she could offer to continue the surfing lessons anyway?

As the multicoloured fly strips swished behind her, Liam glanced up. Their gazes snagged and Henri’s breath caught in her throat.

She’d never be able to look at the logo of an alcohol company again without her heart beating a little faster. Or eat a Tim Tam.

Ignoring the urge to turn and run away, she hitched her bag on her shoulder, held her chin high and headed towards him.

‘Hey!’ he said as he came around the bar and leaned in to give her a quick kiss. ‘You smell like ginger.’

‘That’d be because I’ve spent the whole day surrounded by it. I was helping Mum make gingerbread houses with the kids.’

‘Yum. Did you bring me any? As your boyfriend, shouldn’t I at least get a sample?’

She relaxed immediately. If he was joking about being her boyfriend, he couldn’t be too mad. ‘Sorry. Didn’t think. I’ll see if there’s any left and bring you some tomorrow.’

‘All good.’ He placed his hand in the small of her back and led her over to the bar.

Henri said ‘Hi’ to Dylan, who was loading clean glasses from a tray onto the shelves beneath the bar, and then climbed up on a stool next to Sexy Rexy—a name as ill-fitting as ever there was, but that was country folks for you. They loved nicknames and they loved irony. She nodded an acknowledgement.

Miraculously, the town drunk didn’t skedaddle away as he normally did when she attempted conversation. Maybe it was because Henri was later than usual, and he had enough Dutch courage to make talking to strange women not quite as scary.

‘Can I get you a drink?’ Liam asked.

‘Rumour has it you make a pretty good cocktail.’

Liam lowered his head in one slow nod. ‘That rumour would be correct.’

‘Excellent. Then I’ll have a Sex on the Beach, please.’

Where the hell had that come from? Henri didn’t even know what Sex on the Beach entailed—well, not the drink variety; the literal variety she imagined would be very, very sandy and not particularly comfortable. But if the colour Liam’s cheeks suddenly turned was anything to go by, then he was thinking about the latter as well.

Her Kegel muscles squeezed of their own accord.

‘Coming right up,’ he said, already starting to gather the ingredients.

As she watched him skilfully mix vodka with peach schnapps, orange and cranberry juice, her thoughts once again turned to last night. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d stayed up that late, or rather early.

The game of Truth or Dare had made the night feel flirtatious, even though a lot of what she’d told him had been anything but light. It was one of the weirdest conversations she’d ever had because the serious nature of what she’d shared had felt in stark contrast to the low-level hum sparking between them.

‘Here you go, one Sex on the Beach.’ Liam placed a glass containing a colourful drink topped with one of those paper umbrellas in front of her. ‘Enjoy.’

He kept a straight face, but Henri felt fireworks skate across her cheeks. She really couldn’t work him out. Was he flirting with her or merely in character?

‘Thank you,’ she managed, then took a much-needed sip of the cool, sweetly delicious liquid.

‘You’re more than welcome.’

‘I missed our surfing lesson this morning.’

‘I didn’t want to wake you because you looked so comfy, but I had something I had to do. Sorry, I probably should have left a note but I’m still getting used to this whole relationship thing.’

She smiled. ‘You and me both. And it’s fine. Glad everything was okay.’

‘Of course.’ He nodded slowly, his eyes trained on hers, telling her he too was referring to their conversation last night.

The knowledge that she hadn’t ruined things between them relaxed her.

‘Planning on watching more Christmas movies tonight?’ he asked.

‘Don’t start that again. Unless you like being a loser, because I’m prepared to argue to the death!’

Liam’s lips flickered upwards. ‘Well, don’t fall asleep on the couch, because I’ll be a little later than usual and I don’t want to wake you when I come in.’

‘Oh? What are you up to?’ Her ridiculous heart wondered if he was meeting someone—a female someone—not that it was any of her business. Unless he wasn’t discreet and someone in town saw him with someone else. The situation was already complicated enough without people jumping to the conclusion that Liam had two women on the go.

He lowered his voice. ‘I’m going to deliver Dolce’s rocking chair.’

‘I’ll help you,’ she offered. ‘That rocking chair must be pretty heavy.’

‘It’s fine. I’m used to lifting heavy stuff on my own.’

‘It doesn’t mean you have to.’ Granted, Liam was a big, muscly guy but it still wouldn’t be easy to move that masterpiece around on his own. Especially not in the dark, while trying to be all stealth-like. It was the least she could do considering all he was doing for her.

‘Okay. If you insist. I might close up slightly earlier than usual anyway, because it’s quietened down now.’

As if fate wanted to prove him a liar, at that exact moment, there was a shout from the corner near the pool table. ‘You fucking bastard!’

Even before she’d turned to see Jaxon Bird’s hands wrapped around Brad McDonald’s neck as he slammed him onto the table, Liam charged around the bar. Sheila, who’d been dead to the world moments earlier, was right behind him, baring her teeth. Liam launched himself at the boys, dragging Jaxon off his so-called friend and holding them both at arm’s length as Sheila stood between them all. Even from the bar, you could hear her growling. Although Jaxon looked to have made the first move, Brad bounced up and down on the spot like a caged beast ready to strike, and Henri worried that Liam might become collateral damage.

‘That’s enough. Calm the hell down or you’re both banned from the pub till next year,’ he ordered.

Although Henri stilled at the authority in Liam’s voice, it was like neither of the boys actually heard him.

‘What the hell, man! She’s my ex-girlfriend,’ Jaxon shouted.

‘You two were just kids when you were together,’ Brad retorted. ‘I’m showing her what it’s like to be with a man!’

‘Fuck you!’ Henri flinched as Jaxon shoved Liam out of his way as he laid into Brad again. ‘You hurt her, and I’ll fucking kill you!’

Dylan ditched the bottle of wine he’d been holding and ran to offer assistance.

Liam grabbed both offenders by the scruff of their necks. ‘I’ll kill the both of you if you don’t stop disturbing the peace!’

He started to drag them towards the door, shoving Brad at Dylan. The tall Welsh bartender caught him as if he were a rugby ball.

‘They’ll be right,’ Sexy Rexy said as Liam and Dylan escorted the boys from the building.

Henri had almost forgotten he was here. Nerves pulsed from her belly up to her throat. ‘I hope so.’

‘Liam can handle those two babies. I’ve seen him deal with a lot worse.’

She prayed they’d do as they were told as she took another sip of her cocktail. ‘By the way, I’m Henri Forward. Not sure we’ve ever been properly introduced. You work for the shire, right?’

Sexy Rexy nodded and thrust out his hand, which she shook firmly despite the fact it was warm and sticky. ‘Rex Carter. I’m the chief executive officer of the Bunyip Bay Waste Recovery Park.’

‘Sounds like a big job,’ she said, taking a sip of her drink to hide her smile. She’d only ever heard it called the rubbish tip, and CEO? That was a bit of a stretch. ‘Do you come here a lot?’

The man glared daggers at her. ‘What are you trying to say? You think I’m a drunk? You think I have nothing better to do with my time?’

‘No. Sorry. Nothing like that.’ Although if the shoe fits. Henri tried for a placating smile. ‘I was just thinking that must mean you know Liam quite well.’

His face softened. ‘Yeah. You could say that. He’s a good bloke. If it weren’t for him, I probably wouldn’t be sitting here right now, and I reckon I’m probably not the only one.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘After me wife up and left with me brother, I started coming here of an evening just to get out of the quiet house. Drowned my sorrows in Jack Daniels. But after a while even JD didn’t make me feel any better. When I didn’t show up here one night, Liam came around to my place. Broke down me door and found me passed out in me bed. He called the ambos and they got me back.’ He glanced down into his glass, which was almost empty. ‘Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to kill him for stuffing up my plans, but he didn’t give up on me. He told me how he enjoys our chats and said he’d miss me if I wasn’t around. And well, it might sound stupid, but …’

‘It doesn’t sound stupid,’ Henri said, barely managing to get the words out around the lump that had formed in her throat. She’d already suspected that Liam wasn’t just a good-looking guy but also a truly good one, and this just proved it. His patrons weren’t just customers to him—he cared about each and every one of them.

‘These days, I only drink the light stuff,’ Rex continued as he lifted the pint and downed the dregs. ‘And Liam makes sure I stop before I start getting too down in the dumps. He also encouraged me to go for a promotion when it came up at the tip, and now I get to boss people instead of the other way.’

‘That’s great,’ Henri said, glancing back towards the door, wondering what was taking Liam and Dylan so long.

Just when she was thinking that maybe she should call Drew, the fly strips parted and Liam, Sheila and Dylan stepped through.

‘Oh my God.’ Henri leapt from her stool at the sight of blood spilling from Liam’s lip. ‘Who did that to you?’

He shook his head. ‘It doesn’t matter. I’m just gonna go clean up.’ Then he walked around the bar and into the kitchen behind.

Dylan looked at Henri. ‘Can you go help him? I’m not good with blood.’ When she hesitated, he added, ‘Or I can go upstairs and get Lara. It’s her night off but she’ll be awake binge-watching Schitt’s Creek.’

‘No, course not. I’ll help.’ Henri slid off the stool. Of course as the girlfriend she should be the one patching him up, but in all the drama she’d forgotten about their charade.

She walked around the bar and into the now-empty kitchen—last orders were hours ago, and Macca and the kitchen staff had left—to find Liam leaning against a counter, an icepack pressed against his lip, Sheila standing guard right beside him; she was such a good dog. Henri wasn’t sure what else she could do but offer commiserations.

‘Youch, that looks painful,’ she said.

He raised one eyebrow at her.

‘Sorry—stating the obvious. Bad habit of mine. It probably feels even worse than it looks. Do you need any help cleaning it up?’

He lowered the icepack and angled his face towards her. ‘Has it stopped bleeding?’

Henri stepped up close. ‘I think so,’ she murmured, resisting the urge to reach out and cup his cheek. ‘Are you gunna press charges?’

‘Nah, he didn’t mean it. And I was young once. I know what it’s like to get all worked up over a girl.’

‘You’re a lot more forgiving than I am,’ she said. ‘I didn’t even know Jaxon and Brad were old enough to drink.’

‘Only just. Jaxon celebrated his eighteenth here only a few weeks ago. Brad a couple of months before that. They’re good kids mostly. They’ll be in tomorrow to apologise, I’m sure.’

Liam washed his face and cleaned up, joking that Macca would kill him for messing up his kitchen. Then they switched off the lights and headed back out to the bar, which was now deserted.

‘Bet her touch was much better than mine,’ Dylan said as he finished sweeping the floor. He leaned the broom against the bar. ‘I’ve locked up and turned off the taps. Anything else you want me to do before I go?’

Liam shook his head. ‘Thanks, mate. See you tomorrow.’

When Dylan disappeared, he hit Henri with a now-crooked smile. ‘You ready for our late-night delivery?’

‘Are you sure you’re still up for it?’

‘I’m not going to let a little cut get me down, but if you’d rather not join me—’

‘I’m coming,’ she said firmly, then glanced down at Sheila. ‘She coming too?’

‘No, we’ll leave her here. Don’t want her to see a possum or something and start barking.’

Henri followed Liam out the back door and over to the workshop, where his red Hilux was parked. Light from a lone streetlight lit up their path and Henri felt a flicker of excitement as she realised this was the first time they’d been alone-alone. Most of the time they had an audience, or at least Sheila acting as chaperone.

Hopefully oblivious to the workings of her mind, Liam slid open the heavy door and flicked on a switch. She inhaled the scent of wood chips and varnish as light spilled over Dolce’s rocking chair, which was waiting just inside the door.

‘Wow,’ Henri gasped as she took a proper look at it. All polished and shiny, it looked like something you might pay hundreds of dollars for. ‘Dolce’s one lucky old bird.’

‘I hope she likes it.’ He bent down to lift one end. ‘You take the other side so you’re walking forward.’

Henri did as she was told, noticing that pieces of wood were laid out across his work bench.

‘What are you working on now?’ she asked as they shuffled outside and carefully heaved the chair onto the tray of the ute, which Liam had already lined with a heavy blanket to avoid damage.

‘Just fiddling with a few ideas.’ He gestured to a thick yellow cord on her side of the tray. ‘Do you mind passing me that rope?’

She picked it up and tossed it to him, then watched as he started to secure the chair, tying very impressive knots. Was there anything his hands couldn’t do?

Henri swallowed—don’t even go there—and focused on the job before them. ‘So, what’s the plan?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘How are we actually going to do this?’

As he finished what he was doing, he explained they’d drive the short distance to Dolce’s house on the other side of Bunyip Bay but park a few houses up in front of Rex’s house. ‘He’ll be out cold by now, so won’t notice a thing. Then we’ll walk to Dolce’s place and quietly make the switch.’

‘But why are we doing this in the dark at night? Won’t Dolce know it’s from you anyway?’

It wasn’t like there were dozens of people in town with the skillset to create anything as beautiful as this.

Liam shrugged as he yanked at the last knot to make sure it was tight. ‘I don’t like making a fuss. And I thought it’d be nice for her to walk out tomorrow morning and just find it there.’

‘Why not do it on Christmas Eve and make it like Santa delivered it?’

He raised an eyebrow, giving her a look that told her exactly what he thought of that idea.

‘Fair enough.’ Henri smiled. There was no point trying to understand the workings of a male mind and this sneaking around was kinda fun anyway. ‘Then let’s do this!’