Page 56 of Secrets of Riverside

‘Oh, I decided to take myself out for some lunch while I was there.’ She hated lying, but she wasn’t ready to tell him she was sitting in a church, telling a priest what she should be telling him.

‘Nice, where did you go?’

Liar liar pants on fire!

Her mind raced. ‘That place at the end of town, you know the one.’

‘Hmmm.’ He frowned. ‘You mean the Sugar Shack?’

She’d never even noticed the place. ‘Yeah, that’s the one.’

His frown deepened. ‘Was it nice?’

Tight-lipped, she nodded. ‘Mm-hmm.’

‘Yeah, righto.’ Jarrah’s perplexed expression was gathering momentum. ‘I thought you didn’t have much of a sweet tooth, especially when it comes to main meals.’

‘Oh, I don’t usually.’ She was crap at this lying malarky.

He regarded her, as if he was seeing straight through her story. ‘Fair enough.’

She fidgeted in her seat. ‘Would you like a cuppa?’

‘I’m good, cheers, Millie.’ He quirked a brow. ‘But have you got anything stronger?’

‘I’m all out of beers and wine, I’m afraid.’ She wouldn’t be touching a drop of it now she was pregnant.

‘No worries.’ He leapt to his feet. ‘I’ll go grab us a couple of beers from home, if you like.’

‘Oh thanks, Jarrah, but count me out.’ She avoided his gaze as she crossed her legs beneath her. ‘I’ve decided to detox for a bit, so no alcohol for me.’

‘Oh wow, okay, good for you.’ He rubbed a hand over his dark stubble. ‘In that case, I’m going to head home for a beer, or two, so I’ll catch you later.’

‘Yup, catch ya,’ she said as she watched the father of her unborn baby saunter away.

CHAPTER

19

After a massive day working in the humid tropical heat, Jarrah felt as if he’d been dragged over hot coals, and then some. A brutal headache was brewing, his eyes burned, and he had to forcibly swallow the ache that had risen from his heart and into his throat. As he trudged from the machinery shed and across the drive, all around him the air felt dense, weighted, as did his spirits. Something had to give. He and Tommy had to find some common ground and make a truce. After mulling everything over and over, all day long, his mind was exhausted and his body was bone tired. It didn’t happen often, but he had to silently admit that he was well and truly rattled. Millie was acting a little odd, and had been for a few days now. And as for his nephew, knowing Tommy had gone behind his back to see Carlo, and likely would again, was almost too much to bear. Let alone not knowing why he’d agreed to deliver an envelope to a woman who had been Amelia Price’s best friend. Maybe Carlo had grown a conscience and was paying grievance money to Amelia. Now wouldn’t that be the surprise of his life, to find out his father did actually have a heart.

Pfft, yeah right.

Taking off his hat, he raked a hand through his sweaty hair. It was almost sixty-thirty on a Friday afternoon, and the sun was on its downward descent behind the mountain ranges. As dusk swept over his land, he took one last look at the splendour of the sunset before stepping into the roadhouse and wandering towards his office. He still had half an hour of paperwork to do before he could call it a day, and he couldn’t wait to get it done so he could head home and enjoy some much-needed downtime.

He was midway through adding up the GST owing to the tax office when his office door flew open and rebounded off the wall. ‘I need to show you something.’ Tommy strode in, a yellow envelope in his hand. ‘Right now.’

‘Okay.’ This was the first time Tommy had spoken to him since their fight, and Jarrah’s curiosity was piqued. ‘What is it?’

‘I knew she was full of crap the second I met her.’ Tommy smacked the envelope down on the desk. ‘And now I have solid proof.’ He stabbed it with his finger.

Jarrah reached out and warily dragged it towards him. ‘Should I be worried?’

‘Turn it over, open it up, read it, then decide.’

Jarrah slowly turned it over as Tommy paced. When he read the name in bold, black letters his heart leapt into his throat. It was as if he’d just jumped from a plane, without a parachute. His past was here, right now, in his office, staring him in the face. And here he’d been thinking he could outrun it. With trembling hands, he plucked out the folded notepaper, along with a black-and-white photo of a very young Amelia Price and her father. He had to read the letter twice to let it sink in, to believe it. To come to grips with the fact that the girl he’d saved from the fire was here, just a few hundred metres away, a grown woman now, and he’d fallen for her, made love to her, imagined having a life with her. He couldn’t be mad at her for lying about who she was; his father had made sure to cover all his bases. But man, he was blown away by what had been staring him in the face ever since she’d arrived here, and he’d been too blinded by his attraction to her to see it. Millie. Amelia. One and the same. How could he not have put two and two together?

He waited until his vision stopped swirling, and Tommy’s scowling face came into focus, before he dared to speak. ‘Where did you find this?’

---