Page 82 of Outback Reunion

The life Gabriela and Luna lived wasn’t for the faint-hearted.

And everything was still very gender specific—the men in the circus did the heavy lifting, such as carrying and setting up the seating, whereas the women did lighter tasks like putting up the curtains and setting up the ring mat. Apparently, every Big Top was different, and caravans were passed down from generation to generation.

‘It’s kind of a rite of passage thing,’ Gabriela explained. ‘Our caravan belonged to Dante’s great-grandparents and is almost a hundred years old.’

What Mark found most amusing were the unspoken rules. There was a hierarchy in the circus which dictated whose van drove onto a new lot first. Usually this would be the ringmaster or owner of the circus, unless his parents were still around, like Lorenzo’s mother Muriel was. Even if they were no longer running the circus, respect was always shown to the elder of the ‘family’.

It sounded a little like the Mob to him, but he had the good sense not to say so.

Luna was halfway through telling him about one day in Far North Queensland when the tent was flooded so badly, they had to use buckets to try and scoop the water out when she went quiet mid-sentence.

Frowning, he glanced over his shoulder to see Gabriela holding a finger to her lips.

‘She’s asleep,’ she whispered, smiling. ‘She hasn’t slept in the car since she was a toddler. She used to always nap on our long trips from town to town.’

‘She’s probably exhausted from the shock.’

Gabriela nodded and they drove the rest of the distance in silence, neither of them wanting to disturb Luna. Mark peered into the rear-view mirror every few minutes, his heart feeling both full and weirdly empty at the sight of Gabriela gazing down at her daughter, gently stroking her vibrant red hair.

‘Thanks again for everything you did today,’ she said when they arrived at the lot.

‘Let me carry her in for you.’ He got out of the car before she could object and opened the back door. Trying not to wake Luna, he scooped her gently into his arms and let Gabriela shut the door behind them.

Her mother-in-law hurried over when they entered the gates that led to the back trailer area. ‘What’s happened? Is Luna alright?’

Gabriela put her finger to her lips. ‘She’s fine. Just had a bit of a fright down at the beach. I’m going to put her to bed so she can get some rest before tonight’s show, then I’ll tell you all about it.’

She hurried on and Mark followed to her caravan where she opened the door.

‘Hello, hello, hello,’ squawked Loud Mouth from the large cage just outside the caravan.

‘Shut up,’ Gabriela hissed as she opened the door and gestured for Mark to go inside.

‘Can you put her on the bed, please?’

He did so as if he were holding something breakable, then stepped back.

Luna made a tiny noise, almost like a cat, and curled into a ball. Something in his chest squeezed at the sight. The few interactions they’d had so far had been full of her sass, but asleep she looked so innocent and vulnerable. Suddenly he understood what his mum had meant when he was a kid and she used to joke that she loved him the most when he was asleep.

Gabriela touched his arm lightly, then nodded towards the door. Mark blinked before following her outside.

‘I can’t thank you enough for today.’ She went a little misty eyed. ‘I wish there was something I could do to show you how grateful I am.’

She looked exhausted, still beautiful, but exhausted and he wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms and tell her she could lean on him, but he was all too aware of her mother-in-law and the terrifying older woman he guessed must be Lorenzo’s mother, Muriel, watching them from a few caravans away.

‘You don’t need to do anything. I’m just glad she’s okay. What are you going to do with her during the show tonight? Do you want me to stay and sit with her in there while the rest of you are performing?’

He wanted to stay, he didn’t want to leave them just yet, but Gabriela shook her head, not meeting his gaze. ‘She’ll be awake by then and she can watch from the audience or stay backstage. You’ve done more than enough. Thank you, Mark.’

There was a don’t-mess-with-me finality in her voice that scared him. It felt like he was being dismissed and he wasn’t nearly done with her.

Suddenly he wasn’t sure whether he’d ever be.

‘I’ll see you later,’ he told her, then leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek.

Chapter Twenty

Is it really only nine-thirty?

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