Page 97 of Outback Reunion

Stella plucked a lamington cupcake from a plate that the CWA Belle had left on the table. ‘I’m not going to pretend it was easy. Some days I thought neither of us were going to make it but... you do what you have to do. What doesn’t kill you and all that.’

‘Do you think you’ll have any more?’

Stella shrugged, swallowing her mouthful before talking. ‘Maybe. Adam would love that, but Heidi has a lot of extra needs and who knows what Lily might need from us yet. I want to make sure we can give the children we already have our best before we contemplate adding to the brood.’

Gabi nodded; that made a lot of sense.

‘What about you?’

‘Me?’ She blinked when she realised what Stella was asking. ‘Oh no. Definitely not.’

‘You don’twantmore?’

‘It’s not that... it’s just...’

They both glanced towards the pool where Mark, Adam and the kids still looked to be having the time of their lives.

Stella smiled—‘I reckon you and Mark would make pretty cute babies’—then popped the last of her cupcake into her mouth.

‘What? Oh no. We’re not... There’s nothing...’ Gabi tried to set the other woman straight but found she couldn’t finish her sentence. Her throat felt dry, as if she’d shoved a whole cupcake into her mouth and couldn’t speak past it. Stella probably wouldn’t understand anyway. She might have been on her own for the first years of Heidi’s life, but she hadn’t been trapped like Gabi was. She’d had the freedom to make her own decisions, to fall in love and move to this magical town.

Besides, this thing with Mark was just a fling.

Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t cry.

‘Gabriela, you may be a fabulous circus performer, but you’re not a very good liar.’ Stella laughed. ‘I think you really like him, and Mark’s feelings are written all over his face whenever he looks at you. He’s a great guy. We wouldn’t have all come here today if—’ She stopped talking mid-sentence.

‘What?’ Gabi asked.

Stella reached across and snatched her perfectly calm baby from her. ‘I think Lily needs a feed.’

‘What were you about to say?’

Stella didn’t meet Gabi’s gaze. ‘About what?’

‘A moment ago, you were saying Mark was a great guy and you wouldn’t have come today if—But you didn’t finish.’

‘Did I say that?’ She laughed nervously as she lifted her top, plucked the dummy out of Lily’s mouth all but shoved her head to her breast. ‘I’ve forgotten now. Silly baby brain. Probably I was about to say that we wouldn’t have come if it hadn’t been such a lovely day. Most days it’s too hot to be outside at this time of year.’

‘I’m not the only bad liar, Stella. What were you really going to say?’

Stella sighed and looked like she might cry. ‘I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s really not my place. Please, just forget it and enjoy the party.’

Gabi leaned back into her seat and tried to relax but she felt so confused. Something weird was going on here but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it, almost as if she was an actor on a TV show where everyone except her had been given the script. LikeThe Truman Show, which had been one of her and Dante’s favourite movies when they were little.

And then it hit her.

But no, she had to be crazy.

‘Who wants ice cream?’ cried Grant, emerging from the house carrying two massive tubs and a box of waffle cones.

Kids erupted from the pool, scrambling past each other to get to the gate and Gabi stood up, waiting until Mark came out.

‘Hey,’ he said, grinning widely, water dripping down his bare chest.

Trying to ignore the lust that flooded her, she said, ‘Can I talk to you? In private.’

His brow furrowed slightly as he ran a hand through this wet hair. ‘Course. Is everything okay?’

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