Page 2 of Wedding Bells By the Creek

‘I am so sorry!’ A man in a police uniform hurried towards her. ‘The train was early. The train is never early.’

This must be Max Delaney. Helen looked around for Felicity, but the policeman was alone.

‘Well, I guess I’ll leave you two then,’ her companion said.

‘Thanks, Ed.’ Max said.

‘No problem.’ He nodded his head towards Helen with an old-fashioned courtesy. ‘Nice to almost meet you.’ He smiled before he returned to his boxes.

Helen forgot him as she looked carefully at the new arrival.

Solid. That was her first thought. He wasn’t a particularly big man, although he was obviously fit. The feeling of solidity came from his face and his eyes. Helen knew in an instant this was a man to be trusted and relied upon. It was more than just the uniform. Helen had never put that much stock in a police uniform. There was something about the man wearing it that seemed to fold an aura of safety about her. Did Felicity feel safe with him too?

She closed her eyes before the tears came.

‘Mrs Walsh? Are you all right?’

She opened her eyes again. Her vision was blurred, but she didn’t need to see clearly. His voice was so very kind.

‘Please, call me Helen.’ It was easier than explaining that she wasn’t Mrs Walsh. She never had been.

‘I’m Max,’ he said gently. ‘And I’m very glad to meet you.’

Helen took a deep breath, telling herself it was the tiredness that had turned her into an emotional wreck. She took a firm grip on herself and brushed away the tears. She wasn’t a crier. At least, not in front of people. All these years she had done her crying alone in the darkness.

‘I am so pleased to meet you too, Max.’ She held out her hand. Max took it. The fingers that closed around her hand were firm and steady. That was a good thing because Helen’s hand was far from steady.

‘I’m sorry Tia isn’t here,’ Max said, still holding her hand. ‘She’s working this afternoon.’

‘Tia …?’

‘Your daughter. Tia. That’s what she calls … what we call her.’

Of course it was. Felicity called herself Tia now. She’d made a point of that during their single short phone conversation. She’d done more than run away all those years ago. She had changed her name and changed who she was. But no matter what changes Felicity had made, Helen was still her mother and she loved her and needed her. Nothing, least of all a name, would ever change that.

She smiled. ‘Of course. It’s strange to think of … Tia … working in a mine. Driving one of those huge mine trucks.’

Max chuckled. ‘I guess for her mother it is. But that’s how I’ve always seen her. I can’t imagine her doing anything else. She loves it.’

And I love her. Max didn’t speak the words, but Helen could see it in his face. It was obvious in the way the corner of his lips twitched when he spoke her name and in the deepening of the laughter lines at the corners of his eyes. This solid, kind man in a uniform loved her daughter.

Felicity had been lucky. Far luckier than Helen.

‘Come on,’ Max said, reaching for her suitcase. ‘Let’s get you out of here.’

They set out for the cark park and a big four-wheel drive with police markings on the side. Max loaded her bag into the back and held the door open for her.

‘Thank you.’

He got in beside her but hesitated before starting the engine.

‘I have booked a room for you at the pub,’ he said gently. ‘It’s not a bad place to stay. Well, to be honest, it’s the only place in town really. And, of course, Tia and I are taking care of the bill.’

Helen’s heart sank. ‘I thought … well … I guess I assumed—’

‘It seemed the best thing to do,’ Max spoke quickly. ‘There are rules about having people stay at the police residence. And I also didn’t think you would be comfortable there with me.’

‘I thought you and Tia lived there together?’ Helen was genuinely surprised.

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