‘I was too shocked to feel much pain, but I was dizzy and nauseous. I stood up and fell down again, so I stayed on the ground. I heard the boys leaving, but when I looked up, you were there.’
‘I helped you to your feet and walked you to the bench.’ He puts his hands over mine. ‘Your hands were skinned, so were your elbows and knees. You were bleeding, dirty, crying. When I told you I’d take you to Julia, you screamed that I should leave you alone. I backed off. I found your library bag and glasses and brought them back to you.’
‘I didn’t understand why you were angry.’
‘It was only luck that I was there, but that wasn’t the first time that’d happened. It was starting to play on my mind that one day I wouldn’t find you in time, I wouldn’t be there to help you.’
‘I didn’t want you to feel responsible for me. It made me feel childish.’
He opens his mouth like he wants to argue but pulls the words back. He lifts my hand and smooths my palm with his. ‘You didn’t communicate that.’
‘I liked it that you were clever. Like every other girl, I thought you were good looking and sporty and a leader. As to the rest …’ I free my hand and trace the bumpy ridge at the base of my thumb. ‘I was confused.’
‘You went from crisis to crisis. Shit kept happening to you.Andyou weren’t wearing your glasses. I lumped the two together.’
‘You knew the consequences.’
‘Julia drew diagrams. You’d lose sight in your eye.’
‘You told me my face looked better with glasses. I hated that you were like the others—you thought my eyes were ugly.’
He kisses me, short but possessive. ‘On the day you came back, when I saw you standing here in the garden …’ Putting a finger under my chin, he examines me closely. ‘I always thought you were pretty and I couldn’t understand how others didn’t see that. As an adult, you were not only smart, but beautiful in a way everyone could see. It scared me.’
‘I only want you.’
‘Alex came here to get you back.’ He hesitates. ‘I’ve never been jealous before.’
‘You worked out he didn’t know me.’
‘He’s likeable,’ Cameron grumbles. ‘You wrote to him.’
‘Only as a favour to Julia.’ I squeeze Cameron’s hand. ‘Being a GP wouldn’t suit him, but he admired Julia and her commitment to Summerfield. He’ll do his best to help.’
‘What about your work? Does being a country vet suit you?’
‘I can research and write papers here. Occasionally, I’ll go to conferences.’
‘I love how smart you are.’
When I wrap my arms around his neck, he pulls me close. ‘Maybe we should have worked things out earlier.’
‘You mightn’t have had the career that you have. I mightn’t have found the farm. Nothing wasted.’
‘Now we know what we want.’
He wants to kiss me. And I sure as hell want to kiss him, but after running his hands down my sides to my hips, he takes a giant step back. ‘I have to give you the present.’
‘The present that isn’t a present?’
He strides to the ute and stands by the door. ‘We’re running out of time.’
After parking out the front of the house, dumping my bag in the porch and finding a torch, we walk to the post and rail yards and paddocks I’ve admired from the window every morning. Cameron is holding my hand even more tightly than he was when I showed him the shingle.
‘Cameron?’
He looks at me briefly then looks straight ahead again.
‘Are you nervous?’