Time to worry about their relationship later. Afterall that was what this holiday was about – a chance to cement a solid grounding between them that would never crumble under the weight of whatever the years ahead held. Hopefully only good things for his baby girl.
“Let’s get on the road, hey?”
It appeared Skye was just as keen to put their brief discord behind them. She kept up a steady stream of chatter as they made their way to the car park, filling him in on her school year, how her bestie was no longer her bestie (although he knew from past experience that wouldn’t be the case in a day or so’s time), how mean one of her teacher’s was and how awesome was another. He noticed though that she took care to mention very little about her mother and the new boyfriend, Antoine. She was in the middle of some long story about her netball team and their placing in the last season, when she stopped dead on the footpath.
“Is that our caravan?”
Hesitating as he scanned her shining face for any hint of Celeste’s disdain, he finally admitted, “Affirmative. Got it today. What do you think?”
“I love it! And I’m totally crushing those sunflower curtains. I can’t believe that you remembered yellow is my favourite colour.” She clasped her hands together and blinked furiously over damp brown eyes. Then she launched herself onto his chest. “Thanks, Dad. You’re the best.”
Now was so not the time to admit the sunflower curtains were a complete fluke.
They got on the road and Darim headed south-west on the New England Highway. As the broiling sun slowly sunk over the horizon, his daughter enlivened the journey with her choice of music off her iPad while talking nineteen to the dozen. It was when they turned onto Halls Creek Road near Bendemeer that she broached the loaded subject he had yet to address in any detail.
“I can’t believe you’ve got a house. Does it have a pool? Can I have a pony?” She bounced on the seat beside him.
“No pool, although there is a public swimming pool in town as well as a river and a creek.” He sent her a sideways glance before switching on the headlights revealing the winding road ahead. Bushland and scrub grew thick and dark as the encroaching night deepened the shadows. He stashed his sunnies into a pocket on the driver’s side door. “Not sure about the pony. I know zero about horses. But in the next couple of days, we’ll have some llamas. They’re Sara’s.”
“Llamas!” Skye’s eyes grew round as she stared at him. Then … “Who’s Sara?”
Darim shifted uncomfortably on the seat. This was the moment that had occupied his thoughts lately. How the devil to divulge the exact nature of their living situation? Tell it all with no embellishments. Get it done and dusted. “The thing is hon.” Then out it came. The reminder of the chance meeting all those years ago with an old man and Sara. The bequest, although he brushed over the stipulations and how he only had shared ownership. He wound up by saying, “The house is quite small. There’s only one room, although we’ve fixed up the small bathroom out back. You can either share a bunk bed with Sara or sleep in the van with me.”
“Wow. That is so … Does Mum know about this?”
“She knows I’ve got a house, but not the part about the conditions and Sara’s inclusion in the bequest.” Darim paused and switched to a lower gear as the road rose to a steep incline.
“Will I like her?”
“I think so. She seems an intelligent if rather reserved woman.” Even he knew that wasn’t what his daughter wanted to hear. He could feel her intense gaze fastened on his face. Despite exercising extreme control, he failed to stop the flush burning across his cheeks and neck.
“Dad. Come on. Is she pretty? What does she look like? Does she work? Does she like animals? Kids?”
Feeling as if he was stepping into a pit full of live and hungry man-eating crocodiles, he cleared his throat and mumbled, “Well. She’s kinda okay I guess. She’s got very dark eyes and black hair.”
Hair so shiny he longed to run his fingers over the strands. Eyes so inky dark and mysterious, he longed to stare into them for …
There was a sudden grating crash and the Land Rover jolted sideways. Darim’s idiotic musings smashed into smithereens.
“Shit!Hang on Skye.”He wrestled with the steering wheel as the Land Rover shuddered and the mind-splitting noise continued. The vehicle veered sharply to the right, careening into the other lane.
Skye screamed but there was no time to comfort her.
Sweat pooled under Darim’s armpits as he simultaneously attempted to slow their speed by working through the gears and gently easing down on the brakes, while guiding them back onto the right side of the road.
The Land Rover rocked and swayed. A quick glance in the rear vision mirror showed the shadowy lump of the van they towed, doing the same as they swerved from one lane to the other. If it rocked too far in one direction, the van could well over balance altogether and send both vehicles into a roll that could prove disastrous.
Another look in all directions. They were hemmed in on both sides by dense bush and closely packed trees. And who knew what the contours of the land was like once past those first stand of trees. It could be more bush or a steep drop.
With one last massive lurch the Land Rover righted. Darim applied more pressure on the brakes and, finally, the vehicles came to a juddering halt.
“Are you okay?” He snicked off his seat belt and reached for Skye.
However, she was already undoing her own belt and sent him a shaky smile. “All good, Dad. What happened?”
Running a hand over his face, he shook his head. “No idea. But I bet it has something to do with the van. Maybe we blew a tyre or even two.” He pulled a torch out of the glove box. “Stay here and keep your mobile on while I check it out. Any reception?”
“No bars,” Skye said glumly, holding her phone up for him to see.