“Football,” Payton said. “Aussie rules football. Mother, Father, sit down,” she ordered. It was time they started treating her like an adult and not some eager child always willing to please. This conversation would be between three reasonable adults-or one reasonable adult trying to calm two irrational-overbearing adults. She drew a steadying breath. “I’ll be right back.”
She strode up to the bar, ordered three glasses of Merlot and paid with one of the twenties that Sam had given her. Then she carried the wine to the table and sat down.
“Why are we staying here?” her mother asked. “Why don’t we go home and have a drink? I’m sure the quality of this wine isn’t up to the standards of what we have in our wine cellar.” She took a sip and wrinkled her nose. “Just as I suspected.”
“This is ridiculous.” Her father pushed away from the table. “You’re coming home with us right now, Payton. You are going to get a good night’s sleep and then we are going to figure out how you can make this all up to Sam.”
She shook her head. “I don’t love him. And neither should you. He cheated on me. You knew and you were going to let me marry him all the same. You two spent a lifetime trying to protect me and then, when I really needed you the most, you were ready to walk away, to let me marry a man who didn’t love me.”
“Sam assured me the affair was over,” her father said. “And that it wouldn’t happen again.”
“Well, he wasn’t telling you the truth. Thank God, I figured it out.”
“When did you find out?” her mother asked.
“A few minutes ago,” Payton said. “But I knew something was wrong for a long time. I felt it in the weeks before the wedding. And in Fiji. That’s why I ran.” An image of Brody flashed in her mind and she smiled. “And I’m lucky I did. Because I’ve met a man I can really love and trust, a man who wants me and not the bank I’ll inherit. I have to live my life now on my own. And I’m going to do that in Australia. With Brody.”
“What is she saying, George?” her mother asked.
“She’s just distraught. You need help,” her father said, turning to Payton. “We can get you help. A nice quiet place to get some perspective.”
Payton giggled softly. “Daddy, I don’t need help. I’m perfectly sane and I’m happier than I’ve ever been. And I hope someday you’ll come to visit me. I’d love for you to meet Brody. He’s a wonderful man. Or maybe, we’ll come here for a visit. Brody might have a tryout with a football team later this summer.” She gulped down the rest of her wine, then stood, satisfied that she’d said everything that needed saying.
Though she ought to have been angrier over her parents’ deception, there wasn’t really a point. Everything they’d done had led to Brody and that was all that mattered. She rounded the table and kissed them both on the cheek. “I have to go now. I think I might be able to catch the flight back tonight if I hurry.”
“You only just got here,” her father said.
“And now I have to go,” Payton replied, picking up her bag. “I love you both. And don’t worry, I know exactly what I’m doing.”
She walked to the doorway of the bar, then turned and waved at her stunned parents. It was enough for them to see that she was healthy and happy. They’d get over her broken engagement and their disappointment that Sam wouldn’t be a part of the family. And they’d find a way to explain the embarrassment of the wedding. And maybe someday they would meet Brody and understand why she loved him.
As much as she wanted to feel regret while walking away from them, Payton couldn’t. She was returning to the man she loved, to a land she was learning to love and to a life that would be built on love. She wasn’t frightened or nervous or anything but blissfully happy.
She checked the signs at the end of the concourse and headed toward the Qantas desk. If she hurried, she could hop the 7:10 flight to Australia, a full day before her scheduled return. Then, in about thirty hours, she’d be back in Brody’s life-and in his arms-for good.
“DAVEY, GRAB ME that spanner.” Brody crawled halfway down the windmill and waited as the kid searched the ground at his feet. “Next to my saddlebags.”
He picked up a tool. “This one?”
“No, the big one.”
Davey finally found the tool, then climbed up the ladder and handed it to Brody. They’d been working together all day, greasing and adjusting the six windmills close to the station. Tomorrow they’d catch the ones on the outlying pastures, traveling by ATV rather than horse.
Brody had decided to return to the station after just one day alone in Fremantle. The apartment seemed so empty without Payton there and he found himself spending every waking minute thinking about her. He could rehab his knee as easily on the station as he could in Fremantle, and he’d have work to occupy his mind the rest of the day. Station work was difficult and exhausting-and exactly what he needed.
He wasn’t sure when Payton would return. She’d promised to call once everything had been settled, but he expected she’d spend at least a week or two in the States before she left again. He’d decided to go on as if she wasn’t going to return. Then, everything after that-if there was anything-would be like a gift.
Brody climbed back up to the top of the windmill, the spanner tucked into his jacket pocket and the grease gun still clutched in his hand. As he went through the maintenance routine, he heard the sound of a plane overhead and glanced up to see Teague coming in from the east.
He hadn’t seen Teague at all since his return and Callum had ridden out an hour after Gemma had left a day ago, heading into the outback with his horse, his pack and his rifle. He’d left Skip in charge of preparations for the mustering, a sure sign that he was upset. Now that Teague was back, Brody would get some answers. He had tried not to dwell on his brothers’ love lives. Thinking about their happiness only made his life seem emptier.
“What is he doing?” Davey asked.
Brody glanced over his shoulder to see Teague circling the plane. “I don’t know.” He watched as Teague made a wide sweep around the windmill, wiggling his wings before he headed toward the airstrip.
Brody finished his work, then carefully surveyed the landscape from his perch high above the ground. He used to love this view when he was a kid. He always thought if he just looked hard enough, he could see the real world in the distance. Now he took some comfort in the fact that he was isolated from that world.
If things didn’t work out the way he’d planned, then he’d return to the station for good and make his life here in Queensland. He’d always have a place with his brothers and there was some comfort in that.
“Are we done?” Davey called.
“Yeah,” Brody replied. “Pack it up. It’s getting late. We should start back if we want to make it by dinner.”
Davey gathered the tools, then strapped the pouch to his horse. By the time Brody joined him, Davey was mounted and ready to ride. There was no keeping him from a meal. Davey kicked his horse into a gallop, but Brody decided to take a slower pace.
“Come on,” Davey shouted over his shoulder, pulling his horse up to wait.
“Go ahead,” Brody called. “I want to enjoy the ride.”
“Suit yourself. But Mary’s got pork chops tonight. If you don’t sit down on time, the rest of the boys will eat all the potatoes.”
He waved Davey off and watched as the kid took off in a cloud of dust. Brody wasn’t anxious to get back to the dinner table. Since he’d returned, he’d been grabbing a plate and eating by himself, too preoccupied to socialize. Mary and the jackaroos had given him a wide berth and he’d been grateful for it.
As he rode toward the house, he noticed the Fraser shack in the distance. His mind wandered back to the night he’d spent there with Payton. Everything had been so new with them then, so exciting. Only a few weeks had passed since, but it seemed like a lifetime.
He wondered what Payton was doing, trying to calculate the time difference between New York and Queensland. There was almost a twelve-hour difference, so it was the middle of the night there. Was she sleeping alone or had Sam convinced her to return to his bed?
Brody cursed beneath his breath, brushing the image from his mind. He wanted to believe that thoughts of him filled her mind, that she missed what they had together, that she ached for him the way he ached for her. Sleep hadn’t come easily since she’d gone.
He fixed his gaze on the horizon and let the horse navigate. It felt good to think about her, to rewind every encounter and enjoy them all over again. They’d been wonderful together, both in and out of bed. He closed his eyes and tipped his face up, the sun warm on his back, exhaustion setting in.
Maybe he’d sleep tonight, he mused. Perhaps his bed wouldn’t seem so cold and empty. It had to happen
