Page 105 of Outback Secrets

Chapter Thirty

Liam and Henri were lying in bed, feeling pretty damn fine about life, when his phone beeped with a text message.

‘Who’d be messaging you at this time of the morning?’ she murmured, her voice mellow with sleepiness and satisfaction.

He pulled her even closer and held her tightly. ‘No idea.’

And right now, he didn’t really care if it was Elvis Presley risen from the dead because he didn’t want to move a muscle.

‘Stella!’ They both realised a few seconds later.

‘Maybe it’s Adam or one of the ambos,’ Henri wondered.

Both of them now curious, Liam got out of bed and bent to pick up the jeans he’d discarded off the floor. When he pulled the phone from his pocket, he saw a message from Karen.

Thought you might like to know …

‘She’s had the baby,’ he said, speaking as he read. ‘A little girl. Mandy delivered it in the ambulance only five minutes after they left.’

Henri sat up. ‘Oh my God. Are they okay?’

‘Apparently.’ Goosebumps spread across his skin as he finished reading the message. ‘She says Stella was amazing and the little girl plump and rosy. They’re settled in Geraldton now and Karen and Mandy are on their way back.’

He glanced up and saw that Henri was wearing a grin as big as his felt.

‘I can’t believe a baby was almost born in your pub!’

‘I told you things were never dull around here.’ If the ambos hadn’t arrived when they did, Stella and Adam’s new daughter would have been born downstairs tonight. There’d been a lot of exciting times over the last ten years, but this? This took the cake.

‘Bet you never thought that would happen.’

‘She wouldn’t have been the first baby born here.’

‘Oh?’ Henri’s eyes widened and Liam gestured to Sheila who’d snuck up onto the bed. ‘She’s had two litters downstairs. Both very smooth deliveries thankfully, and gorgeous healthy pups.’

Henri laughed. ‘First human baby then. Anyway, I feel like this deserves a celebratory drink or something? I know it’s late—or rather early—but I’m not sure I can sleep just yet.’

‘I know what you mean.’ He could actually feel the adrenaline pumping.

‘We should toast the baby,’ she suggested.

‘I’ve got a better idea. You wait there.’

Liam tugged on his jeans and headed downstairs, tapping out a message to Karen as he went.

Well done, superstars. Drinks and dinner on me next time you and Mandy want a night out.

He switched on the light as he went into the pub kitchen, crossed over to the industrial-sized fridge and took out a dish with half an apple pie.

One plate or two? he wondered as he grabbed a knife to cut the pie. These were the types of decisions you deliberated over at midnight when something out of the ordinary had happened and you’d broken all your own rules. Not only did he rarely have sex in his own apartment, he certainly never suggested food and conversation afterwards.

In the end, he went with one plate, two spoons and a hell of a lot of ice-cream.

A few minutes later when he re-entered the bedroom, he saw that Sheila had quickly taken his spot on the bed.

‘Shove over, girl.’ The dog moved down a fraction.

‘Is that what I think it is?’ Henri asked, eying the plate in much the same way she’d been looking at him not long ago.