Page 128 of Outback Secrets

Chapter Thirty-six

‘Sheila!’ As his dog darted out of the bar with more spring in her step than she’d had for days, Liam looked to the entrance to see what had excited her.

Henri.

His heart jolted and he reached out to steady himself on the bar. He wasn’t sure whether he was horrified or thrilled to see her. Sheila, clearly the latter, jumped up at Henri, landing her paws right into the middle of her stomach.

‘Shit!’ Liam watched in alarm as Henri stumbled backwards and fell onto the floor, her crutches clattering down beside her.

Snapping out of his shock, he rushed over to help her. He couldn’t tell if she was laughing or crying by the time he got to her, but Sheila was in her element, bestowing sloppy, wet kisses all over her long-lost love’s face.

‘She really missed you,’ Liam said as he restrained the dog with one hand and held out his other to help Henri.

She merely stared at it and then her eyes narrowed. ‘You’re the mysterious benefactor, aren’t you?’

‘What?’ Her question took him totally by surprise. Since Sexy Rexy’s confession last night, he’d been more relaxed about his secret than he had since Logan had started sniffing around a few months ago. He honestly could have kissed the man. ‘Haven’t you heard—it’s Rex Carter?’

‘Yeah, whatever. I may not have known you long, but I can tell when you’re bullshitting.’

‘What makes you think—’

‘Oh, it’s obvious in hindsight,’ she cut in. ‘I can’t believe no one ever twigged before. But the enlightening moment for me came just now when Tilley mentioned that a whole load of new trestle tables had been delivered to The Ag Store for the hall. An anonymous donation attributed to Sexy Rexy, Bunyip Bay’s new hero.’ She held up her finger and pointed at the red mark. ‘You ordered them when I told you about my splinter, didn’t you?’

‘I …’ His shoulders slumped and he let out a resigned sigh. ‘They weren’t supposed to get here until after Christmas.’

When Henri Forward would have been far away, unable to make the connection.

She just stared at him as if now that she knew the truth, she wasn’t quite sure what to do with it.

‘Have you told anyone?’ he asked.

‘No. Not yet,’ she said, and he breathed a sigh of relief. ‘But why do you do it? How do you choose who to give money to? How have you managed to keep it a secret so long? And why don’t you want anyone to know it’s you?’

He glanced around—the pub was deserted except for Rex, the usual young blokes by the pool table and a couple of families of tourists finishing up dinner in the dining room, but he still didn’t want to risk anyone overhearing.

‘I’ll tell you,’ he promised, ‘but not here.’

‘Okay. Where?’

‘In my office.’

‘Now?’

Liam nodded and offered his hand again to help Henri stand. In the days since they’d last been together, the sparks hadn’t faded at all. He tried not to react as he touched her and suspected from the way she refused to meet his gaze that she was doing the same. The moment her crutches were safely tucked under her arms again, she scooted off to his office, Sheila dashing after her.

He followed and then closed the door behind him. It wasn’t a small office, but with all the tension and chemistry in the air, it felt claustrophobic. As Henri lowered herself into his chair, all he could think about was the last time they were in here, yanking desperately at each other’s clothes.

‘Can I get you a drink?’ He could do with one himself.

She shook her head, then changed her mind. ‘Actually yes, I’ll have a glass of cold water. That hill is deadly.’

He frowned. ‘Where’d you come from?’

‘Church,’ she supplied, which made sense because it sounded like Campbell had conned almost everyone into attending the Christmas Eve service. Liam had suspected that was the reason the pub was practically empty tonight.

‘And you walked all that way? With crutches?’

‘I’m not sure walked is the word, but I’m here, aren’t I?’