Page 25 of Outback Secrets

Chapter Seven

Henri drove back to the farm on autopilot, barely noticing her surrounds at all.

What the F had she just done? There was clearly something seriously wrong with her!

No way would she have come up with such a preposterous plan—never mind begged a near stranger to be her partner in crime—if she were in the right frame of mind.

She’d all but decided to deliver the stuff home and then turn around and head back into The Palace to let Liam know he was off the hook, but even before she’d parked Cecil out the front of the homestead, her mother was flying down the verandah steps towards her, and the utes parked nearby indicated they had company.

Sure enough, as she climbed out of the van her brothers appeared—Andrew carrying a mug, Callum holding his two-year-old, Joe, who was munching on a piece of coconut slice. It must be smoko time.

‘There you are!’ her mother exclaimed, puffing a little as she met Henri halfway.

‘What took you so long, little sis?’ Callum said with a knowing grin.

She hadn’t been gone that long, had she?

‘Hey, little buddy.’ Ignoring her brother, she reached out and ruffled her nephew’s white-blond curls. ‘Is Hannah here?’

‘Nope, she’s volunteering at school this arvo—they’re making Christmas decorations or something. So Joe’s with me on the farm.’

‘Never mind about Hannah.’ Her mum grabbed Henri firmly by the elbow. ‘Why didn’t you tell me you and Liam Castle were an item?’

Ah right.That accounted for the weird welcome.

‘Um … I …’ Henri looked to her brothers for help, but they just grinned and shrugged, clearly finding this highly amusing. ‘How’d you find out?’

‘So, it’s true!’

‘Let me guess? Eileen Brady?’ She hadn’t thought the old busybody would be that fast and assumed she’d have time to tell her mother first.

Really? Have you actually thoughtany of this through?

‘Yes, Eileen,’ her mum replied, ‘and didn’t she gloat when she called to deliver the news? You have some explaining to do, young lady! The least you could have done was tell me yourself.’

Max and Muriel finally looked up from where they’d been dozing under the jacaranda tree, purple blossoms gently raining down on them. No doubt they thought they were in trouble because Fiona was using her loud, angry voice. The voice that had Henri running away and hiding in the dirt under the shearing shed many a time when she was little. It was tempting to turn and run in that direction now.

‘Calm down, Mum,’ she said instead. ‘I didn’t want to get your hopes up, so we were going to keep things on the down-low while we got to know each other a bit better, but—’

‘She was seen,’ said Andrew with a smirk.

Henri looked daggers at him.

‘So, it’s true? You and Liam Castle are going out?’ She hit Henri with her don’t-even-think-about-lying-to-me look.

Henri nodded, trying to ignore the lump that had swelled in her throat. ‘Let’s go inside and I’ll explain.’

‘Fine.’ Still gripping Henri’s arm, her mother all but started dragging her towards the house.

Henri halted in her tracks when Callum and Andrew followed. ‘You two can go back to work, you know.’

They exchanged a look, then Andrew said, ‘Are you kidding? How long’s it been since you’ve had a boyfriend? We wouldn’t miss this for the world.’

A sigh had barely escaped Henri’s lips when they all turned back at the sound of Tilley’s four-wheel drive tearing over the gravel.

Oh Lord, just what she needed.

‘What are you doing here?’ she called as Tilley climbed out. The passenger door opened at the same time and Macy emerged as well.