Page 57 of Outback Secrets

‘Sounds like a big job,’ she said, taking a sip of her drink to hide her smile. She’d only ever heard it called the rubbish tip, and CEO? That was a bit of a stretch. ‘Do you come here a lot?’

The man glared daggers at her. ‘What are you trying to say? You think I’m a drunk? You think I have nothing better to do with my time?’

‘No. Sorry. Nothing like that.’ Although if the shoe fits. Henri tried for a placating smile. ‘I was just thinking that must mean you know Liam quite well.’

His face softened. ‘Yeah. You could say that. He’s a good bloke. If it weren’t for him, I probably wouldn’t be sitting here right now, and I reckon I’m probably not the only one.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘After me wife up and left with me brother, I started coming here of an evening just to get out of the quiet house. Drowned my sorrows in Jack Daniels. But after a while even JD didn’t make me feel any better. When I didn’t show up here one night, Liam came around to my place. Broke down me door and found me passed out in me bed. He called the ambos and they got me back.’ He glanced down into his glass, which was almost empty. ‘Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to kill him for stuffing up my plans, but he didn’t give up on me. He told me how he enjoys our chats and said he’d miss me if I wasn’t around. And well, it might sound stupid, but …’

‘It doesn’t sound stupid,’ Henri said, barely managing to get the words out around the lump that had formed in her throat. She’d already suspected that Liam wasn’t just a good-looking guy but also a truly good one, and this just proved it. His patrons weren’t just customers to him—he cared about each and every one of them.

‘These days, I only drink the light stuff,’ Rex continued as he lifted the pint and downed the dregs. ‘And Liam makes sure I stop before I start getting too down in the dumps. He also encouraged me to go for a promotion when it came up at the tip, and now I get to boss people instead of the other way.’

‘That’s great,’ Henri said, glancing back towards the door, wondering what was taking Liam and Dylan so long.

Just when she was thinking that maybe she should call Drew, the fly strips parted and Liam, Sheila and Dylan stepped through.

‘Oh my God.’ Henri leapt from her stool at the sight of blood spilling from Liam’s lip. ‘Who did that to you?’

He shook his head. ‘It doesn’t matter. I’m just gonna go clean up.’ Then he walked around the bar and into the kitchen behind.

Dylan looked at Henri. ‘Can you go help him? I’m not good with blood.’ When she hesitated, he added, ‘Or I can go upstairs and get Lara. It’s her night off but she’ll be awake binge-watching Schitt’s Creek.’

‘No, course not. I’ll help.’ Henri slid off the stool. Of course as the girlfriend she should be the one patching him up, but in all the drama she’d forgotten about their charade.

She walked around the bar and into the now-empty kitchen—last orders were hours ago, and Macca and the kitchen staff had left—to find Liam leaning against a counter, an icepack pressed against his lip, Sheila standing guard right beside him; she was such a good dog. Henri wasn’t sure what else she could do but offer commiserations.

‘Youch, that looks painful,’ she said.

He raised one eyebrow at her.

‘Sorry—stating the obvious. Bad habit of mine. It probably feels even worse than it looks. Do you need any help cleaning it up?’

He lowered the icepack and angled his face towards her. ‘Has it stopped bleeding?’

Henri stepped up close. ‘I think so,’ she murmured, resisting the urge to reach out and cup his cheek. ‘Are you gunna press charges?’

‘Nah, he didn’t mean it. And I was young once. I know what it’s like to get all worked up over a girl.’

‘You’re a lot more forgiving than I am,’ she said. ‘I didn’t even know Jaxon and Brad were old enough to drink.’

‘Only just. Jaxon celebrated his eighteenth here only a few weeks ago. Brad a couple of months before that. They’re good kids mostly. They’ll be in tomorrow to apologise, I’m sure.’

Liam washed his face and cleaned up, joking that Macca would kill him for messing up his kitchen. Then they switched off the lights and headed back out to the bar, which was now deserted.

‘Bet her touch was much better than mine,’ Dylan said as he finished sweeping the floor. He leaned the broom against the bar. ‘I’ve locked up and turned off the taps. Anything else you want me to do before I go?’

Liam shook his head. ‘Thanks, mate. See you tomorrow.’

When Dylan disappeared, he hit Henri with a now-crooked smile. ‘You ready for our late-night delivery?’

‘Are you sure you’re still up for it?’

‘I’m not going to let a little cut get me down, but if you’d rather not join me—’

‘I’m coming,’ she said firmly, then glanced down at Sheila. ‘She coming too?’