Page 58 of Outback Secrets

‘No, we’ll leave her here. Don’t want her to see a possum or something and start barking.’

Henri followed Liam out the back door and over to the workshop, where his red Hilux was parked. Light from a lone streetlight lit up their path and Henri felt a flicker of excitement as she realised this was the first time they’d been alone-alone. Most of the time they had an audience, or at least Sheila acting as chaperone.

Hopefully oblivious to the workings of her mind, Liam slid open the heavy door and flicked on a switch. She inhaled the scent of wood chips and varnish as light spilled over Dolce’s rocking chair, which was waiting just inside the door.

‘Wow,’ Henri gasped as she took a proper look at it. All polished and shiny, it looked like something you might pay hundreds of dollars for. ‘Dolce’s one lucky old bird.’

‘I hope she likes it.’ He bent down to lift one end. ‘You take the other side so you’re walking forward.’

Henri did as she was told, noticing that pieces of wood were laid out across his work bench.

‘What are you working on now?’ she asked as they shuffled outside and carefully heaved the chair onto the tray of the ute, which Liam had already lined with a heavy blanket to avoid damage.

‘Just fiddling with a few ideas.’ He gestured to a thick yellow cord on her side of the tray. ‘Do you mind passing me that rope?’

She picked it up and tossed it to him, then watched as he started to secure the chair, tying very impressive knots. Was there anything his hands couldn’t do?

Henri swallowed—don’t even go there—and focused on the job before them. ‘So, what’s the plan?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘How are we actually going to do this?’

As he finished what he was doing, he explained they’d drive the short distance to Dolce’s house on the other side of Bunyip Bay but park a few houses up in front of Rex’s house. ‘He’ll be out cold by now, so won’t notice a thing. Then we’ll walk to Dolce’s place and quietly make the switch.’

‘But why are we doing this in the dark at night? Won’t Dolce know it’s from you anyway?’

It wasn’t like there were dozens of people in town with the skillset to create anything as beautiful as this.

Liam shrugged as he yanked at the last knot to make sure it was tight. ‘I don’t like making a fuss. And I thought it’d be nice for her to walk out tomorrow morning and just find it there.’

‘Why not do it on Christmas Eve and make it like Santa delivered it?’

He raised an eyebrow, giving her a look that told her exactly what he thought of that idea.

‘Fair enough.’ Henri smiled. There was no point trying to understand the workings of a male mind and this sneaking around was kinda fun anyway. ‘Then let’s do this!’