Page 82 of Outback Secrets

As she pointed to the jumper two-year-old Henri was wearing, Liam nodded.

‘Well, that was so we could always see her in the distance. She was constantly escaping the house, wanting to be off with Fred or her older siblings, and we discovered she was easier to keep track of when she was wearing bright colours.’

Liam laughed as Fiona flicked the page and Henri’s tiny, pale bum flashed up at him from where she was bent over a paddling pool.

‘Two seconds after that photo was taken, she fell right in. And, if I remember correctly, it was the middle of winter, but Henri didn’t feel the cold. She was always running around naked no matter what the season. When she was seven, she went to visit Fred and the boys in the shearing shed—in the nuddy. I told her to put some clothes on, but she never has listened to me. Learnt your lesson that day, didn’t you, darling?’

‘What happened?’ Liam asked, turning his amused grin on her.

Fiona answered for her. ‘We’d started shearing a day early and there was a shed full of contractors. They thought it was hilarious.’

Oh my God. Kill me now.

But at that moment Liam’s hand found its way back to her leg and this time he squeezed it gently. Pheromones overcame her.

Over the next few moments, his boldness increased. Henri swallowed. Could her mother see what he was doing? As her legs fell apart of their own accord, she was ashamed to realise she didn’t even care! It was impossible to resist the sensations that were flooding her body at his touch.

The embarrassing stories continued with each turn of the album’s pages—tales of her using hair removal cream thinking it was moisturiser, of trying to pee standing up like her brothers and being annoyed when she couldn’t—but she barely heard her mother’s voice. She’d thought only women were supposed to be able to multitask but right now, Liam seemed to be doing a much better job at it than she was.

‘Ah …’ Henri moaned involuntarily as his fingers inched up her leg.

‘Are you okay, Henrietta?’

Liam pulled back his hand, a slight smirk on his face. ‘Yeah, you okay, Henri?’

She’d want to kill him if she didn’t want to kiss him so bad.

‘Um … um …’ For once in her life she struggled for words. ‘Sorry, just … it’s my ankle. I think the painkillers must be wearing off.’

‘Oh, sweetheart.’ Her mother sighed sympathetically. ‘Do you want me to get you some more?’

‘I don’t know.’

What she really wanted was for her to miraculously vanish. Either that or for her and Liam to magically teleport back to the pub like the characters in Harry Potter. If they didn’t get the chance to finish what they’d started soon, she was going to combust!

‘I was supposed to be having dinner and Christmas drinks with Esther and Dave Burton tonight, but maybe I should cancel,’ Fiona said with a frown. ‘I’m sure they’ll understand that I need to stay home and take care of you.’

‘No!’ Henri and Liam exclaimed at the same time. She couldn’t stand the thought of any more of her henpecking, but it would be good for her mother to get out too. Now that her dad was gone, she needed her friends more than ever.

‘I’ll look after Henrietta,’ Liam added, reaching to take hold of her hand—this time in full view. ‘I can take her back to the pub with me now. I’ll take good care of her and this way, you can enjoy your night out without worrying.’

Pleasure rolled through her like bushfire eating up a crop and she hoped ‘taking care of her’ was code for something else.

After packing Henri another overnight bag, they couldn’t get out of the house fast enough. Her bag on Liam’s shoulder, she hobbled out to the car, Liam and her mother shadowing her all the way to his ute.

‘You know, in my day,’ Fiona said as he opened the door for her and took her crutches, ‘we only stayed over at a gentleman’s house if there was a ring on our finger.’

‘Mum!’ Honestly, she really was the worst—she’d been encouraging Henri to stay with him most nights. ‘We’ve only just got together. It’s not time to book the church just yet.’

Liam smiled. ‘There might not be a ring on Henrietta’s finger yet, Fiona, but that doesn’t mean I’m not looking through jewellery catalogues.’

Then, OMG, he actually winked.

Her mother gleamed and Henri coughed, almost choking as Liam slammed the passenger door shut.

‘Was that too much?’ he asked as he climbed into the driver’s seat beside her.

‘Nah, it was perfect. It serves her right for meddling so much in my life, but it also means when I dump you, it’ll definitely be me she’s angry at, not you. She’ll probably cook you some casseroles to help ease your broken heart.’