Page 89 of Outback Secrets

Chapter Twenty-six

‘You took your time,’ Lara said as Liam slipped back behind the bar half an hour after he’d told her and Dylan he’d be gone five minutes, ten max.

‘I had to help Henri re-bandage her ankle.’

Dylan wiggled his thick dark eyebrows. ‘Is that what the kids are calling it these days?’

Lara laughed. ‘Young love.’

Liam shook his head, hoping his cheeks weren’t as red as they felt. He almost said ‘it’s not love’, but bit back the words just in time.

‘Things under control down here?’ he asked instead.

Dylan nodded. ‘Pretty much. The guys at the pool table were getting a little rowdy but Macca went out and threatened to never cook for them again and they shut the hell up.’

Liam glanced that way to see a bunch of about eight young men crowded around the table. Jaxon and Brad were at opposite ends, clearly keeping their distance from each other. When they’d turned up with their other mates this evening, he’d been in such a good mood that he’d reneged on the ban.

Was that really only last Sunday? In some ways it felt like a month. Since Henri arrived, time seemed to have warped somehow. He couldn’t believe they’d barely known each other two weeks—probably because they’d been spending so much time together, it felt like so much longer.

‘You look like the cat that got the rat,’ Rex said after downing the dregs of his last pint.

On autopilot, Liam grabbed his glass and refilled it. ‘That’s it for you now,’ he told him.

As Rex lifted the beer to his lips, Liam removed the empty plate in front of him and took it into the kitchen where Macca was putting the finishing touches on desserts for a table of tourists in the dining room.

‘I’ll take those,’ he offered, eager to keep busy, while at the same time hoping his guests wouldn’t linger too long that night.

Usually, he loved his job and didn’t mind if people chatted in the dining room long after they’d finished eating, but already he felt the pull to head back upstairs.

‘Who’s having the sticky date pudding?’ Liam asked the family sitting at table four.

The youngest—a girl who looked to be about eight—shot her hand into the air. ‘Me, me, me.’

‘We’re sharing it,’ added her mother.

He put it down in front of the kid, who immediately picked up her spoon and dug in. ‘Good luck with that,’ he said to the mom as he distributed the other desserts.

On his way back to the bar, he took an order for two more sticky date puddings and three servings of his signature dish: apple pie. Macca and his kitchen hands made absolutely everything they served up from scratch, except for Liam’s apple pie. It was the one thing he baked himself and the locals had told him it beat the one Frankie served in her café.

What nobody knew was that it was his dad’s recipe and baking it every week was the one time he allowed himself to ponder happy family memories.

Perhaps he should take Henri up a slice? Then again, that could be dangerous. Watching her devour Macca’s burger had been excruciating enough. He didn’t think he could control himself watching her eat his pie.

Control?scoffed a voice in his head. Is that what you call what happened upstairs when you took her dinner?

Shut up, he replied as he went to collect empties.

He was returning to the bar when his phone beeped in his pocket, and he grinned when he saw the message from ‘Henrietta’. She’d probably kill him if she knew he’d put her full name in his contacts, but that was a risk he was willing to take. He rather liked the glare she gave him whenever he used it.

Things busy down there?

He glanced from the dining room to the pool table and the casual lounge area in between. There were very few vacant spots, and everyone looked settled in for the evening.

Yep. What you up to?

Just watching YouTube videos on my phone.

Her phone?That didn’t sound like much fun—he should have moved the TV into the bedroom for her. It annoyed him he hadn’t thought about it because hadn’t he told her mom he was going to take care of her? If he was honest with himself, it was more than that. Henri made him want to take care of her.