Page 42 of The Me I Left Behind (Tuckaway Bay #4)

Twenty-Two

Lilly looked into her rearview mirror to check on Leo, who was blessedly asleep in the backseat.

She had adjusted the mirror in such a way so she could peek at him easily while driving, rather than turn around.

While that rendered her rearview mirror practically useless, she felt better being able to see him.

She’d learned to effectively use her side mirrors ever since Leo was born.

Glancing at Poppy seated to her left, she smiled as the older woman’s head bobbed with each dip in the road. Lilly wasn’t surprised. She’d started yawning not long after they’d left Poppy’s apartment. The morning sun warmed her side of the car, too, which would lull anyone back to sleep.

The wheels of her Mazda droned against the pavement, providing a backdrop beat to the thoughts rolling through her head.

Lilly flexed her fingers and then gripped the steering wheel, as if holding on tighter would keep herself in check.

The past weeks had been a bit of a nightmare, and it was time to get out of town for a few days.

Her emotional self needed rest, and her physical body craved safety and security.

She’d been uneasy after her encounter with Max at his condo—the morning she’d discovered the other woman there.

Uneasy enough to hurry home and make sure all the doors and windows to the house were secure.

After the day he’d grabbed her face in the bedroom, and the subtle threats he’d tossed at her the following day, she didn’t want to feel vulnerable.

But she felt vulnerable. And she would not sit around and wait for him to embolden himself to take more serious action. The locksmith came that day—she’d called and gladly paid extra for a rush job. He changed all the locks and installed a new security system with cameras.

Max badgered her by phone and text for days, wanting her to meet him so they could talk.

When she didn’t respond to his texts, he started calling, leaving messages and demanding she call him back.

When that didn’t get the action he apparently wanted, the gifts started arriving—roses, chocolates, her favorite wine, lingerie… .

That’s when her vulnerability quickly morphed from concern into panic.

Max’s next move, she felt certain, would be to arrive at her doorstep.

And she was right.

He showed up early, pounding on the downstairs door and demanding she let him in to see Leo, shouting threats, and cursing the fact that his keys wouldn’t work, nor his security code.

She called the local police. He left before they arrived, but she gave the officers all of Max’s information—how and where to find him, his phone number, and his business.

That’s when she left… Heading to the bush to visit Freya. She convinced Poppy to come with her.

They all needed a break, she’d argued.

Poppy had said no originally, oblivious to all that was going on. “You need time with your friend. Go visit Freya and have fun. I’ll rest at my place while you’re gone. Dibble-dabble in this and that. Unless you want me to house sit for you.”

“Oh no. I don’t want you at my place. I want you to come with me.”

Poppy still hesitated. But when Lilly finally told her the reason—told her more about what Max had done—Poppy agreed and was happy to do so.

“That man needs to be dragged by a team of horses into the Outback and left to die over a nest of brown snakes.”

Lilly laughed. “I think that’s a bit harsh, isn’t it?”

“Humph. They did that in the old days.”

“Maybe in the movies, Poppy.”

But whatever got Poppy to come with her, Lilly was grateful.

She wasn’t sure what Max was capable of, and if he thought Leo could be at her apartment for any reason, she wanted to avoid a scene if he showed up there.

She also wanted to keep Poppy safe, and didn’t know what she would do if anything happened to her.

Lilly was frightened, she had to admit. Frightened of Max, and his behavior, and of what he might do next.

How in the bloody hell did I get here?

She’d ignored the red flags. Hadn’t she?

Nearly an hour later, Poppy yawned and stretched, angling her body toward Lilly. “Are we close?”

“I think so. Freya said the farm is an hour out of Brisbane, and we’ve been driving for about that long, so we should start watching for the station sign.”

“Good.”

“She is looking forward to seeing us. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s put on a spread for us.”

“I could use some tucker about now,” Poppy said, laughing.

Lilly had to chuckle as well. Poppy and her food fetish.

“What’s the name of her farm again?”

“Ballymore Station.”

“Sounds Irish.”

“I believe it is. There’s some history there, I think. Maybe Freya will share with us.”

Poppy nodded, watching the side of the road. “On my side or yours?”

“Should be yours.”

“Then there it is,” she said, pointing, then reading the sign. “Ballymore, Cattle and Sheep Station, Freya and Nate O’Brien. Well.”

Lilly pulled off the road and crossed the stock grid at the entrance. She glanced in the back again at Leo, who was fussing and squirming a little. “Well?”

“I like her husband already.”

“That so, eh?”

Poppy grinned. “Her name’s on the sign and he put her first. Dare say you don’t see that a lot in these parts. Bloody blokes.”

Lilly grinned and traveled down the farm road. Ever since Poppy had left her husband back at Min Min, she’d been down on blokes. “The house looks to be set back a ways here.”

“Probably around that curve.”

And it was. Lilly pulled up to a very large old home, settled between outbuildings, a veggie patch, and a couple of barns.

She noticed a sheep shearing shed and shearers’ quarters out back of it.

A smaller house set off to the side in a grove of trees.

She shut off the car engine and rolled down her window, sitting for a minute, just breathing.

“Smells like home,” she whispered. “Like Min Min.”

“Smells like shit,” Poppy countered, then cackled. “Sheep shit.”

Lilly nudged her arm. “You love it, and you know it. Let’s get Leo.”

She had barely lifted the boy out of the back seat when Freya trotted out of the house toward them. “Poppy!” Her arms encircled the woman, and she hugged her tight. “It’s been too damn long. What’s it been? Years, I know.”

“Decade or two, maybe.” Poppy held her gaze. Lilly thought she might have seen the glimmer of a tear in Poppy’s eyes. “You look great, Freya. Just great.”

“And so do you.” She kissed Poppy’s cheek, then turned to Lilly. “And this handsome young man has to be Leo!”

Lilly grinned. She’d not had the opportunity to show Leo off to friends much since he’d been born, so this was rather nice. And she was very proud of her boy. “He’s a bit of a chunky sausage but cuddly to hold.”

“Yes!” Freya’s eyes grew wide. “Give him to me while you get your things, then follow me to the house.” She glanced off toward the shed. “Wait. There’s Nate.”

She waved to him before taking the baby. “Nate! Come help Poppy with her bag and such.”

Freya’s husband jogged down the small hill toward them. Freya made introductions. Poppy reached for Nate’s hand and said, “You put your woman’s name first on your sign. Good on you.”

Nate grinned. “She’s the boss, ma’am.”

“Call me Poppy.”

He nodded. “I will. Now, where’s your bag, Poppy?”

She nodded toward the car trunk. Lilly handed off Leo and lifted her own bag out, then pointed to Poppy’s. Before he could step too far away from the vehicle, Poppy had corralled Nate with her arm tucked in his, and they chatted softly as Nate led her into the house.

Freya and Lilly exchanged a giggle.

“Nate has a way with little old ladies,” Freya said.

“Charmer, that one.” Lilly picked up her bag and closed the trunk. “And Poppy eats it up.”

They wound their way on a garden path around the house to the side entrance.

Freya let them down a long hall with tall ceilings and wood plank floors—dusty, but this was a farm, Lilly reminded herself—to two guest rooms across from each other.

Poppy to the left, where Nate left her bag, and Lilly and Leo to the right.

“Check out your rooms and have a bit of a rest. The bathroom is just around the corner. I’ll be in the kitchen—we passed it on our way in.

We’ll make sandwiches for lunch. Take your time.

Come join me when you are ready.” She turned to leave.

“Oh, and if the breeze is too chilly, shut the windows. The mozzies are mostly gone now, so I like to air out the house in the afternoons when the weather is good.”

Lilly watched her friend amble down the hallway and turn into the kitchen, then looked at Poppy. “I’m a bit knackered. If Leo goes down after I change his nappy and has a bottle, I might nap, too. Don’t wait on me for lunch or to visit with Freya.”

Poppy nodded. “Good on ya. Take some time to yourself. I’ll let Freya know.”

Lilly smiled and turned into the room, closing the bedroom door behind her.

Leo was cooperative, which surprised her.

Tired from the ride, she supposed. After a nappy change, Lilly fed him, rocking him in a chair by the bed.

Freya had placed a portable crib in the corner, away from the window, and Leo slept soundly there.

She felt comfortable enough to lie back on the bed, let the cool breeze float over her, and maybe doze herself.

There was something about country air that always lulled her to sleep—maybe it was more of a feeling, a sense of security—but no matter, she soon drifted off.

A stiffer breeze blew into the room, lifting the curtains from the windows, and she aimlessly reached for a coverlet at the foot of the bed, tugging it up around her.

There. Perfect.

With a deep sigh, her body, and her mind, slowly relaxed….