Outback Ghost Read online

  After a quick dinner of microwave pie and those much-needed painkillers, he showered and then collapsed into bed, eager for this day to be over. But although mentally and physically fatigued, sleep didn’t come easy. His mind kept drifting to Stella and Heidi not too far away at the cottage. Were they settling in okay or were the strange noises that had already scared away a number of guests disturbing them too? Dammit, maybe he should have mentioned something. Then again Stella said she’d come from a farming background so she should be used to noises that go bump in the night.

  Stop, he told himself, shoving his pillow over his head in an attempt to get some peace. They are no concern of yours.

  He wanted to sleep, craved the oblivion it would bring, but his mind refused to shut off. Maybe because it was a Friday night and any normal single guy his age would be out having fun. The Palace in town would be cranking as usual but he had no desire to go there on his own and it seemed all his friends had recently hooked up. He was happy for them – for Faith and Monty, Ruby and Drew – but the older he got, the more friends he saw married off, the harder it got not to want that too.

  *

  Despite the fact it had taken her a long while to get to sleep in her strange, new surroundings, Stella woke early with the break of dawn sneaking in through the crack in the curtains.

  The night had been a little eerie. She’d not lived in the country in a long time, and in the city the sounds of traffic overrode the sounds of the night. She’d told herself not to be silly – that everything would have a logical explanation. The door she’d heard shutting was probably due to a draft that had come in through an old, not properly sealed window and the noises that sounded like they were coming from the roof were almost definitely down to possums.

  But it was a lot easier to be logical about such sounds in the light of a beautiful day.

  The luxurious queen bed with its lush, newish sheets was really too big and she’d spent hours wondering if Heidi would climb in like she sometimes did at home during the night. But, exhausted from the day’s excitement, Heidi had fallen into a deep slumber the moment her head hit the pillow in the room next door to Stella’s and, if the silent house was anything to go by, she was still sleeping.

  Stella rolled over, torn between making the most of a rare chance to lie in bed or getting up and enjoying her morning muesli in peace. As much as she adored Heidi, the moment she woke, silence would be off the agenda until bedtime. That thought had her leaping out the bed, slipping on her Crocs and heading into the kitchen. She opened curtains as she went, smiling at the perfect summer morning launching itself over the horizon. The endless paddocks of wheat and canola were a pleasant change from the boring houses she faced day in day out in the boxy Perth suburb she lived in.

  Shaking cereal out of the box and into a bowl, she cocked her head, listening for any noises coming from Heidi’s bedroom. Secure in the knowledge she was still asleep, Stella took her breakfast out onto the veranda and sat down in the love seat, swinging her feet absentmindedly. About halfway through her muesli, something swished against her leg and she almost leapt off the seat in terror. Somehow she managed not to spill anything and her heart returned to normal functioning when she looked down to find the cat from yesterday winding its ample body around her legs.

  ‘Hey there,’ she said, reaching out to stroke the wretched looking thing. ‘Oh hello.’ Her hand paused against the bulging stomach of the cat. If she wasn’t mistaken, this feline was with kittens. Her motherly instincts kicked in.

  Placing her bowl on the seat beside her, she said, ‘You wait right there and I’ll get you some breakfast.’

  While she dashed around the kitchen, opening a can of tuna and pouring a saucer of milk, she imagined Heidi’s face when she told her there might be kittens on the horizon. Growing up on a dairy farm just outside of Albany Stella had experienced the birth of cats, dogs, ducks, chickens and calves and she’d loved every minute of it. She’d always assumed the farm would be part of her life – as far as she knew her family still lived there – and she’d missed it terribly living in the city. She only hoped she could woo the cat enough that she might have the kittens close to the house and let them be a part of it.

  As this cat was wild, it was probably an impossible dream, but one she was willing to give her best shot. Still smiling, she took the dishes back out to the veranda and groaned when she found the cat on the love seat, its head in her breakfast.

  ‘Oh well.’ Sighing, she put the tuna and milk down on the decking and leaned against the railing. ‘I guess you need it more than me, girl.’

  The cat finished Stella’s breakfast, leapt down and was halfway through the tuna when a ute sounded in the distance. Stella’s stomach tumble-turned, the rest of her body stilling at the thought it might be Adam. She had no idea if Esther had a husband but there’d been no sign nor talk of one yesterday. The sound grew closer. Was he coming to the cottage? To see her?

  Her hand rushed to her unbrushed hair and once again she cursed her attire. She didn’t bother with pyjamas as such but her old T-shirt and sweat-shorts would be more embarrassing than if he caught her in saucy negligee. And her bright orange Crocs? Well, they were comfy but hardly fashionable.

  Eek. Why did she care what Adam thought? Why should she think he would even notice?

  With that sobering thought, she turned slowly, preparing herself for the ambush of his gorgeousness against her inexperienced hormones, but such worries were unfounded. Although he slowed the ute slightly as he passed the cottage, beeped the horn and waved his hand through the open window, he didn’t stop. She couldn’t help but feel a wee bit disappointed. Had she been too quick to turn down his offer to show them around yesterday? Her body’s way-out reaction to him had scared her, but this morning the idea of another adult to talk to, someone to show them the hot spots of Bunyip Bay, appealed.

  ‘Mummy.’

  She turned at the sound of Heidi’s sleep-soaked voice to find her daughter in the open doorway, her blonde hair standing at all angles and her eyes encrusted with sleep.

  ‘Good morning, sweet stuff.’ Stella stepped forward for a hug, but Heidi looked past her, her eyes lighting up at the sight of the cat now lapping up the last of the milk.

  ‘Whiskers!’

  Stella had all but forgotten the name Heidi and Esther had come up with yesterday.

  Whiskers looked up, and for a moment Stella thought she looked set to make a run for it, but when Heidi bent down she let her cuddle her.

  ‘Careful,’ Stella said, ‘I think Whiskers has babies in her tummy.’

  ‘Really?’ Excited astonishment spread across Heidi’s face. ‘Wow.’

  Stella went to sit back in the love seat but Heidi shrieked just before her bottom hit. Whiskers sprang free and dashed off into the yard at the noise.

  ‘What is it, Heidi?’ Stella stood bolt upright again, her heart slamming into her ribs.

  ‘You sat on Lily-Blue,’ Heidi said, as if the reason for her yell was obvious.

  Slowly Stella turned to look back at the empty love seat. ‘Lily-Who?’

  Chapter Four

  Heidi was keen to explore the farm but Stella didn’t think her body could handle another run-in with Adam just yet, so she lured her daughter into town with promises of a proper play at the park and a walk along the beach to collect shells.

  ‘Is Blue-Lily coming into town with us?’ she asked as they headed for the car.

  Heidi, who’d insisted on wearing her swimming costume and nothing more, made a frustrated click of her tongue. ‘Lily-Blue, Mummy.’

  ‘Sorry, sweetheart. I forgot.’ Apparently Lily-Blue was Heidi’s new imaginary friend. Heidi hadn’t said much about her except that she was very pretty, the same age as she was and her favourite place to sit was the love seat out on the veranda. Just Stella’s luck her new fave spot was also the fave of somebody she couldn’t see. She guessed, as with every other imaginary friend her daughter had had, that she’d learn more about
her as the weeks went on. Probably, just as she felt she knew the ‘person’, they would disappear.

  ‘Nope.’ Heidi shook her head. ‘Lily-Blue doesn’t leave farm.’

  ‘Oh, okay then.’ She smiled to herself – this would make things heaps easier. It was simple to pander to Heidi’s friends when they were in private but strangers sometimes got funny about such things. Once in a café Heidi had got very upset when someone had wanted the chair her imaginary friend was supposedly sitting on. Stella cringed at the memory – in the end, they’d had to leave the café before someone had thrown them out.

  She put on a Sunny Cowgirls CD as they drove into town and Heidi bopped along happily in her booster seat. Adam’s farm was only a ten-minute drive from the centre of Bunyip Bay and an easy, calming drive at that. Stella counted a grand total of two other cars before she slowed into the main street.

  ‘Park or beach first?’ she asked.

  Her question was met with silence and she looked into the rear-view mirror to see Heidi’s lower lip pushed out and her brow furrowed, her thinking expression. ‘Can’t choose,’ she said eventually.

  Stella laughed and decided on the beach first. It had been eons since she’d run her feet through soft sand and she was almost as excited about adding to their shell collection as Heidi. They drove through the town and turned right down the road that headed to the beach. Having studied a local map last night, Stella felt confident this spot would be the best to take Heidi. As predicted there was a large car park, with only a few cars scattered throughout. Beyond the dunes, Stella spied the gorgeous clear, blue sea, lapping against the pale golden sand. She couldn’t wait to get down there.

  ‘Come on, gorgeous girl.’ She jumped out of the car, slammed her door shut and unbuckled Heidi in record time. They retrieved plastic buckets and spades bought especially for this holiday from the boot and then ran down the sandy track that led to the shore. It was the fifth of December and although the tourists hadn’t taken over Bunyip Bay yet, there were a few people enjoying the sunny morning. Stella imagined that within a couple of weeks this beach would be chocka full of locals and tourists.

  ‘Come on, Mummy.’ Heidi had kicked off her Crocs and was tugging at Stella’s hand.

  ‘Wait one moment.’ Laughing, Stella slipped off her own shoes and tugged off her denim skirt and T-shirt to reveal a bikini she hadn’t worn in years. Slightly self-conscious, she was glad the few other people nearby seemed more concerned with jogging or fishing than looking at them. She hid the car keys beneath their pile of clothes and looked to Heidi. ‘All right, let’s do this.’

  Together they ran towards the ocean, squealing as their toes hit the cool water.

  ‘Get wet, Mummy.’ Heidi giggled as she splashed water up against Stella’s legs.

  ‘Oh, you rascal.’ Stella leaned over and caught Heidi around her waist. She lifted her up, hugged her and they both collapsed into the water. The gentle waves washed up around them and Stella knew she’d remember the delighted smile on Heidi’s face forever. All the things she’d sacrificed to save for these couple of months away were worth it for the feeling that buzzed through her now. Heidi’s smile should be bottled and sold as a mood enhancer.

  They spent over two hours frolicking – it was the only word Stella could think of for it – along the sand, running in and out of the waves, collecting shells in Heidi’s pink basket and then making a castle that Heidi wanted to take home with them.

  Stella smiled. ‘We can’t take it home, honey. It’d fall apart if we tried to lift it, but we can come back again and make another one.’

  ‘Tomorrow?’

  ‘Sure.’ Stella nodded and glanced up at the sky. The sun was creeping higher now and she could feel it baking their skin. Although she’d slathered them both in sunscreen before they’d left the cottage, and they were wearing hats, it was time to reapply or leave. Hunger made the decision for her. ‘But now let’s go get some lunch.’

  ‘Where?’ Heidi asked as Stella dropped her poncho towel over her head and began to rub the sand and water off her little body.

  ‘I thought we’d splurge and go to the café. What do you think?’

  Heidi nodded enthusiastically. At the car, Stella pulled her clothes over her sun-dried bathers, packed the sandy plastic beach toys back in the boot and dressed Heidi in a cute little sundress. They found a car space right outside the café, but inside the place was already filling with lunch goers.

  Stella stood in the doorway, holding Heidi’s hand firmly as she scanned the small but modern café. The aroma wafting from the kitchen would give any city café a run for its money and the vibe was good but finding a table looked like it might be a problem. They should have left the beach earlier but she’d never imagined the café in sleepy little Bunyip Bay would be such a hot spot.

  ‘I’m hungry.’ Heidi squirmed beside her, trying to tug Stella towards the counter.

  ‘I know. Me too.’ She scanned the tables, many of which were occupied by seniors, who looked like they could be grey nomads, travelling the country in caravans.

  ‘Look, maybe they do takeaway,’ Stella said with a sigh. ‘We’ll order our lunch and take it down to the park to eat.’

  They started winding through the tables towards the counter, but Stella hadn’t gone three steps before a hand reached out and halted her. She flinched at the unexpected contact, her head snapping to see who’d touched her. When her eyes met with the other person’s she both relaxed and tensed at the same time.

  So much for giving her hormones a reprieve!

  ‘Adam.’ His name tingled on her tongue and the feeling whooshed through her body. Warmth flooded her skin where his hand still lingered on her arm. She swallowed and forced a smile. ‘Hi.’

  He dropped his hand to his side and smiled back, gesturing to the vacant chairs around him. ‘You two are welcome to sit with me if you like.’

  Even before she could concoct a reply, Heidi slid into the chair closest to her and smiled up at the adults. Stella’s conscience warred within – part of her thought it would be dangerous to accept Adam’s kind offer, but the other half of her couldn’t think of anything she’d like more. Besides, there weren’t exactly a lot of tables to choose from and it would be rude to turn him down again, right? He was her landlord for the next two months and it was always good to keep the people who put a roof over your head sweet.

  ‘Thank you,’ she said, dropping her handbag on the other vacant chair. ‘I’ll go order. Is there anything I can get for you, Adam?’

  ‘No thanks.’ He shook his head as he sat back down. ‘Frankie, who owns the café, knows what I like. She just brings it out to me.’

  ‘Ah… great.’ She smiled as she dug her purse out of her bag and turned towards the counter, but inside she was glowering. Was Frankie his girlfriend? They had to be on pretty good terms for that kind of arrangement. Her heart squeezed tightly at the thought, which irritated her no end because what should it matter to her if he had a girlfriend or not?

  Stella tried to push aside the ridiculous jealousy that blossomed as she stood in front of the counter and read the daily specials on the chalkboard wall. She decided on a toasted cheese sandwich for Heidi and the spinach quiche for herself. Then, while she waited to place her order, she glanced back to the table and saw Adam and Heidi playing hand slap as if they’d been best buds for years. They built a tower with their hands and then the hand on the bottom snuck out to land on the top hand. It was a loud, silly game and one that Heidi adored. Judging by the laughter and the grin on Adam’s face, he was having a ball as well.

  Feeling a little more relaxed, she turned back just as the person in front of her finished ordering.

  ‘What can I get for you?’ A woman with deep crimson hair tied back in a long plait that hung over her shoulder grinned at Stella from behind the counter. Her bright orange name badge read ‘Frankie’.

  Telling herself she shouldn’t take an instant dislike to Frankie simply because she might
have something going on with Adam, Stella forced herself to smile as she placed their order.

  ‘Got it.’ Frankie tapped her pen against her notepad. ‘Do you have a table already or is this takeaway?’

  ‘Um…’ Stella glanced behind her towards the tables. ‘We’re sitting over there. With Adam Burton.’

  Frankie slapped her pen against the counter and Stella’s heart jolted a moment. Was she going to have to deal with an irate girlfriend? She opened her mouth to explain that they were simply sharing a table for convenience sakes when Frankie’s lips morphed into a grin again.

  ‘Are you staying at the cottage?’ she asked. ‘Adam said he had guests again. Gorgeous little place. And Adam said you have a little girl. I can’t wait to meet her. You’re staying a couple of months, right? Well, I’m sure we’ll be seeing lots of each other.’ She thrust her hand out. ‘Sorry, mind my manners. I’m Frankie.’

  Taking Frankie’s hand, Stella said, ‘I’m Stella and, yes, I have a little girl called Heidi.’

  ‘So lovely to meet you.’ Frankie beamed and shook firmly. ‘You’ve chosen a lovely time to come to Bunyip Bay. Sure, it gets hot but it’s also beautiful over the summer. Anyway, I’d better stop yakking and get on with these orders. Chat later.’

  Having been dismissed, Stella trekked back to the table, shaking her head bemusedly at the whirlwind that was Frankie. Despite her possible Adam connection, it was hard not to take an instant delight to the vibrant café owner. Besides she couldn’t imagine Frankie and Adam as an item. He seemed the strong, silent type, whereas Stella guessed Frankie spoke first and thought later. She’d ask him outright if Frankie was his girlfriend if such a question wouldn’t make it sound like she was interested. Which she was not. A girl was allowed to perve, to appreciate a good-looking guy, but perving and appreciation were as far as Stella would ever take it. Heidi was her priority and if that meant sacrificing things women her age were usually looking for, so be it.