Bella's Run (41 page)

Strong? Independent? Free? Good Lord, what next? Bella gave Shelley’s shoulders a comforting squeeze. ‘Oh, Shelley, you’re doing just fine.’

In Bella’s mind Patty’s voice came through loud and clear.
Role models, hey? Next thing, they’ll be saying I’m a bloody saint!

‘Anyways,’ said Shelley, raising her voice back to its normal level. ‘The Merc belong to your fiancé, does it? He rang the shop, you know, to see where you were. I told him but then after he hung up I wondered if I’d done the right thing?’ Bella looked at Shelley, whose freckled features still glowed red. ‘I sometimes go on a bit much, Joe tells me, you see. Mouth just runs away with me and . . . well . . . I get a bit lonely, I guess.’

Bella didn’t have the heart to reproach the girl. ‘No, it was fine. Just a misunderstanding between two people who should have known better.’ She patted Shelley’s knee. ‘He’s not my fiancé anymore, by the way . . . Oh, that’s okay!’ she rushed on at the girl’s distraught face. ‘We aren’t suited to each other. He wants one thing, I want something else. He’s going home after the rodeo.’

Will looked up from his beer. She hadn’t realised he was now listening. He stared questioningly at her over Shelley’s head, then glanced towards the house as the screen door banged open.

The man in question appeared from the dark confines of Maggie’s home, and Bella was forced to introduce him.

‘Warren, do you remember my cousin Macca? This is his fiancée Sarah, and this is Shelley, who I believe you’ve spoken to at the shop.’ Bella congratulated herself. She did that well. Not one ounce of recrimination. She just had to get through the next bit. Forcing her voice to sound neutral, although painfully aware it came out slightly breathless, she said, ‘And this is my neighbour, Will O’Hara. He lives just down the track.’

Warren dismissed the first three with a brief glance, homing in on the rugged man Bella had just introduced. He was leaning slightly to the right, his hand clasped around a green can of beer.

‘Gidday,’ said Will in a deep voice. His tone was clear. He didn’t care either way whether he scrubbed up or not.

Macca wasn’t brought up to be so reserved. ‘You were at Trin’s weddin’, weren’t ya? We weren’t formally introduced. So, you from the city, are ya, mate?’

‘Yes, I originally came from England ten years ago, but now I live in Melbourne.’

‘Mmm, righto. I reckon I’d trade those grey Pommy skies for Aussie sunshine any day too. Whadaya do for a crust in the big smoke?’

‘I’m an investment banker with Oxford, Bride and Associates. Perhaps you’ve heard of them?’ Warren was smirking as he asked.

‘Nah, can’t say I have,’ responded Macca, picking up on Warren’s sarcasm.

‘And what do
you
do, Macca, to earn
a buck
in . . . um . . . Mount Isa, wasn’t it?’ asked Warren.

‘A buck?’ said Macca, playing the drongo.

‘Yes. What. Do. You. Do. For. A. Living?’ Warren drew the sentence out as if Macca were a dunce.

‘Oh, a
living
!’ said Macca, throwing Sarah a wink. ‘I’m a diesel-fitter, mate.’

Warren looked confused. ‘A diesel fitter . . . And where exactly do you work?’

‘In a ladies-underwear factory,’ said Macca, with a poker face.

‘There’s a ladies-underwear factory in Mount Isa?’ asked Warren in surprise.

‘Yeah,’ said Macca as beside him Sarah started to shake. Macca then made a movement like he was pulling something down over his ears. ‘You know, “dees-’ll-fit- her!”’

Sarah exploded with laughter. ‘Aw, Macca . . . you’re just a pisser!’

‘Yeah,’ quipped Bella dryly, ‘he’s not real smart, but he can lift heavy things.’

Warren’s face went pink. He spun and walked off, muttering something about getting his luggage.

‘Well, that might get rid of him anyway,’ said Macca.

Bella slid from the tray and hit her cousin over the head. ‘That wasn’t very nice!’

‘You’re not gunna marry that bloody tosser, are you, Hells Bells? What a flamin’ drongo.’ He mimicked Warren’s voice, ‘And what do you do to earn
a buck
. . . !’

Bella whacked Macca again before she stormed off.

‘Good on you, Macca, you idiot,’ said Shelley as she made to follow.

Will grabbed her arm. ‘I’ll go, Shelley.’ He strode after Bella, who was disappearing down the rise to Turbo’s kennel.

‘He didn’t mean it, you know,’ Will said to the figure crying into the dog’s ruffled, wiry black mane.

‘Who didn’t? Macca or bloody Warren? I don’t even know why I’m crying; I’ll be glad to be rid of the arsehole.’

‘Which one’s the arsehole?’

‘Fuckin’ Warren, of course, for being so goddamned rude. Macca’s my cousin. He’s allowed to say those sorts of things.’

With a mother, a sister and formerly a bitch of a wife, Will had long ago given up trying to understand the workings of the female mind. What he did know, though, was that a hug usually fixed things. Taking a big leap of faith, and not a little risk, he held out his muscled arms and beckoned to the girl on the ground.

‘Want a cuddle?’

Bella looked up and saw that strong, rugged face creased with worry. The brown eyes were warm, soft.

In a daze, she slowly got up and moved into the arms of the man who tugged more than a little bit at her heart and mind.

After long, precious moments of soaking in the warmth and strength of his hug, she mumbled into his broad chest, ‘And I’m pregnant.’

Pulling back, but still holding her within the safe circle of his arms, Will sought clarification. ‘You’re what?’

‘I’m pregnant, Will. It’s a bloody pisser, isn’t it? I’ve just got rid of the wanker and now this.’ She pulled herself upright, swiped a sleeve cuff across her face and slowly, reluctantly, moved from the comfort of those arms.

Will let her go. He felt like a hole had been punched into his gut.

‘I’ll be right. Or should I say
we’ll
be all right.’ Bella laughed sadly as she put her hand to her belly. ‘We’re fine by ourselves, me and the bub.’

She moved another step away from Will. She didn’t
need
any more complications and she didn’t need a bloke to make it okay. Plus, this man didn’t want children either. She
could
do this on her own. ‘We’d better get back to the others or they’ll drink all the beer and leave for the rodeo without us.’ With that, she turned and walked back up the hill towards the crowd still leaning against the ute.

Will followed slowly, trying to assimilate the news. Bella with a baby. Surprisingly, he found it wasn’t hard to picture.

By the time everyone was ready to leave for the rodeo, the grog in the beer fridge had run out, the main culprits being Macca, Sarah and Will, the two other girls not able to get stuck into it on account of breastfeeding and impending motherhood. The boys and Sarah were having a piss before heading off to the rodeo. Warren was still sulking inside the house; and Shelley was telling Bella all about the new-mums’ group she’d been to in town.

‘Jeez Louise, bloody women can talk, can’t they?’ yelled Macca, who was now ready to travel. ‘Are you sheilas comin’ or what?’

‘Keep your shirt on, big fella,’ Bella called back. ‘Shell, can you take these two drunken lovebirds back into town? Do you think you can drive Macca’s ute?’

The young mum stood up straight and thrust her shoulders back. ‘Of course I can, I’ve driven a flamin’ logging truck, I can drive just about anything.’

‘Onya, girl. Go grab that driver’s seat, and Macca, you shut up, get in and cuddle your intended!’

‘Yes, ma’am!’ saluted Macca as he pushed Sarah into the ute first.

‘And what about me? Can I bot a ride off you?’ asked Will, who’d come up to stand by her side. He gave her a wary half-smile.

‘Yeah. You can have a seat . . .’ She threw the words over her shoulder as she walked off towards the house to give Warren directions to the rodeo ground. ‘You’ll just have to share it with Turbo.’

Bella could hear Will’s groan as he went to grab the dog.

Chapter 39

The rodeo was in full swing by the time they all arrived, with the open steer-wrestling out in the ring. The ground was packed with locals and visitors alike, everyone set up with picnic chairs and rugs laid out in the sun. The bar was a popular place to be and the local primary school and Lions club were serving up the grub: hot roast beef, lamb or pork sandwiches washed down with water, beer, coke and rum; Bella’s tummy grumbled in anticipation.

Placing a rug on the side of the hill leading down to the rodeo ring, Bella sat and prepared herself to be spellbound by the competition about to start in the arena. The steer-wrestling was one of her favourite parts and she didn’t want to miss a thing. She knew it wasn’t considered a team event, but the rider heavily relied on his hazer, the bloke charged with the job of keeping the steer running straight so the wrestler could get into a good position. Once the steer-wrestler took off he had to move down the right-hand side of his horse and reach for the steer’s horns with his hands. After he got hold of the horns, he had to jump off his horse and dig his heels into the ground to stop the animal running. The competitor then had to throw the steer down, flat on its side with all four feet straight. It was a spectacular sport to watch, and Bella loved every bit of it.

Then came the barrel-racing, the team-roping and the open bareback ride followed by the main events of the day, the open saddle bronc and bull rides. Sitting as far from Will as possible, Warren watched the rodeo with a bored expression, ignoring everyone until Trin arrived. He then monopolised Trin, quietly talking non-stop. But Trin mustn’t have been interested in the ‘brilliant business proposition’ because Warren suddenly hopped up and called across to Bella that he was going for a beer.

‘Jeez, you would have thought he’d offer to grab us
all
a drink?’ said Caro, as she sat down beside Bella.

‘Don’t worry about him. He’s a bit pissed off.’ Bella watched Warren walk off like he had a pole shoved up his bum.

‘Why?’ asked Caro, puzzled.

Bella waggled her empty ring finger in front of Caro’s nose.

‘Oh.’ Caro looked up into Bella’s face. ‘Are you okay about that?’

Trinity glanced over, interested.

‘Perfectly,’ said Bella, and she realised it was the truth. Time to change the subject. ‘Hey, the open bareback ride’s on!’

‘You don’t say!’ said Trinity, picking up the bait and turning his attention back to the arena.

‘Yeah,’ Bella replied as Caro gave her a long hard look, catching the scent of a story. Bella ignored her and focused on the event. All were soon captivated as cowboys were thrown every few minutes and pick-up riders raced in to save their hides.

Bella loved a good rodeo and didn’t want to miss a buck made by either horse or bull.