Coming Home (30 page)

"Essie told me you
were down here. Thought you might like some help."

"Thanks, but I'm
fine." She made to walk past him but he grabbed her arm turning her so
their bodies were facing. With her heart pounding, Kate watched him lean
forward and place his lips on hers. A groaned rose in her throat before she
could hold it back and she arched her body toward him. Kate wanted to wrap her
arms around his neck and plunder his mouth but she was holding the torch and a
bottle of champagne.

She closed her eyes and
let him kiss her senseless, her emotions running wild at the sensual touch of
his lips of hers. Just when she her mind was imagining him naked in her bed, he
pushed her away and she was left gasping for more.

"Why are you
getting champagne, Katie?"

She sighed. Her nerves
were now frazzled and her body was too warm in all the right places. The cellar
wasn't the most romantic place to proposition a man, but he had ruined her
plans. "I thought we could have dinner at my place tonight."

He grinned, a gesture
guaranteed to make her stomach lurch with lust he had already set to simmering.

"If you don't want
to, that's fine." She wrenched her arm away from him and headed for the
stairs.

"I would love to
come for dinner."

She stopped and turned
to face him. "Great. That's great." She hurried up the ladder and
into the kitchen, her heart beating wildly. Walking to the sink, she rinsed the
dust from the bottle before placing it in the fridge. "I'll get it later."

"I can bring it
over when I come." Cade walked into the kitchen. "Anything else I can
bring?"

"That's fine,
thanks. I think I have everything under control." She turned to Essie.
"I'm starving. What's for lunch?"

Stevie lined up with
the other parents at the school waiting for Tam to come out of class. His palms
were sweating and he toyed with the small box in his pocket.
What if she
said no?
It didn't bear thinking about but the possibility didn't deter
him. He wanted this more than anything in his life and if it took a few
attempts to make Rooney see things his way, then so be it. He was nothing if
not persistent.

"Daddy." Tam
came running out of the school grounds and threw herself into his arms. He
could get used to do the school pick up if this was what he could expect.

"How was your
day?" He held her hand and walked her to the car.

"Good. I have more
homework. Can you do it with me?" She gazed up into his face with eyes
that mirrored his own.

"Of course I
can." He buckled her into the back seat and walked around the front,
sliding in. When they were on the road, he looked at his daughter in the
mirror. "Tam, I need your help with something."

She listened while
Stevie explained what they were going to do when they got home.

Rooney was sitting on
the cane lounger on the front veranda when they found her. "Hi, chicken.
Did you have a good day?" She held out her arms and Tam ran to her.

"How are you
feeling?" Stevie walked over and rested his hand on her shoulder.

"Good. I think I
could go back to work tomorrow. Not one single panic attack. That's if you'll
let me in the surgery." She looked at him expectantly.

"We’ll see. I'm
not sure if the boys have finished in there yet."

"Mummy, I want to
go for a walk. Can you and Daddy come with me, please?" Tam looked at her,
a pleading look in her eyes.

"Sure, I guess so.
I've been sitting around all day. A walk would do me good." She let go of
Tam and stood up. "Where do you want to go?"

Tam looked at her
father before answering. "Down to the lagoon. It's pretty down
there."

Rooney glanced between
the two of them. "Okay. Let's go then."

Stevie held her hand,
and together they walked down the driveway until they got to the stand of weeping
willows overhanging the lagoon. He opened the gate and waited for them to go in
front of him.

"Oh, how
pretty." Rooney looked at the picnic blanket and basket sitting under the
tree before glancing at Stevie. "I sense something planned between the two
of you here. What's going on?"

"Come and sit with
me?" Tam ran over and fell down onto the blanket.

"What have you
done?" she asked.

"Go and sit. All
will be revealed. I promise." They walked over and Rooney eased herself
down to sit with Tam, glancing up at him.

"I know I have a
lot to make up for, to both of you." He held up his hand when she opened
her mouth to speak. "I know I have. If I hadn't been so reckless, things
wouldn't have happened the way they did the night you left. Now you've come back,
and I'm not prepared to miss another moment with either of you." He
dropped down in front of them on one knee. Taking a small pink box from his
pocket, he spoke. "Tamara, would you do me the honour of acknowledging me
as your father? From this day forward, I pledge to be there for you, to shield
you from evil and to be the man you want me to be."

She giggled as he
opened the box. Taking the small gold heart shaped ring, he held it out to her.

 "Yes,
Daddy."

He gripped her hand and
slipped it on one finger, then another until he found one that it fitted.

Tam stood and wrapped
her arms around his neck as he fought back a wave of emotion. Looking at
Rooney, he saw she was as effected as he was.

Okay, now for the real
deal.
He took a deep breath and took a small, black
velvet box from his shirt pocket. Opening the lid, he turned it to Rooney and
saw her eyes widen. "Rooney, I've loved you ever since I realised the
difference between girls and boys Earlier if the truth be told. I've made
mistakes, I'll accept that. What I won't do is let you go again. I can't bear
the thought of living without you and our daughter. I love you with all my
heart, Rooney Williams. Please say you'll marry me."

She lifted her hands to
her mouth and let the tears run down her face freely. Stevie felt his chest
constrict as he waited for her answer. A sob escaped her throat and he couldn't
take it anymore. Reaching for Rooney, he pulled her into his arms.

"Tell me, for
God's sake, just tell me what’s wrong?" He kissed her head. "Is it too
soon, did I ask you wrong? Tell me, Rooney. I can't stand seeing you in
tears."

She laughed through her
tears. "Foolish man. These are happy tears, Stevie. I never thought we’d
ever get to this point. Even at my lowest, when I was struggling with a baby
and uni, I never could have dreamed we would be here together like this."
She wiped her eyes and sniffed. "I can't bear the thought of living
without you. It was nice falling asleep last night in your arms. I don't want
to be alone again, Stevie. Of course I'll marry you."

He held her tight as
his heart beat slowed to normal. Then letting go of her, he picked up the box
he'd dropped when he grabbed her. Taking the pink diamond solitaire, he placed
it on her finger before kissing her soundly.

"We need a party,"
Tam cried, throwing herself at the pair of them.

"Sounds like a
good idea. We can do with some fun in the house." Rooney kissed him on the
lips, mindful of the child snuggled between them. "I can't wait to share
the news."

"I...um…asked
Russ, so he knows but nobody else."

"You asked my
brother? How sweet you are."

"Now we’re going
to celebrate and have a couple of hours to ourselves before we go up and share
the news." He reached for the basket and took out a chilled bottle of
champagne and a couple of glasses.

Rooney held the glasses
while he popped the cork. "Cheers." They tipped glasses and sipped
before Stevie took snacks and juice from the hamper. He leaned back and watched
the ducks floating on the water he’d skinny-dipped in with Rooney when they
were growing up. He wished with all of his heart that Tam would have such the
carefree existence they’d had.

"Lizzie, open the
door." Russ knocked, paused and knocked again.

She could feel the
vibrations as she leaned against it, willing him to leave her alone.

"Go away."
Her voice was muffled and she tried again, stronger this time. "Please,
just go away."

"I'm not going
anywhere. We need to talk."

She looked around her lounge,
debating ignoring him and climbing under the bedclothes shutting herself off
from the world. But that wouldn't make anything better. What was done was done,
and she had to live with it. What she didn't have to live with, was the
accusations pointed at her all over again because some stupid love-struck girl
fancied the new doctor. Life was cruel and unfair. The very reason Lizzie had
tried not to get involved with Russ Williams, because sooner or later someone
would spill the story to him and he would run. They always did.

"Lizzie, I'm not
going to go away. I don't care if I sit out here all night. We need to
talk."

Tired and suddenly
eager to get it over and done with, she unlocked the door and pulled it open.
It stunned her how beautiful he was. A blond god with gentle blue eyes and a
smile that made her knees tremble. "What do you want to say?"

"Do you think I
could come in? I don't think this is something the neighbours need to
hear." He smiled and walked past her, stopping in the middle of the room.

She shut the door,
sliding the lock closed from habit, before turning to look at him. "Say
what you have to and leave. I'm tired."

"I'm sorry about
what happened at work with Diane. That was unnecessary and plain mean." He
looked around and took a seat on her lounge, gazing at her and no doubt waiting
for her to answer him.

"Fine. Is that
it?"

"No, actually it
isn't. I wanted to ask you on another date. How about Saturday night? We can go
dancing if you like. Not that I know where just yet, but we can work on
that."

"Are you for real?
I was involved in an apparent murder. My face was flashed over the newspaper
this morning, as you already know. Does that not mean anything to you?"
She stared at him, sitting calm and handsome watching her lose the plot.

"No. Should
it?"

Lizzie ran her hands
through her hair, pulling the tie and letting the curls fall loose. Pain
throbbed behind her eyes and she wished it was possible to dream it away. This
conversation wasn't going as she thought it would. "Don't you want to know
what happened?"

"Only if you want
to tell me. Your choice Lizzie, but it doesn't make any difference to me."
He stood and walked to her, taking her hands in his. "Look, Stevie trusts
you, so I do too. If you want to tell me what happened, then fine." He
shrugged his shoulders. "If it makes you feel better, get it out and lets
be done with it so we can move on. It's not important to me."

She was stunned. This
couldn't be right. Maybe if she told him the gory details he might run. Lizzie
had to get it out in the open.

"I had a very
controlling boyfriend. Funny how you don't think that way initially. I thought
he was just protective and that was kind of sweet." She walked away from
Russ and stood with her arms folded across her chest, facing him from the other
side of the room. "We were like lost souls who suddenly found each other,
at least that’s what it felt like. It was amazing how alike we were. I was
totally besotted with James. He did everything for me. If I worked late, he
would have dinner, a hot bath and a foot rub ready for me when I got home.
Everyone thought I was the luckiest girl." She gave a bitter laugh.

"Things started to
go wrong when we moved from Sydney to here. It was a huge step up in my career and
I was thrilled to be offered the job at the hospital. James was all for it at
first. He said he was ready for a change and got a transfer with his company,
so it was all perfect. Until he decided he didn't like his co-workers or his
new company car wasn't as nice as the one he left behind in Sydney. He would
blame me. and slowly that blame turned physical. I'm sure you get the picture.
Domestic violence and I should have seen it coming, but I didn't."

The tears flowed down
her face and thankfully Russ stayed where he was. "Each day, there was
something else that made him angry. I knew the only way to stop him was to get
away. So I packed my bags and told him I was leaving." She choked on a
sob.

Russ jammed his hands
in his pockets and kept a neutral look on his face.

"He hurt me so
badly that time, I couldn't leave. I was in too much pain. He put me to bed and
pretended I was alright. I wasn't. I had to stay in, hidden under the blankets
for days before I could face the world. It took me another four months to pluck
up the courage to try again. I think in a way he knew it was coming, but this
time he changed tactics. He brought out a gun." She took couple of deep
breaths before she could continue.