Life Support: Escape to the Country (27 page)

“You look lost.”

Emma spun so fast she tripped on a tree root and fell to the ground with a thud, landing on her backside. The map she’d been holding floated to the ground and taunted her.

Tom laughed as she flailed her arms and legs, trying to get back up, but the heavy pack weighed her down.

“Need any help?”

She playfully smacked his hands away.

“I’m fine.”

She rolled over onto all fours and pushed herself up from the ground, brushing the dirt from her hands and pretending to be annoyed with him. “You frightened me.”

“Sorry.”

Emma narrowed her eyes. “Were you following me?”

“Nope. I was just out for a walk.”

“Rubbish. You were following me. You didn’t trust me not to get lost.”

“
Are
you lost?” He bent down to retrieve her dropped map.

She snatched it from his hands and stared at it intently. “I’m not lost, I was simply taking a minute to decide which way to go.”

Silently he leaned over her shoulder to take a closer look at the map and she felt his heat seeping into her. He twisted her map around without saying a word. Her cheeks grew hot. No wonder she was lost – she’d been reading it upside down.

“This path will take you down to the river.” His arm came around her and with one finger he tapped at a spot on the map. His aftershave – the one she’d given him for Christmas – filled her senses. “This one will also take you to the river, but it’s not the easiest way. I presume you’re heading toward the waterfall? Or are you looking for drop bears?”

“I’m heading to the waterfall.”

A flock of screeching red-breasted lorikeets flew overhead. She tipped back her head to watch them, astonished to see how dark the sky was. It had been blue sky and sunshine when she’d set out that morning. Where had the storm clouds come from?

As if on cue, above them, the churning black clouds bumped together and exploded in a burst of lightning.

She jumped. “Are we supposed to count?” She tried to keep her voice light, but heard the nervous waver.

Too late. The boom of thunder shook the ground under their feet and she jumped again, crashing into Tom’s chest.

He held her tight. “Scared?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“Liar.”

He was right. She was far closer to freaked out.

“That was way too close.”

“Do you have a Drizabone?”

When she shook her head, he scrubbed his hand across his jaw. “Emma, Emma, Emma. I thought you said you would be prepared for this trip.”

“I am, but not for a storm.”

He pulled off his Akubra and ran his hands through the mussed up waves of hair before handing the hat to her and dropping the backpack from his shoulders. Lightning lit up the sky above them again and without thinking, she squealed.

“Should we get out in the open?”

Tom looked up. “Nah. The thunderstorm is already passing, but judging by those clouds, we’re about to get drenched soon.” He pulled two rolled up brown oilskins from his pack and threw one in her direction.

She berated herself for not thinking to pack her own coat, but silently cheered for her Boy Scout fiancé.

“Do you want to wait it out?” he asked.

“No. A bit of rain won’t hurt me.” She shoved the coat into the top of her pack and zipped the bag back up. “If it pours, I’ll put it on.”

“Might be a good idea to put it on now,” he said as he slid first one arm then the other into his coat. It was taut across his shoulders and fell well below his knees reminding her of
The Man from Snowy River
– one of her favorite childhood movies.

“It’s still too hot. I’ll put it on when it starts to rain.”

He shrugged. “Your call.”

She headed deeper into the bush and though it hadn’t rained yet, the path was damp underfoot. They walked side by side in comfortable silence, their footfalls cushioned by inches of littered leaves. The rich aroma of eucalyptus oil filled her nostrils and she inhaled deeply. Partly to breathe in the fragrance of the bush, and partly to relax her racing heart. Every time the path narrowed and their arms brushed together, Emma’s skin tingled with awareness of their proximity. The path narrowed at one point, forcing them to walk single file before it widened again. She slowed until he drew alongside her. Turning, she looked into his eyes. She loved those fine lines which fanned out from the corners. Lines not caused by age, but from his easy smile and from squinting into the bright sunlight while he worked outdoors on the farm. She couldn’t wait to marry this man.

They came to a clearing and she stepped off the narrow path and climbed up onto a large rock overlooking open paddocks. The Blue Mountains formed a backdrop behind her. Tom stepped up beside her to take in the view. Together they waited under the still roiling gray sky. She tugged off her backpack and rifled through the contents for her water bottle. Annoyingly, Tom pulled a bottle from a side pocket of his pack and handed it to her. She closed her eyes and drank thirstily. At the next rumble of distant thunder, they started walking again.

“It’s going to rain soon,” he said.

Her eyes flicked upward and caught sight of the ominous clouds and darkening sky. A small shiver traveled down her spine.

Lightning lit the sky again followed by another crack of thunder. Emma frowned. “I thought you said the storm had passed.”

“This is the second front. Didn’t you check the forecast before you left home?”

The next flash of lightning was followed by a deep rumble of thunder and large drops of rain began to fall. It felt amazingly delicious against her overheated skin. She knew it was stupid to get wet, but it felt wonderful and intoxicating and exhilarating. She gave a hills-are-alive-with-the-sound-of-music twirl and giggled as the rain fell heavier on her body.

Tom pulled off his sunglasses and eyeballed her. “Are you all right?”

“Perfectly all right, thank you for asking. Why?”

“You’re going to get soaked.”

“I happen to like the feel of the rain on my skin.” She was starting to get cold, but didn’t want him to know that.

“And I happen to like the rain on your skin too.”

His grin split his face from ear to ear and too late, she realized her now see-through T-shirt clung to her body, hiding nothing. She folded her arms across her chest and turned away from him, but it was too late. He had already received more than an eyeful.

“Nice look,” he said.

She let out a breath and started walking again. Less than two hundred meters further down the track, the heavens opened and dumped on them. Walking became tricky, their feet slipping on the thick carpet of gum leaves. Heavy droplets of rain cascaded and bounced off Tom’s oily waterproof Drizabone. Each drop of rain fell like a cold bullet against her soaked skin and she shivered uncontrollably. She was such a fool for not listening to him.

He pulled her close against the trunk of a large tree, which offered a modicum of protection from the bucketing rain. Raindrops splattered around them, falling like music on the canopy of leaves overhead. She’d forgotten how fast the summer storms rolled across the paddocks of Birrangulla and over the Blue Mountains toward Sydney.

“It’s a little too late for that,” Emma said wryly.

“Yeah but it offers some shelter which is better than nothing.” He stood beside her, hands on his hips, surveying her. In his hat and coat, he looked warm. And dry.

By contrast, the rain had plastered her own clothes to the contours of her body. “Your big golf umbrella would be handy around about now.”

Tom laughed.

“I may or may not have made a mistake not putting on my coat when you suggested.”

“Emma.” The way he said her name on a barely expelled breath made her look up. “Come here sweetie.” He unclipped the buttons of his coat and held his arms wide. Their gazes held for a long beat before she went willingly into his arms, leaning in and tucking her arms inside the jacket around his waist, absorbing his body heat.

His blue eyes darkened and she prepared herself for more teasing. She snuck a glance up and saw he wasn’t laughing at her.

“The first time I went on a solo hike, it snowed.”

Emma raised her eyebrows, keen to know the rest of the story.

“Yeah, it snowed. In the middle of January. I walked for hours in a T-shirt loving the way the snow melted on my skin.”

“That would have been magical.” It snowed once or twice each winter in Birrangulla, but snow in the middle of summer was rare. She knew it was possible high up in the mountains, but hadn’t experienced it herself.

“It
was
magical. But it was also madness. I hadn’t told anyone where I was going and if I didn’t know the trails as well as I did, it could have been a worse scenario.”

“What happened? Did they have to rescue you?” She envisaged SES crews and helicopters and television crews.

“No, but when I got home I had to be rescued from Mum. She went ballistic.”

Emma laughed. She could imagine Judy’s panic.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.” She snuggled into him, warm, cocooned, protected, but when he didn’t say anything, she pulled back and looked at him, narrowing her eyes. “You
do
remember I said yes already – you don’t have to ask me again.”

He kissed the end of her nose. “Yes I remember and I can’t wait. Not long now. But this is a serious question, Em. You made a comment once that’s stuck with me. I could never figure out what you meant.”

Her breath caught.

“I know I’m a guy, and apparently guys have pretty bad memories, but I can’t help feeling like I’m missing something important. You said something once about us being together once when we were teenagers. What did you mean?”

A rolling, fluttery feeling filled her stomach. She blinked rapidly and averted her gaze.

He ran a finger down her cheek and lifted her jaw, turning her face toward his. “Tell me.” His voice was soft and quiet, the tone telling her he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

She drew in a deep breath then let out a sound that was dangerously close to coming across as a sob. She recovered and took in another shaky breath. She closed her eyes and dropped her head to her chest. “We slept together ten years ago, but you don’t remember,” she whispered.

“What?”

Humiliation flooded through her. She closed her eyes and it was as though she was back there again: that hot summer night. No moon. No breeze. No escape from the heat of the day.

“What did you say?” he asked again.

She swallowed. “We slept together.”

She braved a glance and saw his stunned expression. His eyes were liquid pools of confusion.

More memories flooded her mind. The sound of crickets. The sound of water lapping against the edges of the dam. And the sound of young people enjoying themselves. Everyone except her. She’d gone with a friend and her friend had passed out drunk before ten o’clock, leaving Emma alone.

“Do you remember the party on the night of muck-up day?”

Muck-up day was the last day of school for Australian kids. Banned by many schools, kids still chose to ‘muck up’ – either by wearing costumes or defacing their school uniforms. Sometimes they mucked up and did a whole lot worse.

Tom shook his head. “Barely.”

She shrugged. He’d confirmed what she’d figured all along. He hadn’t
forgotten
about the night. He didn’t know it happened.

“You were with Kim.”

Tom nodded. “And?” he prompted.

“A bunch of us went up to Chiefly Dam near Bathurst and camped overnight.”

“I vaguely remember that.”

Emma had thought a lot about what had occurred between them over the years, but she’d never imagined standing there and telling him about it. Not like this. She folded her arms across her chest and shivered. She stared unseeing into the bush.

“Emma? What happened?”

She wasn’t being deliberately quiet to annoy him. She was gathering her scattered thoughts.

“You were with Kim but you had a fight and she left with another guy.”

He let out a puff of air. “Yeah, I remember that. That was the last time we spoke. After she left I drank a fair few stubbies.”

“You did. Then you climbed into the back of your ute and got in your swag and fell asleep.”

“That sounds about right.”

“And you don’t remember what happened after that?” she asked.

Tom shook his head.

Emma sighed. “I’m ashamed at what I’m about to tell you. I was determined to lose my virginity that night, but everyone was already partnered up. Except me. I found you lying alone, sprawled out fast asleep, so I crawled into your swag and eventually drifted off to sleep. You were so warm and smelled so good and the alcohol and ambience of the overhead stars lulled me to sleep. When I woke hours later, the campsite was quiet and I had never felt so at peace in my entire life, lying in your arms.”

She paused, licked her lips, took another deep breath.

“You started kissing me. And because I had a stupid teenage crush on you, I let you. What happened afterward was incredible, but when you promptly fell asleep and I tried to wake you, you muttered, “Leave me alone Kim.”

“God, no. Really? We had sex? I thought you were Kim?”

Emma nodded and prayed she wouldn’t cry. “I stared at you, willing you to wake up and realize it was with me, but you didn’t. I was so ashamed I crawled from your swag and left.” In complete confusion and utter devastation, she’d trudged home. When she arrived at her parents’ house hours later, her feet blistered, the sun had been starting its slow rise in the eastern sky.

Tom let out a long, slow breath.

“It was a long time ago. I should have gotten over it.”

“But you didn’t.”

“No. Not until I met Lleyton.”

They stood in silence and Emma leaned back and gazed up at the sky. Perfectly clear now, it was littered with stars like diamonds on a blanket of black velvet.

Finally Tom spoke again. “Do you forgive me?”

She nodded. “There’s nothing to forgive.”

He cupped the back of her neck and gently turned her to face him. Slowly he lowered his lips to hers. She smiled into his mouth and ran her fingers into his hair. She felt him tremble, sensed he was holding back, knew he was sorry. She kissed him gently in return and knew they’d never need to talk about it again.