Outback Blaze (14 page)

‘The neurologist can't be sure,' Lyn replied, grabbing a tissue and patting a tear that had rolled down Ruby's cheek without her even noticing. ‘But my symptoms are still relatively mild, so I could have up to five years.'

‘Only five years?' Ruby couldn't help shouting. There had to be a mistake. Five years wasn't nearly long enough – her parents wouldn't even be retired by then.

‘Yes.' Robert sighed and reached for a tissue for himself. It broke Ruby's heart to see her father so downcast. She'd thought he'd been devastated by the fire but she saw now that upset had been nothing compared to this. ‘Which is why we've made some hard decisions the last couple of days,' he finished.

‘Oh?' Again Ruby looked between the two of them.

‘We want to make the most of the time left we have together,' he explained, smiling lovingly at his wife. ‘We'd been discussing selling the business before the fire but it's kind of made the decision for us. We're not going to rebuild.'

‘What?' She had to have heard wrong. That didn't make any sense. ‘But the town needs an agricultural supplier.'

Robert shook his head. ‘Geraldton is close enough, they'd all get used to buying their supplies there while we rebuild anyway. Someone might come along one day and start a new business, but we can't let that concern us now. Your mum's life is too precious. And we don't want the time we have to be spent stressing over wages, stocktaking, BAS statements, the list goes on.'

Ruby struggled to breathe. Her head ached with a pain she didn't think would be cured by whole packet of painkillers. ‘Okay,' she breathed deeply. ‘I understand that. What's the insurance policy? Do you get anything if you don't rebuild.'

Her parents nodded in unison but it was Lyn who spoke this time. ‘If we choose not to rebuild, our policy says we are entitled to two-thirds the cost of rebuilding. So we're going with that option.'

‘Will you move as well?'

‘No, honey.' Lyn shook her head and stroked a few strands of flyaway hair out of Ruby's eyes. ‘We love living here and you're doing so well with your horse-riding lessons. We want time for our family and that means we want to be wherever you are. A bit of travelling is on our agenda – while I still can – but mostly we'll be here.'

‘That's good.' Ruby let her breath out. ‘I'm not sure the town will be happy about your decision not to rebuild though. What about your employees?'

‘They'll understand when we explain our circumstances, which we're going to do this week,' Robert said. ‘We'll use some of the insurance money to ensure all our staff get a few months' payout.'

‘You've really thought this through, haven't you?'

They nodded and spoke in unison. ‘We have, sweetheart.'

Ruby took one of each of their hands in hers. ‘Okay then. You know I support you in whatever you want.'

‘Thank you, darling.' Lyn hugged Ruby again and Robert followed. The three of them huddled together on the couch, taking comfort in each other for a long while. When Lyn eventually said her leg was cramping, Robert jumped into action helping her up. She took a short stroll around the house but they soon all congregated again in the lounge room. Now that they'd had brought her into their confidence there was much to discuss.

Hours passed. Memories of the past and plans for the future were shared. Plenty more tears were shed. Despite the reason behind their time together, Ruby enjoyed spending this quality time with her parents. When a knock sounded on the door just before two o'clock, she got up to answer it assuming it was someone bringing round another casserole. Only when she saw the tall, muscular silhouette through the glass window in the front door did she remember her date with the delicious Drew Noble.

The moment Ruby pulled back the door Drew knew something was wrong. Her deep chocolate pupils were rimmed with red as if she'd been crying bucket-loads and her pale, normally clear skin had gone all blotchy.

‘Hey, what's the matter?' He lifted his hand and rested it against her arm. He felt compelled to pull her right into his arms but resisted. He couldn't recall the last time he'd had the craving to comfort a woman but he sure as hell knew now probably wasn't a good time to start.

Blinking as if surprised to see him, she scanned her gaze down his body and back up again. Each muscle beneath his skin tightened as her eyes swept over him. She lingered at his groin and he cleared his throat, fighting a smile.

‘Oh no,' she said, snapping her gaze upwards and blushing slightly. ‘We're supposed to go riding.'

He nodded. She appeared to be semi-dressed in riding gear – tight jodhpurs accentuated her incredible legs – but the hot-pink fluffy slippers told him she'd lost track of time.

‘I totally forgot.' She ran a hand through her hair, catching her fingers in her high ponytail before yanking them out.

‘I gathered.' And such forgetfulness seemed entirely out of character. He'd heard about the way her impeccable organisation skills had played a massive part in a recent town fundraiser's success and she'd been like a sergeant major organising the men for the Undies Run photos.

‘I'm sorry.' Sniffing, as if trying to pull herself together, she stepped out onto the porch and pulled the door shut behind her. ‘I'm going to have to cancel our…our afternoon together.'

Despite it being a fine day, the air had a chill to it and she shivered as the breeze wrapped itself around her. Drew shoved his hands into his pockets as the urge to wrap himself around her almost overcame him.

‘Why?' he asked. He'd been looking forward to going riding more than he cared to admit and it wasn't simply because he liked horses.

Ruby looked past him, purposefully not meeting his gaze as she twisted her long, dark ponytail around her index finger. ‘I'm not sure I should say.'

That statement had the hairs on the back of his neck standing to attention. He remembered he was first and foremost a cop. ‘It's about the fire, isn't it?'

‘No.' Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open as if she couldn't believe he would even suggest such a thing.

‘Okay then.' The way she pressed her lips together gave him the horrible feeling she was on the brink of tears. ‘Is there anything I can do?'

She sighed. ‘Not unless you're a miracle worker?'

‘What kind of miracles do you need?'

‘Medical ones.'

Now he really was confused. ‘Are you sick?' The thought hurt him more than it should.

‘Not me. My mum.' Her voice broke on the last two words and her lower lip quivered as a tear snuck down her cheek. He'd wiped away her tears the night of the fire and had been thinking about little but the soft feel of her skin ever since.

‘You want to talk?'

His ex-girlfriend had whined constantly that he never had time to talk about anything. But things were different here, mostly he had more time on his hands than he knew what to do with.

Another tear escaped, quickly followed by a third. Within seconds he'd lost count. ‘I don't even know if she wants to tell anyone yet,' Ruby said on another sob. ‘I only just found out.'

She tried to swipe the tears off her face but the action of trying to eradicate them only seemed to make everything worse. Drew found himself stepping towards her, brushing his thumbs against her cheeks and fighting the urge to kiss away each and every drop.

While he spoke stern, silent words to his libido, Ruby's tears finally dried up.

‘Sorry.' She looked up at him, seemingly horrified by her actions and stepped back putting distance between them again. ‘I don't know what's come over me. I don't usually bawl my eyes out with strange men.'

‘Strange?' He quirked an eyebrow hoping to make her smile. ‘Is it my accent? Or the fact I like peanut butter and jam sandwiches?'

Her lips twisted upwards. ‘That
is
strange. And isn't it more an American thing?

‘Yes. I shared a flat years ago with a Yank living in England. He recruited me to the peanut butter and jelly – as they put it – cause. Have you ever tried it?'

She shook her head.

‘Well, you shouldn't knock anything until you have. I'll make you one some day.'

‘Deal,' she said, half smiling. ‘Thank you.'

‘Hey, don't thank me until you've tried it either.'

She laughed. ‘I meant thank you for being here.'

‘I haven't done anything,' he said, wishing there was something he could do. ‘I don't even know what the problem is.'

All traces of a smile faded. ‘My mum has motor neurone disease.'

‘God.' When his gran was still alive she used to talk about a friend of hers who'd had motor neurone. She used to say the disease had slowly eaten at the woman until there was nothing left.

‘Yep,' Ruby nodded and leaned against the door. ‘It's been a bit of an emotional week.'

‘Understatement of the century,' he said. ‘What's the prognosis?'

‘She might have five years left,' Ruby's voice shook once again. ‘The symptoms aren't too severe yet but they're only going to get worse. I can't bear to think of her getting so ill. Dad's a wreck. He'd been keeping it all inside but now that I know…well…I'm sorry, but I just can't go riding today. They need me.'

He reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. He felt her neck muscles tighten beneath his touch and wondered if she felt the same zing of awareness he did. Pushing it aside, he said, ‘No need to apologise. They're your family. You need to be with them. There'll be other times to go riding.'

‘Thank you,' she said again. ‘I'll hold you to that.'

‘I'll make sure you do,' he promised with a smile.

‘Well, I'd better go.' Despite her words, Ruby lingered on the front welcome mat and he found himself reluctant to turn away either. He'd been so looking forward to this afternoon and having it cut short was more than a little disappointing. He wanted to prolong their time together but his cop brain took over and the only things he could think of to say would upset her.

As the news about Lyn's illness sunk in, he fought the urge to ask exactly how long her parents had known about it? Was that why they'd had the real estate agent's business card? Did they plan to sell the business and get out before Lyn really went downhill? Now that it had entered his head he couldn't nix the niggling thought that her illness was somehow related to the fire.

Sometimes grief made people do things they wouldn't even consider under normal circumstances. But to what means? He didn't have any answers; all he knew was that Jaxon and Brad weren't responsible for this crime and he couldn't let his attraction towards Ruby or sympathy towards the Joneses get in the way of proving this.

Pushing all these thoughts aside, for now, he nodded at Ruby. ‘You look after yourself, okay? And let me know if you need anything.'

‘I will.' She turned slightly and placed her hand against the doorknob.

The situation felt remarkably like the end of a first date and Drew's hands went clammy in a way they hadn't done since he was in high school. He felt like he should kiss her. He
wanted
to kiss her. But that would be weird, right? And wrong on so many levels. She'd all but fallen apart in front of him and was in a heightened vulnerable state after a hugely emotional week. He didn't want to take advantage.

All that aside, if he was right about her parents, then what was to say she was innocent? Maybe she knew a hell of a lot more than she was letting on? He couldn't imagine her being a part of anything sinister but if he'd learnt one thing being a cop, it was never to make assumptions. Never to let down your guard. More often than not that meant making personal sacrifices. The last thing he needed was to get involved with someone dodgy.

‘Well, I'll see ya then,' he said, turning on his heels before he said anything else.

*

Ruby closed the door on Drew and sighed. Physically and emotionally wrecked, she leaned against the door and slid down to the floor. Holding her head in her hands, she sat fighting the disappointment that churned in her belly at losing her afternoon with Drew. She'd finally found someone she really, really wanted to spend time with and the timing couldn't have been worse. How could she be so selfish to think about her own desires when her parents had just delivered the most shattering blow ever?

Maybe it was shock that made her not think straight. She shouldn't be lamenting over not going out with Drew, she should be returning to the living room and making the most of every moment she had with her mother. The thought that those moments now had a use-by date was unbearable, yet she couldn't bring herself to leave Drew's presence. She felt herself smile as she thought of his gentle sympathy. No man liked to be stranded with a bawling female and now he'd had to deal with her twice, yet both times he'd been so kind and understanding. He probably thought crying was something she did on a regular basis, but despite all she'd been through this year, it wasn't.

‘Honey, are you okay? Was that the new policeman? What did he want?' Her father's voice travelled down the hallway, followed by his footsteps. As Ruby scrambled to her feet, she wondered how long Drew would have to be in town before everyone stopped calling him the new guy.

‘Yes, um…' She racked her brain for an excuse as to why he'd stopped by and then realised the real one was perfectly legitimate. ‘He was going to help me give Riley and Roxie some exercise,' she explained as her father stopped in front of her. ‘He used to ride horses but hasn't done so for a while. I told him now wasn't a good time.'

‘Oh, I see. You should have gone,' he said, frowning. ‘You can't put your life on hold. Your mum doesn't want you to do that.'